A/N: 1/27/2015 ER MAH GERD ERM BERK! Did ya miss me? :D Cuz I sure did. I missed myself on this stor. Lol. Anyway, a THOUSAND apologies and a MILLION sorries for being away for so long. I never meant for that to happen :( But I'm back now, and I plan to stay. But of course, we'll have to see. Sorry this is so short, but it's the only way I could see it going.

Hyne: Being a Guest reviewer, you probably won't see this update for a while. But thank you for your constant reviews and kind words and support. You're amazing :') And I'm glad I was able to make you laugh with the last chapter! I feel like there's little to do with landmarks such as the Liberty Statue but look as well XD Did you see the new Avengers trailer? What did you think?

hawkkitty44: Thanks a TON, dudette! And yes, I started off that way with Pepper too. I didn't really ship her with anyone except Tony. But then the Avengers happened, and then I got to liking all these new characters, so...you know. Yes, I call PepperxThor SpiceHammer. I'm glad you like my work! :D

Luxraylover: Thank you! I am faring quite well! I hope with all my heart that you enjoy this chapter, however short it is :) I'm glad you think this story is believable enough, despite the whacky pairing (haha!) and Thor's progress will actually start to speed up now, thanks to a certain character ;)

sailorraven34: Yes, poor Thor. He has no clue XD But he will soon enough ;) Thank you for your review!

aliceindeepdarkwonderland: Yeah, I guess so. But I still love the 'fun' Avengers in favor of the new 'serious' one they have coming out. But I may enjoy it, who knows. Anyway, thanks for your review! I haven't cut Thor's hair yet, but I haven't decided XD

rosiehorgan7: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this one! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers.

Chapter eight: Gifts~

'Number 7. Give him a gift. Preferably something manly and/or thoughtful. It might seem weird to give him a gift, but just pretend like you're giving it to your best friend. After all, what's a gift between friends?'

Thor looked very hard at the note he'd made, scrunching his eyebrows in concentration as he tried to decide how he was going to go about observing such an action from Pepper.

From what he understood, the art of gift-giving was meant to be a special occasion reserved for holidays, hard work, and days of birth. He knew nothing of Earth's holidays or customs, found no particular 'work' Sir Bruce or Steve or Clint had done to deserve any such gift, and he didn't know any of their dates of birth. So needless to say, he was in a bit of a stump.

"Hey, Thor. What'cha doin'?"

Thor jumped, startled from his musings as he hurriedly clutched his notebook to his chest in order to prevent the calculating eyes of Natasha from seeing.

The Black Widow rounded the plush sofa he sat on to stand in front of him, raising an eyerow at him and smirking in surprise as she crossed her arms.

"...Well?" She asked, and he realized that she was still waiting for an answer.

"Uh...I- I was just going over some notes, Lady Natasha," he smiled unconvincingly, and the red-headed woman raised an arm to inspect her nails.

"You know," she began, deceptively casual. "I've been seeing you and Miss Potts together a lot lately...mind telling me what that's about?"

The blond warrior mentally stumbled, drawing a blank as to a proper explanation. "I...do not know what you wish me to say," he said honestly, smiling embarrassingly.

"Well the truth would do just fine," she smiled, finished with inspecting her nails.

Thor hesitated for a moment, but in the end, decided that it wouldn't hurt if she knew; she was unlikely to say anything to the others, and she may even be able to help him.

Drawing in a large breath, he exhaled in a giant sigh. Best to just get it over with now rather than have her breathing down his neck about it for the remainder of his work.

"Very well," he said, and Natasha moved closer to hear. "I have been conducting...research."

"Research?" She echoed. "For what, like a project?"

"Aye," he replied, looking seriously at her. "I came across an article in Lady Pepper's office that led me to believe she has romantic feelings for someone in the Tower. And I have been using the information from that article to help me understand who that is."

Natasha pinched her eyebrows together. "Wait, so...you're trying to figure out who Pepper likes? Why, so you can play matchmaker or something? I don't see why this is so important."

"Lady Pepper has assisted a great deal in coordinating our lives and being available for us when we need her," he said compassionately. "I feel as though it is the least I can do to assist in her romantic endeavors. I owe her that much."

Natasha nodded, staring thoughtfully into space as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Can I see your notes?" She asked, and Thor numbly handed them over.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent brisquely looked over his notes, flipping through pages and pausing briefly to look over each one, eyes skimming the paper with a trained swiftness that he was sure was exclusive to humans with her training.

"...I want in." She said suddenly, and Thor blinked in surprise.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You said Pepper liked someone," she said, smiling playfully. "And...I wanna know who it is. Besides, anything that goes on in this tower is ten times better than anything on tv. So; how can I help?"

The Asgardian stuttered, trying to think of a suitable task. "U- um...well, I suppose you might try-"

"Steve? Tony? Anybody home?"

That was Pepper's voice.

The two Avengers looked at each other with wide eyes, freezing for a long second before hurrying to appear casual. Natasha threw the notebook into Thor's chest, and in turn he quickly moved to shove it beneath one of the couch cushions as she hurried to sit 'lazily' in the chair on the other end of the room. The two were able to relax into a semi-normal 'lounge' position just before Pepper came into view.

"Oh, hi guys," she greeted, several shopping bags hanging from her arms. "Have you seen any of the others?"

"Uh, no," Natasha said, beating Thor to the punch. "Have you checked the basement?"

Thor raised his eyebrows at her. He was impressed with her acting abilities.

"No, but I don't have the time anyway," Pepper sighed as she looked down at her watch. "I have to get dinner ready and schedule Tony's appointments, go to the movies with Steve, order a replacement for the vase Clint broke, I have to..." She gestured to the air with her hand, trying to find the words for what she wanted to say. "Tell JARVIS to bid on that...engine thing on eBay for Tony...I- I just can't deal with all of them right now."

She began to walk away, back towards the kitchen and the bedrooms, only to freeze mid-step and backtrack to the living area.

"Oh, Thor! I have something for you!"

Thor's head perked up at hearing his name, both curious and excited, and glanced briefly over at Natasha as he stood, who looked relaxed but held a knowing glint in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Here," Pepper said, oblivious to the silent communication going on between the two Avengers as she dug through one of her shopping bags. "I came across this when I was shopping and I thought, 'hey! Thor could use that!'"

Natasha and Thor exchanged looks, one smug and the other confused.

'Whatever it is, make him think it wasn't a big deal by saying something like: "I came across this and thought of you."'

"It's nothing much," Pepper said, still talking as she dug his gift out of the bag. "So don't worry about paying me back or anything. It's just a little something I thought you'd like."

'Don't buy anything too extravagant or expensive. Get something small enough that he won't feel like he has to get you something in return, but big enough that he knows it's especially for him.'

"Here," she said, handing him his gift.

Thor held the thing in his hands, turning it over and staring curiously at it, and he saw Natasha inspecting it as well from the other end of the room.

"It is a...um..."

"Folder," Pepper supplied, smiling. "I noticed that you're always writing down notes, so I thought I'd give you a place to keep them. Do you like it?"

Thor was just barely able to keep his eyes from popping out of his skull, and he wasn't able to keep his heart from seizing up in panic and dread. Did she know? Had she saw his notes? Had she looked? Did she have any idea of what he was doing? Did she suspect something?

The blond giant swallowed down the shock in his throat, doing his best to smile gratefully and be thankful for his gift.

"Thank you, Lady Pepper. I shall cherish it always."

Pepper chuckled. "Oh, that's okay. But by all means; enjoy it."

She smiled broadly at him, and then turned on her heel to head back into the kitchen to prepare dinner and deal with other tasks.

Thor stood there a moment, staring at the folder, and Natasha waited a few moments until she deemed it safe to cross the distance between them and speak.

"WOW," she whispered, smiling mirthfully as she looked down at the sleek, black folder he held. "Do you have any idea what this means?"

"I should refrain from taking notes in public?" He asked, and she nudged him.

"No, dummy! Here, look at your notes."

She left his side to walk back to the couch and dig out the crumpled notebook from beneath the cushion, opening it to the desired page and joining him again.

"Look," she said, using her finger to underline the most important notes.

'Pick up an extra pack of gum, or that bottled juice he always gets during break. You might even get him a notebook or pens, especially if he always forgets them. If you don't mind asking him out, get him some tickets to a movie or sports event. Just say, "I thought we could go together."'

Thor blinked, scrunching his eyebrows. "I do not see how this-"

"Shh!" She shushed him, waving her hand frantically in front of his mouth to get him to shut up. "Just keep reading."

'Whatever gift you give, find out his interests first. You'll want to get him something that he actually likes - something that shows you're thinking about him and you like him for who he is, not something he'll end up throwing away or never using. In the end, just make sure that the point gets across that you like him (on a standard level) and that you care enough to go out of your way and take the time to choose a gift that you think he'll like. Even if he doesn't particularly like said gift, he'll still get the message that you care and think about him a lot.'

Natasha dropped her finger from the page, and turned her head to smirk triumphantly at the Thunder god, whose face had contorted into an indescribable expression.

"It's not Bruce or Steve or Clint you need to be keeping an eye out for," she said. "It's yourself."

"I am not so sure..." Thor replied, staring at the notes with uncertain eyes.

"Trust me," she said, looking at him with an expression of boundless wisdom. "Men don't get women presents unless they like them. And women don't get men presents unless they're family, or they have a soft spot for them. Believe me, I know."

Thor glanced up from his notebook to stare after Pepper, whose figure was just visible in the doorway to the kitchen. She caught him staring, and she waved happily at him, though Natasha was the only one to smile and wave back.

"If she doesn't like you," the agent said through her smile. "Then I'm just a secret agent with no understanding of human empathy or emotions."

Thor pinched his eyebrows. "But...you are a secret agent with no understandi-"

"Can it."

Thor snapped his mouth shut, feeling as though he had never been so intimidated by such a small human female. He glanced back up at Pepper, who was now stirring some kind of liquid in a small pan, and forced himself to come to terms with the fact that, even before now, Pepper had shown signs of interest towards him more so than any of the other Avengers.

Very well, he decided.

He was definitely going to look into it.

A/N: So now Black Widow's in on it. Hadn't planned that, but like I said this thing practically writes itself. The next chapter's gonna be tons of fun. It involves Tony Stark and a very loud house party :D

I'll try my hardest to update really really soon, specifically within the next two weeks. I apologize for being away for so long, and I hope you all are happy with the way this thing goes :)