Calico was carefully placing card on top of card, getting closer to the completion of her castle. What had started out as her trying to cure her boredom had escalated into a full out project.
She could feel the excitement in her stomach as she placed the last card on the top. All that was left to take a picture.
Tony kicked open the bar door (and Calico knew it was Tony, because only he would do that) causing the structure Calico had spent hours on to fall. She shoved her fist in her mouth to stifle her screams.
She turned to yell at Tony but saw Pepper behind him, smiling and holding a bottle of champagne and three glasses.
"Let's celebrate!" Pepper cried with a bright smile. Calico raised an eyebrow, feeling her anger slowly die down.
"Celebrate what?" she asked as the older two stepped towards her.
"The company's success." Pepper poured them each a glassful.
"To Stark Industries!" They toasted and raised the glasses to their lips, but were interrupted by the elevator door opening, revealing Phil Coulson.
"Oh, hey Phil!" Calico chirped, lowering her drink and smiling at the man. He smiled back and opened his mouth, only to be cut off by Tony.
"His first name is Agent, babe. Not Phil."
"Shut the hell up, Stark." Tony inhaled like he was about to speak, and Phil raised his finger to point at him, also opening his mouth.
"What are you doing here?" Pepper cut off all further interaction between the two. Their attention snapped to the ginger-haired woman for a split second.
"We need Stark. There's been an attack..." Calico noticed a pigeon outside of the window and was momentarily distracted, but a moment seemed to be all it took for her to miss everything. The use of her name was what brought her back.
"... Could you please, Calico?" Phil asked in a hopeful tone. Calico's eyes widened.
"What? Sure, I guess."
"No! She can't, she's too soft!" Pepper shrieked, shaking her head with tears sparkling in her eyes. Calico gasped.
"What did I just! -"
"See? She consented." Tony said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pressing his cheek against her's. His beard tickled the smooth surface. Phil nodded at Calico, looking thankful beyond words.
"Thank you so much, Calico. We need all the help we can get. I'll be waiting for the two of you outside." he said, heading out. Pepper took one look at Calico and burst into tears. She threw her arms around Calico and buried her face in her shoulders.
"Please be careful..."
"Careful where? Where are we going?" Calico asked, wishing her attention span weren't so short.
"I'm glad you're worried about me, too." Tony interjected.
"I know you'll be fine, but Calico! -"
"You're overreacting!" Tony said, shaking his head and waving his hands. Pepper sniffed and released Calico, frowning.
"You protect her, Tony."
"From what? -"
"Why wouldn't I protect my little Calico?" Tony cooed, pinching her cheeks in mid-sentence. He bent down and gave her a short kiss.
"She's like the little sister I never had." Pepper said sternly, tears still glistening as Tony grabbed Calico's hand.
"The Helicarrier is safe enough, Pepper. She'll be alright." Tony said as they walked out. Calico finally gave up, deciding it would be in her best interest to simply follow Tony.
He noticed the deflated expression she wore while they were on the elevator.
"What's wrong, Kitten?" Tony asked. Calico sighed.
"I don't know what's going on."
"S.H.I.E.L.D asked us to help a fellow scientist find the Tesseract."
"Who's the scientist?"
"Some man named Bruce Banner."
As soon as the words slid through Tony's mouth, Calico's silver eyes lit up.
"The Bruce Banner? As in The Hulk?" she cried, clutching her chest in excitement. Tony raised an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded.
"Er..."
Calico was still bouncing around as she stepped into the car waiting in the front for them. Tony cleared his throat, and Phil gave her a strange look. Calico's cheeks warmed up as she slammed a hand over her mouth.
"Sorry, I was excited to meet Banner. He's one of my heroes." she said, smiling at the two. They exchanged glances.
"If you're that excited for the one guy, wait 'till you see the rest of the Avengers."
"Who's in your super-secret boy band that would make my kitten explode?"
"Thor Odinson's brother is the reason we're in tr -"
"Oh my God, you mean Thor's brother Loki? I wanted to marry Loki when I was little!" Calico squealed, clutching her red hair in excitement.
"He's... Evil." Phil said, raising a brow. Calico stopped squealing and blushed once more.
"I outgrew it a few years back. It's like that celebrity crush everyone had. Except he was a Norse God." Phil nodded.
"I can understand that."
"... I want to understand, but I had sex with my celebrity crushes, so I lost interest."
Calico giggled and kissed Tony.
"He's no Tony Stark, so you really have no worries. I can't wait to meet the other Avengers. The Avengers, Tony!"
Before you guys murder me, this wasn't supposed to be long to begin with! I've started on the Loki story, and the first chappy should be up within the next two days (Only because I want to start on more than one chapter...)
Now the ultimate question! Shall I make a sequel/extension (or something?)? Or call this the prequel to The Avengers?