"Miss Natasha Romanoff, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Romanoff, We present to you this flag. Flown over the Pentagon the day your father was killed along with his dog tags. Your father died for his country, he served multiple tours in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. His love and devotion towards his country was his greatest gift, and his ultimate sacrifice. Our deepest condolences for you loss ma'am." One of the officers spoke to Natasha. He handed her the folded flag and the silver dog tags. All Natasha could do was accept the items and nod her head in "thank you".
It had been almost three weeks since Natasha's father's funeral. Many relatives had visited the young Romanoff to offer condolences and help for the new fatherless teenager. Many knew of her mother's abandonment and offered her their homes, but she had refused them all, choosing to stay in Marvel County and continue to live in her home with Loki. Many of her relatives had been shocked to learn that she lived with her boyfriend, some vocalized their disapproval, but Natasha merely shook them off and their comments.
Soon Christmas break was upon the group of teenagers. Bruce, Pepper and Tony were leaving for Seattle to go skiing, Peggy, Steve, Maria and Clint were leaving for Buffalo where their families were staying together till the school year started. Natasha had no real Christmas plans, sure some of her relatives had offered their homes for the holidays, but she chose to decline their warm offerings. Loki also decided to stay with Natasha, his family could wait, and she was the most important thing to him at the moment. Jane was going with the Thor and his family back to Colorado for the holidays; both Natasha and Loki were welcomed to come. They were scheduled to leave on the day after school let out.
"You should come. Frigga and Odin would love to see you again, and I'm sure Thor would love to have his brother with him for Christmas. You know it's his favorite holiday." Jane spoke to the redhead at their lockers. The last period had ended and they were collecting their things. The other's had already left, and now Jane was beginning her best friend to join them.
"I'll ask Loki. I'm not sure if he wants to go though, he's been separated from his family for some time now, I'd hate to bring up old wounds." Natasha replied, eyeing her tall boyfriend from across the hall. He was currently talking to Tony on the phone, the two were having some sort of argument. Loki was currently gripping the door of his locker so hard Natasha thought it break.
"Ok well please ask him. I know Thor would really appreciate it too." Jane tried again, adding a good pouting face to her argument. Natasha could hardly stand to see her best friend do such a low trick but reluctantly agreed.
"Fine but no promises." Natasha replied, giving her friend a playfully hit on the arm, and walking towards her boyfriend, who had hung up on Tony and was finishing backing his bag.
"Ready?" Natasha asks the much taller teenager in front of her.
"Yes. Shall we?" Loki asks, holding out his arm for the redhead to take, which she happily does.
"Jane wants to know if we'd like to go with her and Thor back to Colorado." Natasha blurts out to her boyfriend as they settle down in his car.
"What? Why?" Loki asks, his tone suddenly going dark.
"She said Thor, your mother and Odin would love to see you. They miss you." Natasha replied, repeating what Jane had told her.
"Why would they miss me? They lied to me for sixteen years!" Loki shouted back. He noticed Natasha wince a little at his sudden change of demeanor and instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry. It's just…I haven't spoken to my family in months, I don't know what I'll say to them." Loki admitted shyly. Natasha understood his reluctance but agreed with Jane, Thor desperately wanted to have his brother back and Natasha hated to see the happy Odinson upset.
"Please. For me?" Natasha asks in a small voice, carefully not to spark a fire, knowing this sensitivity of the subject.
"Fine. For you! I don't anything to do with Odin! He's nothing but a liar." Loki growled out, driving off towards home.
"Ok, that's fine. I'll book our flight." Natasha replied softly, kissing Loki's cheek. She caught the light pinkness that rose to the surface on Loki's usually pale skin.
When they arrived home Natasha booked their flight while Loki called Thor and told him of their decision to join them.
"Excellent! I cannot wait to see you! Our flight leaves at 7. What times does yours?" Thor's deep voice asked through the phone.
"We're on the same flight. Natasha was able to book our seats a couple rows away from yours." Loki responded, looking over Natasha's shoulder at the screen.
"Great! We'll see you at the airport. Do you need a ride?" Thor asked, Natasha could hear his voice even without the speaker phone on.
"No, we'll get a taxi, thank you though." Loki replied politely, though Natasha could hear the hint of annoyance in his tone.
"Alright. See you at the airport brother!" Thor's giddy voice sounded through the phone's speakers.
Loki ended the call afterwards, not bothering to return the happiness.
"C'mon Loki, if you're not going to have a good attitude about it, don't come." Natasha threatened. She knew Loki was bitter towards his brother for his childish love for Christmas and their home, but mostly out of jealousy and the fact that Thor wasn't adopted, and their parents have always favored him.
"Fine I'll be nice, once I see him at the airport." Loki concluded, sitting down next to Natasha on the couch and pulling her onto his lap.
"Ok, but if we're doing this, you've got to be nice towards Thor, Jane, and especially your parents." Natasha warned him, giving him a serious look, which only made Loki smile and kiss her lips.
"Agreed. But I will warn you, the people of Asgard can be quit different than the people of New York." Loki warned.
"I can handle it. Have you seen some of my family members?" Natasha asked, rising an eyebrow and smirking towards her older boyfriend. Loki just smiled down at her and kissed her lips once more.
Soon the two teenagers were packing their suitcases and eating dinner, and heading off to bed, after all their flight was early.
After boarding their plane, Natasha finally relaxed; here she was going on a vacation with Loki and his family, to Colorado for Christmas. Her father would mostly definitely disapprove. The two had arrived at the airport and passed security with plenty of time to spare, they found some seats close to their gate and had opted to eat some bagels and read the newspaper while waiting.
Soon Thor, Jane, Frigga, and Odin had arrived and sat with the two teens. The first time Natasha had met Frigga was at the soccer game, and Frigga was instantly smitten with the young redhead. However Natasha had failed to talk to Odin, and simple said "Hello" to the older Odinson.
Loki and Odin's reunion was a little tenser, they barely spoke to each other, and when they did their words were short and cold. Both Thor and Frigga had to intervene to prevent the tension from rising. Jane and Natasha however happily let the family deal with their internal problems and began talking to one another, both sipping on coffee.
Once the greetings were over, the plane was ready to board, taking off earlier than scheduled. Now Natasha sat, reclined in her chair between the window and Loki listening to the sound of the jet engines. Loki was fast asleep beside her, their hands locked together on the armrest, while Loki slightly snored on her shoulder. Natasha just smiled at his sleeping face, brushed some hair back from his eyes and drifted off to sleep with him.
When she woke, the plan was descending and she could see the snow-covered ground outside the window. She had to bring her seat upright and force Loki's upright as well, as the flight attendants made their final round through the cabin.
Once the plane landed, Loki had finally woken up, and the two made their ways to the luggage claim to grab the remaining bags. Finally after grabbing their large suitcase they joined Thor, Jane, and the older Odinsons near the exit.
"We have a car on the way." Frigga explained to her youngest son and his girlfriend. The two nodded in understanding and saw the arrival of the family's large Silver Suburban pull up in front of the airport.
Soon the group of six was on their war to Asgard, a good drive due west of Denver. They stopped only for gas, bathroom and food. They arrived in Asgard around three in the afternoon Colorado time. The driver opened the door for Odin and Frigga and assisted in unloading the luggage. The Odinson's Colorado home was a large timber style ranch home, located on a large hill overlooking the town below.
"Odin was governor for many years before we moved to New York." Loki explained to Natasha as she eyed the large home with many servants walking around.
"Welcome home Master Odin and Lady Frigga." A servant spoke to the couple, bowing her head respectfully in front of her employers.
"Thank you, that shall be all. You are all excused until after the new year." Frigga ordered to the house of servants gathered around the forayer. They all smiled warmly at her and bowed respectfully before leaving taking their belonging with them.
"Now that's settled, Thor you can show Jane her room, and Loki you can show Natasha hers. There will be no sharing of the bedrooms understood?" Odin spoke to his two sons in a strict voice, both nodding their head in understanding and grabbed their bags and headed up the large stairs towards their rooms.
"Come Jane, you room is beautiful! A fabulous view of the surrounding mountains and valleys! You're sharing with Natasha." Thor spoke happily towards his girlfriend and Natasha. Leaping up the stairs two at a time, while carrying both his duffle bag and Jane's suitcase. Loki on the other hand had his carry-on and one large suitcase, which he shared with Natasha.
"Thanks honey. I'm so happy to be here." Jane replied smiling brightly up at her taller boyfriend, while opening the door to the door Thor motioned towards.
The room a fairly large room with two double beds, a large dresser, a good size closest, a large plush chair with a few throw blankets and a pillow, and a large sliding glass door towards the upstairs wrap around balcony. There was a large bathroom connecting to the room with double sinks, medicine cabinet, toilet, vanity with a stool, a large old fashion tube, and a shower.
"Wow this is wonderful. Thank you." Natasha gasped at the size of the room, twice as large as her own bedroom. Standing on her tiptoes she kissed Loki's cheek as he set their large suitcase down at the foot of one of the beds.
"No problem. I'll just take out my stuff and you can keep the suitcase." Loki replied, kissing her forehead and moving towards the hall to return to his old bedroom.
"Can I see your room?" Natasha asks, looking at Loki with loving blue eyes. He nods, smiling at her petite figure and leads her down the hall.
He opens a door two doors down from hers with Shaun White, Olympics, and various muscle cars posters on the door. There's also a large "Do Not Enter" sign and a "Keep Out" sign tapped on the door as well.
"Come on it. Excuse the mess, I haven't cleaned the room in a long time." Loki warned, opening the door and switching on the light.
The room is a little larger than the guest room, and has a large queen size bed on the far wall. There are also piles of clothes, snowboards, skates, and various sports equipment on the floor as well. Natasha can barely see the dark wood covered floor. There's a large desk facing the large sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony, and there are various pictures on the wall above the desk. Mostly of Loki as a child with Frigga, Thor, one with Odin, and one with a dog.
"Who's the dog?" Natasha asks, pointing to the picture of a young Loki with a husky with the bluest eyes.
"That was my last dog. His name was 'Winters'." Loki replied, blinking back tears at the reminder of his dog and everything he left when they moved from Asgard.
"I'm sorry. He's very beautiful. I've always wanted a dog." Natasha replied, whispering the last sentence to herself mostly, but it still didn't go unheard by the mischievous teenager.
"It's fine. He was a birthday present on my seventh birthday." Loki added, smiling at the memory. Natasha nodded in recognition and continued to look around the room.
There was a door leading to a large, messy closet and another leading to a personal bathroom, Natasha could barely make out the sink, it was piled with various objects and equipment.
"What is all this stuff?" Natasha asked, picking up a large shoulder pad.
"It's my old hockey armor. Odin wanted Thor and I to be athletic so he forced me to play hockey. I wasn't that good, so I dropped out and tried figure skating, which ended terrible. I also tried snowboarding, which I was rather good at if I say so myself, and I also tried skiing." Loki replied, motioning towards the many snowboards littering the floor and the walls. There were also Snowboarding trophies and skiing awards.
"Wow impressive. I didn't know you boarded." Natasha replied, a little hurt at the lack of information she knew on her boyfriend.
"I don't like to talk about it a lot." Loki responded, shrugging his shoulders and moving to sit on his bed.
"Why did you leave?" Natasha asks, sitting down at the desk chair.
"Thor's always wanted to live in New York, and he wants a football scholarship, so Odin thought it'd be wise to move to New York and have him play with a larger population. Besides Colorado doesn't offer the best football weather conditions." Loki added, smiling while looking out the window as fresh snow began to fall from the sky.
"Loki! Thor! Jane! Natasha! Dinner!" Frigga's voice came from downstairs, echoing off the walls of the large house.
"Shall we?" Loki asks, standing and offering his arm towards his sitting girlfriend.
"We shall." Natasha responds, smiling at her boyfriend and following him out of the room.
Downstairs in the grand kitchen, Frigga has setup a buffet style dinner, with the main dinning room decorated in various Christmas decorations and various China dishes on the table. There's a roast, mashed potatoes, multiple types of vegetables, a salad, a fruit salad, rolls, beats, cranberries, and some small appetizers placed in front of the main course.
"Wow that's a lot of food." Natasha says, eyes studying the various dishes on display.
"Mother what is all of this?" Loki asks, gesturing towards the living room where there are groups of people talking and sipping on wine while Christmas music plays in the background. Natasha hadn't even noticed them.
"Well Heimdall heard of our return, so he had a small welcome home party thrown of us. Is that a problem?" Frigga asks, studying her younger son carefully.
"No, not a problem at all." Loki replies back icily, grabbing Natasha's hand and pulling her towards the buffet.
"Who are they?" Natasha asks, gesturing towards the living room.
"Some of Odin and Thor's friends." Loki replies shortly. Hardly looking up at his redhead girlfriend.
"You didn't have any friends?" Natasha asks, anxious to learn more about her boyfriend's past.
"I was friends with them. But after I ratted them out, Thor was grounded for a good month and they refused to speak to me, for they were also grounded for awhile by their parents." Loki explains, looking away from his girlfriend and focusing, much to intently, on fixing himself a plate of food.
"Why don't they forgive you?" Natasha asks, inching closer to her boyfriend while holding an empty plate.
"I don't know. I guess they always tolerated me for Thor's sake, but after I ratted them out I couldn't be trusted, so they just isolated me. I was ok with it, I didn't really like them anyways." Loki explained, starting to become annoyed at his girlfriends questions of his past relationships.
"Ok, I'm sorry. I didn't have many friends until I met Jane, than the others." Natasha replied softly, looking away from her boyfriend's tall figure and out the large windows at the town below. Instantly Loki felt the pain in his chest as his girlfriend's small confession, and regretted his harshness towards her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so cold to you. You have every right to know about my past, after all the stories you've shared with me about yours. Forgive me?" Loki asks, genuine hurt in his eyes, and a hint of worry in his tone. The thought of losing the one person in his entire life that makes him feel wanted, loved, care for, whole. He couldn't bare the thought of not having Natasha near him.
"Of course. It's a sensitive subject; I can understand and respect that. I'm sorry if I pushed you too far." Natasha quickly apologizes, though Loki just shrugs her apology away.
"It's fine. I'll tell you more. We have a long vacation ahead of us. Plenty of time for stories." Loki replies, smiling down at her and kissing her softly on her lips.
Afterwards Natasha fills her plate up with the various foods presented to her, and the couple eat at the dinning table, Thor and Jane are already there socializing with some of Thor's friends.
"Brother! Natasha! Join us! I would like to introduce you, Natasha, to my friends." Thor's deep voice called at the opposite end of the table. Waving his brother and his girlfriend over, the newly arrived couple sits down beside Jane, Natasha instantly sitting between her best friend and her boyfriend, and Loki sitting on Natasha's right side.
"Natasha, this is Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg." Thor introduced Natasha to the four other people accompany Thor and Jane at the table.
"Hello, nice to meet you, Lady Natasha." Fandral greeted her, kissing the back of her hand instead of shaking it. Instantly Natasha yanked her hand away from his grasp, and Loki gave the shorter teenager a deadly, ice cold, glare that made even Natasha and Thor shiver.
"Back off Fandral. She's my girlfriend." Loki growled towards the blonde haired teen across the table. Instantly he wrapped a protective arm around his much smaller girlfriend and inched closer to her, allowing Natasha to basically sit on his left leg.
"Sorry Loki, my bad, I didn't know." Fandral apologized. "Lady Natasha, please forgive me for causing you any embarrassment." He continued, looking at Natasha and giving her a dashing smile. Most girls would swoon or faint, Natasha merely shrugged it off, while Loki again gave him a death glare that forced Fandral to retrieve more food.
"So Natasha, how long have you and Loki been dating?" Hogun asked, changing the subject as soon as Fandral left the table.
"Since September." Natasha replied, smiling at the memory and turning to look at Loki. The two locked eyes and smiled sweetly at one another.
"Why would you say 'yes' to a guy like Loki?" Volstagg joked, Sif and Hogun smiling at the inside joke.
"Because he's sweet, kind, and he's got more manners and respect than either the four of you put together." Natasha snapped, with Fandral returning he received part of the insult. The four teenagers instantly stopped laughing, and their faces went from shock to annoyance.
"Obviously Loki has been feeding you lies. That's what he does. We called him the 'god of mischief and lies', and he's definitely earned that title." Sif snapped back, giving Natasha a once over before flashing her a cold glare.
"Enough. I do not wish for my long time friends to fight with my new friends." Thor's deep voice snapped the teenagers out of their fight and back to the rest of the table.
"Sorry Thor, I didn't realize New Yorkers could lack so many manors." Fandral replied, giving Natasha a dirty look before returning to his food.
"Enough. I will not tolerate fighting. Natasha and Jane are my guests, and I expect you all to treat them like it." Thor threatened towards the "Warrior Three" and Sif as the small group of teenagers liked to call themselves.
"Ok, sorry Thor." Volstagg was the first to apology, always wanting to be in Thor's favor, causing his friends to roll their eyes but agree to not fight with Thor and Loki's guests and girlfriends.
"Now that that's settled. Who up for dessert?" Thor asks in his usually cheerful voice.
Ok sorry for the delay, I was on vacation and well…no Wi-Fi. I'm so thankful and blessed by all the positive reviews, favorites, and followers I've been receiving on this story! I honestly didn't think it make it this far but here we are on chapter 8! Still no idea when this will be complete, but I do have a better look at the future for the fic. So sorry for this late chapter but I love you all and I just want to make you all happy! I will gladly take the criticism (as long as it's not too harsh) and I love all the feedback this story gets! Any suggestions, thoughts, questions, or anything else y'all can think of is greatly appreciated and I'd love to hear it! Keep in mind that I rewrote this chapter about three times before I liked the beginning so I'm sorry if it's kinda choppy. Thanks again! I'll try to update soon!