Chapter 5

A Close Encounter

School went by just as it had the first day except, this time, Emily knew where her classes were.

Plus she had another lunch date.

They had agreed to meet at a nearby Starbucks, located in The Square, at noon but Emily's class was let out late and she was forced to sprint the entire way. She made it to the door just as Clark was departing. The look of betrayal - and pain - on his face made her groan and she placed her hand on his arm.

"I'm so sorry, Clark," she mumbled and offered him a sheepish smile.

"It's fine." He returned her smile and she sighed in relief. Ten minutes late she could understand. Even twenty minutes she could understand. But forty-five minutes?

"Coffee's on me," Emily said as she pulled Clark back inside.

"Who could say no to free caffeine?"

His laughter helped her relax and, once they had received their coffee, they found themselves deep in conversation.

"In your last text you said you had a sister, what's she like?" Emily inquired.

Clark leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. Something told Emily his sister wasn't exactly a great conversation topic. Mentally she kicked herself for forgetting not everyone got along with their family. Unsure if she should take it back and try something else her hands immediately reached up to play with her necklace. Her fingers cradling the emerald crystal while she grappled with her thoughts.

"Christine is," Clark began. "Well, she fits the upper-class stereotype a little more than I'd like to admit."

Emily immediately stopped her nervous fiddling and gave Clark her full attention. When he didn't continue she motioned for him to go on.

"She's a big fan of expensive things - especially clothing and cars - and if it wasn't for the fact we live in a penthouse on the top floor she'd be sneaking out every night to go party."

"How old is she?"

"Seventeen."

Emily laughed slightly. "So, she does what most teens do. Just… with a little more class."

He shot her the crooked grin that sent shivers up her spin before continuing. "I suppose. It would be nice if she'd come back to Earth once in a while. I miss when she actually liked spending time with me."

"I know the feeling."

Clark took a sip of the coffee stationed in front of him. "We weren't always close but there was this one time, about five years ago, when our parents were out on business and it was just the two of us. I was eighteen and wanted to spend the weekend with friends but when the babysitter showed up and I headed for the door Christine grabbed onto my leg and wouldn't let go. I tried to shake her off but she wouldn't budge."

Emily laughed. "I don't know what it is but little kids have grips like velcro."

"Tell me about it. I tried everything but she just wouldn't let go. She kept crying and saying 'don't leave me too, don't leave me too' - eventually I caved. Hell, I'd spent more time with nannies for the first six years of my life than my own parents. I knew what she was feeling. So I sent the babysitter home. We went to the living room and she just sat there and stared at me. Waiting." He stopped to take another drink. "Just as I was about to change my mind, again, she ran to her room and grabbed all the board games she could physically carry. She dropped one on her way back to the couch and just about tripped on it. We spent the morning playing board games, the afternoon watching disney movies, and by some strange twist of fate she gave me a make-over after dinner."

The coffee nearly shot out of Emily's nose. She grabbed a napkin and stifled her laughter.

"Sorry. Sorry. It's not every day a grown man admits to getting a make-over by his sister as a teen."

He snorted.

Emily waved her hands in defense. "It's not a bad thing. Just unusual."

Clark gave her an apprehensive look as he studied her face. Searching for hints of sarcasm or insincerity but when he found none he rolled his eyes and continued. "When it was time for bed she couldn't keep her eyes open and I had to carry her to her room. I'd barely tucked her in when she wrapped her arms around my neck and said 'it's alright if mom and dad don't come home. I like you more'."

Emily was speechless. Sure, Clark wasn't like what she'd imagined New York University students to be like but she'd assumed he had had at least a privileged, no troubled, life. 'Welp, I'm an asshole.' She groaned in her mind.

Right on cue he shrugged before shooting Emily that crooked smile. "And that's the story of the only time I've ever bawled like a baby," he joked.

She shook her head. "Don't be embarrassed. Not many guys care that much about their siblings, especially at that age."

"I'd cry on national television if she'd go back to being that innocent little girl again. Now all she does is retreat to her room, brush me off, and when she does talk to me... it's as if she can only speak sarcasm. Trying to get her to spend time with me is like…" he searched for the right analogy. "Like Pepper trying to get Tony to attend meetings."

Emily couldn't help but laugh. "You don't know just how difficult it is."

Clark just raised an eyebrow.

"Let's just say I'd rather be forced to live in the city and do Tony's job than take over Pepper's job."

"That bad?"

"You really want to know?"

He pondered it for a moment. "Err- remind me what it is about farm life that you love?"

"In an hour, when I haven't shut up, remember you asked for this."

"Will do."

"Farming isn't just hard work and a lot of crying," she winked. "It's being unrestricted. There's not a deadline you have to meet every week. No bosses breathing down your neck to work faster. Most importantly no stuffy cubicle. You're surrounded by the beauty of nature and the peace it brings with it. I mean, knowledge is important, don't get me wrong, but there's no joy in learning when you're pitted against your peers. That's stressful and it doesn't give you positive opinions on those same peers. No matter what you do you'll always find someone better at it, someone more qualified, and in the end you'll be thrown into their shadow. Farming isn't like that. You have to rely on and trust your peers, carry the burdens together, which means there's no hierarchy. Everyone is equal. Everyone's expected to do the same amount of work, put in the same amount of effort, and celebrate the same rewards. It's…" Emily had to pause to catch her breath. "Healthier. When you have a bad day at, say, a big Starbucks' chain you're told to suck it up and power through it. You don't get a choice but to be happy and give pissy customers what they demand." That earned her a glare from the frowning businessman standing at the counter: complaining to the employee about his less-than-ideal coffee. Emily just smiled at him before continuing. "But on a farm the only living things around are animals. They don't belittle you, don't demand you greet them with a smile and go-get-'em attitude or else you'll be fired… They just listen."

A warmth spread across Emily's cheeks when she stopped and actually looked at Clark's expression. Just as his story had left her speechless, hers had returned the favor. Her hand reached for her necklace once again as that nervous feeling returned. "Life isn't just about surviving, it's about finding joy. Being happy."

"Your parents sure taught the right life lessons."

She shook her head. "My grandfather was the one who taught me that."

There was an awkward silence as she rolled the crystal in her hand.

"He sounds like an incredibly observant man."

"Perceptive about everyone but himself."

Clark gave her a questioning look.

"He could always tell what his children and grandchildren were thinking or feeling. Always knew how to make us feel better. But for the longest time he could never see how shattered he was after my grandmother passed away," she muttered as she choked back the tears. "The sad part is that I was the only one who noticed it before he passed away. I-"

Emily blinked in surprise when she felt Clark's hand on her own.

"If you're not ready to talk about it, just say so."

She pulled her hand out of his and wiped away the few rogue tears. "He was a good man."

"I don't doubt it."

Emily offered a weak smile before taking a few sips of her coffee in an attempt to quell the pain rising in her chest. When she placed it back to the table Clark was watching her carefully. But before she could apologize for the almost-break down he broke the silence.

"You make farming sound like a dream job. Think it's too late to change my major?"

That earned him a hoarse laugh. Only to be replaced by a muffled scream when Emily looked at her phone and saw the time.

"Shit!"

He jumped. "Something wrong?"

"No. Err, not with Tony. But I'm going to be late!"

"Shit."

Emily frantically shot from her seat and grabbed her bag. "Shit. I'm so sorry for having to run…"

"It's fine. Hurry and you might still make it!" Clark encouraged.

She smiled at him and ran for the door, only to stop to turn around and shout 'text me later' before continuing to her class.

Even though she had lost track of time she didn't regret it. The more she spoke to Clark the more she enjoyed being around him. And the more he surprised her. He was definitely proving every assumption she'd had about New York University students completely wrong.

Thankfully.

The rest of her day flew by and before she knew it she was home. Luckily no one saw her when she returned and she was able to sneak to her room and dive right into her homework. Even when it was done she remained in her room. As much as she loved her cousin there wasn't anything that could get her to go jump into the middle of the argument he was undoubtably caught up in. Either with Jane or Pepper. By now Emily didn't have to hear them arguing to know they were; he'd been getting himself into trouble from the moment the research team had shown up. His concern for his things gave him one more reason to try and brush off his responsibilities at work - missing more than an acceptable number of meetings - which put him on Pepper's bad side while his doting over those very things put him on Jane's bad side. Honestly it was something of a miracle that he could get along with women long enough to actually have any sort of relation to them. No matter how brief.

Of course, in a twisted way, it was sort of entertaining to watch them argue.

Something about watching her cousin being reminded that he wasn't the center of the world was reassuring. Plus it made her feel better about the stupid things he used to do to her. 'Sometimes the best revenge is the one that has no connection to you.'

Just as Emily was rethinking her decision to stay in her room there was a particularly loud crash. Followed by a few muffled screams. She sighed and realized it had been wise to stay put. Besides, it had been longer than she thought it had since she was able to just read and stay in the confines of her room. When the research team had shown up Emily had been concerned it would have a negative impact on Tony's mental health so she'd opted to stick by his side for the last few days. But it seemed as though her fears had been ill-founded. His only real issue was learning to share, not suppressing panic attacks. It was a welcome relief considering she had missed being able to sit in her room and relax. Working in an actual lab was nice seeing as she didn't have anything remotely similar back home but it could be draining to be around Tony for too many days in a row.

Thus, Emily vowed to spend the rest of the day holed up reading her text books, the books her mother sent, and the books she'd stolen from Tony's library. At one point she considered going to steal more but when a mortified scream echoed up from the lab she chose not to risk it.

For someone to scream loud enough that she could hear it from her room meant Tony was in some deep shit.

'I'd rather attend ballroom dance classes again than go near that mess,' she snorted before returning her attention to her books.

It took all of two days for Tony to do it again.

Emily was on cloud nine when she returned to the tower that Thursday. She'd aced a particularly gruesome quiz that morning before bumping into Clark in the hallway. They hadn't talked for long but it was long enough to put her in a good mood and, as she walked through the front door of the tower, she wanted nothing more than to go call her mother and gush about it all.

Two feet through the door and she almost ran into another unannounced guest.

On reflex she opened her mouth to apologize for not paying attention but when the woman turned around Emily felt her heart stop. One look was all it took for her to recognize Natasha Romanoff. Images of handcuffs, prison cells, and court rooms flashed in her mind.

Immediately she jumped back and offered a nervous laugh. "Sorry. Didn't know we were expecting a guest," Emily said and extended her hand. She might have been smiling but internally she was raging. "I'm Emily Stark. Tony's cousin."

"Natasha Romanoff."

Emily had to remind herself to breathe when Natasha shook her hand. Natasha might have been smiling and seemed fairly relaxed but Emily was more than aware that, if Natasha wanted to, she could kill her and leave no trace. A shiver ran down Emily's spine. Her entire body tensed in response and she tried not to show her paranoia. She had no clue how to speak to Natasha or if it was even a good idea to engage in casual conversation. It didn't help at all that Emily was entirely inept at simple chit-chat amongst family and friends - never mind a complete stranger with the ability to kill her and make it look like an accident. It was a miracle she hadn't fainted.

Natasha was amazing, Emily could admit that, but she was still intimidating as hell. Even in the grey mini skirt and white blouse she was currently wearing. Plus, Emly wasn't sure if SHIELD knew about her little stunts yet.

Her mind reeled with thoughts of getting caught or arrested and she shuddered.

"Natasha!"

Luckily Tony's voice tore through the awkward silence and Natasha's attention was pulled away from Emily's nervous figure. More than lucky considering she was having a hard time keeping herself from passing out.

She didn't wait to hear what Tony was going to say before making her escape to her room. Where she stayed for the rest of the day once again. Though, this time it was due to fear she'd blurt out something incriminating rather than trying to avoid the ninth ring of hell in Tony's lab.

"Narcissistic prick!" Emily snarled and threw the manual sitting on the table at her cousin's head. "This makes four consecutive times! Four, Tony! Four!"

He stared at her with a freshly poured drink in hand, completely dumbstruck, trying to piece together why she'd lobbed the manual at him. It wasn't even an informative manual. She might have missed but it was the attempt that mattered.

They locked gazes and he would have sworn he saw smoke billowing out of her ears.

"Your incompetence will be the death of me!"

It clicked.

He grinned.

She threw a screw driver at him; another miss.

"Where's Hawkeye anyhow?"

The scream that tore out of Emily's throat could have been heard across the country…

Banner's gaze didn't leave the monitor on his wrist until Emily had left the lab and he heard the elevator stop. Even then he kept it in his peripheral.

The research team simply stared at the space Emily had been standing in with looks of horror and utter confusion riddled across their faces.

Pepper just sighed.

Everyone agreed that it would be a miracle if Tony survived the rest of the day.

If it wasn't for the meetings Pepper kept dragging him to - spur of the moment meetings whose only purpose was keeping Tony away from Emily - he'd be nothing more than a mangled heap ground into the floor of his lab. At first everyone, even Natasha, had been unsure why Emily had been so pissed but after Barton joined them in the lab and made an off-handed comment about nearly taking out a civilian they understood. Emily hadn't just run into Barton like she had Natasha the day before, she'd surprised him enough that he'd nearly fired an arrow through her chest.

Needless to say, no one tried to bother her after she slammed the door to her room; staying there for the rest of the night.

They figured it was to cool off and keep from annihilating her cousin.

But that was a small part of the truth. In reality, Emily had heard more than enough rumors regarding unexplainable deaths during class. Deaths that had been swept under the public's radar by some nameless government agency. It had sounded too familiar - too SHILED-like - to leave alone.

After she calmed down enough to put all thoughts of killing Tony in the back of her mind she decided to do a little research; sifting through news articles, online forums, and even taking another crack at SHIELD's database. Momentarily forgetting the two assassins currently present. Purposefully forgetting that one of them had already come close to killing her.

Yet, for all her digging, she didn't find much other than a few photos of the crime scenes.

Although they made her uneasy they didn't seem like anything to really worry about.

For two days after her close-call with Clint, Emily spent all her free time in her room or going to the public library. It had been too close of a call for her to feel comfortable in the Tower or assisting the research team. And once her rage had subsided a paranoia of being caught had set in. There were two top SHIELD agents wandering the halls of Stark Tower - both of which terrified her - and she was the citizen that had hacked their database. Repeatedly.

It was in her best interest not to come across either of them.

On the third day her mind chose to replay her near-death experience over and over in her head and she finally couldn't take it anymore.

"I have never considered murder so many times in my life!"

Clark chuckled as she rubbed her eyes. They were sitting on the grass in the courtyard, not caring that it was the middle of September, with coffees in hand. As Emily groaned he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"He's not worth the jail time," he joked.

She snorted. "That's what I thought too. At least, until I heard an arrow fly past my ear."

He raised a concerned eyebrow and she sighed. "I mean, I'm alive… sure. But really, I almost died because he couldn't be bothered to tell me we were expecting more people."

"Maybe it slipped his mind?"

It was a sweet idea but ill-founded.

"Forgetting to tell me Banner was coming is fine. Hell, forgetting to tell me that an entire research team was coming is typical Tony behavior. But the two assassins?" She shook her head.

"Well, didn't you tell me last week he once forgot to tell you about a party he was hosting until ten minutes before it started?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but that's different. None of the guests were capable of killing me on reflex," she sighed.

Clark offered a sympathetic look and she gave him a half-hearted smile; grateful he was wiling to listen to her bitch about her family even though they'd only known each other for a little over a week.

Their conversation faded to silence and she just stared at her lunch. Remembering how she almost died sort of made her appetite vanish. She was just thankful her professor in her next class had had to cancel the lecture for the day. Family issues or something.

God how she could relate.

"How are your parents doing?"

"Good. From what my mother tells me it seems as though my younger siblings are actually pulling their own weight now that I'm gone."

"Really?"

"Yep. It's such a relief, since Finnegan turns seventeen this year. We were all a little concerned he'd never make it in the world if he didn't start taking his chores more seriously."

Clark gave her that crooked grin. "Didn't you admit to doing his chores as an excuse to stay out in the barn longer?"

She feigned innocence and whistled: her eyes looking everywhere but at him. When he didn't take his eyes off her she laughed. "Alright. I admit it. In my defense... I used to do Darrel's chores too. Up until he moved out."

"Wait, remind me which one Darrel is?"

She sighed.

"Not all of us have a dozen siblings, Emily."

She snorted. "I don't have a dozen. I have seven."

They stared at each other for a moment before breaking out laughing.

"Fine, fine. You win," she said wiping away a stray tear. "Alice is the oldest and she just turned 34."

"She's the one with kids, right?"

"Yep. Missy, Chad, and Thomas are hers."

"They're rather young, aren't they?"

Emily shook her hand in a 'so-so' fashion. "Missy's ten, Chad's seven, and Thomas is three. But since Holly's eleven I wouldn't really consider Missy that young."

Clark scowled. "Your family is far too large."

She laughed. "Aw, come on. It's not that unusual. Is it?"

"For New York it sure is."

Emily paused, not sure how to react to that. But when he noticed her hesitation Clark laughed and squeezed her arm. "It's not a bad thing. Just not the norm."

She smirked. "Sure. Sure."

"Alright, continue. Alice is the oldest… then comes Bri-"

"Brad. He's 29, easy-going, and a prankster. Conner's the third oldest at the age of 25 and Darrel's only three years older than I am."

"So he's fifteen, right?"

She punched him in the arm. "Rude."

"Just teasing."

"Uh huh."

He laughed at her attempt to glare at him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Go on."

She waited for a moment before dropping the act. "Let's see… Alice, Brad, Conner, Darrel," she had to tick them off on her fingers before she remembered where she was. "Right, I was born after Darrel."

"Best event in your parents' life, right?"

"Smooth," she giggled.

"I try."

"Finnegan's seventeen and really into music. Ginger's twelve and Holly's eleven, like I said. Those two are the terrors and always into trouble."

"Says the girl who dyed her brother blue."

"In my defense… Conner locked me in the attic for three hours. I just got him back."

Clark raised his hands in front of his chest. "Hey, I'm not judging. I've pranked my sister before."

"Oh, right. I forgot," she giggled. "You hid her iPad under her bed. Quick, I hear the cops. Might want to hide before they catch you."

He snorted at her but she winked and he rolled his eyes.

"Sure you live on a farm? Sounds more like a circus."

"There's a difference?"

Just as Clark opened his mouth to say something his phone went off. Three sentences later he sighed and stood up.

"Gotta head home. Parents are going to be gone at some gala tonight which means I get to go pick up Christine from school."

Emily gave him a sympathetic look before throwing what was left of her lunch in her bag and standing up too.

"It's alright, I should probably head home. Can't hide forever, right?"

He laughed.

They both said a quick goodbye before parting ways. And when Emily was sitting behind the steering wheel of her mercedes, something she had claimed last week after Tony took it out and almost made her late, she smiled. She felt a lot better about nearly dying after talking to Clark about it. There was something about Clark that made it hard for her to stay upset around him. It was for that reason that, after she made it home, she gathered the nerve to go investigate the research team's progress. She was still shaken up about her run-in with Barton, and unsure if he or Natasha knew about her extracurricular activity, but not nearly as severely as she had been. Besides, she missed pestering Tony in the lab.

When she walked through the door and saw Clint sitting in a chair looking particularly bored, Natasha not far away watching Tony's every move, and neither one looking ready to jump up and kill her, Emily figured she'd be fine.

"Emily!" Darcy cooed, motioning for her to join them. "Come to do our job for us?"

Jane gave Darcy an irritated look but smiled when she met Emily's gaze. Apparently Emily had been forgiven for their earlier encounter which caused a wave of relief to settle in her bones. Jane wasn't exactly intimidating, unlike Natasha, but the thought of getting on the woman's bad side didn't sit well with Emily. Especially since she'd decided, during her research, that she would get along with Jane. Being proven wrong wasn't appreciated nor an option.

'Science girls have to stick together, right?'

"So, what're you staring at?" Emily tentatively asked.

Darcy snorted and threw her hands up. "Who knows."

Jane ignored her.

"Still looking at pollution levels?" Emily continued.

Jane sighed but nodded. "I don't get how things could get this bad so quickly." It was said more to herself than Emily but Emily chose to see it as an invitation to peek at the papers and readings scattered on the table.

Noticing her interest Darcy immediately handed her a piece of paper when Emily was close enough. "Okay pollution guru, what's going on?"

Emily laughed before looking at what she had been handed. Her eyebrows crinkled together and she joined Jane in shuffling through the papers and comparing data points.

"This," she mumbled in shock. "This can't be right."

"That's what Tony said," Darcy quipped. "Before he started blaming Jane. Ya know, cause the only reason for the readings would be her breaking his stuff."

Tony heard the sarcasm in Darcy's voice but only snorted in reply: too engrossed in whatever the hell he was doing to reply properly.

"But this means-" Emily stared at the papers completely dumbstruck. "The implications - I mean…" she trailed off and Jane just nodded.

"Our planet's fucked," Darcy shrugged.

Emily was so enthralled in what she was looking at that she didn't notice both Natasha and Clint staring at her, waiting for her to put everything together.

"The pollution level's risen by - at least - 1%." She stared at the data, trying to process what it meant. She even rechecked the time stamp five times before getting irritated and looking up. "Jarvis, bring up the pollution levels for the rest of the world - three charts please," she demanded. "Same charts that I asked for last time but this time add one just for the last eight days alone."

Instantly the requested charts appeared before her and she ran her eyes over them once… twice… a third time before swiping them on top of each other: comparing the increases.

"It seems limited to the United States so far," she murmured. "There's a slight increase everywhere else but not noticeable enough to warrant checking out. But here…" her fingers hovered over the charts relating to America. "Something's definitely going on."

Tony scoffed and she threw him a look.

"I would have thought that you would have figured this out in no time, Anthony," she chided.

He gave her a look. She pretended not to see it.

"But what?" Jane sighed, pulling the cousins back to the problem at hand.

"Again, million dollar question." Emily shrugged and offered her a sympathetic half-smile. She might be able to catch on quickly but even she couldn't catch on that fast.

'I came to New York to watch Tony and go to NYU. Not to be a part of this crazy hero world he's jumped into,' she groaned. 'I didn't sign up for this.'

Yet, as an avid nature lover, Emily was starting to feel that she had a personal interest in what was happening. This was her planet and she'd be damned if something was going to try to take it from her without a fight.

So when Tony tried to shoo her away - most likely payback for her pointing out he'd missed something big - she scoffed and stood her ground.

"This isn't your problem," he started.

"Of course not! I mean, what stake would an aspiring farmer have in keeping the planet clean?" She didn't mean to snap or sound as sarcastic as she did but this wasn't something that only he cared about. If he cared about it at all. For as close as the cousins were there were still times when even Emily had a hard time deciphering his emotions. "This isn't an alien attack, Tony. You're not the only one who can help," she sighed.

Tony opened his mouth but when she gave him the I-dare-you-to-tell-me-no look he closed it. She rarely used that look, especially on Tony, but when she did she always got her way. The last time she had used it on him she had been seven and demanding he teach her to use a blowtorch. It was a look the whole family knew. And feared.

Tony just sighed and waved his hand in submission.

"Besides, you guys obviously need someone who can connect the dots that isn't doting over machines."

"Watch it, Millie."

She scowled at him but let it slide. She sort of deserved that one.

Thus, Emily spent the rest of the day beside Jane and Erik; trying to figure out just what they were facing and if there were any other implications other than the destruction of the planet.

At one point Natasha left to take a phone call - Fury no doubt - but when she came back in she resumed her original position. This time choosing to stare at Emily rather than Tony.

Oddly, it didn't bother Emily as much as she would have thought.

Eventually everyone's stomach began protesting and they had to seek food. Thankfully Pepper had been prepared and when they all filed into the kitchen there was a collective sigh of relief at the already-set table.

Dinner went by fairly well even if slightly awkward. Natasha and Clint kept to themselves for most of it, Banner ducked out after making a plate for himself in order to take some time to relax without anyone present, Jane and Erik continued their conversation from the lab, while Tony, Emily, Darcy, and Pepper managed some small chit chat.

When dinner was over Emily took her leave to go double check her homework had been completed for the next day: having to explain to Darcy more than once that she couldn't help. Emily appreciated the offer and had a hard time not giving in to Darcy's pleading - she greatly enjoyed Darcy's company - but homework wasn't something Darcy could help with nor something Emily typically needed help with. Most importantly, Emily had research to do and she didn't need witnesses.

That uneasy feeling had returned.

Author's Note:

Screw the whole schedule thing; I get too excited to really stick to that. I'm going to try to post chapters sometime around the weekend but there may be times when they get posted earlier.

As usual, I have to give a shout-out to all those amazing people who have been so supportive!

SweetAssassin: We don't see much of Jane and co. in the movies so I thought it would be sort of fun to bring them in. Not to mention they're also important to the plot. (oops, said too much~)

Sunflower13: I might not own horses but stallions are the bomb! Plus it seemed appropriate for an avid farmgirl. I'm glad you enjoyed the introductions! Gotta admit, as much as I love those three, Clint's subtle introduction in this chapter has to be my personal favorite.

LexxHiddleston: Don't worry about it! I'm not horribly confident in my writing or characters so I get a little overly worried when people mention things they're having issues with. Not in a bad way… more like a 'oh god how do I make this better?' way. But it is such a relief to hear you say you're starting to connect with Emily a little more – and I'm glad you enjoyed the intro for Bruce.

hdXmagnifique: I'm glad you found the story too! Thor and Loki will definitely be making an appearance but I won't spoil the surprise of when. ;D All I'll say is that there's a few things that have to be attended to before I drop them in~ Unfortunately I have no idea how many chapters there will be in total since I haven't written the entire thing out yet. I'll be sure to let everyone know if/when I do.

Heather Tobotua de Cybertron: I cannot tell you how worried I was when I first got your review in my email. But after reading it I have to say it's one of my absolute favorites! Thank you so much for the advice and the positive feedback!