Guest- Here it is! I'm sorry it took so long :(
Synyster.A7X- Here you are! Thank you so much :)
geica91- Knowing Loki, he'll be plotting something diabolical.
Shelby- Sorry! Here you are and I hope this will tide you over till the next, longer chapter is up.
BornToBeAWitch1989- I had a lot of fun writing it!
brooke13243546- Here you are! I'm happy to make you laugh and giggle :3
i-love-tea-and-coffee- Thanks :D
Lexicon04- I think I could arrange to build a pool in my basement just for you, lovely. And thanks! I love the feels.
Anime-GuardianAngel- Muhahaha yes...something...bad.
AllThingWeird35- Thank you so much!
m9ower- Thanks! Please enjoy 8D
Tir-Na-nOg-Niamh- Well I couldn't not include such perfection, hon! ;)
shelbs- Thanks!
Silentmusic226- Sorry for the wait! Here you are and I hope you like it.
Fellowship of Avengers- We're all happy for them until something bad happens! MUHAHAHA! Nah, just kidding. I couldn't do that to Stevelyn.
Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! They really do help the story start off right.
My muse and schedule have not been coexisting hand in hand.
Please Enjoy.
*~CONFRONTATION~*
Manhattan, New York
Avengers Tower
April 9th
12:00 PM
It felt otherworldly and odd to know that when she placed a hand on her stomach, she was coming in contact with another person, a little baby, growing inside of her. The sensation was foreign and the feeling scared her to death. The mere thought that she was sharing her body with a future human being was unsettling but comforting at the same time. Ashlyn had wanted a child growing up and Steve had been talking about wanting one since they had gotten married. He had slept holding her close with a hand draped across her flat abdomen. In a few months she would actually begin to show. Ashlyn had never been able to picture herself pregnant. She only hoped that she wouldn't be bonkers like the pregnant woman stereotype.
What made it all worth it was that the cute, enthralled, smitten, and adorable little grin that had graced Steve's lips the other night had yet to leave. As soon as Ashlyn woke up she found Steve smiling down at her and then he proceeded to kiss her multiple times. They were some of the best kisses Ashlyn had ever received and they nearly surpassed her first ever kiss: the snowy Christmas night at the base of what had been Stark tower with the Captain. The night before that afternoon she had called her parents. Her father congratulated them and her mother cried into the phone. Her father said that Steve was the best thing that had ever happened to Ashlyn and the brunette agreed instantly, snuggling up into her husband's collar. Ashlyn was nervous for what would happen when the morning came, but she knew everything would be just fine.
"Doesn't it make you the least bit nervous that the man who tried to conquer the world is going to be living with us in the Avengers Tower?" Ashlyn had questioned as they drove to the skyscraper, her knuckles whitening around the steering wheel.
"I don't worry for my safety," Steve responded, reaching over to squeeze his wife's arm. "I will keep you safe no matter what. He's not laying one finger on my family."
At that point in time Ashlyn and Steve stood in the elevator riding up to the Avengers' living room. Ashlyn honestly had expected what happened next.
With a ding the doors slid open and a pair of hands grabbed her. Ashlyn yelped when she was scooped up into someone's heavily muscled arms and then was sitting on Clint's shoulders. Tony was yelling something about his Spandex Temple lacking the Vestal and his seer no longer being chaste. Then she was down and it felt like a million pairs of arms were embracing her and thousands of voices were echoing in her ears. When she had regained her sight and it was no longer blurred by hair and bodies, she found Pepper, Jane, and the Avengers all beaming at her.
"W-W-What was that all about?" Ashlyn stammered out. Clint, who had a party horn dangling out between his lips, blew out an obnoxious note so the streamers at the end of the instrument flapped about.
"We just wanted to praise and highly regard you two on for no longer being virgins!" Tony exclaimed with a smirk.
"And for that you're expecting," Bruce added in.
"Mostly for the latter," Pepper agreed with a nod.
"But partly for you two no longer being pure unlike the rest of us," Clint chortled as he elbowed Tony in the ribs.
"Mainly." Tony dipped his head.
Ashlyn felt her face grow hot. "Well thanks. I-I-I think."
Steve cleared his throat awkwardly. "Is Thor getting-?"
"Yes, they'll be here in a few minutes," Natasha answered with Alina in her arms. Ashlyn glanced over to see that both Tony and Pepper had one of the twins in their clasp. Logan was toying with the collar of his mother's shirt while Jamie gurgled and ran her tiny hand over her father's facial hair, the other hand tapping on the arc reactor that was glowing through his shirt. Alina was just chewing on her hand and gazing at Clint. Ashlyn's eyes quickly picked up on the fact that Natasha had a gun in her thigh holster and Tony was wearing his two silver bracelets.
"What's the plan when he gets here?" Bruce inquired. "I understand he's going to be living with us, but for how long?"
"However long it takes. The Asgardian's said he can't come back until he's changed and under control," Steve said.
"Which will be eons. Non compos mentis. A completely power hungry lunatic." Tony cocked a sassy eyebrow and went on when the elevator dinged. "This outta be fun."
The lift doors separated and out emerged Thor with a smile on his face at the sight of his gathered friends. Ashlyn could tell there was a certain wariness in his usually jolly blue eyes. He wore his Asgardian amor and carried his hammer in one hand, his other resting on the back of his accompaniment. The brunette's eyes quickly scanned over the other man as fast as her heightened reflexes and senses would allow. The other she recognized right away from seeing him on television, his face permanently burned into her mind just like Schwarzlose's and the Avengers' were. His hair was darker than the color of the night, a deep jet black that was slicked back, and the tips reaching his collarbone. He was much leaner than Thor but just as tall. His skin was pale and looked as cold as his sharp green eyes. His gaze was calculating and chilly when it locked with Ashlyn's dark blue one. Loki had high cheek bones, a strong, sharp jaw line, and a handsome but sly looking face. The man wore a simple crew neck, green tee with black pants and dark shoes. His arms were well muscled but lacked Asgardian strength. Ashlyn found it odd that he shared the same nervous habit that she did when she spotted his fingers twitching and flexing by his sides.
Ashlyn's heart pounded in her chest as Loki continued to stare at her as if he was studying some foreign creature. His gaze never wavered from her own, their eyes locked in a battle to see who could hold the fixed look the longest. Ashlyn's own fingers quickly began to move by her side and she swallowed hard when her body shivered.
"Welcome back, Reindeer Games," Tony greeted. When Loki's eyes shot over to Tony and the little girl in his arms, a simper tugged at the corner of his lip.
"Stark I see you have been busy," Loki responded as he peeked back and fourth between Pepper, Logan, Jamie, and Tony. "Same with you, Barton."
Clint's jaw locked. "How was your purgatory, you miserable-"
"Captain, will you show my brother to his living chamber now?" Thor interrupted. Loki's face twitched into a miniscule snarl when Thor tagged him as his sibling. "I must speak with Stark and Barton. I will include you in the conversing in a moment."
Steve nodded and gestured for Loki to follow him. Ashlyn pursued her husband down the hallway, Loki striding with a facade of confidence while his fingers gave a spasm of anxiety here and there. The ex-Asgardian's room was just a short walk down a corridor from the main floor where the Avengers all gathered when not on their own private quarters and floors. Steve pushed open the door and pointed Loki inside. In the interior of the room was a queen sized bed with white blankets, pillows, ans sheets, a desk, a chest at the foot of the bed for possessions, a bedside table with an alarm clock and lamp, a dresser for his clothes, and a wardrobe for shirts and coats that needed to be hung. It was all very simple with a window that overlooked the city.
"This will suffice," Loki drawled. "It is more extravagant than what I was expecting from Stark."
"You should be grateful you get a bed at all," Steve replied darkly. Ashlyn didn't like the intensity in his voice. It reminded her of the first time Steve had confronted Dr. Schwarzlose who was still being held in an extremely secured cell at a SHIELD prison.
"I suppose," Loki responded, his eyes narrowing. "I imagine you are rooming nearby?"
"I'm not your personal caregiver."
Ashlyn tugged slightly on the side of Steve's shirt. Loki heard the ruffling of the fabric and his attention turned to her.
"You have yet to introduce me, oh fair captain."
"You'll have to wait," Steve said. "Wait here."
"It's not like I have any other choice." Loki smirked. His eyes lingered on Ashlyn for a heartbeat more before he turned to his desk where a book sat. Steve placed his hand on the small of her back in a protective gesture and leas his wife from the room. Once they were back in the living room, Ashlyn released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
A surly looking Tony was sprawled on the couch with a little sleeping Jamie resting on his chest, her face buried in the crook of his neck. Clint was clearly irritated and was muttering to Natasha while Alina and Logan were crawling around in a pack n play. Jane and Thor were the only ones who looked up when they came back in.
"How is my brother fairing?" Thor inquired immediately.
"He says his room with 'suffice'," Steve quoted.
"Thor was just telling us how we have to treat Loki with respect and all that other shit," Tony groaned. "Ugh."
"Hell if I will," Clint grumbled.
Thor ignored them. "I know he is not well liked, but he is still my brother and will be treated properly and accordingly."
"What about our kids?" Pepper spoke up.
"Loki will do them no harm or harm will have to be done to him," Thor answered. "He does not know about Jane or Lady Ashlyn and he will not know until we either tell him or it becomes much too obvious."
"If it's not too much to ask, will you be keeping an eye on him up there, Ash?" Natasha questioned, tapping her temple to signify the seer's visions.
"I-I can try," Ashlyn stammered with a nod. "You know they're unpredictable-"
"Which is why you two are going to start staying with us more often," Tony told Steve and Ashlyn. "Not only will it be a party, but I know Ol' Saint Nick is going to be having us go on a mission soon and he'll need someone here to keep Loki in line. No offense to you or Jane, Pep. I'm pretty sure your barbed tongue would make him cower in fear anyway."
Pepper smiled.
Ashlyn shivered at the thought of being the only one in the tower with the ability to keep Loki at bay while the other Avengers were off saving the world and fighting crime. Her eyebrows came together and a hand absentmindedly went over her abdomen.
Steve's mouth tightened. "We'll have to see about that. Ashlyn and I should go get some of our stuff then."
"I'll come with," Bruce muttered. "I need some fresh air."
Ashlyn ran a hand through her hair and nodded. "Okay.
"And Thor," Steve spoke as JARVIS called up an elevator for them. "Loki won't stop staring at Ashlyn. Is this something I should be worried about?"
Thor shook his head. "He has met and seen all of us before except for her. He has even heard and seen about Lady Stark his first time on earth. Lady Ashlyn, you are new to him. He is probably wondering where you came from. My brother is can be very curious to certain aspects. He also over analyzes things to the point where light thoughts can become dark. I would not become too anxious, Steven. Loki is harmless in his current state."
"How long will it take?" Bruce asked seriously.
"However long it takes for my brother to change like I once did," Thor explained. "Loki is a good person. I know you mortals find it hard to believe, but in there somewhere is the brother I once knew and loved. We'll have to unravel him and peel away the disease that is haunting him."
~Illumini