Chapter 10 anyone?

I do not own any characters. ;_;

It took Bruce a good 30 minutes to convince Tony to let him get Loki a cat. So, two hours later, they stood in the feline wing of the closest animal shelter. The car was already packed with everything a cat could possibly need; food, litter, litterbox, toys, brushes, etc. One of the staff had been surprised to see Tony Stark walking into the shelter but quickly shrugged it off and had brought them to the feline wing.

"Well, here we are," She said with a smile. "We have many cats and kittens but I'll leave you to pick and choose."

Bruce nodded to her and started looking through the cages with Tony on the opposite side.

"Hey Bruce, comere," Tony said a few minutes later, motioning him over. When Bruce was beside him, Tony pointed to the cage just in front of them. "Look at this one."

Inside the cage was a small figure wrapped up in a blanket. It seemed to hear them outside its cage and its head popped up. The kitten was small and had long black fur and beautiful golden eyes.

"That is one of our newer arrivals. She's around 11 weeks old," The attentdant said. "She was already adopted out once but her owners said that she didn't fit well with their other pets and they brought her back. She's rather mean so that was probably the problem."

Tony chuckled. "Sounds like she'd be a good fit."

Bruce smiled and looked at the attendant. "We'll take her."

Bruce carried the pet carrier into the living room, Tony trailing behind him carrying the bags full of cat items. The little kitten was mewing the whole time, obviously not content with being quiet. Bruce sat down on the couch with the carrier.

"What is that noise?" Thor asked, looking into the carrier.

"It's a kitten," Natasha said.

"Why did you get a cat again?" Phil asked. He was also sitting with the rest of the team. He had mostly stayed on his floor whenever Loki was out. They both had felt uncomfortable around each other but Phil was willing to make amends.

Bruce shrugged. "Loki really seemed to like them and they are good pets.

"What's a cat?" Thor asked.

"It's an animal, a feline." Steve replied.

Bruce chuckled walked down the hall to Loki's room, Steve, Thor, and Tony following him.

Bruce knocked on the door."Loki, would you come out for a bit?" There wasn't an answer.

"Come on Loki, we got something for you," Tony said. Loki still didn't answer. Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. "We got you a cat but if you don't want it-" The soft click of the lock cut him off and Loki slowly opened the door.

"What?" He asked, his face indifferent but his eyes glowed with happiness.

"They got you a cat," Steve said. "It's in the living room."

Loki smiled and pushed past them walking into the living room.

Thor smiled and looked at Bruce as they walked back into the living room. "Well, that was easy."

...

Loki sat on the couch beside the cage, his eyes trained on the ball of fluff inside. Bruce chuckled and opened the carrier door, reaching in to get the kitten. She clawed at his hand as if to say; Leave me alone!

"Guah, she's a feisty little thing isn't she?" Natasha said.

Bruce nodded and held the kitten out to Loki. He smiled and gently took her from his hands. The little kitten calmed down and looked up at Loki, golden eyes meeting green. She started purring and rubbed her head against his neck. Loki smiled and pet her. She mewed happily and pushed her head into his hand.

"Loki you must be a cat whisperer or something. She's only been clawing and biting us since we got her," Tony said, watching the two.

Loki shrugged and scratched under her chin.

"What are you going to name her?" Steve asked, sitting next to Loki and petting the kitten. She nipped gently at his fingers but otherwise left him alone.

Loki sat thinking for a moment. "I don't know."

"Maybe Noir?" Bruce said.

"Or Umbra?" Phil threw in.

"You could name her Ebony," Natasha said.

"Or Midnight," Steve said.

"Might I suggest Nox sir," Jarvis said.

"Nox?" Loki asked, looking up to the ceiling as if he would see Jarvis there.

"Yes. It means 'night' in Latin."

"Nox..."Loki said, looking down at the kitten now sitting contently in his lap, watching him. "That sounds good." Everyone else nodded or shrugged in agreement. "Nox it is then."

"We got her some toys and food and stuff too," Tony said, motioning towards the bags.

Loki nodded. He set Nox on the floor, curious as to what she would do. She looked around, confused for a moment before swatting at Steve's shoe string. Steve smiled and reached down to pet her but she grabbed his hand in her paws and started chewing on his fingers.

"Sir, Mr. Fury wishes to speak with the team. He says it is urgent," Jarvis said, interrupting the somewhat peaceful moment.

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Link him through to the television."

The television screen flicked on, showing an image of Fury. "Stark, we have a situ-...Is that a cat?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yes it's a cat. Now, what?"

"We have a situation. A small portal just closed outside of the city. There are a few Chitauri on site."

Loki froze, shivers running down his spine.

"Shit. How many?" Tony said.

"Only a few, between 20 and 30," Fury replied.

"Thanks." Tony said sarcastically, turning off the TV and grabbing one of his suits. Clint, Natasha, and Steve quickly left the room to get their various weapons. "Bruce, you can stay if you need to." Tony walked out onto the balcony.

Bruce nodded and sat beside Loki, picking up Nox and setting her in Loki's lap even though he still seemed frozen. Phil moved to the chair, slightly closer to them but obviously wanting to stay at a comfortable distance.

Thor grabbed Mjolnir before turning to Loki. " I will not allow them to harm you, bro-Loki."

Loki's gaze flicked up to Thor. Thor couldn't possibly keep that kind of promise could he? He could try but that didn't mean he'd succeed. Loki remembered when they were only young children and Thor had told Loki that he wouldn't let the creatures from his nightmares get him, that he'd keep him safe. Thor hadn't done so before...But everyone made mistakes didn't they? Everyone had there down days.

Loki nodded slightly, his gaze not leaving Thor's. Thor smiled before following Tony out onto the balcony and then taking off, flying out of the city. Loki sat, absent-mindedly petting Nox but staring down at the floor.

Bruce laid a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch and look up. Bruce smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, they'll take care of it. You're safe here."

Tony and Thor were the first to arrive on the scene, soon followed by Steve, Natasha, and Clint in the Quinjet. Most of the Chitauri were ground soldiers and only a few took to the air, all of them immediately started shooting at the team.

"Jarvis how many are there," Tony asked, shooting his repulsors at two of the Chitauri flying around. One of which went down instantly.

"Twenty-six left sir, seven in the air, nineteen one the ground," Jarvis replied.

Clint and Natasha had already started shooting many of them, Steve slammed into a few with his shield, while Thor fried most of the rest in the air with lightning. It took them under half an hour to get rid of the Chitauri, there were so few.

Tony sighed and shot off to the tower, followed by Thor, they walked into the living room to find Loki asleep on his back with Nox laying under his chin. The kitten's head looked up and watched them for a moment before curling back up, her purring was audible from where they stood. Thor smiled at the sight and gently stroked the kitten before following Tony into the kitchen. Phil, Bruce, and Pepper where there, talking. Tony grabbed a bottle of brandy and poured a large amount into a glass cup, swallowing most of it in two gulps. Moments later, Steve, Clint, and Natasha walked in, glancing at the still-sleeping Loki before joining everyone else in the kitchen.

There was a few minutes of silence before Clint spoke up. "Why would this Thanos guy send so few Chitauri? There must have been some reason but they couldn't accomplish anything with so few numbers."

"To cause fear," Steve said. "He wants Loki to know that he knows where he is and he wants Loki to be scared of him."

"Yeah, because Loki isn't already terrified of this guy," Tony cut in sarcastically. That left everyone silent, contemplating the facts.

A little meow brought everybody's attention to the little black figure in the doorway.

"Tony, is that a cat?" Pepper said.

Tony nodded and scratched the kitten between her ears. Nox batted at his hand before bounding over to the bag that had the cat-food in it, pawing at it. Natasha smiled and picked up the bag, pouring some food into a bowl and water into the other before setting it infront of the small feline. The room remained silent except for everyone's breathing and the crackle of cat food being crushed in the kitten's jaws.

"It would be a lot easier if we could tell when the portal's were opening up beforehand so we could be ready," Steve said, sitting in one of the stools.

Phil furrowed his brow and turned to Thor who had been silent the whole time. "What about your friend Jane. She was good with predicting when and where they would open. We could bring her here, just for a while until the threat is...subdued."

Thor shrugged but nodded. "It would be nice to see Lady Jane."

"Great, it's settled then, another person coming to live in the tower, of course,"Tony said sounding somewhat annoyed.

I actually had a hard time picking a good name for the cat. XD

All of the names that the team suggested had been candidates but I settled on Nox. 8D

Reviews? Thoughts? Suggestions?