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This was the best day EVER.

Natasha couldn't believe it- her days in complete boredom had finally come to an end. She could feel her blood thundering through her veins and her heart hammering within the confines of her ribcage. The only thing keeping her from leaping for joy was Thor's alleged 'grave news'. That usually meant some shit was about to go down.

However, that didn't stop her senses from tingling like crazy, sending her reflexes into overdrive and near frizzing out her hair. She nearly buzzed with the anticipation of a kill. Of course alien targets stood far apart from her usual human targets… but her hiatus had gone on for too long. Fury had required her assistance in various matters over the past twelve months, but they had all been lack-luster missions with barely any fatalities. Now, with Thor's sudden arrival, she could be sure of a thrilling adventure. If not that, then at least someone to kill.

The ex-spy had grown extremely restless over the year and nothing… nothing was going to stop her from milking this situation for the excitement she deserved.

But she couldn't let her joy get out of hand. Knowing the rest of her team they'd have plenty distraction along the way. This was one of the reasons she preferred to work solo. Admittedly it hadn't hurt to tag along with Rogers… but the captain was in some ways similar to her. He respected rules, followed them and was completely focused on his task. Unlike Stark. The multi-millionaire absolutely refused to be serious even when his life hung in the balance. She hoped he didn't do that now.

If she had been working alone she would've already wrangled information from Thor and would already have been on her way to Fury's to discuss what should be done. However, the rest of the team was staring up through the giant hole in the ceiling with their eyebrows furrowed and mouths hanging open, while the thunder god stood to a side with his eyes downcast.

'What on earth is that?' Steve whispered as he frowned up at the sky and the shape that was hurtling towards them.

'J.A.R.V.I.S, please tell me that's not landing in our ceiling,' Tony whimpered in what sounded like pain.

Natasha wasn't sure.

'Unfortunately it is, sir, and I can't determine whether or not it is an unfriendly,' the computer system replied in its droning British accent.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Clint asked, glaring at Tony accusingly. 'Don't tell me your only security system is broken.'

'It's not broken!'

Natasha sighed. Sometimes, men were as dumb as a plank of wood.

'You just brought some luggage, didn't you big guy?' she asked Thor, stepping away from the hole in the ceiling as the distant blob in the sky grew closer.

The Norse god shrugged noncommittally. 'I MAY HAVE.'

'Whatever it is, PLEASE don't let it crash through my roof!' Tony squealed as he dove for cover behind a large piece of debris.

Clint pressed as close as he could to the lifts at the far end of the room. 'Can't we stop it?'

'With what, a missile?' Stark snapped irritably. 'And destroy poor Blondie's luggage?'

'YOU CANNOT DESTROY IT,' Thor boomed, still standing where they had left him.

Steve crawled closer to Natasha and ran a hand through his dust flecked golden hair. 'What have you brought, Thor?' he asked with a sigh.

And then the roof caved in a second time.

The falling object smashed through Stark Tower just a few feet away from where Thor had descended. Brick and dust rained down upon them once more and Natasha was sure she would have to take over ten baths to rid her hair of wall plaster.

Stepping cautiously over the newly shed rubble, she made her way towards whatever it was Thor had brought along.

'This is gonna kick up a huge ruckus at S.H.I.E.L.D,' the redhead noted, observing the glowing blue container that stood crookedly in the Stark lounge, surrounded by debris.

'And why is that?' the captain asked her, moving past her to inspect the bluish box.

'If this is really Thor's luggage,' Natasha began, shooting a glare at the god in question. 'Then its Asgardian and it would show up on their radar. Worse, Thor's probably never brought it down here before so it's going to show up as an unfriendly for sure. Fury will be all up in our faces.'

'If not him,' Tony added morosely. 'Then Coulson.'

'THE LITTLE MAN,' Thor interrupted in confusion. 'IS HE NOT DEAD?'

Natasha winced.

'Actually, sir, he is very much alive,' Steve replied, before glancing at the box before him.

It stood taller than he was, which was impressive for just… luggage, and it glowed a bright, mystical blue.

'It's an unfriendly, huh?' he joked, prodding at the box.

'YOU HAVE NO IDEA,' Thor muttered, still louder than normal.

Natasha peered closer, trying to make out the shadows that lurked within, when all of a sudden the blue danced brightly and separated into bars that crisscrossed the giant box, giving them a crowded view of what lay within. The bars then slid to the corners of the cell and a clear force-field took its place as the walls that restrained its components.

Or in this case, component, Natasha thought sourly as she eyed the cargo within the now transparent box.

'That was the most hideous landing ever! What were you even thinking- that we could just smash through a building?! We're not that stupid green animal you know!' the prisoner ranted angrily, before spinning around to glare daggers at the crowd of humans glaring daggers back at him.

'Oh great. Just great. We're visiting the rest of your dysfunctional family… as if that god forbidden woman wasn't enough!' the Norse god of Mischief muttered darkly.

'You brought Loki here?!' Tony demanded, turning to glare at the thunder god who was lurking behind them guiltily.

'This is the guy who tried to kill us!' the captain added incredulously.

'Oh don't be flattered,' Loki muttered. 'I tried to kill everyone.'

'What is he doing in my lounge?!' Tony shrieked.

Natasha didn't have to be able to read body languages to know that Stark was about to snap.

'Spit it out, big guy. We need to know and we need to know now,' she said, without sparing the prisoner a glance.

'Why doesn't anyone just ask me?' Loki cried, throwing his arms into the air and slouching against the cell wall. 'I'll give you a hint: we're not a vacation.'

'Hardee-haha,' Tony snapped. 'You shut it, reindeer-head.'

'They're horns!' the god retaliated with equal fervor. 'Not antlers!'

Thor sighed heavily. 'AFTER WHAT LOKI HELPED ASGARD ACHIEVE DURING THE SIEGE OF MALEKITH, FATHER HEARD MY PLEAS ON HIS BEHALF. HOWEVER, FREEDOM IS NOT SOMETHING ONE CAN GAIN SO EASILY.'

'So you're babysitting him?!' Tony shrieked, his voice raising an octave higher than expected.

'And you brought him down here?!' Steve demanded, shooting glances at both the imprisoned Loki and the slightly guilty looking Thor.

'I HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER.'

'Oh yes you did! You could've left me with that oaf Heimdall- anything would've been better than bringing me here!' Loki groaned.

'Take him away. Now,' Tony deadpanned.

'I CANNOT. HE WILL BE USEFUL IN THE SITUATION I CAME TO TELL YOU ABOUT.'

'And what is that?' Natasha asked tersely. 'Want to tell us the important news?'

'I'm never helping you ever again brother, I nearly died last time!' Loki grumbled.

'He what?' Steve questioned tentatively.

'Should've stayed dead,' Tony snorted.

'Enough, already!' Natasha interrupted. 'Thor, please tell us what's going on. Now. And we'll deal with the goon later.'

Loki only sniffed in return.

'I HAVE RECENTLY BEEN PUT I CHARGE OF ASGARD,' Thor began.

'How did that happen?' Steve wondered, glancing at the god.

'MY FATHER WILL SOON BE ENTERING ODINSLEEP TO REGAIN HIS STRENGTH AND ASGARD WILL HAVE TO BE LED BY ANOTHER.'

'And who better than his favorite son?' Loki added with a scowl.

'WHILE PREPARING MY FATHER FOR HIS REGENERATING SLEEP, WE CAME ACROSS AN ASGARDIAN LEAVING TOWARDS MIDGARD THROUGH THE BIFROST.'

'Is that unusual?' Steve asked in confusion. 'Don't you use it?'

'This is the weird rainbow bridge, yes?' Tony queried with a smirk.

Thor nodded and explained, in his loud booming voice. 'IT IS USED BY ASGARDIANS TO TRAVEL TO MIDGARD. BUT DURING ODINSLEEP NONE MAY LEAVE ASGARD. IT IS ALREADY WEAKENED WITHOUT A RULER.'

'So maybe this Asgardian didn't know?' Natasha added with a scoff. 'Either way, it doesn't automatically make him… or her… a threat.'

Thor bowed his head. 'THE ASGARDIAN MANIPULATED GREAT FORCE TO USE THE BIFROST. HEIMDALL THE GUARDIAN OF THE BRIDGE WAS INJURED GREATLY IN THE PROCESS.'

Loki groaned behind them. 'Great. Now it's save the world time.'

'IT IS, UNFORTUNATELY,' Thor acquiesced.

'Alright then,' Natasha concluded, running the new information through her mind at a rapid pace. 'Fury should already be aware of the multitude of Asgardians on earth, but there's no harm in going there. He'll probably send someone to recruit us there anyway.'

'So we're taking a trip to Fury's now?' Steve asked tentatively.

'No, they are,' the redhead answered, instantly taking control of the situation. 'Stark and Clint, you two must go brief Fury about this.'

'WHAT ABOUT ME? I'M THE ONE WITH THE INFORMATION.'

'You can't go into S.H.I.E.L.D with their priority one villain in tow. That would be murder.'

'BUT WHEREVER I GO, HE GOES.'

'I'm a priority one villain?'

'Don't be flattered, reindeer-games.'

'Can't you leave him here just for now. Stark will watch him.' Natasha offered.

'Hell no- ask robin hood here to do that. I've got some stuff to tell Fury too.'

'Clint?'

The archer bristled with unrestrained animosity as he turned to glare at the imprisoned Asgardian. Their past hadn't been entirely delightful and Natasha could literally feel the tension between them build thickly in the air.

'Clint you heard me?' she asked quietly.

'No I didn't,' he replied cracking a tense smile. 'But I got it. I'll watch the little shit while you guys are gone. Don't worry.'

The redhead smiled and internally kicked herself for unintentionally mocking his hearing impairment. Usually she never cared for people's feelings but Barton was the only person she'd ever allow herself to care for. And she valued their comradeship- to a certain extent.

Nodding at the archer in agreement, she headed for the lifts, batting the cloud of ever-present dust away from her face.

'Where are we going?' Steve asked, as he strode alongside her, easily dodging the debris littering the floor.

'I'm going to take a shower and you're going to wait for me in the lobby,' the redhead said with a smirk as she stepped into the elevator. 'And then we're going to India.'

'India?' the captain started as the doors closed on them.

'Yeah,' she said with finality. 'We've got a "stupid green animal" to track down.'

S.H.I.E.L.D HQ

The building towered high above them in all its splendor as both men strode right in; one a god in his own mind, the other a god in his own world, both not caring for the architectural masterpiece shrouding them in its shadow. Tony could barely suppress a smile as he caught sight of a team of software technicians leaving the building as they entered. Apparently his meddling with the S.H.I.E.L.D mainframe hadn't gone unnoticed. Smirking, he made a mental note to offer his services in assisting the reconstruction of the agency's firewalls. Around them, several passers-by stopped to stare open mouthed at Thor as he marched across the lobby determinedly; his cape flapping behind him and his breastplate glinting in the filtered sunlight.

'THESE HUMANS ARE TINY,' he observed, glancing at the ogling agents.

Tony snorted. 'And I'm not?' he said, sparing a glance at his reflection in the steel walls.

Thor laughed loudly. 'YOU'RE EVEN TINIER.'

'Should've seen that coming,' the billionaire muttered as he pushed his way into the elevator.

They rode the metal contraption to the highest floor and stormed out in search of Fury.

'Forty four?! This building has waay more floors than that! Why are stuck on forty four?' Tony ranted.

'FAIR MAIDEN,' Thor boomed, apprehending a passing female agent. 'WE ARE IN SEARCH OF OUR DARK ONE EYED FRIEND.'

'Y-You mean Director Fury?' the woman stammered, gulping as Thor swung his arms about as he described the man in question.
'That's racist,' Tony deadpanned.

'I- I can't take you to him,' the agent replied nervously. 'Do you have an… uh… appointment?'

'An appointment?' Tony roared. 'This is important!'

'THE WORLD'S FATE HANGS IN THE BALANCE,' Thor added sagely.

The woman squeaked in fear. 'Erm… I…,' she whimpered.

'I can take you to him,' a voice announced from behind them.

'Coulson?' Tony asked with a grin.

'LITTLE MAN,' Thor boomed affectionately. 'YOU ARE NOT DEAD.'

'Mr. Stark, Thor,' the friendly agent beamed. 'I am not dead. I can also take you to see Director Fury.'

'Yes please, good man. Take us there soon,' Tony sighed dramatically. 'I've been standing too long.'

'Follow me please,' the agent said with a smile, leading them back into the elevator.

'We tried that,' Tony pointed out glumly. 'It didn't work.'

'Ah, but you didn't have this,' Coulson grinned, producing a small plastic card.

'WELL DONE LITTLE MAN,' Thor said, clapping him strongly on the back before leaping into the lift. 'LEAD US ONWARD.'

As the doors closed with a soft whoosh on the trio the whimpering agent outside near fainted dead away.

'I don't appreciate you harassing my staff and infiltrating my computer systems,' the Director stated coldly as he marched around his office table to greet his visitors.

'I have nothing to say to that,' Tony replied with a sniff, before collapsing heavily into a leather chair. 'This is the worst day of my life!'

'Please tell me more,' Fury deadpanned.

'Well first off Goldilocks here crashed through my roof,' the multi-millionaire began, counting off his fingers.

'I was sarcastic, Stark,' Fury spat. 'I don't care about your petty problems.'

'CARE ABOUT MINE, THEN,' Thor interrupted.

'What are you doing down here?' Fury asked skeptically.

'MEETING YOU?'

'I meant on earth.'

'I COME BEARING GRAVE NEWS.'

Fury's only eyebrow furrowed. When was the last time the Lightning God came here with good news? Fury hadn't heard good news in ages. The last good news the director had heard was; there is cake at Agent Hill's birthday party.

And Fury was missing the cake.

'Well?" Fury prompted, 'What's the news? I haven't got all day!'

'Don't be silly, of course you have the day free. I read your digital diary,' Tony said in a matter of fact sort of way, nearing the doors of Nick Fury's office, 'I also read something about that feisty Hill's birthday being today. And something else about cake.'

With that the Iron Man left the office.

'Want some One Eye?' he called after him.

Fury sighed loudly and buried his face in his hands. After a moment the towering alien hero cleared his throat, his loud nature making it sound more like thunder booming over head.

'Oh yeah,' Fury audibly sighed again, 'The news.'

'THERE HAS BEEN A BREACH, A HOSTILE ASGARDIAN LEFT OUR WORLD AND ENTERED YOURS. MY MEN- I MEAN, MAN AT THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE BOTH WORLDS TRIED TO STOP THE CREATURE, BUT HE OR SHE HELD AN IMMEASURABLE POWER THAT DESTROYED ALL THE DEFENSES. WE MUST TAKE ACTION-'

'We? WE? Listen here big guy, every time one of yours comes down here and wreaks havoc WE lose on of ours. This is your problem!' Fury yelled.

'MINE AS MUCH AS IT IS YOURS!' Thor yelled, though not as loud as he usually did due to the guilt that held him back.

The Norse god sighed.

"THERE IS NO TIME FOR PETTY ARGUMENTS, WE MUST TAKE-'

Thor was rudely interrupted by the sound of the doors bursting open with Coulson hauling a cake faced Tony Stark, followed by a fuming Maria Hill.

'As much as I would like to complain and banter about how Stark's been stealing all the cake-'

'Which you are,' Tony pointed out, interrupting the birthday girl.

Agent Hill resisted the urge to whack the multi-billionaire and just watched Coulson glare at him while pulling Tony into the office by the collar of his shirt.

'Sir, we have a problem,' Hill said in her usual curt tone.

'If it's about an unwanted Asgardian crossing that damn rainbow bridge, then save it. I already know.'

'Sir, I don't think you understand the weight of this unwanted Asgardian's return, Sir. Who knows what kind of new plan he's conjured?' Hill ranted.

'Return?' Fury spat, eyeing Thor.

'Yes Sir,' it was Agent Phil's turn to speak, 'The God of Mischief has returned.'

Silence entered the room. As realization hit him, Tony began to choke on his cake, dropping the slice of red velvet on to Fury's office floor in the process.

'Oh no no no no, You've got it all wrong,' Tony coughed.

Realization dawned on to the Norse god as well, but instead of coughing; Thor let out a hearty and obnoxiously loud laugh.

'LOKI IS A FRIENDLY' he boomed.

Silence filled the room again and for some reason Thor felt that his choice of words to describe if adopted brother had been a poor one.

'Excuse me, but let me get this straight; did you just say Loki is a friendly?'

Thor gulped at the director's steely, menacing tone.

'I don't think your idea of friendly quite matches up with theirs,' Tony whispered.

'IT IS A LONG STORY,' Thor explained, 'BUT HE IS INDEED NOT A THREAT.'

'He is not a threat?' Agent Hill shrieked, 'Excuse me. But last time he was down here your baby brother killed eighty people in TWO DAYS!'

'You mean to say,' Fury said slowly, rising from his chair. 'That Loki Laufeyson is running around in Manhattan and we're sitting here doing nothing?!'

'OF COURSE NOT,' Thor scoffed, 'I BOUGHT HIM DOWN SAFELY IN AN ASGARDIAN CELL DESIGNED TO KEEP HOLD OF BEINGS LIKE LOKI. IT IS NOTHING LIKE YOUR ANT AND BOOT SYSTEM.'

Silence.

Tony was really getting annoyed by the way Thor could bring about so many silences.

'Wait…' Coulson said, still catching on.

Fury looked as if he was about to gouge out his good eye.

'YOU BROUGHT HIM DOWN HERE?'

SOMEHWERE IN INDIA

'Banner,' Natasha murmured in a sickly sweet voice as she pushed past the fruit vendors that thronged the street.

The man in question whirled around wildly, eyes searching the crowd for her familiar face. His expression fell like a stone when he found the redhead beside him and then slowly brightened when he caught sight of the captain hovering nervously to a side.

'Is this an annual visit?' he asked jokingly, turning back around to face a stall selling massive green bananas.

'Sorta. It's also the annual save the world time,' the ex-spy laughed, reaching out for a fruit in the neighboring stall.

'Are you going to buy madam?' the stall owner asked in a thick South Asian accent.

Natasha smiled. 'No,' she said as she bit into the fresh fleshy fruit.

Bruce sighed softly and tossed a few coins in payment for her "purchase" and turned back to the man selling the bananas.

'Can we eat those too?' the captain asked casually, sidling up close to the Hulk's alter ego, clearly unnerved by the appalling amount of people occupying the town.

'No,' Bruce chuckled. 'They're ash plantains… you have to cook them.'

'What's a plantain?' the ex-soldier asked with a frown.

Bruce shot him a blank stare. 'A banana.'

'Right,' the captain said, as if he were making a mental note to jot that word down for future reference.

After purchasing the fruit of his choice, the scientist sighed and turned to face his visitors. 'Why are you here?' he asked tiredly.

'Why are you here?' Natasha asked in return, skipping to keep up with the man.

'Living in the Tower was too… crowded for me,' Bruce replied, shoving past the mingling people while hugging his fruits to his chest protectively.

'Like India is any better,' Natasha stated flatly. 'Don't kid yourself, Banner.'

'Fine,' the scientist replied hastily over his shoulder. 'I hate you guys.'

'What?' the captain frowned, blinking in shock.

'Not really… no,' Bruce corrected. 'But I happen to hate what we get into as the Avengers and I can't do it anymore.'

'Come on Bruce,' Natasha said softly. 'Living the quiet life isn't for you.'

'Who says so? I've been doing it for a year!'

'And you're not in the least bit bored?'

'I find that hard to believe,' Steve added quietly.

'You don't know me, Cap,' Bruce sighed, running a hand through his pepper and salt curls. 'I actually like being a doctor here.'

'Is that what you're doing?' the redhead asked, scrunching up her nose in distaste.

'Yes and its helpful.'

'Saving the world from its unfavorable fate would be equally helpful… if at all even more so.'

'I don't really have a choice do I?'

'Nope.'

'How did you even find me? India's a giant place,' Bruce ventured, setting the bag of bananas at his feet.

'Just cause you've hidden yourself away from civilization doesn't mean civilization hasn't changed,' Natasha answered with a small smile.

'Tony's been upgrading his stuff, huh?'

Steve laughed. 'Yeah, we hacked into the S.H.I.E.L.D mainframe and gathered some files. One of them had your data in it and Stark utilized it to track your location.'

Bruce stared at him for a while before asking; 'What's he on about?'

'Tony's been using him for his daily mischief,' Natasha replied with a heavy sigh, before punching the captain lightly on his arm. 'He's corrupting you, Steve. Stay away.'

Bruce eyed the two Avengers quietly and watched them interact. Many things have changed, he noted sagely.

'I'll come,' he sighed finally.

Natasha froze in mid-shoulder jab. 'You will?'

'Just like that?' Steve asked, batting the redhead's hand away gently.

'Yeah I guess so. You said I had no choice anyway.'

'Don't you want to know what's going on?' Steve wondered, as he began heading back for their jet.

'I'm pretty sure it's something along the lines of; some alien is targeting us, only we can stop them, Avengers assemble.'

'Ten points for Banner!' Natasha cheered mockingly.

Bruce ignored her jesting. 'So how'd we go?'

'We borrowed Stark's latest jet. We can make it home in a under an hour,' the redhead said.

'Home huh?' Bruce asked with a raised brow.

The Black Widow just sidled away without a word.

STARK TOWER

'Well that didn't go well,' Tony sighed as he stepped out of his car and onto the drive leading up to the tower.

'YES, IT DIDN'T GO AS EXPECTED,' Thor admitted.

'Shouldn't have brought the golden goat down to earth, don't you think?'

'I OWN NO GOAT. THERE ARE NO GOATS IN ASGARD,' and then in an almost rueful manner the lightning god added, 'ONLY A COW.'

'I meant your brother, Blondie,' the billionaire sighed.

'OH,' Thor stated. 'HE'S ADOPTED.'

Tony just rolled his eyes and continued walking up the driveway. Humor was alien to the Norse god. He looked up at the top of the tower, where he noticed a silhouette moving behind the glass doors.

'J.A.R.V.I.S?' Tony called for his computing system.

'Yes Master Stark?'

'Who's in? Who'd you let in J, cause if it's another unwanted Ass-guard then,' Tony left his threat incomplete.

'I believe the word you are looking for is ASgard sir,' J.A.R.V.I.S answered. 'And no, sir. The person inside is a complete friendly. Though I highly doubt the word to describe Mrs. Potts right now is friendly."

Tony visibly paled. The bottom floor door burst open in front of the two Avengers revealing a fuming Pepper, a sheepish Barton and a frankly amused Loki who was still in the confinements of his blue box-jail.

How on earth did they get the blue box all the way down here, Thor thought in awe, I better it was the blonde haired girl who carried it down. Blonde, after all, is the color of extreme power and strength.

The god stroked his luscious locks while the little earth man beside him willed the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

'ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!' Pepper yelled, probably louder than Thor ever could,

'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY ROOF?!'

A/N: thanks for reading! leave your guesses as to who the trespassing Asgardian is!

hint: its not Thor

extra hint (cause we're nice like that): it's not Loki either :P

reviews are love! hang on for the next chapter... trust me the plot thickens ;)

xx