Chapter 11

"I honestly have no idea," Darcy said. "Psycho boy locked himself in Jane's trailer yesterday and hasn't come out since." Darcy's words had an immediate effect on Thor, and he quickly made a beeline for the trailer.

"So what happened to the kitchen?" Tony asked, taking off his helmet as Thor ran past.

Thor burst into the trailer, and Fenrir sat up from his position on the floor. Once he saw that it was Thor he shot up and ran over.

"Thor!" Fenrir said, as he wrapped his arms around his uncle. "You're back."

"I'm sorry for the delay," Thor said, hugging him back. "My talk with the Avengers took longer than I foresaw."

"I thought you'd left me here," Fenrir admitted, letting go and stepping backward.

"Have you been alright? Darcy said something about the kitchen," Thor asked. Fenrir looked down ashamed.

"There was an accident. I'm afraid I damaged your friend's home," Fenrir confessed.

"Was anyone hurt?" Thor asked.

"No. I mean…" Fenrir hesitated before showing his uncle his burned hand. Thor immediately jerked him forward so that he could get a better look. "It doesn't hurt anymore. Jane gave me ice." Fenrir insisted, and Thor smiled at the mention of Jane.

"I don't imagine she's very happy with me right now," Thor said. "I should go and apologize to her for my lateness. Then, if you're ready, we can go." Fenrir was more than ready and he quickly followed Thor out and to the lab. Jane and Erik had joined Darcy and Tony on the lawn.

"I'll have someone come out tomorrow and remodel the whole thing for you," Tony said to Jane. "Seriously, granite, tile, whatever you want."

"Thor," Jane said, walking over to him.

"I'm sorry I was gone for so long," Thor said.

"Why didn't you call?" Jane demanded.

"I seem to have left my phone on Asgard," Thor admitted, avoiding eye contact.

"We have a lot to talk about," Jane said.

"That will have to wait until next time. Sorry, lovebirds, but I need to get these two back to the tower." Tony said.

"Fenris, this is my teammate, Tony Stark." Thor said. Tony turned and gave Fenrir a quick once over.

"I thought you'd have a mustache. Not sure why." Tony said. Before Fenrir had a chance to figure out what a comment like that could possibly mean, Thor had grabbed him around the waist and taken off.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

Once again the flight was over in less than a half hour and when they landed, Tony wondered if it would be worthwhile to try and transfer the new fuel tech to his private jet. This daydream was interrupted when he heard someone retching behind him. He turned around to see the very unattractive sight of an alien puking on his roof.

"So, not a fan of heights?" Tony asked. Thor gave Tony a look before kneeling down to check on Fenrir.

"Are you all right?" Thor asked. Fenrir began to answer before throwing up again. Once he'd emptied his stomach he stood up.

"Stark, what's going on up there?" Steve asked through Tony's intercom.

"I'm telling him government secrets. We'll be down in a minute." Tony said. He waited for his armor to finish disassembling around him before turning to Thor. "You two ready to go inside?" Fenrir nodded to his uncle and they went in. Tony sent the elevator to the 25th floor and waited, and waited…and… Tony quickly began to hate who ever had invented uncomfortable elevator music and decided that his next project would be to create an instant elevator so he'd never have to go through this again.

When they finally got to Bruce's 'happy floor', Tony had to quick make a decision of where to stash their new houseguest/hostage. There were three rooms set up for Bruce to go when he was in danger of hulking out, and each of them had been designed with the same security to contain the Hulk. The interiors were definitely not the same.

Room A was filled with furniture, mostly wooden, for when Hulk needed to smash his frustrations away. Room A was where Bruce tended to go when he knew a Hulking was imminent and needed to release some rage. Room B was a completely empty cell that pumped calming music and aromatherapy. This was where Bruce went when he was feeling on edge but thought that there might still be a chance of gaining control and going back about his work.

And of course there was the evil room. Or at least that was how Tony had always thought of it. The third room, Room C, was filled with bright pastel colors and giant stuffed animals, with the thought that 'maybe the Hulk just needs to get in touch with his inner child'. Tony couldn't stand the room and had yet to go inside without cringing. So far, Bruce had never felt the need to test it out when he was on edge.

Still, Room C did seem the least cell like, so that was the one Tony led Fenrir to. The sight when he opened the door was the same as it always was and, like always, it made Tony shudder. Too much cute.

"We need to talk to your uncle for a while, so you can wait here," Tony said, motioning toward the door. Fenrir walked inside and looked warily at his surroundings. "Just make yourself comfortable and we'll be back before you know it." Thor asked Fenrir if there was anything he needed before he left. Fenrir said no and Thor headed out the door. Tony was following him out when he heard Fenrir say, under his breath.

"I'm always waiting."

Tony thought about saying something to Thor but decided against it. Dealing with family drama wasn't exactly his specialty. He was more an expert on what drinks to prescribe to someone who wanted to wipe out all memory of parents. When they got to the meeting room on the 18th floor he saw that everyone else had suited up.

"Did I miss something?" He asked, taking his seat.

"We just wanted to be prepared," Steve explained.

"Did you have any problems retrieving your target?" Fury asked. Thor seemed unhappy with the description, but didn't say anything.

"Aside from the fact that I'm going to have to have my roof power washed, no," Tony said. "So where did we leave off? I think Thor was about to quit the team, Fury was instituting a no houseguest rule and Cap wanted to stab me in the eye with his pen."

"I never said that," Steve said.

"I'm going by body language," Tony explained. "So did everyone work out their problems while we were gone?" Everyone looked at Thor. "I guess that's a no."

"I contacted a few higher ups while you both were away," Fury said. "They'd be willing to let your nephew stay on Earth in S.H.I.E.L.D custody. If he's contained then-"

"No," Thor interrupted. "If I wanted him in a cell then I could have left him on Asgard."

"You have to meet us halfway on this," Natasha said.

"Or we could just give him a room and save ourselves the time," Tony said. Everyone in the room stared at Tony in disbelief, except for Thor who didn't bother to hide his grin. "We can spend the next few hours arguing about this but it's all going to come down to the same thing. Thor says he's leaving if we don't let him stay, and we can't have the team without him. Even with me on the team, we can't lose that much fire power. Not with Doom, Thanos and, let's be honest, Loki trying to destroy us every other week."

"You really want this guy living in the tower with us?" Clint asked. "You did hear the part of the story where he killed nine kids, right?"

"Jarvis, pull up a visual of Panic Room C," Tony said. Immediately a screen materialized in the center of the room and showed Fenrir. He was standing next to a giant, pink stuffed bear and seemed to be trying to figure out what possible purpose something like that could serve. "Terrifying as he seems I think I'll be able to sleep at night."

"This is probably one of the most secure places to have him," Bruce reasoned. "Jarvis has constant surveillance on everyone and if he even begins to act suspicious then we're all here to stop him."

"You're on his side?" Clint said.

"I just think it makes the most sense," Bruce said.

"No, handing him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. makes sense. This is insanity," Clint said.

"Well it's my house and it's my rules. I say we let him stay," Tony said. "Anyone who doesn't like it can start paying rent."

"Stark," Fury began.

"My house," Tony repeated.

"Thank you," Thor said earnestly.

"No, no, no, we haven't agreed to anything yet," Clint insisted.

"God help us, I think we have," Steve groaned.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

"That's your uncle's room on the left and over here is your room," Tony said, leading Thor and Fenrir down the hallway. "So far Thor's used it when he has visitors from Asgard, so don't be surprised if you find some leftover chainmail in the closet." Tony said letting himself into the bedroom. "We have reinforced furniture, full length mirrors, and an in suite bathroom with an old fashioned tub that all you Asgardians seem to like so much. All the comforts of Medieval fairy land, without having to leave the planet." Tony waited for a response while Fenrir eyed the room. He quickly saw that he wasn't going to get one. "Thank you, Tony, for giving me this incredibly comfortable room, and for opening up your home to me." Tony prompted.

"Thank you," Fenrir said quickly.

"Yes, thank you," Thor added. "You have shown yourself to be a most faithful friend."

"I'm pretty incredible that way," Tony agreed. "Well, I'll let you two have some family time and go see what threats Fury has in store for me. Personally I'm hoping for bamboo shoots but no one ever appreciates the classics anymore." Tony offered one last salute before he left the room. Fenrir stared at the door for a while after he left.

"Your friend is, I don't think I've ever met anyone like him," Fenris said, still staring at the door where Tony had just left.

"The people of Midgard live very differently from us. However even they seem to find Stark to be rather unique," Thor explained.

"Oh," Fenrir said, looking around the room.

"My companion, Volstagg, once stayed in this room. I don't believe he had any complaints. And you'll be very close to my room if you need anything," Thor said. "Later I can show you the rest of the Tower. I think there might even be a library on the 33rd floor." Fenrir saw how hard his uncle was trying and forced a smile.

"I'm sure I'll be very comfortable here," Fenrir said. This was more than enough for Thor.

"Of course you will be," Thor said, throwing an arm around Fenrir's shoulders. "I'm sorry that I had to leave you alone for so long, but that is all done now. You're home." Fenrir wished that he could join in his uncle's enthusiasm; he really did, but he couldn't help but think that the last time Thor had promised him a home he'd ended up in a dungeon on Asgard.

"I look forward to introducing you to the rest of the Avengers." Thor said. "Would you like to join us for dinner tonight?"

Fenrir's mind flashed back to the last dinner he'd attended, making a fool of himself in front of his uncle's friends. Flinching at every touch from Darcy and ruining a meal simply because someone bigger than he was had reached in his direction.

"I think I'd rather stay in here, if that's all right," Fenrir admitted.

"I'll bring you something then," Thor said.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*

"You don't think Thor's going to try and bring him to dinner, do you?" Bruce asked, as he unpacked a bag of Chinese takeout.

"It's Thor. He's probably going to want us to throw a feast to celebrate his first night here," Natasha said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

"You seem surprisingly comfortable with the idea," Steve said.

"I'm carrying eleven knives and a stun gun," She said, and quickly demonstrated the fact by spearing an egg roll with a combat knife.

"Is that any different to what you usually have at dinner?" Tony asked, digging through a bag.

"I usually leave the gun in my room," She said.

"If I were you I'd have brought more," Clint said, laying his bow on the table.

"Come on guys, what did we agree? No weapons during dinner," Steve said.

"As long as Loki's spawn is in the tower, I don't go anywhere unarmed," Clint said.

"I look forward to seeing how you manage a shower without losing the quiver," Tony said, rifling through another bag. "But you guys don't need to worry about Cujo coming to dinner. He turned Thor down on that one. And did I or did I not order spicy pork?"

"When did you talk to Thor?" Bruce asked.

"I haven't. I've been having Jarvis give updates on everything that happens in there. That and a video check every half hour," Tony said, continuing his search.

"You're spying on them?" Steve asked.

"I actually find that reassuring," Natasha said, and she reached to pull a bag from under the table and offered it to Tony.

"You hid the spicy pork?" Tony asked. "That's one of the most evil things you can do to a person." Natasha just shrugged and continued with her meal.

"I can't believe you're having Jarvis spy on him," Steve said. "You're the one who invited him to live here."

"That doesn't mean I trust him," Tony said. "Thor wanted him here, so I made it happen. Although to be fair, from what I've seen so far, I doubt he'll give us any problems."

"None of this matters. Fury is never going to just let him stay here. It's only a matter of time till he shows up with an extraction team," Natasha said.

"Well I'll be counting the moments." Clint said. Thor came into the room soon after and conversation briefly stopped. Thor announced that he would be taking dinner with his nephew, grabbed a few cartons and left.

"He seems happy," Steve said.

"It's Thor. You give him extra Pop Tarts in the morning and he's happy," Clint said. "He's like a kid."

"Speaking of kid, something's been bugging me," Tony said, through a mouthful of pork. "Bruce, you did the math on Thor's age last year, right?"

"Yeah," Bruce said.

"You said that Thor was about 35?" Tony asked.

"Give or take," Bruce said. "The math wasn't exactly easy."

"But let's say that Thor is 35," Tony said. "And Loki is just a little bit younger."

"What's your point?" Steve asked.

"I'm just trying to figure out how it is that we have a 22 year old on the next floor," Tony said. It didn't take long for everyone else in the room to do the math.

"You're saying that Loki was a teen parent?" Clint asked, barely fighting the urge to laugh.

"He can't be that old," Steve said. "We saw him in the panic room and he looks like he's still in his teens."

"Let's be nice and say the kid's eighteen," Tony offered. "That would still result in a Sixteen and Pregnant situation."

"You'd think that that would have come up somewhere in Thor's stories," Steve said.

"You'd think Fenrir would have shown up somewhere," Natasha interupted. "Thor tells stories about everything. Are we really supposed to believe that his brother had a son and Thor never mentioned him once?"

"He said it was a sore memory," Bruce offered.

"His brother has tried to kill him half a dozen times and he still manages to tell stories about their adventures together," Natasha reasoned.

"So you think he might be a fake?" Clint asked.

"I think it's a possibility that we should consider,"

"Nope," Tony said. "Look, we all know that Thor can be a little naïve sometimes. But even he's not just going to believe some random guy who shows up and says, "hey, I'm family"."

"We've dealt with memory spells before," Natasha said. "Enough magic can make a person believe anything. Remember anything."

"But to create a person," Steve said. "An entire life? It's too much."

"Look at what we see every day," Natasha said. "When Amora attacked last year Tony spent a week thinking he was a six year old girl."

"We agreed never to speak of that again!" Tony yelled, horrified at the memories.

"All I'm saying is that it's not outside the realm of possibility," Natasha continued, ignoring Tony.

"Why would someone go to all that trouble?" Steve asked.

"It got him in here, didn't it?" Clint pointed out.

"Besides, it's no secret how Thor feels about Loki," Natasha said. "What better way to get control over Thor than by giving him a link to his brother."

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

It was two days before Fury showed up again. As soon as he was through the door he called all of the Avengers to the 18th floor.

"How's the new addition?" Fury asked, once they were all seated.

"He hasn't left his room since he went in. Unless Thor's in there with him he basically just sits," Tony said. He noticed the look Thor was giving and quickly added. "Or so I'd guess."

"I guess we can be thankful for small favors," Fury said. "My superiors weren't exactly pleased when I told them about how our last meeting ended. Their first response was to send a strike team to eliminate him." Thor glared at Fury but he kept talking. "Eventually they decided to go in another direction. You asked us to offer your nephew sanctuary. It's been decided that he'll have to pay for that privilege." Thor stood up from his seat at the table. He saw the direction that this was heading and he didn't like it at all.

"Despite our increasing exposure to life on other planets, our knowledge of other life forms is frighteningly limited. A team is being put together of the best doctors and scientists this country has, and they going to come here and figure out how an Asgardian works," Fury said.

"I won't let you treat Fenrir like some animal." Thor growled at Fury.

"Thor, the tests they want to do aren't that different from the ones that you offered to do when you first joined the team," Natasha reasoned.

"You knew about this?" Thor demanded.

"Fury told the both of us before the meeting," Clint said. "Personally I would have supported a full dissection, but they wanted to keep you happy."

"No," Thor stated.

"This is no longer up for discussion. Either he helps S.H.I.E.L.D learn about other life or he's out," Fury said. "And Stark doesn't have a say." Fury added when Tony started to speak.

"The tests are harmless," Natasha said.

"Then why haven't you done them on me?" Thor asked.

"Because every time we've tried to hook you up to machines, your electricity has short circuited them before we could get a reading. And there's only so much we can get from a physical," Natasha explained.

"I'm not a fan of making people into lab rats, but that kind of knowledge would be invaluable," Bruce admitted. "What if we allowed Thor to sit in on the exams? That way he'd know that we aren't doing anything that crosses a line." Bruce suggested, as much to Thor as Fury. He hoped that Fury was being honest about the tests being harmless, and the potential knowledge they could gain was unimaginable, but he knew how quickly some scientists could forget that their subjects were people.

"I'm sure we could arrange that." Fury conceded.

"It doesn't matter. I won't allow it," Thor insisted.

"If you can't agree then neither of you are welcome here. No matter how much we might need you on the team," Fury countered. "Even this offer is more lenient then we'd normally allow."

"Then I guess I must leave," Thor said, standing up.

"Where are you going to go?" Bruce asked.

"To Jane, if she will still have us. Then I will think of something more permanent," Thor said.

"You'll have to think of something fast. Fenrir won't be welcome anywhere S.H.I.E.L.D has jurisdiction. So you'll have to take him out of America," Fury said. This news made Thor hesitate for a moment, but he soon regained his resolve.

"Then I suppose it won't do me any good to linger," Thor said, leaving the room.

The next hour consisted of the team arguing with Fury about the ruling. The arguments included the need to have Thor on the team, the unfairness of making him choose between them and his family, and of the possibility that Thor might go to Loki if the Avengers cast him out.

Fury insisted that the offer he'd given Thor had been the best he'd been able to create. He explained that, while he wanted Thor on the team, he couldn't just let the son of the man who tried to conquer Earth just come to stay without some kind of exchange. The group seemed to be running out of things to say when Thor reentered.

"I have explained the situation to Fenrir. Despite what I would have chosen, he has decided to take your deal. Assuming that I can be present, he will allow for the tests," Thor said.

Author's Note: Wow it took a long time to get Fenrir into that Tower. Originally when I planned this story Thor was going to find Fenrir and have him back on Earth by chapter three. Then plot happened. Oh well, now that I'm all caught up I can focus on Fenrir's rehabilitation and the slow build of a romance between him and( we apologize for our technical difficulties). So that should be something fun. Thanks so much for those of you who have reviewed. Love reviews!