Pepper walked into the room.

"You has?" Hulk grunted. Natasha seemed to realize that the Hulk hadn't changed back to Banner yet now, and she quickly guided him away and began to murmur, "The sun's getting real low…"

"Oh wow, I seriously wonder what the two of you have done before," Pietro muttered, but Clinton smacked him on the arm and immediately the other shut up.

Steve thought to himself, 'How did the water get into the armor anyways…?'

As if she could read his thoughts, Pepper said, "Bad news—the water that is causing so much trouble around the city is quickly advancing, and can now be infectious with just the slightest touch. Good news—there aren't any." Glancing at Tony, she said, "There was one time when he was like that."

"And?" Wanda asked.

"It was back in Christmas. That was ages ago, before the Avengers had been set up. Tony's a genius, I'm sure you all know that, but his ego is going to kill him one day. I told him that, constantly, and he never listened to me. One time, his invention failed on him, and a billion dollar agreement failed. Normally, the failure of the experiment wouldn't have made him so depressed and locked up, but the fact that this was a huge step into the light and towards fame, and that he had ruined it by now working hard enough caused him to fall into depression and self-hatred."

"I didn't even know that man could have such feelings," Loki said sarcastically, and although Steve shot him a nasty look, he knew inside that he couldn't agree better.

"That was the first time and last time he's been like that." Pepper sighed, looking at Tony.

"How did he get out of it?" Natasha asked, walking out of the room with a now looking dumbfounded Bruce who was staring at Tony as if he saw some master discovery.

"When he was first introduced to Steve," Pepper said.

"Like a fairytale," Thor added.

"You're almost from one, man," Pietro retorted, but Clinton immediately stepped between them and apologized. Afterwards, he aimed very carefully at Pietro's foot, and stepped on the ground.

Really hard.

"Saw that coming," Pietro added with a charming smile, returning to his spot.

Clinton rolled his eyes.

"What should we do now?" Banner asked. "This is a very interesting state of—"

"Bruce," Natasha chided, pulling him away from Tony.

"We're going to have to wait and see how he's going to get out of it this time. I don't really know how long it's going to take…but Steve," Pepper said, "you're going to have to stay with him 24 hours a day. I'm not sure what he might do in this state, and I'm sure that he's going to be in heat for the next couple of days. Please?"

"Glad to fulfill my duty," he replied.

With that, he carried tony in his arms back into where Tony's bedroom was in the Stark Tower.

Slowly, everyone else began to clear out, leaving only Thor and Loki standing in the middle of the vast room.

"Hey, brother…"

"I don't want to hear it," Loki snapped. He found himself a seat, and sat down in it. His head was spinning from all of the information that was flowing in. He supposed he was never going to get used to having to work in a team, much less being the one that was following orders. Whether or not he was the Second Prince of Asgard, Loki had always been the commander of all the battles.

He hated not being in charge.

And he hated how he couldn't get his hold on everything. Never before had he felt so confused about a subject…

And it wasn't about the whole Avengers organization or this new bad guy that he was now supposed to fight against, as a villain himself.

It was Thor, for Odin's sake, Thor that he had trouble figuring out.

It's my heat, he finally convinced himself. It has to be. Speaking of which…

"Did you wear a condom last night?" he asked Thor, who jolted out of his own trance, stammering, "Uh…uh…"

"Yes or no?" Loki demanded. Thor scratched his head, finally muttering, "No…" Loki's eyes went wide, and immediately he pressed a hand to his abdomen. He couldn't tell whether he was getting pregnant or not—all he could tell was that if he were to become pregnant…

No. That couldn't be.

"Loki, I swear that…if you have my child—"

"Thor!" Loki screamed. Slamming his scepter into the ground and opening a fissure, he leapt and tackled Thor, biting and cussing. Thor wrapped his arms around Loki, trying not to get him hurt.

Then Loki suddenly quieted down, curling himself up into a ball in Thor's embrace. His breath became ragged, and the temperature rose up.

"What is it, brother?" Thor asked. Loki glared up at him before saying the answer.

"My heat."

Hey! I can't believe it took me this log to update! Pls review for me guys! I rly appreciate the favs and follows so far! I realized that I had accidentally messed up where they are right now. This takes place after the Avengers have moved to the new Avengers place, and Stark Tower is now Tony's only. Everything is happening at Stark Tower, not the Avengers headquarters.

PuppetPainter