A/N: FINALLY THE END OF THIS ARC. Sorry, I was just getting really sick of it, as you can see. :P Anyways, I'm taking a poll. Would people rather see Bucky brought in, or branch out a little further and bring in Elsa somehow? Just drop a review and lemme know!
"Well, let's go see who our guests are."
Ever since meeting Jack Frost, Clint had kind of opened his mind to the idea of other fairy tale creatures. After all, it was pretty logical, the thought that there were other people or spirits or things that had been only stories until recently. Plus there was the fact that Jack was always going on about hanging out with the four "Guardians." A title that sounded almost as ridiculous as theirs was. Avengers. Who'd decided on that one?
But internal rants aside, Clint wasn't as surprised as the rest when it turned out to be Santa Claus' sleigh landing on their roof that had set off the alarms. Of course, the six foot tall rabbit climbing out a bit unsteadily was a bit of a surprise, as was the oddly attractive fairy-thing. Really, that was just creepy. He stood back a little ways, watching the newcomers warily. He wasn't the type to trust them just because they were supposed to be the good guys. Good guys could still do bad things, he'd learned that several times.
So he watched as the others greeted them, introducing themselves, making statements of disbelief at the fact that they were actually real. He waited to speak up, glancing at the skies.
"You know, we might want to move this little gathering inside." He suggested. There were eyes everywhere, and people seeing the group that was supposed to protect them talking to what would look like thin air would be bad for them. The others quickly agreed, and the Guardians followed them to the living room they'd only recently abandoned. Clint frowned at the amount of conversations flying through the air. It was hard for him to track without his hearing aids, he'd taken them out while they watched the movie, and hadn't put them back in before he went upstairs. He made a quick sign to Natasha, letting her know where he was going, and took the stairs two at a time to his apartment.
By the time he got back, Jack and Loki had joined the little party in the living room, neither of them looking all that happy.
Maybe yanking Loki away from the dinner and asking if they could leave wasn't the best way to handle things. But Jack knew that he was in a bad mood, which generally wasn't good for the area around him, and he kind of figured that making it snow inside the palace might just push Odin's last button.
And he was skating on thin ice as it was.
Heh.
Thin ice.
He shook the stupid joke out of his head and surveyed the crowd surrounding them with a raised eyebrow. Who would have thought that these two unlikely groups would actually ever meet? He'd actually done his active best to avoid it, having two groups of rather overprotective, nosy people just seemed like it would ruin all his fun. Like parents, except much worse.
"Jack thought I should inform you that Thor may not return tonight. And if he does, it is likely that he will be in a foul mood." Loki intoned with a bored voice. The Avengers were immediately on attack mode and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Technically it's my fault this time, so I'd leave Loki alone." He said, his mood coming clearly through his tone. The Avengers looked bewildered, the Guardians resigned, and Loki was just amused.
"Jack, what did you do now?" North asked seriously and the winter spirit gave a cheeky grin, mood rising a bit already.
"Nearly started a war with another planet. Bet it's more than any of you accomplished today, right?" He said smugly.
Surprisingly, Natasha was the first to sigh.
"Idiot men." She muttered and both Clint and Tony voiced a protest before she glared at both of them, the one at Clint lingering.
"Budapest." She reminded him and he immediately gained a chagrined look.
"That wasn't my fault." He muttered before falling silent. Jack watched with a smirk. He'd actually been in Budapest during the time that they were talking about, although he'd never tell. That was their time. Besides, then he'd get pestered about what they meant by it by the rest of the team.
"Ignoring the fact that you've started a war, Jack, you must pay attention to your duties. You are a Guardian now, you can't just take off like that!" Bunny lectured and Jack heaved a sigh.
"Almost. Almost started a war. And chill. I've got it covered, all right?" He muttered, heading for the door.
"Let's get out of here, Loki." He called over his shoulder. They still treated him like a kid, and it was annoying. He was over three hundred years old, and he'd been doing this a long time. He knew what he had to do, he didn't need them reminding him.