This has been sitting unfinished on my PC for... some time. But I finally got around to finishing it! Though on the light side, I've got an idea for how the future chapters are going to go now, so I'll try my best to get those out soon!
After James found Lauren, things were eventful, to say the least. Once he had confirmed that Renard had left, James pulled her aside while he stared intently behind her, where Renard wandered off as if he expected the man to show himself from his hiding place.
"Uy, Jaime (High-meh)! Problema mo? (What's your problem?)." Lauren called out to him when the silence began to feel awkward.
"Huh? What?" He responded absently, his focus elsewhere. "You seriously didn't recognize who you were just talking to?"
"I'm aware that he most likely gave me a fake name. Why? Should I recognize him or something?" She replied, confused.
"Seriously? I thought you would have gotten an information packet or something. Since you're working directly with Stark and all."
"Wait, wait, wait… What? Why would an info packet from SI have information on Renard? Is he some kind of villain or something?"
"That's one way to put it, but he's kind of in a gray area, being Thor's brother and all. Thor claims he's not one since he helped fight against their sister, so he's more on the watch list than the villain list, I guess?"
"So you're telling me that that was Loki? Trickster god, god of mischief, Loki? Norse myth god Loki?"
After a long pause, she added with a shrug, "I thought he'd be blonde."
"That's all you have to say about him? Really?" James sighed. "Wait, what year did you move here again?"
"About six years ago? Why?"
"You were already here six years ago and didn't know what Loki looked like until now?"
"Pretty much. Why?
"Loki invaded New York 6 years ago, with the flying slugs and all that. I'm pretty sure the media had lots of coverage of the event. Do you not go on the internet much?" James explained with disbelief.
"I was probably caught up in something at the time." She shrugged
James could only sigh and say, "Come on, we should get back to let Steve and Sam know you're okay."
When they reached the Tower, James advised her not to mention the encounter since it was still a touchy subject to some. She nodded to let him know that she understood since they had already entered the building. The AI was always listening, after all.
The elevator ride was quiet, apart from her humming a tune. It was a silly tune that was going on around the internet lately. James unexpectedly joined in, making her grin as she hummed. When she asked how he knew the song, James replied simply, "Sam," making them both laugh.
The doors opened to reveal Steve with a stern yet worried look, with Sam watching from behind him on the bar stool.
"Lauren!" He exclaimed as he held her shoulders gently and looked her over.
"I'm okay. I just… needed to blow off some steam." She whispered.
"Wanna talk about it?" Sam nudged,
"Only if you're ready," Steve added,
"It's nothing much, really. My mom called to greet me for my birthday. It was just the usual things that moms ask. You know, when am I going home, did I have a boyfriend already, and that I should hurry and get one so I can give her another grandkid. Those things, it's just stressful," She replied, her voice turning quiet as she continued to speak.
She stopped, hoping that it was enough of an explanation for them to get off her case. She kept her head pointed towards the windows as if she was watching something outside – but the boys kept silent and waited for her to continue.
She didn't know how long she held off, but eventually, she caved in, "But she just had to point out how happy she is that I'm finally working for a 'proper business' - because I was wasting my education working at a café. Basically insinuating that if I was going to work at a café, I might as well just take up the family business instead."
"Why not? You're fully qualified to do it." Steve asked.
"Because I'm fully aware that if I do go back, I'll end up being my parents' unpaid butler until they croak. And I'll have to do everything from being their caregiver to running their business because they gave me the means to live, and I should show my thanks by being everything they need me to be."
As she explained, her voice started to crack. They could tell that tears were welling up in her eyes. She kept herself facing toward the windows but tilted her head up to the ceiling to stop the tears from falling.
"I just wish so badly that they were genuine in supporting me and what I want to do. And not just give me all these opportunities because, after all the investments they've put into me, I'd be so indebted to them that I just have to take care of them. To the point that I'd have to sacrifice my life and my dreams to take care of them while they still live because 'we spent so much money on your education' and 'you had the most expensive tuition.' What's worse is that they say all these things to other people while I'm in earshot as if to guilt trip me that I'm not doing well despite all the money they put into me. Might as well just shoot me like a fucking workhorse that got injured. Or better yet, just tell me to die."
"Whoa there, okay…okay…." James stopped her from continuing her tirade by grabbing her in a hug that caused her to sob.
"Hey," he whispered as he rubbed circles on her back. "Don't worry about it... Just let it out…."
"I'm sorry." She sobbed, repeatedly apologizing even as they all moved closer to her because they knew that the apology was not meant for them.
Lauren later found herself surrounded by thick fluffy blankets and pillows on the couch, with a large water bottle in hand. She ended up crying for a good 15 minutes, then another 10 minutes after the boys kept telling her words of affirmation.
James then told them to stop because everything was so sweet that his left arm was starting to rust. It made Lauren laugh so hard that she teared up.
"The point was to make you stop crying, but you're crying again!" He teased but was then playfully scolded by Sam.
Steve shook his head, letting the two banter on as he picked her up and deposited her into the couch. Telling her to stay put while he arranged everything that now surrounded her, plus a large water bottle.
"Try to drink as much as possible before taking a nap. All that must've tired you out."
"What am I, a kid?" Though she did do as he said. Mouthing a thank you after she settled herself into the couch.
"Don't worry about food, there are still some leftovers, and we're fully capable of reheating those."
"M'kay…" she tried to say more, but a yawn cut her off. As she fell asleep, she felt Steve pat her head and vaguely heard him say something but couldn't make it out.
She woke up feeling overly warm but not uncomfortable. She could feel a thick blanket tucked under her chin and pillows around her. There was the sound of book pages being flipped and the clink of a glass being put down on the table. It was quieter than she thought it'd be. So she peeped with one eye, gauging how bright the room was.
Deeming it safe, she opened her eyes and looked around. She tried to kick the blanket off her feet but found herself tucked in quite well.
"Yeah, Steve didn't want you falling off the couch when they left."
She craned her neck to look over her head and found Natasha sitting on the couch next to hers.
"Hey," Lauren greeted groggily as she tried to wiggle out of the burrito Steve turned her into. "A little help, please?"
Nat went over to her and helped release her from the snug blanket burrito Steve turned her into. Once they got her free, Lauren sat up and took a big gulp of water to get the last of her grogginess off.
"Where'd everyone go?" She asked after she looked around the apartment.
"Your boys were called away for a mission. I caught them right before they left, and Steve asked if I could check on you. I came and checked and decided to hang out until you woke up."
"My boys?"
"Steve, Bucky, and Sam," Natasha answered with a straight face while nudging the water bottle towards her. "Drink."
"Uhm, right. Thanks." Lauren replied.
After confirming that Lauren drank some water, Natasha went to the kitchen to grab something from the refrigerator and nuked it. She brought over two sets of plates and cutlery for them to use while waiting for the food to warm up. The microwave dinged, and the smell of pancakes wafted as Natasha pulled them out. Lauren could feel her stomach grumble, reminding her she hadn't had anything to eat yet since waking up.
Natasha wordlessly set food in front of her. They were having pancakes with a bowl of fruits, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
"Thanks, Nat."
"Thank the boys. They managed to cook something up before they got called away."
"Still, thanks – for keeping me company and all."
"You're welcome, though I think Clint's somewhere up on the vents before I even came."
A thud was heard overhead,
"That's… mildly concerning but also reassuring."
"Clint! If you want to eat, go make yourself a plate!" Natasha called out. Not a minute later, they heard the tell-tale thud of Clint landing from the vents.
"Why'd you have to give me away like that, Nat? And no, I wasn't here before Nat, just followed when I overheard Cap and her talking."
"Right, thanks."
They spent her first meal of the day in relative silence besides some banter, mostly between Nat and Clint.
"So, I heard something happened." Clint started, "wanna talk about it?"
"Not really…" Lauren replied.
"All right then, so what do you wanna do for the rest of the day?"
Lauren thought about it for a little but ended up shrugging, not wanting to do much after everything that's happened.
"If you don't have any plans…." Natasha started to offer, "how about some self-defense training? Clint would be the perfect training partner for you."
"Hey! Don't I get any say in this?" Clint interjected.
"Nope." The two women chorused.
And so started Lauren's regular training sessions with the two, which would often be spectated by at least one of the soldier trio if they were free. Steve and Sam would sometimes volunteer to train her. Whenever they did, James offered tips and tricks, often earning her a high-five or having her hair messed up in good humor.
Days after she accidentally made friends with Loki, all was good with Lauren's life. She'd been training in self-defense for two weeks now. Like most things in the Tower, her training reached the ears of the rest of the Avengers. By now, she has trained with the whole team, barring Vision, who wasn't much of a fighter. The training developed her relationship with the team, making her feel more at ease in the Tower.
As usual, she was preparing dinner for the team when her cooking was interrupted by a call. Only one person would call her for no reason before business hours for their time zone. She complained under her breath before answering the call without checking the caller ID.
"Iris, I swear if you're up to…." She started to complain but was immediately chilled by one word.
"Thread…"
"Greez?" She stuttered. Greez calling her without occasion was something that had no precedent. It only meant trouble.
"Sirius hasn't been in contact for exactly two weeks now. I know it aint protocol, but shit's felt fishy from the get-go. Even Kaku hasn't been in contact. 'Ave been tryin' to get 'sum info but haven't found much. Got nothin' to go on 'cuz the fuckin' bitch didn't even say nothin' 'bout where she found the job."
"Fuck." Both sides were silent for a good few minutes before Lauren groaned.
"Bwisit, puta." She sighed, "Keep protocol. Call me if there's still no news when the time's up. I'll try to see what I can find on my end."
"Yeah, I'll try to find out more."
Still shaken, Lauren could only give her a weak confirmation. She wanted to ask more but knew it would be pointless.
"Thread, they'll be okay." Greez tried to reassure her.
"They better be."
"I'll call you soon."
The call ended there, and all Lauren could do was pull at her hair in frustration. Her thoughts were already spiraling to the worst-case scenario.
"Oh, Deery!"
"Holy fucking shit!" She jumped, "Tony?!"
"See, I finally got you to address me properly."
"Fuck, you startled me."
"I could see that." Tony replied unremorseful for her mini heart attack, "Anyway, have you been in contact with Deer Man? I just got off a call from our representatives in Japan, and they said talks have been delayed because he and Deer-Dad were unavailable."
His words only made Lauren's heart drop.
Shit's picking up to shift into my friend's fic (it's still under construction for now). The total number of chapters for this fic isn't final yet, it might be less or more, but it's around that ballpark. I was thinking of writing a side fic to this, as inspired by shadowscribe's Harry Potter and the Peanut Gallery, it being a companion fic to Happy Potter and the Greatest Show over on Ao3. It'll run similarly in that it'll be mostly drabbles from the perspective of other characters. What do you guys think?