Fanfiction

It was at that moment the grate fell off, and out flew four giant Macaroni Noodles. One smacking Clint in the face on its way past him. He blinked several times, in stunned silence, turning to follow the Noodles flying towards one of the common rooms in the Tower.

Clint gulped down some coffee, not wanting to waste any of the precious bean juice, as he started running after the Noodles.

“FRIDAY, get Nat.” Clint called. He didn't know exactly what was up yet. But he knew he wanted backup.

The Macaroni Noodles were in one of the large living rooms, seemingly surveying the lay of the land. Clint gently placed down what was left of his coffee on the closest surface.

Clint watched as the Noodles seemingly scanned the room. They would look at objects, squish and rotate around, reorienting themselves.

A tap on his shoulder let him know that Nat had arrived. He turned to look, wondering when the elevator had gotten here. On second thought, she must have taken the stairs.

“Are those Macaroni?” Nat asked, signing along for his benefit. Clint nodded.

“Came out of the vents. Don't know what they're doing.” Clint said, side eyeing the Noodles. They had drifted to the middle of the room now, and seemed to be conversing.

“How does one incapacitate a noodle?” Nat asked, seemingly only slightly sarcastic. Clint shrugged.

“Could try to eat them. But we've gotta protect the Tower. We don't know who sent them.” Clint said, and Nat gave him a look. It was a look he knew very well. She couldn't possibly fault him for thinking to suggest that they literally looked like food.

“Threat detected.” It was an AI voice like FRIDAY, but not as good. Clint could hear it, but there was a lot of distortion. He wasn't sure if that was because they were Noodles, or because of his hearing aids.

“Guess it's go time.” Nat said, as the Noodles started to glow several shades of red, orange, yellow and green. They were also rotating restlessly.

The Red Noodle folded in half, and then the three behind it flew at Clint and Nat. Clint was at a disadvantage because he didn't have his bow, but that wouldn't have worked in such close quarters anyway. Nat was already wrestling with the Yellow Noodle.

The Orange Noodle came at Clint. It was wiggly, it was glowing. But he was going to protect his home. The Macaroni flipped horizontally, about as high as Clint's chest, which made choosing an end to focus on difficult. It twitched like it was flexing, then it flew at Clint’s face. He threw his hands up, grabbing it by its wiggly middle.

Before Clint could do anything stupid, like say take a bite out of the three-foot Macaroni Noodle, it had shrunk and slipped through his fingers. He chanced a glance over at Nat to see that her Macaroni Noodle was now larger than she was. Which, let’s be real, that’s not hard. Nat was pretty tiny.

“It’s gone Bigatoni.” Clint said, whacking at the Orange Macaroni Noodle as it flitted about his face like an annoying hummingbird.

“Bird brain, they're not even Rigatoni.” Nat snarked at him, as she attempted her signature thigh takedown move on the Yellow Noodle. She fell to the floor with a thud as it, too, shrank down.

“I'm revisiting the eating theory.” Clint said, as Nat picked herself up, glaring at him the whole time. The two little Noodles flitted about together, and the other still normal-sized. Well, Clint guessed it was normal-sized, as that's the size the Red Noodle was that was still just orchestrating the attack. The Green Noodle flew at Clint's face in an odd sense of deja vu.

This time, the Noodle was still vertical, and it slapped Clint in the face and seemed to stick like an Octopus sucker. This time, he didn't think about it, he just bit into it. Clint promptly spit it out, as the Noodle made a distorted AI screaming noise and flew back to the Red Noodle.

“You know, birds really shouldn't eat pasta.” Nat snarked at him, as the two Macaroni’s she was fighting with had gotten ever so slightly larger. If Clint had to hazard a guess, he'd say instead of a hummingbird they were the size of a small Chihuahua.

“You could have told me that before.” Clint whined, glancing between the Red Macaroni and Nat with the two other ones. He knew better than to try and step in.

“I thought it was best to let you figure it out on your own.” She said, finally landing a solid open hand strike on the Orange Macaroni Noodle. It made an anguished garbled AI noise and flew back behind the Red Macaroni Noodle.

“Is that one controlling them?” Clint asked, and Nat quirked an eyebrow at him. She was still dodging the yellow Noodle.

“Go find out.” Nat said, struggling with the Yellow Macaroni Noodle. Clint nodded briefly, more so stealing himself for what seemed like a boss fight then in acknowledgement. He launched himself off the wall and towards the Red Noodle. It squished angrily, but didn't move from where it had been stationed. Clint landed on it with a bodily thud, followed by a squelching noise.

“Game Over.” The distorted AI voice said, and that's when the Tower defense system kicked in. Alarms blaring and lights flashing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint woke violently gasping, and flailing. He was tangled in the sheets, and then he fell out of bed landing hard on the floor.

“Bird, what are you doing?” Nat asked, before her head appeared over the side of the bed.

There were none of the traditional customs at any wedding reception I’d seen on earth.  No speeches or formal dance.  No cake cutting.  Nothing really that directed the crowd’s attention to us as special.  It was just celebrating.  When the food was cleared away the tables were moved back and a dance floor was opened up.

The children were having a fantastic time considering this had come off the tail of being caught in a battle.  They ate.  They found other children to play with.  They danced with each of their parents in turn.  They even danced with a few of their aunts and uncles.

Thor did spend much of the night in talks with Angela, Loki and a few members of the council.  He took his moments to be with each of us.  Whether that be a conversation, a dance or a stolen kiss, but most of his attention was on the negotiations to hand over the crown.

It was so late by the time we left the party.  The kids were passed out and we were all exhausted.  However, we were all buzzing too.  So much had happened and so much was going to happen.  Thor was coming to be with us for good. We were bonded.  We had new powers.  We fought and won and we were going to have a happily ever after.

We put the twins into bed and all of us went into Thor’s room.  “Are you sure you want to do this, Thor?”  Steve asked as we all began to help each other undress, carefully hanging up our clothes.  It was clear that whatever we had been through had burned off all the Henhalda except the new mark we all shared and the special markings that were made for each of us.  I wanted to explore each and every one of them in fine detail. But there was something I wanted more first.

“I saw it clearly.  My sister is to rule.  She will be a great ruler and bring the nine realms into a new era of peace and prosperity.  And I get to be with all of you,” Thor said.  “Though it means I need to stay here for a while longer while I organize the handover.  I trust the vision, but I am not naive.  I shall supervise her and leave Loki to continue to act as adviser.  If things do not work out, I shall take the crown back.  By force, if need be.  But I do not think it would come to that.  The vision was clear.”

“You don’t get to come back with us right away?”  Wanda asked.

“It is best if I don’t, my sweet love,” Thor replied.  “But when I do return to you, it will be for good.”

Wanda hummed.  “That will be nice.”

“Maybe we go back, organize these two’s legal wedding,” Steve said gesturing to me and Tony.  “Then when you arrive we’ll make it a honeymoon trip for all of us.”

Tony came up behind me and kissed the side of my neck.  “That sounds really good.  What do you think, honey?  Fiji?  The Maldives?”

“Mmm, we can get one of those over the water bungalows for all of us.”  I hummed leaning back against him.

Steve moved over to the two of us and tilted my head up to look at him.  “Elise, I am very proud of how you handled yourself today.  I don’t think this new power is a mistake.  You are our heart.   If you want to join the Avengers.  I won’t stand in your way.”

I furrowed my brow.  “I - uh… I don’t …”

“Talk to us, princess,” Sam said, gently.  “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t want to.  I don’t think I’m cut out for that kind of life.  But if I have this suit, and I can wield Mjolnir, doesn’t that mean I should?”  I said.  “I mean… if you have the power to protect people, and you don’t then aren’t you just as bad as the people doing the hurting?”

Steve chuckled softly and pulled me into his large arms.  “Oh honey, you already sound like an Avenger,” he said.  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.  But if that’s how you feel we’ll work out a way you can balance it.”

“We can probably talk about all that later right?  Don’t we have something to consummate?”  Clint said suggestively.

“Aye, that we do, little bird,” Thor said pulling Clint into his arms.

Bruce shifted down from the blended version of him and Hulk to just him and twirled Natasha into his arms.  “There’s an incident from our past I’d like to make up for,” he said.

“Well, now Doctor Banner.  I would love for you to make it up to me,” she purred.

They kissed deeply and he lifted her and carried her to the bed.  Sam moved in quickly to claim Thor and as he dragged Thor to the bed, Thor took Tony’s hand and brought him along too.  Bucky stalked up to Wanda and lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“Oh, look.  It’s my two troublemakers,” Steve teased.  “Whatever shall I do with the two of you?”

“I think you could do whatever you damn well like, Cap,” Clint said moving up close to the two of us and cupping Steve’s jaw.

Steve leaned in and kissed him hard, as I stood pinned between them.  Clint’s hands slid up my sides and massaged my tits as he ground against my ass.  Steve’s arm was still curled around my waist and he ran it down, squeezing my ass.  I hummed and relaxed between them.  Steve lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist and began to grind against his cock.

“Come on you three, get over here,” Sam called, beckoning us over.

Clint pulled back and dragged both Steve and I onto the bed.  I stretched out arching my back so I could reach Clint.  I ran my tongue over his balls.  He hummed and looked down at me, pushing my hair out of my face.  I ran my tongue up his shaft and it twitched and jumped as it hardened fully.

Steve crouched down between my legs and nosed at my cunt.  I spread my legs wider allowing him to run his tongue up the length of my folds.  As I used my mouth on Clint and Steve used his on me, I saw Natasha lean back from where Bruce was currently going down on her and tease her tongue over the head of Steve’s cock.  It seemed to set off a chain.   When Natasha started to suck Steve’s cock, Tony moved back to suck on Bruce’s.  Thor moved between Tony’s legs, and Sam between Thor’s, then Wanda, then Bucky until it came back around to Clint and he lay down and took Bucky’s whole length into his mouth and we all formed one long daisy chain.

The threads that ran from me intertwined with each other in the circle.  Crisscrossing over each other.  I could feel everyone’s pleasure as they used their mouths on each other.  Their enjoyment of both giving and receiving and being part of this chain which held each of us.

I knew it was Wanda who was feeling it strongly, her muffled moans were louder than anyone else’s, but I could also feel it through the thread and it added to my own pleasure as Steve’s tongue swirled over my folds and flicked over my clit.

I took Clint’s cock into my mouth and relaxed my jaw, letting him fuck it as I curled my tongue around his shaft.

I don’t know why but I began to flick my fingers through the beams of light that were connected with the others.  Each time I did it made the person whose beam it corresponded to moan even louder.  I wound the threads through my fingers and gripped the sheets.

It wasn't long before the room was a cacophony of muffled moans.  Wanda bucked up hard and came, her body shuddering.  The sensation from it I got through the thread sent me over too and I nearly choked as I jerked back and forced Clint’s cock further down my throat.

We all split apart again.  Sam moved over to Wanda, and crawled up over her, kissing her deeply. Bucky, Steve, and Natasha formed a small group.  While Bruce and Tony paired up, leaving me with Thor and Clint.  “Oh hey, it's my baby daddies.”  I joked.  “What could possibly go wrong?”

Thor laughed.  It was a deep rumble of a sound that was infectious and made me feel warm and good.  “Are you saying that our children are a mistake?” He teased, pulling me into his lap.

“No.  I'm pretty happy they exist.”  I hummed as I let him pull me down flush against him.

Clint moved and grabbed some oil and began to liberally coat Thor’s cock with it.  He teased his pussy with his knuckles as he did and I tried to grind down on them.  “Come on now, princess,” he teased.  “Don't tell me you wouldn't want another couple of little monsters running around.”

“Woah,” I said, grabbing his wrist.  “Not until we talk about it.”

“Lady Elise,” Thor soothed, cupping my jaw and drawing my focus back to him.  “I will keep my powers in check.  I promise you.  But if you would rather not risk it, there are other things we can do to give you pleasure.”

I shook my head, clearing out the intrusive thoughts of how bad it had been when I'd first gotten pregnant and returned here to this moment where my new husbands and wives had grown so much since then.  Where an accidental pregnancy would most likely be greeted with excitement and regardless, I had an IUD and even Thor couldn't get around the fact that was in the way.  “No.  It's fine.  Sorry.”

“No need to be, my queen,” Thor replied as he caressed my neck.

“I'm not the queen anymore,” I corrected him.

“You will always be my queen, Elise,” he assured me and with a snap of his hips, he was inside me.  I moaned and dug my fingers into the sheets as he penetrated me deeply.  He didn’t wait for me to adjust, he just started rutting his hips quickly under me.  I countered by slowly rolling my hips against him, but my movement was limited because Clint had moved behind us and was using his fingers to stretch me out more.  Sliding one and then two against Thor’s cock and inside of me.

As Clint was testing my limits, Natasha, Steve, and Bucky kept switching positions like they were made of water, Wanda and Sam were in lotus, kissing passionately as she sat in his lap, and Bruce had Tony pulled up against him as he fingered Tony’s ass.

Clint pulled his hand free and lined himself up behind me, resting one hand in the middle of my back.  “Go slow, Clint,” I mewled as Thor stilled.

“Of course, princess,” he said, adding more oil to his cock. He slowly sunk in and I moaned and bit down on Thor’s shoulder.  The stretch and burn were intense and it tore right through me.

Clint went slowly though and Thor rubbed my back in slow circles and kissed my neck.  “There you go.  You’re doing so well, my life,” Thor whispered.

When Clint was buried deep inside me, both men paused and waited for me to give them the go-ahead.  I was full to breaking and it took a moment for me to adjust.

“Okay,” I said, pushing back against them.  “Okay.”

Clint started to thrust, his cock sliding up and down Thor’s inside me.  When he hit the slow steady rhythm he was happy with, Thor began to move.  He thrust harder and faster than Clint, pistoning in and out of me.

I mewled, tensing around them and clutching at Thor’s hair.  Thor pulled me into a searing kiss, so every moan and grunt and cry was muffled by each other’s mouth.  There was lightning in my veins.  That pleasure that bordered pain surged through me and all I could do was hold on and ride it.

An orgasm tore through me, but they didn’t ease up.  If anything it spurred Clint on to move harder and faster.  He peppered kisses up my spine as he pounded into me from behind.  I broke the kiss with Thor and tilted my head back and pulled Clint down to kiss him.

I came again, crying out into Clint’s lips and clenching hard around both their cocks.  Around us, other’s were reaching their own climaxes.  Wanda had come at least as many times as mine, and Sam was gritting his teeth as he went for one more.  Natasha, Bucky, and Steve were in train position, with Bucky thrusting into Natasha as Steve thrust into him.

As Clint and I continued to kiss, Thor latched on to one of my breasts and began to suckle on it.  I mewled and clenched, everything was getting to be too much.  I was starting to tremble between them, and every breath I took came shallow and rapid.

“That’s it, just a little longer…”  Clint groaned as he thrust again and again.

I cried out and arched back as another orgasm tore through me.  This one brought Clint over with me and he jerked forward and released inside me.  As his cock pulsed against Thor’s, Thor came with a loud cry, arching his back up off the mattress under me.

The three of us took a moment to catch our breaths before I slithered off of Thor.  He and Clint began to kiss deeply as the other’s began to finish around us.

“El, come here, darling,” Bruce said, gesturing me over.  He had Tony pulled up against him and was jerking him off as he thrust into Tony’s ass.  Tony’s eyes looked completely blissed out and he moaned loudly as I crawled over to them.

Precum leaked down Bruce’s knuckles.  “Tony is pretty close,”  Bruce said, a playful tease to his tone.  “How about you be a good girl and open your mouth.”

I was so excited about this new side of Bruce.  He was who he was when he let go with me, only playful too.  The way he got when he was in the lab.  It was amazing and I couldn’t believe that was his gift.  I moved forward and lay down with my head near Tony’s legs and my legs straight out in front of him.  I opened my mouth and suck out my tongue.

“Fuck,” Tony groaned as he looked down at me.  Bruce’s hand began to move a little faster and he seemed to start fucking Tony harder so that it pushed him forward a little with every thrust.

With a low groan, Tony came.  Some got in my mouth, most of it splattered over my breasts and stomach.  Bruce grunted and thrust forward, releasing in Tony’s ass.  I ran my fingers through Tony’s cum and licked them clean.

“Fuck you are such a dirty little thing,” Tony hummed as he flopped down beside me and pulled me close.

“This isn’t my mess,” I teased.

“Gonna have to get someone to clean that up, huh?”  Tony said and he ran his index finger through it and offered it to me.  I pulled his finger into my mouth and sucked it clean as Clint came over and began to lick me clean.  I giggled and squirmed under him as he roughly ran his tongue over my bare skin.  “So, this coffee and arrows are for me then,” he said, running his fingers over his symbol that had been placed on my inner thigh.

“Oh yes,” I said sitting up and looking Tony over, trying to find the symbol that was mine.  It seemed to set others off too and they all began to look each other over closely to find their own symbols.  I traced from Bucky’s wolf down to Bruce’s coin until right on the line of his Adonis belt I found a symbol I hadn’t seen before.  It was blue and looked like a lotus flower but made of flame, right at its center in a blue that was so pale it was almost white, and yet seemed to shimmer like a flame, was a heart.  From the flower threads spread out, much as with the electricity on Thor’s symbol.  Where the electricity jumped from one symbol to the next, the threads from mine just branched out to each one, so they were all tethered to it.  I smiled and kissed it before lying back down and letting Tony look to find his.

There was no answer.  There wasn’t even an echo indicating that my voice had traveled any distance.  Something did change though.  To begin with, it was like a current passed over my skin.  It ran along the gold line in the Henhalda that connected each scene to the next and seemed to burn the rest of it away.  My skin felt like it was bubbling, though it felt no different to the touch, and that bubbling feeling sunk down into my flesh and then my bones until there was a deep painful heat in my core, burning me from the inside.

I cried out in pain and squeezed my eyes closed tight.  It felt like something burst inside of me and I was sure that I had failed, that I had been judged unworthy and I was going to die for thinking I could be the Queen of Asgard.

Quicker than it came on though, the pain faded.  I opened my eyes and now, stretching out into the void ahead of me, and seeming to burrow into me, were these threads of light.  Just faint, but I could definitely see them.  I also felt these strange jumble of emotions.  Mostly fear and confusion and somehow I knew I was feeling what the others were feeling.  That somehow, these threads were attached to them and if I followed them, I’d find them.

They were all going in the same direction, so I moved off in it.  As I moved along, they spread out a little more.  I stopped for a moment and ran my hands over them.  The emotions I was gleaning off the others became stronger for each person with each thread I touched.  When I hit the Natasha one I could tell she was the closest, so I followed that one.

I reached a point where the thread abruptly cut off, and yet, I could still feel Natasha.  I knew she was close.  Almost close enough to touch, but I couldn’t see her.  She was scared, but also angry and trying to figure out what she needed to do.

“Natasha?”  I called.  “Natasha, where are you?  I can’t see you!”

The thread burned brightly for a moment and a sense of relief hit me and just like that, Natasha was standing right in front of me.  “Can you see me now?”

“Oh my god!”  I yelped, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close.  She let me hug her but only returned it with one arm as she continued to scan the void we were sharing.  “Where were you? I could feel you but I couldn’t see you.”

“You could feel me?”  She asked.  “That’s your new power?   Some kind of telepathy?”

“No. Through the threads.”  I said, not quite understanding how she couldn’t feel me too, if we were connected by the thread of light the way we were.

“Threads?”  Natasha asked.  “What are you talking about, El?”

“These -”  I say running my hand over the threads that were stretching from me into the void.

“There’s nothing there, Elly,” she said and shook her head like she was trying to clear it.  “Tell me what happened?”

“I woke up and it was nothing,”  I explained.  “I called out and it felt like my body was about to burst into flame.  It was bubbling…”

“I had that too,”  Natasha interrupted.  “All I could think was you all needed to be safe.  I needed to keep you all safe.”

“I just needed you.  I needed to know where you were and if you were okay,” I said.  “Then the pain stopped and there were threads.  I can feel people.  Clint’s terrified.”

Natasha straightened up and there was a shimmer in the blackness around us.  “Where is he?”

I pointed in the direction that Clint’s thread was running in and she took off running.  “Natasha!  Wait up!”  I called, taking off after her.

She slowed her pace and followed me as I took her in the direction of Clint.  “This isn’t real is it?  We’re still tied up at the ceremony right?”  I asked.

Natasha shook her head.  “I don’t know.  It feels real, but there doesn’t seem to be anything real about it.”

We reached Clint.  He was curled in a ball clutching his head and muttering to himself.  “Clint?”  Natasha called as she approached him but he didn’t seem to be able to hear her.  I wondered if this vision walk he didn’t have his hearing aids or if it was something else.  The shimmer in the air that had happened when Natasha had stood alert seemed to cross over him and he looked up and scrambled back from us.

“What the hell?”  He yelped.  “What’s happening?  Where did you come from?  Who’s talking?  Who’s talking, Nat?  Are you hiding them?”

Natasha crouched down in front of him and he lunged forward hiding his head in her stomach and clinging to her.  “It’s okay.  It’s okay, Clint.  We’re here.  You’re safe.”

“There are too many voices.  They’re all talking at once.”  He babbled.  “They’re all speaking different languages but I can understand all of them.”

“We’re alone, Clint.  Look at me.”  He looked.  He looked into her eyes, his pupils were dilated and I could feel the terror coming off him.  “Describe my eyes.”

“They’re… they’re green.  Like a sea green.  With little flecks of brown.  It’s like there’s light reflecting off them, but I don’t know where the light is coming from.”  He took a couple of deep breaths and shook his head.

“Can you hear them still?”  She asked.

He shook his head.  “It went away.”

“It’s okay, Ptichka,” She said.  “This whole thing is weird.”

“You called me little bird,”  Clint said.

“I always call you little bird,” Natasha replied, a little confused.

“No, you call me something in Russian.  PTeech-ka,” he said.

“Yes, that’s what I said.  Ptichka,” Natasha said.

“Yes, little bird,” he said.

Natasha looked at me confused.

I shrugged.  “Maybe that’s what his new power is,” I suggested.  “Say something else.”

Natasha looked back at Clint with her head tilted to the side.  “Kon’ ne valyalsya.”

“Woah that was weird,” Clint said, shaking his head.

“What?  What happened?”  I asked.

Clint shook his head.  “It was like… okay she said, a horse did not roll around.  I heard that.  And also she said that things that should have been finished by now haven’t even been started yet.  I heard that too.  At the same time.  But… it wasn’t like two things said at once.  It was the same thing.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.  “Think we know what your new power is,” she said and helped him up.

“What did you get?”  Clint asked.

Natasha shook her head.  “I don’t know.  But you and El couldn’t see me right away.  Maybe it’s some kind of cloaking thing.  We’ll work it out later, we need to find the others.”

“How?  There’s nothing but us,” Clint asked.

I pointed in the direction that Tony’s thread moved off it.  “Tony is that way.  He’s closest.”

“Nice,” Clint said and the three of us began to run in the direction of Tony.

We came up to him relatively quickly.  He was facing our direction and looking around like he was trying to figure out what was going on still.  He stared right through us right up until the point that shimmer hit him.  As it passed over him, he jumped.  “What the fuck?” He yelped, throwing up his arms like he was about to do judo on us.  As he did something seemed to ooze out of his skin and form one of his Iron Suits around him.  “Where the hell did you just come from?”  He looked down at himself and jumped.  “What the fuck is this?”

“Did that just come out of you?”  Clint asked stopping dead.

“I don’t know…”  Tony said, sounding just as freaked out as Clint looked.  “Did it?”

I approached him and put my hands on it, it felt like metal, but also strangely alive.

Tony shuddered.  “I can feel your hands on me.  But like it’s through a bunch of layers.  This is weird.”

“Does it have a computer or anything?”  I asked.

“I - uh - don’t know how to describe it.  It’s me, but I can process things faster,” he said holding up his hand and looking at it.  “Like something else is doing it and passing it on instantaneously.”

“Can you make it go away?”  Natasha asked.

There was a moment where nothing happened and then slowly the armor began to bubble and then retreated back into him.  “Jesus,” Tony hissed.  “I am not going to be able to get used to that,” he looked up at Natasha. “Where the hell did you just come from? You popped out of nowhere.  Did you teleport?”

“I think I’m cloaking us,” Natasha said.  “Let me see if I can stop.”

She furrowed her brow and around us that shimmer went through the void around us again.  She looked at me and shrugged.  “I don’t know how I’m doing it, so I’m not sure if that worked or not.”

“We should just go,” Clint said.  “We’re supposed to find each other aren’t we?”

I pointed past Tony.  “Sam is that way.”

Tony looked at me and raised an eyebrow, but Clint had already started to run off in that direction.  We took after him without a word.

This time, we could see Sam from a distance, he was surrounded by light like it was coming from him.  He was the calmest of everyone, and mostly what I was getting from him was a feeling of awe.

As we got closer we could see that the light was actually a pair of wings.  They attached to his back and he was spreading them out and trying to look at them.  They have a very geometric look.  The feathers were more like large blades that folded out over each other.

Sam noticed us and looked up grinning.  “Look what I got!”  He said excitedly.  “I kinda hoped it would be flying, but look.”

He flapped the wings and there was no air current but he took off the ground.  He looked like an angel made of pure light as he circled around us once and then landed again.

“They’re amazing, Sammy,” I said, looking at him with wide eyes.

“I can make them go away too.”   He said and they just winked out instantly.  “I can’t believe it.  What did you guys get?”

“I have some kind of language translation thing, Nat seems to be cloaking.  Tony has an armor that comes out of his skin.  And El knows where everyone is,” Clint said.

“You do, El?”  Sam asked, looking a little relieved.

“There’s a thread to each of you,” I answered.  “We need to get to Wanda though, she’s really starting to freak out.”

Sam took my hand.  “Let’s go find our girl.”

Wanda seemed to be much further than the others had been and as we got closer the void stopped really being a void. There were patches of grass, trees, segments of brick walls and marbled floor.  However, none were really on the ground.  Trees grew upside down and hanging from nothing.  Segments of flooring floated at various intervals in space.  Walls rotated in the air like they were weightless.

“What do you think is going on here?”  Tony asked, looking around.

“Maybe we’re getting closer to the real world?”  I asked.

“Or it’s Wanda’s powers,” Natasha added.

Wanda’s thread started going up into the air and I started to scan the pieces of debris to see where it ended.  Finally, I saw the end stopping at a large floating piece of stonework.  “Wanda?”  I called.  I could feel how afraid and overwhelmed she was feeling.  She didn’t respond and I turned to Sam.  “She’s up there but she’s terrified.”

“You’re sure?”  Sam asked.  I nodded and his wings sprung to life again like he’d switched on a light.  Beside him, Tony’s armor bled out of his skin again and the two of them took off, flying up to the platform.

Natasha, Clint, and I stood looking up at them.  “Sam will talk her down,” Natasha assured me.

“Yeah. I know,” I agreed.

After a little while, pink light filled the air and steps appeared circling down from the platform they had been on.  A moment later both Sam and Tony were flying back down and Wanda came almost skipping down the stairs.  The difference in how she felt when we got there and the joy she was feeling now, was startling.  She ran towards us and slammed into Clint, grabbing hold of Nat and I and pulling us into a three-person hug.

“Did you see all these things?”  She asked, her voice slightly muffled against Clint’s chest.  “I made it.  I can just make things.”

“Holy shit, Wanda.”  Clint gasped.  “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I still need to learn to control it.  It was hurting me so much, and I was really scared and I was trying to make something to stand on.  It went a little haywire.  I’ll learn though.”

Natasha kissed her cheek, as Clint held the three of us.  “Who’s next, Elise?”  Sam asked.

“Steve is close,”  I said and pointed in the direction that his thread was running.  “That way.”

We started running in his direction and soon the objects that Wanda had created became less and then stopped.  Steve’s thread kept changing direction and then moved towards us and he appeared out of the gloom charging in our direction.  “Oh thank God.  I was wandering around in the dark for so long,” he said, his voice full of relief, and hugging Sam.

“Do you have a new power?”  Clint asked.

Steve shrugged. “When I got here, it felt like I was melting.  Then it stopped and I don’t know.  Nothing obvious.  You haven’t found Bucky, Bruce or Thor yet?”

He was talking quickly and his tone kept jumping from Steve talking to his family and Cap wanting to give orders.  I could tell he was stressed but handling it.

“Bucky is this way,” I said pointing.

He looked at me questioningly for a moment and then gave a nod.  “Let’s go then.”

Bucky was panicking and angry, and the closer I got, the stronger I felt it.  We started hearing him shouting.  Sometimes in fear, calling out our names.  Sometimes telling HYDRA they couldn’t turn him again.  He was stronger than that.

“Bucky!  Buck!”  Steve yelled picking up his pace and running in his direction.  Leaving the rest of us behind.

We caught up to them, and they were in a passionate kiss, Bucky was clinging to Steve, while Steve held Bucky protectively.  We jogged over to them both and Bucky looked up at as.  “I thought HYDRA got me.  I know it’s stupid.  I know we were supposed to do some kind of journey.  But it felt like they had me.”

“It’s alright.  We have you now,” Steve said.  “We need to find Thor and Bruce.”

I nodded.  “Bruce is this way, but there is something strange about him.  It’s like …  I can feel him and the Hulk and they aren’t in the same place,” I explained.  “And they’re grieving.”

“Brucie?”  Tony said, sounding alarmed.  “Come on!”

I led the way, following the closer of the two threads which felt like it was only leading to the Hulk.  We found him curled up in the fetal position and sobbing loudly.  I ran to him as the others all approached a little more cautiously.  “Big Guy, it’s okay.  Why are you crying?”  I asked, running my fingers through his hair.

He looked up at me through red-rimmed eyes.  “Elly?  You dead too?”  He asked and broke down into loud, wracking sobs.

“We’re not dead, Big Guy.”  I soothed.  “Look everyone is here.”

He looked up.  “Banner gone.  All gone.  Hulk dead,” he sobbed as he looked at everyone, not sure how to reconcile the idea that he was dead with the fact that everyone else was here too.

“Oh, honey.”  I soothed, rubbing his neck.  “We aren’t really here.  Remember when Bruce drank the liquid?  This is just a dream.  Now we need to find Bruce and Thor and we can wake up.”

“Banner here?”  He asked looking around.

“Yes.  I promise.  I can take you to him.”  I said.  “Come on, Big Guy.  It’s gonna be okay.”

He got up and lumbered after me and the group.  He kept one large hand on my back and Tony kept his hand on Hulk’s arm.  We found Bruce in the same fetal position Hulk had been in.  When Hulk saw him he ran for him, making the whole place seem to shake.  Bruce startled and scrambled to his feet.  “Hulk?”  He said, sounding unsure of what was happening.  He held up his hand and the two of them approached each other slowly.  “I couldn’t feel you.  I thought I was dead.”

“Hulk same,” the Big Guy replied.  They touched hands and there was a bright flash of light that blinded us again for a moment.  I blinked my eyes and when my vision returned, Hulk and Bruce had merged.  The large green man that was standing in front of us wasn’t as big as Hulk but still large and green, but his face looked soft and intelligent like Bruce.  The thread that went from me to him felt different.  It was both of them, blended perfectly together.

“Bruce?”  I asked.

He looked down at his large hands and then up at me.  “Yes?  Kind of.”

“What does this mean?  Is this who you are now?”  Tony asked.

“I don’t know.  Maybe?”  He said.  He closed his eyes and seemed to think for a moment.  “No.  We’re just in sync.  We can lean either way if need be.  It feels different though.”

“We might need to work it out later,” Steve said and looked at me.  “El, where’s Thor?”

I pointed in the direction that the last thread ran and we all took off in that direction.

We found Thor sitting on the floor cross-legged.  He smiled up at us and got to his feet, holding his arms out to us.  “My chosen!”  He said warmly.  “I knew you would find me.  I saw it in a vision.”

“You have visions now?”  Clint asked as we all moved into his arms.

“It seems so.  We need to return to our bodies.  Heven has attacked while we are vulnerable.  I am unsure of how to wake.  I had to wait for you."  He turned and looked to me.  “Elise, my queen.   My vision said that you would know how.”

I shook my head.  “I ... I’m not…” I stopped and looked up.  There were still more threads of different brightnesses. The two brightest led to the twins, and I assumed the others led to other family members.  However, they all shot straight up in the sky.  “I think we should call to Mjolnir.”

“Of course,” Thor said pulled me tight against me and kissing the top of my head.  He looked at the others.  “We are going to wake disorientated.  But there is fighting.  You all need to be ready and up to attack and protect our children and our kingdom.”

“We won’t let you down,” Steve said with a nod.

We each took hold of someone else’s hand and those of us that had lifted Mjolnir in the past all raised our arms in the air and called.  There was a tight pulling sensation from deep in my gut like I’d been caught by a fish hook and something was reeling me in.  The void seemed to close in around me and once again, everything went white.

I scrambled out of bed as Loki swept back out of the room.  Clarke got out of bed slowly and stretched.  “You think they’ll give your scalp a good scrub?  Get rid of those impure thoughts?”

“If they get rid of those, there won’t be any of me left,” I joked and we both started laughing.

“Okay, you go get cleansed.  I’m gonna eat.  I’ll meet you back here to dress,” Clarke said.

I should have guessed by the fact that Loki kept saying cleansed that it wasn’t a simple bath.  I was painted in thick, warm mud from head to toe and then wrapped in leaves and left for around half an hour.  After that, I was hosed off and given an enema.  They did hair removal everywhere except my eyebrows (which they shaped) and scalp.  Something I normally didn’t really do.  I was then taken into the large tub with four attendants and they started to scrub me down.

The water was hot and pungent.  I couldn’t quite place the scent of the soaps they were using, but they were floral and slightly woody.  They used large scrubbing brushes on my body and scrubbed my skin to the point that any part of my skin that wasn’t covered in the henhalda artwork, turned bright pink.  They washed my hair.  First with a soap.  Then with hot oil that they left in for a while, before scrubbing it with soap again and finally a cream-like substance I assumed was the Asgardian equivalent of conditioner.

When they seemed happy with how clean I was, I was led out of the bath and dried off and oil was rubbed into my skin.  By the time they were done, my skin glowed and my hair was as soft and shiny as it had ever been.  The cleaning had done something to the Henhalda too.  It was brighter and slightly reflective, and there were parts that now shimmered like they were alive.

I was given a thin robe and allowed to return to my room.  Clarke was already in there, along with Katveil and another 4 women.  Two were older, while two were around Katveil’s age.

Clarke was sitting on a large, comfortable-looking chair that had not been there before and three of the women were working on her.  One doing her hair, one her nails and one giving her a pedicure.  “Wow, they sure did clean you, huh?”  Clarke said.

“Oh, yeah.  Inside and out.”  I said, making Clarke pull a face.  “Morning, Kat,” I added smiling at her.

“Good morning, Elly,” Katveil said.  “I’ve come to do any touch-ups on the art.”

I nodded and the two of us moved behind a screen that had been set up for dressing.  “Are you excited?”  She asked as I dropped my robe and she began to look me over closely, touching up any spot she wasn’t happy with.

“Oh yeah.  A little freaking out.  It’s a big deal.”  I answered.  “You know, the big ceremony.  Living longer.  New powers.  Being cleansed.”

“I’d be nervous too,” Katveil said.

“You’ll be pleased to know that Hulk did great with the Henhalda,” Clarke said.  “I saw Jax at breakfast.  Well everyone really.  Loki is going to have the kids with her all day.  They’ll get ready with her and Thor.  They have no idea what’s going on but they’re super excited about all the things that are happening.”

“Oh, that’s good.  I’m glad they’re with one of their parents,” I said.

“Yeah.  They’re good.  Hulk has been in control since yesterday.  He fell asleep at one point while they were doing Henhalda.  Jax said he plans to stay in control until after the bath.  So it’s probably Bruce now, or Bruce soon,” Clarke said.

“Oh good.  There were definitely parts of the cleansing Bruce would not have enjoyed.” I said as Katveil turned me around.

“So I guess you get the nails and hair done next and then we dress,” Clarke said.

“Elly also has to drink the broth that was made for her. But that is essentially correct.”  Katveil said.  She stood back up and picked up my robe, holding it open for me.  “I am done.  Just stay standing for a little while.”

I nodded and slipped the robe back on.  “Thank you again.  You made the whole process very enjoyable.”

She hugged me and wished me good luck before leaving me with Clarke and the other women.  Just after she left Loki came into the room, carrying a bowl with the twins marching after her.

“Mommy!”  The twins, cried, breaking formation and running at me.  I crouched down and hugged them both.

“Hello, my little terrors.  Are you being good for Auntie Loki?”  I asked.

“Yes,” they both said in unison.

“D’joo know dat everyone has dis on dem?”  Pietro asked, scrunching his fingers on my arm where he could see the Henhalda.

“I know.  It’s pretty isn’t it?”  I asked.  The twins had both been fascinated by the artwork when they had seen me last night and they both had made up a story to go along with the bits they could see.

“Wiwl it go away?”  He asked.

“Eventually.  It’s just a special thing for today,” I explained.

“Okay, my darlings.  We have to take breakfast to all your parents.  Say goodbye to your mother.”  Loki said, with much more patience in her voice than when she’d come to wake me up.

“Otay,” they both said and hugged me again.

I stood when they let me go and Loki handed me the bowl.  “Drink all of it.  When it is time for the ceremony I shall return to take you personally with the twins.  Do not go with anyone else.” 

“Thank you, Loki,” I said.

“I shall be glad when this is over.  I need a vacation,” she said, playfully.  It made me chuckle and she shook her head and left the room followed by the twins.

“Did Loki…?”  Clarke asked looking from the door back to me.

“I think she did.  I’m her favorite,” I joked.

Clarke snorted.  “Don’t let her hear you say that.”

I drank the soup.  It was pungent and tasted really medicinal and did nothing for the fact I was ravenous.  I was then bustled into the chair where my hair was cut and styled.  My nails were painted and my makeup was done.

When it was done my nails were painted with the same iridescent oil slick style the fabric of my dress was and decorated with Celtic style knotwork in gold.  My eyeliner was done in a cat-eye style with gold and purple eyeshadow, and my lips were painted a deep red.  I had my hair braided in a thick, loose braid with a gold and silver hair vine adorned with crystals wound through it.

The women left and the tailors bustled in immediately helping both myself and Clarke into our dresses.  Clarke's was a shade of lavender to offset her eyes, in satin with ornate silver armor that sat on her hips, chest, and shoulders.  The skirt ended at her knees and she wore knee-high black boots with the same silver plating on the sides and toes.

“Wow, Clarke,”  I said as the women helped me into my dress.  “You going to be my bridesmaid or security detail?”

“I can be both,” she teased.

They did a last few adjustments on the dress and then moved me in front of the mirror while they fit the gold diadem and veil in place.  I couldn’t even believe I was looking at myself.  I looked like a queen from a fantasy novel, dressed in shimmering liquid color and lace and painted in ornate detail.  At my forehead sat a dark opal that shimmered with blue, red, and green and matched the rest of my outfit.

“God damn, Elise.  You are a queen,” Clarke cursed.  “Look at you.”

I smiled.  “Well, at least I look the part.”

“Good luck to you, my lady,” one of the tailors said bowing slightly.  “I shall fetch the lady Loki.”

The tailors left and Clarke came over and rubbed my arm.  “Ready to become Mrs. Odinson?”  She teased.

“That’s not how it works here,” I deadpanned.

She started laughing just as Loki came in followed by the children.  She had a floor-length gown in her usual dark green and gold.  The gold mostly forming panels around the bust but also running down her arms in elaborate scrollwork.  She had smokey eyes and black lips, and on her head, she wore her horned crown.

Riley was wearing a white dress with a gold sash around the middle, while Pietro had white leggings and a gold tunic.  They both had flowers in their hair.  “Wow, mommy, you wook so beudifuwl,” Pietro said, awestruck.

“Thank you, honey.  You look very pretty too.  So does your sister.”  When I said that, Riley pulled a face.

“Are you ready?”  Loki asked.

I nodded and our small group made its way down towards the main hall.  Though we took a less direct path than we normally would take.  “I’m taking you to the front entrance,”  Loki explained as we walked.  “Thor will be waiting at the throne with the High Priest.  I shall go and stand with him.  When you hear the crowd quiet and the music start-up you will proceed down the main aisle to the throne.  Do you think you can handle that?”  She asked.

“I think I can do that.”  I agreed.  “What about the others?”

“They will be entering from different doors.  You will take the main one because you are the mother of the heir, and you will be accompanied by your children,” Loki explained.  “You should attempt to time your procession that you and the others all arrive at the same time.”  She stopped when you reached the doors and turned to look at me, her face set in deadly seriousness.  “Elise, when you go on your journey, remember who you are and what they mean to you.  Do not get lost in the fear of the unknown.”

I nodded.  “I will.”

“Good,” she said and reached to touch my arm before pulling her hand away and saying something in Asgardian to the guards by the door.  When she turned back she addressed the children.  “Alright, my darlings.  Take care of your mother.  I shall see you very soon.”

“We wiwl Aundie Woki,” they both echoed.  Loki nodded and slipped through a small side door.

I took a deep breath and looked over at Clarke and waited for the signal.

The rest of the group were dressed in a mix of things.  Natasha was wearing something equally revealing but looked more like armor and was in a rust-red leather and gold plate.  The skirt was so short that if she bent over you could see her thong.

Wanda, on the other hand, was just in her casual hang around the house clothing of black skirt, long black socks, and red corset.  Tony wore a suit over a t-shirt and sneakers.  Bruce wore a thin lavender tunic over loose-fitting pants.  Thor was in armor.  Clint wore jeans and a t-shirt but had an almost collar-like choker on.  Sam, Bucky, and Steve were just in button-up shirts and dress pants, but none had the buttons all the way up and their sleeves were rolled up.

We all ate dinner in one of the larger dining rooms with our friends and the twins.  It wasn’t the feast of the week before, but it was still a large and decadent event.  This time only seven courses though.  The twins had been having so much fun with everyone there that by the time we got them to bed, they just crashed out.

When we were confident they were definitely asleep, Sif opened the door and a procession of strippers came and a few wait staff began to circulate with drinks.  The envoy had brought back some alcohol from Earth so we could all drink without fear of alcohol poisoning.

I sat cuddling with Nat and drinking while I watched the dancers.  Everyone was relaxed and having a good time with their friends and enjoying the entertainment, except for Bruce.  He stood awkwardly at the side of the room, not really looking at the dancers and holding a drink but not actually drinking it.

“B, come here, my loves,” I called to him, waving him over.

He moved around the back of the room and sat down next to me curling in and turning away from the rest of the group.

“I got you.  It’s just us, you can relax.”  I said gently, holding him close to me.

We were sitting like that for 20 minutes or so.  Bruce may have relaxed a little, but it was very little.  The strippers, after spending the day naked with a stranger painting him had put his anxiety into overdrive, which had put Hulk in protective mode and he kept pushing on Bruce to see if he was okay, even though that was making it worse.

“Why isn’t there anyone dancing?”  Tony asked the room loudly.

I looked up at him.  “You wanna dance?”

“Maybe,” he said.  “Yes.”

I leaned into Bruce’s ear and took his hand and put it on the bare skin on my waist.  “You wanna dance with Tony?”  I whispered.  He made a choked squeak sound and his fingers flexed on my side.  “What kind of noise was that, Doctor Banner?”  I whispered.  He shook his head and pressed a kiss to his neck.  “Did you want to watch Tony and I dance for a little while?”  I whispered.  He shook his head again, making the same noise but deeper this time.  I kissed his neck slowly and rubbed his bicep.  “What do you want?”

He looked up at me, his eyes now both deep green.  I chuckled and shook my head affectionately.  “Hey, Big Guy.  Things a little too much fun right now, huh?”  I said moving his hand around to the middle of my back.  He nodded and looked around a little.  “Can we come to a compromise?  You can come out for the party if you agree to let Bruce enjoy some of it too?”

“Okay,” he grumbled.

I got up and led him to a quieter part of the room and helped him off with his tunic.  “See you soon,” I said and kissed his cheek, standing back to give Hulk room.

The transformation was surprisingly quick and we were all greeted by a smiling and excited looking Hulk.  “Party!”  He rumbled and patted me affectionately on the head before going over to watch the dancers.

I moved over to Tony and he pulled me into his arms.  “Let’s dance then.”  He said.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and we started to move together.  Other people joined us on the floor.

“This is nice,” Tony said.

“Mmm… We don’t do this too often.  And when we do it’s at a thing,” I agreed.  “Which means cameras.”

“No cameras here,” he said, tucking a  lock of my hair behind my ear.  “So we can do any kind of dancing we want to.”

“Title of your sex tape,”  Clint teased as he twirled Wanda beside us.

“You’d know.  You’re in it.”  I shot back.

I moved my knee between Tony’s and he put his hand in the middle of my back as I started to grind on him.

“If you’re gonna dirty dance, make sure you don’t do the lift,” Clint teased.  “You’ll put the old man’s back out.”

“You better watch it Barton, or I’ll put your back out.”  Tony countered.

Clint quirked his eyebrows at Tony and bit his bottom lip and I completely lost it laughing.

“I don’t know about anyone else,” Clint said.  “But I think with what Natasha and El are wearing, we should be taking body shots off them.”

“Mm… I think that sounds like a great idea.”  Tony agreed, running his hand around my hip and over my stomach.  

“Alright.  I’m game.”  Natasha said getting up and heading to the bar.  I chuckled and followed after her and we both stretched out on the countertop, our heads touching.

After a little discussion with Sif, some tequila from earth was brought out, along with salt and a fruit that was more sweet than sour, but very juicy was cut up.  I put a wedge in my mouth and a few of our friends started with the body shots off us.  Fury taking one off of Nat, while Jax took one off of me.  Scott and Hill took turns.  Coulson and Hope.  Even T’Challa took one of Nat.

Eventually Tony muscled his way over to me, pushing Fandral away from me. “Mine.”  He said running his hands down my stomach.  He ran a line of salt along my cleavage and filled my belly button with tequila before slowly running his tongue over the line of salt.  I tangled my hands in his hair as he sucked the liquid from my belly button and when he came up to take the fruit from my mouth I let it go and pulled him down into a hungry kiss.  He pulled me up to him a little so my back arched and his tongue pushed into my mouth so I could taste the salt and alcohol.

“Alright.  Quit hogging.”  Clint teased, muscling Tony out of the way.  “Reload.”

Tony moved up to Natasha as Clint ran the salt down my stomach and filled my belly button.  

He put one hand on my hip but wasted no time, leaning in and roughly and sloppily licking up the salt and sucking up the alcohol.  He leaned up to take the fruit but I dropped it again and kissed him the same way he took the shot.  He pulled me up against him, his hands bunching in my hair and making a soft rumbling sound.  I pulled back with a gasp. “What are you guys trying to do to me?”  I whispered.

“Just having fun, princess.”  He smirked, giving my thigh a squeeze and letting me back down on the bar.

“Okay, my turn.  You go to Nat.”  Wanda said, moving up.

She set up the salt and tequila and as she licked over my skin she flicked her fingers and set a little ball of pink energy over my skin, making me prickle and squirm under her.  I started taking shallow breaths and squeezing my legs together and before she had even made it to the fruit I’d let it go.  She smiled lovingly at me and leaned in, kissing me deeply.

As we kissed, Sam was already running the salt along my cleavage.  “Alright, alright.  My go, Wan.”  He said.

She pulled back and pressed a kiss to my forehead before moving up to take a shot of Natasha.

“I’m gonna be a huge tease,”  Sam said as he filled my belly button with the cold liquid.

“Okay,” I smirked, biting into a piece of the fruit.

He ran his fingers down my sides, barely even touching my skin and taking his time as he moved towards the salt.  My skin broke out in goosebumps and I squirmed on the bar, whining a little.

When he finally leaned in to lick up the salt, he did it in small, kitten licks, dragging the process out and making me shiver all over.  I moaned and arched my back up, the liquid in my belly button spilling over the sides and making a wet trail over my stomach.

Sam licked it up with a broad swipe and sucked slowly on my skin.

“Fuck!”  I gasped, dropping the fruit so it fell to the floor and rolled away.

Sam pulled back and looked down at me.  “Good thing we didn’t really want that anyway.”  He teased.

In an instant, he was kissing me.  I wrapped my arms around him and dug my fingers into his back as he pulled me flush against me and kissed me passionately.  I moaned into his lips and our tongues came out and swirled together.

“Alright, you two.”  Bucky teased.  “There’s a line here.”

I pulled back slowly, looking up into Sam’s eyes, feeling breathless and extremely turned on.

“Come on, man,” Sam teased.

“Gotta share, Sammy,”  Bucky said, patting Sam’s hip.  “And look, Nat’s already set up and waitin’ for ya.”

He looked over at Natasha and smirked.  “Well, alright.”  He said letting me down and moving to Natasha.

As Bucky set up the salt and alcohol I put my hand on his hip and flexed my fingers.  He used mead, which was warm on my skin compared to the tequila

“Getting handsy?”  He asked as he offered me a piece of the fruit.

“Mm-hmm…”  I hummed.

“Mm-hmm…”  He teased, dropping down to lick the salt off my skin.  He took his time, running his tongue over my stomach while his fingers teased my sides.  I started trembling ever so slightly and when he finally moved to suck up the alcohol, I tightened my hand in his hair and arched my back, pushing myself up to him more.

He placed small kisses on his way up to get the fruit and as he went for it, I let it fall.  He wrapped me in his arms and pulled me into a deep kiss.  He smiled into it and his hands spread out on my back.  I hummed softly and we both very slowly pulled back.

“Hey, doll,” he said looking down at me.

“Hey, Buck.”  I said and brushed his hair back from his face.

“Next.  Come on.”  Steve said, nudging Bucky.

“Fine, punk.”  Bucky teased, letting me back down onto the bar and moving up to Natasha.

I giggled and stretched out as Steve ran a line of salt along my neck.

“Should I even pretend with the fruit?”  I asked as he filled my belly button with mead.

“Nope,” he said simply.

He put his hand on my hip and looked down at me.

“You gonna go slow?”  I asked.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

He smirked and flexed his fingers.  “Manners.”

He then began to tortuously drag out the whole process.  Ghosting his lips over my skin.  Teasing his hands over me.  Licking up the salt with small kitten licks.

My skin prickled and I squirmed under him, panting a little as my nipples hardened and I started getting really wet.  “Please, Steve.”  I begged.

That little word triggered a shift.  He sucked the alcohol from my skin and moved up.  He paused, sucking on my throat for a moment, before putting his hand at the base of my spine and dragging me into a deep kiss.  I wrapped my arms around him and for a moment I forgot we weren’t in the middle of the living room with a bunch of other people.  It was just Steve and I kissing.

He pulled back and looked into my eyes.  “Hello, sweetheart.  Having some fun?”

“Mm… I am very turned on right now.”  I answered.

“Then it sounds like it’s my turn.”  Thor chuckled, moving up.

Steve let me go and moved to the side and I lay back.  “Alright, my love,”  I said.

He placed a hand on my hip and ran a light current through me from his fingertips.

“Oh,” I gasped softly.

“Mm… we are going to have some fun, my queen.”  He teased.

He set up the drink and put his other hand on my thigh.  The current ran from his hand at my hip, through my stomach, and to the hand he had on my thigh and made my muscles clench involuntarily.  I jerked a little and gasped gently.

“You’re okay?”  He asked.

“Mm…”  I hummed and nodded my head.

He leaned down kissing my neck, just above where he’d run the salt.  I moaned softly as he sucked on my skin and I gripped his bicep.

“Oh, get a room.”  Clint yelled.

Thor chuckled.  It was a deep rumble of a sound and little sparks danced over my skin.  He licked down over the salt, painfully slowly, adding to the charge building in me.

“Thor,” I whimpered.  “You’re teasing me.”

“And what would you have me do?”  He asked.

“Everything.”  I whimpered.

“Everything?”  He teased.  “In front of all these people?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, which made him chuckle again.  He went back to teasing me slowly, making me feel like a live wire.  Natasha reached behind her and caressed my cheek, and I leaned into it a little.  He sent little ripples of electricity through me, that made my muscles clench in different ways and had me squirming on the bar, completely desperate for some relief.

Finally, he lapped up the salt roughly and drank the alcohol from my stomach, sucking on my skin hard enough to mark it.  I groaned and tugged on his hair, about ready to beg him to just take me on the bar in front of everyone.  He brought his lips to mine and as we kissed, sparked radiated off him.

When he pulled back he smiled down at me.

“You are the biggest tease in the universe.”  I huffed.

He shrugged.  “It comes with the crown.”

“Anyone want to do a shot off of me and not make it foreplay?”  I asked.

“Yeah, me,” Clarke said.  She came over and did a shot off of my stomach.  I giggled as she took the fruit and poked me in the side.

I looked over at Hulk who had been watching on, quite entertained.  “You or Bruce want to have a go, Big Guy?”

“Hulk want,” Hulk said patting his chest.

“Come on over then.”  I said.

I stretched out and Clint set up the salt and alcohol for Hulk.  He moved in close and put a giant thumb over my side.  “What do?”  He rumbled.

You gotta lick up the salt, then drink this drink here -”  Clint said poking my stomach.  “Then you come up and take the fruit from El’s mouth with your mouth.”

Hulk nodded and looked down at me.  “Hulk gentle.”

“I know, honey.  I trust you.”  I said, patting his hand and putting a whole piece of fruit in my mouth.

He moved very slowly, trying to be gentle as his tongue ran over my stomach and dipped into my belly button.  When he moved up to get the fruit I let it go and cupped both sides of his jaw, and planted a wet smack of a kiss on his lips.  He pulled back chuckling and blushing a darker green.

“Okay,” I said, sitting up.  “Wanna dance?”

He nodded and I climbed off the bar and pulled Hulk around the dance floor in a fast pace dance, letting him spin me and lift me up.  Clint cut in and I went and flopped down on the couch breathless.

I had a drink and spoke with Clarke and Hope for a while and then the Hulk lumbered over and sat beside me.  One of the dancers came over and started giving him his own little private dance and he watched on wide-eyed.

When she was mostly naked and finishing up her dance it was getting quite late and I thought it was a good time to ask to get Bruce back, so he might have a chance to enjoy the party too.

“You like that, big guy?”  I asked.

He grunted and nodded his head.

“You think that Bruce can come back now and enjoy some of the party too before we all head to bed?”  I asked.

Hulk pouted for a moment before agreeing after I told him that if he behaved Bruce might let him share when we said our goodbyes before we had to go into isolation.  When he’d shrunk back down, I pounced on him.

“Oh, hello.”  He said, a little startled, but closing his arms around me.

“Welcome back,”  I said, peppering his cheeks with kisses.

He glanced around the room, and his cheeks flushed pink.  “That person is naked.”  He whispered.

“She stripped for the Hulk,” I said.

“Wh- she did?”  He stammered.

“Mm-hmm.  Hulk had a nice time.  We danced.  You want to dance?”  I asked.

“Uh…”  He said.  “No, thank you.”

“What do you want to do?”  I asked walking my fingers up his bare chest.  “It’s all on the table.”

“All?”

“Mm-hmm…”  I hummed, kissing his neck.

“She’s not kidding.  They’ve worked me and El up quite nicely.” Natasha said.

“And we’ll take care of it.”  Thor teased.

“Like there was any question of that.”  Tony said.

“Come here, Tony and convince Bruce to relax,” I said.  “I want to dance.”

Tony came over and flopped down directly on top of Bruce and Thor came and sat beside them.  I got up and grabbed Steve’s hand.  “Come on.”

He followed after me and spun me into his arms when we got to the dance floor.  We started to slowly move to the music and he rested his cheek on the top of my head as I lay my cheek on his chest.  “You get to have everything, Steve.”

“Everything.”  He repeated.

“Are you happy?”

He ran his hand up to the middle of my back and I looked up at him.  “I think so.”

“Only think?”

“I’m nervous, El.”  He said softly.

“What about?”

He shook his head a little.  “Being alone.”

“For the prep stage, you mean?”

He nodded.  “Yes, and the ceremony.”

“Well, you’ll have Scott with you.  And then after, you never have to be alone again.”

He leaned down and kissed me tenderly, relaxing into me a little more and humming against my lips.  We kept swaying and he slowly pulled back.

“Did you dance with Bucky?”  I asked.

“Mm-hmm.  He made me.”

I chuckled.  “That’s good.  It’s been a long time coming.  You know the next time you dance with him, he’ll be your husband.”

He made a soft little sound and his eyes shimmered.  “I keep thinking that something will happen to stop it.”

I shook my head.  “It won’t.  You get to have everything.”

He smiled contentedly and rested his cheek against me as we swayed to the music.  When the song finished Bucky took over and the two of us danced a more energetic number together.  When we were done I was sweaty and starting to want the party to be over for real.

I went back over the Bruce and sat in his lap.  “You having fun yet?”

“I want too.  But…”  He trailed off.

“Who’s preventing it?  The strippers?”  I asked.  He flushed and looked down.  “That… was not the reaction I was expecting.”  I said which made him turn an even darker shade of red.  “You’re allowed to like them,” I whispered.  He made an almost squeak sound and flexed his fingers on my hip.  “Which one do you like the most?”

“The same one you do, El,” Wanda said.

I called her over and asked if she minded giving a dance to the two of us.  She began to gyrate in front of Bruce and me, running her hands over her body.

“Being trouble, El?”  Steve teased.

“Always,” I said, not taking my eyes off the stripper as she began to lose clothes.

“Just watch the colors.”  He warned.

She teased her hands up our arms as she leaned over us.  Bruce shifted a little and his eyes flicked around.  I adjusted how I was sitting, so I was directly on top of his lap, and I wrapped his arms around my waist.  I leaned back against his shoulder so my lips brushed over the shell of his ear.  “There, now the only one who will know how your body is reacting is me.  You’re totally safe.  You can even touch me if you feel the urge.”  I whispered.

He rested his forehead against my shoulder and just peeked over at the dancer.  As she danced for use I could feel his erection growing.  “El.”  He rumbled against my ear.  “You think we can go soon?”

I didn’t even need to react.  I assume Wanda had felt his need too and passed it on to Steve because he cleared his throat loudly.  “Thank you for coming such a long way to celebrate with us, friends.  We all are so grateful to have you.  Right now though, we have some goodbyes to say due to tradition, so we are going to bid you all goodnight.  Some of us will see you in the morning.  To the others, we’ll see you at the ceremony.  Feel free to stay here as long as you like enjoying the company and entertainment.  When you’re ready to crash, let Sif or one of the Warriors Three know and they’ll take you to your lodgings.”

We got up wishing everyone goodnight and beelined into Thor’s room.  We all shed our clothes very quickly.  Some like Clint just quickly and awkwardly stripping and kicking his clothes across the room.  While others like Natasha and Steve stripped each other as they kissed.

We climbed up onto Thor’s bed and for a while, it was just touching and kissing.  There was no rhyme or reason to it.  I would be kissing Wanda and then Clint would touch my shoulder and I’d turn and start kissing him.  We each spent time comparing the artwork on our bodies seeing the parts that were the same and which were different.  Exploring them with our eyes and hands and mouths.  Slowly we seemed to pair off, still staying close to the group, so much so that even in our paired states it was easy to touch or kiss the people next to us, but it was definite pairing.

The other thing that seemed to have happened was each person who had assumed they were going to outlive most of the rest was losing everyone, was with someone who had a normal human lifespan.  Clint was with Bruce, Steve with Wanda, Natasha with Sam, Tony with Thor, while I was with Bucky.

Bucky let me push him on his back and I began kissing my way up his chest as I straddled his waist.  “Remember when we met, Bucky?”  I asked as I swirled my tongue over his nipple.

“Mm-hmm…”  He hummed, as he ran his hand down my sides and gripped my hips.  “You had no pants on and you reeked of sex.”

“Mmm, my favorite way to be,” I said and leaned in and kissed him deeply.  Steve reached over and ran his hand along my shoulder.  Wanda sat in his lap and they were slowly kissing.

As I trailed kisses down Bucky’s jaw to his neck he rutted up under me.  “You know that day when you got taken.  I thought it was my fault.”

I stopped what I was doing and looked down at him.  “Why did you think that?”

“We kissed and I liked you and right away you got taken.”  He said.  “Back then, it was like I knew I didn’t get to keep people, and you were the first one I was going to lose.”

I smiled at him and raised myself up.  I took his cock in my hand and lowered myself back down on it.  “You never have to lose any of us.”  I groaned as he filled me. I leaned over him, looking down into his eyes.  “Even when you’re super sick of us.”

“Oh no.”  He teased and pulled me down into a hard kiss.

I started to ride him, moving up and down on his cock in quick deliberate moves, squeezing his shaft my walls as I bounced.  Around us, the room was becoming louder with the sounds of sex.  Wanda and Steve sat in lotus.  Wanda rolling her hips in Steve’s lap as they kissed.  They would each reach out to the people near them like they were trying to draw them in and connect with them too.  Clint was riding Bruce’s cock, his head falling back as he ran his hands over Bruce’s chest.  Bruce looked up at him with his jaw clenched like he was just trying to hold on for the ride.  Tony had Thor on all fours and was fucking him from behind.  Thor would reach behind him and take Tony’s hand and send a current running through them, or he’d reach over and touch Sam, who had his hands pinned down while Natasha rode him.

Bucky thrust up into me as I moved and I started to move faster.  It was like I was in a race to get him off, sweat beaded on my skin as heat radiated off both of us.  He flipped me suddenly and cradled my shoulders as he looked down into my eyes.  “Slow down, doll,” he said.  “I’m not going anywhere either.  We have all the time in the world.”

He started to roll his hips into mine, slowly and deeply.  I dug my hands into his back and Wanda reached over and took my hand.  We linked fingers and her eyes glowed pink and all at once I could feel everything.  Everyone in the room.  The pleasure they felt.  Their fears.  Their hopes.  How in love they were.  The relief those were that expected loss were feeling and the fearful excitement everyone else had. I could feel the way Hulk pressed on Bruce and the pain Tony had in his chest and right arm.  I keened and arched up under Bucky, my nails digging into his skin.  My senses were overwhelmed, I came almost instantaneously but Bucky didn’t ease up.  He pulled back and looked down into my eyes.  “El, look at me.”  He whispered. 

I looked into his eyes and tethered myself to him.  I still felt everything thanks to Wanda but now my connection to Bucky was even greater.  He had pain and fear too, but his relief and love overwhelmed almost everything else. “God, I love you, Bucky.”  I moaned. 

“I love you too, Elly.”  He rumbled, picking up his pace.

I was brought apart again and again.  Each time someone else in the room came it dragged me over with them.  I didn’t know how Wanda could handle it.  I finally knew why she was always so spent by the time we were done.  I completely lost count of how many times I came or even if by the end I wasn’t just having one long drawn out orgasm but by the time Bucky’s hips jerked forward and he emptied inside me all I could do was weakly hold on to him as I looked into his blue eyes.

He slipped out and pulled me into his arms.  I was only half aware that Wanda, Steve, Bruce, and Clint were all already cuddled into the pile that Bucky lifted me into.  Wanda curled up next to me and I was asleep before the covers were on us.

“You know your kids were swinging her around earlier?”  I said.

He looked at me with his eyebrows raised.  “My children?  As in plural?  Both of them?”

“Yep.  Both of them.  Piet nearly hit me with her.”  I said and looked back over at Clint “So if the kids can do it…”

Thor nudged me and gestured to Mjolnir.  “Go on, milady.”

“Me first?” I asked, looking back to Thor.

He smiled brightly.  “If the children can do it…”

I got up and looked over at Natasha.  She gave me a sharp nod and I wrapped my hand around Mjolnir’s handle.  Right away, I felt a crackle of electricity that seemed to start in both my hand and the crown of my head before running through my veins.  I pulled up and Mjolnir swung up easily.  “Like that?”  I asked.

Thor’s smiled widely and held his hand out to me.  “Look at you.  Come here, my queen.”

I moved to him and he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his lap, kissing me deeply.  Lightning crackled off our skin and leaked from our eyes as we kissed and Bruce backed away from us a little.

He pulled back and took Mjolnir from my hand, tossing her in the air so she flipped over and he caught her again.  “Who’s next?”

Natasha held out her hand and Mjolnir flew straight into it.  “Very good, my love.”  Thor cheered.

“Boys?”  Natasha asked, flicking her wrist back and forth with the hammer in her grip.

“Sonovabitch!”  Clint cursed.  “This was a setup!”

Steve got up and rolled up his sleeves, stepping over to Natasha.  “Alright, which ones of you had money on this?”  He asked and held his hand out to Natasha.  Natasha dropped the hammer into his hand and for a second it dropped before he lifted it back up easily.

“I knew it!”  Thor cheered and I started clapping.

“It’s definitely rigged,” Clint whined.

“So does this mean I can fly and do lightning and things?” I asked.

“I can’t say for sure about the flying.  It might take some teaching because it’s more like Mjolnir pulls you along.”  Thor said.

“Can you teach me some things?”  I asked.

Thor nodded and kissed my neck.  “Of course, my queen.”

“Sam, you wanna give this a go?”  Steve asked.  “Or shall I just put her back down?”

“Nah, just put her down,” Sam said gesturing to the table with his cup.

“Sam…”  I whined.

“Hey now,” Sam said, firmly.  “She’s a classy lady.  You can’t just hand her around like that.”

“Why not?  You pass me around.”  I teased.

“Yeah, you’re not exactly classy though, princess.”  Sam countered.

“Hey!”  I yelped and threw one of the cushions at him.

“What about you, Buck?”  Steve asked as he put Mjolnir down on the table.

Bucky shook his head.  “Don’t see how Mjolnir can think I’m worthy when I don’t.”

Steve rubbed Bucky’s shoulder and sat down beside him, pulling Bucky close to him.  “You’re worthy.”  He whispered.  “Of everything.”

Clint got up and tugged on the handle of Mjolnir but it didn’t budge at all. “Aw, hammer.  Come on.  Everyone else can do it.”

I got up and came over to him.  “Hey Clint, pick me up.”

Clint looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but scooped me into his arms.  I held out my hand and Mjolnir flew into it.  Clint didn’t even flinch, he just kept holding me.  “There you go.  Now you’re lifting her.”  I teased.

“Oh yeah?  And how do I use her like this?”  He asked.  “Just throw you at things?”

I broke down into giggles.  “Yes.”

“Alright,”  Sam said getting up.  “Hand her over.”

“Oh, now you want to pass her around?”  I teased holding her out to him.

He shrugged.  “Everyone else has tried.  Might as well.”  He took the handle and it sunk down for a moment before lifting it again.

“You’re worthy!”  I cheered.

He smirked at me.  “You doubted me, Elly?”  He moved Mjolnir in his hands like he was testing its weight.  “I like it.  Balanced, but not heavy.”

“I read somewhere that Mjolnir doesn’t move until lifted is that she never moves.  Rather, when you’re wielding her, the universe moves with it at the center.”

Sam gave me a look and I shrugged. “Just something I read.”

Sam put the hammer down on the table and I went and sat back with Thor.  “Can you show me how to do the hand sparks?”  I asked.

He held out his hand and Mjolnir flew into it before passing her to me.  “Hold out your hand, my queen.”

I held out my hand palm up and Thor put his palm down about an inch over it.  He wiggled his fingers and sparks began to dance over them.  Slowly he brought his hand to mine and slid his hand over my palm.  When he took his hand away the sparks were now dancing on my skin.  I moved my fingers, pushing into the tingling feeling and the sparks kept jumping over my hand.

“That’s it.  You shall be fighting alongside us in no time.  With Mjolnir, your new armor, and the gift you receive at the bonding.”  Thor said.

Steve and Tony both scowled.  “I’m not so sure about that,” Steve said.

“I didn’t make the armor for her to be an Avenger,” Tony added.

I clenched my jaw and the sparks dissipated and I put Mjolnir on the ground beside me.  I really didn’t want to start another argument about them not getting to decide what I did and didn’t do.

“How did you all go selecting clothing for the bonding?”  Thor asked.

“We have dresses,” Wanda said.

“And Pietro predicted that you, you, you and you would all cry,” Natasha said, pointing to Steve, Sam, Clint, and Tony.

“Oh yeah, Tony is going to blub,” Clint said.

“Hey!”  Tony protested.

“Yeah, you will,” Bruce said rubbing his thigh.  “You know you will.”

“How about you boys?  Did you pick out what you’re wearing?”  Natasha asked.

“We all do,”  Sam said, answering for himself, Bucky and Bruce.

“I do too, but these two couldn’t agree on anything,” Clint said, pointing at Steve and Tony.  “They are impossible.”

“I must admit, I too have been unable to find something,” Thor added.

“What happened?”  I asked.

“I want something different, just for this event.  Something unlike my other clothing.”  Thor said.  “I have a vision, but I was having trouble describing it to the tailors and Loki became increasingly frustrated with me.”

“I might be able to help,” Wanda said.  “I could act as a conduit for your thoughts, passing them directly to the tailors.”

“That might work,” Thor said.  “Thank you, my love.”

“Why haven’t you got anything, Steve?”  Bucky asked.

Steve shifted and shrugged a little.  “I don’t know,” he said.  “What I’ve tried on doesn’t feel like - it.”

“Do you want it to be Asgardian?”  I asked.

“Wait,”  Tony interrupted.  “I was told I wasn’t allowed to wear my suit.”

“Oh,” I startled.  “I don’t actually know the rules.  It’s just you were wearing a suit when we were nearly tricked into it.”

“I was told that I wasn’t allowed to wear my suit,” Tony repeated.  “And it’s a wedding suit.”

I startled and shook my head like I misheard him.  “It’s a what?”

“Shit,” he cursed under his breath.  “Nothing.”

“Tony…” I said sternly.

“Shit,” he cursed again.  “El, honey, don’t be mad.”

It felt like my heart was going to hammer its way right out of my chest.  I for the life of me couldn’t understand why Tony would have a suit on Asgard he planned to get married in.  I didn’t even know he was planning to get married.  Or who he was planning to marry.  He’d never spoken to me about marriage.  We were a polyamorous group.  Marriage had never even been on the table as a possibility until Asgard.

“But… I don’t… you have it… and you brought it here from there…  And…”  I stopped and looked at him.  “Who were you going to marry, Tony?”

“No one.”  He said.

“Tony!”  I snapped.  “Tell me your thought processes now before I have a full-blown panic attack!”

“Alright… okay… Elise, please.  You need to listen.”  He said getting up and starting to pace.  “I know what we are okay?  I know.  And as you keep pointing out, I’m not getting any younger.  And my name isn’t on the kid’s birth certificates because there’s only room for one father and one mother.  And there’s no one else.  I wrote it into my will who gets control of the company and that the Avengers Initiative.  But those things are contestable.   And I need to know that if something happens that you - all of you - are gonna be okay.  That you’re taken care of.  So I take the suit with me, because if I need to last-minute, then I have it.  Right?  And it’ll be okay.  And it’s you, El.  It needs to go to you.  I know you’ll do the right thing.  And then I know the babies will get it next.”

I got up and approached him, stepping in front of him and taking his hands.  Gradually I pulled him in against me and he melted into me, wrapping his arms around me, his whole body sagging against mine.  “Why didn’t you talk to us about it?”  I asked gently.

He shook his head.  “I keep going to, but then I think it’s okay.  We have time.  And you’re happy.  You like not playing favorites.  Saying yes to marrying me, I thought you wouldn’t because that’s favoritism.”

“Oh honey, I would have understood if you talked to us about it.”  I said gently.  “That’s why you were so ready to say yes when it was sprung on us?”

He nodded against my chest.  “I’ve been ready to marry you for years, El.”

I looked over at the others.  “We can do that, right?”  I asked.  “When we get back.  So we have the legal connection too?”

“Yes.  Of course.  It’s a good idea.”  Steve said.  “We have this here for all of us.  That there to protect us.  And more importantly the kids.”

“Will it matter if we’re gonna live for 5000 years?”  I asked.

“You’re life-spans will be drawn into line with mine, but I don’t think you gain the physical strength of Asgardians,” Thor answered.  “Even if you do, we may be long-lived but we aren’t invulnerable.  We can be killed and they do have dangerous jobs.  So the extra security is wise.”

I ran my fingers around from Tony’s scalp to his jaw and tilted his head up to look at me.  “Was it just the suit you had?”

“Oh uh…” He shook his head and fished his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket.  “No.”  He held a ring box out and popped it open.  Inside was a diamond solitaire ring with a titanium band and the largest oval cut diamond I’d ever seen in my whole life.  “So, do you want to?”

I nodded.  “Yeah.  Alright.  I’ll be your wifey.”

He chuckled and kissed my forehead before taking out the ring and slipping it onto my ring finger.  “Thank you, honey.”

“I love you, you know?”  I asked.

He nodded.  “Sometimes I’m not sure why.  But I know.”

I nuzzled at his cheek and looked over at Thor.  “Why can’t he wear his suit?”

“I’m not sure.  I will have to speak to Loki.”  Thor said.  “She is better versed with the law.”

“It’s okay.  If we’re gonna get married when we get back I can save it.”  Tony said.  “But, could you guys maybe pick for me?”

“Really, Tony?”  Bruce asked.

“Yeah,” he said.  “You all see me better than anyone else.  I want to be dressed how you see me.”

“We can do that,” I said. “It’s gonna be perfect.”

“So what’s going on with you then, Steve?”  Sam asked.

“Everything’s too tight.  I thought we went through this.”  Steve said, closing back up again.

“Alright,” Bucky said, pouring more mead into Steve’s cup.  “Drink up.”

“What are you doing?”  I asked.

“We discovered last night that Steve gets a little more open with his feelings when he’s drunk,” Sam said as Steve sighed and took a long drink of the mead.

“So what are the pre-bonding things we need to know about?”  Tony asked.

“Well, the day before we have to sit in isolation to think and consider our place in the relationship,” Thor explained.  “During this time an artist will paint our bodies, similar to Henna tattoos on Midgard.  Though stylistically it will be different and there will be color involved.  The tattoos will be a map of us as individuals and who we are together.  After that, we will be scrubbed clean and dressed.”

“There’s no bachelor party?”  Tony asked.

“That isn’t a custom here, but if you desire to have one, we could organize it,” Thor said.

“How, if all our friends are on Earth?”  I asked.

“I could send for them,” Thor said.  “Do you know who you’d like?”

“Oh, you gotta get Hill and Coulson here,” Clint said.

“Fury too,” Natasha added.

“I gotta have platypus here,” Tony said.  “Gotta.  Happy too.”

“Viz!”  Wanda said excitedly.  “Scott and Hope seem like obvious additions too.  It would be nice to share this with them.”

“T’Challa maybe?  If he can get here.”  Sam suggested.  “Though it might be a bit of an ask.”

“I’d like Jax and Clarke,” I said.  “What about your brother and sister, Sam?”

Sam shook his head.  “As much as I’d like it if they came I could never get them to support the idea of this in a day.”

“I’m sorry, Sam.” I frowned.

He shrugged.  “It’s fine.  They’re getting there.  If we had longer I could but it is what it is.”

“I think that’s it then, Thor,” Steve said.

Thor nodded.  “I shall send an envoy.  They will bring back those they can.”

“Are there Asgardian strippers?”  Tony asked.

“Strippers!”  Steve cheered and everyone turned their heads to look at him.

“And we have reached optimal level drunk,” Sam said.  “Elise.  How about you come do the questioning seeing as you missed out on drunk Steve last night.”

“Okie dokie.”  I said and moved over to Steve and sat down in his lap.  “You want some strippers, Stevie?”

“Mmm…” he hummed and flexed his fingers on my side.  “Wanna take body shots off you.  ‘Member when we did that?”

I giggled. “I sure do.  What drink did I make you again?”

Steve started giggling.  “You gave me and Buck blowjobs.”

“Both kinds.” I teased and he rubbed his nose on mine.  “Hey, Stevie?  What’s wrong with the clothes?”

“Not good enough.”  He said.

“Why aren’t they good enough?”  I asked as I caressed his jaw.

“Not them.  Me.”  He said.

It felt like my heart broke in my chest.  I pressed my forehead against his.  “Oh, Steve.  Of course, you are.”

He shook his head.  “Couldn’t finish the war.  Couldn’t save Bucky.  Couldn’t stop Schmidt.  Just barely stopped the aliens.  Nope.  That wasn’t me.  Was Tony.  Can’t make the world better for our kids.”

“Honey,” I said, stroking his hair.  “You’ve done plenty.  Everything.”

“I’m a failure,” he said.  “And a fraud.  ‘S not even my body.”

“Honey,” I said pulling back and looking into his eyes.  “You deserve to be happy.”

“Nope.  Not me.”  He said.  “He said.  ‘Cause ‘m gay.”

I tilted my head.  “You don’t think gay people deserve to be happy.”

“Yes, just not me.  ‘M not gay, am I?  But he said…”

“Oh shit.”  Bucky groaned.  I looked over at Bucky and he ran his fingers through his hair.    

“His dad walked in on us once,”  Bucky said.  “We were pretty young.  We weren’t even doing anything.  It was purely innocent.  Just cuddling.  But he beat the absolute tar outta Steve.  He already hated that he was small and sick.  Add being a sissy to it.”

I grimaced and wrapped my arms around Steve, holding him tightly against him.  I knew exactly what had happened because the same thing had happened to me when my dad had found me kissing a girl.  “Steve,” I soothed.  I was worried there was nothing I could say that would get through to him in time.  This was big-issue stuff, and we didn’t have time to figure it out the way it needed to be.  “You can’t let him decide what you deserve.  Stop letting a man who has been dead for 80 years punish you for being the amazing person you are.”

“But I’m not good enough.  Haven’t proved myself.”  He mumbled.

“Happiness isn’t a prize to be one.  You get to just be happy.”  I said.

“But why?  Why me?  Why us?  Why now?”  He babbled.

I kissed his neck and rubbed his back.  “We’ve gotten very lucky that our very lovely space boyfriend got pushed into a predicament that he was told he had no choice in the matter, and by doing that he finally realized that maybe he wanted it too.”

“And we just get a happily ever after for 5 thousand years?”  He asked.

“We do, honey.  Don’t you want that?”

He shook his head.  “Doesn’t matter what I want.”

“We want it.  Does it matter what we want?”  I asked.

“Steven,”  Thor said, getting up and coming over to crouch in front of Steve.  “You are worthy of this, sweetheart.  Please let us in.”

“Space boyfriend,” Steve said softly.

“Let me be your space husband,” Thor said stroking his jaw.

“Space husband,” Steve said and looked up into Thor’s eyes.  “How many husbands will I have?”

“Counting the Hulk you get to have seven husbands and three wives,” Thor said.  “Would you like that.  We want you.”

“That’s so many.”  Steve giggled.

“So many.  With so much love for you.”  Thor agreed and cupped Steve’s cheek.  “Please marry us.  Make 10 people complete.”

“Til the end of the line, punk,” Bucky said.

“Otay,” Steve said, softly.

Thor leaned over and kissed him deeply.  When he pulled back he sat beside Steve and pulled both Steve and me into his lap.

“Now, my love,” I said to Steve.  “Clothes.”

“Has to be perfect.”  He said.

“I’m gonna be sappy, Steve,” I said.  “You ready?”

“Otay.”  He nodded.

“It’ll be perfect because you’re wearing it.”

“Aww…”  Steve cooed, nuzzling at my neck.  “You’re a cheese puff.”

I giggled and stroked his hair.  “Can you choose something?”

He nodded.  “Can Thor help me?”

“I would be honored,” Thor said.  “Now, I think it’s time to get you to bed, my drunken fiance.”

“It is late.”  Wanda agreed.  “Perhaps we should all go to bed.”

There was a murmur of agreement and we got up and headed to bed.  It had been such a good day and even though this whole process was so rushed, a week and a half seemed like it was too far away.

Wanda and I were cuddling up talking about the bonding and how we had pictured weddings when we were younger.  For Wanda, it was such a thing of joy and family she described. Part of me was really sad for her that she didn’t have that part of her family to share in it anymore.  But she was excited and she had a family in us. This was more important to her than it was just about everyone else. Getting married was something that meant something to her.  Family was important to her. Now after giving up on that, she was getting to have everything.

Sam had slept in really late and came out without a word.  He sat down opposite us, rubbing the back of his head. “Did you leave me food by the bed?”  He asked.

“That was Steve,” Wanda said.  Her legs were draped over my lap and I nuzzled at her neck as she spoke.

“Where’d they all go?”  He asked.

“Steve, Bucky, and Natasha are playing with pointy things,”  Wanda said and began to play with my hair as she tilted her head back a little.  I took it as an invitation to kiss her neck, and I swirled the tip of my tongue over the soft skin of her throat.  “Thor and Clint are with the babies, Tony and Bruce are doing science.”

“Steve let me sleep?”  Sam asked.

“We’re on vacation,” Wanda said.   “Why are you sitting over there by yourself, Sam?”

“I dunno.  You both look so cute snuggled up like that.  Thought I’d watch.” He said playfully.

Wanda blushed a little, her skin flushing under my lips.  I could only assume that Sam had thought something particularly dirty in her direction.  ‘Did he just...?’ I sent her and she pulled a face and nodded.

I leaned up and kissed her.  We started it just softly and tenderly, but as our lips caressed over each other’s, Wanda’s thoughts filled my head.  ‘He’s still watching.’

‘Then let’s give him something to watch.’  I sent back.

Wanda made a small squeak sound, but her tongue flicked out.  I circled mine with hers and we started to kiss graphically. I’m not even totally sure why we had decided to give Sam this little show, but that’s what we were doing.  It was now barely about us but rather about teasing Sam.

“You bad girls.”  Sam scolded. “What do you think you’re both doing?”

I pulled back slowly, sucking on Wanda’s bottom lip, but we kept our foreheads pressed together.  “Do you mind, Sam? We’re kissing.”

He chuckled.  “Oh like that wasn’t for me.”

“How dare you?  We kiss for us, thank you very much.  Not as a show for you.” I teased.

Wanda giggled and nipped at my earlobe.  “Oh sure, miss ‘likes to watch’.” He leaned back on the couch and spread his legs, patting his thighs.  “Come here, naughty girls.”

We got up and perched on his lap.  It was a little bit of a squeeze, and Wanda’s and my legs were pushed between each other.  Sam ran his hands up our backs and rested them at the base of our heads, bunching his hands in our hair and nudging us back towards each other.  We began to kiss again, hungry and passionately. Our hands ran up each other’s sides and as she began to tease her fingers along the underside of my breasts, I began to massage hers.

Sam leaned back and watched us for a little while, his tongue poking out from between his teeth and his hands cradling the back of our heads.  Wanda moaned softly into my lips and he leaned forward and guided us apart again, pulling Wanda into a deep hungry kiss. When she pulled back, I took her place.

Sam finally pulled back again and his hands ran back down, resting on our asses.  “What am I going to do with the two of you. Sitting over there teasing me like that.”  He mused. “Elly, you should be spanked for that.”

“Me?”  I squeaked.

“Like it wasn’t your idea.”  He said, massaging my ass. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

I smirked at him and Wanda started giggling.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”  He said, giving my ass a gentle spank.  “I think, Elly, you might need to lie over my lap so I can spank you.”

I wriggled on his lap.  “What about Wanda?” I asked.

“Hmm…”  He mused, his hands flexing on Wanda’s lap.  “Wanda’s such a sweet girl. Seems like she should be given a treat.”

“I’m not a sweet girl?”  I asked.

Sam chuckled.  “Salty-sweet.” He said.  “Wanda, why don’t you lie back, honey?  Elly can put her mouth to good use while I teach her a lesson about being a tease.”

Wanda kissed me playfully, first ghosting her lips over mine and then nipping at them.  When she pulled back she let herself fall back on the couch and scooted back away from us spreading her legs so we both got a look at the black panties she was wearing.

I positioned myself so I was lying over Sam’s lap and my head was between Wanda’s legs.  I ran my hands up her long black socks and over the bare flesh of her thighs as I nuzzled at her pussy.  As I did, Sam pulled the fabric of my dress up and yanked my panties down.

I hummed and wriggled my ass a little as I pulled Wanda’s panties down and off.

“Now, Elly.  You’re gonna stay here until Wanda comes, got it?”  Sam said, running his palm over my ass.

“Yes, Sammy,” I said and he brought his hand down on my left cheek.  It wasn’t hard, but there was a loud crack because of the way he cupped his hand and heat blossomed on my skin.

I flattened my tongue and swiped it up Wanda’s folds.  She was already quite wet which surprised me a little. Sam was intentionally being light with the kink, it was something I liked but Wanda steered clear of it.  It was the reason why I was being spanked and not both of us. It was why he only lightly spanked me and why he hadn’t checked I remembered safewords. Wanda was here so it wasn’t going to get to that level.  He was being playful about it and it was turning her on.

He spanked my other cheek.  This one had a little more of a sting to it but only a little.  I squeaked and popped my ass up more before going back to focusing on Wanda.  I flicked my tongue over her clit, circled it around, and pressed down on it. She moaned and her fingers dug into the couch as more of her arousal seeped out of her.

Sam ran his palm over my ass and his fingers teased between my folds.  “Oh princess, so wet for me already.” He teased as he pushed one finger inside me.  I hummed into Wanda’s pussy not breaking focus at all, despite the warm buzz that began to creep through me too.

Wanda and I began to moan.  Softly at first and then louder as we relaxed into the pleasure building in each of us.

Sam pulled his finger out and spanked me again.  The loud crack almost like an exclamation to the moans in the room.  I yelped into Wanda’s cunt and she arched her back up. When Sam’s hand returned to my pussy he thrust two fingers inside of me and began to fuck me hard with them, his hand pistoning in and out quickly.  I added two of my fingers to Wanda, curling them inside her, seeking out the soft spongy surface of her g-spot. Each time I stroked my fingers over it, she’d moan loudly and it would draw out more moisture until it began to run drown my wrist in rivulets.  I drank up what I could, the tart, salty flavor coating my tastebuds.

Sam’s fingers worked inside me, and his thumb drew circles on my clit.  I was almost panting into Wanda’s cunt. He pulled his fingers out again and spanked me for a fourth time.

I groaned loudly and he lifted my hips, climbing out from under me.  I focused on Wanda as he moved around behind me. Her legs were trembling and she was starting to buck up against me.

With a sudden cry and shudder, Wanda came, her whole body arching up under me.  Sam swatted my ass and nudged me forward. I crawled up between Wanda’s legs and brought my lips to hers.  We kissed deeply and ground against each other. Sam moved up behind me, grabbed a hold of my hips and sunk his cock into me.

I groaned and buried my face in Wanda’s neck as Sam started to fuck me from behind.  Wanda pushed up against me, her clit rubbing against mine. I was halfway to orgasm already.  My blood felt like lava as pleasure surged through me.  

Sam thrust into me hard, pushing me down into Wanda and all I could do was hold on.   Wanda slid her hand between us and began to rub my clit. My body seized up and I came, crying out into Wanda’s neck.

She stroked my hair and Sam slowed and then slipped out of me sitting back on the couch.  Wanda and I both sat up and looked at him. My head felt soft and fuzzy and I blinked slowly at him.

Sam offered his hand to Wanda.  “Come here, honey.” He said gently.

She climbed his lap, her back flush with his chest, and as she lowered herself down, he guided his cock into her.  She slowly rolled her hips as he kissed her neck and ran his hands up under her shirt to massage her breasts.

I slipped down onto the floor and moved between their legs.  Wanda looked down at me. Her green eyes were darkened with lust.  I looked up at her and lapped my tongue over Sam’s balls slowly before sucking one into my mouth.

“Fuck, Elly,” Sam gasped, bucking up into Wanda and making her moan.

I ran my tongue upwards, over the base of his shaft and when I reached Wanda, I flattened my tongue and continued up.  Wanda mewled and bunched her hands in my hair, tugging on in lightly as I circled the point of my tongue over her clit.

They tasted like a combination of all three of us.  Salty, musky, tart, but with an underlying sweetness.  Wanda started to bounce on Sam’s cock and I dropped down repeating my actions from before, licking a stripe from Sam’s base to Wanda’s clit.  Wanda was having trouble keeping quiet and each time I touched on her clit or Sam’s base I could feel the throb of their impending orgasms. I focused on Wanda, sucking and nibbling on her clit.  She jerked and cried out suddenly as her orgasm broke. I moved down sucking on Sam’s balls. They tightened in my mouth and he snapped his hips up, releasing into Wanda as he cursed under his breath.

I sat back and watched as their bodies settled.  Thick white come leaked down Sam’s cock. A mixture of both of them.  I leaned forward and ran my tongue up his shaft one last time, collecting up the heady mixture as it dripped down.

With a hum I climbed back up on the couch and the three of us, redressed and straightened up before curling back in against each other.

“Mmm… that was nice.”  Wanda hummed.

“Yeah, I can’t remember the last time I’ve gotten to sleep in and then had sex as well.”  Sam agreed.

“You’re royalty now.  Gotta get used to it.”  I joked.

Sam laughed.  “Yeah right. I can see the royalty thing flying well with Steve when we get back.”

I chuckled and leaned my head against him.  Thinking about it, it was going to be really weird going back.  I was the Queen of Asgard and here people fawned over me. I had attendants to help me dress and who bathed me.  When we got back none of that would matter at all. I wondered if I’d miss it.

“I have clothes for you in here, with tailors to take them in if need be.  And Loki has organized a team for hair and makeup in Wanda’s room.”  Thor explained.

“Oh, wow,”  I said.  “Didn’t trust me to do my own makeup, Loki?”

“Like you even factored into the decision,”  Loki scoffed.  “I just didn’t want to paint my own face.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said.  “So clothes first?”

“Yes, follow me,” Thor said.  He led me into my room where a team of tailors were dressing Bruce and Tony.  Bruce was being fitted into an indigo and gold outfit that was a blend of scaled armor and long silk-like jacket.  Tony seemed to be forgoing Asgardian wear, over an Armani suit.  Though he was allowing them to add embellishments in gold and red to the black.

Thor nodded to one of the tailors and she pulled a gown off the rack that was a dark blue, satin-like material.  I took off the dress I was wearing and right away she began to help me into the new dress.  Another two tailors came over and began taking in sections as quickly as their hands could move.  Not that they seemed to need to do much.  It fit pretty perfectly.

The gown was strapless with intricate silver filigree that trickled down into the skirt and trimmed the symmetrical lines of the hem.  When they were happy with the fit the armor and jewelry came out.  I was strapped into a silver breastplate that had dark blue filigree that mirrored the silver that it was covering so where the breastplate ended it looked like it flipped colors into the skirt.  Next, they put on shoulder guards and vambraces in the same silver with blue filigree.  They wrapped a fine filigree band that had leaves and blossoms on it around my upper arm and put a matching choker around my neck.  By the time I was fully dressed, Tony and Bruce were gone and Clint and Bucky were being dressed too.

Clint was being dressed in plum and black leather.  The jacket was knee length and the leather was embossed with a beautiful design that looked like a mixture of feathers and air-currents.  Bucky was being fitted in leather plated armor of deep green and gold and there was a black fur cloak waiting to go over it.

“What do you think, my love?”  Thor asked.

“It’s beautiful.  What do you think?”  I asked spinning.

“Gorgeous,” Thor said, smiling.  “It is as if all the air has been sucked from the room.”

“Flatterer,” I said coming over and kissing his cheek.

“Asgardian clothes suit you, El,” Bucky said.

“You look pretty good in them too, Buck,” I said

Thor handed me a tiara in silver with blue crystals that matched the other jewelry.  “Take this to the hairstylist to put in.”  He said.

“Thank you.  You should get dressed too.”  I said.

He nodded. “I will now.”

I went back out into the living room and found Wanda.  She was already dressed in a red floor-length gown that sat off the shoulders and had sleeves that reached the floor and were lined in a gold satin.  She had panels of gold metal acting as a corset, the centerpiece going from the neckline and between her breasts and was adorned with a crest.  Around her neck was a necklace in the same gold that cut a similar arrow shape as the plates.

“Hey,” she said.  “Hair and makeup?”

“Yep.  Let’s do it.”  I said.

We went into her room where a team was set up with chairs placed in front of a long mirror.  Loki sat in front of the mirror dressed in a gown of gold and green, adorned in her usual curled filigree and leather and scale armor.  Natasha was just getting the finishing touches on her lips.  Her gown was black and gold.  The skirt was layer upon layer of a sheer black fabric that almost resembled feathers on a raven.

She stood and my breath caught.  “Nat.  You look stunning.”

“Thank you.”  She said.  “You both look so beautiful too.  They are quite painless with the makeup.”

“I’m gonna tear that dress off you later.”  I teased.

“Sounds good.”  She said and kissed my cheek as she left the room.  Wanda and I took seats next to Loki.

“Okay,” a woman says with a heavy accent.  She looked me over and then grabbed my face and turned it left and right.  I startled a little.  No one had been so rough with me since I had gotten to Asgard.  Or before really.  At least not a stranger.  “Might be able to work with zis one.”

“They’re a little abrasive, aren’t they, Loki?”  Wanda joked.

“Total change from the mother-of-the-heir stuff I’m used to.”  I agreed.

“I thought you might appreciate Griselda,” Loki said as a woman fussed around her.

“Keep still.”  Griselda scolded and began to do my hair.  Carefully curling it and braiding it.

The three of us sat quietly for a moment while the women worked their magic on us.  It was Loki who broke the silence.  “I’m not asking for opinions.”  She said.  “Left or right?”

“Left,” I said, not knowing what she was talking about.

“I agree,” Wanda added.

“Thank you.  I think the left design will work.”  She said.  “I’m having jewels added to my eyes.”

“I see,” I said, not understanding at all, but assuming I would see soon enough.  “I look forward to seeing the finished product.”

Loki made a dismissive sound like she was done talking about that and I smiled to myself.  “Hey, Loki, when we’ve bonded with Thor will that make me your sister?”

Loki turned and glared at me.

“It will, won’t it?”  I teased.  “I’m gonna be your sister.”

“I will stab you,” Loki warned.

“Oh, sister.  Don’t be like that.”

“Elise,” she said.  “You’re pushing your luck.”

“Fine!”  I said putting up my hands in defeat.

She scowled and the makeup artist seemed to start working on her a little faster.  We fell silent again.  Loki was the first to be done and she swept out of the room wordlessly.  Griselda finished with me next and I looked at myself in the mirror.

“Wow!  That’s me?”  I asked.

“Yes,”  She said, her voice sounding like she was addressing someone who was quite dim.

“Thank you.  It’s beautiful.”  I said.

She nodded and the woman working on Wanda finished up.  The two of us headed out to the living room to find the others.  Everyone appeared to be dressed, though Thor was noticeably absent.  Everyone’s clothing uniquely made to fit them.  Sam was in a dark grey and silver with what looked like black and silver feathers adorning it.  Both embossed into the leather and metal and each scale in his armor looked like a feather.  Steve wore a dark blue and silver.  There were stars worked into the detail, but they looked like real stars.  Like he was wearing the galaxy rather than the five-pointed star he normally wore.

Thor came out of the kids' room.  He wore his usual armor but it was a little more ornate and a little more polished.  The metal was iridescent like an oil slick and the cape he wore wasn’t his usual red, but rather seemed to have a color to represent each of us.  He was carrying Pietro who was clinging to him and hiding his face in Thor’s neck, while Riley walked beside him holding his hand.  Both the children were wearing white robes with gold ropework and gold capes.

“Pietro does not wish to be put down,” Thor said.  “He doesn’t like his clothes and he’s feeling shy.”

“I’m feeling shy too, Piet.  Do you want to go with me?”  Bruce asked.

Pietro turned in Thor’s arms and held out his hands to Bruce who took him and the little boy immediately hid in Bruce’s neck.

“Is everyone ready?”  Thor asked.

We all nodded in agreement and those that were sitting got up.  Thor looked us all over and nodded.  “Alright, my chosen people, follow me.”

We formed a line of two by two and headed out to the feast.

“So, Fandral,”  I said, as Fandral shifted Sam so he was being held a little closer to him.  “What’s the deal with you and Loki?”

Fandral chuckled.  “Do you want me to lose my life?”

“You were both thinking some pretty explicit thoughts before,” Wanda said.

“We are … complicated.”  Fandral explained. “Loki tolerates few you may have noticed.”

“The babies,”  Wanda said.  “And that’s about it.”

An affectionate smile crossed over Fandral’s face.  “Oh, yes.  The babes hold the largest portion of Loki’s affection.”  He said.  “The thing about Loki is most don’t understand him.  I think it’s just a case of, I can see what his thought processes are like.”  He gave us a sly look and quirked an eyebrow.  “Not to mention, I am very easy, ladies.  I have no expectation that Loki will have any interest in me tomorrow and nor do I have any desire to be tied down.”

“Uh-huh,” Wanda said sounding unconvinced.

“It’s the truth, my lady,”  Fandal said.  “Asgard is not like Midgard and you are hardly in a typical relationship yourself, even for Asgardian standards.  We don’t define it.  I do, however, like romance.  I could romance you if you liked.”

Wanda pulled herself up straight.  “I am out of your league.”

I burst out laughing and Fandral feigned shock.  “My lady, you wound me.”

“What?”  Wanda said, taking my hand.  “It’s true.”

“So sharp with your words.  I am not without feelings.”  He teased and gestured to a door.  “But we are here.”

I opened it for him and Fandral carried Sam inside.  It was dark with black stone walls and dim lights that glowed softly.  A group of five women in long robes approached us and three of them took Sam away without a word.  One of the remaining women turned to us.  “Can we help either of you, your highnesses?”

“Um, yes,” Wanda said, and I could tell she wasn’t sure how to explain what was wrong.

“Wanda is a telepath, and with all the drinking…”  I said.

The woman nodded and gestured for us to follow.   Wanda lay down on a table and the three women stood around it.  A cage of light surrounded Wanda and they began to shift the beams around.

“What is that?”  Wanda asked.

“It’s a soul forge.”  The woman answered as she continued her work.  As they moved the beams Wanda seemed to relax more.  “How is that?”

“Much better,” Wanda said, almost sounding a little sleep drunk.

“We have corrected for the thoughts you were receiving,”  She said turning the forge off.  “When you go back they will return.  We have something that will block your telepathy if you wish.  It’s is a diadem, so the effects will only last while you wear it.”

“Okay,” Wanda said with an uncertain nod.

One of the healers left and returned with an intricate silver diadem.  The silver had been forged into delicate scrollwork that sat low on Wanda’s brow and right in the middle of her forehead sat a deep blue crystal.

Wanda blinked when it was in place.  “It went really quiet.”

“Is that good or bad?”  I asked.

“I do not know.  It is strange.”  She said.  “I haven't been alone in my thoughts for so long, it's both a relief and scary.  I don't like not being able to feel you.”

“It is only to guard against the hangovers.  You are free to remove it at any time.”  The healer said.

“Thank you,” Wanda said and slid off the table.

We went out to the first room to wait for Sam.  It wasn’t long before Sam came out with Fandral.  He looked much more human and happy.  “Oh wow, Wanda.  Look at you.  You’re an actual princess.”  He said coming over to her and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“It blocks my telepathy.  I don’t know if I like it.”  Wanda said.

Sam pressed a kiss to her brow.  “It won’t be for long.”

“You feeling better then?”  I asked.

“Like it never happened.  I am so hungry now.”  He said putting his arm around Wanda.  He held up a bottle of liquid.  “They gave me this to give the others too.”

“Oh good, hopefully, that saves a lot of whining today,” I said.

“And I won’t have to wear this for too long,”  Wanda added, tapping the jewel on the diadem.

Fandal led us back to our rooms and he was immediately set on by Sif as we came through the door.  “There you are.”  She snapped.  “What the hell?”

“I was taking them to the healers as requested, my lady,” Fandral said.

“Kidnapping three of the royal family and leaving the children alone.”

Fandral laughed.  “What is Hogun?  Chopped liver?”  He snarked.  “Stop being so dramatic and drink this.”

Sam offered her the bottle and she took a drink.  “Okay, good.  I’m taking this to Volstagg.”

She disappeared into the bedroom they’d put Volstagg in as we came inside properly.  The food had been delivered and Hogun was supervising the twins with their breakfast.

“Food!”  Sam said and grabbed a plate and started to load it up.  I went to get one too and Riley started to eat directly off her plate like a dog.

“Honey,” Wanda sighed.  “Use a fork.”

“Daj,” Riley whined.  “I ead good.”

“You eat all over yourself,” Wanda said.

“Das otay.  Vows - Vowstaag… he do too.”  She said.

Wanda approached her and wiped her face clean.  “Volstagg isn’t the ruler of the nine realms, sweetie.”

“I’s a unicorn,” Riley said and went back to eating right off the plate.

Sam stifled a laugh while Wanda sighed and went and helped herself to some food.

“Don’t worry about it, Wan,” Sam said.  “I’ll give her a bath after.”

The three of us sat down on the couch, snuggled in together as we ate.  “So do you know what you’re going to do with the bonding?”  I asked.

Sam shook his head.  “I think I’ll do it.  It’s a long time to live but some of us don’t get a choice about that.  Maybe the right thing to do is to agree to go through that with them.”

I nodded.  “I keep getting stuck on the ‘having to watch Piet die’ thing.  I’ve worried about how losing everyone would affect Steve, Bucky, Nat, and Bruce for a long time.  And now the choice is being given to me and I’m scared.”

“Yes, I already lost my brother.  I don’t want to have to outlive my son.”  Wanda agreed.

“Plus everyone else.  How many friends do we outlive before I stop being able to form bonds with people because I know it’s only going to end with me watching them die?”

“You would never be able to do that,” Sam said.  “Elly, you have the biggest heart.”

“Which just means it’s going to be painful every single time,” I said.  “How much hurt can I survive?”

“All of it,” Sam said.  “You’re strong, El.”

“If Piet were out of the equation.  If he was like Riley, would that make it easier?”  Wanda asked.

I wiped my eyes.  “I think mostly.  I think if I didn’t have to worry about Piet I’d say yes.”  I said.  “It’s just…”

“What is it, princess?”  Sam asked.

“You guys chose me because I was just a normal person.  If this makes me immortal and gives me powers, then I won’t be who you wanted.”

“Oh, Elly,”  Sam said putting his plate down.  He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my temple tenderly.  “We love you for what’s in here -” he tapped my chest and then my forehead.  “- and in here.  That’s much more than just you being a regular person.  There are billions of regular people in the world.  There’s only one you.”

I swallowed and nodded, trying not to completely break down.

“We love you, El.  And Thor loves you and wants to keep you forever.  He hasn’t even asked me to bond with him.”  Sam said.

“You need him to ask?”  I said.

“It would be nice.  I dunno.  Maybe I don’t need it because if you and Wanda do, and Nat, Steve, and Buck already are going to basically live forever, I would stick around for all of you, but it would be nice if Thor let me know he wanted me too.”

“That makes sense.  I totally get that.  I told him I thought he loved us like people loved dogs.”  I said.  “He needs to show you all that you aren’t just friends-with-benefits to him.”

Sam let out a breath.  “Yeah.  ‘Cause I do love him.”

Riley climbed off the chair and toddled over and climbed into Sam’s lap.  “Did you eat, bug?”  Sam asked.

“Yes, daddy.”  She practically snarked.

“What was that?”  Sam said, trying not to laugh.  “Was that sarcasm?”

I laughed.  “Sounded like it.”

“My goodness,” Sam said.  “Such an advanced three-year-old.”

I got up and stretched.  “I might go take a bath.  You two okay with the kids?”  I asked.

“I think we can handle it,” Sam said.

I headed into the bathroom and ran the water.  I had just let my slip fall to the floor when Loki barged into the room.

“Loki!” I squawked, grabbing the slip and pulling it back up.

He waved me off dismissively.  “You have nothing I haven’t seen thousands of times before.”

I rolled my eyes.  “What do you want?”

“The reason you have been unable to decide about the bonding is because of Pietro, correct?”  He asked.

“Yes.  Mostly because of Pietro.”  I agreed.

“I found the book I had been looking for.”  He said.  “There is something called the Golden Apple.  The Goddess Idunn oversees them on Alfheim.  The apple can grant longevity to whoever eats it.”

I froze and looked up into Loki’s eyes.  “This is a real thing?  You can find it?”

“I assure you it is real.  I have sent an envoy to Alfheim.”  Loki said.  “The child will have to be of age and make the decision himself, but he has the choice.  Is that enough for you?”

“I just… this… I don’t…”  I babbled.

Loki rolled her eyes. “Use your words.”

“This changes everything.”

“You’ll agree to the bonding then?”

I took a deep breath and nodded, shifting on my feet.  “Loki.  Can I hug you?”

“What do I get out of it?”  Loki asked.

“You can tell me your terms as I hug you,” I said, taking a step forward.  He opened his arms up and I moved into them, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head against his chest as he closed his arms around me.  “No stabbing me either.”

Loki chuckled.  “I did not do this for you, you know?”

I nodded against his chest.  “I know.”

“Call off your attack spider would you.  She keeps making comments about me having feelings.”  Loki said.

I giggled.  “Done and done.”  I pulled back and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

“Now, would you please tell my brother ‘yes’ so he can stop bothering me?”  He said.

“I will.  Let me wash up first.”

Loki went to the door and paused.  “If anyone is looking for me, I’ll be having sex.  I’m taking Fandral with me.  I haven’t had any since you were attacked and that is unusual.”

“Aww Loki, you do have feelings.”  I teased.

He smirked.  “I will stab you.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Go on then. Get laid.  When I see you again I promise I’ll have said yes to Thor.”

He nodded and left and I took my bath.  I rushed a little as I wanted to go and speak to Thor and tell him what Loki had said.  When I was clean I wrapped myself in a robe and took the potion from Sif who was back to guarding the door with Volstagg.  I went into my room where Thor, Steve, Bucky, Clint, Tony, Natasha, and Bruce were all sleeping in a tangled pile of limbs.  Feet were in faces and people were clinging to each other.  It was quite funny to look at.

I changed into a fresh gown and went and sat next to Thor and shook him a little.  “Thor?”  He opened his eyes and squinted at me.  “Here, my love,” I said holding the bottle to his lips.

He blinked a few times before starting to drink.  After a few swallows of the liquid, he lay back down and I put the stopper back into the bottle and put it down.

“Mmm, thank you, mea vida.”  He said.  He rubbed my hip slowly and sat up.  “I feel much better.”

“You’re welcome, my love,” I said, leaning over and kissing him.  He hummed softly and pulled me a little closer to him.

“Thor,”  I said pulling back.  “Loki found something.”

“What is it?”  He said, sitting up straighter and looking a little more alert.

“He found a book.  It has information about a fruit that grants the person who eats it longevity.”  I explained.

“What?”

“It’s guarded by a goddess.  Iona?  Isola?  I forget. He has a book.”

“Okay.  So Pietro will have his own choice?”  Thor asked.

“Yes,” I said and put my hand on his.  “Ask me.”

Thor tilted his head and looked me over for a moment.  He nodded and got up kneeling on the ground in front of me and taking my hand.  “Elise, my life, will you bond with me?”

“Yes, I will,” I said.

He smiled and got up pulling me into his arms and kissing me deeply.  I melted into him, letting him hold my weight.

“We will have to start the preparations.  You need a gown.”  Thor said as he pulled back.

“Thor, there’s one more thing,” I said.

He tilted his head and looked at me with concern.  “That doesn’t sound good.”

I gave his hand a squeeze.  “You need to propose to them.  And when you do you need to explain it.  All they have heard is the not quite clear version of events from me.  Bucky and Steve will do it regardless.  Tony and I will too because we were there.  The others you need to at least speak to and make them know what this means and that you want it with them.”

“Oh,” Thor said softly.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded and sat back down on the bed.  I sat beside him and he curled up, putting his head on my lap. “I didn’t realize how closed off I was being with them. It hurts to know they don’t know how I feel.”

I stroked his hair and massaged the back of your neck.  “We all love you. But it has been hard because we don’t see you often, and when we do you try and be the strong happy man who has nothing to worry about.  Time to change that and now’s your chance.  Be honest with them.  But more importantly, ask them.  Make sure they know you want this with them.”

“I will.  When everyone is awake I will propose.”  He said.

“Good,” I said and rubbed his chest.  “You are loved, Thor.  Don’t doubt that.  I want to spend as much of the next 5000 years as I possibly can, Thor. ”

Thor smiled softly.  “I want that too.”

I leaned down and kissed him and he made a contented rumbling noise against my lips.  We were starting a new chapter as of now and I wasn’t scared at all anymore.

“Hulk, we need Bruce right now,” I said putting my hand on Bruce’s arm.  “I know seeing Thor like this upsets you, but the man who did this is dead.  It’s taken care of.”

Bruce made a strained sound.  “He wants to see proof.”

“I can get Sif to take you to see, but this first,” I said to Hulk.

The green faded back and he took a few deep breaths.  “How do you just talk him down like that?”

I shrugged a little.  “He trusts me, I guess.”

Sam was by Thor’s ankle manipulating it a little, while Thor gritted his teeth.  “You know, Bruce, I can probably handle this. This is a dislocation, not a break, and there are two sets of stitches.  I’ve got it.”

Bruce patted Sam’s shoulder appreciatively.  “Thanks, Sam.”

I followed Bruce out of the room to arrange for Sif to take him to see the body of Elder Vasnor.  She agreed quickly and approached Bruce.  “Follow me.”

“I - I don’t want to see the body,” Bruce said.  “Not if Thor looked like that.”

“Then you should give over control.  It’s probably for the best anyway, he wants to see that everyone is safe.”  I said.

He looked around the room a little panicked.  “Who’s going to bring me back?”

I raised my eyebrow at him and he nodded.  “Sorry.”  He said.  “Okay, stand back.”

I stepped back from him and he doubled over, muscles twisting and expanding as Hulk quickly took over.

“Hey, Big Guy.  Sif is going to take you, okay?”  I said.  “This is a palace though and you need to be on your best behavior.”

“Hulk want Thor first,” Hulk grunted.

I led him back into the bedroom where Sam was working on the stitches.  Hulk lumbered up to Hulk and placed one large finger on Thor’s cheek.

“I am fine, I promise,” Thor said running his hand over Hulk’s finger.

Hulk gave a nod and grunted and took his hand away before turning to Sif.  “Ready.”

“Alright, follow me.”  She said and headed back out of the room.  Hulk followed after her.

“You need a nurse, Sammy?”  I asked.

“Yeah, you’d like that wouldn’t you?”  Sam said suggestively.

“You know I would, dirty bird.” I teased.

“Pass me the scissors,” Sam said.

I stayed with him until all of Thor’s cuts were patched up and then I helped Thor redress.

When the three of us stepped back out into the living room the warriors three began to clap.   “Time to celebrate our victor!”  Volstagg roared and brought Thor over a large tankard of mead.  He began to pour more cups for everyone else.

“I don’t think most of us can drink that, Volstagg,” Wanda said.

“I don’t know what it is, but you can count me in,” Tony said coming over.

“Tony!  It might kill you!”  I squawked.

“If he waters it down he may be able to handle half a cup,” Thor said.

Tony pouted.  “Fine.  Ruin all my fun.”

Cups of the watered-down mead were passed around to most of us, Wanda and I passed completely while Bucky and Steve took a tankard full.  Fandral had taken a seat next to Loki who was starting to relax a little and was talking to Wanda when Sif returned with the Hulk.

I got up and went to Hulk wrapping my arm around his and putting my hand on the back of his hand.  “Look, Big Guy.  We patched up Thor and now we’re having a party.”

“Thor, good?”  Hulk asked.

“Well, we were really worried about his leg being broken.  So Sam did an x-ray and he looked at it and said ‘Oh no, this is exactly what I’m afraid of.’  Thor was so worried and asked him what it was.  Sam said ‘a skeleton’.”

Hulk looked at me confused for a second before he broke out in gentle laughter.  “Hulk’s dork.”  He said patting my head.

“Yeah.  He’s fine, aren’t you Thor?”  I said.

“Perfectly.  And now we celebrate!”  Thor called back.

“Are you okay now?  Everyone is fine.  The man is dead.”  I said.

Hulk shrugged and shifted a little.

“Do you want to see the kids?”  I asked.

He huffed and nodded.

“Alright.  Quiet though.  They’re sleeping.”  I said and led him into the children’s room.  They were both tucked up into their beds, sleeping soundly.  Pietro was cuddling a teddy bear while Riley was spread out like a starfish with her mouth hanging open.  Hulk moved in close and looked them both over carefully before coming back over to me and touching my shoulder.

“Okay?”  I asked.

He nodded and we left the room.  “Okay,”  I said, closing the door behind us.  “Anything else you want to do while you’re here, big guy?”

He shook his head and looked back at the kids’ room.

“I’ll talk to Bruce about letting you spend some time with them tomorrow,” I assured him.

He nodded again and kissed the top of my head.  “Love you, El.”

“Love you too, Big Guy,” I said.

He took a step back and shrunk back down.  I moved in quickly to support Bruce.  “You okay?  Need anything?”

He blinked at me and nodded.  “I’m a bit dizzy.”

“Come, sit down.  I’ll get you some water and something to eat.”  I said and led him to the couch.

I got him something to eat and drink and sat close to him as he ate.  He relaxed a little as everyone around him got drunker and more handsy with each other, but he still sat very stiffly.

“Has he settled?” I asked, putting an arm around him.

“He isn’t pushing so hard, but he’s still just under.”  He said.  “I think he’s worried about something else happening.”

I leaned in close to him and put my hand on his thigh.  “You know,” I whispered.  “Since we’ve been here, we’ve been dealing with stress in a very specific way.  I don’t suppose you’d be interested in that would you?”

“Are you going to say sex?”  Bruce asked.

“I am alluding to sex.  Yes.”

Bruce took a sip of his water and put his cup down.  “Okay.”

“‘Okay’ as in good to know.  Or ‘okay’ as in yes please.”  I asked.

“The latter.”

I got up and offered him my hand.  “Let’s go then.”

“Night everyone,” I said as the two of us headed to my bedroom.

“You’re gonna miss all the fun,” Natasha warned.

“Trust me when I say, I will absolutely not be missing out on any fun,” I assured her.

“Drunk super soldiers and a congratulatory orgy.”  Natasha sang.

“Congratul-orgy.”  Clint joked.

“We’ll risk it.  Have fun, everyone!”  I called.

There were calls of goodnight as I shut the door behind us.  He turned to me and I let what I was wearing slip and fall to the ground.  “Now, Doctor Banner,”  I said stepping out of the fabric pooled at my feet.  His eyes traveled up and down my body.  “I know that sometimes you worry about the Hulk being right there during sex.  I know he won’t come out with me though.  So just do what feels right.  You don’t need to limit yourself.”  I put my hands on his shoulders and slid them up to his neck.  “Which means either listening to what he wants or ignoring him and just doing what you want.  Do whatever you want and need to do to help you relax.  Whatever that is.”

Bruce’s hands went to my hips and he flexed his fingers against my bare skin.  “Elise.”

“Yes, Bruce?”  I asked, looking into his eyes.

“Do you know what you’re saying?”  He asked.  “To me?  To us?”

I nodded and grazed my teeth over my bottom lip.  “Yes.  And I trust you both.  Do you understand that?  I know neither of you will hurt me.  I know I’m safe and you need to know you are too.”

Bruce leaned in and ghosted his lips up my neck, as his fingers flexed against my hips.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and tilted my head a little, letting him take his time to come to this on his own.

He grabbed me suddenly, one hand bunching in my hair, and the other moving to my thigh and he shoved me up against the door.  We kissed hungrily, him leading as he ground into me.  The fabric of his ruined pants grinding against my bare pussy as his cock hardened inside them.

My hands went to his hair and I tugged on it, making him growl softly into my lips and his own hand tighten in my hair.  He pulled my head back, making me gasp as we broke the kiss.  He kissed down my neck and sucked at the dip of my collarbone.  A soft moan escaped from me and I rolled my hips against him.

His hand slid down my back and when it reached my thigh he lifted me and pushed my harder into the door.  “Fuck, Bruce.”  I gasped, wrapping my legs around him.

He made a deep rumble sound and adjusted his hold of me, so his hands were on my ass and his fingertips skimmed over my wet pussy.  “The things you do to me, El.”  He said.

“Show me.”  I moaned tearing his shirt open.

He spun around and carried me to the bed.  When we reached it he dropped me down and dragged me to the edge, kneeling between my legs and nosing at my cunt.  He used his fingers to spread my folds and ran his tongue from my entrance to my clit, sending a pulse up my spine and making me buck my hips up against him.

There was another growl and grabbed my thigh holding me down as he began to work my cunt like a man who had been dying of thirst that had just found a lake.  His tongue swirled over my clit and pushed inside me as he used it to taste every part of me.  My moans became louder and louder as he became more and more frenzied.  Nipping at my clit and sucking hard on it.

He only used his mouth though.  His hands were only used to hold me in place.  Still, I was falling apart for him, bucking and jerking and trying to escape the orgasm that was bearing down on me.

I cried out and arched my back as I came hard on his face.  He moaned as he continued to suck and lick at my cunt.

He stood and I lay back panting and watched as he rid himself of his clothes.  When he was naked I rolled over and crawled up the bed.  I was only halfway up when he moved up behind me and pulled my legs out from under me and pressed me into the mattress, rutting against my ass.

“B,” I moaned pushing back against him.

“I’m going to show you, L.”  He whispered as he lined himself up with my entrance and sunk deep into me.

“Fuck.  Bruce.”  I moaned, reaching behind me and carding his fingers through his hair.  He kissed the side of my neck and began to fuck me hard.  I was helpless under him and I loved it.  I loved it when he trusted himself to be rough with me.  I loved that he loved me enough to trust that I trusted him to let go.

His arm snaked around me and he rubbed my clit hard.  I turned my head and leaned back, capturing his lips and moaning into them as I got closer and closer to the edge of climax.

His fingers worked quickly and he fucked me hard.  I moaned and whimpered against his lips as I came apart.  My body clenched and then spasmed and I came, crying out and breaking the kiss.

He kept thrusting hard and deep, his face pressed into my neck.  With a grunt and a hard thrust that pushed me down into the mattress he came, pulsing inside me.

We stayed like that for a while.  I liked the weight of his body on mine and the feel of his cock just resting inside me as it stilled.

As his breathing settled he hummed and slipped from me and rolled off.  “Okay, that did really help,” Bruce said, laying on his back.  “Thank you.”

I lay down with my head on his chest and ran my fingers through his chest hair.  “You don’t need to thank me.  I really enjoyed it.”

“You still don’t understand, El.  After all these years.  What it means for me to be able to do this with you.”  He said.

I sat up a little and looked him in the eye.  “Bruce.  I understand.  You still don’t have to thank me.  All I do is love you.  That bit is easy.  The rest is all you.”

A soft smile played on his lips and he pulled me into a deep kiss.  I melted into it, content that he was finally relaxed.

“Why was I informed, immediately upon arrival that there is going to be a Fenestare?”  She asked, squaring up to Thor and poking him in the chest.  “It’s like this place doesn’t function when I’m not here.”

I couldn’t even pretend I cared about what Sif had to say about the Fenestare.  I was too excited she was back.  If she was back it meant the others might be here too.  “Did you bring them?”

“Yes,” Sif said.  “I took them to your chambers.  They are settling in.”

I whined and looked at Thor.  He handed me Riley and pressed a kiss to my forehead.  “Volstagg, could you please escort the Lady Elise to the others.”

“Of course,”  Volstagg said and gestured to the door.

“And I will stay here and attempt to slap some sense into our King,” Sif said.

I followed Volstagg down to our chambers carrying both the kids and when I stepped inside I found them all looking high strung and pacing the room.

“You’re going to need to explain what’s going on fast,” Wanda said.  “I’m starting to lose them.”

“Hey, hey, hey,”  I said putting the kids down.  They both immediately started bouncing and jogging on the spot like they wanted to run to the rest of their family but couldn’t decide who they should run to first.  “Why do you guys always have to go so negative?”

“Because an alien shows up, demands we all come here, and the mind-reader immediately jumps on board,” Natasha said folding her arms in front of her.  “That’s suspicious.”

“Can one of you indicate to your kids to come to them, they’re about to explode,” I said.  “The rest of you take a seat.”

“Who wants Daj?”  Wanda asked crouching down and opening her arms.  Riley charged over to her and slammed into her.  I crouched and pointed to Clint and Pietro ran over to him and immediately started scaling him.

Almost everyone took a seat in the couches.  Bucky, Natasha, and Bruce couldn’t seem to settle though, and the three of them kept pacing the room.

“Okay… so, there’s been a little descension here that Thor was unaware of the extent of.  A section of his people believe he was too young for the job, but originally there was no other choice but him or Loki and he was the preference.  So they would make him jump through hoops and he’d do it.  Only now a faction claiming there are two older siblings.  They believe that the firstborn son should be ruling and not Thor and are causing some trouble.  A few things have happened.”  I explained as I sat forward on the couch.

“There’s a what?”  Natasha asked.

“Brother.  Though there has been no actual sign of him.  There is a claim he was kidnapped and raised by the rulers of one of the other realms in the hope to put him in charge of Asgard and then they would rule the nine realms.”  I answered.

“You said some things happened?”  Bucky asked.  He was flexing his metal hand and looked as close to being the soldier as I’d seen him in a long time.

“There was an attempt to kidnap and murder Riley and I,” I said.  “A guard and a woman from that other realm attacked us.”

“And where are they now?”  Bucky asked in a completely flat and rather terrifying tone.

“In prison.  Loki has been dealing with them.”

“I want to see them.” Bucky seethed looking at the door.

“That is not a good idea,” Loki said, coming into the room followed by Fandral.

“It’s also not why you’re here,”  I added.

Bucky wheeled back to me.  “What?  There’s more?”

“Yeah,” I said with a nod.  “It’s about the hoops he’s having to jump.  Right now he’s preparing for a fight to the death he has to participate in.  Though that is also not why you’re here.  When we got here, we were almost forced to … well, marry him.  He has to be bonded with someone to rule if he has a child.  Without telling him or us they were going to force the ceremony.  He managed to get them to give us two weeks.  I couldn’t do it without you guys at least knowing about it.  But… and I guess I’m proposing for him right now.  He’d like it to be all of you.”

“A what?”  Natasha asked.  “And a what?”

“Deathmatch.  Wedding.”  I said counting them off on my fingers. “And -”  I took a breath and huffed, blowing my hair off my brow.  “- the thing about the wedding is… it will mean our life expectancies change.  They will all be pulled in line with Thor’s.”

“Can you boil that down just a wee bit for my dumb brain?”  Clint asked as he cuddled with Pietro.

“The ceremony is called bonding.  It doesn’t change the rules of the relationship.  It just means we are bonded to Thor.  And each other.  We will have a special connection.  For those of us like me who are going to get the usual 78 years most likely, we will now get closer to 5000.  For Bucky, Steve, maybe you B, and you Nat.  You’ll live significantly less.  Plus Thor will be promised to you.  You won’t ever have to worry about being alone.  So… we don’t all have to do it.  But he has to do it with someone.  If you don’t want to that’s okay, but we all need to agree on who does and if that’s okay.”

“Is there a place I can go to punch things?”  Bucky asked in a low voice.

I looked over at Loki, but Volstagg stepped forward.  “Let me take you to the training arena.”  He said.  “Is there anyone else that would like to work out their tension?”

Natasha raised her hand.  Volstagg indicated to the door with his ax and the three of them headed out together.

Sam moved over and wrapped his arm around me and I melted into him.  “I missed you guys.”

“How have you been doing, sweetie?”  Wanda asked rubbing my leg.

“I guess you could say I’ve been a little bit stressed,” I said.

Sam rubbed my arm and kissed the top of my head.  “That’s totally understandable, princess.”  He said.  “You’re safe and we’re all here.”

“What about you, my darlings?  Have you been having fun?”  Wanda asked the kids.

“Uncle Woki has a big wibwawy,” Pietro answered.

“Yeah?  How big?”  Clint asked.

Pietro stretched his arms up over his head.  “Is big.  So many.”

“Piet, you should tell daddy about what Fandral has been teaching you,” I said.

Pietro stood up on Clint’s thighs and started jumping.  “Daddy!  Daddy!”  He said excitedly and then started babbling so fast that it was hard to make out any words.

“Buddy.  Buddy, slow down.”  Clint said, holding Pietro’s hands.

“Dere’s a pony, daddy.  I rided da pony.”  He squealed.

“Oh, really?”  Clint asked.

“Fandral was teaching him to ride while Thor taught Riley how to use her powers,” I explained.

“That sounds like a lot of fun, buddy,” Clint said, and Pietro slammed himself against him and nuzzled into his neck.  “So… the immortality thing.”

“I don’t know what to do.  I worry about him.”  I said poking Pietro.

“Well, maybe he falls in love with an Asgardian,” Clint said.  “Or maybe Earth Science can cure diseases.”

“Or maybe we have to watch him age and then die and we’ll just be stuck like this,” I said, frowning.

“Well, yeah,” Clint said and kissed the top of Pietro’s head.  “I dunno.  Still don’t really see it as a problem.”

“You want to do it?”  I asked.  “Just like that?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” I said, furrowing my brow.  “It’s huge.  It means a lot.”

“Why don’t you talk us through it, honey?”  Sam asked.

“We’ll have to watch everyone we know die.  That means probably Piet.  Hill, Coulson, Scott, Rhodey, Clarke.”  I said.  “It means that all the shit we deal with on Earth could get worse because we will always just be there.  We might stop even being able to relate to people or form proper bonds with them.  They might start thinking we’re gods too.”

“Where did that fear even come from?”  Sam asked.

“I don’t know.  Anne Rice?”

Sam chuckled and Clint shook his head.  “So, fiction?  Have you tried actually talking to someone who has experience with that kind of thing?”  Clint asked.

“What like Thor?  The god of thunder?”  I snarked.

“Well, what about that guy?”  Clint asked, gesturing to Fandral.

“I’m afraid I’m not a good example,” Fandral said with a small bow.  “I have lived a normal life for what is expected on Asgard.  I have seen my elders die but I haven’t had to outlive any of my peers.  At least not in terms of watching them grow old.  I’ve lost friends in battle.”

“Oh,” Clint said.

“There is a chance that young Loki here may outlive us all.  The stories say there are celestials who existed before existence.  There is only one known case of their death and the skull is now the homeworld of many people.  Then came the All fathers.  The Ice Giants came with them.  They were violent and burned a path through the universe before them.  Then Odin was born of the Allfathers.  That was when the universe began to settle.  Other worlds grew and their own life forms formed with their own life spans.  But here on Asgard we live thousands of years and are revered as gods.”

“Okay, but would you choose to outlive some people by millennia if you could?”  Clint asked.

Fandral approached us and took a seat next to Loki. “That seems inevitable.  People die in war.  I outlived the Valkyrie.  My parents.”

“The what?”  Clint asked.

“Valkyrie?  The warrior women?”  Fandral asked with a mixture of shock and disbelief.  “You haven't heard of them?”  When Clint shook his head, Fandral sat up straight and clapped his hands.  “A story for the little prince and princess.  Once upon a time, Odin was stretching his rule over the Nine Realms.  There was much fighting within them and he wished to restore peace and order.  He took with him an army of women who rode upon winged horses.  They were the most formidable army in all the realms.  All who they went up against fell.  Until one day there was a great battle and they were all slain.”  He explained.   “I was but a child when they existed.”  He leaned over and poked Pietro in the stomach.  “Your father wished to be a Valkyrie when he grew up.”

“You get me a horsie wif wings?”  Pietro asked.

Fandral chuckled.  “That might be possible, little prince.  But first, we learn on the non-winged kind.”

“Are they a different species?”  Clint asked.

“That’s right,”  Fandral said with a nod.  “Longer lived and stronger than the typical horse on Asgard, but no match for Odin’s former steed.”

Clint furrowed his brow like he was mulling over the story.  “Why would wings make them live longer?”

I snorted.  “Correlation, not causation, Clint.”

“If I were to guess, I would say it was because the magic runs deeper through them,”  Fandral added and turned to Loki.  “What do you think, dear?”

“I think it would be a shame if I had to put a knife into your eye,” Loki said rolling his eyes and picking at his nails.  “I just cleaned my blades.”

Fandral chuckled and poked Pietro in the belly.  “Now, now.  Your uncle is always so violent.”

Pietro giggled and wiggled in Clint’s lap.

“Where are the boys?”  Sam asked.

“Thor is being chewed out by Sif.  I think Steve and Tony are in the lab.”  I said.

Like I had summoned him, the door opened and Thor came in with Sif, followed by the chef and his carts of food.

“Woah, magic,”  I said as Riley wriggled out from Wanda’s arms and ran over to the chef.

Riley bounced on her feet as she watched the chef start sorting things out for everyone.  There was a lot more food than previously, but then there were also a lot more of us.

As he was setting up, Steve, Tony, and Hogun came in.

“Oh, hey, the rest of them,” Sam said.

“Where’s Bucky and Nat?”  Steve asked, looking around.

“Punching stuff,” Clint answered.

“You should give everyone their gifts,” I said as Steve scowled.

“Sure,” Tony said and went into the bedroom to find the bag.

“Sif, did you talk Thor out of it?”  I asked.

“I’m afraid not, my lady,” she said.  “I did try.”

Tony returned with the bag and pulled out the bow.  “This is for you, Legolas.”

Clint took it and his eyes went wide.  “It’s so light.  Feels like I’m holding a pencil.”

“It is like mine,” Sif said.  “It has a perfect balance and tension.  You will like it.”

Clint tested the balance and I took the bag off Tony and dug around in it pulling out the vambrace.  “I picked these for you,” I said giving them to Sam.

He took them and made a soft, pleased sound.  “These are nice.”  He said turning them over.

“I thought they’d match your wings if you wanted to wear them. Or they’re just pretty.  So you can put them on a shelf to look at.”  I said.

“They’re perfect.  Thank you, princess.”  He said and pulled me close nipping at my neck.

I giggled and leaned into him, passing the bag back to Tony.  He went back and pulled out the gift for Bruce and gave them to him pulling him into his arms and kissing him softly before he pressed the decorative case into Bruce’s hands.

Bruce opened them and smiled for the first time since I’d seen him here.  “These look interesting.”

“Thought you’d like them, Bear,” Tony said and nuzzled at Bruce’s neck.

Steve took the bag off Tony and took out Natasha and Bucky’s gifts and put them on a shelf out of the kids’ reach before bringing the whole bag over and giving it to Wanda.  “Everything else in there is for you, darling.”  He said.

Wanda looked at him suspiciously and then opened the bag and looked inside.  “Why is it so big?”

“Some weird magic,” Steve said.

She reached in and brought out a handful of rings, necklaces, and bracelets.  “There’s so much.”  She said, beginning to separate each piece.

“The lady who made them wanted you to have all of them.  There is a lot more in there.”  Steve said, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“It’s all so beautiful,” Wanda said, smiling.  “Thank you.”

Steve gave her shoulder a squeeze.  “You’re very welcome.”

“Lunch is served.”  The chef said.

“Is good,” Riley said from her spot at the table.  A plate was already in front of her and her mouth was completely full.

“How’d you get food, bug?”  Clint asked getting up with Pietro on his hip.

Riley pointed at the chef with a piece of food she was holding in her fist.  “Dis guy.”

“I did hand her a plate.”  The chef said.  “Did I overstep, my lord?”

“Is good,” Riley said.  “You my fwiend.”

The chef chuckled.  “Thank you, princess.  You’re my friend too.”

“I assure you, Clinton.  Magnus has been working for the throne since I was a small boy.  I trust him completely.”

“Even with what happened?”  Clint asked.

“Yes.  Magnus is loyal to us.”  He said.  “And a member of our household.”

Magnus bowed and took leave of the room as everyone got up and helped themselves to food.  Pietro climbed up onto Clint’s head and ate things that were passed up to him as Clint sat at the table with Steve, Sam, Tony, and Bruce.  Wanda and I ate at the couch with Loki while Thor seemed to pace and pick at things.

“Come here, human cat.  Curl back up with me.”  Wanda said, shifting so she could eat with me tucked into her side.

I curled in and picked at the food on my plate.  “What would the bonding ceremony be like?  What can we expect?”  Wanda asked.

“Oh, we get powers.  But we don’t know what they’ll be until it’s happened.”  I said.

“I’ll have extra powers?  Like lightning?”  Wanda asked.

“They will be a reflection of both who you are and how you see yourself in your family,” Loki explained.  “For example, someone who was very protective of their family might be able to create a shield that encompasses them.”

“Oh.  I see.  I wonder what that would mean for each of us.”  Wanda said.

Loki shrugged.  “Hopefully it renders this one mute.”  He said gesturing to me.

I tried to stifle a laugh, ended up snorting and then broke down into peals of silent giggles.

Loki did his best to ignore me completely.  “The ceremony itself involves a literal binding.  A cord will be used to bind you to each other.  For the number of you, I imagine it will look like a large web.  Magic will be passed through it and you will take a sort of vision quest.  In it, you will find where you belong within the relationship and your family.  If the bonds are true and good, then you will be granted your new gift.”

“Wow. Okay.”  Wanda said and took a drink as she seemed to mull over Loki’s words.

“Does she always eat like this?”  Loki asked waving her hand vaguely at Riley.

I looked over and saw Riley completely covered in food and shoveling more into her mouth.  “Oh, yes.  She’s a hungry beast, aren’t you bug?”

She roared in response which made Wanda start giggling.

“Who raised this child to act like this?”  Bruce asked.

“We did?”  I said with a shrug.

“I think she needs to be recalibrated.”  Sam joked.

“Daddy,” Riley said, sternly.

“Oh.  You asked for it now.”  Sam said, getting up.

“No, daddy!”  She squealed.

“Yes, bug.”  He said, grabbing her around the waist and flipping her upside down.

She flailed and squealed, kicking her legs excitedly.  A soft wind began to swirl around the room.

“Just a few more minutes.”  Sam teased.  “You’re almost fixed.”

“Riley, control that wind, please,” Thor said.  She continued kicking and squealing but the wind died right off.

“Huh,”  Sam said, flipping her back over and putting her down.

“Again, daddy!”  She squealed, jumping up and down.

“She got control of it after only a couple of days?”  Sam asked.

Thor shook his head as Riley continued to jump up and down, tugging on Sam’s shirt.  “Only sometimes.  It’s important to remind her when it’s out of her control though.”

Sam caught her midjump and spun her upside down again.  She squealed in delight.   It was such a pure noise and she was so happy.  As loud as it was with everyone here I felt at peace.  Even Bruce seemed to have started to relax a little.  The only stand out person, who was not beginning to calm was Thor.  Time was ticking down to the Fenestare, and the stress of it seemed to be seeping out of his pored.

“Thor, are you okay?”  I asked.

“As I can be.”  He said in a strained tone.

“Do you want to join Wanda and I for cuddles?”  I asked.

“Yes.  I would most appreciate that.”  He said moving over to us.

“You know he is as heavy as a horse right?”  Loki asked.

“I have been under him many times, yes.”  I deadpanned as I opened my arms and Thor collapsed down into them.

Loki shook his head.  “I don’t know what I expected to happen when I said that.”  He said.  “I am old enough to know better.”

“You did kind of walk into it.”  I agreed as I began to caress Thor’s hair and neck.

Riley came over and climbed up on Thor, draping herself over him like a cat and closing her eyes.

“Do you think she understands what’s happening?”  Sam asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“I hope she doesn’t,” Bruce said, his voice slightly strained.

Thor shifted and closed his eyes a little, and it wasn’t long before both father and daughter were snoring lightly in the pile on my lap.

He got up and ruffled Pietro’s hair.  “Well, perhaps not my precious.  But those three.  And that one.”  He added pointing at Fandral who was standing at the door next to Hogun.

“Oh, Loki.  Always playing so coy.”  Fandral teased.

“Eat rocks.”  Loki snarked, earning laughter and a wink from Fandral.

Loki went to sweep out of the room as I moved to the couch, but Thor caught him by the arm.  “My council was late this morning and then showed up all at once.  Perhaps I am being paranoid, but it felt suspicious.  I want you to dig into it.”

Loki summoned a small dagger from the air and picked his nails with it.  “I’ll take care of it.”

“Loki,”  I called.  He turned to look at me and I mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to him.  He gave a very subtle nod and stalked out of the room.

Riley moved into my lap and Steve and Tony started up bickering about Steve’s ability to make bots again.  There seemed to be a general air of tension in the room.  Steve seemed to be slightly distracted as Tony ranted at him about not following instructions and his need to get the bots done as quickly as possible.

“Tony, do you think you can give it a rest?”  I asked.

“But, Elise…”

“No buts.  Enough.” I said.  “Are you okay, Steve?”

“Yeah.  I’m sorry.  I feel helpless and it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like that.”  He said.  “I want to punch something.  Or throw knives.”

Riley toddled over and looked up at Steve.  “You gonna frow knifes?”

Steve chuckled and shook his head, picking her up.  “It doesn’t look like it today.”

“I frow dem?”  She asked.

“Not until you’re 25.”  He said.

“But daddy,”  She whined.

“But Riley.”  He whined back.  She scrunched up her nose and started to giggle.  “Okay, little monster?”

“Otay.”  She said.

“Captain, it would be an honor to spar with you if you wish to work out some of that frustration,” Hogun said with a small bow.

Steve sighed.  “I think I would really like that.  After lunch?”

Hogun nodded and as if they were summoned by the mention of lunch the chef arrived with his trolleys of food.  Once again Riley used all her charms on him.  They definitely had become a little fan club for each other.  It was quite sweet really.

Riley and Pietro ended up both sitting in Tony’s lap at the table as they fed each other and occasionally Tony too.

“It’s cute how much Riley likes the chef, isn’t it?”  I said as I sat watching them.

“He and his family have served my family for generations,” Thor said.

“He caws me pwincess,” Riley said.

“Because you are one, honey,” Tony said.

“No…”  Riley said, shaking her head.  “I’m a wawwia.”

“You can be both,” Tony said and she shook her head again.  “Yes, you can, sweetheart.”

“Pwincesses wear pink.”  She said, firmly.  “I is a venger.”

“When Loki is your aunt, she is a princess,”  Thor said.  “She doesn’t wear pink, does she?”

“No.  Don’t wear pink.  Is bwack pants.”  Riley said.  She furrowed her brow and turned to Pietro and they both started babbling animatedly to each other.

We all watched on amused before Riley turned back to us.  “Otay, I be a pwincess.”

Steve started laughing.  “Well, then.  That’s good.”

“Twins, huh?”  I giggled.

“Couple of little weirdos,” Tony said and kissed their heads.

****

After lunch, I went with Thor, Fandral and the children to an arena outside so Thor could start teaching Riley how to control her powers.  Fandral had gotten a pony and was currently letting Pietro pat it and introduce himself.  While Thor spoke to Riley about his powers, she kept looking over at the pony wistfully.

“You need to get in touch with your emotions, little bug.  So that your powers stay in your control.”  Thor said.  “See if you can make a breeze for me.”

“Daddy, I dunno how,” Riley said.

“It has to be natural,”  Thor said.  “Guide the power as it flows through you.”

Riley scrunched up her face and made a little growl sound, though nothing happened.  Thor let out a breath and sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and putting Mjolnir on the ground beside him.  He patted his lap and Riley climbed into it, still looking over at the pony, which Pietro was now sitting on while Fandral showed him how to hold the reins.

“You can go to the pony when we’re done here, bug,” Thor said holding his hand out.  He flicked his fingers and lightning danced over them.

Riley’s attention immediately snapped back to Thor.  “Can I touch it, daddy?”  She asked, holding her chubby little hand out.

“Yes, darling,”  He said.  “It feels warm, like the sun on your face.”

She ran her hand over his fingers and giggled.  “Tickles.”

“When I do this, I feel very calm and at peace.”  He said.  “Try and think about when you feel like that.  When you are warm and safe and Daj is singing you a song while daddy Bruce is cuddling you and rocking you.  Maybe you can smell Daddy Bucky cooking your favorite food.”

Riley closed her eyes as she kept her hand on Thor’s and as he spoke a soft breeze picked up and ruffled her hair.

“There you go.  Well done, little bug.”  Thor praised.

She smiled and opened her eyes.  “I did it!”  She said excitedly and turned to me.  “You see, mommy?  I did it!”

“I saw.  You’re so clever, bug!”  I praised.

“Shall we try another?”  Thor asked.

Riley looked over at Pietro riding the pony and nodded her head.

“When I make a loud thunderstorm, and the rain is heavy and hurts when it hits your skin, I think of all the bad things and people I’ve lost.  I am sad and very, very angry.”  He explained.  “Do you remember when those people scared your mommy yesterday?  How angry you got and how you were a little scared too?”

“Wasn’t scared.”  She said.

He laughed, his deep booming laugh and kissed the top of her head.  “Of course you weren’t,”  he said.  “Try and picture it anyway.”

She scrunched up her face and balled her hands into fists.

It took a little more coaxing from Thor but after a little while, a large gust of wind tore through the arena.  It shoved us and spooked the pony.

“Do you think you could keep that at a minimum?”  Fandral called as he grabbed Pietro and soothed the pony.

“Sorry, friend!”  Thor called back as he hugged Riley and patted her back.  “Well done, daughter.”  He said.  “You are learning very quickly.  I had great difficulty learning this as a child.  My father had to have Mjolnir forged to help me.”

“I get a Mew Mew?”  She asked.

“If you need something to channel your abilities, I will have something forged.  It won’t be like Mjolnir though.  It will be your own device.”  He said.  “We do need you to be able to control it so that you don’t blow things down when you're mad at Pietro.”  He looked over at me and smiled.  “Now I just have to work out how to do that.”

I chuckled and leaned over and kissed him.

“Gwoss.  Don’ do that.”  Riley said pushing us apart.

Thor laughed deeply and ruffled her hair.  “Alright, your majesty.  Let us see if we can access some more emotions that your powers are attached to.”

Thor had her go through a few emotions, pride brought up a mini whirlwind around us, envy’s wind came in bursts like it was trying to push you over.  After he’d identified a few different ones he had her try and call them up by describing which one he wanted.  It didn’t always work but when it did she got very excited.

“I’m doin’ it, daddy.  I’m doin’ it!”  She said, clapping her hands.

“Yes, you are, little bug,” Thor said, proudly.

She pointed at Pietro riding the pony and Thor laughed heartily.  “Alright, I think you’ve earned it.”

They both took turns riding the pony until they were completely worn out.  By the time Thor and I had carried them back to our chambers and put them into bed, they were already asleep.

There was a loud thud outside the door and I flinched and Tony took a step forward.  “I have one in purple.  It fits your specs.”  Tony said.  “You know… if you want it.”

I tilted my head and looked at him.  “You do?”

“This one is more complicated.”  He said reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulling out what looked like a pair of amethyst earrings.  “I wanted them to be functionally beautiful.”

I took them off him and swirled them in my palm as I looked them over.  “You made them for me?”

“I did,”  Tony said and gestured to the kids.  “For their momma bear.”

I looked down at the earrings and then back up at Tony.  The sounds from outside were muffled and indistinct.  “That is… you’re…”  I shook my head to clear it.  “Thank you, Tony.  How do they work?”

“The posts read your biometrics.  It will activate when you’re in danger.  But they have voice recognition too.”  He said.

“And what?  A suit flies in?”  I asked putting the earrings in.

Tony laughed.  “No.  It’s nanotech.  The suit is in the earrings.  And no, I didn’t sexualize the suit.”  He leaned in.  “But I wanted to.”  He added at a whisper.

I shoved him.  “Not the time.”

“Sorry.”  He said, straightening up and squaring off again.

“What if I can’t control it?”  I asked.

“I made it so a monkey could control it.  So you might have a few problems, but you should be able to get the hang of it.”  He teased.

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”  He whispered.  “Would have preferred to not have to worry about it.  But you know, we’re supers and shit.”

The door opened and we both took steps back and squared-off ready to fight.  A blood-covered hand wrapped around the door.  “You two can come out now,”  Loki said, stepping out.

“Prove it’s you,”  I said.

Loki rolled his eyes.  “Not as hopeless as I thought you were.  What do you want?”

I thought for a moment.  “Thor once made you celebrate Christmas with us before the babies were born.  Clint gave you a gift.  What was it?  And tell me one thing you ate that you didn’t sneer at.”

“Tickets to a play about myself,”  Loki answered.  “And the pecan pie.”

I looked at Tony and he gave a nod.  “Are you okay, Loki?  Did they hurt you?” I asked following him out into the living room.

“It’s not my blood,”  Loki said, gesturing to the six bodies on the ground.

I backed up against the wall, staring at the horrific show in front of me.  I put my palms on the stone, like if I felt it, I wouldn’t have a complete breakdown. “Are we safe here?”

“Yes,”  Thor said.  “More so than elsewhere.  Heimdall can show me threats, and we can be prepared.”

I swallowed thickly.  “Okay.”

“Don’t be such a baby,”  Loki snarked. “That one is still alive.”

“Not helping, Loki,”  Steve growled.  “Sweetheart, come here.”

I shook my head and the warriors began to move through the room, Heimdall and Hogun picked up one and began carrying it out while Volstagg slung another over his shoulder.

“No, thank you,”  I said, patting the wall.

“Are you gonna puke?”  Tony asked.

“I’m trying not to.”

“Elise,”  Thor said moving over to me.

“You’re all so calm,”  I said.

“I’ve punched Hitler in the face.”  Steve joked.

I laughed, but it sounded weird and slightly hysterical.

“We’ve had to get used to this kind of thing, honey,”  Tony said.

“We’ve tried to keep you sheltered from it,”  Steve added as Thor gently wrapped his arms around me.

I melted into him, hiding my face in his chest so I wouldn’t have to see the carnage.  “I’m sorry.  You shouldn’t have to worry about me too.”

“You’re my responsibility,”  Thor said.

“I just…  I should be prepared for things like this. This is the world I agreed to be a part of.”  I said.

“No,”  Thor said.  “You shouldn't have to get used to anything of the sort.”  He rubbed my back gently and kissed the top of my head.  “Just breathe deeply.  I’ll tell you when it’s safe to look.”

There was more movement around me and then the sound of Loki using his magic. “There it’s all clean,”  Thor said.  “How do you feel?”

I poked my head out and looked around.  There was no sign at all that an attack even happened.  “A little shaken.  Embarrassed.”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,”  Steve said.

We moved back to the couch and Thor and Tony cocooned me between them.  “Tony made me a suit.”

“Tony did what?”  Steve asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

“Made me a suit,”  I repeated.

Steve glared at Tony.  “I thought we talked about this.”

“Who’s we?  You and Tony?”  I asked.

“Um.  We as in everyone … but you.”  Steve answered sounding sheepish.

“Steve…”

“This was before the children,”  Steve said defensively.

“Which one of you wants me to yell at them?  Steve?  Tony?  It’s going to be one of you.”  I snapped.

“El, it was before we were even really that serious.”

“Serious enough that Tony thought a suit might be useful though apparently.”  I snapped.

“I still don’t know why I’m not allowed to make you a suit,”  Tony said.

“We were trying to shelter her from that,”  Steve said.

“It’s for safety!”  Tony argued.  “Like from what happened tonight.  Or today when she was kidnapped.”

“Hey chuckleheads, eyes up,”  I said.  “I don’t want to be the next Iron Man.  But neither you two or any of the others get to decide that for me.  If there is an issue directly pertaining to me and what I do with my life, you talk to me about it and I get to decide.  Not any of you.”

“Sorry, El.”  They both said as one.

“Good,”  I muttered and sunk into the couch.  “And I’m calling my AI Synergy.”

“Okay, dear,” Tony said.

“I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight after all this.  I feel like I’m on the verge of a complete breakdown.”  I said.

“I can make tea?”  Loki said.  “If you trust me.”

“Trusting you is context-sensitive,”  I answered.  “But yes, that would be nice.  Thank you.”

Tony tucked me into his side as Loki got up and left the room.  “How can I help?”

I shook my head.  “I don’t know.  Even those times when I was directly involved in the Avengers stuff, I never saw that many bodies.  We were just eating dinner in here.”

“Do you want to talk about it or to be distracted?”  Tony asked.

“Distracted.”

“Okay.  What can I tell you?”  Tony mused.  “Would sex help?”

I chuckled and nuzzled at him.  “Only you.”  I teased.  “I don’t think I’d be a very good partner.”

“We can make it all about you, my queen,”  Thor said.

I looked up at him.  “Did you just call me your queen?”

“Yes.”  He said.  “Is that a problem?”

“No,”  I said.  “You’ve just never called me that before.”

“You’re the mother of my child.  The queen of Asgard.”  Thor said.

“I know.  I just…. I didn’t think… anything.”

“You thought you were my dog.”

I frowned and nodded.  “Yeah.”

“So I want to show you, you are so much more to me.”  He said, putting his hand on my hip and leaning in.  I bridged the difference, kissing him lovingly.

“Let us take you into the bedroom.  The Warriors will guard the rooms.  We are safe and we can make you feel relaxed.  It can go as far as you want it to.”  Thor said.  “And if you aren’t feeling it, there will be the tea Loki makes.”

I nodded and he lifted me up carrying me into the room as Steve and Tony followed after me.  Thor put me on my feet and began to unbuckle the armored breastplate, while Steve began to undress and Tony looked for hangers.

“They’ll be safe?”  I asked, looking up at Thor.

He moved the armor to the floor and tugged at the binds that held the dress in place so that it just dropped and pooled around me.   “We’re safe, Elise.”

I lay back on the bed and Thor drizzled some of that warm scented oil on me while Steve moved to the end of the bed and began to massage my feet and calves.

“When Loki returns I’ll have him set up some enchantments,”  Thor said and began to massage the oil in, starting at my shoulders.

I closed my eyes and started to relax.

“We’re alright, El,”  Steve said as he worked the tension out of my legs.

“See, the thing is, you would have said exactly the same thing before that attack,”  I said.

There was a knock on the door and Tony answered it.  I heard him speaking with Loki but I couldn’t hear what they said.  The door closed and Tony put a goblet down on a table by the bed.

“Tony,”  I grumbled.

“It’s Gucci, El.  I need to hang it.” He said.

“Hang it on the back of the chair.”

“So impatient.”  He teased heading into the closet.  He returned in just his boxers and climbed into bed on the other side of me.

The three of them massaged me.  Their hands moving more and more intimately.  Steve’s moving up to my thighs, Thor’s to my breasts and Tony’s moved over my hips.  As I relaxed more, Thor leaned over and kissed Tony.  It seemed to take Tony by surprise and he made a funny little squeak sound before returning it deeply.  I watched them closely as their tongues danced with each other and their mouths moved together.  I let out a soft moan and Thor pulled back and leaned right over and kissed Steve.   Steve met him halfway and they kissed over me.  I moaned louder.

Tony teased his fingers over my cunt.  “Our little voyeur might be getting more into this than she expected.”

Steve pulled back and looked down at me.  “Is that so, El?  Getting a little turned on watching us kiss?”

“I like seeing you together.”  I hummed.  “You love each other.”

A soft smile spread over Steve’s face.  “Oh, it’s because you’re a romantic is it?”

I giggled.  “You’re also really hot.”

“That’s what I thought.”  He teased and leaned toward Tony.  Tony smirked and captured his lips.  

They kissed graphically and Steve’s hands went to Tony’s hair and tugged on it.  Tony groaned and submitted completely to him, letting Steve guide him.  Steve ran his hand down Tony’s arm and guided his fingers to my clit.  He used his finger to push Tony’s in tight circles over the little bundle of nerves and I gasped and arched up on the bed.

“They look good, don’t they, lover?”  Thor hummed as he massaged my breasts and pulled on my nipples.  A little spark jumped off his fingertips and I groaned as my nipples hardened to the point it was almost painful.

“Mmm… they do.”  I agreed.  “It’s nice to see them getting along.”

Thor chuckled.  “I can definitely agree with that.”

Steve moved his finger from my clit, leaving Tony to circle his finger over it and he pushed two fingers into me.  I moaned and Tony reached over to Steve with his free hand and began to palm his cock.  Steve let out a low growl and his fingers tightened in Tony’s hair.

I hummed and rolled my hips against their hands.  I felt soft and slightly fuzzy as I lay surrounded by them.  Tony and Steve kept moving their hands on my cunt almost as a side thought to the power play they were in the middle of.

“Come here, Elise,”  Thor said guiding me up into his lap.

As soon as I began to move away from Tony and Steve they took their hands away from me and began to focus on each other.  Steve pulled Tony’s head back, kissing him hard like he was claiming him.  As he did, he worked Tony’s boxers down to his knees and wrapped his cock in his hand and began to pump.

Tony mewled into Steve’s kiss, submitting to him, but also struggling against him.  He palmed Steve’s cock, and his hand opened and closed on his bicep.

Thor pulled me flush so my back was pressed against his muscular chest.  He rolled his hips under me so his cock slid up and down my folds.  The head would appear and then disappear between my lips as he ground against me.  My fluids coated his shaft as he kissed my neck and massaged my tits.

“They put on quite the show,”  Thor whispered.  “Shall we watch them as we have our own fun?”

“Yes,” I moaned, needily.

Steve grappled with Tony, turning him around, so they were both kneeling, and Tony was pulled up against him.  He held Tony in place by his throat as he rutted against his ass and bit at the shell of his ear.  Tony groaned loudly, his cock, jumping and leaking precome onto the bed.  “Gonna take my cock like a good boy, Tony?”  Steve growled.

Tony made a choked groan.  “No…”

“No?”  Steve asked wrapping his hand around Tony’s cock again.  “You don’t want me to fuck your ass, Tony?”

“No,”  Tony gasped, pushing his ass back against Steve’s cock. “I do.”

Steve chuckled.  “Oh, you’re not going to be good.  I see.  I don’t know what I expected.”

Tony smirked, turned his head, and reached back pulling Steve into a searing kiss.  Steve held out his hand to Thor and Thor reached over and pressed the bottle of oil they’d been rubbing into my skin into his palm.

When Thor settled back into place he grabbed my hips and lifted me a little before pulling me back down on his cock.

I moaned loudly and let my head fall back on Thor’s shoulder as his cock stretched and filled me.  When I had adjusted to him I lifted my head to see Steve pushing Tony’s face down against the mattress while he teased open his asshole with his fingers.

I whimpered and Tony’s eyes met mine.  He licked his lips and pushed back against Steve’s fingers. Steve spanked his ass as pulled his hand away, adding more oil to his dick and then lining it up against Tony’s ass.

“Ready for it, Tony?”

Tony grunted and nodded, pushing back a bit.  Steve grabbed his hips and slowly eased his cock in.

Both Tony and I moaned in unison as his ass was stretched and filled by Steve inch by inch.  I started bouncing on Thor’s cock as I watched Tony and Steve.  Thor wrapped his arms around me and with one hand he massaged my breast and the other he rubbed my clit.

Steve seemed to want to mimic our position.  He pulled Tony flush up against him as he fucked his ass hard and deep.  One arm he kept pressed on Tony’s chest, his fingers wrapped around his throat and the other hand jerked Tony off.

Tony and I kept our eyes on each other.  His were blown out with lust, and I’m sure mine must be too.

“Tell him how good he looks being taken by Steve,”  Thor whispered. 

“Fuck.  Tony.  You look so hot.”  I mewled.

“You do too, El.”  He grunted.

“What do you think, Steve?”  Thor said.  “Can we get them off at the same time?”

Steve smiled and gave a short nod.  “I think I can handle that.”

The blonds began to work on their respective brunette hard.  Fucking into us.  Thor rubbing my clit while Steve jerked Tony off.  My legs began to tremble and Tony’s cock throbbed while we both panted and moaned.

With a sudden jerk, we both came at the same time.  I cried out and my body seized up and clenched around Thor’s cock, while Tony grunted and arched back, hot ropes of come splattering his stomach and the bed.

Steve slipped out of Tony while Thor eased up in me.  “What do you think?  Shall we wear out Elise?”  Thor asked.

Steve nodded.  “That’s why we were doing this wasn’t it?”

Thor chuckled and lifted me off him putting me back on the bed.

“Clean Tony up, Elly,”  Steve said in his very best Cap voice.

I crawled over to Tony and licked the salty semen of his stomach and his oversensitive cock, making it twitch and him whimper.  As I did Steve cleaned himself up and Thor climbed off the bed.

When Tony was clean I looked up at Steve.  “Good, girl,” he praised.  “Now lie back. Head over the edge.”

I complied quickly laying back on the bed and letting my head drop over the edge.  Thor traced the head of his cock over my mouth, coaxing my lips apart.  I opened wide and poked out my tongue, flicking it over his foreskin.  As he eased it in, my lips stretching around his girth, Steve moved between my legs on his knees, pulled my hips up and sunk into my cunt.

Steve didn’t wait for me to adjust, he just started thrusting hard and deep into me, pushing me into Thor more and more.  Thor went slower. First testing my limits, wanting to fuck my throat deep without hurting me or causing me distress.  Then when he could see how far I could take it without gagging he ran his fingers over my throat, feeling the bulge formed by his thick cock.

I hummed around it and Tony moved over to us.  “Fuck, look at you.”  He hummed putting his palm on my throat to feel Thor thrusting into me.

He ran his hands down and teased them over my breasts and then pinched and pulled at my nipples.

I groaned and arched up.  That fuzzy feeling I had intensified as my breathing was restricted by Thor's cock.  I groaned and bucked between them.  Tony began to rub my clit hard and I lost all sense of control.

I came bucking between them and gagging on Thor’s cock, but none of them eased up at all.  Steve grabbed my hips and held me in place and angled so that each hard thrust hit my g-spot.

I came again, gushing on Steve’s cock.  He grunted and snapped his hips, coming inside me as my cunt spasmed and squirted around him.  Thor pulled back a little as he released in my mouth.  I choked but managed to swallow most of it, though some spilled down my chin.

“Fuck, that was hot.”  Tony hummed and pulled me up into a deep kiss, running his tongue over my lips, and swirling it in my mouth.

We settled and I took a drink of the tea Loki made me.  It wasn’t long before I was deep asleep cocooned by the three of them.