Science and Magick (LokixOC)

Chapter Twenty-Two

"I'll help you find out more about this mad Titan" Thor decided as he and Zoë rode up in the elevator.

Zoë smiled gratefully and looked at him "Good, the sooner we have the information we need the sooner we can show everyone who the real enemy is and get Loki back" she enthused.

Thor smiled back at her "My mother would have loved you" he told her "she'd have loved your love for him" he added.

She smiled wider and shook her head "It's funny, I didn't really believe in love before I met him. Not romantic love at least. It was simply people confusing lust and irrational attachment for something deeper. Just a bunch of chemicals in our brains clashing together to make the stupid even stupider" she explained.

Thor chuckled "Loki was similar, accused me of going soft and called me a fool for loving a mortal. Now look at him" he teased.

Zoë shook her head "Technically, I stopped being mortal the moment the tesseract energy bonded with my serum, I won't age or weaken as long as they both exist within me" she told him.

Thor nodded as the doors slid open. "Ah good you're home just in time!" The familiar burly voice boomed, interrupting them.

Zoë turned in surprise to see Luvich grinning back at her in front of the elevator. His warm features were exactly what she didn't know she needed to see. She grinned back and ran to him, jumping into his arms.

He laughed and caught her "Bärchen you haven't done that since you were just a child, are you alright?" He asked playfully.

She nodded hugging him tightly "I missed you, is mama here?" She asked, lifting her head to look at her uncle.

He beamed brightly and nodded "She's with Bruce in the kitchen, he invited us for dinner" he told her.

Zoë excitedly hopped out of his arms and raced further from the elevator and into the living area, she weaved into the kitchen and hugged her mother. "Mama" she whispered breathlessly.

The woman held her tightly "It'll be okay baby" she soothed softly.

She didn't know how her mother knew but she needed to hear that from her. After a moment she pulled away and wiped away a tear, looking over at Bruce smiling smugly behind the counter. "Decided you couldn't do the dish on your own then?" She taunted him.

He chuckled and nodded "You never said I couldn't call your mother for help, besides I knew you needed them" he replied.

Zoë smiled and nodded, walking over and hugging him too "Thank you" she whispered him. Bruce hugged her back, as Zoë pulled away she pressed a soft kiss on his cheek. Purely for the satisfaction and fun of making the scientist blush.

Claudia chuckled "Oh don't tease the poor man, you know well that the number of variations of maultaschen would make it impossible for him to make the right one" she playfully scolded.

Zoë laughed "He asked for a challenge" she defended. Sitting down on one of the stools "Is it almost ready?" She asked, inhaling the wonderful smells floating around the room.

Bruce nodded, grinning "Yep, I just told JARVIS to call everyone to the table" he told her.

Within moments each member of the team filed into the room and took their seats at the dining table. Bruce shooed Zoë out of the kitchen when she offered to help serve and she instead sat between Steve and Sam.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asked as Luvich, Claudia and Bruce began dishing up.

Zoë smiled at him "I'm doing better, talking to Thor helped. He understands my love for his brother. Bruce calling Luvich and mother was a nice surprise too" she admitted with a laugh.