Birthright

Hello there!

"Loki." Bruce looked at him, a small flicker of fear in his eyes. "How are you these days? The last time we met, you wanted to kill everyone. Where are you now?"

Loki looked him dead in the eye. "Oh, you know........" He paused for effect, and he could see Banner sweating. "I'm pretty much done with that. Now?" He smiled disarmingly. " I just want to rule the Cosmos." For a moment their was silence, and Bruce tried to retrieve his eyebrows from the top of his head.

Slowly, Loki's expression changed from power-hungry God to amused bystander. "Im kidding, Banner!" He shook his head. "Genuinely, I'm kidding. 2012 was then, this is now. You have nothing to fear from me, Bruce." Slowly, tentatively, Loki held out his hand, and Banner shook it.

"Let me down Loki, even for a minute, and you think the Hulksmash in 2012 was painful...." he smiled as he said it, and Loki nodded.

"I remember. Don't worry, I'm not going there again. But unless you let me speak to the council, I may not be going anywhere, ever again!" He tried to sound polite, respectful. He might have even succeeded if not for the fact that Banner was distracted.

"Well, who do we have here?" He turned and smiled at Asa. His eyes appraised her, and his mind was entranced. He had NO idea the thin line he was walking.

Asa smiled and stuck out her hand. "Asa Olafsdottir, Captain of His Majesty's Valkyrie" they shook hands, and Bruce became aware of a burning hot stare being aimed at him.

Loki stood and growled, just loudly enough so he would hear and get the hint.

Asa was well aware of Loki's possessive streak, but truthfully? Despite years of training and self reliance? She loved he cared enough to be jealous.

She would reassure him in any way he wanted, later. When all this was over. For now, she just raised an eyebrow and looked at him. He flushed and stopped growling, much to Banner's relief.

"So, you and Loki.... you're a... 'thing' then?" He sounded sceptical, and Asa bristled a little at his tone. Loki took her hand and kissed it gallantly. He turned to Bruce with a haughty stare.

"If by that, do you mean am I trying my best to romance the single most beautiful Valkyrie in Asgard, then yes. You could say we're a 'thing' now.

Asa blushed and squeezed Loki's hand. She said nothing, though. She knew Loki's ego. If he wanted to get one over on Bruce, THIS was the way she wanted him to do it. Anything else could have messy repercussions.

"Ok, if the pissing contest is over, can we get down to business?" Tony was uncharacteristically blunt.

Bruce nodded. "I never wanted this. Any of this. I only accepted the role so that we could TRY to remain the group we were. Bringing in a new director risked someone who'd want to change everything. Change us." He shrugged. "Come on, let's go into the conference room. We can talk more there."

He turned and led the way, Tony chatting to him as they went. Thor walked along behind, and it struck Asa as funny how Bruce made even an Asgardian God look small.

"Something amusing you, my pet?" The voice in her head made her look up. She smiled at Loki.

"Yes, against Banner, Thor looks so...."

"Puny?" Loki's face gave nothing away, but his eyes glittered mischievously.

Asa grinned. "Exactly! How did you know?"

"Oh... just a lucky guess."

"In here... we can..." Bruce opened a door to reveal a conference room with a large table surrounded by chairs.