Playing With Fire (EDITING)

A Surprising Party

Three days had passed and Fury had said and done nothing. We had idly sat on the Helicarrier, floating around this vast empty lake for three whole days. Three days of nothing. Granted, we had trained with the Avengers and become a little more fit and skilled, but all the skills in the world wouldn't help get Papére back if they weren't used.

"I need to get off this ship!" Megan wailed. She flopped down on Banner's lab floor and groaned. "I can't believe this! Lyrica, we have to talk to Fury. We can't stay here."

"I know we can't." I had begun pacing a worn path back and forth from counter to counter. "Don't you think I know? I never wanted to be here in the first place."

"Then follow me."

My neck cracked when I looked toward the door. Clint stood beside a beaming Kitty, both waiting for us to follow. He led us through the hallways to the docking bay and into a control nest built into the side of the ship so that one wall of windows faced the docked jets and the other faced the sky. Inside the nest, the Avengers had gathered around Thor. All of them were mostly suited up. Tony's mask was retracted, Thor's cape was absent, Natasha's guns were on the table, and Steve's shield was resting in a corner.

"Good news, Firefly," Tony spoke out first. "Thor's located his little brother."

I turned to Thor. "Where is he?" I demanded.

"He has lodged himself in a secure location he did not think we would find."

"Yeah, yeah, but where?" I snapped impatiently.

"Here," Bruce stated, showing me an electronic screen displaying the midwestern United States.

"Iowa?" Kitty blurted.

"The heck? No one lives in Iowa!" Megan exclaimed. "It's just corn and more corn. And some cows. Seriously, population nil."

"Uh, I was born and lived in Iowa," Clint rebutted her. "And we grow soybeans too, not just corn."

"Farmer Clint," Nat coughed.

He shot her a look that said 'shut it' and zoomed in the map for us. "There." His finger landed on the screen. "Between Ames and Ankeny. Not very flat, partially wooded, not too developed. If Loki's been in the area long enough, he'll have the upper hand- it may even be a trap or ambush. I wouldn't count on any 'god' sightings either; the area isn't very populated, so it's unlikely anyone has seen him."

"But does he have my dad?"

Thor shook his head and took two steps forward. "I do not know but he alluded to the use of a pawn to do his bidding. A pawn whose face would be well known."

"Barn's face would definitely be well known in Iowa," Clint groaned. "So would mine."

"But you're a hero; that doesn't matter. Mon Papére is a criminal! If he's caught, they'll kill him."

Clint nodded and Natasha shifted in her seat. Just then, pounding footsteps slammed on the brakes and entered the room at a civilized walking pace. "What's going on? What did we miss?" Kurt gasped.

"Sorry we're late," Doug apologized at the same time.

No one spoke. "Oh...uh...family meeting, eh?" Kurt attempted to break the silence.

"Not yet. But it will be." I gripped the handle of my sword until my knuckles whitened. "Let's go get mon Papére."

Aboard the Quinjet, buckled into a seat between Kurt and Kitty and across from Captain Rogers, I sharpened my knives with slow, methodic strokes. The grating of metal on metal was strangely soothing in the tense silence. In the cockpit, Natasha and Clint were talking quietly about assassin stuff that didn't currently interest me. Occasionally, I'd pick up a few words that weren't jumbled unintelligibly by the headsets or hum of the motors or Steve and Tony arguing.