Love Without End

Chapter Twenty Two

Now

"Hey, Tony, you watch Imani, and I'll go with them--" I tried.
"No. You're staying here."
"But Tony--"
"You're his mother. He needs you more."
"You're his father. He needs you more."
"You know I'm right."
"Tony, just stay here."
"Nope. Not working. You're staying here and safe."
I glared as I walked away.
"Clint, hey." I sidled up to him. "What's up?"
He was looking at his arrows and didn't look up. "Nope."
"I just--"
"I'm not enabling you to go."
"Fine." I sighed and walked away.
"Hey, Nat." I smiled. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Tony said no."
"Natasha."
"I don't normally agree with Tony, but he's right. It's more important that you stay safe than any of us."
I glared as I walked away.
"Bruce, sweetie, how are you?" I walked up and hugged him.
"I'm good. You?" He hugged me back.
"I'm good. So, I was thinking." I looked at him. "And I think you should stay here and watch Imani."
"Nope. Tony says no."
"Since when do you agree with Tony?"
"He's the boss."
"I'm the boss."
"Yes, you are, but not when it comes to you. Then it's Tony."
"Wanda, you can't go today." I said.
"Why not?" She raised her eyebrows, looking up at me.
"Because you need to stay here. Tony's orders, sorry. You can watch Imani though."
"Tony said you'd say this."
I moved on. "Rhodey, you've gotta stay here."
"Why's that?"
"You're disabled. You have to stay here. I'll go in your place, though, don't worry--"
"Nope. You're staying here and staying safe."
"But Rhodey--"
"I know you want us to be safe, Ames, but you have to be safe too. There's no use trying everybody, we're all gonna say no. You stay with Imani, and we'll all come back, I promise."
"Fine." I crossed my arms.
"Tell everyone bye, Imani." I nudged him forward. I watched him run around and hug everybody.
"Don't worry, I'll keep them safe." Steve grinned.
"Shut up." I told him. "Be careful." I called generally. "Don't die."
"Are they gonna die, Mommy?" Imani asked.
"No, baby." I said.
I hope.

"Hello, Amelia." A deep voice said from the door.
"Thor?" I turned towards him as Imani screamed and hid behind me.
"Good evening. Where is everybody?"
"They went out to fight some evil dude, like always. What made you decide to show?"
"Show what?"
"Show up here." I smiled.
"Just thought I'd come by. Nobody's seen Loki, I assume?"
"Nope."
"Okay. Well, do you know where they went? Perhaps I could assist."
For a brief second, I considered asking Thor to watch Imani, but then decided Thor would be safer doing whatever they were doing than Imani would be with Thor as his guardian. "Yeah. They're in Texas."
"What could possibly be in Texas?"
"Everything's in Texas." I laughed. "Oh, Thor! This is Imani." I nudged him out from behind me.
"Well, hello there." Thor looked down at him, his hammer dangling from one hand.
"This is Thor." I told Imani. "He looks big and scary, but he's actually nice. You wanna go give him a hug?"
Imani shook his head.
"Here, I'll go with you." I took his hand and led him to Thor, hugging him. Imani hugged him quickly then backed up behind me. "You'll come back with them?"
"Yes."
"All right, see you later."

There was a knock on the window, and I just about jumped out of my skin. "Mommy?" Imani asked.
I turned towards the window to see Loki. Oh, God. "Imani, go to your room."
"But Mommy--"
"Go, baby. Now."
He ran out, and I went to open the window. I'm not letting him near my child. "What, you don't want me to meet that cute little boy of yours?" Loki asked.
"I don't trust you. What are you doing here?"
"Aren't you going to let me in, Amelia?"
"No. Thor'll be pissed if I do."
"So?"
"Fine." I stepped back, and he came in.
"Lovely home you have here. You've spiced it up, you really have. Remember when I crashed through this window? Haven't we come a long way?"
I resisted a laugh. "I do remember. Thank you for knocking. It was much more polite."
"I noticed my brother just let himself in. Has he a key, now?"
"Who needs a key?" I smiled.
"Well," he said in a tone of wrapping things up. "This has been a lovely chat. Don't tell anyone I've been here, if you don't mind, especially Thor. You know how he hates surprise visitors. It was lovely seeing you again, Amelia." He turned to go back out the window.
"Why'd you come, Loki?" I asked.
"Just to drop in. Thank you for your hospitality. See you around." He left out the window.
"Why don't you use the door?" I called after him.
"Much more dramatic this way." He called over his shoulder with a laugh.
I went to Imani's room. He was staring out the window at where Loki had just been. "Don't tell anybody he was here, okay?" I told him.
He nodded. "Yes Mommy."

See, now, the good thing about Tony's suit is that generally he doesn't get injured too badly. The bad thing about Natasha is that she doesn't have a suit.
"I'm fine." She snapped, Bruce and Clint crowding her.
"Atasha?" Imani asked quietly, wandering up.
"Sweetie, come back here for a minute." I began.
"I'm okay, I'll be right back." She held her side as Tony led her out of the room.
They returned shortly, good as new. "Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah." She said as Imani ran over to her. "Sorry I bled on your floor."
I laughed. "I don't mind. Just don't do it again, you hear?"
"Daddy, Daddy. There was a man at the window--" Imani began, but he stopped talking when he caught my look. He shut his mouth and turned to walk away.
Everybody was staring at me.
"Go to your room for a little bit, Imani." I told him.
"I'm sorry, Mommy."
"It's okay, don't worry." I smiled, and he went away.
Everybody was still staring at me.
"So, Loki dropped by.." I said needlessly.
"What did he want?" Thor asked.
"You didn't let him near Imani, did you?" Tony asked.
"Did he hurt you?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know. But no, I sent Imani to his room, and no, he didn't even try to come near me."
"This is why you don't get buddy-buddy with evil adopted brothers." Tony sighed.
"He's not evil, he's just misunderstood."
"Amelia--" Thor said.
"I'm dead serious, guys. He just knocked on the window. He came in for maybe three minutes, if that. He didn't say why he was here or anything. I promise."