Marvel shorties

Kitty

Characters: Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Thor, Loki

***

Steve Rogers was already sitting at the large table in the conference room when Bruce Banner walked in. "Hey, Steve, how's it going?"

"I'm fine," was the short answer. Steve was thumbing through a small stack of papers in front of him. "Thank you for the report on your research," he said, looking up to Bruce. "If I have to wait for Tony to give it to me, I might as well get back into the ice."

Bruce chuckled in his seat next to the Captain. "We don't want that."

Steve glanced at his watch. "It would be nice if meetings could start on time for once," he muttered.

"Who's late?" Natasha said innocently. Bruce and Steve looked up to see Natasha and Clint sitting in the chairs closest by the door. The spy and the archer smirked, acting as if they had been sitting there all along.

"Who are we missing?" Bruce asked. "Stark, of course. Who else?"

"Thor and Loki should be here too," Steve answered.

"Why does that snake have to come along? One Asgardian is more than enough," Bruce protested weakly.

"Loki has helped us on more than one occasion, Bruce," Steve said absentmindedly, reading the papers in front of him.

Bruce leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming on the table. Clint and Natasha were having a silent conversation of their own and Steve was reading. The scientist jumped in his seat when he suddenly felt something push against his legs; he looked down to discover a black cat that rubbed its head to his pants.

"How did you get here?" Bruce asked, reaching to scratch the animal's head. The cat purred in response.

Steve looked under the table too. "A cat? Since when do we have a cat in the building?"

"Dunno," Bruce shrugged, picking up the animal. "Pretty little thing, though."

The cat was pitch black with green eyes and long haired fur. Bruce petted the animal on his lap, the cat turning and twisting under his hands to guide him to the best spots, purring loudly.

"Aww, he likes you," Natasha said when the cat rubbed his head against Bruce's chest.

"Is it a he or a she?" Steve asked, scratching the cat under it's chin.

The animal pushed against his hand for more, and jumped over to the Captain's lap, much to Bruce's dismay. "Hey!"

"Sorry, Bruce, you've been replaced," Steve grinned, cuddling the cat against his chest.

But Bruce managed to lure the cat back to him, making a face at Steve when the cat jumped back to the scientist's lap. He just buried his face in the cat's fur when Tony walked in. "Did I miss a memo? Is it Bring Your Pet To Work Day?"

"Isn't it yours then?" Natasha asked, who had left her seat to come sit next to Bruce to pet the cat too.

"Nope," Tony responded with a smirk. "You guys are my pets." He walked over to scratch the animal on the head. It purred loudly, appreciating all the attention. "Nice kitty," Tony cooed.

The cat jumped on the table and sat in front of Natasha. When she leaned in, the animal rubbed his head against her neck and chest. "Aww, he's very cuddly!" she giggled, scratching the cat near the base of his tail, making it purr even louder.

Natasha was cradling the cat in her arms, cooing to it like it was a baby, when Thor walked in, announcing his presence with a booming hello.

"Great, we're all here, let's get started," Bruce said, pulling his hand back from petting the cat.

"Wait, we're still missing someone. Where's Loki?" Steve asked, turning to Thor.

"What do you mean, where is Loki?" the God of Thunder responded.

"You know, that black haired brother of yours,"Tony said with a smirk. "The one with the antlers." 

"They're not antlers, Stark," Thor said and it looked like he was gonna start an explanation of what the horned helmet actually depicted, before Steve cut him off.

"I'd like to get started. Is Loki not coming?"

"What do you mean, he is not coming?" Thor sounded confused. "He got here before me."

Everyone looked at Thor, not knowing what he was talking about. The cat jumped on the table and stretched slowly, his tail curled up in the air. With lazy paces it walked across the table and jumped in the empty seat next to Thor.

"Wait..." Tony exclaimed, looking frantically from Thor to the cat. "You don't mean..?!"

A loud laugh turned everyone's attention to Clint. The archer slumped over on the table, his whole body shaking with laughter; he slammed the table with his fist, laughing his ass off.

"What's so funny?" Bruce asked, not understanding a thing from what was happening.

"Oh! You asshole!" Natasha shot up from her chair, pointing at the cat who seemed to smile at her.

"I still don't get..." Bruce started to say when the air around the cat shimmered and a green light rippled across the animal's body, to reveal the God of Mischief sitting in the chair next to Thor.