Cold-Blooded

[]Chapter 9[]

"How did you possibly do this alone?" Tony whined, trying to pull the two ton whale carcass from the water. I shot him a look and lifted the thing above my head like it was nothing more than paper, and made my way back towards the fortress. Behind me, I heard the man scramble to catch up to me, after dropping his jaw and stopping to pick it up.

"Like this," I snorted, after rousing myself this morning with a foul attitude brewing- much alike the foam on a beer; ready to overflow. I didn't understand what I was so annoyed about, but something was obviously under my skin. It was far too cold up here for bugs to survive...so what could it be? Frigid air blasted my face and salt water dripped down onto my already soaked body.The cold didn't bother me, I didn't feel it, but deep down I longed for the warmth and comfort of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

"So what's the deal between you and Banner?" Tony asked, jogging to keep pace with my long stride. My mood lifted just thinking about Bruce, about all the good memories. OK, so we hadn't spent much time together, true, but there was a deep connection that no one could really understand. Then came that night, reminding me I had to make a decision. And I knew then what that decision would be.

"If he'll still have me, we're a pair." I stated firmly, forgiving the man for his drinking spout just the other day. My mischievous nature came out to play, and I suddenly had the desire to make Tony stay as long as he had too, due to the fact he hated the cold. Then I'd tell him that I had chosen to return. 

"Wonderful! So let's head back now!" My head shook itself and I had to heave the whale up, as it'd started slipping from my grasp.

"I never said I was going back. I just told you that Bruce and I were still a couple." Stark groaned and trailed along beside me, looking less than happy. It was hilarious, but I couldn't help feeling slightly cruel. Maybe I'd just keep him for the rest of the night, and then early tomorrow we can set off. I turned to tell him this, but he'd ran ahead upon seeing the fortress.

I took my merry time, bringing those memories back into my head. A smile grew across my face as I remembered our conversation that night, that brought us together. 

"Well that depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Whether or not you want me to mean it."

After sitting back into the car after the hulk accident and hearing "I wanted you to mean it."

A solitary tear trailed down my filthy face, disguising itself with the rest of the water from the Arctic Ocean. I'm coming home tonight. 

~*~

That's how I found myself, soaking and grinning, in front of the Helicarrier. I studied the huge grey machine, trying to figure out how it possibly flew. Something to ask Bruce or Tony, later. Possibly Fury, but he might just dismiss it and go back to business.

The plane was obviously several tons, clocking in way over that of the whale. A whale would never fly, therefore I wondered how this did. The tiny birds made sense, but this- this made absolutely none. Finally I just dismissed it as jets and left the matter alone.

"Well are you coming or what?" Tony called, poking his head from the door. I chuckled and nodded, trailing up behind him, leaving wet footprints. He turned down a different hallway and lead me to my own room, where nothing had been changed. There was still my bed of furs, and my bear carpet. Yes, real bear. I'd had to survive on something during the winter, and bear meat is tender and delicious.

Stark exited the room, promising to stay out of sight until I'd gotten my surprise out. Normally I wouldn't trust him, but by the look on his face I could tell he would enjoy getting a kick out of all of them, and was going to let me make my sudden reappearance.

I strode over to the closet, pulling out a metallic blue tee and a black Varsity jacket, as well as some black jeggings- looks like jeans, feels like leggings. On top of that I threw on some brown boots and left the room, a grin growing on my face. I knew exactly what I was going to do.

~*~

Inside the room, everybody was making a big fuss and screaming over each other. The conversation was thrown more towards the Chitauri and their most recent attack, but I heard Clint snap at Bruce about loosing their greatest weapon. As touched as I was to be the greatest at something, I knew that had to have hurt Bruce, knowing what a secret softy he was. Made me grin thinking about it.

I peered into the room, but nobody noticed me. So I slipped in and stood next to Fury, who was turning blue in the face. I longed to reach out and poke his eye- just to see if it popped -but I couldn't. That wouldn't be appropriate, here or now. My solution? Poking him on the shoulder.

He whirled around to face me, eyes widening as he saw who it was that disturbed his screaming match. "Astridr?" Fury questioned, unbelieving. I nodded, throwing in a bow and sitting down in my former seat as silence fell. Bruce was trying to make eye contact, but I avoided it until the end of the meeting.

"In the flesh. So what's under your skin? I've had this annoying nagging feeling all day and I want to know what the hell I have to do to get rid of it." I stated, as soon as the room was quiet enough for me to speak without having to shout. Many mouths opened, but Fury cut them all off with a glare.

"There was another Chitauri attack on 5th Avenue, this time on a restaurant. No one was hurt, they just took several thousand dollars worth of food, likely to feed their own army. We were too late to stop them, but we've tracked them down into the sewers." My head bowed into a nod.

"Well, what's the plan?"

"Flush them out. We were going to have Clint do this, but we'd prefer you. Are you affected by any gasses or smoke?" This time I shook my head, no. 

"Good. We're sending you in with four grenades, ten smoke bombs, and a tank of tear gas. Flush them out of the tunnels, and the rest of the team will take care of them above ground. As soon as your done, come join them." He handed me two sash-like pieces of clothing, an array of bombs sprinkled across them. 

I slid them on, criss-crossing over my chest. Next came the tank of tear gas, which I slung over my back. My battle suit shimmered on, a tight white suit- like Natasha's but the opposite color. I strung my hair up into a ponytail to keep it from my falling in my face.

"Alright team, suit up!" Steve called and everyone scurried out of the room, except for Bruce and I. He looked at me expectantly, and I smiled and opened my arms, indicating he come over and hug me, which is exactly what he did.

However, I was surprised by a full-on kiss. I stiffened, then melted into it, my fingers instinctively going up into his hair. This, this here was the reason I came back. Even though I felt totally calm and relaxed, my heart was pounding. The hands on my waist loosened.

"We should probably get going," Bruce said regretfully. I chuckled and nodded. 

"Don't worry, I don't intend to die today. Cya later, Bruce. Don't die on me." I finished and headed out of the door, stealing one last kiss and marching off in the direction of the sewers. Here goes nothing. I thought to myself, adjusting the straps on the tank of gas so it wasn't so uncomfortable. Might as well be comfortable while flushing out aliens.

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A / N: *Bows* Finally got out a new chapter! Action~~~~ Anyhow, thanks for over 200 views and 16 votes, making this my most popular book. I just published a new one, which all of you Avengers fans will love. >:D Female loki, all I'm gonna say. Tell me what you think about this! The ending will have to come eventually, but we've got a good 10-15 chapters left.

~Wolfsbane.