*Pronunciations: - Caoimhe = 'kee'+'va' - Aine = 'awn'+'ye'*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After spending hours in the blistering heat - heat Loki was by no means used to - the sun finally set. Loki had walked so many dogs and helped cleaned so many kennels, he would be happy if he never saw a dog again.
Loki walked with the three Avengers to the shelter's office where they caught up with Logan.
"So how are we going to do this?" the stocky man asked, standing up from his seat behind a steel desk.
"We," Tony repeated, motioning to himself, Thor, and Loki, "are going to keep watch tonight. You," he pointed to the other man, "are going home."
Logan looked affronted, "This is my shelter."
"We know, and respect that you want to protect it. But, for safety reasons, we can't have you staying here tonight. It's a liability for us, if you get hurt when we knew how dangerous it is, it would reflect badly on us." Bruce added from beside Tony.
Logan sighed, "Fine, I get it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They waited all night, pacing the floors, bickering, trying to find anything to keep their minds occupied.
"So, when do you think she's gonna make a move?" Tony asked, twirling a black stapler around in his hands. His face the very picture of boredom.
Thor answered, "She usually attacks really late at night, so probably around eleven or something."
Tony nodded and looked up the clock for what had to be the hundredth time in the past five minutes, "Do you realize," he drawled, "that it is 1:45 in the morning?"
All eyes jumped up to the clock.
"Maybe she figured out we were on to her and changed up her time." Bruce said.
Thor made a face, "Doubtful. Sigyn is a drama queen. Even if she did know we were here, waiting for her, she'd still come."
Loki nodded in agreement and once more the office fell into uncomfortable silence.
When they heard the door open, they all jumped up, ready to attack.
"Calm down, boys. It's just us." a petite red-head walked into the office, followed by two blonde men.
No wonder, they didn't hear them. Loki thought as he watched their entrance. Natasha Romanov, also known as the Black Widow, was both admired and feared for her amazing sheath. She could sneak up on just about anyone.
She stopped when she caught Loki's eye, "I heard you were back."
Loki gave a small smile, "Good for you."
Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Don't know why you waste you time talking to him, Nat." Clint Barton, or Hawkeye, if your prefer, cut it, "In fact, I don't know why anyone wastes any time on him. He's changed," Barton snorted, "yea, I'll believe that when pigs start flying."
Loki narrowed his eyes, "You know, I liked you a lot more when you called me 'boss' and did whatever I said." he knew it was cruel to say that, that it brought up bad memories, but it wasn't like Barton was being very hospitable.
Barton made a move like he was going to attack Loki, but a hand on his arm stopped him, "Don't. Not now."
Clint looked at the other blonde man,"Fine," he growled, shaking his arm free from Steve Rogers' grip, "but only because we have something more important to take care of." he gave Loki a look that left no doubt in his mind Clint thought him of little more than trash.
