Love You to Asgard and Back

2-A Confession

"Just a little to the left," Tony Stark called out from across the large common room as he directed the hanging of a large piece of modern art.

"Don't tell me that's one of those pieces of art that looks like one of my nephews or nieces painted it in elementary school art class but it's worth thousands," Dean Allen teased as he sat down on one of the large sofas in the center of the room.

Tony looked over his shoulder and scowled playfully. "Okay, drag me."

"That's a yes," Natasha Romanoff said as she walked in and handed Dean a bottle of water.

"Hey, peanut gallery, I thought you two were off doing spy stuff."

Dean shrugged. "Well, since we aren't officially employed by S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore, no."

"And whose bright idea was that?" Tony joked as he walked over to them and took a seat between them. "Oh, right, it was mine."

Dean playfully socked him in the arm. "Best idea you've ever had."

"When's the boyfriend coming back to distract your from bullying me?"

"Should be back sometime today. He told me it wouldn't take long."

Natasha leaned forward. "You mean sending Loki to...wherever it is he's supposed to be sent off to?"

"The Isle of Silence," Dean said. "That's about as much as Thor has said about it. I think he would rather not talk about what's happened. At least not anytime soon."

Tony stood up and walked over to look at the artwork and spoke loudly so they could still hear him. "I mean, it's not like every family doesn't have a black sheep."

"If the Avengers are a family then I'm definitely the black sheep," Natasha joked.

Sufficiently satisfied with the placement of the art, Tony turned around and smiled at her. "I think that might be a better code-name than Black Widow."

Natasha shook her head and pulled her loose red hair into a ponytail. "I think I'll stick with Widow."

"So, this Isle of Silence," Tony went on. "No chance of Loki getting out, right?"

"Thor said it's pretty much a one way ticket unless Odin changes his mind. Which isn't likely at this point. Loki really made a mess and Odin isn't interested in any chances of war."

Tony nodded with approval. "That sounds good to me. I'd rather not deal with power-hungry gods for a little while."

"Is it break time?" Bruce asked as he walked into the common room and looked round at all of the modern furnishings. "Looks nice in here, by the way."

"We were just taking a quick breather," Natasha said as she stood up. "How's the Hazard Room coming along?"

The Hazard Room was to serve as the primary means of training for the Avengers. Equipped with state-of-the-art holographic generators, it could be programmed to deliver any sort of challenge the Avengers wanted to use to hone their skills. In addition to the holograms, the Hazard Room was also furnished with a host of robotic enemies to pummel without consequence. The entire setup took up the very bottom of the sub-levels of Avengers Tower, spanning the length and width of a football field.

"It's looking good. Clint and Steve just finished giving it a test run," Bruce reported as he opened up a packet of fruit snacks and offered some to the others.

"I take it they survived being the guinea pigs," Dean surmised as he accepted a fruit chew.

"Unfortunately," Bruce said with a playful wink. "Clint said the shooting range could use some modifications, by the way."