49 | reindeer games

Hope

I know I'm doin the same thing, probably even more, but being in a timeline that's not hers is not safe for Lizzie. I'm not saying I know what I'm doing and she doesn't—because honestly, I don't know what I'm doing half the time–but if there's someone who overlooks more things between the two of us, it's Lizzie. Being paranoid has its perks. It makes me see things before they even make a move, whether or not it will come true. But Lizzie...with a heart as fragile as hers, a brain chemistry as destructive as hers, I can't help but get worried.

I really hope she's back to our own timeline.

"Andrea!" Tony's voice suddenly pierced through my bubble of haziness and worry.

My blue eyes looked over to Tony who's sitting beside a crawling Royal. I'm back at the penthouse the same night I paid Steve Rogers himself a visit. I was supposed to meet Phil first before coming back here, the same Phil that had been calling Tony a couple of minutes earlier which he kept declining. But my mind was too preoccupied to remember that I was supposed to meet him while I made my way back to my family.

"Yeah?" I asked, forcing a small smile on my face.

It's been an hour and a half since I conversed with Steve and found out about Lizzie's involvement with him and this timeline. And ever since, I could not focus on anything but that. I was mad at Fury for not telling me. But then again, he's the spy. He's not the type of person that would simply reveal this information to me.

I did, however, tell Steve to not tell Fury that I know about Lizzie. Him not knowing that I know would make it easy for me to access S.H.I.E.L.D. files and figure out what he knows about her.

"If you're thinking about the Star Spangled Man and his arms, I'm filing for a divorce." Tony argued.

Tony's a consultant of S.H.I.E.L.D. therefore he already knows half of what I know. Phil is coming over to tell him the rest.

"I'm not." Not really. I am thinking about Steve, but more about his connection with Lizzie. "I'm thinking about Lizzie."

Tony gave me a look of curiosity, tilting his head to the side with his eyes narrowing at me.

"What about her?" He asked.

Should I tell him? That one of my friends is in this timeline or was in the timeline? That she jumped all the way back to 1945 and met Steve Rogers and possibly his dad Howard? That I have no idea whether or not she's safe?

I honestly have no clue what I should do.

I widened my smile and shook my head. "Nothing. But I called Aunt Rebekah and asked her to take Royal to New Orleans for a while."

"And in translation, you mean lead our thumb-sucking tribrid baby to the hands of the voodoo witches in a town where thumb-sucking tribrid babies get attacked by voodoo witches? Sounds like such a vacation." Tony said, making sure the sarcasm in his words and tone will not be dismissed.

"They won't get anywhere near Royal. They'll make sure of that." I answered. I don't know what will happen, but with a psychotic alien on the loose in New York, I'm not taking any chances.

"How big is this threat that your little band of emo spies are trying to get Steve Rogers on the job?" Tony asked. Like I said, he only knows half of what I know. He still has no idea that we're also trying to get him and Dr. Banner for a new kind of band.

"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocol is being overwritten." J.A.R.V.I.S. said before another voice can be heard from his phone, Phil's.

"Mr. Stark, we need to talk." Phil said.

Tony sighed in frustration before picking up his phone and holding it out in front of him. Just when I thought Tony is finally going to hear Phil out, he takes one last hit.

"You have reached the Life Model Decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message."

"This is urgent."

"Then leave it urgently."

This is why people keep asking me why I married Tony Stark and how I put up with him. During these situations, I question that myself. But of course, I'm always reminded.

Royal crawled over to me and I welcomed him with a big smile in time for the elevator to open and reveal Agent Phil Coulson clad in his neat suit holding a phone against his ear and a laptop on the other.

"Security breach." Tony called it.

I rolled my eyes at Tony before picking up Royal and standing up.

"Phil, come in." I said, making sure Royal won't slip from my arms. "So sorry about earlier."

I felt Tony's presence follow me as I made my way towards Phil. "'Phil'?" he questioned.

"It's okay." Phil rescinded with a small, friendly smile on his face.

"Uhm, his first name is 'Agent'." Tony argued.

I felt Royal tug on my hair a little, tangling his tiny fingers on the ends of my hair before bringing them up to his mouth. Babies and their uncontrollable need to put everything in their mouths.

"Sweetheart, no." I told him, pulling my hair out of his mouth before I returned my attention to Phil.

"We were just taking care of Royal." I told Phil.

"Which is why he can't stay." Tony added. I turned my head to glance at him and witnessed the fake smile that he forced into his lips as his gaze remained on Phil.

"We need you to look this over, as soon as possible." Phil said, handing over the laptop to Tony.

The man just stared at the laptop hesitantly before speaking. "I don't like being handed things."

"Oh, God." I whispered under my breath before giving Tony our son. Royal muttered a bunch of gibberish which Tony playfully imitated as I transferred him to his arms before looking back at Phil and getting the laptop myself. "I'll make sure he looks at this."

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday." said Tony while he held Royal with one arm, our baby tugging on the collar of his dad's shirt.

"This isn't a consultation." Phil answered as I assembled the pretty unique laptop. I've never seen a laptop like this, ever. Is it even called a laptop?

"It's about the Avengers Initiative." I added. I made my way further into the room where I placed the laptop on top of the office desk.

Tony squinted his eyes at me as he approached me and placed Royal sitting on top of the same desk. "The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought, and I didn't even qualify."

"It's not like that." I tried to argue only to be interrupted as Tony went on to prove his point.

"Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others." He said.

Well, what am I going to argue against that? It's basically true. He should put that in his autobiography—which I know he's already planning.

"Can't argue with that." I simply muttered under my breath before Phil spoke up once more.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore." He said.

"I'll get him up to speed. Don't worry, Phil." I reassured him with a smile that I once again forced on my face. Not really easy to smile when a lot is going on.

"God, Tony. Give me Royal. You really sat him next to the painfully sharp pencils?" I said as I held out my hands, urging Tony to hand me Royal which he did before going over to look at the laptop.

"He won't stab himself." Tony said, surely.

"No, he'll most likely stab us." I half-joked.

Royal is an angry kid. And I understand that, given the untriggered werewolf side trying to reach him, his deactivated vampire side tainting his precious, innocent mind, and the muted witch side of him trying to escape from the bracelet he has around his wrist. He's still calm and cute, but when he cries...Good Lord, he goes screaming bloody murder while actually hoping to do one. It's like he has a split personality.

"You need to take this seriously. You should've seen the headquarters. It's insane. And Phil—"

"I sense that it is a serious matter because you're giving me that psycho gaze again." Tony said as he fiddled with the laptop before looking back at me. "Since when is he 'Phil'?"

"Since he became the godfather of our one and only son. Now, focus." I told him as I cradled Royal in my arms.

Tony simply rolled his eyes at me before averting his attention to the laptop and expanded the screen. And by expanding the screen, I mean using the advantage of holograms to show the file of each potential candidate of the Avengers Initiative as it floats in mid-air. Our gazes flickered to every video of every person show in the file—Thor, Steve, Dr. Banner—as well as all the known info about the stolen Tesseract.

"Right. Take Royal to New Orleans." Tony said, not faltering his gaze from the images shown before us.

I sighed deeply before turning around and started walking towards where Royal's room is.

"Can we stop by La Guardia later? I'm dropping Royal off with Aunt Rebekah." I asked Phil as I walked.

"Sure." He simply answered.

"And I wanna hear all about that cellist Pepper has been telling me about." I said. It's about time that Phil gets a girlfriend.

—

"Do you think Phil freaked out on the way over here?" I asked as I walked side by side with Natasha, making our way over to one of the Quinjets where Steve Rogers and Agent Phil Coulson stepped out from.

"It would be hard for him not to." Nat replied with a smirk on her lips, which she quickly wiped off of her face once we've reached the two men.

"Agent Mikaelson, Agent Romanoff." Phil greeted with his black tinted shades as he introduced us to Captain America himself. "Captain Rogers."

"We've met." I said, tugging a small smile on my lips. My friendliness towards Steve is genuine. The smile, however, not so much. Especially when I'm always reminded of Lizzie possibly wandering around an unpredictable timeline.

"Hope." Steve greeted me with a nod. Finally, he dropped the 'ma'am'. He then turned towards Natasha. "Ma'am."

I spoke too soon.

"Hi." Natasha greeted back before facing Phil. "They need you on the bridge; they're starting the face trace."

"See you there." Phil simply answered before walking away, leaving Steve with Nat and I.

The three of us began to walk away from the Quinjet, our eyes wandering around the area to see people chaining all kinds of their vehicles to the ground, preparing for take off.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. Thought Coulson was gonna swoon." Natasha said, telling Steve just how much of a big deal he is around here. Because he really is. I don't think there was a day that I have not heard his name being mentioned in any conversations I overhear.

"If he hadn't already." I said, my smile widening a bit before turning my head to glance at Steve who's already looking at me. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" Steve questioned, a smile curling on his lips, the conversation intriguing him. Why wouldn't it intrigue him? It's basically saying how much everyone adores him. And for good reason.

"They're vintage. He's very proud." I said. Phil is very proud. And it's adorable. It's not everyday you get to see him that way. I make the most of it when I do.

Our attention then drifted towards the man standing cluelessly, trying his best to avoid everyone and everything as a lot is going on. So, this is Dr. Bruce Banner when he's not all big and green? With this form, he looks completely harmless. But his files say otherwise.

Much like everyone else's first impression of me.

"Dr. Banner." Steve called out, gaining Dr. Banner's attention.

His gaze flickered over to us and he began to walk towards us with his eyes squinted due to the bright sunlight shining down on us.

"Oh, yeah, hi. They told me you'd be coming." Dr. Banner said as he shook Steve's hand. He then looked at me with the same expression. "You're Andrea Stark."

"Mikaelson-Stark." I corrected before offering my own hand for a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Banner."

"Is it really?" Dr. Banner replied. It wasn't sarcasm. It was more...disbelief. That he doesn't believe that someone really is grateful to meet him because of everything he's done. Trust me, I've been there.

"Word is you can find the Cube." Steve said once Dr. Banner and I pulled away from the handshake.

Dr. Banner nodded his head as he looked left and right, observing his surroundings. If you ask me, I think he's self-conscious. He's sure that everyone is talking about his green tendencies. And he's not wrong. Because they are talking about him as much as they are talking about Steve.

"Is that the only word on me?" He asked. Once again, with the same disbelieving tone evident in his voice.

"Only word I care about." Steve answered. Like I've said before, this man is nice and polite as hell. I didn't even know someone this kind existed. But I wouldn't trust it yet. People have dark sides. He has one, right?

"Must be strange for you, all of this." Dr. Banner said, referring to the whole modern world that Steve must not recognize.

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar." Steve responded.

Right. Military man. S.H.I.E.L.D. man. War-fighting man.

The earpieces that Natasha and I have as well as the rest of the agents here received an announcement saying that we are finally taking off.

"Gentlemen, you might wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe." Natasha stated.

As soon as Natasha said that, the helicarrier began to make loud clunking and whirring sounds as her–yes, it's a her–engines started to click into place. Curiosity befell Steve and Dr. Banner as they take a few steps forward.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

"Really, they want me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" Banner commented.

I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head slightly to the side. Decent guess, but not right.

"Not really." I answered.

Steve and Banner briefly glanced at me before walking over to the edge of the helicarrier to witness her propellers begin to spin, causing a whirl of water around the vehicle, like a sinkhole, before it slowly lifted into the air. Once the propellers were free of the water, they began to work faster, generating harsher blows of the wind, one that surpasses that of a helicopter's.

"Oh no, this is much worse." Dr. Banner added.

As the helicarrier began to ascend higher, we made our way inside where multiple agents handled the control panel of the entire vehicle, and at its center is the spy himself.

"We're at level, sir." Agent Hill told Fury.

"Good. Let's vanish." Fury ordered.

"Engage retro reflection panels."

Dr. Banner and Steve roamed their gazes around the room, practically gawking at everything. I had the same reaction when Phil and Natasha first introduced me to this helicarrier. Natasha had to push my jaw up to close my mouth. I might be from the future, but this place surely looks more futuristic.

"See you at lunch?" Nat told me as we made our way further into the room.

"As usual." I answered before she walked away from me and I was left to attend to our new passengers.

I approached Steve who had just finished checking the place out before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ten dollar bill without a word and just handed it to me. He's already surprised by this? Good Lord, I'm gonna be richer than Tony soon.

"Gentlemen." The eye-patched liar greeted the two new passengers, nodding at Steve and approaching Dr. Banner to introduce himself.

I zoned out for a few seconds the moment Dr. Banner mentioned 'spectrometers'. My knowledge has expanded ever since I became an agent here at S.H.I.E.L.D. but I can never be anywhere near Tony's or Dr. Banner's IQ. The least I could do at this point is do what Banner says.

—

Lunch came and gone and we haven't heard any good news–any news at all. Everyone is still looking for Loki as well as Dr. Selvig and Clint. Dr. Selvig's one of the smartest guys I know and Clint is one of the most talented marksman there is. Loki sure knows who to brainwash.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no. It's fine."

I overheard Phil politely asking Steve to sign his vintage trading cards. I mean, I'm surprised he only asked about it now. If I was Phil, I would've asked him straight away. But I guess that's why I'm not Phil.

"Just 'cause you look big and healthy doesn't mean you don't need to drink." I told Steve as I reached him and Phil, handing the bigger guy a soda.

"Thanks, Hope." Steve replied after accepting my kind offer. Phil smiled at me before he spoke himself.

"I'll just check with the other potentially bigger guy." Phil said. Well, I haven't seen Dr. Banner since Natasha escorted him to his own lab. I guess he's having too much fun tinkering with his toys there, just like how Tony is most of the time.

"You know...Most people call me Andrea here." I told Steve. Not that I'm bothered that he calls me 'Hope'. It's just that, some people might get weirded out that he calls me by the name that only my family calls me. And by 'some people', I mean Tony.

I'm sure Tony will start asking questions the minute he hears Steve call me 'Hope'.

"Sorry. Just got used to Lizzie calling you that." Steve said.

There it is again. Another mention of Lizzie.

"No...I got used to Lizzie calling you by your full name." Steve corrected himself, slightly laughing at his own statement as he recalled what I assume to be his memories with Lizzie.

I cocked an eyebrow at him as I gave a small smile. "Oh, really?"

"Well, she used to say that if she were to write her own villain origin story, 'Hope Andrea Mikaelson' will be at the center of it." Steve stated.

Of course, she'd say that. I can almost hear her saying it as Steve said it.

"Yep. That does sound like the Lizzie I know." I said, a smile forming on my lips as I listened to Lizzie's voice inside my head saying those exact words.

I miss it, my main timeline. Sure, I don't have as much there as here. But I still had some friends there. Sometimes, I even dream about them. Dreams that would keep me smiling for a few minutes before it then slips from my mind because I have to go to work and take care of my family.

I'm happy here. Beyond that, even. I have most of the things I wanted and could possibly want; have people that I didn't know I was deserving of. That's more than enough reason to keep going here even if I miss my friends from the main timeline.

"You have magic, right?" Steve asked.

I looked at him, hiding the fact that I had zoned out for a few minutes before I spoke up. "Why, do you want me to make you disappear? Surprisingly, a lot of people wish that."

I'm aware that that's dark.

"No." Steve said while a small laugh escaped his lips. "It's just that...Lizzie used to do this thing where she can find people or things with her own magic. I'm just wondering why you haven't done that."

Good question. Here's a disappointing answer.

"I'm S.H.I.E.L.D.'s one and only tribrid agent. Part of my job is to use my magic for the benefit of our work. That includes crafting wearable cloaking-spelled items for all the agents in order to have better espionage. Fury made sure that even I could not locate them when they're wearing it. As for Loki, well, we don't exactly have anything of his that I can use for a locator spell." I explained.

You'd think that I've learned from what happened before with Tony. And I have. I turned down this idea of Fury's, reminding him of what happened the last time I did an unbeatable cloaking spell. Yeah, Iron Man was born then, but not everyone is like Tony.

But Fury insisted and he's my boss. He said that even if something goes wrong, we're more than capable of locating them in other ways through the best of our tech toys.

"We got a hit!" Agent Sitwell said. Finally "Sixty-seven percent match. Wait, cross-match, seventy-nine percent."

Steve and I shared a glance before approaching Agent Sitwell.

"Location?" I asked.

"Stuttgart, Germany. Twenty eight, Königstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." Sitwell answered.

I stared at the screen of the monitor, seeing the smug look that was plastered across Loki's face.

"Captain," Fury called out, causing Steve to turn towards him. "You're up."

Steve nodded once before walking off to suit up. I, on the other hand, stayed behind and tried not to glare at Fury so much that lasers would shoot out of my eyes. Not that I'm capable of it, but I can find a spell that would let me.

"Go with Agent Romanoff." Fury told me before turning around to walk away.

"You're not gonna ask why I'm glaring at you?" I said as I remained standing here with my arms crossed against my chest, my gaze trying to pierce through the back of his lying, secret-filled head.

"Do you ever not glare at me?" He responded as he walked away, not even sparing me a glance until he's nowhere in my line of sight.

Maybe I'll stop glaring at him when he stops keeping secrets from me, secrets that are related to my life.

—

"What's got you extra grumpy?"

I turned to Natasha who's sitting to my left as my co-pilot of the Quinjet we're flying. It's dangerous for me to be flying this with her when most of my mind is occupied with the thought of Lizzie. I need to know more. And the only way to know more is to ask Fury. But asking Fury about that will either go really well or really bad.

"Fury." I simply said. Not too vague, not too specific either.

"What's he done now?" Natasha asked.

A lot of things. But this one in particular is starting to send me over the edge.

"Something Fury-like." I replied. Now, that's too vague.

A few minutes passed and we reached the exact place where we located Loki. Seems like the fight's about to begin with the civilians already gathered around the alien god taunting the man in red, white, and blue.

"I'm not the one who's out of time." I heard Cap answer to whatever Loki told him.

Natasha and I let the Quinjet hover quite low before bringing out a weapon from underneath the jet, aiming it at the clearly power-hungry god with superiority complex given his desire to let everyone around him kneel before his presence. Which is not a surprise. I mean, he is a god.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha announced over the microphone, her voice resonating from the speakers outside of the jet.

Loki did not even spare a single silent second for him to think about what he's gonna do next before he aimed the glowing scepter at us and blasted us with it. With complete coordination with Nat, we managed to avoid the blast as we swerved the Quinjet out of the way. This managed to become a distraction for Cap to make his move, throwing his shield like a frisbee at the god which immediately bounced back at the contact of his armored chest before returning to Cap's grasp.

I turned away from the fight as I unclamped my seatbelt. I'm a freaking tribrid, there's no way I'm just going to sit here and fire weapons at a god when I'm already a weapon myself.

"I already gave you full control of the Quinjet. Be right back." I told Natasha and she simply nodded before I made my way towards the back of the jet.

Natasha didn't have to wait for my signal. She already opened the small slash ramp of the jet where I swiftly jumped out of. The two-inch heel of my boots conveniently containing daggers of my choice made a deep click against the cemented ground as I landed. I felt my auburn hair blow harshly behind me from the engine of the jet.

My eyes landed back on the two men fighting, Cap lost his shield and Loki managed to point the end of his scepter to a kneeling Steve Rogers, an act that I'm sure is not from his free will.

"Kneel." Loki said, threatened, to be exact.

"Kinky." I interrupted, causing Loki to shift his attention from Steve to me. "But you're not his type. Ossox."

The bones in his right arm bent and broke, causing him to drop the scepter immediately, his good hand clutching his almost shattered arm. I said almost because this man is a god and I can't inflict permanent injury to him with just silly little spells. I've already had my fair shares of encounters with gods and demi-gods in the past, so I know that they're really not easy to kill.

"The devil herself against the god. Seems quite fitting." Loki commented at the mere sight of me.

"It's ridiculously biblical'." I replied. "I think you forgot something."

Loki simply furrowed his eyebrows before Cap landed a kick on the god's back, causing him to tumble over on the ground near me. His gold horns scraping against the rough ground ignited bright yellow sparks and created a screeching sound that was incredibly unpleasant to the ears, resulting in me looking away and making a face to recover from that ear-piercing sound.

The next thing I know, his hand wrapped around my neck so tight that my air supply was immediately cut off.

"How's this for 'kinky'?" He commented.

"Are you flirting with me?" I joked. But if I'm not mistaken, I don't think he is.

"Every king needs a queen." Loki answered.

"That ain't me." I responded.

Suddenly, the speakers of the Quinjet blasted an AC/DC song. And the only reason I know that it's an AC/DC song and that the title is 'Shoot to Thrill' is because my husband always plays their songs while working.

This just means that he is making a classic Tony Stark entrance.

As soon as Loki got distracted by the sudden burst of the song from the speakers, I elbowed his arm down, causing him to rip his grasp away from my neck before he was suddenly hit with a bright blast that I recognize all too well because I was once hit by that many years ago.

Tony, clad in his red and gold armor suit landed on the ground next to me, the hardness of the suit and the harsh impact of his landing slightly destroying the brick part ground.

"I know all of my wife's kinks, choking isn't one of them." Tony said as he stood up from his knelt landing position.

"Of course, not. It's yours." I whispered, loud enough for only him to hear.

"You have sexy hands." Tony simply answered, making me roll my eyes.

The three of us, Cap, Tony, and I, made our way towards the defeated looking god. Tony aimed both of his hands at Loki as he spoke.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Tony challenged.

To my surprise, Loki held his hands up at the same time he used his magic to remove his armor as well as his horns. That's definitely not what I'm expecting. I'm not expecting this to be a short fight given that we're up against a literal god. Him giving up this fast? There must be something else going on. He's planning something.

"Mr. Stark." Rogers greeted Tony as the soldier stood to his left.

"Captain." Tony greeted back.

I suddenly feel like there's a lump in my throat.

I need to tell Tony about Lizzie before he finds it out from somebody else because if he did, he won't be too happy that I kept something this big from him.

—

I apologize for not updating for sooooo long. College buried me in a bunch of work, I'm not kidding. I cried almost everyday sksksksks. I missed writing so much!

Anyway, another avenger is introduced! The one and only Dr. Bruce Banner aka The Hulk. The next avenger to be introduced in the next chapter is, of course, Thor! I hope that guys enjoyed this chapter, I'm so sorry again for not updating for a while. <3