Enjoy!

~Songs~ 

 * Long Way Home- 5 Seconds of Summer

* Troublemaker- Olly Murs

* Tee Shirt- Birdy

Edit: Me

Chapter Twenty-One

~Thea's POV~

That night, Loki and Thor decide to spend the night at Stark tower, one floor above Thea. Loki, like Max, is still not speaking to Thea. She tries to pretends that she doesn't care. 

It's a quiet evening. Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Nat are holed up in one of Tony's offices, with laptops open on the structure of the National Archives. Tony, with JARVIS' help, begins to sketch out various plans on how to best split up the team and infiltrate one of the most guarded treasures on American soil. 

Meanwhile, Thea changes into shorts and an old t-shirt and patters down to the hall kitchen in her bare feet. Kyle is in there, but thankfully, not Max. Based on the fact that there is a lot of talking coming from Max's room, he's on a conference call. 

"Hello, Miss Trickster," says Kyle by way of greeting. Thea shoots him a look, but he continues on, "So how does it feel that you're about to commit a felony?"

Thea opens a drawer to get a bowl out. "I'm sure I'll do worse in my life." 

"You're probably right."

Thea is about to throw the spoon at Kyle's head, but at that point, Jack comes bouncing in. Like Thor and Loki, he's spending the night here, and also like them, he has been busy with plans of his own. 

"Hey Thea!" he exclaims, walking up to her. He's wearing some Coca-Cola red pants and black cotton shirt. 

"Ah...hi?" she says, picking up on Jack's plainly gleeful voice. 

"Hurry up and eat," he says, sitting down at the barstool to watch her every move.

"Why?"

"Because," Jack replies in an obviously I'll-tell-you-when-you're-done-voice, "Besides, haven't you already eaten dinner?"

"I'm still hungry," pouts Thea.

"How can you be hungry after chicken pot pie?" demands Kyle. "What, are you on your period or something?"

This time, the spoon does, in face, land on Kyle's face. 

"Jeez oh Pete, Thea!" Kyle says, then chucks a towel at her. She dodges it easily as she serenely continues to eat her cereal. 

The entire time while she eats, Jack looks at her so intensely and so impatiently, he looks like the human form of the Sphinx. As soon as she's finished, Jack grabs the bowl and tosses it in the sink. "Okay, let's-"

"Nope, Thea has to clean her bowl first," says Kyle, smirking at Thea. 

"Your kitchen, your job," says Jack bossily before Kyle can say anything else, and with that, he drags Thea away from the kitchen. 

"What-are-we-doing?" Thea asks as Jack pushes her into her room and locks the door behind her. 

"We're playing a trick on the god of mischief of course," he says gaily, taking out the invisibility cloak from Thea's bag.

Thea's eyes flash first from excitement and then from worry, "I don't know how well that cloak is going to work around Loki."

"Oh tush," says Jack as if this concern is the stupidest concern in the world, "It's an invisibility cloak. Meaning we are invisible. As in, nobody can see us."

Thea doesn't point out that Loki has more senses than the average human, because Jack is hurrying on. "It's a harmless prank, but one good enough so that he's going to regret ever wanting to mess with us again!" 

Or it'll make him want to mess with us more.

"All right," says Jack, plopping down on Thea's bed so that it squeaks. "So he and Thor are upstairs. I think Loki's practicing his magic or whatever witchcraft he does, and Thor's doing something regarding Asgard, not sure what."

"We aren't pranking Thor, are we?" Thea asks, slightly worried. 

Jack looks hurt, "Of course not. Thor's nice." 

"Good point. So... what exactly are we doing to him?" asks Thea, who, although still worried about the grand schemes of this plan, can't help but feel a little excited. 

Jack hops off the bed and then pulls something heavy around from the front of Thea's bed- evidently, he's been in the room while Thea was in the kitchen. 

"Wow." says Thea, her eyes sparkling with mischief. Jack has pulled pulled out a huge bucket of water with rope tied around it. "You're not actually serious are you?"

"Dead serious." 

"When you say dead serious," says Thea, "You are referring to the fact that Loki is going to kill us, right?"

Jack snorts, "If he catches us."

"Yeah...Jack, who else in their right mind would prank Loki?" Thea is still remembering Loki's furious glare at her after the shouting match during the meeting. "Of course he'll know who it is."

"Yeah, I believe my words were 'if he catches us'."

"Of course he will, we can't out run him. We both know that from experience."

"Yeah, that was a jungle where there were other external factors to consider." Jack splashes Thea with some of the water, "Don't worry! Just let loose and have fun for a little bit."

She still looks dubious.

"I mean if it makes you feel better, Clint knows."

"He does?"

"Yeah. He sort of just raised his eyes to the ceiling as if he was questioning why I'm his nephew, but it's not like he's going to tell anyone."

"He's a spy."

"Thee-UH," says Jack, saying her name with as much sarcasm as possible in two syllables, "Stop worrying! This'll be fun, and it'll make up for Loki being rotten to you." 

"True." Thea glances at the water bucket. "Okay. So how is this happening?" 

*

As it transpires, it happens by use of the invisibility cloak, which is bigger than Thea had thought it was. It's large enough to walk the both of them down the hallway, carrying the heavy bucket between them. They have to be careful not to let the ropes dangle out of the cloak, but other than that, Mission We're-Dead (as Thea calls it) moves smoothly. After making sure that Loki is preoccupied behind the closed door and after gathering various supplies that he's hidden in the small hall closet, Jack uses various rods, the rope, and what looks like an axel that he "borrowed' from Tony's lab to hitch the bucket up above the door. Thea stands guard, looking more and more nervous by the passing minute. 

"All right," says Jack, hopping down from the footstool. He looks giddy with mischief, "Now we wait."

"That's not hot water, is it?" Thea asks.

"Why, does it matter?" Jack asks nonchalantly as he covers himself and Thea up in the cloak. 

"Yes, it matters!" Thea says so fiercely that Jack looks frightened for about half a second.

"Um, can I ask why?" 

Thea doesn't reply for a moment. Then, she says, "I saw...he...in that cell...they burned him...I heard him...he was screaming." 

Jack immediately looks horrified, "Thea, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." 

There are very few things that Thea refuses to talk to with Jack. One of them is that night at the Imeldi camp. Another is her brother. And the other is The Boy.

Thea shrugs. 

Jack puts a hand on her shoulder, "And don't worry, it's actually freezing water. He's going to be fine. Wet, but fine."

And very, very angry, Thea can't help but think. 

She's not wrong. 

It takes precisely twelve minutes for Loki to walk out of the room (Thea has been counting, using Max's old triathlon watch that he had given her), and the results are immediate. Almost in slow motion, his foot trips the rod at the edge of the door, and from the top, the cold water spills over the bucket and directly on Loki's head. 

Thea and Jack slap their hands over their mouths to suppress snorts of laughter as Loki, his  black hair dripping wet, clenches his fist in controlled anger. His skin turns blue for less than a minute before shifting away to its normal color.  He doesn't know it, but Thea and Jack are less than ten feet away, practically rolling around in silent laughter. 

They immediately stop laughing as Loki stalks towards them. For a very tense moment, they think he knows they're there, but then he passes them shouting, "THEA! JACK!"

As soon as they heard his footsteps leaving, they throw the cloak off, stuff it in Thea's bag, and sprint in the other direction. They can hear Loki yelling from here. 

When Thea and Jack hurry up some stairs, laughing, they nearly run into Bruce Banner. He raises and eyebrow at them, "I guess you have something to do with the reason that Loki's really mad?"

"Us? Never!" Jack shouts behind his shoulder as he and Thea run past him. 

"Do you think we should separate?" Thea asks as, at her room, she dumps her backpack inside before they run past it. 

"Thea, you should know by now that one should never separate from the pack during a horror movie."

"Horror movie?" Thea asks as she and Jack continue to flee around the edges of Stark tower. "Is that what this is?"

And then she shrieks in surprise as, when she and Jack high-tail it around a corner, they literally run into a very wet, very mad Loki. 

"Oh yes," says Jack as Loki seizes him by the scruff of the neck before the boy can run off, "This is definitely a horror movie."

Thea nearly escapes, ducking under Loki's arm, but then, with lightning reflexes, he grabs her by her ponytail. She yelps as he drags her back to him. 

"We're dead," says Jack hopelessly, trying to hold back his laughter. 

"All right," snarls Loki. As he glares down at Thea, drops of water splash from his hair down onto his face, "Whose idea was this?"

Neither of them volunteer for an answer, both kids looking at each other with expressions of guilty pleasure. 

Loki flings Jack to the ground, causing the boy to wince slightly as he strikes the wall. Meanwhile, Loki glares at Thea, "Thea..."

"It wasn't me!" she squeaks. 

"Wow thanks," mutters Jack, who is still holding his head. 

Loki's furious eyes swivel onto Jack. 

"Hi Loki," says Jack cheerfully. "I see you've showered recently." 

"I helped!" exclaims Thea as Loki lunges towards Jack, "Don't you dare hurt him!" 

"I'm not going to hurt him," growls Loki as Thea grabs onto him, letting Jack dodge Loki's blow. "I'm going to kill him first."

"Oh that's a comforting thought," amends Jack, still grinning. "You're so considerate, Loki."

Still glaring at Jack as if daring him to try to escape, Loki hisses at Thea, "You should know that you've already angered me enough today."

"Yeah..." she says, Jack's nonchalance giving her courage, and adds in a very bright voice, "Sorry?" Then, seeing Loki's still soaking-wet hair, she giggles, "I'm sorry, but you look...like...a poodle right now." 

Jack snorts with concealed laughter. 

"Theodora, you are testing my patience!" he snarls. 

"Didn't know you had any."

This is the last straw. Loki throws Thea down to land right next to Jack (actually, she lands on him, causing him to grunt with surprise). Glaring down at them with all his sopping-wet fury, he he says, his voice trembling with fury, "Will you two never learn how to act like adults?"

"We're not adults though," pipes up Jack. "So what do you expect us to act like?"

"Not like moronic imbeciles." 

"We're not apologizing," jeers Jack. 

Loki once again lunges for Jack, grabs him by the throat and pushes him against the wall and, Thor and Natasha choose this time to walk around the corner. 

"What's going on?" Thor asks with mild interest at the sight of Thea on the ground, trying not to laugh, Jack doing the same while also trying to breathe, and Loki practically radiating fury. "Brother, why are you wet?"

"Because...of...them..." Loki's voice is harsh. 

It only takes Thor a few moments to roughly deduce what happened. "I see. Well, I recommend that you release young Jack, because if you choke him, I'm afraid Thea may kill you."

"Unless I kill her first," growls Loki, but he lets Jack go nonetheless. 

"Now Loki," says Thor, and Thea can see that he is trying his best (without much success) to resist smiling, "This is only a mild prank of two children. Don't react so strongly."

"We're not children," states Thea. 

"Oh yes, you are."

Thor holds his hand up to stop Loki from saying anything else, "It's a harmless escapade, brother. They promise not to do it again, right Thea? Jack?"

"We promise," says Thea in a very strangled tone that clearly states that she, like Jack and Thor, is trying not to laugh. Natasha is pressing her fist to her mouth, but soft laughter can be heard nonetheless. 

"Oh yes," says Jack as the two of them snicker , "We definitely promise."

"There you have it," says Thor, patting Loki's shoulder. "Now it's getting late. We should all retire to our chambers and get some rest. Agreed?" 

Loki shoots Thea a look of incessant loathing. Then, pulling her ponytail for a last measure of his anger (she aims a kick at him that misses). Turning, he stalks away. Looking at Thea and Jack with a look of suppressed amusement, Thor follows his brother, probably to calm him down. 

As soon as he turns the corner, Thea and Jack dissolve into laughter. 

"All right you two," says Natasha, trying her very hardest not to laugh and not succeeding. "Get upstairs. It sounds like we're heading to DC tomorrow, and we might as well have plenty of energy."

"Okay," says Jack gaily, and laughing, the two of them walk back towards Thea's room. 

*

Two hours later, Jack and Thea are covered up and watching the small television that's playing at the end of her bed. It's National Treasure, which Jack had recommended from pure spite. Jack is much taller than Thea, which gives her a perfect opportunity to lean against his chest as they watch the movie. 

"You see, they're making it way too complicated," says Jack as-a-matter-of-factly as they watch Riley hide in the bathroom and begin breaking into the Wi-Fi. "You see, we have Steve and Clint and Nat and you, so we can just punch our way through. It's gonna be bloody brilliant."

"I don't think I'm going to be allowed to punch our way through," says Thea, her eyes drowsy.
"Didn't Tony or Bruce say that we're going to be look-outs or something?" 

"I don't know, Thea, now hush and watch the movie." Jack says, leaning his head against hers. He's getting sleepy too. Yelling at ex-spies and demo-gods has its toll on people.

"Don't be so bossy," she yawns. 

When the credits roll, the two of them are already asleep. 

It's almost dawn when Thea is fidgeting and beginning to cry in her sleep. Drowsily, Jack wakes up as she begins to thrash around, nearly knocking him off the bed. "Thea...?" he mutters.

Then, noticing the scenario, he begins to shake her, like Kyle told him to do, "Thea, wake up, it's just a dream!" 

Now, she begins to scream, tears running down her face. Jack can only imagine what she's dreaming about right now. 

"THEA!" he exclaims, now fully awake and beginning to panic, "Thea, it's all right, just wake up, you're safe!" 

But she won't wake up, and Jack is tempted to smack her to get her to regain consciousness. "THEA!" 

The door bangs open, and both Max and Loki walk through the door. Jack leaps to his feet, nearly in tears, "I don't know what-I tried to wake her up, but nothing's working!" 

"It's all right Jack," says Max, lying a hand on his cousin's shoulder and as Loki walks over to Thea. "She's gonna be fine." 

Jack watches in agony as Loki sits down at the edge of Thea's bed. Leaning forward, the Asgardian prince sets his hand on her trembling forehead. The effects are almost instantaneous. Her screams dissolve into soft whimpers, although she is still crying. 

"Thea..." murmurs Loki, moving his hand back along her hair, "C'mon, wake up kitten." 

With a stuttering cough, Thea's eyes snap open and she jerks up, gasping and sobbing. "Wh...wh..." and then she can't talk anymore, she's crying so hard. Loki reaches forward and puts his arm around her and for a few moments, she just cries against him. 

"All right," he says, and then pushes her back down on the bed, "Lie back down now." Thea's trembling fingers catch onto Loki's hand, and he lets her keep them there. "Good girl." 

Thea's green eyes look up at Loki, who is looking down at her gently, his hair still slightly frizzed from the water. "Are you still mad at me?" she whispers. 

He smirks down at her, "Of course I am," he says softly, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "I'm always mad at you, kitten." 

She smiles tremulously, her fingers still clenching Loki's tightly. 

"Max," Jack says very quietly, "Why can Loki calm her down when nobody else can, and when he's the one that always makes her the most unhappy?"

"I don't know Jack," says Max honestly as he watches Thea's eyelids flutter shut. "I have absolutely no idea." 

There's some silence. Then, Max says, "Jack, let's go. It's almost dawn anyway." He looks at Loki for confirmation, who nods. 

He and a reluctant Jack leave the room, closing the door behind them. As he hears the door click, Loki looks down at Thea with a slightly hidden gentleness, "Just what am I going to do with you, kitten?" he says to nobody in particular.  

Trouble, trouble makers. :) 

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