Frostbite

Ten

It had been a few weeks since the battle of New York. Today, Thor was going home and taking Loki with him, where he would answer for his crimes. The other Avengers and Dr. Selvig were going to meet on the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park to see them off. I was actually going to miss the space god; we had grown better acquainted over the last few weeks and he was actually quite hilarious.

I grabbed my key card off the desk in my hotel room and made my way downstairs to the lobby. The cab I had called was already waiting outside for me. I'd been residing in a hotel while Tony rebuilt Stark Tower. I'd been considering buying my own place, but had been teetering on the edge, unsure.

Steve graciously offered me the extra room in his apartment, but I declined, not wanting to intrude on his space. He had helped me find a lead with this scientist that might have been involved with experimenting on me. He was nothing but efficient- and true to his word. We were going to try and track her down after Thor and Loki's departure. The last place she was known to be living was in Vermont. Hopefully, something would come out of the trip.

Once I reached the bottom floor, I approached the front desk to make the arrangements for my room. The clerk gave me a warm smile as I walked up.

"I wanna pay for my room for at least two more weeks," I informed him, handing over my card.

"Of course, Miss Frostbite," he said to me, still smiling excitedly.

"I'm sorry- What?" I asked, confused. His eyes widened, and he instantly became nervous.

"I-I apologize if I've insulted you, Miss Stark. Uhm, some people have been calling you that and it just slipped out," he explained to me apologetically. I couldn't contain the smile that broke across my face, and I quickly covered it with my hand.

"Oh! That's the first I've heard of it. You can call me whatever," I laughed, amused by the name. He relaxed once again and finished with my card, handing it back to me. I waved goodbye and walked outside, getting into the cab that was parked out front.

"You can drop me off in front of the Bethesda Terrace on seventy-second," I instructed the driver. He nodded and merged into traffic, heading in that direction. It didn't take long to reach the terrace from the hotel. I paid the driver and exited the cab.

Everyone was already there, except Tony. No surprise there. I joined everyone on the terrace and couldn't contain the dirty look that I flashed at Loki. Thor had taken extra precautions to ensure that he wouldn't escape. Loki's hands were chained, and he had a muzzle on, preventing him from speaking. He continued to glare at everyone even though they were all ignoring him.

Dr. Selvig was getting the tube out of his van for the tesseract, and Banner was unlocking the suitcase that he had brought it in. While they were getting everything situated, Tony finally pulled up in his flashy, black cherry Acura. He climbed out of the car and walked over to where I was standing.

"So, I hear you're chasing after ghosts with the captain," he said smoothly. I looked at him, arching an eyebrow. I couldn't read his expression; his sunglasses were hiding his eyes too well.

"Ghosts? This is the closest I've been to finding any information. You're not going to discourage me from going," I told him grumpily.

"I don't doubt that, but you're taking Rogers? I'd be better company than him," he smirked. I shook my head and sighed exasperatedly.

"I don't think I could handle your charm and wit for that long, but thanks," I drawled. He grinned and turned his attention to Selvig and Banner. They approached the rest of us, and Banner handed the tube to Thor, who took it and dragged a reluctant Loki along. I walked up to Loki and only stopped when I was inches away from him.