Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel franchise. I only own my own characters.

Author's Note: This all started after Iron Man 2 where Tony was just been awarded by the US with Rhodey.

Chapter 1:

The Starks

Having a genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist for a father, normal life would probably be out of the question. Don't get the wrong idea. Tony was the perfect father and she couldn't ask for more but having a stubborn, self-destructive, and narcissistic father who still doesn't act his age despite having a twenty-year-old daughter, life wouldn't be easy; especially when said father made enemies everywhere around the globe.

Let's just say for example, when the said father was taken by terrorist for three months and have him build the most destructive weapon ever created. Of course, said father didn't do it instead he made a suit that can battle thousands of armed terrorist.

Another example was when said father made drones for an enemy resulting in the almost mass destruction of the city. And many more examples that she memorized by heart but would not want to mention it as it would probably result in a headache.

The corner of her eye twitched in annoyance as she watched the said father in an intercom acting all innocent with his puppy eyes and pouty lips. She was angry, that's for sure. This man didn't know how anxious would eat her up at night whenever things like that happened.

"Come on, Little Owl," he begged, still wearing his puppy eyes. "Can't you forgive this old man one more time?" He pleaded, puckering his lips for added effect.

"I don't know, can you act like an old man?" She hissed as she glared at him. She was working when she saw the news about how her father saved the city and how it almost killed him. AGAIN.

"Okay, I take that back. I'm not an old man," He blurted then smiled at her again only to drop it when her glare intensifies. "Nemo, I know you're worried but honestly, I'm 89.2% fine. The 10.8% came from Rhodey's punch so, you know," He said while rubbing the bruises that was starting to turn black near his left eye and to emphasize his statement, he gives a 360 degree for her to check.

"And I heard from Pepper that your fight with Uncle Rhodey broke my private library!" she exclaimed through the intercom, she was talking about his birthday party where it got out of hand, making Rhodey wear one of his suits to try and stop him. It ended up so badly that half of their house in Malibu was a disaster; including her private library. She was in the middle of her research when that happened. "You guys burned forty-eight books and twelve of it was limited edition!" She growled. Despite knowing Tony can get another copy of that limited edition books, she was still angry. She noticed Tony cringed at her before sighing.

"I only managed to burn one limited edition. It was Rhodey's fault for the other eleven books," Tony accused, making someone from the background yell 'HEY! It was an accident! Stop making it look like I burned it on purpose.' She narrowed her eyes when Rhodey appeared from the call with a big smile to greet her but suddenly dropped it and moved away when he saw the glare. "I promise you before you can go back here, everything's fixed. Rhodey will buy all of the books. Of course, it will be from his money and not mine because he did burn eleven books so he's responsible for buying it. Ah- no complaining, Rhodey. I'll do the building stuff, and I know you won't help," He said when he saw his best friend opened his mouth to say something.

"Anyway, let's change the topic, shall we? How's work?" He asked and sat back on his chair as he tinkers with something. She knows he knows that she loves to talk about her work and that always gets him out of trouble.

"It's the usual," She answered. "My superior wouldn't let me go on with the project I'm trying to work on," She complained making Tony raised an eyebrow.

With her extraordinary intellect, she was accepted to college at the age of 14 and took two bachelors at the same time. She managed to graduate at the age of 17 much to her professors' surprise. At the same age she studied for her Masters and Doctors. Tony couldn't be any more proud at that. At age 19, she graduated cum laude in her Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology and Molecular Physics.

"What project?" he questioned. "Please don't tell me you have found a way to turn humanity into zombies," He teased to which she rolled her eyes at. She loved watching Zombies whereas Tony finds them disgusting. He just won't admit that he was scared of Zombies.

"Don't be silly, daddy. I wish I have but really, that's not it," She snorted making Tony chuckle for a bit. "It's actually just a theory. You remember what I told you back then about the new microorganism we discovered? About how it could not really die? They just stay dormant?"

"Yeah? What about it?" He pondered. Clio moved closer to the intercom with a glint in her eyes indicating how excited she was about this.

She then proceeded to tell her the theory she had come up with.

"So, why doesn't your supervisor let you go on this project?" he asked.

"That I don't know, though he did say that I'm not yet ready for it, and it's too dangerous to go further. I mean, how humanity can take a step forward if they're afraid of this dangerous stuff," She complained, groaning then straightened up when she remembered something. "Hey, I heard from Pepper that you created a new element," She started eyeing the man on the intercom.

"You're hearing a lot from Pepper about me," He scolded mockingly but then grinned. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Little Owl. But I need to talk to you in person. Oh, Rhodey and I are going to be awarded next week; almost forgot to mention it to you. You're coming, right?"

Clio scowled, "Next week?" She made a mental rain-check of her schedule and sighed. "Dad, I can't come home next week."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? I thought you said you'll spend your four days vacation here at Malibu?"

She looked away from him feeling agitated, "Well, you see, my friends were going to New Mexico and they invited me to come too," She stole a peek at the intercom through her peripheral view and saw her father sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Little Owl, you're doing that lip thing where you keep puckering your lips when you're nervous," He commented. Clio sighed and decided to stare at him through the intercom.

"Are you mad?" She asked slowly. Tony shook his head and let out a chuckle.

"You're already twenty; Nemo and you're worried that I'll be mad at you for going out and having fun?" Tony jokingly claimed with raised his eyebrow.

"You were expecting me so I thought that you'll get mad," Clio said with a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Know what, Sugarplum? Go and have fun. You're always working and studying that you probably don't have time to enjoy things," He said and gave her a wink.

"Is that you talking, Daddy?" She pointed out and Tony raised a finger at her. Tony glared at her jokingly to which made her laugh. "I do go on vacation,"

"Vacation anywhere but Malibu, sweetheart!" he scolded. "You've only been to Washington and to Malibu and back. Go have fun with your newfound friends, Clio."

"You make it sound like it's my first time having friends," She grumbled; Tony grinned at her.

"It's your first time going out of town with friends," Tony pointed out. "Come on, Cheesecake. You know what I mean."

Clio grinned at her dad, "Thank you, Daddy." She stated admiringly and gave him a kiss through the intercom.

"Oh, but remember, NO boys. The golden rule!" He stated quickly before she could end the call; she groaned.

"You were just lecturing me about being twenty a while ago!" She exclaimed. Tony smirked at her.

"Have fun, Cheesecake. But not too much fun!" He joked before turning off the intercom.

~0~

To their utmost disappointment, when they arrived in New Mexico agencies were already surrounding the perimeter of the fallen relics. They heard about the thing that fell out of the sky which is immovable and they wanted to see it before agencies and other organizations take claim of it but unfortunately, no relics will be seen.

"Well, that sucks," Ian, one of her friends complained as he ran his fingers through his hair. "What now?" Turning around, he gazed to each of them.

When they arrived at the site, it was already swarming with agents. Clio couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. It was her first out-of-town experience and yet they never got to see their first priority in this vacation.

"Well, the receptionist at the hotel did say there's a canyon an hour and a half hike from here and when you get to the canyon at night the stars were at their brightest," Kate informed them as she adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Yo, that's a great idea!" Ian exclaimed excitedly. He turned to Clio who shifted uncomfortably but went unnoticed. "What do you say, Clio?"

"Um, yeah sure, that'll be great," She muttered half-heartedly.

Clio bit her lip at the suggestion. The last hike she went to was when she was 15 years old with Tony, Pepper, and Happy. Despite the three only being visible, she knew there were her father's bodyguards near the perimeter watching over them. It was enjoyable at first but despite having a lot of bodyguards, Stark never imagined she would stumble down a steep cliff and was lucky enough to land on a big rock instead of rolling further down the cliff and onto her most probable death. It took four hours to get her to safety. She should have declined the offer but then it would look like she was a buzz kill.

~0~

After preparing their things, they set off at exactly 3 pm to meet their guide. They decided that once they've reached their destination, they will camp for the night and would hike back down to the hotel early in the morning.

They've been hiking for half an hour when Clio felt the unease left her body. She felt relaxed as she chatted with her friends. She leaned on a tree as their group stopped for a little rest. Her stormy gray eyes surveyed the area. There were a lot of trees but most were big rocks. They've passed several empty caves on their way but their guide warned not to go inside as they might encounter wild animals like snakes.

She straightened and went to look around the perimeter. Her friends were busy listening to the story the guide was telling them. She was only half-listening to it as she was not sure whether to believe the myths he was telling. A small path caught her sight. It was a narrow one and she could have missed it if it weren't for the ray of sun hitting her eyes making her stare at the path. Somehow it looked intriguing and decided to explore it.

"Hey, guys I'll just take a look around," she informed them.

"Don't stray too far, ma'am. It's almost getting dark," said the guide abruptly and she only nodded in return before following the path. Her feet brought her to a hidden ledge near the cliff.

Panic settled in the pit of her stomach when she remembered her fall. Her hand automatically grabbed the big boulder besides her when she felt her knees turning jelly.

"Okay, calm down, Clio," she chastised herself and breathed deep. It had been 6 years now and she's a full-pledged doctor with two PhD's already and an upcoming another one!

It was a fair good meter from the edge of the ledge to where she was crouched but she could see how far the fall would be if she ever did fall down. Oh, if her father could see her now he'd probably laugh and help her back but her father wasn't here and so were her friends. No one can help her right now. She gasped for air as she tried to calm herself down.

Closing her eyes, she counted from one to ten. When anxiety finally left her system, she slowly opened her eyes and widened when her gaze was pointed to the view. The view gave her miles around. The sun was a deep orange casting shadow from the mountains ahead as it settled down. She could see where the organization set a camp around the relic that fell out of the sky. She could see where their hotel was located in a small town. It was a breathtaking view.

Feeling herself calm down, she slowly stood up and brought out her camera to capture the beautiful view. She was always focused on work, always so focused to make her father proud that she had forgotten how beautiful her planet can be if you looked at different angles. In a daze of the beauty, she unconsciously took a step forward and more not knowing she was already at the verge of the ledge. And as if waking from a trance, her eyes widened at the position she was in.

"Oh shit!" She muttered as her heart beat rapidly. She cursed and made a crouched but it was too late for her to realize how soft the foundation she was in and before she could grab the boulder, she fell down. She felt déjà vu hit her system when her back hit a branch of a tree before continuing to fall down. Closing her eyes, her life suddenly flashed before her eyes. She saw her father. The last time they talked was over the intercom. How she wished at that moment that she could go home to hug him and tell him how thankful she was for the life he had given her. Before she could think further, her back landed hard and her body made a rollover, thinking fast, she tried to grab something to stop her body from falling even further.

She groaned as she tried to feel her body. She was lucky enough again there was another ledger, a bigger one than the one she was standing a while ago. A cough escaped her lips and ever slowly tried to sit up. Trees and boulders surrounded her. She looked up and saw how high she fell down.

"God, it's a miracle I'm still alive," She muttered but cursed loudly when pain shot through her right ankle up to her leg. She could also feel a rib or two was broken. "Miracle, my ass," she spotted her backpack several paces away from her. She pulled herself up using a boulder but the pain was so unbearable that she could see spots dance in her eyes. "I'm going to die," She muttered before falling back down to the ground.

~0~

The sound of thunder jerks her awake. The movement shot pain through her body again and she cursed. How can she still be alive? She looked around and noticed nighttime had fallen; the night breeze howled and she shivered slightly.

"Oh well, if the fall won't kill me, hypothermia will," She growled bitterly. Another sound of thunder made her scream in fright but what she saw made her stop abruptly. A bright light suddenly appeared from the other side of the boulder. Her eyes widened at the green bright light. "I must really be in heaven," She couldn't help the sarcasm. In her own offense, she was dying and she couldn't help it. She probably got that from her dad.

She blinked several times and tried to shake her head just in case she was still unconscious from the fall and that a very bright light and out came a man wearing a helmet with horns was all just a part of her unconscious mind playing tricks on her.

She tried to pinch herself and stifled a yelp when it did hurt her. Wow, she was not dreaming. She eyed the man before her and thanked the gods that she had fallen where there was a small boulder between them or he might have seen her already.

The man stopped several steps away from her and surveyed the area. To her utmost shock, the man glowed green and with it came the slow change of his weird clothing into something more formal. She gasped at the sight and the sound made the man turned in her direction. Having a fast reflex, she hid behind the boulder and closed her eyes. It was then that she heard a hissing sound that made her snap her eyes open and come face to face with a rattlesnake. She yelped and tried to back away quickly from the snake but unfortunately, the startled snake reacted quickly than her and sank its fang to her right calf.

She screamed in pain and shook her feet as adrenaline rushed through her veins. Before the snake could do anything more harm to her, it was lifted by a pair of hands and was casually thrown away. She looked up and saw the same man before staring at her; green eyes meeting stormy gray ones.

"You mortals do amaze me with your idiocy," He stated; voice deep and has an accent like one of the Victorian writers back in the days. It suddenly dawned on her that he just insulted her.

"I'm not an idiot!" She defended and tried to stand; forgetting her bad ankle she lost balance and fell back. She suddenly felt dizzy and her heart started pounding very hard in her chest. She tried to get up again but a pair of hands held her down.

"Sit back down," He commanded and grabbed her calf. "I have forgotten how fragile you humans are. If it was me who was bitten, there wouldn't be any effect at all," He muttered to himself and Clio couldn't help but stare at the man in front of her but her visions were starting to blur.

"Who are you?" She whispered as she tried to get her breathing right but to no avail. The man did not answer and thus started waving his hand above her calf as green light swirl from his finger. "You don't belong here, do you?"

The man looked up at her and sighed exasperatedly. "What am I doing? I'll just leave you here and die. It's your fate as a human to die shortly, anyway," He said nonchalantly and tried to stand when she grabbed the hem of his clothes lightly. He stared back at her and was ready to lash out at her when he saw her half-lidded eyes trying to refocus back on him. Despite the darkness surrounding them, he could very well see how gray her eyes were. It was an unusual shade of gray and thought for a moment if she really was a human.

"At least tell me your name," She muttered as she tried to swallow. The man stared at her for a moment trying to assess the situation but thus opened his mouth before she lost consciousness again and say:

"I am Loki, son of Odin, king of Asgard.

Author's Note: Please leave a rating and review, guys! Very much appreciated in advance!