Here's the next chapter – finally! It's been the first in a long while and will be the last for a bit, I'm afraid. My computer died last fall, taking I've Got You Under My Skin with it. I'd finished a substantial amount of the story already and I was just too disheartened to force myself to try and rewrite it. Inspiration is slowly coming back, so there will be updates – there's no way I would abandon it totally – but they'll be coming very slowly.

On a more positive note, I managed to get a glimpse of a bit of what's going on with Cap 2 and, gosh, the movie's going to be awesome (Poor Fury, the police were really enthusiastic about trying to make his SUV more holey than a sponge). Oh, and, as a birthday present, I've allowed myself to start another story. This one is being backed up to two hard drives, so hopefully it will be updated regularly and consistently. My writing is a bit stuffier in Of the Heart, and there's no romance planned, but I think it's got good bones already and I'm really excited about it. It's centered around Loki, of course, but this time it's about him healing, not sinking further into insanity.

A big thanks to all of you who favorited and followed, and have really gotten into this story. You really do keep my faith going in IGYUMS, even when I was totally lost.

Enjoy and review!

It was determined that Alice was no longer welcome onboard the helicarrier. Fury simply couldnʼt risk having their position constantly monitored by Loki. However, she was not going back to Asgard and Karnillaʼs clutches. She was still a Junior Avenger, though her status was downgraded. She would be given fewer and more obvious missions to avoid having anything leaked or anyoneʼs cover blown. As soon as Thor was alerted and her living arrangements were figured out, training would recommence.

Some options included getting her her own apartment (too tricky to monitor), assigning her to one of S.H.I.E.L.D.ʼs smaller offices (Alice wasnʼt enthused at sleeping in a glorified closet), etc. Coulson wanted to house her at the Stark Mansion. Apparently, in the months sheʼd been in Asgard, the Avengers had picked up a few more pupils for the Avengerʼs Academy and the sprawling Manhattan compound was declared base. Fury still thought it posed too much of a security threat, but finally agreed to a compromise - Alice would stay at Stark Tower until the kinks of her bond were worked out and he was sure she could be trusted with the team.

Tony was enthused. He met her and her pile of boxes on the flight deck with a beast of a plane which he referred to as his, ʻbaby quinjet.ʼ They launched from the helicarrierʼs position over the Rockies and were in New York in under an hour. Alice thought they were going to land at LaGuardia or Newark or even some fancy private landing field. Instead, they flew straight for the tower and he skillfully landed in a small hangar on one of the higher floors. Tony demanded she call Myrkr before they got inside so as to avoid

any damage to his precious building. It took a minute for the Hammer to travel across the Atlantic, but it eagerly flung itself into her waiting hand. She was then frog marched straight to the kitchen and stuffed full of McDonalds and Ben & Jerryʼs. He even got a happy meal so she could have her very own Iron Man toy.

"You licensed yourself out to McDonalds?" Alice laughed as she tore into the packaging.

He shrugged. "More like they licensed themselves out to me. They needed their production revamped and agreed to a partnership." He pulled open a cabinet and to Aliceʼs horror, it was filled to the top with tiny figurines. "Donʼt tell me you donʼt love it."

"Geez. Youʼre crazy." She still wanted to adopt him, but sometimes he was just too much. She tossed a fry at his chest.

Tony dipped to catch it in his mouth then waggled his fingers at her. "Hand it over. You donʼt deserve me." Alice hissed at him and stuffed the toy under the table.

"You donʼt deserve yourself. Youʼd probably never play with Tony1."

"Tony1?"

"Yes. Clearly, youʼre the impostor here." She stuck out her tongue and grabbed a waiting carton of Karamel Sutra.

When Stark wasnʼt looking, Tony1 was pulled out and stuck feet first into her Big Mac.

~#~

Thor finally made an appearance a week after Alice had been deposited back into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

With Pepper gone on a recruiting mission in Boston and Alice in a funk, Tony tried desperately to behave. In between a few hours of actual work, he distracted her with everything his luxurious apartment had to offer. Which was why they were in the common room, embroiled in a furious Go battle when the Asgardian crashed into the Iron Man landing pad, shaking the surrounding floors. The board was rattled and stones were jumbled, ruining the game. They both turned to snap at the offender, not caring if it was the devil himself, but found six feet of muscle and armor standing in the doorway.

JARVIS chimed in, "Sir, Iʼve registered a breach in security."

"A little late there, JARVIS!" Tony huffed as Thor barreled towards them.

"Yes, Sir. Iʼll update my emergency protocols."

Tony turned to Alice, "He does this now. Heʼs as useless as an iPhone."

She ignored his grumbling and trotted over to the blonde.

"Alice!" She was pulled into a back-cracking hug. "Are you alright?" He scooted her in front of him and then checked her over, as if making sure his brother hadnʼt branded her or cut off a limb or some other horrible thing.

"Iʼm fine, Thor. Really." Alice patted a bicep appeasingly. "So whatʼs been..."

Her hand was nabbed and tugged up to the Asgardianʼs face. He hesitantly fingered the wedding band, gagged, and then was across the room smashing an end table to smithereens.

"Damn it! That thing cost...a lot!" Was shot from behind the bar. Thor growled and hurled a piece of wood at the glass wall. It whistled through the air and harpooned into a pane, shattering it. "And that was supposed to be unbreakable. I want my money back."

"Shut up, Tony. Thor, are you alright?"

"He...you...he..." He yanked on his hair and wrung his cape."I did not think that..."

"Itʼs okay." Alice fluttered after him as he started pacing. "Fury..."

"Director Fury," he roared, "did not see fit to tell me the truth about my own brother. You did not. If I knew Loki was this serious," he poked at the ring, " I NEVER would have let my father leave you with Karnilla."

A love seat crashed through another sheet of glass. Just as his suit ratcheted into place, Stark dove outside. He caught it midair and flew it out of reach of the rampaging warrior.

"I could feel the perversion he has done even before I saw the physical proof on your hand! This is far beyond what an Asgardian marriage entails. It is slavery. For both parties." A lamp was wrangled out of his grasp, but not before the Iron Man suit took some damage. "He has lost what little sanity he had left. Heimdall warned me, but I did not want to believe him capable of such cruelty."

After yet another piece of furniture was lobbed towards the Chrysler building, Alice stared to get angry. Which, of course, was never good. "STOP IT!"

Thor froze.

"Why is this all his fault? That sadistic prickʼs put me through hell, ruined my life, but I pushed him over the edge."

Blue eyes softened. "You cannot blame yourself for dying, Alice."

"WHAT!?" "You...didnʼt know?" Thor ʻhuhʼed and ran a hand through his hair. "Then what..."

"I DIED? WHAT THE FUCK?" Alice took a panic lap around the ruined room. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." And then, "EXPLAIN!"

"The flower you touched killed you; Heimdall saw it. Myrkr revived you..."

And then Tony smacked into a window.

The entire building lurched backwards from the shockwave and both immortals floundered for balance as it resettled. The suit hung there for a second before it squealed down the glass and dropped onto the roof below. Alice and Thor heard an "Oof!" and then jets misfiring. The scuffed armor soon came into view and Stark tottered back inside.

"I was going over Mach 1. Why didnʼt that break the window?" Silence. "JARIVS?"

"Sir..."

"You know what? Forget it. Iʼm still suing ʻem." He plopped down on an armchair that had escaped injury. The thing groaned and then collapsed. Stark relaxed into a rakish sprawl on the floor and questioned, "So, what did I miss?"

"I died." Alice deadpanned.

"Well, welcome to the club, junior!"

"You donʼt count."

"I am a law unto myself." He pulled off his faceplate and flashed her a smirk, "Iʼm special that way."

"Bastard."

"Bitch."

"Thor," Alice clamped down on his cape and started tugging him to the elevator, "Come on. You can explain in my room."

"Alice, I think..." The blond managed to wheeze out before being interrupted yet again.

"Oh, no! Sparky does not get to go up there. He ruined my common room!" Only Tony could perfect the thousand watt glare-pout he turned on them. Thor fell for it immediately and ducked his head sheepishly.

"I am sorry for the damage I caused, Tony. I should not have..." Stark zoomed over him yet again,

"Sorry isnʼt going to cut it, you behemoth. Pepperʼs gonna take one look at this and, regardless of who did it, blame me."

"Of course sheʼs going to blame you!" Alice had gotten the Asgardian wrangled across the room and was questing for the elevatorʼs ʻupʼ button. "Thereʼs a reason why half of this tower is empty, and it isnʼt because the rent is high!"

"Fine! He is not staying for dinner, though." Came the childish reply, complete with a foot stomp that cracked the flooring.

~#~

Tony was absolutely serious about Thor not staying for dinner. Lasagna was one of the few things Pepper had managed to teach him to make and he was just petty enough to ignore the buckets of drool and boot the forlorn puppy into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter. Alice grumbled but let it go for the sake of a bigger share of the spaghetti.

However, as they sat down at the kitchen island, Tony noticed something was off with his charge. It was confirmed when his magnificently tasty lasagna was eaten with about as much gusto as instant oats.

"You okay, kiddo?"

He was shot a feeble smile. "Yeah. What Thor told me was...eh."

"The death thing?"

"No. Well, yes. But the Loki thing, mainly."

"Lokiʼs worse then death? Uh, oh. You know we can kick his ass, right?" Alice gave him such a deep, hopeless look that Tony felt particularly shallow. She reached over and gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Yes, I know." Then she started tucking into her meal like it was her last.

~#~

In the morning, Alice lugged herself out of her cave of darkness for some cereal. Taking the bowl with her, she kicked around the destruction in the common room before

heading downstairs. As she stepped through the glass doors of Tonyʼs private lab, she spied, not him, but Bruce leaning over a microscope.

"Bruce!" Fruit loops went flying and ceramic shattered against a cabinet as she launched herself at him.

"Ah...hi." He patted her head and awkwardly looked around the empty room for help, only to jump when she stabbed him with her spoon. "Youʼre worse than Tony."

She ignored him and popped her head over his shoulder as the billionaire rushed in. "I thought he was still in South America."

Stark glared at the cereal littering the entrance area, the ceiling, and the workstation he needed for the day. "So thatʼs what it was. And I havenʼt even gotten upstairs cleaned yet. Bad Alice!" He gently cuffed her upside the head and then pulled a mini cattle prod out from under one of the tables. "Now, just keep hugging him for a second."

Tony pressed a button and the stick lit up like an acetylene torch.

Bruceʼs eyes widened and he leaned back as far as he could in Aliceʼs arms. "Not funny, guys."

"Hey! Heʼs mine to torture. Shoo!"

"And this is my apartment. Share." Torture device outstretched, he followed them as Bruce shuffled his rolling chair and Alice around a counter and towards the door.

"Ha, ha. No, really, stop please."

Tony and Alice sensed a shift in the air around him. Quickly, the rod was tossed into a corner and Banner was set free to flee through the door and down the hallway.

"Aw, hell. Heʼs no fun." Tony grabbed the vacated chair and hauled it over to a monitor.

"Well, that sparkly thingy was a little over the top." Alice pulled herself onto a counter and picked up a nearby fruit loop. "Has anything been on this counter that I should be afraid of?"

"Recently? No." The piece of cereal was scarfed and chased down by another two. "Ew."

"So...Bruce? South America?"

"Weʼve been sending Fury on a merry chase across the continent for over a year." He held up a hand, "Donʼt get me wrong - weʼre fairly sure he just wants to keep tabs on him, but thereʼs something I still donʼt trust about Patches."

"You might have a point."

"No, I always have a point." He was hit in the head with a fruit loop.

"So how come I havenʼt seen him around before this?"

"He usually sticks to this floor. We reinforced a room down the hall and added a kitchen, so now Mr. Antisocial has no excuse to go upstairs."

"You couldʼve at least mentioned it..." Alice grumbled.

"Sorry, slipped my mind." Tony snapped his fingers and suddenly AC/DC was blaring through the room. "Since youʼre the only one here, you get to be my entertainment."

"What?!"

A Stark-modified bubble gun was whipped out.

"Hey!" Before Alice could escape, a spray of colorful, glitter-infused bubbles were pumped in her direction. "Ooooo! Pretty!" She stuck her hands out and tried to catch the ones within reach. "You. Are. Evil."

"Would you prefer I get out the laser pointer? Or the disco ball?"

"You have a disco ball in here?"

"Installed it just for you, babe." He winked, showered her with another wave of distraction, and turned to work. "JARVIS, you better be recording this!"

A, "Yes, sir." Was heard over Aliceʼs giggling.

~#~

Bruce eventually drifted back in, lured by what Tony was working on. When a laser pointer was slyly proffered, he couldnʼt help it - a now Tetris-playing Alice was bombarded with zigzagging light and a mountain of bubbles. Just like the kitten the Avengers often thought of her as, she soon became over stimulated and dove under a welding bench. Her teachers closed in on where she had cornered herself. Alice shrieked at the onslaught.

It was this impossible scenario that Natasha walked in on. With a smirk, she slipped around Bruce, pulled set of keys from her jacket, and jingled them in front of Aliceʼs hideout.

"You fucking sadists! Donʼt make me get Myrkr!"

"Donʼt you dare." Tony hissed, but turned the gun off. Bruce and Natasha kept on going, but when an arm reached out in what was presumably the direction of the hammer, Stark slapped both their hands away and sat on the edge of the table, blocking them. The assassin raised an eyebrow at him.

"Have you seen the common room? I am not going to have another hole in the wall for Pepper to yell at me about. So, what are you here for?"

"The meeting?"

"Ah, yes. Hang on a second." He strode to the center of the room and opened some screens in midair.

As Alice climbed out, JARVIS reported, "Mr. Rogers is on his way down, sir."

"Good." He paused and then, "Hey, did you mention anything about Agent Romanoff?"

"Yes, sir. You ignored me."

With nitpicking out of the question, Stark huffed and swiped some programs closed.

"Tony, donʼt tell me this is what I think it is." Alice planted herself out of reach of the Avengers and the bubble gun.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I donʼt know. What do you think it is?" "Oh my god. Really?" She waggled her wedding band at him. "Did you forget your briefing? Did all of you turn dumb?"

"No. Youʼre banned from the fun, Mrs. Junior Avenger. Bannerʼs room isnʼt just Hulk-proofed."

"Gah! Considering this is going against direct orders, Iʼll bet Fury isnʼt in on this."

"I repeat my earlier statement: we do not trust Nick Fury."

She hit a questioning look over to Bruce and Natasha. They volleyed with shrugs and, ʻyup, itʼs trueʼ expressions.

"Okay, okay! Just let me know if you need my help. Otherwise, Iʼll be doing some redecorating." She flicked her wrist and a can of pink glitter appeared. Ducking past a confused Steve, she skipped down the hall and out of sight.

"Sheʼs not really going to spray paint my room, is she?" Bruce twitched towards the door.

"Donʼt worry, Iʼve got an industrial power washer in one of the maintenance closets."

~#~

The secret Avenger meetings continued for quite a while before S.H.I.E.L.D. caught on. There was only one so many instances where all of his crack team were gathered at the trouble before he could brief them, knew things that should have only been privy to one Avenger, that the Director could let go. The entire Avengers Initiative (including Banner) faced the fires of Fury, but they held their ground and managed to argue their way into getting a helluva lot more freedom and Stark Tower as their base.

At first, Alice was not included in the deal. Fury thought the same as her - the Loki-bond was still, for the most part, a mysterious risk. But where was she to go? Not back to the helicarrier. To the Stark Mansion? Well, he was willing to take that chance, the lesser of two evils, per se. But everyone stubbornly refused to part with their token kitten and star pupil. There was only one solution, then.

Every single member of the Avengers, including Pym and the newly recruited Peter Parker, voted her in as a full member. This meant that she was technically no longer under S.H.I.E.L.D.ʼs direct jurisdiction.

Fury refused to speak to them face to face for weeks after. Really, it was a win-win situation for the lot of them.