“Their neighbors must love them,” Steve said sarcastically. The Sack house now loomed before them, covered in lights and crime scene tape and with three overturned, smashed-up police cars in the front yard, all of which had been part of Tony’s “vision”. “Only in LA would you be able to find a couple of those just laying around.”
“I think it’s awesome,” squealed Jane. She adjusted her bra, making Steve go abruptly red, and stuck her arm into Jess’s bag to fish out her lip gloss. They’d both emerged from their rooms in matchstick jeans and black tank tops at the start of the evening, and Jane had turned her closet inside out trying to find something different to wear. She’d ended up in white shorts and a filmy beige t-shirt that she’d stolen from Jess their freshman year. Jess had long given up trying to get it back, especially since it looked much better on Jane anyways. Most things did. She tugged down the edge of her tank top uncomfortably. They were both petite, but Jane had somehow been gifted with boobs and a butt, and Jess was fairly sure she’d have to resort to drastic surgical measures to achieve either.
“Quit it, Jess,” Jane said suddenly, giving her a side-eye. “You look hot. We all look hot,” she amended, nodding to Steve, who blushed again.
“Yeah, Steve, you’re actually wearing a shirt that kind of fits,” Jess remarked teasingly. She reached up to muss his perfectly combed hair, but he swatted her hand away. “Come on, it’s a party, not a boy scout convention. You know Tony’ll just dump a beer on your head the second he sees you walk in like that.”
She hadn’t expected that to work, but he seemed to consider her words thoughtfully, and then bowed his head to her. She and Jane exchanged gleeful looks and both thrust their hands in, shrieking with laughter when he changed his mind halfway through and tried to fight them off.
Jane found Thor about ninety seconds after they’d walked into the party, and he immediately adorned her with a Viking helmet identical to his own. She acted as if he’d given her a promise ring. The bass thumped painfully and she couldn’t hear what Thor shouted to them as he threw his enormous arm over Jane’s shoulders and then waved to somebody behind Jess.
“Damn,” a voice, that voice, whispered in her ear. Covered in goosebumps, she turned to find Loki’s face inches from hers, eyeing her appreciatively. She suddenly wished she’d worn a ski jacket. “You look…” he gave her a trademark smirk and didn’t finish his sentence. Maybe he wanted to be prompted, but she was entirely too awkward to initiate that.
She took a step back and glanced over her shoulder where Thor and Jane were making puppy dog eyes at each other and doing a strange sort of slow swing dance. “Uh, you too,” she said, or shouted, motioning to Loki, who did in fact look hot as shit in his black jeans, unbuttoned tuxedo vest, and a grayish purple v-neck that was basically see-through in the faint blacklight. Why was this guy even talking to her? “So how’s the party?”
He cocked his head at her and gave a little shrug, looking around. “It’s a party. People are drunk, high, what have you. There’s a small orgy taking place in Thor’s room, last I checked.”
She tried to look nonplussed by this news, and judging by his laugh, failed. “His roommate’s sexual habits are one of the reasons he prefers to stay with me in the dorms.”
“No shit.”
They were standing very close together to hear one another, and his arm snaked around her, long fingers settling gently over her ribcage. She took a steadying breath and was about to suggest another drink when Tony appeared in front of them, inexplicably wearing sunglasses and dragging Bruce behind him. Darcy trailed after both of them, looking like an absolute bombshell in a leather halter top and skinny red pants that matched her lipstick. “Jess!” she cried throwing her arms around her and dragging her a little ways away from Loki, which a small part of her protested against.
“So. How’s it going? How’s the boy? You’re looking quite fuckable, if I do say so myself.”
Jess pinched her and giggled in spite of herself. “Shh, don’t jinx it. I’m hoping for like, second base. Maybe.” She spotted Bruce very unsubtly checking out Darcy’s ass behind them and leaned in. “How’s Banner?”
She gave sort of a sad smile. “He’s adorable. Tony is being a jealous d-bag and keeps stealing him away from me to talk about science or some shit. We can’t seem to ditch him.”
“Poor Tony.”
“Whatever! He’s being so weird. One of the girls that came with the DJ all but stuck her hand down his pants and he freaking bolted. She wasn’t busted or anything. No idea what his deal is.”
“Who ever knows what his deal is?”
Right on cue, Tony elbowed his way in between them. “Girls, girls, this is so sad, you’re both here with handsome, eligible men, and you still can only talk about me.” He frowned at Jess. “Since when are you at eye-level with me?”
She pointed to her shoes. Tony wasn’t especially tall for a guy, but Jess clocked in at a mere 5’3” and was normally dwarfed by almost everyone she knew except Jane. “Hmph,” Tony grumbled. “Cheater.” He looked distracted. “Rogers here?”
She and Darcy exchanged a glance. “He’s around here somewhere,” she said.
“Barton?”
“He and Tash stayed in. They requested the bathroom for the evening. I’m trying not to think about that, actually.” She shuddered.
“Weak sauce. Well, the DJ brought a couple of bartenders in his posse, so at least we don’t have to rely on Sacks to make us drinks. Come on.” He didn’t wait for their assent and marched them both towards the bar. Jess turned her head and saw that Loki and Thor were talking with their heads pressed together and that Jane looked somewhat trapped under Thor’s enormous arm, so she waved for her to join them, and her friend managed, after a small struggle, to extricate herself.
“Get these girls whatever they want,” Tony called to the bartenders in a bored voice. Both Jess and Jane found themselves utterly paralyzed by choice, so Darcy got all three of them vodka crans. “This counts as a serving of fruit, right?” she asked as they gathered the drinks. “It does. I’m counting it.”
Jess nodded and went to sip her drink, but found her fingers suddenly clutching empty air. “Tony!” But it was too late; he’d tossed the entire thing back in a matter of seconds. “Gross,” he complained. “That almost tasted healthy. Oh, calm down, I’ll get you another one.”
Thor, Loki, and Bruce rejoined them, to the delight of everyone except Tony. “This standing about is far too idle!” Thor exclaimed, slapping Bruce on the shoulder and almost knocking him over. “Come, we must dance!”
Jane whooped and he lifted her off her feet, leading the way to the dance floor. The room was packed, but no one could clear a path, it seemed, like Thor could. Jess found herself absorbed into the crowd with them, feeling the vodka settle over her in a haze and then suddenly she was sandwiched between Loki and a girl she’d never seen before, dancing without even meaning to. His arms drifted around her and she felt the warmth of his body against her back in a totally foreign yet familiar way, and she noticed that her feet were still throbbing, but she also noticed that she no longer cared. His breath in her hair was hot and caused a few beads of sweat to roll down her neck. She closed her eyes on some sort of long-buried instinct, and then his hands drifted to her hips and either he turned her or she turned herself, it wasn’t quite clear, but the end result was his mouth on hers and her hands on his chest grabbing fistfuls of his shirt with a recklessness that made her dizzy. He tasted like ginger and bourbon and she probably tasted like cranberry juice and it occurred to her that maybe that wasn’t such an enticing combination, but then his tongue flicked against hers and she forgot how to think again.
When she finally pulled back and opened her eyes, she found they were outside the crowd now, against the wall, the music had stopped, and she had no idea where any of her friends were. “Wait a minute,” she mumbled against his mouth, trying to see where anyone was. She thought she saw Darcy stumbling off with some guy in a tie-dye tank top, but that couldn’t be right. Darcy wouldn’t leave with a rando.
Loki dipped his head and started kissing her neck and she closed her eyes again, savoring the feeling but also trying to think. Then she felt a hand on her ass and jumped, because it wasn’t Loki’s. “What the hell?”
“Nice,” grinned a guy she recognized as one of the bartenders. He was wearing yellow-tinted Ray Bans and an open button-down with no shirt underneath, and had a pair of fuzzy leopard handcuffs hooked into his belt loop. “You feel like sharing, brother?”
Loki’s eyes gleamed dangerously. “You feel like losing a testicle?”
He just smirked and she shrank back. “Come on. Ditch this clown. We’re having a private party upstairs.”
She crossed her arms. “Not interested. Go bother someone else.”
His expression was unreadable. He looked almost surprised by her reaction. “Yeah, whatever, you frigid-ass cu – ”
She never found out what he’d been trying to call her, although she had a pretty good idea, because Loki suddenly and very effectively brought his hand around to the guy’s back and did something that sent him straight to his knees like he’d been cut off at them. He almost tipped forward to fall on his face, but Loki kneed him in the chest and said, “I’m going to stop you there.”
The guy groaned and she realized her mouth was hanging open. Loki was grinning, or possibly baring his teeth, and he looked electrified but his tone was low and measured and she felt a little ridiculous for getting turned on by it when she probably should’ve been scared. “I think you owe Jess here an apology,” he said silkily. The guy opened his mouth and closed it, apparently thinking better of whatever he’d been about to say, then mumbled “sorry” at the same time that the music started up again, before getting to his feet and running off.
“Brother?” Thor was standing in front of them, watching the guy turn the corner. “Is everything all right here?”
“Quite, thank you,” Loki replied smoothly. “That wasn’t one of your fraternity ‘brothers’, was it?” He said the word with distaste, and she got the sense he didn’t like sharing Thor with the guys in the frat.
Thor shook his head. “I do not know that man.” He frowned and then seemed to recall his reason for approaching them. “I seek Jane. Have you seen her?”
Jess felt uneasy. “Why isn’t she with you?”
He looked abashed. “We were among friends, and I became distracted by a game of drinking known as ‘shotgunning’. Naturally, I triumphed.” He smiled to himself and then looked serious again. “But now it seems I have lost her.”
“Thor, that’s not a game,” Jess sighed. “You don’t win, you just get really – anyways, we need to find her.”
“She felt ill and was saying she wanted to return to the dormitories. I do not think she would be capable of reaching them by herself,” Thor said solemnly.
“Jesus,” she muttered. “I’m texting Tash. Tell her to keep an eye out, just in case.” She stepped back and pulled out her phone, massacring her lip with her teeth as she typed. Things weren’t right. First that gross guy, and now Jane had run off somewhere, and where was everyone else, anyways? She hadn’t seen Steve since they’d walked into the party, and Darcy and Bruce had disappeared too –
“Jess.” Clumsy fingers bumped along her waist and she started and almost shoved the person off until she realized it was Tony. And he…didn’t look good. His legs were wobbling and his hands were braced against her hips painfully. “Jess,” he repeated. “Jess, there was something in your drink. My drink. Something in the drink. I’m gonna – ” he slumped against her and she staggered backwards into the wall. A voice across the room cried “Tony!” and suddenly Steve was there, thank god, pulling Tony off of her and looking between them fretfully.
“What happened to him?”
Tony’s eyes opened and closed again and he said, “Jess…oh.” His mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. “Rogers.”
She felt like she was about to start crying. “I don’t know, Steve, he said there was something in his drink? I don’t – ” and then she really almost collapsed, because everything clicked into place and it was like being hit by a truck. “Oh, my god. Steve. We have to find Jane. Tony – Tony took my drink, and Darcy – she got it for me, she got one for herself and one for Jane – we have to find Darcy, oh fuck.” Tony looked like he was barely staying conscious.
“You guys,” she said desperately to Thor and Loki. “We have to find – oh thank God, there’s Bruce. Bruce!” She waved to him frantically, and he ran over. “Have you seen Darcy?” he asked. “I can’t find her anywhere.”
A small sob escaped her. “Bruce, the drinks we got from those bartenders had something in them. Tony drank mine, and he’s – well, you can see how he is. We need to find Jane and Darcy.” Her mind swam as she tried to think. “Fuck. I don’t know – wait. I think they’re upstairs.” Ditch this clown. We’re having a private party upstairs. He must’ve thought she’d come because – she couldn’t think about it. She wiped her eyes furiously and looked up. “They’re upstairs. They have to be.”
Thor took off at once, looking murderous. Bruce had clenched his fists and stared at the floor when she’d started talking, and now, when he lifted his gaze, his face was contorted with rage and he looked like a different person entirely. He turned to follow Thor and the only person who didn’t rush to get out of his way was Rhodey, who was promptly hurled into a wall.
Loki uttered a low whistle and went to help him up. “The fuck is his problem?” Rhodey gasped, dusting himself off and rolling his shoulders. “Oh my god, Tony – this is a new low, even for you.”
“Rhodey, he got – ”
“Did you find her?” Jess started again at Natasha’s sudden appearance. She was wearing gym clothes, but she had her face and hair done up like she’d been out.
“No, we think she got drugged. Tony, too, and maybe Darcy. Tash, we’ve got to find her; Thor and Bruce just went upstairs, but I don’t know…”
Natasha flipped open her phone. “Clint, meet me at the bar. Jess, who gave you the drinks?”
She shrugged helplessly. “Um, I think they’re with the DJ?”
Unexpectedly, Natasha leaned forward and gave her a hug. “It’s going to be okay, Jess,” she whispered. “You guys should stay in here. Oh, and call the cops. They’ll be on their way soon anyways.”
A crashing and screaming suddenly echoed above them. Everyone turned to stare out the windows as first a chair, then a mattress, then a body came falling down from a level above them. She recognized the body as belonging to the guy in the tie-dyed tank top she’d thought she’d mistaken seeing Darcy with. He wasn’t moving.
“Jesus fucking christ,” yelped Rhodey, rushing to get outside as people started to panic and run for the exits. Loki caught Jess and held her to him, and she looked sideways and saw that Tony was completely passed out and Steve was holding him up with one arm. There was more crashing, and then sirens, and then Thor was there with Jane draped over his shoulder, and Jess’s heart thudded with relief when she saw her friend was still fully clothed, and then Bruce came down with Darcy, who was miraculously still on her feet, although she needed help standing. Then Clint and Natasha returned, both somewhat disheveled, and Natasha suggested they all get to the hospital, and when they walked past the bar, Jess saw three more bodies strewn across the floor, two of them handcuffed together with a familiar pair of fuzzy leopard cuffs.
They passed two police officers on the way out, and Clint handed one of them something in a plastic bag and pointed in the direction of the bar. The officers put a hand out to stop Bruce, and Natasha grabbed Darcy and whispered “Keep walking” to Jess so she, Thor, and Steve hurried out to Thor’s car, which strangely enough turned out to be a Chrysler Town & Country minivan like the one her mom had, and Natasha told Thor to start the car while they waited for the officers to be finished with Clint and Bruce. Then suddenly the two of them were flying into the car and Clint was saying “Go, go,” and Thor peeled out of the parking lot like the minivan was a fucking Batmobile and only when they were safely on the highway did everyone finally stop holding their breath.
“Oh my god – ”
“What the fuck just happened back th – ”
“Did you see – ”
“Take Sepulveda.” Natasha’s voice cut above everyone else’s. “That’s the closest hospital.”
“Hopefully the LAPD won’t meet us there,” Bruce said grimly. He looked like himself again, at least.
Clint said, “So Bruce, is that a habit of yours? Sucker-punching cops?” He was grinning, though, and even Natasha looked a little amused. Steve, of course, looked horrified.
“Bruce?”
“I, uh,” Bruce looked extremely flustered. “Look, I didn’t really like the way he was talking to you, and then what he said about Darcy…”
“It. Was. Awesome.” Clint looked positively reverent. “Bruce Banner, you are the baddest motherfucker I know. Not to mention throwing that guy out of the second story window – ”
“Oh my god, you killed someone?” Jess’s hands flew to her mouth.
Natasha turned and gave her a look. “Don’t be ridiculous, Jess. He’ll be fine. Once his leg heals.”
“An injury too kind,” Thor injected darkly. “They deserved much worse.”
“What even happened?” Steve demanded. “Who were those guys? Sacks?”
“One,” Thor replied. He seemed too angry to say much more.
“It was a Sack, his two cousins, and their two friends who came with the DJ,” Clint said. “The guy in the tank top was the dealer. GHB.”
Jess turned to stare at him. “How do you know?”
He shrugged. “They told me.” She saw Natasha smirk again out of the corner of her eye, and decided not to inquire further as to the circumstances under which he’d gotten his information. Steve still looked troubled, but he seemed more concerned about Tony, who was starting to stir, than the streak of lawbreaking that had just occurred. For her part, she’d just as soon not be complicit in whatever form of vigilante justice had just taken place, although it was comforting to know that she had friends so willing to avenge one another.
They had to spread out in the hospital waiting room, and she opted to sit with Steve. Tony had begun throwing up and they’d been given a bag for him, although he was not really conscious yet and couldn’t use it by himself. Steve was cradling his head in his lap and stroking his hair, looking at him so tenderly that Jess felt like she was intruding on something private.
“I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him,” he mumbled, wiping traces of vomit out of Tony’s goatee. “Probably pull a Banner and start throwing people out of windows.”
“I’d expect that more from you than from him,” she said honestly. “He doesn’t really look the type, does he?”
“You can’t tell everything about a person from looking at them, you know.” He sounded reproachful.
She made a face at him. “So, you and Tony, huh?”
He was silent for a long moment and then said, “Just me, actually.”
“Oh, Steve,” she said quietly. “How long?”
He coughed. “Um, I guess a couple years?”
“I didn’t even know you were…well, gay.” She felt awful whispering it, like it was a dirty word.
“I don’t really advertise it.”
“You know, if you did, you’d be swimming in dudes.”
His turn to make a face. “I don’t want to be ‘swimming in dudes’, believe it or not. I just…” he sighed. “Just one.”
She tried to squeeze his arm in a comforting way, but ended up just sort of fondling his bicep awkwardly. “Have you thought about…I don’t know, telling him?”
“Not really.”
“Well why not?”
“Seriously, Jess?”
She considered them. Tony was retching again, and Steve was gently holding his head over the bag, stroking his cheek with the pad of his thumb and biting his own lip.
“I think he’ll come around,” she said finally. He gave her a pitying look. “No, I’m serious. Steve, come on. You’re like the biggest catch at the school, hands down. And there is definitely something going on between you two. I’m like, the least perceptive person on the planet and even I picked up on it.”
“You are perceptive, you just choose to ignore everything,” he corrected her.
She blinked. “That’s completely true. How did you even know that?”
He laughed. “I’m the same. I hate knowing other people’s business.”
“Does anyone else know? About…you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to anyone about it.”
“Oh my god, I would never.”
“Even to Peggy.”
“I mean, I won’t, but you should probably let her down easy one of these days.”
Tony groaned and his fingers dug into Steve’s leg. They both held their breath, but he seemed to still be asleep. She felt a rush of compassion for him.
“Steve,” she said. “I’ve got your back on this.” And your back, she thought to Tony.
He gave her an appreciative smile. “There’s no ‘this’, really. But thanks.”
“There’s something,” she insisted. “I don’t know what it is, but I know there’s something between you two. Stop shaking your head at me. This could be really good. I’m serious, you deserve this.” She knocked him gently on the shoulder again. “Quit being so negative.”
He just looked down at Tony and sighed. “I dunno, Jess. I hope you’re right.”
“Right about what?” Loki came to stand in front of them, somehow still looking like a sex god even in the horrible hospital lighting.
“That we’ll get in soon,” she said quickly. “It’s taking fucking forever.”
“They just took Jane back,” he said. “Tony and Darcy will be next, I’m sure.”
Not five seconds later, a nurse called, “Stark? Lewis?”
Steve gave her a strained smile and hauled Tony up. “See you back there?”
She nodded.
Loki sat down in Steve’s place and held his arm out, and she gratefully leaned into him. He stroked her hair and said, “I have to say, I didn’t anticipate the night panning out like this.”
She laughed. “Really? You didn’t have hopes of running from the cops and taking all our friends to the hospital?”
“Incredibly, no. I did, however, hope for this,” he murmured as he leaned in to kiss her. She let him, once, and then turned away. He was too good of a kisser to be doing it in public. “Want to sit here for a minute and then go back and check on everyone?”
She yawned. “Make it two minutes, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
