Just Relax

Loki is a master when it comes to lying, he could fool anyone into thinking he was telling the truth. In fact, he once had Odin convinced that Thor had been the one to break a vase when it had been Loki the entire time. He had Frigga convinced that her handmaiden was the one to steal her favorite necklace until she saw one of the serving girls wearing it two weeks later. So, why the hell did he have trouble lying to his wife? Honestly, he could do it easily when she was four and asked him if Santa was real; of course he is, little one—when she was seven and asked if Tony was the Tooth Fairy; if he was you'd get more than ten bucks.

When she was ten Tony asked if he'd let her watch Halloween; why the hell would I do that? She'd ended up tossed in his bed that night and he'd never watched another horror film with her until she was fifteen. To make his point, he'd had no trouble lying to the woman until she was actually a woman and tied to him for the rest of her life. He blamed the damn wedding rings and those wide, dark eyes of hers.

He struggles opening the front door, giving his wife a nervous grin when she raises her eyebrows at him. They had gone out to dinner to celebrate her thirtieth birthday; she'd wanted something quiet and private instead of the usual party that her parents threw for her. Steve was out of town this year, visiting Peggy's grave, Clint and Natasha were on their second honeymoon, and Bruce was accepting an award for his and Tony's latest invention. The only people left in Stark Tower is Addison, Thor, and Sasha's younger sister, Alex. Not exactly a charming bunch at the best of times. Impatient, Sasha makes him move and pushes the door open.

"Surprise!" The collective shout makes Sasha scream, jumping up in Loki's arms just as Scooby-doo would with Shaggy. The living room of Stark Tower was decorated with streamers and banners, purple being the dominant color. A table had been set up in the middle of the room—a Walking Dead one as per Pepper's instructions—and all of the Avengers have gathered around it. Steve had an armful of presents, obviously having arrived just moments before Sasha and Loki. As tears of happiness fill his wife's eyes, he supposes that there really is a small amount of truth in his lie—after all, now she was able to spend her birthday with the people that really mattered to her and Loki could see the dazzling smile on her face.