A/N: Merry early Christmas everyone! My gift to you? This epic story. (Really. Epic. You'll understand as we go.) This one has been written with Rosemary Locks. ( u/7302274/Rosemary-Locks)

Disclaimers: we only own Drake, Demetri, Paige, and Kitania. The Marvel characters are, of course, Marvel's. And Brooke is borrowed from this amazing story: /megan-fatheree/sisters-keeper. Hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoy writing it!

The End.

It was such a refreshing feeling to end a book – to be someone else, while you forget about your own life, and then come back to it. It was the coming back part that Paige didn't like.

She sighed and put her book down on the bench she was sitting on. Robin Hood. The golden title sparkled in the sun, dancing across the field of green that it was imprinted on.

If only I could have an adventure. I want to meet a prince, like Robin of Locksley. I want a brave man to save me, like Robin saved Marian. I know I have Drake... but he couldn't save me from a fly.

I could too! Where's that fly?

Paige looks up, her face as pale as the clouds above her, and locked eyes with her boyfriend, Drake. He was walking down the park pathway towards her, smiling like he knew some big secret.

Was I broadcasting again? Paige groaned mentally.

Like a radio tower. Drake laughed inside his mind. He stood before her and held his arms open wide. Paige stood and embraced him. His black shirt was warm from the sun, and she had no idea how he kept from getting sun burned.

See? You didn't burst into flames when you stepped outside. Let's see, do you sparkle? Paige took a playful step back, teasing her nerdy Goth, and looking him over for any imaginary sparkles.

I'm not a vampire, Paige. Drake laughed. He took her hand and spun her around, watching as her baby purple sun dress bloomed out as she twirled. She was so beautiful, despite how bookish she was. Paige was his own sexy librarian.

She laughed inside her mind as she twirled, unknowingly broadcasting again. To the untrained mental ear, her voice was simply that of a distant memory rising to the surface. It always left as quickly as it came. Nearby mothers who were watching their children play remembered the first time they heard their baby laugh. Wounded lovers heard the laugh of the one who broke their heart. The elderly, who often frequented the park to feed the pigeons, heard the laugh of their grandkids or of their lost spouse.

Drake, however, was used to Paige's ability. He could recognize her voice a mile away.

The first time she had broadcast to him, it freaked him out. They had been dating for only six months, trying to recover from the foul experimentation they had been subject to, when Paige began to "talk". It was the first time Drake had ever heard her voice. If she hadn't been signing the very words he heard in his head as he heard them, he too would have judged her voice as a distant memory.

It is strange how the human mind works. We are so used to our own inner voices that when another joins it, we count it as a figment of our imagination. Why would there be any other voice in our mind but our own?

Come on. Your mother wants you home. She sent me to come find you.

Paige stopped twirling and looked up at him. How did you know where I was?

You frequent only three places in this world: the park, the library, and your house.

Paige socked Drake playfully in the arm. You know I go more places than that.

Drake laughed audibly again. It was strange to hear him laugh during such a visibly silent conversation. Like where? Anywhere else you go, I take you.

Yeah, well... Paige trailed off, unable to come up with a reply.

Drake held out his elbow to her. Paige smiled, grabbed her book off of the bench, and took his arm. The two walked arm in arm out of the park.

As they made their way down the busy sidewalks of New York, they passed Stark Tower. Paige stopped to stare up at it. It was so tall and beautiful.

Maybe Mr. Stark can help me.

Mr. Stark? The billionaire?! Paige, be serious.

Paige let go of Drake's arm and looked at him. I am being serious, Drake. They know what it's like to suddenly have freaky powers. Maybe they can find a cure.

No offense, sugarplum, but why would they help you? You're just a librarian.

So? Captain America couldn't even get into the army until he went through his transformation.

Why are you so stuck on this? You're fine just the way you are.

No, I'm not. I have freaky powers and no one understands me. Do you know what it's like to have the entire state of New York bumping around in your brain all the time? No. You don't.

"What do you want Mr. Stark to do for you? Huh? Build you a helmet like his? Will that silence the voices? What about a ton foil hat? Will he make you one of those? I can do that, Paige. Come on." Drake grabbed her hand and gently tugged.

Paige yanked it away from him. That was hurtful, Drake. Really hurtful. Don't bother escorting me home like you're some kind of gentleman. With that, Paige stormed past him, making her own way home.

"Fine!" Drake called after her. "Be that way! Let's see if we do anything tomorrow! No! I don't think we will!" With a huff, Drake turned away, heading for his own apartment.

Paige burst through her front door and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Paige!" her mother called. "Is that you? Dinner's ready. Come and eat."

Leave me alone, Mom. Paige broadcast. I had a fight with Drake. I just want to go to my room. Paige flung open the door to her room and flopped face-first down into her bed. Soon, she felt a pressure on the bed next to her and a hand on her back.

"You want to talk about it?"

Paige shook her head. A mass of straight brown hair shook with it.

"Alright." Paige's mother kissed the back of her head. "If you get hungry, there'll be leftovers in the fridge."

Paige looked up from her pillow as her mother turned out the light. There was still plenty of light shining through her window, but the sun was going down.

Before she knew it, Paige fell asleep, her Robin Hood book still clutched to her chest.

/ /

Loki folded his arms and waited for the dim light in the small window to fade completely. Not all were so attune to the faint glow left by the bright luminescence of a lightbulb here on Midgard, but he had learned early on that he saw many things the mere mortals did not. Another reason he considered himself above them.

When the last microwatt of brightness had succumbed to the blackness of night, he made his move.

The window was easy to reach, especially when one had powers such as he did. Thor wasn't the only Asgardian who had accessed the power to leap higher and hold stronger than any human could. He crouched outside the small glass panes and waited for the sun to disappear over the horizon. It wouldn't do to have a nosy neighbor see something amiss.

Not that they would see anything at all, with the tricks he had learned to cloak himself and anything else he wished in a shield of invisibility. He just liked to be on the safe side. If his brother were anywhere near, he would be on heightened alert.

Loki rolled his eyes. His brother. He shouldn't even call the giant buffoon his brother, since they weren't officially related, but the annoying habit wouldn't be broken. He had tried, on more than one occasion, and he couldn't cease to refer to the oaf as his brother. He growled, low in his throat.

It didn't take long, once the sun reached the horizon, for the sky to step aside and allow the night to appear. The stars shone dimly and the moon was all but invisible. The clouds hung precariously over the blue-black pit of space.

With a flick of his wrist, Loki cloaked both himself and his thoughts. And with a single tug, he opened the window. One foot at a time, down onto the girl's floor. His cape snagged on a loose nail, and he quickly tugged it aside. He wrinkled his nose and thought about cursing the blasted thing, but held his tongue.

Instead, he turned his attention to the girl. Paige. She was more than what the world around her treated her as. More than a mute. More than a silly girl with a special power. There were things inside her that even she knew naught about. But he did. And he would help her realize her true potential.

She wanted a Robin Hood, a hero – he had heard her thoughts, this telepath – and he would be that. He wanted her to have that. She deserved it.

Without a second thought, Loki scooped her from the bed, book and all. She was lighter than he had imagined she would be, and the light weight in his arms made him smile wider. Perfect. That's what she was. And he would make sure she stayed that way.

Loki easily ducked out the window and landed gently on the ground.

Let them come. Let them throw everything they had at him. He wouldn't let her go.

/ /

The next morning, Drake arrived at Paige's home with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Daisies. Her favorite.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Paige! Are you home? Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. Come out. Paige! PAIGE!" Drake knocked all the harder, waiting for her to answer.

Finally, her mother heard him. "Ugh. Paige! Wake up!" her mother called from the next room.

Paige didn't answer.

"Paige?" Her mother climbed reluctantly out of bed and went to Paige's room. She knocked twice and opened the door. Paige wasn't there. She immediately ran down the stairs and opened the door for Drake. "Where's my daughter?"

"Um, I was hoping you could answer that question. She's not in the kitchen?"

Drake stepped in and peeked around a corner. Nope. She wasn't in the kitchen. He rushed up the stairs. Nope, she wasn't in the bathroom either. He looked in her room. Her bed was a mess. Perhaps she took her book and went to the park. Just as Drake turned to leave, something caught his eye. A piece of green cloth was trapped between the window and the frame. Drake went over to the window and opened it, taking the fabric off of the nail.

He looked it over and watched it shimmer. In an instant, he was out the door and down the stairs.

"I'll find her, Mrs. Barnett! I know just where to go!" With that, Drake bolted down the street, heading for Stark Tower. If anyone could find his little "gifted" it was The Avengers.