Lavender shrugged.

"Most people who know about magic, if they aren't magical themselves, usually have a family member who is. It's the most common way to get around the Statute of Secrecy."

Bruce nodded. "I stumbled on it," he said. "On accident. Once I knew, I just... found out more."

"You must be lucky, then," Lavender said. "Most others who did that would have been Obliviated." She grinned a bit. "Hey, it works in our favor now. It's kind of nice to know there's someone else who will understand me if I go off on some tangent."

Bruce snorted quietly and shook his head. "I'm sure some of us will learn quickly," he agreed, privately amused.

"I don't doubt it," Lavender said. "But it's nice to have someone who knows right off the bat."

Bruce nodded his agreement. Yeah, he felt that way when he talked to Tony.

Absently, Lavender pulled out her wand and conjured little butterflies. They fluttered around a bit, landing on anything that looked electronic. It was her baseline test; if things could survive the butterflies, then she usually didn't have to worry about other small spells.

Bruce watched and cracked a smile when nothing sparked or failed or anything. Of course Tony would have magic-proof tech.

Lavender blinked, and then grinned.

"That is the most fantastic non-reaction I've ever seen when it comes to magic and technology," she said, flicking her wand again and dispelling the butterflies.

Bruce blinked. "I was just thinking that of course Tony's tech wouldn't die around magic," he said, shaking his head.

"Well, yeah, I noticed you didn't react, but you said you're used to magic," Lavender said. She grinned. "Sorry. I was referring to the tech itself. It didn't so much as spark. It's the most fantastic non-reaction I've ever seen."

Bruce snorted. "Tony customized everything here," he said dryly. "When he had to rebuild, he made everything as durable as possible."

"Interesting," Lavender said. And that got her thinking. How did Tony know to protect his tech from magic? And how did he do it? She made a mental note to ask later.

Bruce nodded, moving over into the kitchen to make himself some tea. He knew that she'd get suspicious sooner or later, but he'd rather it be as later as possible.

Lavender and Lessa were only sitting around the tower for a couple of days. Then they got the call that something weird was going on downtown. Lavender couldn't help but stare for a moment when she got to the scene.

"Bow before me!"

He was wearing a Dracula-like cape and a stereotypical Viking helmet that had been painted gold. He held a rather long quartz crystal in one hand, and a leather-bound book in the other.

"I am Lord Ambroscus! I will be bowed before and grovelled to!"

"Is this guy for real?" Lavander muttered to Lessa. She didn't have a chance to wait for a reply, though, because the guy raised the foot-long stick of crystal and the ground gave an ominous rumble. "That's not good." She pulled out her wand, ready to cast spells at a moments' notice.

Lessa shook her head. "This is ridiculous," she muttered, though she moved out of Lavender's way. Magic wasn't her area of expertise, she was just hoping to keep other people from getting hurt.

Tony swore as he zipped over there in his suit. "The hell is up with this guy?" he muttered. "He looks like he got lost somewhere between a RenFaire and a GothFaire."

"He looks like he's trying to copy Loki," Lavender added. She pointed her wand at the guy and fired off a stunner, and then swore and ducked as it was reflected back at her. She allowed herself a bit of colorful profanity at that. "Are you kidding me? Since when do basket cases like this manage shields?"

"They shouldn't be able to," Tony grumbled. "This is not fair. And he does sound a lot like Loki. Must have modeled himself after the Asgardian." His eyes narrowed when his repulsors were deflected too.

"Okay. Now I'm angry."

The guy just cackled when he noticed them.

"Foolish mortals!" he said. "Nobody can get through my shields!"

"We can try," Lavender muttered. She readied a spell that had been specifically designed to eat through shields, and fired it at him. It didn't rebound, but it didn't do much damage, either.

"Alright, screw this," Tony muttered, trying to tackle the guy out of the ground. The shield hadn't been designed to take physical hits, so they both hit the side of a building, at least until the guy fired a spell at the suit and forced Tony to move.

But that gave Lavender an idea, and she dove at the guy next. She actually managed to get him into a headlock, and he took on a briefly panicked expression before squeaked something in another language. There was a bright flash, and suddenly he was gone.

Lavender swore a few more times before standing up and dusting herself off, putting her wand away.

Tony landed near her, pushing his faceplate back.

"The hell was that?" he demanded. "People are not supposed to be able to vanish like that!"

"I have no idea," Lavender replied, shaking her head. "I don't know what he did. It wasn't Apparation, or else he would have splinched or I would have been dragged along. It wasn't a Portkey. Hell, whatever he said wasn't even in Latin."

"Jarvis, did you get what he said?"

"I have the recording, sir. Would you like me to analyze for any known linguistic matches?"

"Do it." Tony scowled at the spot where the guy had been.

Lavender looked around, saw a crowd gathering, and sighed.

"Thank the gods New York is exempt from memory wipes," she muttered. "I hate Obliviating crowds."