Hey guys! I realised I made a bit of a mistake in the last chapter, I know Thor isn't meant to be there until after they caught Loki, and then that meeting happens afterwards. But I got mixed up Sorry if that annoys any of you, but it works better for how I plan this story to go :) Anyway, enjoy!
"So what did I miss?" Tony opened the door to the lab and strolled in, immediately walking to Bruce's side to see what he was working on. Bruce smiled at the eccentric man as they began to mumble to themselves.
Penny was laid on her back on the counter top, staring at the ceiling. Her sleep last night hadn't been a good one, someone had woke her up countless times with their snoring; she had a hunch it was Thor.
She was lost in her own little world, a world where she had a magical wand and she attended a magical school called Hogwarts, had magical friends and could apparate into Honeydukes for a nice warm Butterbeer.
She rolled onto her side and craned her neck to see the two happily talking amongst themselves; then she noticed it. She slowly sat up and placed her glasses atop her head, smoothing the knots in the ends out with her fingertips. There was a package in Tony's hand.
"Oh, hey red, didn't see you there. Miss me?" He smirked as he placed his jacket down on a chair.
Penny ignored him and saw an opportunity. "Oh Tony, we've only just met! You didn't have to get me a present, we haven't even had our first date yet." She smiled sweetly at him as she hopped down off the surface, throwing another lollipop stick in the bin she carried on with her teasing. "Buying me presents won't get me into bed any faster you know, I'm a 'take things slow' kind of girl; although I'll happily still take the present." She grinned as she walked over to him. He held it over his head with the other hand stretched out in front of him.
"As much as I'm sure I'd enjoy all the little escapades we'd end up in, I'm taken." He narrowed his eyes at the scheming girl in front of him. "Happily taken, may I add. And this present is actually for Bruce," He handed Bruce the package, "I'm sure Brucey here wouldn't hesitate in showing you a good time though." Tony grinned as he patted the beet red Bruce on the back before pulling blueberries from his jacket pocket.
Penny could feel the blush crawl up her neck, she walked back over to her table, mumbling as she went. "You say something, red?" Tony grinned as he popped another blueberry in his open mouth. Penny spun around and pouted at him, "Nope…" She carried on walking before spinning back around, this time with a mean look in her eye. "Actually Yeah! I thought that maybe in the nine days I've been here I would get one item of luxury! Just one!" Tony glanced at Bruce with a large grin on his face, Bruce too had a small smile fixed on his face.
"What kind of luxury would you like? Uncle Tony will get it for you." He teased in a baby voice, but Penny only grew more annoyed. "Or, like I said before, maybe Bruce here could settle your need for luxury." He added onto the end slyly.
"BRIAN!" She shouted suddenly, the smile slowly dropped from both of their faces. Tony had to admit, he was a little disappointed. Was Brian her boyfriend or something back home? He was looking forward to playing a bit of cupid for her and Bruce. He looked over at said man, his eyes were focused on the task as hand, but his brow furrowed and his mouth was set in a hard line. Tony's frowned deepened as he looked back at the frazzled woman.
Tony's smirk returned as a façade, "Aww is someone missing their bo?" Tony teased, and Penny's face was a picture. Albeit it wasn't what he expected, but it was just as entertaining.
"Bo?" She asked, disgust dripping from the word. She made a gagging sound and looked from Tony to Bruce. Tony saw his friends head snap up and look to the small girl, the realisation of what her outburst sounded like hit her as she started to laugh hysterically.
"Oh dear," She said as her laughter calmed to the mild giggles, Bruce couldn't help but think that she had a beautiful laugh, and the way her cheeks were flushed afterwards only added to the thought.
Penny looked between the two Avengers, "Brian is my cat." She stated simply.
Bruce was the first to smile, and nervously laughed when he found himself feeling relieved that she only wanted her cat, and not her non-existent boyfriend. Tony, being the genius that he is, caught on to Bruce's behaviour. The smile, the nervous laughter at the revelation; he couldn't hide it. Not from Tony anyway.
"So you miss your cat?" Tony laughed before turning to a hanging screen, "Yes. But she's my big fat, mac n cheese eating cat who likes to fall asleep on my leg which usually makes my leg fall asleep too. And she does this thing that –"
"Hold up, hold up." Penny stopped her rant and looked to Tony, "Did you just say She?" He asked incredulously, "Brian is a boy, name sweetheart. Not a girl's name." Penny frowned.
"So? Brian is a handsome name. And she's a handsome cat." She held her head high and started Tony down, her pride wavered when she glanced at Bruce. "Fine, okay! I thought Brian was a boy, but it turns out she was a girl and I already had her trained. There, happy now?" She sighed and stamped her foot as Tony began to laugh manically again; sticking her tongue out for good measure at him she turned to Bruce, who was just smiling slightly at her and Tony's antics. She smiled back and blushed furiously.
Tony's laughter stopped suddenly, "Did you just stamp your foot?"
Penny raised an eyebrow, "Did you just quote Twilight?"
The lab door opened as Agent Coulson poked his head in, "Agent Romanoff has gone down to interrogate Loki, the Director would like you all on the bridge to watch it on CCTV." He smiled before retreating and closing the door again.
We were all seated around the large round table, Natasha sat in the seat next to the director and Thor stood to her immediate left. Bruce stood behind Tony and Penny who had taken seats next to each other, he rested a hand on the back of each of their chairs. Steve was seated two spaces down from Penny. Each had a small screen showing the CCTV from Loki's cell, Penny had to admit, it was a bit excessive.
Fury appeared on the screen, he pressed a few buttons on a touch pad and the floor beneath the cage that held Loki disappeared. Loki cautiously peered down at it. The director gestured to Loki, "Ant," before turning back to the control pad, "boot."
Loki smirked, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He walked from the edge of the cage to the centre and face Fury head on.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you." He replied.
"Oh I've heard, the mindless beast." Bruce's grip on the chairs tightened as Loki looked directly into the camera, "Lets pray he's still a man." Penny lifted her hand and placed it on Bruce's and gave a gentle squeeze, her body turning half toward him. Her eyes flickered to the man behind her before resting on the cold figure of Loki.
"How desperate are you? That you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" His eyes narrowed at the tall man outside the glass prison. "How desperate am I? You threaten our world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk of peace but you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did." Fury spat back at him, which only fuelled Loki's fire.
"Go patch." Penny whispered humourlessly, which earned a smirk from Tony.
"Ooh, it burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all of mankind to share?" Loki smirked arrogantly and looked around before settling his gaze once again on the tall man. "And then to be reminded of what real power is..."
Fury began to walk away, but shouted back "Well let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, Natasha stood and went to walk to the door.
"Natasha," Tony stood up when she looked back, "Be careful." She nodded and continued out the door.
It didn't get past Tony that Penny's hand was lightly holding Bruce's, and Bruce was lightly holding back. He figured that's what she must have been doing when her arm moved out of the corner of his eye when Loki made that remark about Bruce. He placed his hand in front of his mouth, to anyone else it would look like he was deep in thought, to Tony, he was simply hiding his grin.
Natasha appeared on the small screen and the grin soon got wiped off.
"There's not many people who can sneak up on me." He turned around to face her. "But you figured I'd come."
"After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate." He smiled, and he looked half human, a ghost of who he was graced his sharp features.
"I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton." Penny had to admit it, she deserved props for having no emotion in her voice. But she was a spy, so she was probably trained for it. "I'd say I've expanded his mind." Loki replied wittily, humour hidden behind his cold eyes.
"And once you've won, once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" Natasha edged slowly closer towards the glass prison, keeping a keen eye on the Asgardian as she did so.
"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Tony and Bruce quickly exchanged worried glances.
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt." Came her smooth reply, her voice void of emotion. Loki smiled, "Tell me."
Natasha pulled a chair in front of the glass wall and sat down slowly, cautiously. "Before I worked for SHIELD, I uh...well, I made a name for myself." Penny smiled slightly, "I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call." She fidgeted with her hands, which, Tony observed, was very unlike the agent he knew.
"She's up to something." He whispered. "What?" Penny whispered back, but Loki's voice drew her attention back to the screen.
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" He smirked. "Not let you out –"
"Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?" He spun to face the camera, his piercing blue eyes focusing before turning back to Natasha. Bruce squeezed Penny's hand like she had done earlier, she looked to him and met his kind brown eyes and smiled slightly.
"Regime's fall everyday. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I was." She inclined her head to the side. "And what are you now?" If she was up to something, then Loki was falling for it.
"It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."
"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakoff's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away."
Natasha stood up quickly and slowly began to back away. "I won't barter Barton! Not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!" He spat vehemently, leaning against the glass for support. She had turned her back to the cage, sobbing sounds could be heard coming from her.
"You're a monster." She choked.
"Oh, no." He smirked, straightening himself out, "You brought the monster."
It was as if someone had flicked a switch on her emotions, she spun around to face him, her face perfectly composed. "So, Banner? That's your play?" Penny's eyes flickered behind her quickly, and then back at the screen.
"What?" He asked, clearly confused.
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Get Banner in the lab, I'm on my way." She spoke into an earpiece as she made for the door. She stopped and turned back to face Loki, she bowed slightly. "Thank you, for your cooperation." She nodded, and left.
The screens turned black, but no one moved. Thor looked lost in thought, and Bruce still held lightly onto Penny's hand. A beeping snapped everyone out of the silence as they looked to Mr Stark, who had pulled a phone out of his pocket and waved it at Banner.
"You know what this means!" He sang excitedly, Steve looked confused. "What does it mean?" Tony looked over at the man before sighing.
"It means that J.A.R.V.I.S has hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D's computers, In ten minutes, I will know all of Fury's deepest darkest secrets." He smiled.
"What?" Steve pushed his chair back and stood up. "What could you possibly find that Fury hasn't already told us?" He walked over to a now standing Tony.
"Captain, he's a spy. He's the spy. His secrets have secrets!" Tony explained exasperatedly, sitting on the edge of the table he fiddled with a pen. "Why would he keep anything from us? He's working for the national intelligence-"
"An Intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony interrupted, Steve squared up to Tony as Penny stood, ready to separate them if needs be. "Just do your job, Stark."
Bruce found himself moving closer to Penny since she decided to stand, he could feel the Hulk telling him to, urging him on. "Girls! Girls!" She was pushing them away from each other, Bruce quickly pulled Tony back while Penny placed both hands on Steve's chest. "You're both pretty," Steve placed a hand on Penny's waist as she removed one of her hands. "So can we all just play nice now?" She asked politely, Bruce would have been lying if he said he wasn't jealous. He would also have been lying if he said that he wasn't glaring slightly at Steve.
"Who in this room is A. Wearing a spangly outfit and B. Not of any use?" Tony asked rhetorically, while Steve looked around the room. He glared at Tony and quickly walked off down the corridor. "That's what I thought." He smiled victoriously, while Penny only rolled her eyes.
Good? Bad? I know I mixed the film up a bit, but not major I don't think :) I think you all know what's coming next chapter, or should I say who is coming next chapter? Let me know what you think, I can't make my mind up about this chapter yet.
-Readers Assemble!-
