Chapter four: Save the Tender Egos

"She tazered you?" Steve repeated.

Tony hurled his Styrofoam coffee cup into the trash. "Yes."

Clint chuckled. "What I wouldn't give to have seen that." He pretended to keel over, laughing.

"Why is that funny?" Tony snapped.

Clint shrugged. "Iron Man taken out by a poli-sci major with a tazer? It's flipping hilarious."

Steve gave him a disapproving look. "He might have been hurt."

"But he wasn't. Well, his ego was, but that's all." Clint chuckled again. "Rejected."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Darcy doesn't seem like someone who'd use force without a reason. What did you do?"

Tony didn't answer.

Thor clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, my friend. All will be well."

The door to the coffee room burst open, bouncing off the wall. Erik ran in, panting and disheveled. "I need to talk to director Fury."

"Dr. Selvig? What has happened?"

"He's got her! He has he locked up and he might kill her. We have to save her!" The older man doubled over coughing.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Dr. Selvig." Clint put a hand on his shoulder. "Who's got her? Who's her?"

"He's got Darcy. Loki caught me, that's why I'm so late, and she just… showed up. And then she told him that she'd stay instead and he agreed and then I was back here."

Thor's eyes widened. "My friend, you mean to tell us that my brother holds Lady Darcy captive? Do you know where?"

Erik shook his head. "I just know it was cold and dark and…" He looked up. "I went through the Bifrost. Or something that looked a lot like it."

"He's on Jotenheim." Thor threw his coffee mug across the room. It struck the opposite wall and shattered. "He's on Jotenheim and we have no way to get to him or Darcy."

"Right then." Tony was suddenly all business. "Dr. Banner, we have a project. I'll be waiting for you in the lab."

"Are you sure Fury will be okay with this? Believe me, I want to get Darcy home, but we're trying to protect the world from this lunatic."

Thor looked like he was about to say something. At the last moment, he changed his mind.

Tony didn't notice. "If we find a way to get to frosty-ville, we can get to Loki and Darcy. Fury shouldn't have a problem with it. Now come on. We don't know what he's planning."

Bruce nodded and followed Tony to the lab, tossing the cup in the recycling on the way out.

Tony was only half paying attention to setting up his work station. The other half of his mind was plotting.

Loki had Darcy captive. That sick bastard had taken Darcy and had her locked up on some god-forsaken chunk of ice and rocks a few worlds away.

And now Erik Selvig was back here after spending time in Loki's dungeon. Why had he been released, anyway? What could have made Loki let him go? Darcy alone couldn't have convinced him, no matter how built she was.

So… there was every possibility that something else had happened to Erik. Loki could have sent him back as a spy.

Or at least, that was what he was going to tell Fury as soon as they figured out how to get to Darcy. Once she got back, he'd simply make her understand that all she had to do to get Erik out of wherever Fury decided to put him was give him a chance. Then he'd convince everyone that Erik was, in fact, harmless. It was that simple.

And if he just happened to be right about Erik, so much the better. He'd be a hero to SHIELD. Then, if he managed to reverse what had happened to him, or just hung around Bruce while he figured it out, he could claim credit. Then she'd have no choice.

Okay, so maybe this was overkill. But no one turned Tony Stark down. No one. His pride, and his ego, although he'd never admit it, demanded that he keep trying.

That settled, Tony began work on constructing a Bifrost, grinning.

A/N: Constructive reviews appreciated.