Eleanor decided that she liked Thor.
Well, at first she didn't like any of the men when they got back onto the jet because she had to clean them up and pop a shoulder into place, but Thor was something else.
"Man of Iron's sister," he addressed her with a booming voice that probably would've spooked her if he didn't have a bandaid on his cheek for the time being. "I will heal without your Midgardian methods. There is no need for this."
Eleanor just glanced at him with her hand on his shoulder. As soon as they clambered on, she smacked Tony as soon as he took off his helmet, and noticed the odd way that Thor's arm was swinging. Perhaps he didn't notice it in all of his godliness, but Eleanor sure did. So after receiving a thank you from the Captain and a complaint from her brother, she went to fix his ailment.
"Think of this a jumpstart, then," she convinced. "Please put your hammer down for this. I doubt I can do any real damage to you."
Reluctantly, he did as asked. He stared at her warily, and Eleanor rolled her eyes. What a baby. "Look I'll even give you a countdown, yeah?"
He nodded at her and relaxed. With a wicked grin, Eleanor didn't wait before she yanked his shoulder back into place causing the god to let out a surprised yell and rub his shoulder. Eleanor pat his chest roughly. "You did well, prince."
Tony snickered from behind her. "Yeah, Goldilocks, be glad you didn't have anything serious otherwise she might've let you suffer. Didn't you take an Oath, Ellie?" he asked innocently and ducked away from her swing, still snickering. Steve watched the interaction between the three of them with a look of pure confusion.
Thor's thunderous laughter stopped Eleanor's assault. He smacked her on the back, sending her into Steve. "You're not on the same level as an Asgardian healer but you have guts, Lady Stark! I thank you for your help."
"You're welcome," she wheezed as Steve fretted over her.
Natasha called out that they were about to land back at the Helicarrier, and Eleanor made sure she buckled herself up. She wouldn't put it past Natasha to purposefully fly roughly just to get at Eleanor.
Eleanor glanced around the room as Fury was giving his spiel to Loki in his detainment cage. Tony wasn't with them, doing who know's what at who know's where. The others were listening intensely, watching the screen. Admittedly, she was supposed to as well, but Loki creeped her out and Fury was still slightly terrifying.
Where are you? she tapped on her watch. I need more buffers between Natasha and I.
I'm sure one of the golden boys would help you. I'm currently watching Fury and Loki like you're supposed to be doing.
Eleanor looked back up.
"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think for me," Loki smirked at the Director.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury replied, and she could see Loki look into the camera. "Oh, I've heard. The mindless beat, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Eleanor could see Bruce glare at the monitor, and Eleanor had a good guess as to why. Despite herself, she gave him a sympathetic glance.
"How desperate am I?" Fury shot back. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun," he listed out. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
Loki mocked him. "It burns you to come so close," he drawled. "To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."
Sardonically, Fury quipped. "Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something."
The monitor goes black, and the room was left in silence. Eleanor tapped her fingers on the table. "I really hope I don't have to speak to him."
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce joked, and Eleanor quirked her lips at him in a half smile.
"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve turned to Thor, who still looked deep in thought. "So, Thor, what's his play?"
Eleanor did like Thor, she really did. She also felt bad for him. Here was his brother, someone that he loved and trusted above all and this betrayal? Eleanor didn't want to imagine if it were Tony.
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people," Thor explained. "They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
Eleanor groaned. "So you're telling me that we're about to go to war with some aliens? And I'm guessing that they're all going to be fu- OW!"
Natasha kicked her, a telltale sign for her to shut up. Usually Eleanor would ignore any sign but Natasha scared her. Not like Fury or Loki. But in a way that told Eleanor that Natasha didn't have any qualms of knocking her out.
"So he's building another portal," Bruce concluded, shooting a questioning look to the two women in the room. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig?" Thor asked, a tone of familiarity accompanying it.
"He's an astrophysicist."
"He's a friend."
Natasha leaned forward, effectively ignoring the glare that Eleanor was sending her. "Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours."
"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Steve pointed out, and out of the entire conversation, Eleanor could really relate to that one statement.
The vibes that Loki gave off when they first captured him were already weird. The guy was power hungry and obviously stronger than he let on. Steve might've been a supersoldier but Loki was a literal god. It was a major reason why Eleanor put Tony between Loki and herself because if Loki did somehow get out of his restraints, Tony would have a much better chance of fending him off.
Bruce shook his head, fiddling with his glasses. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."
Eleanor nodded along with him. "It's true. Sorry, Thor. We can't pick our family."
"Have care how you speak," Thor stepped forward, a frown marring his handsome face. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."
"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha cut in blandly, and Thor shrunk back, losing some of his fire. "He's adopted."
Eleanor snorted, swinging in her chair.
As soon as Tony walked in, she couldn't help but brighten up at the sight of him. The others weren't so bad, not really, but they were serious and stern. The Starks were not.
"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony replied to Bruce's earlier question about Iridium. He mumbled some words to Phil that Eleanor couldn't discern, but she smiled nonetheless.
Despite the context the two of them met in, Phil was a familiar face in the place. Having Tony comfortable around him instantly made her more comfortable.
The two scientists were discussing... science. It was the only word that Eleanor could use to describe the back-and-forth. Maybe she was an idiot.
She leaned towards Steve. "Do you have a clue about what was just said? I blanked as soon as the word astrophysics was mentioned."
Steve just shook his head slowly at her. "I have absolutely no idea."
Tony approached Bruce, ruffling her hair as he passed, and Eleanor scowled, swatting him away.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," Tony shook his hand respectfully, and Bruce returned it. "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Thanks."
Eleanor smacked her head as Tony's utter stupidity.
"So, Steve," Eleanor asked, the two of them left alone. "How was the whole 'wake up in a new century' thing?"
Steve smiled politely at her, but she could see the discomfort at the question. "You don't have to answer."
"No, no, it's fine. It's been... jarring? That's the best word I can think of," he trailed off, a solemn look in his eye. Eleanor's heart went out to him. She couldn't imagine waking up one day and her entire life changed - her family and friends gone, and the world a completely different place.
She smiled up at him reassuringly. "Don't worry, Cap," she hoped to convince. "You woke up in a good time. Much better than the sixties. I feel like you would've cried at all of the wrongness, not going to lie."
"What happened in the sixties?" he asked, tilting his head, and Eleanor patted his shoulder. "We'll discuss it some other time. I'm not in the mood to go on a tirade."
Steve nodded at her, accepting her words. He was silent for a moment, and Eleanor could see the gears working in his head.
'Jarring' may have been an understatement in her opinion. Steve woke up in an era where technology is at the forefront of everything, his home was drastically changed, and everyone he knew was either dead and on their way there. Eleanor knew a lot about the man in front her through her father's stories. He was a hero through and through, but looking at his lost expression during their conversation, it was easy to see the toll it took on him.
"So, Howard had two kids?" he finally asked. Eleanor wasn't surprised that he mentioned it. She knew that Tony and herself looked a lot like their father.
She nodded. "Yep," she popped the 'p'. "Must be weird to see us here, huh? Tony is a lot like Dad, but don't tell him I said that."
Steve looked puzzled. "Howard was a good man, though. Why wouldn't he be happy about that?"
Eleanor frowned and stared at the man in front her. "Sorry, Cap, but the Howard Stark you knew is not the same one we grew up with."
He looked ready to question her again, but Eleanor interrupted, "I'm going to find something to eat, maybe go bother Natasha until she threatens me again. Wanna come?"
The look in Steve's eye didn't leave, and she had a feeling that he wanted to continue the conversation. However, he shook his head at her offer. "I'm going to go look around, actually. It was nice talking with you, Miss Stark."
She scoffed. "Please, if anyone can call me by my name, it's you. I'll see you around, Steve."
Walking away, Eleanor rolled her eyes and half-smirked.
"I bet Dad is rolling in his grave right now."
hello i'm back for a moment. thanks to everyone for sticking with this. i rewrote the earlier chapters, but it's not really important to be honest. i was looking through and realized wow i suck
