oOo

Chapter 4

"You keep making a joke out of everything!"

"Who asked for your opinion you, ass?"

"Oh, please!"

Bruce was about to break them up but Clint placed a hand on his shoulder. Clint shook his head and allowed the doctor to ease back into his Avengers barely knew each other and were all stressed out.

It had been a long day, and they were tired.

"Why is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked. "It's not even funny. If you can't deal with anything emotional, why are you here? You're just a consultant to the Avengers, so why is Tony Stark here?"

"You have the nerve to say that!" Tony fought back. "First of all, I can't leave because I'm stuck in this goddamn world with you and for your information, Tony Stark invented Iron man!"

"You're just a man wearing your armor." Steve said without regret. "You can't fight on your own without it. So what use is there? You make jokes, you're the big guy, the rich man, but I know more people worth ten of you."

"And you are?" Tony stood up. "My dad created you out of a bottle. If it weren't for him, you'd be nothing! And dead for that matter."

"At least your father was better than—" Steve waved his hands at Tony. "This! Look at you, so confident and you don't even care about other people but yourself. I can see it. You're the one man show, the center of attention."

"Who doesn't want to be?" Tony glared.

"I don't know."

"You think I wanted this? I'm just lucky."

"Lucky to be like this, Tony?" Steve shook his head. "You'll end up lonely if you keep this up."

"And you think you know that?"

"Rich or not." He added.

"Oh yeah? And you would know? You're a man out of time, what do you know about modern life?"

"Howard was unfortunate to have you as a son. You're so self-centered and unable to grasp the current situation." Steve let out a frustrated sigh.

"Steve, stop it." Natasha intervened. "We're all tired, there's no need to say things like that."

"No, I wanna hear it." Tony crossed his arms and pointed.

Steve glared at him as Tony continued.

"You're saying that my dad was better than me, is that it? You don't know anything about my goddamn Father! If you think he was nice then try being his SON!" Tony breathed out. "He never gave time for me, you asshole! So why did you think I ended up the way I am?"

They were all shocked at Tony's outburst.

"I know him." Steve muttered.

"Oh, you do? Tell me, because I would love to know."

"I know Howard, he wouldn't let this happen." Tony wasn't buying Steve's words. "It's your fault, for being so confident, thinking you can have everything."

"I know who I am and you can't change that." Tony slammed the Starkpad on the table.

"Stark."

"I'm trying my best, just like you, to make this team work." He pointed. "I'm a solo man, I get that, but that doesn't change the fact I care for people too! You don't see it, but I don't care for your opinion."

"That's just it, you don't care." Steve said, losing himself to anger.

"I said for your opinion."

"And when it comes that the decision lies on me."

"We'll get there when we get there, Cap."

"If we're going to be a team, we fly together on an idea."

"Then you found the wrong guy. After all, I am just a consultant." Tony laughed bitterly. "I'm a self-centered bastard, why did I put my life on the line when I shot that missile through the portal, I wonder?"

Tony gave Steve the finger and chuckled painfully.

"Try getting your facts straight grandpa."

"Stark—"

"Oh and for the record, you know nothing about me." Tony walked away. "Watch Iron Man 3 for all I care. I'm out."

"How did this happen?" Fury sighed, and went back to monitoring the Helicarrier as if nothing happened.

"I shouldn't have said those things." He palmed his face, easing back on the chair. "I got so worked up, I shouldn't have done that. He keeps making jokes."

"One of us was bound to snap." Clint said. "We're tired and the idea of us in a different world just adds to the stress."

"Everyone in this world knows about us." Natasha frowned.

"I should apologize to him."

"Don't." Bruce stretched his hand out when Steve was about to stand. "Tony has an ego, and if you brush it, it will be bad."

"Banner is right." Thor crossed his arms. "Loki and I used to have arguments, and it would be best if one of you stayed away from the other."

"Tony will talk to you, but not now." Bruce said. "He's too worked up."

"Give it time." Natasha crossed his arms. "It's only been a few days, we haven't gotten much rest."

"We'll pick this up tomorrow." Fury said across the room. "It's getting late."

"And the Helicarrier?" Clint asked. "We're hidden from view but how long until fuel runs out?"

"It'll take more than a few days to keep us off ground." Fury answered. "But any more than that, and we're toast."

"Let's just hope we won't stick in this world that long." Hill mumbled. "Everyone back to work, try and reserve power."

"What about Loki?" Thor asked.

"He's safe in his cell, and I haven't made a decision yet." Fury said. "You can go back to your room and rest or head to the canteen. It's late. Go eat, I don't care. For now, get out of my goddamn sight."

Steve walked away, going back to his room while Bruce went to help Erik with the container. Thor retreated back to his room while Clint and Natasha stayed. They were going to watch Iron man 3 next, hoping to learn more about what the future held.

Iron man 3 held the secrets of what happened after New York and they were really suspicious of what Thor the Dark world and Captain America: The Winter Soldier was.

"Natasha." Fury walked up to her.

"This is relevant." Natasha whispered, pointing at the winter soldier. "I met him before."

"That mission." Clint nodded at her.

"We're all here." Natasha said. "You, Fury, Hill, me and Steve. But you, Hawkeye, I don't know where you are."

"It says right here that I'm in the Avengers: Age of Ultron." He smirked. "Bigger role, sweet. But hey, no harm, no fowl."

"We have to watch it later." Fury said. "We can't just watch anything randomly."

"So tomorrow?" Clint wondered.

"We watch Iron man 3." Hill answered.

"What about Thor the Dark world?" Clint asked in a low voice. "Apparently, this event happened right after Iron man 3, and Avengers. I KNOW that it has Loki written all over it."

"We watch that afterwards to see what happens."

"It's your call, boss."

"What about Agents of Shield?" Natasha questioned. "That's pretty relevant. Clint and I looked it up, we know Coulson's going to be okay but—"

"If he's alive, then he's alive." Fury whispered. "We keep this on the down low. Am I clear?"

"Understood. Sir." Natasha and Clint answered.

"Good, because if you breathe a word to a non-level 7, I'm hauling your asses back to level 1." Fury walked off, a little pissed. "Now go back to work."

"Level 1." Clint mouthed. "Isn't that harsh?"

"When has he ever joked?" Natasha smirked.

While Bruce and Erik went back to the tesseract, the tesseract continued to remain still and suspiciously unmoving.

Somewhere in the other universe, Thanos was restless.

oOo

Tony was in his temporary room, working on figuring out what the information he got from the internet, meant. He could see all kinds of stories and articles about Loki not being himself at the time. Not to mention there were some facts about Loki's eye color.

"Jarvis, can you show me Loki's eye color when he threw me out the window." Tony said. "Okay, wait, pause."

"Is there something in particular you are looking for, Sir?" Jarvis questioned.

"What color is that?"

"It is the same color as the tesseract."

"Exactly." Tony bit his lips. "What is his eye color now?"

"Green, Sir."

"Well I'll be damned." Tony rubbed his beard and stared at the ceiling.

Tony started reading into Loki's story, from myth to comics to the movie, and what the people of this world think about him. If all the things he researched about Loki were true, then all hell will break loose.

"So you came to earth, influenced. It's never that easy." Tony closed his eyes. "Never."

Tony couldn't sleep; he was having a hard time, especially since Steve's words echoed inside him. It stopped him from being able to sleep at all. That wasn't the soul reason though, there was something else keeping him awake and it was the nightmares that plagued him ever since that day.

It was late, so he used his phone to spy on everyone else, just to see what was going on.

Something to distract him.

"Do you have anything?" Natasha's voice sounded.

"Just a bunch of interviews." Clint replied.

"Keep looking."

"You don't have to say it twice."

Tony realized that these two would keep trying to figure out what was strange about this world and any idea was good enough for Fury. Tony changed the feed again, this time in Thor's room. Thor was sitting on his bed, holding a Shield pad and Fury looming by the door.

"Is everything alright?" Fury's voiced sounded. "We know you've been watching the footage in his cell."

"I do not know why." Thor said, putting the Shield pad down. "I would ask him, but I doubt he would see me."

"Tired can be an understatement, he could be pretending."

"If he is, it will be useless."

"Are you really giving up on the notion that he is your brother? Or are you just bitter because he didn't accept your second chance at redemption?"

"Both."

Tony stopped himself from listening any further, they were all wrong about Loki. He may be playing for a fool, but Tony was smarter. He knew that Loki was coaxed into it. He knew that the only way to live was to fight, and Loki chose the easy way.

Something that Tony would also do.

I think I'll just cut the wire.

"You're wrong about your brother, Thor." Tony mouthed. "And I hope you have enough guts to survive when the truth hits you."

Tony was lonely in his room; he sat straighter on the bed and eyed everything. It was small, it sucked but it was worth it and he didn't want to complain. He didn't want another fight, he just wanted peace and quiet.

He gave it another two hours and decided to check on Loki. He was lying on the bed, sleeping heavily, passed out from what looks like exhaustion.

"Look at you." Tony mumbled. "All snug in there."

Tony thought back from earlier.

"Hmm…" Tony laughed. "You live for about 5000 years. I wonder how old you are."

Tony sighed, when he searched another camera, the rest of Shield was awake but the hallways were patrolled with timing, something Tony tried to calculate. He looked at everyone else, but dared not to look at what Steve was doing.

He shut off his phone, threw it to the side of the bed as he lay there.

Why should he care?

He was Tony Stark, Iron man and just another one of Shield's consultant. Steve didn't know him, about how shield had been founded, how it was his technology keeping the world running.

They knew him as a drunkard, a sick twisted man with a crazy ambition so low, that he could get anything because of his money.

They knew nothing.

"Damn everyone."

Tony sighed, he took his phone and asked Jarvis to override the camera outside the halls and in Loki's cell, and put it on loop. Tony took his jacket and wore it, getting ready to go outside.

"Jarv, I want you to map out a safe route on my phone." Tony asked, holding the Stark phone, getting ready to go outside. "No Shield Agents, just a quick way to get to Loki's cell."

"May I ask why?"

"I just want to get answers from him, that's it. Is it up?"

"The path is up and ready Sir; you only have a few minutes before patrol enters the hallway."

"Thanks Jarv."

"Is there any way for me to convince you to not attempt this, Sir?"

"I don't think so, Jarvis." Tony huffed. "Just make sure I'm not caught by the time I reach his door."

"I hope you know what you are doing Sir."

"When have I not."

The team looked like it was falling apart, despite it being formed together. They were shaken up by the pain and horror of war; surely they would have understood each other but no.

They thought it was fine, but it wasn't.

Tony felt the reality sink hard, etching itself deep and clawed at him for mercy.

"Here goes." Tony opened his door, peeking outside.

"The coast is clear, Sir."

"Operation: talk to Loki, is a go."

oOo

TBC

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