Babysat by Uncle Tony: Chapter Seven
Summary: You permitted your parents to have a two-week vacation in L.A; even though you're seventeen, they want you babysat, and there's no one else to take care of you, but, your least favourite uncle. What silly or maybe even risky adventures will await you at his grand, mahogany doors?
[EDITED (2/27/13): Yeah, I added some more stuff. It's a bit important, so, to those who've read this already, you should most likely read it again; thank you! (:]
Sorry for the long wait! Since, in my country, the school year is ending, I've been pretty busy – especially with my novel, which I am still working on.
But, anyway, if there is anything wrong in this chapter, please say so. I apologize about that, and whether there's OOCness and such, as well as its length. Thank you in advance for reading, enjoying and reviewing!
I disclaim the characters and you; the story is with me, though.
Enjoy the meeting with the Avengers. ;)
Director Fury's face appears to have turned much scarier; he leans forward, placing both of his hands on the table, scanning every one of you. Then, he actually smiles, though, without much humor, "It's been a long time, Avengers."
You gulp in uneasiness. Although he's smiling, it isn't exactly a pretty sight to behold.
"You missed us, Fury?" Tony teases beside you.
You roll your eyes. You can't believe he still has the guts to do that, especially in such a serious atmosphere.
The director raises a brow at him, "Believe it or not, Stark, but, I'm not the one who called the meeting."
Tony's response is a confused expression.
"It's our little friend from somewhere else here," he gestures Thor, who surprisingly looks rather grave. "He just arrived – a few hours ago. He approached Miss Foster first before he came to me, demanding a meeting be arranged immediately with all of you. And, knowing the condition of their rainbow bridge, we're well aware that he wouldn't come here, unless something's up."
He leans closer and pronounces every word slowly, scanning all of you with his one eye, "And something is up." He pauses, letting that sink in.
He says it so gravely that you actually feel your hands trembling slightly in fear. You ball them into fists for it to stop and, fortunately, it lessens.
You look at the others, and they're all staring at him, unfazed, but, prepared for whatever dares attack their home planet, not a hint of fear – only a tiny clue of apprehension. Even Tony – and you don't want to be the only scared one here.
So, you wear the same face and look up, only to meet Fury's eyes, taking you aback a bit, before he suddenly straightens and nods at Thor, who returns the gesture and stands, facing his comrades, while Fury sits down – you realize that there's actually a chair behind him.
The attention shifts to Thor, who breathes in air before his booming voice bounces about the room, "My cohorts, I am delighted to return here – I have missed your homeland greatly – and I very much prefer to have come here as a simple visit, however, as Director Fury had said, I come with dire news." He pauses, licking his lips nervously as he looks up at everyone, his eyes unhappy, yet, his voice powerful and strong, "Two days ago, my brother–adopted brother–" he adds immediately, "–has, unfortunately, escaped."
The tension and silence in the room has increased significantly that no one seems to be breathing, all in great shock (except for Director Fury, who seems to know the dreadful news already) – including you, because, although you don't know who Thor's adopted brother is, you have a good idea who.
Before the questions come exploding, Thor raises his hand, shutting them all up. "How he has managed to escape the security enchantments casted all about his enclosure, it was done by mere manipulation to the sentries to let him out, though, we know not how he has done that, as the All-Father has stripped his powers off of him. I have seen it myself."
You notice your uncle squirm a bit beside, a hand on his lips as he swallows back his laughter. You roll your eyes at his immaturity.
"With other witnesses as well," Thor continues, "We've only found out of his escape through a loyal comrade of mine and we've tried to interrogate the sentries, but, alas, they do not recall a thing. We really . . . have no idea how it was all done." He pauses to scan everyone, "As the All-Father, himself, has insisted on sending me here, although we are unsure of his whereabouts, as well as his intentions, we suspect that," Thor breathes for a moment, "Loki has returned here, to replay our previous battle, and to rule over your kind once more."
There is silence as that sinks in.
"The son of a bitch doesn't know how to give up," Tony says, standing up suddenly, throwing his hands in the air, seemingly in shock. He looks at Thor momentarily, "No offense to your mother, big guy," to which Thor responds with a perplexed expression but waves a dismissive hand. "I've already threatened him," Tony says, looking at no one in particular.
"You're not that scary," you tell him.
He ignores you.
"A's right, Stark. You're not that intimidating," agrees Purple Man. "Besides, you threatened him with a drink."
"Doesn't fucking matter, Barton," Tony shoots a glower at him, as you realize Purple Man's real name. "It's about this demigod's idiotic, delusional, senseless adopted brother." He places his hands on his waist, pushing his dark blue blazer back slightly, as you furrow your brows in confusion; idiotic and senseless are pretty much the same. "Nothing personal, Thor," he says, to which said demigod responds by waving a dismissive hand again.
Fury, who has stood up himself, speaks, "Stark, sit down."
"I'm not sitting down, Fury. I am goddamn furious. How stupid is the guy to try to subjugate us again, knowing we're here?" Tony says, his brows furrowed and actually annoyed.
"Sit. The fuck. Down."
"I am not–"
"Stark," Captain America speaks in a warning tone, which probably says, don't.
Tony takes a second before he, surprisingly, obeys. God, he's such a child. His right leg, you notice, is joggling anxiously. You wonder if he does that every time he's worried.
You return your gaze at the table to see that Thor has sat down as well, passing down the attention to the standing director, who merely scans the table, not speaking. There is movement beside him and you see Agent Hill shifting her weight to her left leg uneasily. If this is making her feel unease, this is really, really getting serious.
Suddenly, the Most Normal Man shyly lifts a hand. You and everyone else looks at him, slightly surprised.
"What is it, Dr. Banner?" Fury asks as you realize his true name.
"Just a question, for Thor," he replies, his voice husky and soft. It dawns on you that this is actually the first time he's spoken.
"Go ahead," nods Fury in approval.
"Uh, Thor," he says as he scoots forward on his seat, leaning on the table, "Is there anything significant or strange that happened before Loki's escape?"
Everybody frowns in confusion. But, Thor answers anyway, "Well, several days afore that, a precious staff was stolen from one of our museums. It was quite noteworthy in our history, though, today, it has no worth and use. It is still being investigated. Why?"
"Yeah," Barton agrees. "How is that related to this?"
"Well," Dr. Banner clears his throat, "Don't you think it's weird that Loki chose to escape now? I mean, why not yesterday or last year, especially knowing the fact that he can easily manipulate the guards to unlock his cage and release him?"
Tony slowly nods in agreement, "Like he was waiting something to happen before he finally left."
"Yeah," Dr. Banner concurs. "Which could possibly that robbery."
"Which means he has someone helping him," you suddenly join in and it sort of surprises everyone, including you. You didn't really mean to.
"Right, but, how could he have made contact with anyone? He's locked in," Captain America speaks.
"We allow our prisoners to speak to their relatives or love ones once a month, if they have any," Thor says. "Although, for Loki, it is changed into once every three months."
"But, did he even speak to anyone?" asks Natasha.
Thor shrugs, "I'm afraid I know not of his contacts. We pay not much attention to it. However, I do visit him occasionally, though, he tells me nothing."
"How is he, anyway?" inquires Tony.
"Why do you ask?" Barton lifts a brow at him.
He shrugs, "The man could have changed. Though, I highly doubt it."
"Why bother asking, then?" you look at him incredulously.
"Imprisonment can change people, kid," he shifts his gaze at you. "Believe me, I know." A glint of sadness and anger flickers in his eye.
You frown, wondering if there's something in your uncle's past that you don't know about. You remember several years ago about his disappearing momentarily, but, it didn't seem to matter. This rouses your curiosity about him slightly.
"So, Thor?" Tony looks up at said demigod. "Has the bastard changed or not?"
Thor seems to hesitate, before he shakes his head, "Unfortunately, he has not. If anything, he's gotten much more . . . vengeful, unforgiving."
"Hm," Tony doesn't sound surprised. "Which means that this isn't about that imaginary throne anymore. It's about us and revenge."
"He's going to kill us," concludes Natasha.
You scan their faces. No one seems scared whatsoever; if anything, they seem much apprehended.
Tony nods, "Damn right. He's going to come with a plan that involves us personally."
"The kind of plan that'll greatly affect us," Dr. Banner says.
Captain America agrees, "He'll be really poking our soft spots."
"He'll be poking hard," adds Tony.
"But, how could he do that? I mean, I don't think he knows you guys much," you join in. No one seems surprised now.
Thor sighs heavily, "He has his ways, A." And leaves it at that.
You frown, confused. This Loki dude must be some sort of genius – even smarter than Tony or Dr. Banner combined.
Then there is silence.
Fury suddenly nods, seemingly in approval, glad that the team is working together, though he shows no emotions. "This guessing game isn't going to help us at all, but, I'll be keeping it in mind," he says, casting a side way glance at Agent Hill, who nods, telling him she's collected the information.
"Now," finally, he speaks louder and clearer, bouncing about the room. "Just for you to know, I'm not happy about this, especially at the fact that we don't have much facts about Loki's location and objectives. So, while we're still presuming, you better keep your guards high, yourself alert, your eyes peeled, whilst keeping this among yourselves." He glances at you, and you subconsciously gulp. "Don't even dare mention it to the public," he glues his gaze at Tony, who shifts uncomfortably to one side of his seat. "Or any of your co-workers," he looks at the agents. "Or your loved ones," he glances at Thor. "Or even think about it," he slides his gaze to Captain America and Dr. Banner. "If you're going to talk about it, we talk about here and here only. Got that?"
Everyone nods, including you, as a response.
"Got that, JARVIS?" he doesn't even look away from all of you.
"Yes, sir," replies the artificially intelligent computer, without even a stutter of fear, and actually still has the guts to speak. You wish you're an A.I. right now.
"But, consider this a warning," he pauses, meeting everybody's gazes, even Agent Hill's, his stare intimidating and frightening. He leans forward, "Keep your mouths shut – or I'm removing it," he threatens in a whisper, his eye included.
He may have meant that for everybody, but you're pretty sure it's mostly for you.
Because he's looking at you right now. (Damn untrustworthy Stark bloodline.)
And everyone knows he's not kidding.
"Dismissed."
