If Tony wasn't so busy practicing his angry dad face, he would have been impressed. His kid hadn't been flying for very long, but she'd managed to get herself, and the Quinjet, to Sakovia in as few pieces as possible. He couldn't wait to get home to look for damages he'd never find. He was bolstering most of Clint's weight on his own shoulders, but Nat was clinging to the archer's other side. It didn't look good for the guy; that was for sure.
Steve tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the cargo hatch to open. The team had done what they'd come to do. They had retrieved Loki's scepter. Mission accomplished. His post mission debriefing would be short. Short enough that he would have plenty of time to sit Lex down and have a serious conversation about trust. With his hands on his hips, he gave Barton a side glace. He would most likely pull through if they got him home in time.
It was snowing, and Bruce was freezing. All he could think of was whoever the hell was on the other side of that hatch better have a hot towel…or at least the heat turned on. Thor had been kind enough to lend out his cape temporarily, but it wasn't exactly room temperature under there. He wanted to hug Lex Stark when he saw her standing at the top of the ramp, a bundle of clean clothes in one hand and her other gripped on a medical stretcher.
"E-Vac at the ready?" She said in a shaky voice. Steve and Nat set to work hauling Clint up onto the stretcher and inside the jet. Banner practically scrambled for the clothes Lex offered out to him. He felt much better with his feet in a pair of shoes and his body in an actual pair of pants. Thor seemed completely oblivious to the scenes unfolding around him. He stepping inside, still proudly brandishing the scepter.
"We're gonna have a talk later." Tony pointed a finger as his daughter. His took off his Iron Man suit, allowing it to fold itself into a suitcase shape. He kicked the suitcase under a random seat and sat in the Captain's chair before closing the cargo hatch and starting the engines back up. Lex stepped out of her own suit, biting her lip. She had no idea how to make it fold up like Tony's or if it even could. So instead she left the empty shell standing in the corner and looked around.
Her father had his back to her, operating the Quinjet and trying to get them out of there. Nat was inserting an IV line in Clint's arm. Steve and Thor were now both studying Loki's scepter. A fully clothed Dr. Banner was sitting in the opposite corner on the floor. She decided to join him there. After all, he'd still be naked if it wasn't for her. He probably would handle her company better than the others.
"Thank you for the clothes." Was the first thing he said. He gave her a grateful kiss on the forehead. It wasn't just for the clothes. She was still a kid on a lot of ways, and she never looked at him like the monster that he was. It seemed Lex had the trouble seeing the monsters that hid inside of anyone. Although it was dangerous to think like that, he hoped the idea never went away from her.
"I sort of stole them from your locker in Tony's lab. I hope you don't mind. I didn't really know how the whole Hulk thing worked. From what I saw on TV though, the other guy is not much of a fan of clothing." This earned a laugh from the scientist.
"No, he's not. He's not a fan of too many things. Not cars, trees or other people." Bruce sighed.
"He can't be all bad." Lex leaned her head on his shoulder. She liked Dr. Banner. She loved all the Avengers like family really, because in a lot of ways they were the only family she had. She couldn't stand to see even one of them depressed. "Thor!" She called out to the god while holding his own cape in offering. "Can Dr. Banner have a status report on the Hulk?"
"The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims!" Thor's booming voice replied cheerily as he walked over to claim his cape. Bruce leaned forward, hiding his face in his hands. Lex widened her eyes at the god trying to say 'That's not what I meant!'
"Ehh…but not the screams of the dead of course." Thor took slow steps backwards. He was trying to get back to his spot next to Steve. "No, ah…wounded screams. Mainly whimpering…a great deal of complaining…" He let his sentence trail off. He was being of no help to the midgardians.
"Hey Banner!" Tony yelled over his shoulder from the cockpit. "Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"
"Uh, yeah." Bruce called back. "She knows her way around."
"Thanks. JARVIS take the wheel." Tony let his AI take control of the jet. He could have had JARVIS pick them up to, but when Clint mentioned letting Lex fly them out of there, well he just had to see for himself.
"On a scale of Dr. B to the other guy, how mad is he with me right now?" Lex whispered to Bruce, nodding her head in her father's direction. They watched as the billionaire joined Thor and Steve at the scepter.
"I'd say a solid olive." Banner confirmed. "He's probably pretty pissed, but you learned to fly a plane in what, two months? That's impressive, even for a Stark. He won't stay mad for very long. He never does with you. The Captain on the other hand…" They both turned the attention to Steve. Even though he hadn't said much since boarding the jet, his body language said plenty.
"Yeah, you're probably right." She sighed, still watching Steve and Tony. Lex decided she should probably go over and see them both. Let them decide who got to deliver the first metaphorical blow. "By the way, it only took me four weeks, not two months." She added before rising from the floor and walking away.
"Yes, yes! Of course. Victory must be celebrated with revels!" Thor was saying as she made her way over to the threesome.
"Who doesn't love revels?" Tony leaned against the wall in agreement. "Captain?"
"Hopefully, this puts an end to Hydra and the Chitauri, so yes, revels." Steve nodded.
"Rough day at the office, am I right?" Lex laughed half-heartedly.
"Excuse me, I must assist the spider woman." Thor made an immediate exit from the conversation by pretending to help Natasha with Clint's care.
"Cap, would you mind…?" Tony put a hand on Lex's shoulder.
"All yours." Steve nodded. He too went to follow up on Barton. With everyone else gathered towards the front of the plane the father and daughter were free to have a one on one conversation.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Tony hissed. "This isn't sneaking down to Rogers' apartment to watch a movie at one in the morning or Wilson taking you and Rachelle out for cheeseburgers in the middle of the night, yeah I knew about all of that by the way. This is something that's actually dangerous, Alexandria!" Lex flinched involuntarily. Tony never called her by her full name. It felt unsettling in his voice. She started to feel as if she had really screwed things up. She wish Clint was well enough to help defend her. Her eyes flicked over to where he was laying.
"Don't think he's getting out of this either!" Her father snarled, bringing the attention back to himself. "I aught take his kids out. Teach 'em something dangerous like…driving a car. You hear that Barton? I'm taking your kids out for a joy ride in a very fast, very dangerous sports car!" Tony was sure if Barton were conscious, he'd be laughing.
"What am I going to do with you, Alexandra?" He raked a hand through his already tousled hair. "I know what you're grandfather would tell me to do…I'm so upset I can't even think straight!" He massaged his face, trying to collect his jumbled thoughts. "Whose idea was it? Yours? Barton's? Rogers'?"
"No, no. Steve had nothing to do with it. I promise, Dad. Um, Tony." Lex looked down at her feet. She thought back on the day she'd first proposed the idea to Clint. Her reasoning seemed so concreate at the time. Now she felt like a stupid headstrong kid. But Clint hadn't seen things that way. He had taken her request seriously. Encouraged her to treat her skills as a resource and acquire as many new ones as she could.
"It was my idea, Tony." She looked up at him with new resolve. "Clint and I talked it over for a very long time before he agreed to help me. I didn't ask you or Steve because I knew you'd both say no. You both care about me too much to let my even try something so dangerous. I know you trust Clint, you trust all of these guys with your life every day. I'm safer learning from them than anyone else on the planet. Plus I think I proved today that having yet another pilot on the team could be an asset. Sure, you probably could have used JARVIS to autopilot the jet from home to Sakovia, but there might not always be a JARVIS or any AI. If I'm going to be a member of this team, I need to be a useful one. I need to have skills that will benefit everyone. Not just flashy gadgets."
Tony was listening as hard as he could. He genuinely tried to be apathetic to her position. He tried to understand how she was feeling. But, as he found out, it is difficult to favor someone else's position over your own when they are literally looking up at you with your face. While Lex's mouth was saying she had thoroughly thought things through, her eyes had the familiar Stark spark in them. They were the same eyes he'd seen in the mirror a hundred times. Eyes that seemed to say 'I sure as hell hope this works out okay.'
"How long has this been going on?" He asked finally. He wasn't going to be able to stop her, being that she was an adult, but he at least needed to know how much damage had already been done. He needed to know what he could do to make sure she stayed safe.
"I've done thirty four hours in four weeks. Plus, I flew here by myself. JARVIS was mostly navigation." She told him. Tony couldn't hide how impressed he was. She could see it on his face. Dr. Banner had said two months would have been impressive for a Stark. Clearly her father felt the same.
"Go sit down, we're gonna be home soon." Was all Tony said before turning and going back to the cockpit.
A/n: After a forever long hiatus I'm back with two updates in the same day! Yay! As I'm sure you guys have already worked out by now, I am starting to work with Age Of Ultron. Hopefully that means updates with be quicker and easier because I'll be working off a source material, rather than every single moment having to come from my brain. Some things from Ultron will stay the same other things will change. I dont have every detail mapped out perfectly just yet, but I at least have an idea of where I would like to go! And as always, I'm open to questions and even suggestions if you guys have any!
Thank you to POKEMON, inazumame1997, & Nightmarehunter676 for your reviews of Chapter 9! I hope everyone enjoyed Chap. 10. I will be back with 11 ASAP! :)