Shawarma was the perfect comfort food after saving the world from an alien invasion.
No one was talking. Not only because they were physically exhausted, but also because this was their first chance to sit down and process the events of the last three days since Loki had appeared. Of course, Tony had the advantage of a head start; he was the first human on the team who had met an alien before. But even that hadn't been enough to prepare him for what he had seen in that wormhole.
"Tony!"
He jumped when he heard Pepper's voice. She was here, standing in the doorway, with Rhodey beside her. They ran to each other's arms. The whole world had just changed for good, but she was still the same perfect woman he remembered. She was his anchor, his rock, especially now more than ever.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone. And I should've been here sooner, but the air traffic was crazy and I—"
"Shh. It's okay."
"Is it?"
Tony just kissed her in response. Then, still holding Pepper in his arms he turned to Rhodey. "Sorry, buddy. You missed all the fun."
He sighed heavily. He had known about the Avengers Initiative, but he still had a "What the hell did you get yourself into?" look on his face as he studied those who were sitting at the table. "God, what a mess…"
"Oh, have you met my new friends? You already know Agent Romanoff. The other agent is Clint Barton. Dr. Bruce Banner, we're definitely hiring him, by the way. This one is Thor, and last, but not the least, Captain Steve Rogers."
Romanoff, Barton, and Rogers gave respectful nods. Thor waved his hand cheerfully while still stuffing his mouth. Banner flashed a timid smile.
Cap stood up. "We should all get back to the tower. This isn't over. Banner, Stark, you help Dr. Selvig build the device that would teleport Thor and Loki back to Asgard. The rest of us should keep an eye on Loki."
They had locked Loki in the bunker beneath the tower.
"My brother no longer poses a threat to Midgard."
"That might be so. But there're many people who want to get their hands on him right now."
It was hard for Tony to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Cap was still treating everyone as soldiers. Nevertheless, he led the way back to the tower, with Pepper. He was too tired to pick another fight.
Damage Control was already here. Tony couldn't help but think he would do a better job than SHIELD at containing this stuff. Besides, who would trust Fury not to mess with these things after what they had discovered on the helicarrier? Maybe it was time to take reigns.
Sigyn was waiting for them in the lobby. She shook Pepper's hand first, then Rhodey's. "You must be Ms. Potts and Colonel Rhodes. I wish we didn't have to meet under such unfortunate circumstances."
Pepper smiled. Tony was afraid that he would see some signs of jealousy—Barbie Thor was smoking hot, that was a fact—but there were none. "Thanks for watching over Ana."
"We could've used your help here," Cap said sharply.
Yeah, because screw my daughter's safety, right? What was the matter with him? They had done just fine without a second Asgardian on the team.
He continued, "Or, during the war, back in my day. I wish Odin hadn't waited until it was over."
Watching Sigyn realize Steve Rogers was more of a cranky old man than the perfect soldier she had imagined gave Tony a strange satisfaction. He had liked working with him today, true, but some wounds never fully healed.
"Odin believed humans must advance through adversary. That intervening in your affairs would stall your progress. And perhaps he was right. If we'd stopped the war, you wouldn't have become Captain America. As for today… I had to make a difficult choice, and I will suffer the consequences. I will be banished from the Nine Realms for refusing to fight against my husband."
"Sigyn, if I talk to Father, maybe you won't have to be banished from the Nine Realms. Maybe he'll let you stay here," Thor said.
"That would be a reward, not a punishment. Your father knows that. But I was going to ask for your permission to go to Washington DC before leaving the Nine Realms for good."
"Of course. You deserve to bid Peggy farewell."
"Peggy?" Cap gasped. "Peggy Carter?"
Sigyn frowned. "She's alive. I thought Fury told you?"
"I read the files. I know she's alive. I just didn't know she was so… close. I thought she was in London."
"Oh, right… We put her old address in the files. It's a safety precaution. She's in a nursing home in DC. Would you like to come with me? We can visit her together."
The great Captain America looked like he was almost going to cry. He had been caught totally off-guard. "I—I don't know."
Well, normally, he would love to watch Captain America get sappy and all, but he had flown into a wormhole, carrying a nuclear missile on his back, so right now, all he wanted was to relax in private, with his girlfriend, daughter, and best friend. Besides, when they had hugged, Tony had definitely smelled wine on Ana. It was okay to unwind every once in a while, but if it became a habit… Yeah, that was a red flag. He wanted to talk to her about it.
Working with Selvig could wait until tomorrow. The teleportation device he would design for the Tesseract would be similar to Ana's tech anyway. Needless to say, the others didn't have to know that.
"I'll see you guys later," he said, took Rhodey and Pepper, and got into the elevator.
JARVIS said Ana was in the penthouse, so they went there, and found her examining a Chitauri gun, while Happy was telling her to be careful with it.
She put the weapon down carefully. "Maybe we can dismantle it and hide the parts before SHIELD takes it away."
Pepper gasped. "Why do you want to do such a thing?"
"Because I'm a scientist."
"You don't have to worry about that," Tony said.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm going to purchase Damage Control."
Everyone in the room looked at him, taken aback.
"This alien tech is dangerous," Tony explained. "And the only tech I trust to keep it from falling into the wrong hands is my own."
For some reason, Ana seemed much more happy to hear than he had expected her to be.
…
Tony couldn't sleep. He should be able to sleep; he was exhausted. Both physically and mentally. But instead, he had been tossing and turning in the bed for three hours. He looked at Pepper, who was fast asleep. If he kept going like this, he was going to wake her up, and then she was going to spend the rest of the night trying to comfort him. He didn't want to do that to her. She needed her rest.
He slipped out of the bed carefully, and set off to his private lab. He didn't know what he was going to do, he just wanted to go there.
"Miss, I have to warn you," JARVIS was saying. "The core is highly volatile."
Ana was here, too. And she was experimenting with a glowing purple ball. She didn't even hear him enter.
"Did you get that thing from a Chitauri weapon?"
She sighed. "Busted…"
"Yep. You know, this is the second time you stole something."
"So what? Are you going to ground me? I know the consequences of my actions. I've decided to take a calculated risk. I'm not a thief. Or an alcoholic."
"I never said you were. I'm just worried about you. I told you I'd purchase Damage Control. Just wait for a couple of days, and then we can legally play with this stuff. Unless, of course, you're working on a secret project…"
"I'm not hiding anything from you, Dad. But what if you can't purchase Damage Control? We can't take any chances. We've already lost the Scepter to SHIELD. And the Tesseract to Asgard."
"Let the cube be their problem. It's caused our world more than enough trouble."
"Without it, I'm never going to be able to discover the connection between the Tesseract and the Scepter."
"What connection?"
"I spoke to Selvig. He said he used the Scepter to turn off the Tesseract."
"How?"
"That's the problem. He doesn't know. Says the Scepter 'told' him that the Tesseract cannot fight against itself."
"Banner thinks the Tesseract powers the Scepter. They have similar energy readings."
"They both emit a low level of gamma radiation, I know. But if Banner were right, the Scepter couldn't have been used to close the portal. On the contrary, it would've amplified the energy."
Good point. He was intrigued. "What's your theory?"
She looked at the Arc Reactor on his chest.
"What?"
"JARVIS told me Loki wanted to use the Scepter on you. But it didn't work."
"You think the Arc Reactor protected me?"
"Not the Arc Reactor. The element. It was based on the Tesseract, right? I bet an Arc Reactor with a palladium core couldn't have done that. But we can't test that theory, because SHIELD took the Scepter to who knows where!"
"Even if you're right, what does that mean? Mind control prevention?" That would be quite useful, actually. Maybe another big invention of hers was on the way.
"I don't know, I'm not a neuroscientist. I just feel like this is important for some reason. Call it a hunch."
"Well, I'm a Consultant for SHIELD. I'll see if Fury lets us get our hands on the Scepter. Can't make any promises, though. What about the Chitauri piece?"
"There's nothing tricky about it. It's just a stress ball, really. Want to take a look? You look like you could use a stress ball."
"Actually, sir, that 'stress ball' is an energy core that will become highly explosive when exposed to radiation," JARVIS reminded. "I am not certain if there are other triggering factors."
Tony pulled a chair to sit down, and gestured her to do the same. She did. "I think I just want to talk."
"About what you did today?"
"Yeah. I tried not to think too much while doing it, but now that I look back, it's terrifying. One second, I was here in New York, where I was born and raised. Then I was in an uncharted part of space. I can't even imagine how it must have been like for you. I'm sorry, kid."
"What did you see when you were in there?"
"The rest of Loki's army. We were outmatched, Ana. I don't think we would've been able to stop them without that missile."
Perhaps he shouldn't have said that. He didn't want to frighten her. But he really needed to chat with another genius, and she was the one he trusted the most. And she looked like she was expecting to hear this. "I understand, Dad. I don't blame you. Someone had to put a nuke into that portal. I wish it hadn't been you, but I don't know who else could've done it either."
"Maybe it's just too much, even for me."
"Dad, it's okay to be overwhelmed sometimes. If you want to be scared, be scared. If you want to freak out, freak out. Just allow yourself to be human for a while. You've earned it."
"Wow, you're suddenly so… wise."
"You mean, I wasn't wise before?"
"Not really."
She laughed, then became serious again. "The world has changed forever, Dad. I have to be wise. We both do. If we're to shape the new world, we can't let the old one and its rules stand in our way."
Tony got up and crossed to her work station to examine the Chitauri energy core more closely. "I feel like we're the only ones who understand what this change really means. Do you feel the same way?"
"Absolutely."
"Are you scared?"
She came to lean against him. "No. I think you and I can handle aliens."
He smiled. Ana was... different. She was more focused now, like she had finally found her true purpose in life. Funny how her mind worked like computer programs. They, too, were purpose-oriented. No wonder JARVIS was the perfect brother for her.
…
Two days later, Selvig's device was ready. They met at Central Park. Loki was still chained and muzzled. Sigyn wasn't even looking at him. When Thor activated the mechanism, everyone else took a step back.
After the other two Asgardians were gone, Sigyn approached Tony. "I never thought my duty on Earth would end like this."
"Where will you go now?"
"Wherever fate takes me."
"Thank you," Tony blurted out. Sigyn might have more secrets than Fury did, but she was the one who had given him the greatest gift he had ever received. And he had never thanked her for that. This was his last chance. "For making me a father… That came out wrong, didn't it?"
She chuckled softly. "You have a beautiful family, Tony. Take good care of them. Especially Ana. I fear for her."
"Why?"
"Because every time I look at her, I see Howard. His dark side, at least. It consumed him. I don't mean to scare you, but—"
"No, I'm glad you warned me."
"Oh, and can you give this to her?" She took out some kind of golden pendant from her bag and gave it to Tony. "She can use it to communicate with me."
He examined the circular pendant. It was made of two identical pieces, with a small red gem in the center. There were runes carved on the edges. "How?"
"Just hold it in your palm and think of me. And for the love of the Norns, do not dismantle it. You humans don't have the technology to put it back together."
Tony couldn't help but smile. She knew the Starks too well. "Okay."
"Goodbye, Tony." Much to his embarrassment, she pulled her into a hug.
"Yeah, goodbye, Auntie," he scoffed, reluctantly patting on her back.
After she released him and got into her car, Steve came to shake his hand. Tony hated that amused smile on his face.
"I'm glad Howard and Peggy had a loyal friend like her."
"Are you going to DC with her?"
"I am."
He wondered how much he knew about his ex-girlfriend's condition, and decided not to be the one to break it to him. "Good luck, Cap."
"Thank you."
He hopped on his bike, and soon disappeared out of sight, following Sigyn's car. Tony got into his Acura. Dr. Banner was already waiting for him in the passenger seat.
"I'm sorry," he started. "Agent Romanoff said that Asgardian woman was an old family friend of yours. This must be hard."
"Not really. I didn't even know she existed until two years ago."
"Oh."
"Yeah… So, how does it feel like to be a free man again?" Fury had made some arrangement to lift his fugitive status.
Banner smiled. "It feels good."