The reporters fired off more questions for another hour or so. Tony kept it from getting out of hand by giving them broad categories to stick to: Asgardian culture and technology (which just made Tony more jealous of Barton, Romanoff, and Banner), other aliens, the history of Asgard's interactions with Earth (they got a little bogged down in that one at the revelation that Loki's teenage theatre nerd phase had included being one of Shakespeare's original actors), and their plans for the future.
Thor had enough tact not to go off about the looming threats of alien warlords in front of a crowd of civilians, and left most of the complex answers to Loki. Brunnhilde spoke the least, but Tony caught her scrutinizing various parts of the stadium when the attention wasn't on her. She was still on the watch for signs of more trouble. That alone was as reassuring as Loki's illusions had been, and he was almost able to enjoy himself.
After a quick glance at his watch, he stepped up to the mic. "We're about ready to wrap this up," he said. "So I'll take the last question." He turned to the Asgardians. "How long are you staying, and when do you think you'll be back?"
This was one they had discussed beforehand: following the press conference, they would do a quick debrief with SHIELD and then head home. It would keep the narrative nice and simple for the public, and then they could come back at some point in the near future to meet with a bunch of world leaders and do the rest of the boring diplomatic stuff. "We'll be returning to Asgard shortly," said Thor. "Perhaps tonight. This isn't the only realm to which we want to build stronger ties, but we should be back before long."
"Yes," said Loki. "Our thanks to this city for the gracious welcome. We hope you've enjoyed the evening as much as we have."
There was a lot of applause and cheering in reply, even if most of the reporters looked grumpy that it wasn't going longer.
X
Under the stadium near where they had waited for the press conference to begin, Thor, Loki, Brunnhilde, Stark, and the lady Pepper were met by the son of Coul, who was ready to take the Asgardians back to the Triskelion before they called the Bifrost to bring them home.
"Thank you, Stark," said Thor, clapping him on the shoulder. "We could not have done this so well without your help."
"Sure thing," said Stark. "I think it went well."
Loki and Brunnhilde exchanged glances at this, which made both Thor and Pepper frown. It had gone well, had it not? Perhaps things would turn out even better than in the first timeline. No Destroyer, no invasion. There wasn't any trouble the Asgardians could be accused of causing this time. Calls to develop something like SHIELD's "Phase 2" operation would have very little to fuel them.
"I look forward to continuing our contest," said Loki, grinning. He clasped arms with Stark and kissed Pepper's hand. Thor tried not to be too enthusiastic when he hugged Stark even though he was very pleased with the day. To his surprise, Stark clasped arms with Brunnhilde, and she actually smiled at him. He was still puzzling over it when they departed with Coulson a moment later.
X
Tony couldn't get to the Manhattan penthouse fast enough. The place was outfitted a little better for shopwork than the Virginia house. Still nothing on Malibu, but he wasn't looking to build anything from scratch. He cracked open the Suitcase Armor, barely pausing to shed his suit jacket before diving in.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" said Pepper. "You've been tense since the beginning of the press conference, but you didn't put on the suit when Happy brought it to you."
"Check my coat pocket," said Tony, hooking the suitcase armor up to the computer.
Pepper walked slowly to his jacket and rummaged around in it. "Oh God, is this—?"
"There was an assassin at the stadium. Lucky for me, Asgardians can catch bullets." The computer's preliminary readout indicated a simple jammed release mechanism, but for something like that to happen the same night as an assassination attempt? It had worked just fine when he tested it after making the repairs.
"Someone tried to shoot you?" said Pepper. Her voice grew steadily louder. "Someone tried to shoot you?! And you just stayed on that platform for almost two whole hours like nothing was wrong? And you didn't tell me?"
"Colonel Rhodes and Mr. Hogan have arrived, sir," said JARVIS before Tony could try to reassure her, and they heard Happy's voice almost immediately after that.
"—nobody was going to tell the head of security about the assassin until one of my guys found the NYPD counter-sniper strung up in a utility closet? How am I supposed to do my job if I'm not in the loop?"
Tony didn't have to look at Pepper to know she was appalled. "You didn't even tell Happy?!"
Rhodey and Happy strode into the workshop. "Oh good, you didn't get murdered on the way here," said Rhodey.
"Come on, you're not gonna back me up?" said Tony.
"I spent the whole evening doing that. You didn't have to be on the field after the shots were fired."
"Shots, plural?" said Pepper, her voice jumping an entire octave.
X
Bruce had spent the afternoon and evening in a Triskelion briefing room with Agent Barton for company. At first he thought Barton was just there to keep an eye on him in case he got any funny ideas about letting the Other Guy loose in SHIELD's headquarters, but it turned out he had a very specific purpose not directly related to Bruce himself. He had dug up the personnel and medical files on the sometimes-incorporeal agent who had disrupted their lunch the previous day and had obtained clearance to get Bruce's professional opinion on them. The story they told, interrupted here and there with redacted sections, was not pleasant.
It was clear that Ava Starr was in a very similar situation to himself. Maybe worse. At least Bruce had already been an adult when he ended up on the wrong side of a doomed experiment. She'd lost her parents and her childhood to one, and she'd been taken advantage of by a government agency ever since, all while suffering worsening chronic pain.
Despite Agent Barton's stoicism, it was obvious that he cared very much about making good on SHIELD's promises to her. Bruce wanted to help, but quantum physics really wasn't his area of expertise. It was going to take a lot of study and research to understand her condition, let alone come up with any ideas for how to treat it, and in the end he might have to hand it off to someone better qualified. Fortunately, her life wasn't in immediate danger as long as she stayed off Hydra's radar, so there was time.
His initial foray into researching the subject using the additional materials Barton provided was soon interrupted, however, because of what Tony Stark and the Asgardians were up to in New York. Bruce and Agent Barton watched the entire press conference/monster truck rally-style display of alien abilities on the news, then left the TV on for the mix of replays, talking heads, and street interviews with New Yorkers who'd been there that came next. It was certainly an exciting evening for planet Earth. Bruce tried to return his focus to the research materials, but didn't make much headway.
The door to the briefing room opened and Coulson walked in, followed by Thor, Loki, and Brunnhilde. Thor beamed at the sight of Bruce and Barton, and the tension Bruce had carried in his chest since setting foot in this building loosened a little.
"You guys had an interesting day," Agent Barton observed.
"We did!" said Thor. "And what about you? You weren't in New York."
"Uh…," said Bruce, glancing at Barton.
"We've been working on how we can help our unexpected lunch guest."
"Then she is an ally?" said Loki.
"Not an enemy, at least," said Barton. "Pretty skittish, though, and for good reason."
"Are we really going back to Asgard tonight?" said Bruce.
"Yes, I think so," said Thor. "Did you have some objection?"
"I kinda...invited someone," said Bruce, feeling his face heat up. That had probably been a massive presumption on his part. "I thought there'd be a couple more days for her to decide if she wants to come."
"Well perhaps we can contact her now," said Thor, unconcerned. "And if not, we can still send for her when she's ready."
X
Tony endured a very uncomfortable half-hour that he probably deserved, even if it didn't make him regret not pulling the plug on the press conference. Mostly he was sorry he'd made Happy, Rhodey, and Pepper so worried again. He was going to have to reset his counter that marked the days since the last time he did that. Eventually, Happy left to go deal with the NYPD, Rhodey left to go back to his Air Force base, and Pepper went to bed with a headache.
Tony was now deep into dismantling the Suitcase Armor, with no sign of the flaw the diagnostic report had described, when JARVIS announced the arrival of more guests. "Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff are requesting access to the penthouse elevator, sir," he said.
"Send them up," said Tony. It took another minute for them to reach the workshop. He glanced up at their entrance. They both had wet hair and clothes from Thor's storm. "You missed the party," he said, looking back down at the disassembled suit. It was about time to start looking at the software.
"Party?" said Rogers.
"Yeah, the party where everyone yells at me for being reckless. It's been the theme of all my social events this year."
"Uh, no," said Rogers. "Not here for that."
"Do you want the good news first or the bad news?" said Romanoff.
"Bad news."
"He got away," said Rogers.
Tony froze. He had to remind himself that all the windows in the penthouse were bulletproof glass to stop the panic from coming back. "And there's good news?"
"We won't have to rely on facial recognition to find Sergeant Barnes," said Romanoff.
"What?" said Tony.
"The assassin is Bucky," said Rogers. "That's what Hydra's using him for."
"He's not just any assassin either," said Romanoff, while Rogers walked over to the window, grim-faced. "He's the ghost story of the intelligence community. Dozens of confirmed kills across five decades. Including one mark he shot through me." She moved her left hand over a spot on her side with a wince almost too small to notice. Her words didn't disturb Tony nearly as much as her demeanor. She was trying to hide it, but for the first time since he'd met her, she was rattled.
X
Steve looked out over Manhattan through the floor-to-ceiling windows that took the place of most of the walls. This might be the worst he'd felt since he watched Bucky fall from the train. He thought back to what he'd been like when they fought in the street. He didn't think he'd ever seen him so enraged. And stabbing that girl… Steve and Romanoff had accompanied her to the hospital before coming here. The doctors were confident she'd recover. Had Bucky done that on purpose or did she just get lucky because she wasn't his real target?
"You both offered to help me find him," said Steve, "I'm grateful for that, but I can't hold you to it."
"You think you can track him down on your own?" said Romanoff.
He turned to face her and Tony. "I don't know. I have to believe that Bucky's still in there somewhere, but it doesn't change that he could've killed you both. You don't owe either of us anything."
Romanoff exchanged a glance with Tony. "Look, Rogers, I'm not going to pretend the Winter Soldier doesn't scare the hell out of me," she said, "but I used to be a Russian assassin, and I don't even know how many of the missions I've done for SHIELD were furthering Hydra's goals. If Barnes isn't working for them of his own free will, I'd be a hypocrite to run away from this."
Steve looked into her serious face. It was strange to think that less than twelve hours ago, he'd been nervous that she might try to seduce him on Fury's orders. Now it was hard to imagine attempting to pull Bucky out of Hydra's clutches without her. He nodded.
"Yeah I'm gonna have to agree with Romanoff," said Tony, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Second chances all around. I won't play nice if he tries to shoot me again, but I'm still in."
"Thank you," said Steve.
Tony shrugged. "Hey, if I'm on Hydra's hit list, it's not like I can sit this one out."
"I think tonight was more about messing up the press conference than it was about eliminating you in particular, but I wouldn't drop my guard," said Romanoff.
X
Thor was very glad he had decided to visit Earth when he had. They'd achieved so much in just a few days. Loki was an Avenger and the original Avengers had all met together, Hydra was known to them so they would be able to start rooting them out of SHIELD, he had a better understanding of how he had traveled through time, and they had laid considerable groundwork for their interplanetary alliance. Somehow it all seemed to bode well for their dealings with Jotunheim, and with all the progress Jane, Erik, and Banner were making on the tracking device, the Dokkalfar wouldn't be a problem he needed to worry about much longer. That would only leave Hela and Thanos.
There was a long way to go yet, but Thor's steadfast determination to succeed had never been paired with quite so much hope. Even the thought of encountering Fandral when they returned couldn't sour his mood.
He, Loki, Brunnhilde, and Banner were back at the Bifrost site outside the American capital city and saying their farewells to Coulson when one of those yellow vehicles the mortals called cabs came racing up. It screeched to a halt and Betty Ross jumped out of the back. "Wait!" she cried. "I'm here!"
Bruce's entire face lit up in a way Thor had never seen, and he dashed over to help her carry her things.
"There's no need to worry, good lady," said Thor. "We would not have left without you."
"Oh, thanks," she said. She shifted the bags she was holding to one arm so she could wave at them. "I'm Betty Ross. I already know who all of you are from watching the press conference."
"What changed?" said Bruce, still wearing the broad smile while hoisting two large pieces of luggage. "I thought you needed time to come up with a good justification for a sabbatical."
"So did I, but my dean saw the press conference too, and he pretty much insisted on sending me right away if it meant Culver would get Earth's first crack at researching an alien planetoid. I didn't mention that Foster and Selvig are already there in case it changed his mind."
Bruce laughed.
"Delighted to make your acquaintance properly, Dr. Ross," said Loki as they all moved to stand on the charred knotwork pattern in the grass.
Betty was clearly a little surprised that an alien prince should be delighted to meet her, but she smiled at him and Thor and Brunnhilde as well. "Thanks. It's good to meet you too."
"It's quite overdue," Loki added, "considering that I briefly impersonated you last month."
"What?" said Betty.
Thor chuckled. "Heimdall, we're ready!"
The idea of a college dean reacting to an alien press conference by throwing one of his best professors at the aliens is extremely funny to me. And Loki is absolutely going to get swarmed by Shakespeare scholars and actors the next time he comes to Earth, assuming he doesn't head straight to the Sanctum. They might be frustrated when he can't settle the received pronunciation vs. original pronunciation debate because such distinctions are lost on Allspeak, but he should be able to clear up exactly what Shakespeare looked like, at least.
In the scene where Steve tries to let Tony and Nat off the hook about helping him with Bucky, Tony's dialogue was originally more extensive. He talked about how he used to have the nickname "the Merchant of Death" and he has as much blood on his hands as Bucky and Nat, but it didn't work. He'd be thinking about that stuff but he wouldn't say it out loud.
We're headed back to Asgard now, but I'll probably be checking in with Midgard a little more often than I did prior to this arc, now that they've set so much in motion.
You guys are all watching WandaVision, right? So psyched for the finale this week. The whole series has been a freaking blast. I love having new MCU content, and I weirdly love getting it in bite-sized pieces.