Sorry this is a bit late but I'll have the rest of the Avenger's movie posted today. There's a note on both my accounts as to what I have planned for my stories, as I've just started graduate school and am short on time to write. But anyway, hope you enjoy this! And please review! It really helps me know how I'm doing with this :)
Loki was placed inside a sealed metal container with clear walls as Fury worked some controls.
"In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass…" Fury opened up a pit underneath the container, allowing Loki to look down into the sky below. "30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" He closed the door. "Ant. Boot."
Loki though, chuckled. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."
"Built for something a lot stronger than you."
"Oh, I've heard." Loki turned to the camera that was playing footage to the others in a different room. "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I?" Fury mocked.
"Very," Jess muttered, earning a raised brow from Tony. "What?"
"You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
Jess opened her mouth, but Tony kicked her under the table, shutting her up before she could make another snarky comment as he got up to get a quick tour. It wasn't the right sort of atmosphere to be making jokes.
"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is."
"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Fury said as he left, and the connection was switched off.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce teased, earning a snort from Jess.
"Anyone who can upset Fury grows on me," she hummed.
"Sorry. Jess sort of upset him repeatedly before, so Fury's not really her fan," Tony explained to the others, though Steve smirked.
"So, we've heard." He got them back on topic then. "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"
"He has an army called the Chitauri," Thor replied. "They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
"An army from outer space."
Jess sighed. "Don't sound so surprised, Steve."
Bruce hummed. "So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig?" Thor questioned.
"He's an astrophysicist."
"He's a friend," Thor corrected.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha clarified, "along with one of ours."
"I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."
"You could just ask, you know," Jess hummed.
"I doubt he'll just tell you."
"Never hurts to try, though he wants us focused on him, that much is obvious."
"What makes you say that?" Bruce questioned, though he already knew they needed to turn their attention away from Loki.
"Lawyers do it all the time. They want to turn the jury's attention to the sob story. Make the criminal seem like the victim in order to keep their attention away from the fact the criminal committed a crime. This is something similar. He wants us focused on him to turn our attention away from whatever he's getting his group of mind-controlled people doing."
"Well, I agree," Bruce replied. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him."
"Have care how you speak," Thor grumbled. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother."
"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha argued.
"He's adopted," Thor tried, earning a small smile from Jess.
"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce explained. "Jess, you said they were taking Iridium, right? What do they need the Iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony said upon his return, turning to chat with Coulson. "I'm just saying, pick a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive."
Jess rolled her eyes. "And he returns."
"Come on, Jess. You know you love me," Tony teased, kissing her temple and massaging her shoulders as he continued. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. Nice catch, Jess, knowing it wasn't an earthquake."
"Don't mock me," she muttered, though not pressing the issue too much.
Tony's fingers were working magic on her tense shoulders, but he was quick to stop and gave Thor a pat on the arm.
"No hard feelings, Point-Break. You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants," He continued explaining, as if he'd never stopped to mess with Thor, before standing at the helm of the ship. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails."
Jess sighed as the crew below shot Tony annoyed looks. In response, Tony pointed to another crew member.
"That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."
"Sorry. Believe it or not, but even a genius can be an idiot," Jess explained, getting up as Tony put a hand to his face.
"How does Fury even see these?"
"He turns," Maria Hills said, looking displeased.
"Sounds exhausting."
"And at the moment, you're being exhausting," Jess complained. "Go sit down."
"Why?"
"Because I told you too."
Tony turned to face her with a frown. "You're not the boss of me."
"Oh, believe me, I am." Jess pointed at a chair. "Sit."
Tony opened his mouth to argue and Jess raised a brow. It took only a second, but Tony begrudgingly gave in and took a seat with a childish pout—the others struggling to resist the urge to snigger.
"Now, continue," Jess waved Tony on, sitting down beside him.
"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the cube."
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hills questioned dubiously.
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. You should have taken a look, Jess. They were pretty good. Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked.
"He'd have to heat the cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce jumped in.
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony said, getting up and approaching Bruce as Jess eyed the two over the rim of her coffee mug.
"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."
"Finally, someone who speaks English," Tony praised.
"Is that what just happened?" Bruce questioned as they shook hands in appreciation.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lost control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"…Thanks."
"And that's as civil as he gets," Jess grumbled, just as Fury walked in.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him, seeing as your current partner is willing to."
"Again, I'm only babysitting," Jess drawled as Steve spoke up.
"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube," Fury informed. "And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys? I do not understand," Thor said, and Jess leaned back in her chair to look at him.
"It's a figure of speech. He means lackeys, slaves. It's from a movie."
Thor blinked, but nodded, starting to get it with the simpler explanation as Steve announced he understood the reference and Tony rolled his eyes.
"Shall we play, Doctor?"
Bruce gestured to the door. "This way, sir."
Tony though, pointed a stern finger at Jess. "No trouble making."
"Says the trouble-maker," Jess countered, waving him off. "I'll drag you two out later for food. I've seen how you get Tony, and something tells me you get absorbed in your work much the same way, Dr. Banner."
Bruce cracked a sheepish smile and they headed out.
I rubbed at the kink in my neck, waiting for the coffee to finish up so I could bring Tony and Bruce an evening meal. And I'll be lucky if they sit down to eat it instead of scooping some off the plate and continuing to work. I glanced at the sandwich wraps, skewered fruits, and deviled eggs uncertainly. They're working, so I wanted non-messy finger food, but I don't have a clue what Bruce's preferences are. Tony probably would want something less healthy, but just because his chest piece is working nicely doesn't mean he should stop eating decently. I paused as I poured the coffee.
"God, I'm acting like their mother. What has the world come to?"
I grabbed the food and mugs, working my way out of the staff kitchen and towards where I'd been told the lab was. When I showed up though, I was a little displeased. Tony had just prodded Bruce with a small electric wire and Steve had stormed in rather ferociously.
"Are you nuts?" Steve snapped.
"Jury's out," Tony replied to him as he glanced at Bruce, who was resisting a small smile, surprisingly enough. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed? My girlfriend has a thing for exercise, is that it?"
"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve bit out as I slowly made my way into the room unnoticed.
"Funny things are," Tony chirped.
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc."
"I-It's all right. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."
"You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut," Tony hummed, having spotted me and heading over.
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark."
"Steve," I said with a sharp tone, drawing his gaze to me in surprise.
"Jess."
"Relax," I pressed, handing him a plate with some food. "Honestly, if there's one thing I know about all you superhero types since I've gotten to know Tony, it's that you don't know how to relax."
"Hey, I know how to relax," Tony argued, and I didn't even look at him.
"Two years ago."
He hesitated. "I was dying. That doesn't count."
"And the year before that."
He went to argue but then nodded, taking a sandwich wrap. "All right. You've got me there."
Steve didn't look convinced and I sighed.
"I'm not saying forget the problem isn't there. I'm just saying that stressing yourself about it isn't going to get it solved. Tony handles stress with jokes and quips. I handle it with extensive exercise and alcohol on occasion. You might handle it differently just as Bruce handles it differently. But no matter how we handle our stress, it won't distract us from what's important."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"No," I argued, a bit harsher than I really intended. "It's not me you should be apologizing to."
Steve winced but glanced at Tony, who folded his arms with a smirk. "Sorry."
"Apology accepted."
I sighed. "I didn't quite mean him either. He honestly deserved a little scolding for being childish."
"Again, with the insults," Tony grumbled, sticking a strawberry on a toothpick in his mouth.
I nodded towards Bruce when Steve gave me a confused look though.
"But—"
"But nothing. We're all in this ship working together. Just because his power is different from yours doesn't mean you get to say things like that."
"It's fine, Jess. Really," Bruce tried. "I'm used to it."
I frowned at him. "And you shouldn't have to be used to it. No one should get used to abuse like that, no matter who it's from or how accurate or inaccurate it might be." I whipped back around to Steve. "You might not be friends and I don't expect you to act like friends, but I do expect you to respect one another. I shouldn't have to babysit a bunch of grown adults who are too caught up in being superpowered to remember that they are just as human as the rest of us. Words still hurt, Captain."
He winced at the title as I turned away from him and tried to relax as I cracked a small smile at Bruce.
"I brought sandwich wraps and other things. Wasn't sure what you liked, so there's turkey, spicy tuna, and vegetarian. All labeled." I glanced at Tony, who jerked straight. "I'll be at the gym. Natasha said she'd spar with me. Coffee's on the table."
"Righto," he said around a mouthful of food, making me roll my eyes as I went to kiss his cheek.
"Thank you for not making it worse," I murmured to him softly, earning a small smirk.
"See? Told you I can do this."
Not that I don't believe him, but… it is Tony, I mused, waving to the group as I headed out. Only the first day and I'm already at the point where I'm going to strangle someone. And I half expected it to be Tony himself.
Tony leaned back, eyeing Jess as she left before looking at Steve.
"Now you've done it."
"Done what?"
Even Bruce gave him a look. "You… really don't know?"
"Don't know what?"
"Oh, Star-Spangled-Smarty-Pants didn't see what he just did. Even the Green Guy gets it," Tony sighed, offering Bruce a plate that the man gratefully took.
"What? What did I do?" Steve pressed and Tony pointed his sandwich wrap at the door.
"You've upset her."
Steve frowned. "Jess? Well, I hadn't meant to."
"But you did," Bruce added, holding his hands up in surrender when Steve frowned at him.
"Look. I hadn't meant any harm by what I said, I was just—"
"Venting?" Tony offered with a raised brow. "You know she's right."
"Right about what? Getting along?"
"That, and you needing to relax."
"I am relaxed."
"Eh, not quite. Seem a bit uptight to me. What do you think, Doc?"
Bruce grimaced. "I just want to work."
"Oh, come on. She wants us to get along, yeah? So, truce." Tony stuck out his hand towards Steve, who hesitated.
"A truce? Just because she got a little upset?"
Tony snorted. "Trust me. You really don't want her on your bad side."
"If she can handle you, I think I know that much."
"Well, it's a bit more than that," Tony said as Steve grasped his hand and he held it tight. "You owe her an apology too."
Steve nodded, making to pull back, but Tony didn't let go, actually holding tighter. "Wha—"
"I don't think you understand, Captain," Tony pressed.
"Understand what? I know I upset her. That's why we're having a truce, isn't it?"
"I think you did more than that," Bruce muttered.
Steve looked between them confused and Tony frowned, restraining his anger as much as he could.
"You don't know anything about her."
"No. They didn't give us her files."
"Doesn't matter," Tony argued. "You don't get to say things like that to her, do you understand? You don't get to act like abuse is something you can just brush off with a simple apology. You don't get to brush her off, got it?"
Steve finally jerked his hand out of Tony's still a bit confused at the sudden anger, but Bruce gave the angered man a small sad look.
"Who was it?" He asked softly as Tony turned back to the food that had been left for them.
"Who?" Steve began to question before Tony responded.
"Her father," he muttered, picking up his sandwich wrap and finishing it.
"I'm sorry," Bruce murmured.
"Ask her if you want to hear more," Tony replied, giving Steve one last bitter look. "And be careful what you say. She might not act like it, but you heard her. Words still hurt, Captain."
Steve slowly nodded, starting to feel a little guilty now that the dots were coming together. His gaze shifted over to Bruce then, as the man picked up a piece of watermelon on a toothpick and twirled it between his fingers.
"I'm sorry, Doc."
Bruce cracked a slight smile, lifting the fruit briefly. "Like he said. Truce."
Steve managed a smile in return, before Tony clapped his hands together.
"Right! Now that we're all talking again, let's get back to the problem at hand. Why did Fury call us in?" He asked, aiming his question to Steve. "Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
Steve grew serious. "You think Fury's hiding something?"
"He's a spy. Captain, he's 'the' spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging Jess and it's bugging him too, isn't it?" Tony asked, looking to Bruce.
Bruce looked up. "Uh, I just want to finish my work here and…"
"Doctor?" Steve questioned, sensing that the man was hesitating on agreeing with Tony.
Bruce took a second, removing his glasses. "'A warm light for all mankind.' Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."
"I heard it."
"Well, I think that was meant for you," Bruce explained, pointing at Tony as the man offered him more fruit that he took. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."
"The Stark Tower?" Steve questioned. "That big, ugly—" He paused at Tony's look. "…building in New York?"
"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source," Bruce clarified. "That building will run itself for, what? A year?"
"It's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now," he informed Steve. "That's what he's getting at."
"So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce helped Steve see what they were getting at.
"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files," Tony mused, pulling out a handheld holographic pad to check his progress.
"I'm sorry, did you say—"
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge," Tony cut Steve off. "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" He offered Steve, who frowned.
"Yet, you're confused about why they didn't want you around."
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome. And if it makes you feel any better, it was Jess's idea."
"What?"
Even Bruce was surprised. "No way."
Tony smirked. "Yes, way. You'd think I'd get together with just anyone?"
Steve went to say something, but Tony pointed at him.
"No. Don't answer that. What I'm saying is that Jess has had her suspicions about this whole group since they first stuck Coulson on us. If I'm being honest, it's her who's been the one looking into them every chance she gets. I honestly think it's to procrastinate on her classwork at MIT, but she insists it's just because she's got a bad feeling about them." He looked to Bruce. "Is there such a thing as someone's personal insight being ridiculously accurate? I mean, between my ex-vice president who tried to take over my company by force, my rival who tried to use my technology to help a Russian maniac and this place? That's three for three."
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve cut in. "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."
"Following's not really my style," Tony huffed, giving him a look. "And don't think for a second that Jess is going to. She's nosier and more rebellious than I am."
"And you're all about style, aren't you?"
"Of the people in this room, which one is: A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?"
"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you," Bruce emphasized, trying to keep the two from fighting with Jess already upset about them.
"Just find the cube," Steve said shortly, storming from the room.
"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony huffed. "I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."
"Huh," Bruce chuckled shortly, working on his readings. "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."
"What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face. And I'm going to be there when it does."
"Yeah. I'll read all about it," Bruce hummed, sliding him a chart he'd finished to look over.
Tony paused. "What if we sicked Jess on him? Hm?"
Bruce chuckled, giving him a look over his shoulder. "You'd really subject her to that?"
"Honestly? I think she'd enjoy it. Him? Not so much."
Bruce shook his head. "You really picked one, didn't you?"
"Don't I know it. And you don't think you'll be suiting up with the rest of us?"
Bruce chuckled bitterly. "You see, I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed like a nerve. It's a nightmare."
"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it." Tony tapped his chest piece, heading over. "This little circle of light, it's part of me now. Not just armor. It's a terrible privilege."
"But you can control it."
"Because I learned how."
"It's different," Bruce argued.
"Hey, I read all about your accident," Tony pressed, sliding away Bruce's work so the man would look at him through the holographic screen. "That much gamma exposure should have killed you."
"So, you're saying that the Hulk… The other guy saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"
"You should ask Jess, really. She's better at this than I am, but I guess we'll find out."
"You may not enjoy that."
"And you just might," Tony challenged.
She's late. I tapped my foot impatiently, hands wrapped for a spar but no sparring patterner in sight.
"And I could really do with a spar right about now," I grumbled, leaving the gym and passing a few agents who were wise to get out of my way as I headed for the bridge. "I swear, if Fury interrupted my spar with some stupid nonsense…"
I stepped out and spotted the eye-patched man himself heading for Thor as he spoke with Coulson.
"In my youth, I courted war," the Norse God murmured as Fury cut in.
"War hasn't started yet. You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"
"I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance, upon me. There's no pain would pries his need from him."
"A lot of guys think that until the pain starts," Fury mused, stepping down the stairs as I rolled my eyes and moved closer myself.
Men. Honestly. What happened to good old-fashioned talking?
"What are you asking me to do?" Thor asked.
"I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?"
"Loki is a prisoner."
"Then, why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?"
"I'll talk to him."
The group looked to me.
"What?" Fury questioned with a frown.
"You heard me," I huffed, folding my arms on the railing and looking down on him. "You want someone to talk to Loki, let me do it."
"I really don't think that wise, Miss Norris."
I rolled my eyes at Thor. "Yeah, listen, Thor. See, I'm supposed to be sparing with Natasha right now, letting off some steam. Instead, I've just stopped a fight breaking out between Tony and Steve, had someone prod at old wounds, and send my sparing partner off to probably talk to Loki herself. So, shut up and listen for a second, okay?"
Thor seemed a little startled, but I didn't give any of the men a chance to rebuttal.
"Let me talk to him. No pain, no torture or whatever other nonsense you lot had planned to pry information out of him. Despite what you might think, Fury, that's not always the easiest way to work out information. In fact, it's the easiest way to get false information. Information meant to make you think he's trying one thing, but actually doing another. All of you are looking at the wrong side of him. He's not just the God of Chaos, but the God of Mischief. He's a trickster. He uses his words to trick you into doing what he wants without you knowing. He's a fucking lawyer, for God's sake!"
Fury frowned. "And you're suggesting putting yourself up against him? Need I remind you, you're only here—"
"To babysit Tony? Yeah, tired of that. I might very well be stuck the rest of my life doing that, thanks. And as much as I enjoy doing that for my sake, I also very much enjoy living on a planet not thrown into chaos by a man who thinks he knows what's right just because he's got a bit of power. And I'm not talking about fucking Loki." I stepped down to Fury's level, eyes blazing. "I might be a civilian, but don't you dare think I'm incapable of keeping the people I care about safe, even if it means going against you."
His eyes blazed fiercely at me, but he finally gave in. "Fine. Agent Romanoff should be nearly done, but if not, you have your chance."
I huffed, turning away and flicking him off, missing Thor's comment.
"I have never met so fierce a woman in my life."
I made it down to where Loki's cage was and spotted Natasha easily enough. I didn't interrupt though, not just yet, wanting to see how things were going before I could make a judgement call. I needed to know my opponent a bit more before I myself could act.
"Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"
"Regimes fall every day," Natasha replied without remorse. "I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian. Or, I was."
"And what are you now?" Loki questioned her, though I could feel tension rising.
"It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."
"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter, São Paulo, the hospital fire?"
I didn't understand those references, but I didn't have to. It was obvious to me what he was doing. Mind games. He knows personal information, either from the agent they have or some sort of mind trick. I'll have to confer with Thor to find out what he's capable of as far as abilities go. The myths can only help me so much.
"Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you, and they will never go away." Loki snapped, beginning to shout as he stood and approached the glass, banging on it to startle Natasha. "I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams, I'll split his skull. This is my bargain, you mewling quim."
Natasha had turned away with a sniffle, but I wasn't convinced. I knew better than to trust her acts. The real question was, did Loki?
"You're a monster," Natasha breathed, making him chuckle.
"Oh, no. You brought the monster."
Natasha turned around then, eyes completely dry. "So, Banner. That's your play."
"What?" Loki questioned as my eyes narrowed, searching for any hint of falsity to his surprise as Natasha spoke into her comm.
"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." Natasha paused at the door, giving Loki one last look. "Thank you, for your cooperation."
She stepped out and I waited a moment, watching as Loki sat back down in his cage, before his gaze snapped to me. I gave him a little wave, not bothered by his stare.
"You," he hummed, getting up and approaching the glass again with a curious tilt of his head. "The almost interesting one."
"Oh, I get an almost compliment? How nice," I mused as he gave the door a quick glance.
"Not going after her?" He asked and I shrugged.
"I know she can handle herself. The question is, did you know that?"
He eyed me as I moved down the stairs to the lower level. "What do you mean?"
"Well, if you want me to explain it… You either didn't know how disciplined she was and are genuinely surprised she tricked you into giving away your plan, or you knew and used words to trick her into going upstairs and confronting Bruce. My assumption is the later."
He smirked dangerously, moving ever closer to the glass that was only about a foot away from me. "You think you can read me so easily? A simple civilian? The boring lawyer girlfriend of the man in the iron suit?"
I raised a brow. "You think you can bother me with just words? Especially things I already know? And as for reading you, not even close. I'm not stupid. You're not human. I can't begin to even relate your thought process to how humans think. I can only guess based on what I've experienced in my field with humans who also like to twist words around. So, yeah. I'm a nobody, boring civilian with no idea what you're thinking. What I do know, is how humans think."
"What's your point?" He snarled.
"My point is, you don't know anything about me other than what you just said. This works in my favor in more than one way. One." I held up a finger. "You can poke at old wounds, as little as that would upset me. Still, it's nice. Two." A second finger went up. "It shows your abilities can't skim through people's minds without physical contact, making me safe so long as you're behind that glass. Which isn't entirely comforting, but I'll get over it. It proves you don't know me or what I'm capable of. And three. I may not know what your plan is, but I know how humans will react to things. I know that Bruce will get defensive when Natasha goes up there to try and isolate him based on what his other side has done. I know Steve and Tony are already butting heads based off their little spat I stopped a moment ago and can easily start another. And I know Fury won't be pleased that I had Tony start hacking into the security of their system to reveal whatever side project he's hiding. My guess is weapons because that's all people with power seem to want to do these days."
Loki said nothing and gave away no expression on his face, which I was happy to point out.
"And that, says I'm right about everything I just said. For whatever reason, people always think forcing a neutral expression won't give away whether what I said is right or wrong, but it always proves their hiding their emotions, which typically means I'm right because if I wasn't, they'd be flaunting how wrong I am." I turned for the door and paused. "Oh, and don't think I don't realize what this all means. Honestly, they should have sent me in here from the start. Internal fighting is always going to be the death of us, and they're going to be pissed when they realize it was all just a distraction."
Needless to say, Loki didn't look pleased when I walked out, making a beeline for the lab. And if I'm lucky, I'll make it in time to stop this mess.