AN: Sometimes, all it takes for me to post is a random (positive and respectful!) comment reminding me that I should post. Apologies for the brief chapter, but y'know, that's just the way the news goes.

WARNING: for some reason i wrote this in a different tense, i'm so sorry? this is the tense for the rest of the story?

Chapter 8 – Thor

She's perfectly aware that she's cornering Thor with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop, but Toni pays no mind to the judgmental eyes of Romanoff or Rogers. Bruce seems amused, at least, but he already knows that Toni likes to test limits. She curls a hand around Thor's bicep fearlessly, and babbles in an endless stream of black-hole thermodynamics. No one looks twice at Toni when she's being loud, obnoxious and scientific. No one thinks to keep an eye on her when she drags a Norse God into her lab for a private tête-à-tête.

Thor's not as uncooperative as Coulson implied (which doesn't surprise her, Coulson was a drama queen unlike any other). But even Toni doesn't expect him to be so... nice. Where was the blundering, angry, giant man she'd heard so much about? Toni turns around, just to make sure he's still there. And he's there: neither annoyed or angry with her. Toni thinks there might be a touch of fondness in his eyes.

"What is it you wish to ask me, my lady?" He prompts her, leaning against a work bench. His eyes flit to the monitors around the table, skimming over the algorithm with faint amusement. Suddenly, Toni isn't one-hundred percent certain that he can't understand it.

She's annoyed with herself. Thor is the last person she should be underestimating, and demanding answers out of him like an unsuspecting intern was a terrible idea.

"I… I don't think I introduced myself, first of all." Toni says, holding back several thousand questions. She smiles carefully. "I'm Antonia Stark. I'll be the one in a suit of red armor if an alien invasion breaks out." She tries to sound sardonic, but it doesn't come easily. After all, there might be a real, actual invasion if she can't find the Tesseract… jeez, today is such a clusterfuck.

"Lady Stark," Thor corrects himself, nodding in a way that could almost be called a bow. Maybe it was a bow? Either way, she finds it flattering. More people should bow to her, damn it. "I am Thor, son of Odin All-Father. I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield. It is rare to meet one that is both scholar and soldier."

The word 'soldier' makes her eye twitch, but Toni is willing to blame the language barrier. Thor doesn't seem to have a malicious bone in his god-like body. "I wanted to ask you a few things, if you don't mind? I've been working on tracking down the Tesseract, but I've also read Dr. Selvig's research, and—"

"I do not think I can assist you with such matters," Thor says quickly, a frown pulling at his face. "Your world's sciences bear similarities to what I know as magic, but I have tried to explain these things to your people before… my attempts proved to be in vain." He almost sounds apologetic.

Toni shakes her head. "No, it's not about the science. It's just that—you tried taking Loki out of SHIELD custody."

Naturally, Thor was uncomfortable at the reminder of their conflict. "I was not fully aware of your people's involvement," he explains.

"I'm not blaming you. If you had taken Loki out of this equation, I think that would've helped," Toni admits. The question is there without her asking it. Why did you let us bring Loki here? "It wouldn't end his plans, and I'm sure Fury would prefer he faced charges on American soil, but getting Loki off Earth would prevent any further moves on his part."

Loki's cooperation irks her, because it's clear he doesn't think he's lost yet. And Loki hasn't lost. He's a threat as long as he's on the planet, scheming, as far as she's concerned.

Thor is giving her another strange look. Eventually, he speaks. "Your support heartens me, but..." His shoulders lower by a fraction, but enough for Toni to sense defeat. "I cannot return to Asgard without the Tesseract. And Loki's quarrel is with me, so I will remain until I can put an end to his schemes."

That… is not what Toni expects. And it's complete garbage in light of Loki's actions on Earth. "If Loki's problem is you, why is he bringing an army to conquer my world?" She demands.

Thor's eyes darken. "I...do not know. He sent the Destroyer to this world to wreak havoc, with little regard to mortal life. But even that was to thwart my return to Asgard. I thought Loki gone, lost to the Void. He has returned, changed, and with new ambitions for this realm."

His frankness alarms her. Not to mention whatever the hell The Void is. Toni turns away, not wanting to let anything slip through her expression as she thinks. But all Toni can think is, The world isn't ready for this level of warfare, and the fact that it's already here, looming over them, has Toni grasping at straws. Not even Loki's brother knows what he's doing, so how can she hope to plan against his moves?

Her eyes fall the the glass container holding Loki's scepter. It had been moved to the lab sometime during Fury's interrogation of their prisoner, under the assumption that Bruce and Toni would analyze it for SHIELD. She doesn't doubt it could be useful, but... Toni wants nothing more than to break it into a million pieces. For Clint.

"Do you know anything about this thing?" Toni asks vacantly, staring at the gilded staff. It held a crystal between two spear-points, glowing in a yet-unknown pattern that reminds Toni, frustratingly, of the unusual properties of the Tesseract and Howard's extensive research on it. "Loki used it to turn SHIELD agents against their own. There's been cases of mind control before, but I've never heard of a fancy space wand doing the controlling."

Thor peers at the scepter for a long moment. Long enough for Toni to grow uncomfortable with his intense, unreadable stare. Finally, he shakes his head, and leans back from the receptacle. "Hm. I have never seen such a weapon before, but even I can sense how powerful its magic is," Thor says gravely. Then his expression falters. "Loki was always more skilled—and more interested—in the art of magecraft than I."

Toni does not acknowledge the last part. "If you don't know where it's from, how did Loki end up with it? Where do you even find something like this?" She keeps her tone light and careless, but inside, Toni wonders what else is out there that Asgard and Earth can't see. Is she paranoid for thinking like this?

Thor's expression grows thoughtful. "There exists realms beyond the branches of Yggdrasil. We call it the Void, but that does not mean it is entirely empty."

...That's exactly what void means, though? Toni's suspicions of a language barrier grows until it becomes a headache to think about all that was lost in translation. The portal. How do we stop the portal?

She's about to ask Thor about Dr. Selvig when her phone begins to vibrate in her pocket. Toni freezes, and pulls out the phone, already knowing what the alert is for. "Uh," Toni hedges, glancing at Thor's expectant face. "Don't move? I still want to talk." Thor simply nods again, unoffended, because he's the nicest alien she's ever met, and Toni is free to connect her phone to three monitors in the lab.

The files are up—and Toni feels as though SHIELD's gone ahead and dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. Her heart pounds, so loud she can hear the blood rushing in her ears. What the fuck is Phase II, and how does Fury have so many HYDRA weapons?

Rogers. Of course. He wasn't the only relic they found buried in ice.

This can't be happening. But Toni's already reviewing the last few words Loki spoke to Fury.

Unlimited power.

A warm light for all mankind.

Bruce had noticed it as soon as Toni had. After spending hours in the lab, patiently listening to Toni blab on about her clean energy project, how could he not? And… after spending a month in her company, Clint knew just as much. Meaning that Nicholas Fury knew just as much about her newest contract.

"What is this?" Thor asks, and Toni nearly jumps as his closeness. Who knew the big guy could tiptoe? "You seem upset, Lady Stark."

"It's—" She's too angry. She can't think. "It's utter bullshit, and I'm going to tear Nick Fury a new one." Toni states frankly. SHIELD held onto the Tesseract for years, but they never went further with their research until they found Rogers' plane and recruited Erik Selvig. "No wonder we've got aliens at our front door," Toni mumbles, though, looking at Thor, it could be the other way around.

"What do you mean?" Thor asks benignly, but there's a edge of worry to his tone. "Your people are… building an arsenal?"

Toni has to stop herself from snarling. "They're hardly my people at this point."

His frown becomes more pronounced. "That is worrisome. I did not know SHIELD meant to draw on the Tesseract's power in this way. You mortals do not yet understand the forces at work here."

"Hey," Toni cocks an eyebrow at the Thunderer, leery of his tone. "I'm not the one toying with the space cube. I don't do weapons. Not anymore."

Thor dips his head in something that barely passes as acknowledgement. "Aye, perhaps not you. But there is no excuse for your fellow mortals—and they are your fellow mortals, just as they are my fellow allies. We are both here, after all, working with SHIELD, even though we may question their motives."

Toni doesn't answer immediately because he has a point. She's always known that SHIELD was shady. But she still wants to know. There's no reason to build weapons like this unless SHIELD wants to be the biggest bully on the playground. And how did Loki know about all this before Toni Stark?

Barton and Selvig.

Toni shakes her head, and inhales slowly through her nose before she starts a damn tirade. She pulls the files off the monitors, and turns to Thor, determined to stay on track. He still seems disturbed, by both the files and Toni's reaction to them, but Toni draws his attention away. "What do you know about Erik Selvig's work?"

"Erik is a friend. I suspect Loki knows this, and chose him for this reason," Thor says immediately. Toni already knows this part, so she waits, silently urging him on. "I… he worked with Lady Jane on tracking the activity of portals. I had no idea they brought him to work with the Cosmic Cube."

Toni already knows by now that Thor is a dead end, but she still has to try. There's an army coming, and her 'allies' haven't done a thing about it besides asking Toni, Banner, and an antique war hero to retrieve their stolen property. An item they're using to build weapons behind Toni's back (and it was behind her back; Fury knew she wouldn't have anything to do with this mission if she'd been told what they wanted it for).

She might've been quiet for too long. Or maybe she looked worried to him. Either way, Thor's humongous hand lands on her shoulder with little warning, making her flinch. Her knees buckle, but she stands her ground, and cranes her head up to see the man's face.

"Shall I leave you to your work, my lady? You are thinking quite deeply about something, it seems." Thor smiles in an understanding, but helpless way. "I did warn you. I am not yet proficient enough in these subjects to offer you much help."

He isn't wrong. Nothing in the lab would help Toni solve this equation, including, unfortunately, Thor. What she needs is a way to prevent the portal, wherever it is, from ever being used. Or, if activated, the best way to destroy it and anything trying to come through it. But she doesn't even know where the Tesseract is, and her program wasn't going to give them results fast enough if there was no other way to narrow its focus.

Toni exhales, letting her shoulders slump under Thor's hand. "I think I'll need Banner's help to work out the rest of this," Toni agrees, but then she catches Thor's eye and makes an effort to be genuine. "But I'm glad to have the chance to meet you, Thor. And I think everything you've told me is important—or will be, soon enough."

Thor's eyes brighten considerably, and Toni thinks it's worth the slight exaggeration. "Your praise is undue, but I admire you for it all the same, Lady Stark. Shall I tell Dr. Banner of your request?"

A smile works its way onto her face, unbidden. "Just call me Toni, big guy. I can contact Banner from here, no need to run my messages."

"Very well, Lady… Antonia." His grin is distinctly more impudent this time around, and it's enough to startle a huff of laughter out of her.

Toni watches Thor step back, and her eyes drift away from his imposing figure. The Norse God is at the edge of the room when Toni suddenly addresses him again.

"Hey, Thor?"

"Yes?"

"I think I do need your help, actually."

STEVE

It's sheer coincidence that Steve's in the right hallway to witness Nick Fury march across the Helicarrier with two technicians at his side, chattering about a security breach.

"Sir?" Steve trails after the man as he passes, sensing the urgency of it all.

"Rogers, with me," Fury says, not even turning to face him or slowing down. "I need to have a word with Ms. Stark about boundaries and trust."

His face falls, but he catches up to the Director regardless. "What's happened? Isn't Ms. Stark working for SHIELD?"

Fury's gaze flashes, contritely, before he growls, "Stark only works in a consulting capacity for a reason. This is that reason. She's a loose canon, and now she's broken into our secure files." A tendon in his jaw flexes dangerously.

"What?" Steve gasps, horrified. "Why would she do that?" Ms. Stark was a little difficult, but he had never taken her for an actual danger to SHIELD.

Director Fury only growls, and punches in an access code to the lab. The doors slide open, and behind it is chaos.

"YOU THINK IT'S ALRIGHT TO BUILD WEAPONS WITH THIS? That's fucking bullshit, Romanoff, and you know it! Banner, you know this isn't right."

"I…" Dr. Banner wrings his hands, standing a good distance away from an irate Toni Stark. "I didn't come here for this. Natasha, did you know about Phase Two?"

Romanov is fixated on Banner. "Doctor, you should think about removing yourself from this situation."

"I was removed," he snaps, with more vitriol than Steve expected.

"Banner," Steve barks, stepping up to Natasha's side. "Stand down."

Stark laughs. "Oho, the boy scout's come in! And you! Fury! Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"I think I'm the damn director of this airship," Fury snarls, "And you're out of line, Stark."

She bares her teeth. "Where's the line, Nicky? Where's the line between preventing war and provoking it? Where's the line between protecting us and ringing a goddamn bell to tell the entire universe we have an uncontrollable, unlimited source of destructive power? I don't think you know what a line is, and I'm not going to be a part of your fuck-up any longer."

She makes to leave, and Fury grabs her arm. "Where do you think you're going, Stark?"

The young woman wrenches her arm back. "I'm getting off this death trap before I die on it, Fury. I'm out."