They land at a small airstrip and are ushered to a long, wheeled vehicle where they are met by a tall, beautiful woman with long red hair. Agent Coulson introduces Anara and Thor.
"Pepper, I'd like you to meet Thor and Princess Anara. Thor, Anara, this is Pepper Potts, Tony's indispensable assistant."
Thor takes Pepper's hand and kisses it lightly. "A pleasure to finally meet the one who can keep Stark in line." he says. Pepper blushes.
Anara gives her a slight bow. "A pleasure to meet you."
Pepper gives Anara a small curtsey and replies, "The pleasure is all mine, your highness. Now if you please, we should go."
A man dressed in black like Agent Coulson opens one of the doors to the vehicle and the women get in first. Anara's impressed by the plush interior. It seems much bigger on the inside that the outer appearance would suggest. The ride into New York City is short but bumpy. Anara is surprised by the lack of inertial dampeners in their passenger vehicles. The technology she witnessed on the SHIELD ship apparently is not shared with the general population.
She feels like a child, watching through the window at the city passing by. While the buildings are much smaller than those on Coruscant, the life of the city is similar. She finds it oddly comforting. They soon drive into a large building, heading down into the lower levels. Exiting the vehicle, they proceed to a bank of elevators.
Pepper presses her hand to a panel inside the elevator and says, "Penthouse please, Jarvis."
A voice, familiar to Anara, answers back, "Of course Miss Potts. I will inform Mr. Stark that your guests are here."
They exit the elevator into a large open room with a recessed seating area in front of a large bank of windows with a view of the city and a bar off to one side. A large table with clear view-screens occupies part of the raised portion of the room. Tony is studying one set of displays intently, and Anara can see diagrams of what looks like a lightsaber. Pepper walks over to Tony and gives him a quick kiss. They exchange a few quiet words, then Tony turns to them, spreading his arms wide.
"Welcome to Stark Tower. Thor, you'll be happy to know we finally got the dents out of the floor from where the Hulk smashed Loki." He smiles ruefully. Thor doesn't respond.
Anara can sense an underlying fear of Loki coming from Stark that he hides with humor. She makes a mental note to talk to Thor more about what happened here. It wasn't just a simple battle.
Tony minimizes the data on his screen and comes to meet them.
"Pepper, can you call in a favor with George Lucas and get the Princess here a meeting with him tomorrow?"
Pepper thinks for a moment before replying.
"Oh yes, of course - the Star Wars thing. I'll see what I can do. But you may have to cave-in and finally attend one of his charity balls," she says, laughing at him.
Tony shakes his head with resignation and motions them back to the elevators.
"Let's go down to the R&D floors. Agents, I've some new toys I think you're going to want to try out."
They go back down several floors and exit onto a floor with a large open area and racks of various weapons along with a sophisticated target shooting area on one end.
"Agent Coulson, I believe you're familiar with the new weapons' systems. Would you care to show Black Widow and Hawkeye what I've cooked up while I take the Princess down a few more floors?"
Agent Coulson nods his assent, and Tony turns to Thor, "Your choice Muscles, you can stay here and play or watch the lady and me work."
Thor addresses Anara. "As much as being in your presence pleases me, I think I will stay up here and see what new weapons the Midgardians have developed."
"Well, that's settled then. Shall we, Princess?" Tony says, holding the elevator door open for her.
She gives the others a nod of farewell and precedes Tony into the elevator. Several more floors down, they enter a totally different world. Work benches and view screens clutter one half of the floor, while a few robotic arms and other equipment occupy the rest. Along one wall, what looks like several large droids stand behind glass enclosures.
Anara points to them. "Are those your battle suits?" she asks as she walks over for a closer look.
"Yes, though not the current version. Most are prototypes of one form or another," Tony says as he pulls up schematics on his view screen.
"Impressive. Only the Mandalorians have been able to create similar armored suits with such elegance."
Tony turns from the screen to look at her. "I thought Boba Fett's armor was kind of junky. That jet pack has nothing on what my suit can do." he says.
"Boba Fett was not a true Mandalorian warrior. In their day they were a formidable force, and their armor performed much like Thor says yours does." she replies. "But by the time of Boba Fett, most of them were dead, victims of the Clone Wars." Tony walks over to a carafe and pours something hot into a mug. Holding it out to her, he asks, "Coffee? Thor loves the stuff, but please, don't smash the cup when you're done."
Anara smiles, "Please, I would love to try some. Thor talks about the drink endlessly. I think it is one of the things he missed the most from here while the Bifrost was broken."
Tony hands her the cup. "I drink mine black, but if you want sugar or cream, I can have Pepper bring some down."
Anara sniffs the aroma from the cup. It smells similar to a drink from Endor. "Thank you, but plain will be fine. If this is like chuka from Endor, it is good as is."
Tony looks at her, an eyebrow raised. "'You mean Endor - as in the home of the little furry guys?"
She nods.
"Wow, I wonder how Lucas knows so much?"
She shrugs before taking a drink. The flavor is similar to the Ewoks' chuka but less bitter.
"This is good. I can see why Thor likes it. Tell me, is it made from a fruit or a nut?"
"A bean actually. I could see about sending some back with you, if you like," Tony says absently, while looking at several images on a large screen.
"Jarvis, fire up the molecular scanner will you? I want to get the lightsaber crystal figured out."
"Of course, Sir," the computer replies.
"Do all humans name their computers?"
Tony shrugs. "Most don't, but I'm sure there are geeks the world over who have named their systems after some non-existent girlfriend."
Taking her over to a work bench near a robot arm, he says, "Now, if you don't mind taking your lightsaber apart so we can see the crystal, we'll start figuring out how to synthesize it."
Anara removes the hilt from her belt and uses the Force to take the weapon apart. Carefully removing the crystal from its housing, she places it on the table where Tony indicates.
"Jarvis, store this in the secure files we created yesterday and triple encrypt it. I don't want SHIELD's hackers to get to this."
The robot positions its arm over the crystal and a grid of laser beams scan it, simultaneously producing an image on a nearby screen.
"Good. Now analyze the structure for any known elements."
Tony puts on a glove lying nearby and uses that hand to pull the image from the screen, creating a hologram above his palm, and studies the image. Anara, knowing the structure by heart from her meditations with the crystal, explores the lab instead. Tools and bits of armor litter the tops of the workbenches. To a casual eye it's messy and cluttered, but Anara can sense an order to it, purpose within the mess.
After several long minutes, Tony says to her, "I've got nothing." Interrupting himself he adds, "Jarvis, keep working on that."
Looking at the other components of the light saber, he picks up one of the power sources.
"So how efficient is the power source for these things? I'm just guessing of course, but I've been doing some calculations, and I think I could at least double the battery life."
Anara, intrigued, joins him back at the workbench.
"Depending on use, they can last months without a recharge, in peace time, years." She looks at Tony. "Unfortunately, the device I use to charge the battery was destroyed in the crash, so when these die, so does my weapon. That's one of the reasons why I wished to speak to you. I've been able to adapt the Asgardian power source for a few things, like the communication array I pulled from my ship to boost the signal from the holo-communicator, but I haven't been able to get it to work well with the lightsaber."
Tony looks at her. "Holo-communicator? You mean like a device that does the whole Princess Leia - 'Help me Obi Wan, you're my only hope.' hologram thing?"
Anara, unsure of his reference, still gets the point. "Yes, I gave one to Agent Coulson. It can communicate with its twin on Asgard. Thor wanted a better way to communicate than just having Heimdal watch events here."
Tony, not easily distracted says, "Well, that's just peachy. Now, as I said, I've done some calculations, and based on what you just said, I think I can power your lightsaber for life, and possibly your children's lives, assuming you have a normal human lifespan."
Anara, knowing the source of the Asgardians' long life is a closely held secret, says, "Humans in my galaxy average about 90 standard years."
Looking at a new schematic Tony's just brought up she says, "So what is this new power source you have in mind?" The image on the screen looks like a small flat cylinder." Tony taps his chest, the action creating a metallic sound. "Same as this, a mini Arc Reactor."
Anara replies, "Oh yes, Thor said something about you having a power source in your chest, though he doesn't know why."
"It keeps a piece of shrapnel from puncturing my heart," he says simply. "Quite ingenious really, if I do say so myself." He turns his attention to the framework of the hilt and the connections for the power supply. "I think I can shrink a reactor down small enough to fit inside the hilt, and the connections look basic enough, the issue might be whether or not the power output will fry the crystal," he muses to himself. "Princess, would you mind putting it back together and turning it on? I want to get a power output reading."
"Of course but only if you agree to call me Anara." she says as she reassembles the hilt.
"Sir, I've finished my review of the crystal. I am able to identify the Adamantium, but the other substance is unknown to us. I do however, have its atomic structure," Jarvis says. At the same time an atomic structure appears on a view screen.
"That's it." Anara says. "Can you synthesize it?"
Tony studies the structure for awhile. "I think so, but it would be helpful if you could tell me how you do it. It might save us some time."
Anara proceeds to tell Tony how saber crystals are grown. Absorbed in their work, they don't notice the time pass until Pepper enters the lab.
"Hey you two, wanna come up for air?" she asks, rather loudly so as to be heard over the heavy metal music playing. Anara looks up and smiles at her. Tony, still engrossed in a calculation, absently says, "What time is it?"
Pepper answers, "Just after 8 pm. The others want to know if you want to join them for dinner and maybe another Star Wars movie." Tony looks up from his work and looks to Anara.
"I think we've gotten as far as we can tonight. Jarvis will be running calculations for a while. What do you think? Are you up for another movie?"
"Absolutely." Anara replies.
"Oh, that reminds me. I was able to schedule a meeting with George Lucas tomorrow, though I had to call in a lot of favors, Tony. I'm sorry, but you'll have to make an appearance at the next Skywalker Kids' Charity Ball." Tony waves the obligation off.
Pepper continues, addressing Anara, "The jet will be ready first thing in the morning, Princess. "
"Thank you, Miss Potts. I am in your debt." Anara gives her a small bow of thanks.
"Cantonese - from that place over on 5th." Tony says without looking up from his work.
Pepper just looks at him.
"I assume we're doing take-out for dinner?" he says.
"Oh, yes. The usual?" she asks him.
"Sure, but tell them to add a bit more pepper to the Szechwan. It was pretty tame last time."
Pepper turns to Anara, "Should I bring a menu down?"
Anara, knowing she won't have a clue what to order, says, "No, I'm not familiar with Earth dishes. I will be happy to try whatever you wish to order."
Absently, while checking several running programs, Tony says, "Why don't we just do this family style? I'm sure Thor hasn't had Chinese either."
Pepper, heading back to the elevator says, "OK then. I'll come retrieve you two when it gets here."
Sooner than Anara anticipated, Pepper was calling them to dinner over the view screen. Tony closes down a few programs while Anara finishes calibrating one of the robots.
"Come on, Princess, Pepper gets cranky if we have guests and I'm late for dinner."
Anara smiles, giving up on trying to get Tony to drop the honorific. They return to the penthouse where everyone has gathered around a table sunk into the floor and surrounded by couches. Boxes of food cover the table, wafting wonderful smells. Anara's stomach growls, reminding her she hasn't had anything other than Tony's dried blueberries and coffee all day. Tony and Anara join the group, and they start passing boxes around. Anara masters the chop sticks quickly, but after Thor flings several pieces of meat around the room, Hawkeye tosses a fork at him.
"Dude, you're hopeless. Use a fork." Everyone laughs as Thor gratefully takes the fork from Hawkeye.
The evening passes with friendly banter and two more Star Wars movies. Skipping Episode 2 because the general consensus is that Anakin is too whiny, they watch Episodes 3 & 4 before heading off to bed.
Anara still finds herself stunned by the experience of watching family legend brought to life with such amazing detail. Tony and Pepper walk her and Thor to their room, down a few floors from the Penthouse.
Stopping outside the door to a lavish suite, Pepper tells Anara, "There's a whole closet full of clothes, so take your pick for tomorrow. Mr. Lucas requested that we keep this as low key as possible." Turning to Thor, she says, "I'm sorry Thor, but Mr. Lucas will only see Anara tomorrow."
Nodding, Thor replies, "It is no matter. Agents Barton and Romanov have requested I work with them tomorrow on group hand-to-hand combat techniques."
Anara turns to Pepper. "What time shall I be ready tomorrow?"
"We'll need to leave here by 8:30."
Tony claps his hands together. "Alrightly then. Now that we've got that all figured out, shall we head to bed?" he asks Pepper in a suggestive tone. She smiles and takes his hand. Wishing them a good night, Pepper and Tony leave them.
In their room, Thor takes Anara's hands in his.
"My lady, I hope you are not disappointed that I am not going with you tomorrow. I thought you might want to meet this man alone, and it has been made plain that he desires the same."
"No, I am not disappointed. We came here for a purpose, not a vacation. I did not expect that we would be together the entire time. Though I do feel I should apologize for monopolizing so much of Tony's time."
Thor laughs, "Do not apologize, my love. Stark is not an easy man to understand. I am glad that you can, and that he is able to help you."
He takes her into his arms and stops any further conversation with a kiss. They pass the night in each other's arms, enjoying being together as much as they can before they must part in the morning.