A/N: Sorry this chapter is so late! Like really late. This semester has been hell for me so far and there hasn't been any time to write! D: I'm going to stop rambling and get on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers
Chapter 12
"How far are we from Headquarters, JARVIS?" Tony asks, clad in his armor and heading towards the Shield Helicarrier, which is hovering high above New York State.
"Approximately two minutes."
"Excellent, I can't wait to be greeted by Fury's smiling face," the billionaire says with a smirk.
"I'm certain the Director will be pleased to see you as well."
"He better; I got all dressed up for this."
"Very amusing, sir."
Tony arrives at the Helicarrier and circles around trying to find a place to land. He glances around the runway before noticing Director Fury standing in front a door. The billionaire grins and lands in front of Fury, who is wearing a deep frown on his face. "Director, you are a sight for sore eyes," he says flipping up his face plate and wearing a smirk.
Fury rolls his eye and glares at the armor-clad brunet. "Cut the shit, Stark, and follow me," Fury says before opening the door behind him and walking inside.
Tony quickly strips off his armor, revealing the crisp black suit he's wearing underneath, and watches his tech contort into a briefcase. Picking up the object, Tony throws open the door and quickly catches up to Fury, who's already halfway down the hall. "So, what exactly is wrong with the servers? You weren't clear on the phone."
"If I knew what was wrong with the servers, I wouldn't have called you in."
"Ooh, touchy. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"
Fury snorts. "You try being woken up at five am on your day off, only to find out that someone fucked up your entire system."
"Been there, done that."
"Then you know that I just want this figured out as fast as possible. The sooner you do, the sooner we can both go home."
Tony nods his head. "Fair enough," he agrees.
The pair continues their walk to the server room in silence. Tony glances around the various hallways and empty rooms with curious brown eyes, noting the repairs that Shield has begun since the Red Skull attacked base over two months ago. The billionaire grinds his teeth just thinking about the battle—he's never seen Steve so angry before. Hell, Tony himself hasn't been that angry since he was held in Afghanistan.
The genius snaps out of his daze when he hears a throat clearing. He turns his head from the wall he was staring at and notices Fury standing in front of a door midway down the hall. The billionaire silently berates himself for falling behind and quickly catches up to the man.
"Is there something you want to inform me of, Stark?" The Director asks sounding genuinely curious.
"Nope, nothing at all," Tony answers while plastering a smile to his face.
Fury raises an eyebrow, clearly not believing Tony. "Are you sure?"
"Yep," Tony says, continuing to smile. He holds Fury's gaze for a beat before nodding towards the door. "Shall we?"
The Director gives the man one last suspicious look before opening the door to the server room and stepping inside. The smile falls off the billionaire's face as he follows Fury into the room. He blinks his eyes at the presence of a low red hue that covers the entire area. Tony shuts the door behind him and slowly moves through the narrow spaces in-between each of the celling high servers, blinking with various lights and emitting a soft humming noise.
Tony stumbles into an open area located in the center of the room. A small laptop sits on a wooden table with a chair placed behind it near the middle of the room. Fury is standing a few feet from the table with his arms crossed and steady gaze focused on nothing. The billionaire crosses the space and sets his briefcase on the floor next to the table. Tony opens the laptop and starts the device up. "You still haven't told me what happened yet."
"Your guess is as good as mine," Fury admits, turning his eye to Tony. "The guys down in I.T. said everything was working fine one minute, and then the next . . . nothing."
"Any theories?"
"They think it might be something internal that's wrong, but if it was, the problem would have been solved by now."
"And what do you think?"
"I think there's more to the story—and that's why you're here."
Tony hums thoughtfully in response. He pulls his phone and a USB cable from his pocket. The brunet plugs the device into the computer and begins tapping on his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm uploading JARVIS to the system and before you say anything, he's just going to find out what exactly is going on."
Fury's frown deepens. "Fine, but I want him gone when this is over."
"Yeah, okay," the billionaire responds in a nonchalant tone without looking up from his phone.
"I mean it, Stark," Fury says in a more demanding tone.
Tony looks up from his phone. "So did I," he says before returning to his device. He presses a few more buttons before saying, "JARVIS, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, sir," JARVIS responds.
"Excellent. I need you to run a scan of the Shield servers and see what you can find.
"As you wish."
The AI falls silent and the room is once again filled with the sound of low humming. Tony unplugs his phone and places both the device and the USB cable back into his pocket. The genius pulls out the chair from under the table and settles down before beginning to type.
Around fifteen minutes later, a notification window from JARVIS pops up onscreen in Tony's field of vision. The genius scans the window and scrunches his face, which gains Fury's interest.
"Find something?"
Tony shakes his head in disappointment. "You were right. You're systems been compromised."
Fury uncrosses his arms and scowls. "You're fucking me."
"No and gross," the billionaire responds. He picks up the laptop and sets it in front of the Shield Director. "If you look closely, you can tell that parts of the coding are missing which means that—"
"Some information has been deleted," Fury finished while Tony nods. "But, what could they possibly have wanted?"
Tony shrugs. "Who knows? Shield contains valuable and critical information on just about everyone."
"Just about?"
"No one can pin down Widow."
Fury pauses before nodding his agreement. If there's anyone who is hard to keep information on, it's Natasha Romanov herself. "Can you figure out who's behind this?"
"In theory."
"Explain."
"Well," Tony begins as he takes the laptop back from Fury. "Yes, I can track down the location of the device used to hack Shield, but I can't tell you whom it was or exactly what information was stolen. Since this was an undercover operation, and a thorough one at that, it will take some time."
"How much time are we talking?"
"Hmmm, about twelve hours. Possibly less if I work continuously and without rest. Steve won't like that very much . . ."
"Stark," Fury says, drawing the man's attention. "Be quiet and find the damn hacker. The sooner we have him in custody, the better."
"Fair enough," the genius responds. "JARVIS?"
"Running a full system scan as we speak."
The door to the server room opens and footsteps approach the center of the room. Loki pokes his head from between two servers a few seconds later and glances between the two men. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Not at all," Tony responds, before taking his gaze off the computer and turning to Loki. "What can I do for you?"
Loki steps further into the space with the scroll in his hand. "I wanted to let you know that I've finished translating the second trial and we can begin on your order," he says, directing the last part at Fury.
"Call the others Stark," Fury says in a neutral tone before leaving the room without sparing Tony or Loki a second glance.
Loki waits until Fury leaves before saying, "Rough day?"
Tony huffs. "You have no idea," he responds before pulling out his phone and dialing Steve's number.
"Hello?" Steve's voice chimes over the speaker.
"Hey Steve," Tony responds before chewing on his bottom lip.
"Tony, are you alright? You sound annoyed."
The brunet snorts. It's still a weird feeling for Tony being with someone who knows him so well—aside from Pepper, of course. "Yeah, being around Fury will do that to even the gentlest of souls," he responds, smiling when Steve chuckles. "Speaking of, Fury wants you and the team to come in—Loki knows the second trial."
"We'll be there as soon as we can. Try not to maim anyone before we arrive."
"I make no promises."
The billionaire can almost hear Steve rolling his eyes. "I'll see you in a bit then. I love you."
Tony glances over at Loki, who has suddenly become interested in his shoes. "Love you too. Bye." He hangs up the phone and looks over at Loki, who raises an eyebrow. "Don't."
The raven-haired man raises his hands. "I wasn't going too."
"JARVIS, can you handle the situation here while I intend to other matters?" Tony asks his AI.
"Of course, sir."
"Good," Tony responds before picking up his briefcase and leaving the room, hearing the sounds of Loki following him.
"So . . . you and the Captain?" Loki begins with a hint of teasing in his tone.
"And now you're starting it," Tony says with a sigh.
Loki and Tony arrive at the Avengers usual meeting room after getting lost in the Helicarrier's various corridors and arguing for twenty minutes. Tony opens the door and steps inside seeing the other Avengers clad in their uniforms, Hill, Coulson, Fury, and Bucky (wearing his Winter Soldier uniform minus the face mask) already seated. Fury stands at the head of the table followed by Coulson on his right, Thor, an empty chair, Natasha, Clint, Steve, an empty chair, Bruce, and Hill seated on the Director's left.
The billionaire walks further into the room and sets his briefcase on the ground before sliding into his seat next to Steve. He looks up and gives his boyfriend a tight smile before pulling out his phone and checking on JARVIS's progress at scanning Shield's servers. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Loki and Fury talk quietly. The raven-haired man nods at something the Director says that Tony can't identify. The Trickster then walks around the table and settles in the seat next to his brother. Thor clasps the lithe man on the back of his neck in greeting, which earns him a faint smile from the other man.
Fury clears his throat, which causes all eyes to turn toward him. "I'm assuming that you already know about Loki uncovering the second trial, correct?" The team nods. "Good. Then, that saves some time." The Director turns his gaze towards Loki in a silent gesture for him to begin.
The raven-haired man straightens his posture, pulls out the scroll from his pocket, and unrolls it. He places the parchment between himself and Thor, watching as his brother scans the document with interest. Loki says, "The text tells to search for an object that is both scared and mythical—a "grail" of some sorts."
"You mean . . . the Holy Grail?" Coulson questions.
"Well, yes, that's exactly correct." Loki responds.
"Are you kidding me?" Clint exclaims appalled.
"Ney. My brother speaks the truth," Thor confirms, continuing to glance at the text in front of him.
Tony snorts. "So, I'm guessing the Skull is a fan of King Arthur?"
"Do you have any idea where it's located?" Steve asks in an attempt to get the conversation back on track.
"The last known whereabouts of the grail appear to be near a place called Winchester, England. According to the scroll, the object should be located on the outskirts of the city," Loki answers.
"Then, we shall begin our quest immediately," Thor declares causing Loki to roll his eyes at his enthusiasm.
"Aw sweet! Road trip!" Clint says with a smile on his face. "I call driving!"
"You're not," Natasha deadpans.
Clint huffs and crosses his arms, mumbling to himself about how Natasha is not fun.
"Then, it's settled. Find the damn thing and bring it back here," Fury declares before exiting the meeting room with Coulson and Hill following behind him.
Tony bites down on his lower lip and slides his phone back into his pocket. He turns towards Steve, who has a thoughtful expression on his face. "What're you thinking?"
Steve turns his head and glances at Tony before smiling. "I think this is the second most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and I grew up in the forties. I mean, Holy Grail? King Arthur? That's the stuff of legends that parents tell their children at night."
"Well, when I was a kid, I was always told about the legend of an ordinary man, who achieved things that no one else could possibly imagine. He became the greatest hero known to man . . . and here you are," Tony responds with a teasing smile on his face. The genius knew there was a reason he kept funding the expedition his father started years ago. If only he was able to get to Steve before Shield caught wind and took over—maybe the blond would have had an easier time transitioning to the modern world.
Steve laughs lightly and smiles wider. "I'm glad that you found me, Tony."
The brunet responds with a soft smile. "Yeah . . . me too."
"Are you two gonna kiss or something because if you are, let me know so I can go vomit."
"Fuck you, Clint," Tony says while giving the archer the finger. He turns back to his boyfriend and says, "Speaking of cussing at people, where's Rhodey?"
"He said he had to do some work on base," Steve answers.
"Is that all he said?" Tony asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Pretty much," Steve responds. "Why? Do you think he's lying?"
"Well, he is known for being a sneaky little bastard, so who knows," Tony says with a shrug. "Though he did say he was only going to be around for a few weeks—maybe he's trying to figure out a way to extend his time here."
Steve hums. "I guess you'll just have to ask him then, huh?"
Tony nods. "Oh yeah, definitely."
Clint yawns loudly, standing from his seat and stretching. "I don't know about you guys, but I am ready to blow this joint. You guys good to go?"
Natasha rises from her seat as well. "We may as well get this over with." The assassin turns to Loki and regards him with a curious expression. "Are you going to join us as well?" she asks, causing all eyes to turn to the man in question.
"I would, but unfortunately, I am still a criminal and I am to "remain under strict observation." Keeping me here is poor planning on Shield's part considering the fact that they haven't bound my magic . . ." Loki trails off thoughtfully, and Natasha rolls her eyes. The raven-haired man gathers up his belongings and says, "Best of luck to you all," before exiting the room in a puff of smoke.
Thor chuckles. "It appears as though my brother has not forgotten his old antics."
"How are things going with you two?" Steve asks the Asgardian. The team makes their way out of the meeting room and heads towards the Heilcarrier's hangar to pick up the Quinjet.
"Rather well, actually," Thor responds as he falls into step with the soldier. "Our conversations have grown pleasant once more in recent weeks. I always knew that the brother I grew up with was still inside Loki. I feel that I am finally getting to see him again."
Steve smiles brightly and clasps Thor on the shoulder. "I'm really happy for you, pal."
"That makes two of us," the Asgardian responds with a wide grin. "Thank you, Shield brother."
"Anytime," Steve responds as the Avengers reach the doors that will lead to the hangar.
Natasha opens the double doors and the team pile into the enormous, brightly lit space and begins walking towards the Quinjet, which is parked on the other side of the hangar.
"Damn, Nat, you couldn't have parked any closer?" Clint asks.
"There was a huge ass plane in my way, Clint, you were there," Natasha responds in an exasperated tone.
"Hey, no fighting," Bucky says while Natasha and Clint glare at each other. "Center yourselves and find your inner peace."
Steve snorts. "You've been watching way too many yoga videos," he says with a grin on his face.
"Hey, you're watching them with me, so don't start," Bucky teases with a smile. He laughs when Steve raises his hands in a mock gesture of surrender.
"Your chariot, madam," Clint announces in a snarky tone as he points to the Quinjet.
Natasha glares at the archer before saying, "I will hurt you."
Clint holds the redhead's gaze as he backs away and hides behind Thor.
The assassin rolls her eyes and unlocks the jet, watching the loading panel lower to ground level. "All aboard," she says leading the way into the jet and immediately heading for the pilot's chair and starting the jet up.
Clint slides into the seat next to her, pointedly looking away from the woman.
Tony settles into his usual seat and straps in before pulling out his phone and, once again, checking on JARVIS's progress. So far, the AI hasn't found anything out of the ordinary and that worries Tony. The lack of findings or errors shows that these hackers are experienced and intentionally invaded Shield's servers. But, for what purpose?
The brunet feels Steve plop down next to him and he smiles to himself before turning and meeting his boyfriend's bright blue eyes. "You ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Steve responds, strapping himself in and holding out his right hand for Tony to take.
The genius smiles and laces their fingers together before setting their clasped hands in his lap.
"Everybody good?" Natasha calls from the front of the cockpit.
"We're good," everyone responds. The corner of the redhead's lips quirk as he puts the plane into gear.
The flight to England is long and boring. Almost immediately since takeoff, Clint began singing show tunes over the intercom until Natasha took the microphone away from him. In the back, the guys struggle with making conversation. Tony decides to inform the team of Shield's hacking much to the horror of everyone except for Natasha, who knows everything.
The brunet answers everyone's questions to the best of his ability, informing the team that he doesn't know much and that JARVIS is working on it. As soon as Tony said those words, the guys immediately started directing their questions to the AI, who doesn't have any new information to share. The questions and curiosity simmers down after that, but Tony knows the hacking is still on the forefront of everyone's mind.
Natasha announces their arrival to England around a half an hour later and quickly lands the Quinjet in the middle of a woodsy clearing. The assassin shuts the jet off and joins the rest of her team in the back with Clint stumbling behind her. "Welcome to Winchester. Now, get off my plane."
The team quickly piles off the Quinjet, with Tony and Natasha being the last two to exit. The billionaire stayed to slip into his armor and the latter lingered to make sure she didn't forget anything. The Avengers scatter around the clearing, looking at the ground with curiosity and confusion.
"So, what's the plan?" Bruce asks after everyone is off the plane.
"We split up and search for clues," Cap suggests.
"Are you quoting Scooby Doo? I am so done with you," Clint says. At Steve's confused look, he gasps, "You don't know what that is yet, do you?"
"No?" the blond answers hesitantly.
Clint clicks his tongue. "I'm gonna have to show you when we're finished here," he declares.
". . . Okay," Steve says confused. He looks over at Tony, who shrugs in response.
"Ignore him, Cap, it's a good plan," Natasha says before hitting Clint in the arm and berating him in her native tongue.
"Well . . . okay. We'll split up and meet back here in three hours," Cap announces.
With those words, the Avengers split up. Natasha grabs Clint by the arm and drags him into the forest. Thor and Bruce walk together in different direction, leaving Steve, Tony, and Bucky alone in the clearing. The latter two grin mischievously to each other and Steve groans, knowing that the two men are going to do nothing, but tease him mercilessly. Silently hoping that things go well, Cap follows his two comrades into the forest.
A/N: This chapter was so long that I had to divide it into three jfc. XP Hopefully I'll have the next part out for you guys soon! I hope you enjoyed!