Chapter 4: The Truth (Ch. 4 of 5)

The rain is plummeting with a vengeance and Tony has to fight against the raging winds to remain on his feet. The severity of the storm is vaguely familiar. Tony's visions flashes: harsh whipping winds, rampant waves, and the blackness. This storm isn't familiar, it's identical! Identical to the storm that aimed to cast him and his men to meet their deaths a few days ago as well as the one storm Tony has thought about in years.

"It's the Tesseract!" Bruce exclaims over the rushing wind and Tony nods firmly, a heavy gravity in his eyes.

Clint, who had been upon the crow's nest, slides down a slippery rope, dropping to the deck with shaky footing.

"How the hell does Loki have the Tesseract?!"

Tony says nothing, silently clenching his jaw as he watches the Laufeyson, the ship of the Frost pirates, draw near. The captain can feel his hatred—his vindictiveness—boiling up to the surface. He'd vowed long ago that if ever saw Loki again—Thor's brother or not—he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. After all, it was the man's fault Tony had become what he was—why he was the morally questionable person he was today.

"It'd be best to keep your head, Captain," Bruce says calmly, firm eyes on the Captain and after a deep breath Tony nods.

"We need to find out how he got the Tesseract and what business he has here," Tony orders and all his men nod in agreement.

"'Tis it just I or does it seem as though the storm is calming?" Thor inquires, placing out a hand palm up to feel for the pattern of the falling rain.

True to Thor's enquiry, the rain has fallen to a slight drizzle and continues to slow, but the ominous clouds looming over them and the village remain. The Laufeyson is near enough for one to reach out and touch, but neither Tony nor is men move, all silently watching as Loki leaps from his ship to theirs. What Tony wouldn't give to punch that smug look from the man's face.

"Oh, why so glum?" Loki teases with a wild grin as he runs a swift hand though his damp tendrils.

The others all look to Tony, awaiting the command of the captain. Wordlessly Tony takes a few steps towards Loki, a significant gap still remaining between the two, before grinning.

"Loki, long time no see. Aren't you supposed to be lock away in prison?"

Loki chuckles deeply, "Aren't I."

"Smug sonofa—!" Clint growls, but Bruce's hand on his shoulder silences and further argument.

"Nice Tesseract. Where ever did you find it?" Tony inquires, forcing his voice to sound playful.

"Isn't it?" Loki purrs as he looks to the quadrangular object hovering above his open palm, "Well like any decent pirate, I stole this delightful treasure. Though I must admit, Tony, you hid it wonderfully well...simply not well enough."

Tony clenches his jaw, glancing to the other pirates about the Laufeyson. Making a move would reckless. Not only does Loki have the Tesseract, but he and his men are outnumbered. Not mention Tony has Saffron to worry about. Odin forbid the man get his hands on her. Tony opts to stall, play on the man's ego and keep him talking while his men enacted the plan they seemed to have concocted. But before Tony can open his mouth he finds himself interrupted.

"Loki?" Saffron calls softly from the archway that led to the main deck, eyeing he man in disbelief.

Tony's heart shudder at Saffron's untimely appearance and he quickly twists, mindful of not offering Loki any vantage point, to look to her.

"Saffron! Go back inside!" Tony demands forcibly but the mermaid is frozen in place.

Loki's gaze snaps to Saffron decidedly annoyed, but only when he truly sees her does the malevolent look on his face wash away, only to be replaced with visible surprise.

"Saffron?"

Relying heavily on the built structure of the side of the archway, she takes a shaky step from the shadows of the room behind her. Tony turns around completely to join the others in eyeing her with dismay.

"You know him?" Tony questions, incredulity in eyes—whether it be because he can't believe Saffron knows Loki or because he doesn't want Saffron knowing of Loki to be true, even Tony doesn't know.

"A little," she replies softly, as she moves forward relying on her own two feet.

She wobbles a bit in place. It always took a bit of time for her to readjust after each transformation. She continues forward making her way over to stand beside Tony. Her thoughts are rushing about her head as her mind recalls her memories of Loki, all which merge and collide with Thor's words from the day before.

"Is it true? Those things they say you did?"

Saffron moves to take another step forward to draw near to Loki, but Tony's firm hand on her shoulder holds her in place. She quickly turns her gaze to him only to find that his gaze is resting dangerously on Loki. But Loki is clearly oblivious to the other man's hard stare as he observes Tony's hand on Saffron's shoulder.

Grinning bitterly Loki speaks, "Are you going to protect her from? Surely not in the same manner you protected that other woman. What was her name? Ah yes!"

Loki pauses momentarily as he narrows his eyes devilishly, a cruel smile playing about his lips, "Pepper."

Tony's rage is ominous and ubiquitous and Saffron shudders at the feel of its growing presence. She hated it. The rage that seemed to be swallowing Tony whole was no difference the burning hate that swelled within the hearts and minds of her sister. Tony growls somewhere from the back of his throat and she whimpers at the sound, heart consumed by conflicting feelings: the desire to make the rage be gone and the curiosity in regards to this unknown Pepper.

It takes every drop of will power in Tony's being to keep himself from recklessly drawing his sword to have Loki even if such an action would leave him nothing but dead.

"Captain, we need to move. The full moon draws close and if we want to get the Aether—!"

"Silence you imbecilic twit!" Loki snaps dangerously, turning a vision glare to the man who'd spoken so very carelessly.

"Aether?" Saffron mumbles softly as she ponders the familiarity of the name.

Loki sighs tiredly as he rubs as his right temple.

"I had every intention of ending you all," Loki's gaze slides over to Saffron, "But clearly the tides have turned."

"You don't even know the half of it," Clint growls gravely, eyes hard and lips thinned.

Loki doesn't even spare the man a glance as he moves to return to his ship.

"Until next time," the raven-haired man calls with a grin as his ship moves away, but his eyes are upon Saffron.

There's a definite cleansing of the tension in the atmosphere as Loki draws away and Tony's painful grip on Saffron's shoulder is quickly removed only to have both his hands grip brutally at her upper arms, spinning her around to face him as he shakes her a few times.

"Why the hell do you know him?!"

"I…I…"

"You're no different! Anyone who befriends that man can't be anything but trouble."

"Captain, do calm down," Thor says as calmly as possible, visibly surprised at Tony's sudden accusations and worried for Saffron's wellbeing."

Tony ignores Thor completely electing to continue his vicious slanders.

"You speak so lowly of your sisters but you spend your time with that…that monster! What makes you any different?!"

"Anthony, you're hurting me," she whimpers pitifully, pushing cautiously against his chest.

"Tony!" Steve calls but he too is left ignored.

"Don't you dare say my name! You have no right!" he shouts at Saffron furiously as he shoves her away from him, turning on his heels to look away from her as he runs a hand through his hair.

Saffron stumbles back stunned, but the doctor is quick to move behind her and prevent any sort of fall.

"Tony, enough," Bruce all but demands the captain, holding the baffled red head protectively in his arms.

Tony spins around furiously, fully prepared to chew Bruce out for all he was worth, but when his eyes fall to Saffron he visibly startles, intended cruel words only coming out as an shocked release of breath. With the sudden silence Saffron's soft cries seem significantly louder. She clings desperately to Bruce as muffled sobs wrack her body.

"Saffron," Tony whispers softly, making to move towards her, but Bruce's hard glare wordlessly prevents him from doing so.

"No!" she screams, shoving herself away from Bruce as she rushes over to the edge of the boat.

"Woah, kid! Don't go gettin' any crazy ideas!"

But she pays Clint's hurried words no attention, climbing up on the wooden ledge before diving into the moonlit waters. Steve's already begun to move to go in after her, but Bruce quickly stops him, gripping on his shoulder with extra force to ensure that the larger man did indeed stop.

"What are you doing? We have to go after her!"

Bruce shakes his head, but it's actually Tony that speaks up, "She'll be fine.

"What!?"

"She's gone, Steve!" Tony shouts harshly before falling silent, "And perhaps it's for the best."

"What are you talkin' about?" Clint asks, eye still watching the water to see if Saffron would come up, skin itching and tingling, instincts screaming for him to go in after her.

Bruce looks to Tony and Tony to Bruce, silently conversing as to what would happen next. Without so much as another word, Tony leaves for his quarters, the sound of his door slamming shut echoing about.

"Brother Bruce, what is it you're not telling us?"

Thor briefly glances to the mostly still waters before looking back to Bruce. Bruce chuckles bitterly, rolling his shoulders tiredly as he prepared to fill in his comrades as best he could.

Tony doesn't leave his cabin for days. The others occupy their time with trips to the village for materials and tools to patch up the Romanoff. She's good as new now, ready for a new voyage, but her captain simply doesn't have the drive to do so. He hasn't had the drive to do much of anything these days, opting out of meals so frequently that Bruce as to force him to eat. He spends his time staring up at the canopy of his bed, thoughts jumping between Loki, Pepper, and Saffron.

It was if he was a master letdown, a catastrophe to the world. A man who drowned his sorrows in liquor, and when that wasn't enough, women. Who was he fooling? No one. There was simply no conceivable likelihood that the universe would ever allow someone like him to have someone like Saffron. It'd been pure wishful thinking. Tony rolls tiredly to his side, eyes falling to the half in which she'd slept, now but a distant memory. This was pathetic, he knew, and he should really move on and get over it. But then again, he should've jumped in after her and look how that turned out—or better said didn't turn out.

Tony is pulled from the rummage of his mind by the rush of footsteps up deck. It's a lively sort of buzz deck and Tony finds it odd. The boys haven't been this lively for days now.

"Perhaps you shouldn't," Tony hears Thor say, his voicing growing slightly in volume as he approaches the Captain's Quarters.

Footsteps and hushed voices draw near and Tony silently listens to them.

"Kid! I don't think—!"

The door is thrust open, slamming roughly against the table behind it.

"I have something important to tell you! All of you."

The sound of her voice and the sight of her face makes Tony's heart shudder. Could it be he'd already gone and lost his mind this young? Hell, he was only forty. He definitely should have a few more years of sanity left in him. Saffron gazes at him sorrowfully, but she makes sure to keep the look brief. Now was no time for emotions. He was a mess and she genuinely hated to be the one to make all the chaos worse.

"It's about Loki."

Tony's face twists at the name and he resignedly sit up, throwing his legs over the bed before running a weary hand down his unshaven face.

"Look Saffron, if you're here to talk about Loki, then I'm not interested—" the brunette begins tiredly but Saffron leaves no room for argument.

"No! Listen to me!"

Everyone in the room startles. Saffron had never raised her voice before.

"Loki mentioned an 'Aether.'"

They all nod.

"I couldn't figure out why the name seemed so familiar, but I eventually managed to put the pieces together."

"Perhaps it'd be best if we moved to the dining area. There's a bit more room there," Bruce suggests and Saffron nods, eyes falling authoritatively to Tony's figure.

He was not going to weasel his way out. This was of the utmost importance and he was going to listen whether he wanted to or not. The shift in scenery is brief and wordless and eventually everyone is settled. Tony's sits at the head of the table, a bit of a distance from her. It hurts, but as before now was no time for personal feelings.

"In Mermadian history, we have this entity of sorts. We call it Patronus. It means protector. For as long as I can remember, which has been an awful long time, my sisters have always protected the Patronus. We used to guard it from darkened hands, but now we protect from mortals in general."

"What is it?"

"It's said that our all-father, Poseidon, create the Aether as way to protect his daughters of the sea. There's this old story, the tale of one of our eldest sisters and first daughter to Poseidon, Lupa. The god of lightning, Zeus, had set his eyes on Lupa, keen on claiming Lupa for his own. But Lupa refused his advances. She's fallen for a human, her mate. But as all tales such as this go, it ends in tragedy. Zeus lured Lupa to a cave at Orionis Cove. He in the guise of her mate, Zeus made Lupa his before revealing himself. Lupa was devastated and she took her own life. Poseidon, mourning the loss of his first born and harboring a rage for his brother, manifested all of his rage and Lupa's devastation in to a living entity. The Patronus, otherwise known as the Aether."

Bruce hums thoughtfully and Saffron takes their intrigued looks as permission to continue.

"It seems endearing that our all-father would bestow us such a form of protection, but isn't really. The Patronus was given life through hatred and desolation. There's no beauty in such desperation."

"Wait. So this Patro-ther thing runs on hate?" Clint asks.

Saffron nods solemnly, "It's never caused much of a problem before seeing that it is guarded and left untouched. But if Loki gets his hands on it…the damage he could cause. The Patronus would consume him. The rage of a god can neither be erased nor contained in a mere mortal. The Patronus will kill him and by then it will have already been freed from the depths of the cave. Do you understand what would happen? Poseidon's wrath would be forced upon the world until hatred devoured us all!"

"Well, that's not dark or foreboding," Steve mutters as he attempts to swallow all this information down.

"And what exactly are we supposed to do, us mere mortals as you so elegantly put it?"

Tony's voice has a bit of a bite to it but Saffron fights back the wince that threatened to plague her body.

"I didn't know who else to turn to. My sisters would be no match for the Tesseract and I know that you have stopped Loki before."

"Why don't your sisters just use the Patronus?" Steve asks.

"Did you miss the whole spill about rage, wrath, and consumption or were you just being blonde?"

Steve throws Clint an unamused glare and Saffron places a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Clint could've worded it a bit differently, but he's right. The Patronus would only fill my sisters with unimaginable rage and I know for certain that they have enough as it is."

Tony huffs silently but with her heightened sense Saffron hears it clearly.

She stands to her feet to move and linger before Tony, "Anthony this is more than personal. This is the fate of the world potentially being thrown into chaos."

Cautiously Saffron takes up one of his hands in both of her own pulling it close to her chest and when he doesn't pull away she continues to speak, "Sometimes fate throws things our way, testing to see if we can handle such a challenge. Some rise to the occasion and others take a step back…what I'm trying to say is that I know you're a good person and I hope you'll do the right thing."

The feel of Saffron's heart thrumming beneath his hand is soothing and greatly alarming. To be so quickly disarmed by her touch alone leaves Tony cautious and wary. How could one woman him feel so much internal conflict? Desire and caution. Confusion and understanding. Fear and lo—! Tony quickly takes his hand back, heart shuddering and mind racing, before moving to his feet.

"Steve, lay our course for Orionis Cove."

The blonde man is startled by the sudden change of heart, but he eventually he smiles knowingly, "Aye, Captain!"

"Well if we are to prepare for battle, I shall head below and check our ammunition," Thor says with a knowing grin.

"Agreed. If battle is upon us it would be wise of me to make sure we're appropriately stocked up on medicine. Clint, don't you have to do that 'thing?'"

"Thing? What thing?"

"You know, the thing you'd been meaning to do," Bruce pushes a bit more firmly in the hopes the other man would catch on.

Clint looks to Bruce with a confused face before it dawns on him, "Oh yeah! I completely forgot that I do that. I should go do that thing…that I do…that thing."

With that the four men sidle out of the mess hall, gently closing the door behind them and leaving Saffron and Tony alone. The silence makes her a bit self-conscious and she shifts in place, eyes upon the floor with slight apprehension.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Head to Orionis Cove, I mean."

"You can't go giving life altering speeches and then back out when a decision's been made."

She nods in agreement, chewing on her bottom lip before speaking, "It's just that Orionis Cove is sacred Mermadian ground. If my sisters get a hold of you then..."

"Look, this is something we have to do, isn't it?" he pauses watching as she nods, "Then stop questioning it. I stopped questioning some things a long time ago…"

Tony's voice is bitter and over all lonely. He gives her another look before heading to the door, "I'm tired. I'm going to lay down."

With those words he leaves the room leaving Saffron alone in every aspect of the word.

Quietly Saffron climbs down the stairs to the sickbay, peeking around the open door to see Bruce organizing while Clint lounged carelessly on one of the beds.

"Hey, it's the kid!" Clint greets playfully, sitting up to offer her a wide grin.

The sight of any sort of acceptance is relieving and she steps inside the confines of the room with a smile and a small wave after having shut the door behind her.

"Hi," she greets a bit bashfully.

"Hello," Bruce says with a smile as he turns to give her his full attention.

"I just came down here to apologize," her eyes rest upon the floor as she forces the words out, "I didn't mean to deceive you all, honest, it's just that…"

"Not tell people you're a mermaid keeps you alive?" Clint says helpfully, as though the answer were that obvious, "We get it. No harm done. Hell, you're actually helping us. If you weren't a mermaid we would've never found out about the Aether and its location."

She smiles blushingly, crossing the room to sit on the bed across from the cheerful man.

"Say, how did you meet Loki anyway?"

Saffron gives Clint a perplexed look before his words register in her mind.

"I'd met him only once. I'd decided to venture to Jotunheim because I was curious about the snow I'd heard passing travelers mention. They'd all mentioned that Jotunheim was an icy abandoned wasteland, so I figured I wouldn't have to worry much about any human encounters. But there he was. He looked…"

"Evil?" Clint oh so helpfully fills and Bruce tosses a roll of gauze at him, silencing any further words.

Saffron shakes her head with a solemn smile, "He looked lonely."

Clint certainly isn't buying it but out of respect to Saffron—as well as fear that the doctor would throw something a bit more pain inducing if he spoke up again—he remains quiet.

"We decided to meet up again. I told him that if he were still alive to meet me there five years from now and I would tell him all he wanted to know about us mermaids. He never showed…"

"Probably rotting away in prison, as he should be right now."

She gives Clint a look that clearly relays that she felt his words to likely be true, but that they still could've been put differently. Saffron makes to speak again but Clint speaks before her, having noticed Bruce's sudden absence of movement.

"Hey Doc, what'cha lookin' at?" Clint asks as he and Saffron lean to the side in an effort to make sight of whatever it was that seemed to have captured Bruce's attention.

Bruce eyes the door a little longer then shakes his head with a soft smile before looking to the other two both with a knowing grin, "Nothing. Probably just a figment of my imagination."

Wordlessly he turns his back to his visitors, continuing his organizing of medical goods.

Clint snorts with disbelief and a smirk as his eyes fall from the small crack left by the opened door, "Yeah, sure."

But the man doesn't press further for any more information. He's already aware as to what had caught the Doctor's attention. Honestly, if only that captain of theirs could be more forward where it counted.

"Well, Saffron, if you're coming with us on this journey you're going to need somewhere to sleep. You're more than welcomed to stay here."

"Oh. Thank you," Saffron replies softly as she makes her way to the dropped roll of gauze, stooping down briefly to take it in hand before proffering it to Bruce.

Bruce gives her a smile and when he reaches forward to take it from her, he leans close to whisper in her ear, "Perhaps it'd be best if you told the captain of the change in your sleeping arrangement."

Quickly she glances at Clint, who's opted to entertain himself with a deck of cards, before looking back to Bruce.

"Tell Anthony?" she whispers back and Bruce merely raises a brow, turn to give his medicine cabinet the utmost of attention.

She chews lightly at the tip of her thumb. Tell Tony. Now why in the world would she do that? He clearly wanted nothing to do with her, so why would Bruce say that? Unless—! Curiously she looks towards the door. She could say for certain that she had properly shut it when she'd entered earlier…

She looks to Bruce with wide eyes, her heart drumming a hopeful beat. Bruce glances over his shoulder to her before gesturing to the door with a slight smirk. The grin on Saffron's face is blinding as she quickly turns on her heels, exiting the room to head up deck and into the cool night air in pursuit of Tony's chambers. If Bruce thinks it's possible—and if the open state of the door as anything to go by—then perhaps it really could be. Perhaps she could salvage things if she tried hard enough.

Silently Saffron eyes Tony's door. Perhaps it'd be best to knock, but what if he inquired as to who was there? And when she'd tell him it was her, he'd refuse her presence. No. She'd already made up her mind. She wasn't leaving without at least having tried. Wordlessly she pushes the door open, immediately noticing him sitting on the edge of his bed, worn and overall defeated.

She wants to inquire about his wellbeing, to check if he'd at least eaten, but the words that fall her lips aren't even remotely close.

"Who's Pepper?" She inquires cautiously as she steps into his quarters, lingering in the archway with hands still resting upon the door's handle, bare feet silent upon the wood and eyes hesitant.

Tony's silence makes her flinch and she coughs softly quickly changing the subject, "Um…Bruce said that I could sleep on one of the beds in the sickbay. He even went so far as cleaning up."

Saffron laughs lightly as she watches him, but Tony neither does nor says anything, head still resting miserably in his hands. She sighs guiltily as she chews on her bottom lip, fighting back the tears that threaten to pool in her eyes. She takes in a shaky breath all the while struggling with the constricting feel of her chest.

"Well…good night," Saffron bids him as she quietly steps back making to leave.

"She was my fiancée."

Saffron's heart skips a beat at Tony's vocalization as well as the context of his words. But she takes his willingness to speak as invitation to stay. Gently she shuts the door behind her, resting on the wooden structure as she observed him.

"Was she nice?" she asks timidly from her place before the door.

Tony sits up, taking his head from his hands and—at last!—looks to her. His face is tired and Saffron can't help but chew on the inside of her cheek as she awaits for his reply. He smiles wearily, lightly patting the spot on the bed beside him and wordlessly she obeys. Saffron is careful as she sits down upon the mattress beside him, as though any sudden movements would scare him off, or worse, make him force her to leave his side. Her simply heart wouldn't be able to withstand either outcome.

Tony shifts his head to look at the wall across from him, though the look in his eye relays to the mermaid that his focus is elsewhere, elsewhere in the depths of his mind.

"She was…something. Never in my life had a woman been quite as difficult as her," Tony pauses to chuckle at the distant memory, "She had a mind of her own and she was a force to be reckoned with."

He laughs again, sitting up straight as though the sheer memory of this woman had forced a bout of strength into ragged and rundown body.

"She had plans you know, places she was going to go, and things she was going to see. She was fearless and nothing seemed to shake her!"

Tony continues to rant about the wonders of this amazing Pepper, the girl who could do it all, oblivious to the wetness pooling in Saffron's emerald eyes. She was elated to see that Tony felt comfortable enough to talk about Pepper to her but…it hurt. A bittersweet ache. Pleased to be his shoulder to lean on and wounded to be nothing more than that. As the tears spill over Saffron quickly moves to wipe them away as inconspicuously as possible. It was as though all the oxygen had been swept from her lungs, stolen away to render her breathless.

"She had been in Centari when it happened…when she…died. Typical wrong place at the wrong time. And all at the hands Loki and his damn Frost Pirates!"

The growl in Tony's voice makes the copper haired mermaid tremble, but unaware he continues.

"I was supposed to be there with her, but I'd had duties hold me back. But you know Pepper, with or without me, nothing was going to stop her from taking the trip. Then there was the attack. It took three days' time for word to reach me back at the manse. Centari had pillaged and left in an icy ruin…no survivors. It was then I vowed that I would find the bastard who'd done that to her…I'd find him for her. And look at me now. A wanted pirate on the run. A man whose hatred is only matched by the amount of rum he drowns himself in."

Tony's laughter is pitiful and again he shifts to rest his head in his hands once more.

"But if it was for her, then I knew I could handle it all."

There's a silence and the words that had been clawing at the back of Saffron's throat bubble up.

"Did you…love her?"

"You know, I don't think I loved her. Not like that, but I'm pretty sure I could've. I suppose I'll never know," he sighs in between his legs and Saffron can't seem to control herself.

She swiftly moves to wrap her arms about him as best she could, head resting on the upper half of his hunched over back. The sudden contact makes Tony tense up, but Saffron holds fast in case he decides to remove her. The brunette can feel her tears seeping into his shirt and it startles him to think he's made her cry. Unless…

"I'm so sorry," Saffron whispers softly, gentle sobs wracking her body as she all but cling to him, "I'm so sorry."

And she was. She was genuinely shedding tears for him. No sympathy and instead offering her empathy, her understanding. Tony moves to sit up and she allows him to do so, moving to wipe at her reddening eye with slight hiccups passing her lips. But the loss of contact is brief as Tony sweeps Saffron up and into his arms. His grip is firm, almost taut, as he seemingly holds onto her for dear life. As the comfortable hush grows, never minding Saffron's hiccups every so often, Tony's grip slacken, resting securely around her upper half, a hand leisurely combing through her pale scarlet hair.

It's peaceful there in his arms. The gentle sway of the boat and the rhythmic thrum of his heart all lull the mermaid into serene slumber. Tony feels her body relax in his arms and he peers over to his right to see Saffron has fallen asleep. He chuckles, smiling fondly, before he moves to take her more securely into his arms and lay her upon the bad. She mumbles a bit during his readjustment of her body, but she remains asleep. Gently tugging the covers from beneath her body he lays the warm drapery over her, lightly kissing her on her forehead. He makes his way to rest upon the sofa once more, but there's something that won't allow him draw away from that mermaid. Tony finds himself lying down beside her, unconsciously reaching out a hand to take up a strand of her hair. But when that isn't enough he reaches out to pull her resting form closer to him, Saffron's head resting beneath his chin as holds her close. Even fast asleep she still made his heart race.

Undoubtedly she was going to be the death of him.

The morning air is cool as the scent of sea salt dances on the breeze. Tony watches the clear skies and calm water from over the wheel. Saffron yawns tiredly as she exits the captain's cabin, pausing momentarily to stretch. When she woke up the room had been empty, but the bed had been surprisingly warm. She knows just where to find Tony and quietly she makes her way to the appropriate stairwell, stopping briefly at the bottom to gaze at the introspective look on Tony's face.

"Good morning," she greets softly as she draws near.

Turn shifts his head to look at her and Saffron's heart flutters wildly when he proffers her a soft smile, "Good morning."

He looks sharp, face appropriately shaven and a genuine glimmer of pleasure in his eyes. He seems like a completely different person and Saffron can't help but wonder why.

"We should be arriving at Orionis soon."

"Oh," she says with an uncertain sigh, "Orionis? I don't think this is such a great idea anymore."

"Why not?"

"Well think about it. You're all humans and men at that. My sisters would be all over you in a heartbeat."

Tony seems to ponder her words, "That actually sounds pretty nice."

Saffron sighs exasperatedly as she pouts at him, "I'm being very serious, Anthony."

"As am I. We can't Loki get his hands on this Aether. One powerful…thing…is enough."

"I know! I'm just worried about you. They'll be able to smell you, you know! Your scent is all over me and mine on you."

"I have a scent?"

Saffron nods slowly.

"Is that a good thing?"

"Every creature, living or not, has a scent. It's simply that humans cannot pick on them."

"Hmm….a scent. What do you think of my scent?"

There's a knowing grin on Tony's face and Saffron finds herself unable to fight back the blush that rushes to her cheeks, but still she finds the courage to respond.

"I think you have a wonderful scent."

"Well that's some kinky shit, "Clint says before commencing to yawn and stretch, "Don't you two think it's a bit too early for that."

Clints sudden presence leaves Saffron startled and most embarrassed. She swiftly shifts her gaze down towards the ground and Clint laughs at the sight.

"Clint," Tony warns, unconsciously moving to place himself between Saffron and the other man.

"Capt'n," Clint responds, playing an early game of mocking jay.

"Isn't there somewhere you need to be?"

Clint chuckles mirthfully, "Alright. Alright. I'll leave you to your lady friend. Your sexy lady mermaid friend."

With that and a wink, Clint jumps over the balcony railing of the upper deck, undermining the idea of stairs all together, heading towards the nest with another stretch of the upper half of his body. You chuckle lightly and Tony rolls his eyes.

"I like him," Saffron says sweetly, twining her fingers behind her back.

"You'd be the only one."

The mermaid gives Tony a playfully appalled look and the brunette simply grins shamelessly. This had to be some sort of miracle. Here she was chatting with Tony, all issues from before pushed aside. Saffron moves to sidle up beside Tony, head resting on his shoulder, and the man does nothing to move her—though, Saffron could swear, it feels as though he's moved to press his body closer against her own. The two look to one another, smiles of equal understanding slipping onto both their lips.

"Capt'n!" Clint calls from above in the crow's nest, garnering both Saffron's and Tony's attention.

There it was, an image so majestic that most would claim such a sight to be held for only for the gods, Orionis Cove.

"Land ahoy," Tony mutters as he looks down and over to Saffron and she looks to him with a nod.

"Yes…Orionis Cove."