Melting His Icy Heart
Chapter 2
Andrea walked into the lab behind Steve in time to see Tony zap Bruce with one of his little tools.
"Ow."
"Nothing? You really do have a lid on it."
Steve gave Tony a shocked look as he yelled.
"Hey! Are you nuts?!"
"Jury's out. So what's your secret? Mellow Jazz, Bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny…no offense."
"I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."
Bruce's reply was soft but serious and Andrea moved to stand next to him, placing a hand on his arm to help him stay calm. They watched the other two as they kept at it.
"You're tiptoeing big man, you need to strut."
"And you need to focus on the problems Mr. Stark."
"You think I'm not?"
Tony reached into his bag and pulled out a little package of something, opening it and pulling out a blueberry. Andrea huffed softly at him and his love of the things.
"Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
He popped a handful of berries into his mouth, turning his tongue a bit blue as Steve frowned at him.
"You think Fury is hiding something?"
"He's a spy. Captain…He's THE spy. His secrets have secrets."
Tony looked over at Bruce.
"It's been bugging him too, hasn't it?"
"Uh…I just want to finish my work here and…"
"Doctor?"
Steve's soft question made Bruce sigh and look at them.
"A warm light for all mankind to share. Loki's jab about the cube."
"I heard it."
Steve still looked confused as to where this was going but Andrea's eyes widened as something clicked in her mind, falling into her own thoughts as Bruce continued, looking right at Tony.
"Well, I think that was meant for you."
Tony held out the bag and let Bruce take a few berries before the Doctor spoke again.
"Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower it was still all over the news."
"The Stark Tower? That big ugly…building in New York?"
Steve paused at the frown on Tony's face. Bruce nodded.
"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That means it'll run itself for…what a year?"
Tony nodded and shrugged a bit.
"It's just a prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now is what he's getting at."
"So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business anyway?"
"I should probably look into that as soon as my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's files.
Steve gave Tony an incredulous look.
"I'm sorry…did you say…?"
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I'll know every dirty little secret SHILED has ever tried to hide."
Tony gave an unapologetic grin and held the little bag out to Steve.
"Blueberry?"
Steve ignored the offer, giving Tony a disgusted look.
"Yet you're confused why they didn't want you around…"
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."
Tony noticed how quiet his sister was being and frowned at her as Steve started talking again.
"I think Loki is trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if you don't stay focused he will succeed. We have out orders. We should follow them."
"Following isn't really my style…"
"And you're all about style aren't you?"
Tony gave Steve a smirk as he spoke in a mocking tone.
"Of the people in this room, which one is A: wearing a spangly outfit, and B: not of use?"
"Steve?"
Bruce's soft voice brought the other men's attentions back to him.
"Tell me none of this smells fishy to you?"
"Just find the cube."
They could see the doubt in Steve's eyes but he seemed to be ignoring it as he left the lab. Tony frowned at his sister and stood in front of her.
"Princess? You alright in there?"
She blinked a few times as she looked up at him, her mouth opened and then snapped shut. Her eyes widened and she tore off out of the lab, leaving two very confused men sitting behind her and staring at the door.
"What just happened?"
"I have no idea…"
Andrea ran to where Loki was being held in the glass prison, passing an aggravated Natasha on the way. The doors opened and she walked into the room and right up to the glass with no sign of fear or hesitation.
"Now they send in the little Firebird for information?"
"No. No one sent me. I came on my own."
"And why is that?"
"Something Thor said, and the way he said it…"
"And what did the man who calls himself my brother say to you little lady?"
"Not to me…to everyone. He claimed you as his brother but when someone pointed out how many you had killed already he said you were adopted…but he said it like he was almost asking for forgiveness. I didn't like it."
"Oh don't tell me you tried to defend me to those people?"
"No…I asked him if he was the favored son."
Loki gave her a slow smirk, his eyes sparkling in amusement.
"Oh I wish I could have seen his reaction to that one."
"He didn't get a chance to react much, though I'm sure he'll corner me about it at some point."
Loki watched as she chewed on her bottom lip a bit, his hand coming up to the glass as if to stop her without even thinking about it.
"Loki? That staff…you need to stay away from it."
"That staff is power."
"That staff is poison!"
Loki took a small step back as she yelled at him. He knew what the staff, and through it the Tesseract, was doing to him. He wasn't able to stop it on his own, but he didn't expect a little mortal female to be the one to figure it out. He had hoped his brother would realize he wasn't himself but he seemed to believe what the others told him.
"You…how? How could you…?"
"I could feel the thing trying to hook itself to me in the lab. It's the Tesseract isn't it? It was whispering from the staff, trying to make me lose control."
"Yes…There is a titan known as Thanos…an ancient being that was banished eons ago. He's…courting the entity that is Death."
"He's…courting…Death? Seriously?"
Loki gave her a pointed look and she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"And he thinks killing other is the best way to do that right?"
"Killing everything actually. He thinks if he destroys all life everywhere Death will favor him."
Andrea stopped fighting the urge and let her laughter bubble over. Loki's smirk softened into a genuine smile as he watched her, one hand pressing to the glass where she leaned against it.
"Little lady…while I also find that amusing…what he is capable of is not."
Her laughter died in her throat as she looked at him, feeling drawn to his grass-green eyes.
"He threatened you?"
"He tortured and threatened…yes. If I do not lead his army and conquer Earth he will come for me…and he will destroy me."
"You don't have to be alone Loki…let us help you."
"You cannot help little one. He would tear you apart if you tried."
She gave him a saddened look and shook her head.
"Not just me…all of us…together. Me, and you…Thor, Tony, and the others. If we all fought together I'm sure we could win. Please Loki…don't let him control you…don't let him beat you like that."
Loki's eyes flashed with something as he looked at her, his face softening. His voice was low and soothing when he spoke again.
"You should go back to your brother little one. I will see you again soon. You can count on it."
She sighed softly and whispered goodbye before leaving the area and heading back to the lab. Loki stayed against the glass as he waited, knowing his plan was going to begin soon. Andrea walked back into the lab to find Fury there, and he did not look happy with Tony.
"What are you doing Mr. Stark?"
"Uh…Kinda been wondering the same thing about you."
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."
Banner intervened, his voice soft but no less unhappy sounding.
"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit we'll have the location within a half a mile."
"And you'll get your cube back. No muss, no fuss."
Tony paused and gave Fury a look.
"What is phase 2?"
Steve walked in as Tony asked that and set a nasty-looking weapon on one of the tables with a loud thud.
"Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."
Fury frowned at Steve, who was scowling back at him.
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This doesn't mean that we…"
Tony turned a screen around when Bruce pointed at something and raised an eyebrow at Fury.
"I'm sorry Nick. What were you lying?"
On the screen was what appeared to be a nuclear weapon powered by the cube. Steve looked disappointed.
"I was wrong Director…the world hasn't changed a bit."
When Natasha walked in with Thor Bruce gave her a harsh look.
"You knew about this?"
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor?"
"I was in Calcutta…I was pretty well removed."
"Loki is manipulating you."
"And you've been doing what exactly?"
"You didn't come because I bat my eyelashes at you."
"And I'm not leaving because you suddenly get a little twitchy. I want to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction?"
"Because of him."
Fury pointed at Thor who got a very confused look on his face.
"Me?"
"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet that had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."
"My people want nothing but peace with your realm."
Thor looked confused and shocked that anyone would think him a threat, or his people.
"But you're not the only people out there are you? And you're not the only threat. Our world is filling up with people who can't be matched. They can't be controlled…"
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it…and his allies. It's a signal to to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war."
Steve looked decidedly unsettled at those words.
"A higher form?"
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with some…"
"Nuclear deterrent. That calms everything right down."
Tony interrupted Fury with his sarcastic comment, and the man turned on him like an angry viper as he lashed out.
"Excuse me? Mr. Stark, need I remind you how you made your fortune?"
The arguments escalated from there, everyone lashing out at each other in anger.
"Agent Romanov would you please escort Dr. Banner to…"
"WherE? To my cell?You rented that space out already."
"The cell was just…"
"In case you needed to kill me but you can't. I know. I tried!"
Andrea placed her hand on Bruce's arm but this time he shrugged it off, though he did calm slightly.
"I got low. I didn't see an end. So I put a bullet in my mouth and the Other Guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show. You wanna know my secret Agent Romanov? You wanna know how I stay calm?"
"Dr. Banner, put the scepter down. Now."
Bruce hadn't realized he'd grabbed the thing and suddenly looked very confused. Andrea growled softly, but it echoed in the sudden silence that had taken over the room.
"Enough. All of you are acting like children instead of grown adults."
She grabbed the scepter from Bruce only to drop it with a sharp cry of pain, curling in on herself as everyone except Fury and Romanov ran to her side. Tony lifted her face to his, shocked to find tears in her eyes.
"Princess? What's wrong? What happened?"
"That staff…it's poison Tony…no one touch it…it feeds on your darkest emotions. It enhances them to the point you can't fight it."
Thor's face turned into a frown as he took in her words. He crouched down in front of her and looked her in the eyes.
"Are you saying what I think you are Lady Andrea?"
"Yes. I am. Loki is not to blame for all of this. He's being manipulated and controlled by two forces that are stronger than he is. The Tesseract itself…and some ancient thing he called a Titan…named Thanos."
That name made Thor rear back in shock and punch the floor.
"That being was banished from the nine realms eons ago. Did my brother say anything else My Lady?"
"He said he fell into Thanos' hiding place and was tortured. If he doesn't conquer Earth Thanos will come after him."
Thor placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and pulled her into an equally gentle hug.
"Thank you Lady Andrea. I will find a way to help him. I must."
"Not alone you aren't. I already asked him to let me help him…to let us all help him. He's afraid to have anyone else be harmed by Thanos. I'm going to do what I can for him anyway."
Thor gave her a bright smile, and the others seemed to be supportive of the idea…except Fury and Natasha.
"You want to help that monster after what he's done to Selvig and Barton? Why should we believe him? Is he not known for being a liar and trickster?"
"Loki would not make light of a titan. No one who knows of them could ever make light of what they can do."
Bruce looked at one of the monitors with wide eyes.
"Oh my God…"
The cube was close…it was in New York…right near Stark's tower. Just as he went to speak up a massive explosion erupted from under them and threw everyone to the side. Bruce and Natasha were thrown out of the window and down to a lower level. Fury started barking out orders at everyone, sending them to different places. He told Andrea to just stay put, making her angry, before heading to the bridge of the ship. Tony and Steve headed off to try and fix the engine that was damaged. Andrea used her jet boots to land where Natasha and Bruce had been moments before, only to see a path of destruction that lead to the sight of the Hulk chasing Natasha. She seemed to dodge out of the way just in time before Thor stepped in front of the big green guy. When it was clear that Thor wasn't making any headway with Hulk Andrea stepped in front of the green one.
"Hey there…Do you recognize me? Bruce is my friend."
The Hulk stopped and stared at her, Thor just watched in fascination as she seemed to be soothing the enraged creature.
"Will you let me be your friend too Hulk? Would you like that?"
She could see that she was getting through to him and waved Thor off.
"Go check on Loki Thor. I've got this covered."
Thor did as she asked and she kept talking in low soothing tones, until a jet fighter tried to fire at the Hulk and nearly hit her. She screamed in fright and Hulk reacted violently. He pushed her to the side and she crashed into the metal wall, hitting her head and becoming a bit dazed as Hulk leapt out of the carrier and onto the jet. She couldn't see what else happened as her vision became blurry, she only heard an explosion and whimpered softly as it caused pain to blossom in her head. A pair of gentle hand cradled her head for a moment and she felt the pain ebb away. Strong arms lifted her up and held her close as a soft voice urged her to sleep, and she found herself unable to fight against it as the darkness pulled her in.