I keep getting new followers and favorites for this story, so thank you to everyone! I've been trying to work on this more, but with school and work and other things, I haven't been writing as much as I would like to be. So be patient. Thanks again!
"Pass me those pliers?" Bruce asked. I reached slightly to my left to pick up the tool on the desk and handed it to him. He took it and began tinkering on the large golden disc. I looked over it, then at the silver orb next to it. There was a blue light passing through the ball from the rest of the machine. I hadn't asked Bruce how this device actually worked nor did I dare touch it.
"Anything yet?" I mindlessly inquired, turning to him. I stretched my neck a little to try to read the computer screen that was in front of him. He sighed, shaking his head. "Hmm…" I couldn't help but feel detached. Steve and Natasha were still gone on their mission for Loki. We haven't heard anything yet.
I felt rested as I had been able to sleep for a while. When I woke up I was still wearing Steve's jacket. It was a weird feeling to wake up in some random guy's clothes. But I also kind of enjoyed it because it was Steve's and it smelled great. I showered, changed into a white tank top and some different skinny jeans. I finally got to eat those berries from before, though they were dried up. Naturally I did my makeup, threw my hair up in messy pony and side swept my bangs. I pulled over my neck a mustard yellow endless scarf and put on my black pea coat. I opted for my brown suede flat boots today. I left Steve's jacket on my bed.
When I had arrived at the lab with coffee, I was surprised to see Bruce still working. He looked like crap, so I guessed he never took a break. I took a seat next to him at a desk and we talked. He said he didn't really make any progress on finding the Tesseract, but he wasn't giving up.
So here we were; me still sitting, watching Bruce do all the work. I shifted my gaze from the machine to the window that opened to the hangar. I peeled my rump off the stool and slowly trekked over to it. I slid my hands into the coat pockets and rested my head against the transparent glass. I lazily looked over the floor far below, taking in the different jets and workers. I saw a cluster of people racing around, like they were in a panic.
Well, that's odd, I thought as I scrunched my eyebrows. What's going on? I straightened up and tried to spot anything that might clue me in on what the commotion was all about. I strained my eyeballs but I noticed the short, bouncy red hair of a woman disappearing from view as she entered a door that led to the main of the base; Natasha was back. I laid my hands on the window as I frantically searched for a sign of Clint or Steve, but I didn't see them. Bewildered, I swerved to Bruce, who was already studying me through his glasses. My heart was pounding. I wanted to say something, but my opened mouth remained silent. Movement in the hall caught my eye.
Quickly, I turned to the direction of the distraction to see a group of heavily armed soldiers marching. As they made their way past the windows, a tall figure loomed in the middle of the huddle; slicked, long black hair, pasty white complexion with a pointed chin. I gazed at the man and in returned, I was petrified by the most menacing eyes I've ever seen. My breath caught.
Fear crept through my insides as he grinned at me. Mischief and dread were written all over him. Everything went dead silent except for the blood rushing in my ears.
The man kept his frightening expression as he turned away from me. I followed him as he disappeared down the hall with the soldiers. I didn't move. I felt stripped of my composure. That was Loki; it had to be.
"I'm guessing they're back." I gasped, startled by Bruce, my lungs burning with air. My heart thrashed against my ribs. I turned to him, still anxious. Concerned plastered his face as he held his glasses in front of him. It didn't look like he was ready for that encounter either. He looked at me, "We should get to the bridge." I wanted to nod but I was too dazed to move.
Bruce and I entered the bridge. At the giant table sat Natasha with her back to us, and on the opposite side sat Steve who noticed us right away as his face perked up. His blue eyes caught and held me like in a warm hug. The rest of the room seemed to blur. I put on autopilot and began to walk towards him, not noticing anything else. Really, I should have gone to Natasha as she was a close friend, but everything about Steve was comforting. My eyes didn't leave his as I walked.
Suddenly my body hit something solid and without thinking, I phased into liquid and passed around it. I stopped moving, blinking down at my arms as they turned into flesh. No longer in a trance I turned around to see what I bumped, but I was greeted by a strange steel chest plate. Slowly, I looked up. I saw a broad chin covered with stubble that continued around pale pink lips. My sight went higher, past his nose, and met his startling deep blue eyes and furrowed dark blonde eyebrows. I stepped back and noticed he had shoulder-length bright blonde wavy hair and his bare arms were incredibly muscular.
I gaped at him but managed to get out, "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you." Holy balls.
"It is alright, Lady of Water," he spoke in a deep voice with a slight accent that I had trouble placing.
"I- oh…Well then," I was taken aback, "That sounds so proper. I feel like I'm under dressed." I flattened my pea coat a bit and stood up a little straighter. I looked over at Steve who was looking amused. I gave him a sheepish shrug and turned back to the man in front of me. "As much as I like the sound of Lady of Water, you can call me Emma."
"Very well. I am Thor Odinson."
"Wait, Thor? God of Thunder Thor?" I speculated. The giant man nodded. "Well then...um…good to meet you, I guess." I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to act in front of a god, especially after I just ran into one.
"And I to you. Are you of Midgard, Emma?" he studied me and crossed his arms, looking puzzled. I scrunched my face, Midgard?
"Yes, she is." I turned to Natasha as she spoke. Her big grey eyes met with mine, "He asked if you were from earth," she answered.
"Ohhh, okay. Thanks, Nat," I replied softly. The red head shot me a small smile. "Yeah, I'm from Midgard, I guess. Imma sit down over there now." With that, I continued towards the seat next to Steve. I felt my cheeks were warm. I was a little flustered from literally running into the god of thunder. I plopped down in the chair and muttered, "That was a little unnerving."
Steve laughed, "That was better than my first encounter with him." I looked at him a little surprised and curious. I was about to ask but decided not to.
"Well, balls," I smiled at him and he returned it with a kind face.
"Loki is in the holding chamber," Natasha interjected matter-of-factly. I glanced at her and saw her eyes were focused on the table. I looked down at the surface in front of me. There was a small rectangle with a video feed of the tall figure I had seen in the hall before. The smile faded from my face. He was in some sort of glass room, which I figured was the holding chamber Nat just mentioned.
I heard Director Fury's intimidating voice come through invisible speakers, "In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass, 30,000 feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works? Ant. Boot."
Loki simply laughed. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."
"Built for something a lot stronger than you."
"Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man," Loki then looked directly at the camera. A chill made me shiver and I looked up at Bruce. He had crossed his arms. Loki continued, "How desperate are you? You call on such lost creatures to defend you."
"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cuz it's fun. You've made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did," Fury thundered.
Loki taunted him, "Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."
"Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something," Fury jabbed. I couldn't help but snort and the Director's remark. With one last glare from Loki, the screen cut out on the table.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce broke in. I smirked at him. It was good to know that he had a sense of humor during these things.
Next to me, Steve spoke up in a commanding tone, "Loki is gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" I looked down at the table wanting to focus on what would be said.
"He has an army called the Chitauri," the tall god replied in his accented voice. "They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." That's just fricken great.
"An army. From outer space," Steve said with displeasure but a mystified. I smirked and turned to see his disapproving face.
"So he's building another portal? That's why he needs Eric Selvig for," Bruce added.
"Selvig?" Thor asked.
"He's an astrophysicist."
"He's a friend." Thor looked upset when I glanced at him.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours," Natasha's voice was full of worry. She looked exhausted. She didn't find Clint when they found Loki and that made me sad as well.
Steve inquired in his officer style, "I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Holy crap, Wonder Boy is really intimidating. I leaned on my elbows on the table.
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him," announced Bruce. I am really liking this guy, I thought while glancing at him.
Thor wasn't as amused by Dr. Banner's comment as I was. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."
Natasha sassed, "He killed 80 people in 2 days."
Thor hesitated, "…He's adopted." I laughed a little, not expecting that. Steve gave me a cranky look. I ignored it.
"I think it's about the mechanics," engaged Bruce, "Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent," a man's voice answered. I looked up at the door and saw Phil walking in with another man, about the same height. He wore a dark blue shirt and a grey suit. His dark brown hair spiked at the top and had a distinct sharp goatee. He turned around to Phil and whispered something before rotating around to face us again. "Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD." The guy was next to Thor and I heard him say, "No hard feelings, Point Break. You got a mean swing," and he slapped Thor's arm. I followed him curiously. The man kept walking to the computer screens in front of the table. "Also, it means that the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." Who is this guy? God, he's familiar. I know him from somewhere…
He mumbled something I didn't quite catch, but the rest of the crew in the area did as they stopped and looked at him annoyed. The man then pointed to his right and declared, "That man is playing Galaga." I stretched my neck suddenly to see where this video game was being played. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. How does Fury even see these?" I was too occupied searching the room for any screen that had a game on it. "Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily." I gave up my hunt and turned back to watching the mystery man touching screens. "Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to," he snapped his fingers and clapped, "kick start the cube."
I tilted my head while staring at this guy. I know I've seen him before. I was trying to flip through my memory bank to find his face and ended up not hearing what everyone was saying. I was staring hard at the man when Steve's annoyed voice boomed next to me, taking me back to the conversation, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"
But it was Bruce who answered, "He'd have to hear the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." I really should have paid more attention in Chemistry.
The new guy speculated, "Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." I frowned, trying to wrap my mind around what he was implying.
"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Bruce sounded like he was joking.
"Finally, someone who speaks English," said the mystery man as he walked up to Dr. Banner.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve's disbelieved tone made me look at him. His expression was a combination between confused and irritated. It hit me; the new guy was none other than Tony Stark.
"Holy shit," I whispered as I glanced at Tony. I had just read about him in the news about his new tower that went up in Manhattan. Why didn't I recognize him the moment he walked in? "That's Tony Stark," I said to myself.
"Yeah," Steve answered me a bit annoyed. I looked at him to see he was glaring at Tony. He was in a bright blue uniform that I hadn't noticed before. There was a big white star in the center of his chest and the lower portion of the top was red and white vertical stripes. I saw he wore large red gloves that ended just below the elbows, but I couldn't help but marvel at how the sleeves hugged his enormous biceps. I sat up in my chair as soon as I heard Director Fury speak.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track to the cube. I was hoping you might join him," he addressed Tony.
The man next to me chimed, "Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."
"I don't know how Hydra is really going to help," I butted in, "I mean, kudos for thinking of it. I feel like the staff isn't a big deal in all of this." Everyone looked at me now. Shit. I should work on not cutting into a conversation without thinking. I took a breath in before going on, "Obviously it's connected to the Tesseract as that's how Loki got here in the first place."
Fury noted, "It is powered by the cube. I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
Thor questioned, "Monkeys? I do not understand-"
"I do!" Steve exclaimed looking proud, "I understood that reference!" I laughed at him and shook my head.
"It's good that you're not completely out of the loop," I mused at him. He smiled at me. I turned back to the rest of the group, "But I think it's the cube that's going to, like, open Mordor or something." I heard someone snort and I looked to see that it was Tony. "I don't think they need the staff to do that."
"I think you're right, Emma," Bruce affirmed. "I don't think the staff is going to open anything, but there's a chance that connection between the cube and the staff will lead us to Eric Selvig." I nodded at him.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Tony pointed at me. Fury opened his mouth before I could answer myself.
"Emma Blaser. Emma, Tony Stark. She's here temporarily as well as Dr. Banner."
Tony went on, "Do you do anything I should care about?"
I was perplexed and thought for a second before I answered with, "I can turn you into a puddle?" Tony's face turned enlightened and confused.
"It's true, I wouldn't mess with her," Bruce insisted quietly. I beamed up at him. Tony walked up to me and held out his hand, in which I shook lightly. He squinted at me curiously.
"Your eyes are so…bright. I mean it's like they're green ponds in sunlight. With dark algae on the edges and a bit of yellow moss in the center."
"…Thank you?" I guessed, not sure if that was a compliment.
Tony turned to Dr. Banner, "Should we play, Doctor?" Bruce nodded and then Tony spun to me, "What about you, Bright Eyes? Wanna make it a threesome?"
I laughed, "Um…yeah, sure." Tony beamed at me while Bruce looked astonished. Tony turned to him and Bruce extended his arm towards the door. Still smiling, I glanced up at Steve, who was less than amused with the new suit guy. I realized I wanted to sit with Wonder Boy instead of going to the lab. "You know what, I'll catch up with you guys," I called to Tony and Bruce.
Tony rolled his eyes and sarcastically whined, "Ugh, fine. Take all the fun out it." He and Bruce turned and walked down the hallway.
Steve got up suddenly and I jerked my head to him. "Hey!" I shouted at him as he was walked around the table. I shot out of my seat and briskly walked to catch up to him. "What is wrong with you?" The guy walks fast; we were in the hall already.
He halted and shifted his body towards mine. He glanced around the halls, his face stern, and took in a deep breath before finally looking at me. "I don't like any of this. It was too easy."
"What? You mean Loki? That's it?" He merely looked at me. "Is that what's bothering you?"
He hesitated, then answered, "I just want to understand his plan."
I leered at him, "And the way you glare at Tony has nothing to do with this?" He opened his mouth to argue but shut it and he turned and started walking again. "Hey! Steven! Stop!" I laughed as I grabbed his elbow and wrapped my arms around it. He stopped and looked down at me with disbelief. "If you don't want to talk about it, then we don't have to. I just…wanted to see if you were okay." I peeped up at him with wide eyes and his face soften.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
I shook my head, "don't be-"
"No, you're right. Stark bothers me. But so does Loki. I don't get…" he let out a sigh and turned his attention to the floor. I wasn't sure what I could say to make him feel better.
"Don't worry about it right now," I serenely pled. His blue eyes returned to mine. I hoped my face looked sincere. Gently, I shook his arm and smiled at him, "Come on. We should take a walk. It'll calm you down." He smiled down at me.
"That sounds like a great idea. Shall we?" Steve offered his arm and I tightened my grip around it, smiling like crazy.
"What a gentleman," I coaxed. We started down the hall at a slow pace.