Chapter 9

Silence was dominant in the room. More than a few had been slightly taken aback at seeing a dead man effectively in front of them. They each overcame the shock at different times, but all unfailingly watched the supposed murderer of the same man for a reaction.

Seemingly unaware of the looks he was receiving, Loki stared straight ahead. Being a who-knows-how-old god of lies and deception, most were unaware of the inner turmoil he was having. Two, however, could get a fair idea. Thor had grown up with Loki, and had become quite adept at reading his face. Agent Mason was trained in subtle body language, with the obvious addition of being a mind reader and empath. With a silent nod of agreement Thor placed a large hand on Loki's shoulder and Agent Mason broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Do you have any other videos, Stark?"

"What?" Tony seemed to break himself out of his thoughts, "Oh, yes. You're up next, Capcicle." Another video appeared on the wall, and without further comment- Tony pressed play. A large room materialized- empty, save a smaller closed-in room complete with windows. The walls opposite the windows were made to look like a normal New York City view, albeit an outdated one. Tony turned up the volume all the way and the muted sound of a sports broadcast could be heard.

A small group of people stepped onscreen, all headed towards the mock room. Two stood out in the sea of black uniforms and masks. One was sitting in the room with them, easily recognizable from the back by her long curly hair. The other was the only one in white. A closer look found her to be dressed and styled as a woman would have been in the 1940's. She entered the room alone and there was some muffled conversation, the viewers unconsciously leaned forward- Tony had already turned the volume as high as it would go. Thus, when they could finally make out some words- there was a fair bit of startled jumps.

"Who are you?" The guards had already stepped through the doorway. There was barely a moment's pause before they exited through a rather unconventional method. The wall. Agent Mason moved herself around the corner just in time, the spot she had just vacated was now covered in rubble and limp bodies. Steve jumped out of the hole and after looking around briefly, ran through the large doors.

"Captain Rogers, wait!" The unknown agent yelled after him. Then into her walkie talkie, "All agents, code 13. I repeat all agents, code 13." There were a few shouts through the open door before the wall went blank again. The audience blinked and looked to Steve for an explanation.

"That was right after I woke up for the first time. They had a game playing on the radio that I had been at what to me was a month ago. The lady wouldn't answer me when I asked where I was and then those men came in, and well- I kind of panicked." He looked down sheepishly. "Sorry," he said, looking at Agent Mason, "I didn't see you there."

"It's alright; I would have been surprised if you did. No harm done at any rate." She shrugged her shoulders before turning to face Tony again. "Was that the last one?"

"There are a few others, but they're pretty minor," he looked appraisingly at her, "Why?"

She shrugged again, "Just thought you might find one in particular interesting." She held out her hand expectantly, glancing meaningfully at his phone. With and exaggerated sigh, he complied. Agent Mason began tapping the screen with her right hand, using her left to cover the other side from unwanted eyes. She stayed like that for a few minutes, occasionally biting her lip or glaring at the transparent device. Tony let this go on for a few moments, his ever-present smirk becoming more pronounced.

"Having trouble?" Tony asked, condescendingly.

"What?" Agent Mason looked up, "Oh, no I'm fine. I had the video ages ago; I was just trying to beat your high score on Angry Birds." Tony's smile shrunk a little, but didn't disappear.

"And?"

"Tied," She sounded incredibly annoyed.

"I meant the video." Tony said shortly. Agent Mason put a large video box on the wall in reply.

"This," she said, gesturing towards the wall, "is security footage from Stark Tower a little over a week ago." Ignoring Tony's incredulous look, she clicked the rather over-used play button.

The scene displayed was eerily similar to the one they had just watched, except this was set in a different Stark-owned building. Agent Mason, again accompanied by the seemingly ever-present guards, was also with another familiar face. Agents Coulson, Mason, and co. entered the lobby of the building confidently. Immediately four of the guards spread themselves to each corner of the room, despite the weak protests from the receptionist. She wasn't reassured when what looked to be the leaders of the group, along with the extra 'muscle' approached her desk.

"W-what do y-you want?" The young woman managed to keep her body from shaking. Well, mostly at any rate.

"Don't worry; we're friends of Mr. Stark. Just here to pick up a file he has for me." Coulson tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the secretary didn't seem to believe the story. Agent Mason rolled her eyes and stepped out from her position behind Phil.

"We're one of Mr. Starks more...secretive contacts." She gave the girl a knowing smile. "But I'm sure these gentlemen could use a coffee break." She motioned to the dark suited men standing stock-still around the room. When she didn't hear any movement she turned to glare at each of them in turn. "Oh, silly me I believe the closest Starbucks is at the end of the block," she turned and gave the frightened woman another smile, waiting for confirmation.

"Y-yes."

"Good, would you like anything?" She asked the shaken secretary kindly.

"N-no thanks."

"Alright, do you all think you can find your way there?" Agent Mason turned so that her glare would be out of the receptionist's line of sight.

"They just had coffee; I think they'll be fine." Coulson's face was unreadable. But his voice had a dangerous undercurrent.

"Nonsense, they'll only be a few minutes. Off you go." Agent Mason's voice had an almost identical edge to it, but the men seemed to know that their interests would be best served by drinking some of Brazil's best. Even behind his sunglasses, his look promised retribution to the backs of his deserting men. "Now, my associate just needs to run up to the R and D department and grab a file Mr. Stark left for him.

The secretary looked much more confident now that there were no, quite frankly, disturbing men staring at her. "I can't let you in the elevator unless you have an appointment or Mr. Stark says you can come up."

"It's not necessary to bother Mr. Stark in his celebrations." Coulson said smoothly. "He gave us the code for the elevator earlier."

"Oh, well then I guess you can go on up." She still seemed doubtful.

"Let me just help him with the code," Agent Mason leaned conspiratorially towards the woman behind the desk, "old age, it's starting to affect his memory." The secretary nodded sympathetically. "And then I'll wait down here, is that alright?" The brunette nodded, slightly more comfortable now.

She pointed towards a bank of elevators, "Any one of those will go to R and D, just type in your code and the doors should open and take you right up."

Coulson nodded and the younger agent followed him obediently to the side wall. Once they reached it, there was a small jump in the footage as the video switched cameras. "Old age, huh?" His voice was devoid of emotion.

"Trust tactics. Told you it would freak her out to bring all of them in." Agent Mason didn't sound apologetic.

"They came for a reason-"

"And so did you," she placed her hand on the keypad, careful to keep her body in between the secretary and elevator. After a few seconds of concentration, the light turned green. With a cheery ding the doors opened and Coulson stepped in. "Just get in, give him the file, and then get out. I'll take care of the cameras, not that Stark will have time to look at it."

"I wouldn't underestimate his pride." Coulson said as the doors slid shut. Agent Mason waited until the light showed the elevator was moving before making her way back to the front desk. Talking amiably to the receptionist, she maneuvered herself so she could casually lean on the desk- while having her hand firmly on the back of the computer. After a few minutes the elevator dinged again; opening to reveal Coulson and Pepper Potts. As they walked by, Agent Mason gave Coulson a brief nod before falling in line behind them.

That seemed to get Pepper's attention. "Hello, I don't believe we've met before." She offered her hand to shake, "I'm Pepper. Do you work with Phil?" Mason returned her smile and handshake warmly.

"Yes I do, I'm Agent Mason." The large, clear door shut behind them and the wall went blank once more.

Tony was incredulous, "So it was you!"

"Guilty." Agent Mason sure didn't look it though, one might actually say she looked pleased. Tony sullenly took his phone back.

"Any other videos that I missed?" He seemed slightly less confident now.

"There are a few other short ones, but they aren't that important."

"Good, while I was looking through the security cameras, JARVIS managed to dig up some rather interesting information about you. Or rather, your family." If Tony was expecting a reaction, he was going to be disappointed.

"And? Did you have all of the details before?"

"Most of them, but this was a rather large piece we had been missing. It turns out," he looked at his phone dramatically, "you have an uncle, a certain Alexander P. Mason."

"'Had' would be the more appropriate word there. I don't know if you found that particular detail, but he died in an accident six years ago. But yes, he was my father's younger brother." Her voice had a sharp edge, "I'd prefer not to talk about it." It was that uncomfortable silence that Clint walked into.

"I hate to interrupt this riveting conversation, but Fury needs to see you, Kat."