Eighty Four
I was so depressed after finding my cars that I couldn't go out. I went to my suite and fell asleep holding Loki's pillow. I couldn't believe Loki had been in the tower and I didn't know. I wanted to explain what I'd found out. I wanted to apologize again and again. Bruce brought a tray of food in later and stayed to make sure I ate. This went on for days.
"How are you feeling today?" Bruce came in with a cheery tone. I groaned and threw a pillow over my head. Deeply breathing in Loki's cool scent, I began crying again.
"Maria Hill's here." He tried. I grunted. "She has a mission for us."
Bruce set the tray down and sat in the chair near the bed. I think he was waiting for me to uncover my head before speaking again. I wiped my tears. I threw off the covers and bolted for the bathroom. I jumped in the shower hoping Bruce would leave me alone.
"Tony? I know you can hear me. I haven't told anyone else about what's going on. Come on, a mission is just what you need to take your mind off everything." His voice trailed off for a minute. The door creaked open. "Here, I've brought you some clothes. Just come down and listen to what she has to say."
I stood, letting the water pelt my head. All glimmer of hope had faded away of Loki returning. He had just come back to torment me. Maybe I should move on and find happiness on my own. If this was it, and he really wanted to split over this misunderstanding, I would want him to be happy. I only hoped he wanted the same for me.
I sighed getting out of the shower. I got dressed and headed downstairs. As I walked into the conference room, all eyes were on me.
"Tony?" Agent Hill confusedly asked. "Is everything okay?" I was met with a lot of odd looks.
"What?" I feigned, pulling together all of my playboy charm. "I'm trying a new look." I slumped into my chair.
"Is that new look called homeless?" Clint sat forward.
"Ha ha." I responded. "Can we get on with it? I have important things to design."
"Yes, of course. Director Coulson has an assignment that needs to be taken care of by the Avengers. Coulson found the Hydra base where they've been experimenting on powered people." Hill explained.
"They found Strucker?" Steve spoke up.
"Yes. We also believe Strucker is in possession of Loki's scepter. If memory serves, it has the power to take over people's minds. We cannot allow Hydra that much power. The mission is to take out the base, capture Strucker alive and retrieve Loki's scepter. Understood?" Hill recapped. I groaned inwardly at the mention of Loki.
"Understood." We said in unison.
"Meet back here at seventeen hundred hours." She barked. I sulked away, trying to be unnoticed.
"So where is Loki?" Clint finally caught up to me.
"He has things to take care of on Asgard." I said trying to avoid the conversation.
"You think he's going to want his scepter thingy back?" Clint pushed.
"I don't know, I'll just have Thor send it back to Asgard. It's safer there." I quickened my step.
"Steve says you and Loki broke up."
"And how the hell would he know anything of my relationship with Loki? Fucking Steve won't even look me in the eye. How the fuck would he know if Loki and I broke up?" I stopped and shouted at him.
"Whoa! Whoa! I just overheard him telling Sam. He said it was better for the team." He held his hands up in defense.
"I'm going to have a talk with Captain Homophobe." I stomped off. I had no idea how Steve knew or why he believed it was better for the team. We were fine, we were happy. I will find a way to Asgard and make this right, and we'll be happy again.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, Stark!" I had bumped into Steve.
"Just the idiot I wanted to talk to. What's the deal with you telling people that Loki and I broke up and that it's better for the team?" I poked him in the chest.
"It is better for the team. We don't need to be working with the guy who tried to take over the world. It doesn't help that one of our teammates is trying to start a family with the enemy." He poked me back.
"He isn't the enemy!" I shouted. "He was helping us prepare for this Thanos threat."
"It's better he went back to Asgard, let them deal with him." He pushed me out of the way.
"It's not better, we need him to fight at our side."
"I'm so glad I helped Thor get rid of him." Steve mumbled. I grabbed his shoulder turning him and punched him square in the jaw. I don't think he knew I could hear him. He punched me back in the gut. We traded blows for what felt like an hour. It was probably minutes.
"Boys! Boys! Boys! Knock this off!" Natasha stepped in between us, trying to push us back. "We have a mission in less than twenty four hours. We have to work together as a team."
"This fucker said something about helping Thor by getting rid of Loki." I gestured to Steve.
"Don't swear in front of the lady." Steve scolded.
"Really? She swears more than me!"
"Boys, as horrible as that sounds, and probably is, we need to stick together for this mission. Tony, tech now. Steve, I'll talk to you later." She scolded us like children.
"Fine, tech now. This isn't over asshole." I stormed off to prepare for the mission.