Does anyone know when the Thor 2 trailer is coming out? I can't seem to find a date... anyhow, back to Bella and Tony and Tony being ticked off with Nick Fury.
"What were you doing?!" yelled Tony. "You have no right to have my daughter do anything for you without my permission!"
Fury shrugged and turned back to his screens. "She was the best choice."
"You don't seem to understand me," said Tony. "Do you know what you did? Do you realize exactly what you just did to her?"
Everyone on the bridge was staring at them again. Izzy sat in one of the chairs at the table, eyes big, arms wrapped around herself, still shaking, tears still staining her face. Sitting next to her on one side was Agent Romanoff, on the other, Capsicle.
Fury turned to him. "Miss Stark agreed of her own free will."
Tony'd had enough of this. "That's not the point. You've made one thing very clear, Fury. What might happen to that girl as a result of anything you do does not concern you in the least. You put her in a room with a man who turns into a green rage monster and you did not warn her – nor did you tell me you were doing it. And now this. I gave permission for her to work for you because I trusted that you wouldn't do something like this. Izzy?"
Her gaze directed toward him.
"Get your suit out of the lab, that's where Banner left it. You're going to meet up with Pepper in D.C."
"But what about –"
"Do as you're told!"
He instantly regretted snapping at her, but she didn't seem to realize that he had raised his voice. She nodded and stood up, walking back in the direction of the lab. Agent Romanoff followed.
"I'm staying here only because we need to stop Loki," said Tony, returning his attention to Fury. "Don't think I'll forget about any of this."
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Bella dragged herself into the lab.
"Miss Stark," said Dr. Banner.
She picked up the blue suitcase.
"Your dad angry with the director?"
"Oh, yes," she replied.
"He shouldn't have used you like that."
"I'm fine. I was just upset earlier."
He said nothing.
One of the computers beeped.
"We got the Tesseract's location," he announced.
"Where is it?" asked Agent Romanoff.
Something rolled into the floor. It exploded. And Bella was falling. Her head slammed into something and everything went black.
The next thing she was aware of was something pinning her legs. She looked up at the hole in what had been the floor and was now the ceiling. Light poured through.
She pulled her legs free. Where was her suit? It would be in the room above. Or in the rubble.
She spotted the blue suitcase in trapped under the beam that her legs had been under and started to tug on it, trying to pull it free.
It came loose suddenly and she tumbled over backwards.
She activated it and pulled it on. Loki was behind this, he had to be. And she was going to stop him if she could.
She ran directly to Loki's cell, stopping in the doorway at the sight of what was happening.
The door was opening and Loki was stepping out of the round, glass cell.
Bella fired her repulsors. Loki flew backwards back into the cell. Bella stepped forward through the open door.
And then Loki vanished and the door slid shut behind her.
Bella spun around to see Loki standing by the glass, grinning at her.
Loki laughed. "Should have known you'd come. For someone who trembles like a leaf when there's no real threat, you're quite brave."
"So you're saying you're not a threat?" asked Bella.
He laughed. "It's too bad Barton couldn't retrieve you. He spoke highly of your intelligence."
Retrieve... it made Bella sound like an object. Like she had been before she went to live with Tony.
"And what makes you think I'd ever agree to help you? You called me a monster just today. And it would make me more of one than to provide help for you. What makes you want this so badly?"
"I would be a great leader. You humans slaughter each other in droves – and who would know that better than you?" said Loki.
Bella flinched inwardly, then snorted. "And you'd do better?"
"Well, there would be no other rulers to fight with."
"You really think you can do a better job than anyone before you?"
"Well, yes."
Bella sighed. "But there lies the problem. Everyone thinks they can do a better job. They're all wrong. You think war would end with your rule? You'd just be another leader until someone else came along. There will always be war. I'm not a monster." Bella's volume started to increase. "I was a pawn, and that's all. Working for those people – it wasn't me."
"Wasn't it you, though?"
"I had some time to think, while Tony was yelling at Director Fury. I used to think it was me. I used to think I was responsible. But what a person does when they're forced – do you think that defines them, Loki? No. It's what they do when they have a choice. That's the difference between you and me. You're doing everything of your own free will! I didn't. Just like what you're doing with Agent Barton. You're using him as a tool, who doesn't any choice in the matter. We're the same in that. Just as I don't hold him responsible for his actions, I don't hold myself responsible anymore."
And then Bella noticed who was standing behind him.
"Agent... Barton?" she said.
"Miss Stark. It's good to see you again."
Bella felt sick.
"You and your father think you're invincible, don't you?" said Loki. "With your suits of iron."
"Actually, it's a gold titanium alloy," said Bella. She'd always thought it strange that, although he was known as Iron Man, the suits contained no iron. Still, 'Gold Titanium Alloy Man' simply didn't the same ring.
Agent Barton chuckled, walking up to the edge of the glass cell. Loki walked toward the controls that would drop her down toward the ground.
Bella walked toward the edge of the glass. He stared at her for a moment with his icy blue eyes. For a moment, they flickered blue grey, then he shook his head and they were blue again.
"You are dismissed to your other duties, Agent Barton," said Loki.
Barton pulled away, gaze lingering on Bella for a moment, then walked away.