The Briefing
Chapter 2: The Briefing
Lyssa sat at the round table on the bridge aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier that doubled as the briefing room/ communications hub, Thor standing beside her with a pensive expression on his face. Also seated around the table were Captain America, known as Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, known as the Hulk, and Natasha Romanoff, known as the Black Widow. While Steve and Natasha were still in their combat suits, though the Captain had his cowl pulled down, and Bruce was in casual civilian attire, Thor had removed his cape, the larger parts of his arm bracers and portions of his chest plate as they were in a relaxed setting. Similarly, Lyssa had changed out of her battle dress into a pretty, light green dress with thick, detailed shoulder straps. It had a light drape pinned to the back of the straps and the bodice was embroidered with light gold patterns* and on her feet were a pair of matching, light green high heeled sandals*. Her long hair was open, hanging freely down her back in their natural ringlets and she was no longer shining as she previously had been but still had the otherworldly glow to her features just as Thor did.
All of them had their attention on the CCTV feed of the containment room where Loki had been taken. The SHIELD Director, whom Lyssa knew from previous meetings during the war with Voldemort as Nicholas Fury, entered the room and stepped up to the containment cage’s control console. “In case it’s unclear,” Fury said, his voice echoing around the room while Loki looked on with an unamused and disinterested expression on his face. “You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass,” Fury pressed a button on the console, causing the floor beneath the cage to open and reveal the open air beneath them. The wind whipped around the room, blowing through the folds of Fury’s black coat as Loki looked down into the empty blackness below him. “It’s 30, 000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?” Fury didn’t wait for a response as he pressed another button on the console and sealed the hole closed once again. Gesturing to Loki, he said, “ant,” before gesturing to the control console and saying, “boot.”
Loki chuckled lightly, once again looking completely unconcerned. “It’s an impressive cage.” He agreed, his chuckles fading though a wide smirk remained on his face. “Not built, I think, for me.”
“Built for something a lot stronger than you.” Fury said.
“Oh, I’ve heard.” Loki said with a smirk, turning to look directly at the camera mounted on the ceiling of the room. His pale blue eyes glittered coldly. “A mindless beast. Makes play he’s still a man.” Bruce glanced up from the screen, grimacing slightly. He crossed his arms over the back of the chair he was standing behind. “How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?” Loki asked almost mockingly.
“How desperate am I?” Fury repeated, taking the question seriously and seemingly unfazed by Loki’s mocking tone. Fury stepped closer to the cage. “You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t hope to control. You talk about peace and then you kill because it’s fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.”
“Ooh.” Loki said, a smirk forming across his face. “It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?” He laughed lightly. “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 said dismissively, walking away from the cage before leaving the room entirely.
“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Bruce remarked, folding his arms over his chest.
“Loki’s gonna drag this out.” Steve said heavily. “So, Thor, Lyssa, what’s his play?” He asked, turning to the couple.
“He has an army called the Chitauri.” Thor said pensively. “They are not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”
“An army… from outer space.” Steve summarized disbelievingly.
“You’ve met witches and wizards in your past.” Lyssa pointed out. She was referring to the 1940’s, during World War 2 that raged alongside the Wizarding World’s war against Grindelwald. Captain Rogers and his Commandos had used Hogwarts Castle as a base while they were in Europe, aiding and aided by the Order of the Phoenix members and Aurors from the British Ministry of Magic in the dual war against Hitler and Grindelwald.
“Somehow, that was easier to accept.” Steve admitted honestly. “Still took a while, though.” He added as an afterthought.
“So, he’s building another portal.” Bruce said thoughtfully, a small frown marring his face. “That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”
“Selvig?” Lyssa and Thor repeated in unison. While Thor looked across the table at Bruce in confusion, Lyssa had an expression of concern.
“He’s an astrophysicist.” Bruce explained, misunderstanding their expressions.
“He’s a friend.” Thor said softly.
“He’s family.” Lyssa added quietly, a frown forming on her fair features. Thor put his hand on her shoulder, comforting her silently. She responded by covering it with her own smaller one, squeezing his fingers tightly.
“Loki has him under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours.” Natasha said, folding her arms on the table and looking across at the Thunder God and his witch.
“Truthfully, I’m curious to why Loki let himself be taken into custody.” Lyssa said. “While we were in the forest, he could have easily broken through my Binding Spell and escaped, but he remained.”
“Lyssa’s right.” Steve agreed. “He’s not leading an army from here.”
“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki.” Bruce commented. “That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him.”
“Have care how you speak.” Thor warned, turning to face Bruce without losing his grip on Lyssa’s shoulder or dislodging their hands. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.”
“And my best friend.” Lyssa added.
“He killed 80 people in two days.” Natasha said bluntly.
“He’s adopted.” Thor offered sheepishly.
“Last year was the first time I saw him in 25 years.” Lyssa said, just as sheepish as Thor.
“I think it’s about the mechanics.” Bruce said thoughtfully. “Iridium. What do they need the Iridium for?”
“It’s a stabilizing agent.” Iron Man, known as Anthony Stark, said, walking onto the bridge with Coulson and drawing the group’s attention. Tony had changed into civilian clothes, a bespoke black suit with a navy-blue dress shirt and a midnight blue tie. He turned to Coulson, lowering his voice slightly as he said, “I’m just saying, pick a weekend. I’ll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive.” Coulson nodded, shooting him a tight smile before moving off to the side, checking on some of the agents that were huddled in front of their computers. “It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD.” Tony continued. He walked past Thor, patting the larger man lightly on the arm. “No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing.” Tony said flippantly. Thor looked at him with a raised eyebrow, unsure of how to react to the eccentric genius. Tony paid no attention to the incredulous looks he was being given, turning his attention to Lyssa. “Lady Lyssa.” He said, his voice dripping with charm. He held his hand out to her and when she took it with her own free one, he pressed a chaste kiss to the back of her palm.
“Mr. Stark.” Lyssa responded regally, nodding her head at him as he let go of her hand. “I apologize for our meeting on the Quinjet, I didn’t mean to blast you so hard.” She said formally, her voice filled with sincerity.
“Like I said, no hard feelings.” Tony said, smiling at her. “Good to see you again, by the way.” He added.
“You as well.” Lyssa replied, smiling. The first, and last, time they had met had been at a Halloween party in 2008, just after Aria had been born. Tony had immediately begun flirting with her but after she turned down his advances, and broke his nose when he persisted, they had begun talking while she bandaged his injury. The conversation lasted well into early hours of the next morning before they parted ways. “Anyway, back on topic, Loki having a stabilizing agent means that he can keep the portal open as wide and for as long as he wishes.” Lyssa said, her expression becoming pensive and worried.
Tony nodded in agreement striding around the bridge. He stopped in the aisle between two rows of computer consoles, looking at one of the agents. “Ah, raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him oddly for the strange and unexpected comment. Seeing the looks he was receiving, he pointed at the agent he had been talking to, proclaiming loudly, “That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.” Steve exchanged confused looks with Bruce, both men wondering what Tony was up to while the genius himself covered one eye and looked at the computer screens closest to him. “How does Fury even see these?” He asked randomly.
“He turns.” Agent Hill said dryly, her arms crossed over her chest and a decidedly unimpressed expression on her face.
“Sounds exhausting.” Tony commented, lowering his hand. He turned to one of the computer consoles, fiddling with the screen. “The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density.” He turned back to the group around the table. “Something to kick-start the Cube.”
“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Agent Hill asked with a scoff.
“Last night.” Tony said, grinning cheerfully. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”
“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked, drawing everyone back to the immediate topic at hand.
“He’d have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce said, pacing behind his chair.
“Unless Erik has figured out a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.” Lyssa countered.
“Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Bruce remarked, stopping his pacing to look between Lyssa and Tony.
“Finally, someone else who speaks English.” Tony said, grinning at Bruce.
“Is that what just happened?” Steve asked, completely confused.
“It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner.” Tony said cheerfully, stepping towards the other scientist and shaking his hand. “Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster.”
“…Thanks.” Bruce said slowly, unsure of what to make of the eccentric genius.
“Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube.” Fury said, walking into the room and joining them at the table, standing behind one of the chairs. “I was hoping you and Lady Lyssa might join him.” He said, looking between Tony and Lyssa.
Lyssa exchanged a look with Thor, receiving a small, imperceptible nod from him. “Of course.” She said, nodding.
Tony nodded his own agreement, turning to face Fury. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud ‘CRACK!’. Immediately, everyone went on alert, weapons drawn and aimed at the tiny figure that appeared between the briefing and communications areas of the bridge. The figure, a little girl no older than 3 years of age, raised her head and looked around, seemingly unconcerned by all the weapons aimed at her and everyone’s shocked expressions. She was dressed in a pretty, light blue dress that reached her knees, the short, puffed sleeves made of a sheer, lighter blue fabric along with the wrap above the skirt. Her jet black hair was tied up in a high pony, a loose tendril framing either side of her face while a silver tiara encrusted with white and light blue gems glittered atop her head. In addition, she had a pair of light blue diamond studs in her ears and she wore matching flats on her tiny feet*. Her tiny hand was fisted around a beautifully made blanket that trailed down to the floor behind her.
However, none were more shocked than Lyssa and Thor, who’s jaws had dropped at seeing the little girl. Second to their shock was Coulson, who recognized the little girl from the previous year.
“Aria?!” Thor and Lyssa both exclaimed in shocked unison.
“Mummy!” The little girl, Aria, exclaimed delightedly, launching herself at a stunned Lyssa, not losing the grip she had on her blanket. The force of her crashing into the older woman sent both of them tumbling to the floor, Lyssa landing on her back with Aria on her chest and grinning brightly. Aria looked up at Thor, holding her arms out to him. “Daddy!” She exclaimed happily.
The shock felt by everyone present at Aria’s sudden and unexpected arrival morphed to stunned surprise at the declaration of who her parents were. The only one who wasn’t shocked was Coulson, who had seen the connection that formed between Aria and Thor the previous year, even though he had only seen them together for a few minutes at most.
“B-B-But what are you doing here?” Thor asked, automatically lifting Aria up and perching her on his hip, holding her in place with one arm and adjusting her blanket so it wasn’t hanging freely. He held his other hand out to Lyssa, helping her back to her feet. “More importantly, how did you arrive here?” He asked with a frown.
“She apparated.” Lyssa said in shock. “She apparated between the Realms.” She breathed, staring at their brightly smiling daughter with wide eyes.
Thor looked just as shocked. It had taken a combination of dark energy and Lyssa’s magic for the two of them to be transported to Earth safely. Yet, here was their daughter, only 33 months old, not even 3 years of age, apparating between the Realms with no negative side effects.
“I certainly hope Heimdall has seen this and informed Mother.” Thor said.
Lyssa nodded in agreement; the Queen was the designated babysitter in their absence. Suddenly, Lyssa’s eyes widened in alarm, drawing her wand and quickly waving it in precise motions over Aria, examining her closely. For several seconds, Lyssa muttered under her breath, her movements almost frantic despite their preciseness.
Finally, she lowered her wand, breathing a sigh of relief as her shoulders eased from their previously tense postures.
“Is she well?” Thor asked worriedly, despite the visible relief on Lyssa’s face.
“Yes, thank the Norns.” She replied, cupping Aria’s cherubic cheek lightly.
“What happened? What were you worried about?” Coulson asked worriedly.
Lyssa looked at him. “Splinching.” She replied. Thor winced, running his own eyes over a happily babbling Aria who was playing with his long hair. “It’s when a witch or wizard is unsuccessful with their disapparation, leaving either body parts or clothes behind at the point of origin.” Lyssa explained, seeing the confused expressions aimed at her by everyone in the room. “The degree of splinching can range from minimal, like loss of hair, to life-threatening, like loss of flesh or muscle. I remember an old schoolmate, in my brother’s year, who had managed to splinch his dick off.” She commented casually. The confused expressions of her audience rapidly changed to horror as she spoke. “He had been aiming to get back to the Great Hall from the Black Lake and left it behind. It was eaten by the Giant Squid.” She added in remembrance. She noticed the looks she was being given and waved her hand dismissively. “Don't worry. The teachers were able to get the Squid to regurgitate it and then reattach it.” Lyssa said calmly, as though it wasn’t a big deal.
The story was not only said calmly, as though it was no big deal, but also in a very matter-of-fact tone. It was the tone in particular that had the men who were listening, with utter horror, all wincing sympathetically while discretely crossing their legs protectively. The women on the other hand, who had initially been horrified found the men’s reactions to be amusing, particularly at the matter-of-fact tone Lyssa used, and began snickering under their breaths.
“I can ask a medic to have a look at her as well.” Fury offered, his chocolate colored skin slightly ashy in tone.
Thor and Lyssa exchanged looks before turning to him. “We would be most grateful.” Thor accepted graciously. Though Lyssa had run a medical scan on Aria with magic, nothing beat the use of actual equipment being used or a certified professional double checking. For all that Lyssa was trained in the medical arts, she was still a field medic and not a certified healer.
“Back on topic, I’d start with that stick of Loki’s.” Steve said, drawing everyone back on track. His voice was slightly high-pitched and there was a green tinge to his fair skin. The latter was shared by many of the men in the room, those that didn’t were instead sporting ashy tones to their skin much like Fury was.“It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.”
“I don’t know that, but it is powered by the Cube.” Fury said. “And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”
“Monkey!” Aria repeated cheerfully, looking up from where she was sitting on Thor’s shoulders, playing with her blanket that was draped around her tiny form.
“Yes, spider-monkey.” Lyssa said, nodding.
“Monkeys?” Thor repeated in confusion. “I do not understand.”
“I do!” Steve exclaimed excitedly, turning everyone’s attention to him. Seeing the raised eyebrows he was receiving, his smile faded slightly as he added, “I-I understood that reference.”
Tony looked between Lyssa and Bruce. “Shall we play, Doctors?” Tony asked them.
“This way, sir, ma’am.” Bruce said, gesturing to the doorway behind him.
Lyssa got to her feet, turning to Thor and Aria. “Daddy’s going to take you to be looked at by a healer, okay?” Lyssa told Aria gently, looking up at the toddler perched happily on her father’s broad shoulders. “We need to make sure you are well from your little trip.”
“Otay.” Aria replied with a toothy grin.
“I love you.” Lyssa said, pressing a kiss to Aria’s hand.
“I lovey.” Aria replied, blowing a kiss to her.
Lyssa smiled and turned to Thor, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before they pulled apart. She turned and followed after Tony and Bruce while Coulson led Thor and Aria to the med-bay.
~*~
In Bruce’s designated lab, Lyssa worked with the two scientists to locate the Tesseract with Loki’s scepter. Steve’s suggestion had merit and as they didn’t have any other ideas on where to begin, they decided to give it a shot, not seeing the harm in doing so. Tony had changed out of his suit and was wearing a well-worn Black Sabbath shirt with equally well-worn jeans that had faded to dark grey and black shoes.
“The Gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports of the Tesseract.” Bruce said, running the scanner over the scepter and looking at the screen displaying the readouts.
“It’ll take weeks to process all of this data.” Lyssa said with a frown, looking at the screen as well.
“If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops.” Tony said, not looking away from the screen he was working at.
“And all I packed was a toothbrush.” Bruce said, laughing dryly.
“I didn’t even pack that much.” Lyssa commented.
“You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime.” Tony said, looking between Lyssa and Bruce. He stepped away from the table he was working at and crossed the lab towards Bruce and Lyssa. “Both of you. Top ten floors, all R&D.” He discreetly picked up a small rod from a nearby desk and stepped up beside the bespectacled scientist. “You’d love it.” Tony looked at Lyssa. “I think your daughter might like it, too. It’s Candy Land.”
“I’ll think about it.” Lyssa replied. “Once we’ve stopped Loki, Thor and I are planning on returning to Asgard with him. There is much that needs to be done; the Realms are in chaos because of Bifrost’s destruction last year.”
Tony nodded in understanding.
“Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I… kind of broke… Harlem.” Bruce said quietly, his tone filled with guilt and depreciation.
“Well, I promise a stress-free environment.” Tony said before Lyssa could respond to Bruce’s self-hatred and depreciation. “No tension, no surprises.” The moment the last syllable fell from his lips, he poked Bruce in the side with the prod, releasing a mild electrical charge that shocked the bespectacled man.
“Ow!” Bruce cried, jumping slightly from the charge and looking at Tony in surprise and stunned disbelief.
Tony peered at him closely, looking for any sign of the Hulk emerging.
“Hey!” Steve called irritatedly from down the hall, changing his course and heading towards the lab.
“Nothing?” Tony asked curiously, ignoring the Captain’s cry.
Lyssa frowned, looking at Tony thoughtfully. She had the sneaking suspicion that his actions weren’t done on a whim, but to ensure that Bruce was truly no threat, that he wouldn’t change forms at the slightest unexpected event.
“Are you nuts?” Steve asked, stalking into the lab and glaring at Tony fiercely.
“Jury’s out.” Tony replied absently, glancing at him. He turned back to Bruce. “You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you?” Tony observed. “What’s your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?”
“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve demanded.
“Funny things are.” Tony quipped, turning to the Super Soldier.
“Threatening everyone’s safety on this ship isn’t funny.” Steve said, struggling to reign his anger and frustration in. “Especially not when we now have a toddler on board.”
Tony clenched his jaw at the implication that he would endanger a child. For all his recklessness and idiocy, never had he ever done anything to harm a child. At least, not knowingly; he was still haunted by the hopeless and fear-filled expressions on the faces of the children in Gulmira, when he had been faced with the full scope of what his weapons had been used for without his knowledge.
Tony forcibly had to remind himself that Steve didn’t know anything about him, not really. All he knew was what was in his SHIELD dossier, which only just skimmed over the nightmares he experienced on a regular basis, nightmares that revealed the full extent of his failures and drove him to try and do what he could to make up for his mistakes. No, all Steve knew was that Tony was a playboy with daddy issues who didn’t play well with others.
“Don’t bring Aria into your little pissing contest.” Lyssa warned firmly, looking up from the screen she was working at. She had turned back to it while Tony probed Bruce, testing his limits, and leaving the billionaire to it.
“Sorry.” Steve said apologetically, realising that he was treading dangerous ground by bringing Aria up in front of her mother. Especially since he was implying that she was in danger. “And no offence, Doc.” Steve added to Bruce, the scientist’s eyes lowered and his shoulders hunched.
“It-It’s all right.” Bruce said, smiling reassuringly. “I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”
“You’re tiptoeing, big man.” Tony said flippantly, pointing at Steve briefly with the electrical prod. “You need to strut.”
“You need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Steve said, trying to connect the man he was seeing in front of him as Howard’s son.
“You think I’m not?” Tony challenged, looking between Steve, Lyssa and Bruce. “Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before?” Tony asked. “I get why Lyssa wasn’t called in seeing as she wasn’t even on Earth, but what about the rest of us? What isn’t he telling us?”
“You can’t solve the equation unless you have all the variables.” Lyssa remarked. “It’s the first thing we’re taught in school. Even in the magical world.” She added as she hadn’t gone to traditional muggle school until after graduating Hogwarts.
“Exactly.” Tony said, nodding, picking up a packet of blueberries.
“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Steve asked with a frown, looking between Tony and Lyssa.
“Look, I may not have been on Earth for nearly a year, but I know spies.” Lyssa said with a sigh, turning her attention to Steve completely. “I’ve been a spy, actually, for a time.” She admitted softly. “I also know Nicholas Fury and he isn’t just any spy; he’s the spy, the spy of all spies. His secrets have secrets that have secrets of their own.”
Tony gestured wildly in Bruce’s general direction. “It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?” Tony asked around a mouthful of blueberries.
“Uh…” Bruce said, looking between Tony and Steve uncertainly before turning back to the screen and avoiding their gaze. “I just want to finish my work here, and…”
“Doctor?” Steve asked pointedly, not accepting the vague response.
Bruce sighed. He glanced at Tony before looking at Steve, removing his glasses. “‘A warm light for all mankind.’” Bruce quoted. “Loki’s jab at Fury about the Cube.”
“I heard it.” Steve said, nodding.
“Well, I think that was meant for you.” Bruce said, pointing at Tony. Tony didn’t seem fazed, calmly holding out the packet of blueberries to Bruce. “Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the tower, it’s still all over the news.” Bruce explained in a gentle tone, accepting a handful of berries and popping one in his mouth.
“The Stark Tower?” Steve asked, his eyebrows raised incredulously. “That big, ugly…” Tony looked at the Captain, an eyebrow raised at the description of his home. “Building in New York?” Steve continued, opting to plow on ahead rather than backtrack.
“It’s powered by an arc-reactor.” Bruce explained. “A self-sustaining energy source.”
“That would mean the tower would power itself for at least a year.” Lyssa said, her eyes wide in amazement at the achievement. As far as she had been aware, up until a year earlier, only the magical world had self-sustaining and clean energy sources on Earth, powered by their own magic and that of the land around them. Asgard and the other Realms also had such sources, the power drawn from various elements around them like dying stars and newly born stars.
“It’s just a prototype.” Tony said, nodding. “I’m kinda the only name in clean energy right now.” Tony explained to Steve. “That’s what he’s getting at.”
“At least in the Muggle World.” Lyssa pointed out.
“Fair point.” Tony agreed, nodding.
“So, why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?” Bruce asked Steve challengingly. “What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?” Bruce asked.
“Somehow, I don’t think it has anything to do with clean energy, but energy itself.” Lyssa said pensively.
“I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD’s secure files.” Tony said nonchalantly, waking around the table. He had his Starkphone out and was looking at the screen, checking the progress of the decryption.
“I’m sorry. Did you say…?” Steve began staring at Tony, stunned. The blatant display of misconduct was a complete shock to the military man.
“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge.” Tony confirmed, turning to look at Steve and pocketing the phone at the same time. “In a few hours, I’ll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide.” He held out the packet of blueberries to the Captain, asking, “Blueberry?”
“And yet, you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around.” Steve said snidely, ignoring the offered fruit.
“That’s rude.” Lyssa muttered, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?” Tony asked challengingly. “Historically, not awesome.”
“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up.” Steve said, unwilling to believe that his commander could have less than honorable intentions. “This is a man who means to start a war and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed.” He looked between Tony, Lyssa and Bruce. “We have orders. We should follow them.”
“Following’s not really my style.” Tony said flippantly, putting a handful of blueberries into his mouth.
“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?” Steve asked, a glimmer of annoyance flickering in his light blue eyes.
“Of the people in this room, which one is A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?” Tony asked flippantly, eyeing Steve’s suit pointedly.
“Steve, you can’t honestly say that you don’t think something’s cooking.” Lyssa said bluntly.
Steve looked between the three of them, seeing the genuine honesty in each of their faces. “Just find the Cube.” He said finally after several seconds before turning on his heel and stalking out of the lab.
“That’s the guy my Dad never shut up about?” Tony asked incredulously, gesturing towards the door that closed automatically behind Steve. “I’m wondering if they shouldn’t have just kept him on ice.” Tony muttered.
Bruce snorted in amusement, nodding in agreement with the billionaire.
“He’s going through a transition.” Lyssa said in defense of the Captain. “It’s not easy, living with the knowledge that everything you know and love is gone.”
Bruce looked at her, a small frown on his face. “You’re speaking from experience.” He stated rather than asked. “From ending up on Asgard last year.”
“And other events.” Lyssa said vaguely, nodding. Bruce and Tony exchanged looks and frowned, each wondering what she meant. “But as much as I hate to admit it, Steve isn’t wrong about Loki wanting to start a war.” Lyssa said heavily, moving the topic back to the relative matter at hand before either scientist could question her further.
“He does have the jump on us.” Bruce agreed.
“What he’s got is an Acme dynamite kit.” Tony said dryly, stepping away from his screen and crossing the lab. “It’s going to blow up in his face. And, I’m gonna be there when it does.”
“Thor and I as well.” Lyssa said.
“Yeah, I’ll read all about it.” Bruce said, smiling slightly.
“Uh-huh.” Tony said dryly, moving to the portable screen and pressing several buttons, looking at the readouts that appeared. “Or, you’ll be suiting up with the rest of us.”
Bruce chuckled sardonically. “You see, I don’t get a suit of armor.” He said, not looking away from the screen he was working at. “I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.”
“You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it.” Tony said, patting the arc-reactor in his chest that was hidden by his shirt. He turned away from the screen and moved towards Bruce, Lyssa joining the two of them. “This little circle of light, it’s part of me now. It’s not just armor. It’s a terrible privilege.”
“Bruce, over the past year, I have been growing more powerful each day.” Lyssa revealed. “Even before I ended up on Asgard, I was more powerful than even the Headmaster of the school I went to, at least in terms of raw power. He had been one of the most powerful wizards on Earth, the only person Voldemort ever feared.” She said, assuming that both scientists would know who Voldemort was. Not receiving any confused looks or questions, she had assumed correctly and continued speaking. “All my life, I had feared my magic, what it was capable of doing, what I was capable of doing if ever I lost control. And you know what, I did!” She snapped. “I lost control when I learnt of my brother and sister-in-law’s deaths, of the betrayal done by someone we trusted and another person I loved being sent to prison for it. I lost control so badly, I destroyed the entire grounds of Hogwarts Castle, a structure that has withstood a thousand years of war, famine, drought and hundreds upon thousands of children learning to control their magic. The only thing that prevented me from destroying the castle as well was all the students inside.” Lyssa admitted quietly, her moonlit silver eyes filled with guilt at the damage she had nearly caused, the memory that still haunted her.
“But you can control it.” Bruce refuted, looking between Tony and Lyssa.
“Because I learned how.” Tony said. He glanced at Lyssa. “And I’m assuming Lyssa did as well.” He said.
Lyssa nodded. “I also had Thor.” She admitted. “He helped keep me grounded in sanity, so I wouldn’t lose control again. Especially when my powers began growing over the past year. He is my anchor, as is Aria and all my family and friends.”
“It’s different.” Bruce said, shaking his head. “I don’t have an anchor like that.”
“Hey, I read all about your accident.” Tony said, clearing the screen of the readouts so Bruce could pay attention to him. “That much gamma exposure should have killed you.”
“So you’re saying that the Hulk… the Other Guy… saved my life?” Bruce asked, chuckling depreciatively. “That’s nice. That’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?” Bruce asked.
“I guess we’ll find out.” Tony said softly, moving back to his own screen.
“You may not enjoy that.” Bruce warned.
“And you just might.” Lyssa countered. “If you both have everything under control here, I’m going to go see Thor and Aria.” She said. “I want to know what the medic said about Aria’s little trip and I also have a few questions for Agent Coulson.” She admitted.
“Yeah, we got this covered.” Tony said, glancing at her before turning back to his screen.
“Go, be with your daughter and your boyfriend.” Bruce added in agreement.
Lyssa smiled brightly at them before turning on her heel and gracefully striding out of the lab.
Links:
*Lyssa dress (light green) while not in her battle dress, hair open -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879489377942/
*Lyssa shoes (light green) -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879485371107/
*Aria dress/ shoes/ hair/ accessories -https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879483309978/