Chapter 43
Scott Lang felt incredibly out of place in the backseat of one of Tony’s expensive cars, currently being driven by Tony’s driver, Happy.
The billionaire had been generous enough to fly him back to visit his daughter, Cassie, once more before their dangerous mission without Scott even having to ask.
It had seemed unusual for ‘Iron Man’ himself to be letting him ride in his personal jet, but Scott reasoned that he must have finally reached Avenger level status and tried not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
After getting to spend a whole day with Cassie before flying back he felt more determined than ever. Scott knew he had to get everything back to normal again, if not for Hope, then for his daughter.
Tony’s driver Happy had chauffeured him around seeming bored and somewhat annoyed by the task for the two days they were gone. Scott was grateful for all his help, but the man made him a little nervous and he was anxious to find out what the team’s plan was.
Thanking Happy and grabbing his duffel bag out of the car Scott headed upstairs to talk to his now ‘fellow’ Avengers. As he rode the elevator he smiled, he couldn’t wait to get Hope back and tell her all about how the team had welcomed him in.
<Good afternoon, Mr Lang.>
Scott jumped and clutched at his chest in surprise, looking around the empty elevator.
<My name is FRIDAY, I am Mr Stark’s personal artificial intelligence system, welcome back.>
Scott took a deep breath, calming himself down, “Uh, hi, hello there, um—can you see me?” He asked nervously looking for a camera to look into.
<In a manner of speaking. I can see everything on Mr Stark’s network, which includes everything in this building.>
“Oh, okay. Wait—everything in the building? Have you… always been able to see… everything in the building…?” Scott coughed self consciously.
<Yes, Mr Lang, but I assure you the habits and functions of humans are irrelevant to my operating system.>
“Oh, uh, okay… cool. Um, so….”
<‘So’ I have redirected the elevator to take you to the rest and recovery floor. I have notified Mr Stark of your arrival and he will be in contact shortly. Please make yourself comfortable in one of the available rooms.>
Scott hesitated, slightly taken aback, “Oh, okay, thanks, alright… I guess I’ll put my stuff down, maybe get cleaned up…” he sniffed himself and decided a shower was probably not a bad idea.
The elevator dinged and opened into a hall of guest rooms and Scott found an empty one to claim for himself. It felt like the world’s most exclusive sleep away camp and Scott counted himself lucky to be included as he went to make himself more presentable.
Upstairs in the conference room Tony got a notification from FRIDAY that Lang had arrived and he swore under his breath. He had almost forgotten about the man and didn’t look forward to explaining all of this to him.
Tony had sent Lang off to see his daughter in an effort to strategize without the man’s nonsense Back To the Future logic for a few days. Unfortunately he had been completely distracted by the arrival of Loki and Sylvie, not thinking about how to explain all of this to the newbie.
“Well, Lang’s back…” Tony said distractedly.
“Oh crap. I forgot all about him,” Bruce looked guilty as he scratched the back of his head.
Steve let out a long exhale, “Me too, that’s embarrassing—and you said he wanted to see his daughter before this whole thing goes down, right Tony?”
“Mm? Oh, yeah, insisted—seemed desperate so I sent him on the jet with Happy—figured that would probably make his year,” Tony said casually.
“That’s nice of you Tony,” Bruce said with a smile.
“Yeah, well, don’t go spreading it around—don’t want everybody to think I’m running a private airline here and start demanding free rides,” Tony shrugged.
“So, which one of us is gonna tell him about Loki?” Steve asked reluctantly.
“Well, as was just pointed out—I already did my charity for the month, and he seems a little freaked by our version of the Jolly Green Giant here—besides, we all know how much he loves Captain America,” Tony rolled his eyes dramatically.
Steve heaved a weary sigh and shrugged reluctantly, “Okay, I guess I’m drawing the short straw here…”
“Thanks Steve,” Bruce said gratefully with a half smile.
“Make us proud, boy scout,” Tony winked and make a clicking sound with his mouth earning an eye roll from the first avenger as he headed for the door.
Steve went down to fill in Scott Lang, not knowing how he was going to go about it. He’d had a hard enough time wrapping his own brain around everything that had happened in the last 24 hours without having to relay it all to someone else.
Natasha received an alert from Tony that the team would be reconvening soon and heaved a weary sigh.
“I guess the guys want to go over the game plan,” Natasha finished the last of her coffee and put the mug on her empty plate.
“So there is in fact a plan? I was beginning to wonder,” Sylvie said with a smirk.
Natasha sighed as they started to head back, “Honestly I couldn’t tell you for certain, we were tracking down the right dates and locations to find the stones before you guys showed up, but when it comes to all the ‘time travel’ stuff I’m really just trusting Tony and Bruce to know what they’re doing.”
Sylvie considered the likelihood of their success and furrowed her brow slightly.
“Maybe I’ll have a quick look over Dr Banner’s calculations just to be safe, there’s an algorithm for tracking nexus energy I thought he should have just in case anyway,” Sylvie said distractedly.
Natasha smirked, “Careful, you may end up having to fight the super scientists off you with a stick.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time…” Sylvie rolled her eyes making Natasha chuckle and shake her head with amusement.
The women found Thor and Loki still in the commissary where they’d left them. There were now also two empty plates and numerous empty chip bag and snack wrappers strewn on the table, crumbs leading the obvious culprit.
Loki stood politely as they approached with a faint smile, his attention causing Thor to turn as well.
“Big and beardy once again, I see,” Natasha said with a fond teasing smile as Thor stood proudly, arms outstretched.
“I am big, I am bold, and no foe in the nine realms can stop me!” Thor declared loudly, traces of chocolate at the corners of his mouth and a few crumbs in his beard.
Loki hastily waved a hand to make the refuse disappear from the table and walked around the table slowly, attempting not to appear too eager.
“I guess I was right about needing to talk to your brother,” Natasha smirked.
“Indeed! Wise council, as always—” Thor turned and clapped a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “his magic is truly unparalleled, our mother would be most proud.”
Loki flushed slightly at the praise and Natasha nudged Sylvie who was beaming at him affectionately.
“Okay well we better get up there, I’m gonna take the big guy with me and you’re welcome to join…?” Natasha said as she patted Thor’s bicep to hold his attention.
“Yes, thank you Natasha, though if you don’t mind I’d like a moment with Sylvie first, shall we meet you in the same conference room upstairs?” Loki asked, hands clasped behind his back.
“Sure,” Natasha said casually but raised her eyebrows knowingly at Sylvie before they left.
“Missed me already?” Sylvie teased, taking a seat on the bench where Thor had previously sat.
Loki smiled kindly, “Always, but I wanted to discuss the timing of our departure…” he sat down on the bench beside her.
“Did something happen with Thor?” Sylvie looked confused.
“Not at all, it was quite cathartic in fact… but I think once this mission is over we should decide our next move.”
Sylvie nodded absently, “Agreed. Did you talk to Thor about this?”
“No, but I doubt he’ll be too surprised. This world was always his,” he said with a faint smile.
“Well, then let’s go make sure this thing goes smoothly, don’t want to have to go back to the TVA again,” Sylvie said boredly as she stood up.
Loki huffed a laugh, “Certainly not,” then followed, taking her hand as they went to the elevator.
He pushed the button and turned to her as they waited, looking down at her affectionately. Sylvie stood up on her toes to kiss him softly, earning a contented sigh from her counterpart.
Loki rested his forehead against hers gently, the breath between them saying more than words could before the interruption of their elevator as it dinged and the doors opened beside them.