No One Moving On
Chapter 2: No One Moving On
Tony Stark was tinkering with a prototype tech in his lab when J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke, “Mr. Stark, Nick Fury just arrived. He said he wanted to have a word with you.”
Tony didn’t stop working. “Oh really? What does he want this time?” he mumbled. “Where’s he now, Jarvis?”
“Behind you, Stark.”
Tony dropped the tweezers when he heard Nick Fury speak. “Jesus Christ, you could’ve knocked!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I scare you?” Fury said sternly and approached his desk.
“He said he has some pressing matters to discuss, Tony,” Pepper said from behind him.
Tony spun on his chair to face her and sighs. “And you’re here too.” he spun back to face Nick Fury. “So, what brought you here?”
"We have a problem."
"Uh, isn't that the only reason for you to enter this building?" Tony replied cockily.
“The tesseract has been stolen again.” Fury stated, with an emphasis on the last word.
Stark face-palmed. “Is it Loki again?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“I thought you guys had it? How did it get stolen?”
“That’s what we’re figuring out right now. Someone working inside must’ve worked on that.”
Stark chuckled. “You need to do some serious deep cleaning within the organization, Fury. And I am surprised no one has shot you by now."
Fury side-eyed him. “I’ll do that while you and the others find the tesseract and I have my eyes open,” he replied strictly. “Another thing, a small town in Greece was attacked yesterday.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of that. Jarvis, can you pull up the images from Kalambaka?” Images of the wrecked town appear in front of them. “What’s the connection of this and the tesseract?”
“About that, I visited the site and it seems that it was done by an extraterrestrial being.”
“Really now? Is it Loki?”
“We’re not sure but isn’t he on some kind of probation in Asgard?” Fury furrowed his eyebrows and Tony just shrugged.
“That’s another way of saying he’s incarcerated but, okay, whatever.”
“There were no bloodstains, no gunshot holes. No sign of dead bodies. Nothing.” Fury ignored him and handed him a folder.
“You should know by now that I don’t like being handed things.” Stark folds his arms across his chest.
Fury resorted to placing the folder on the desk. “Those are the findings from Kalambaka. It does talk about the possible non-human attack.” he stood up. “How can we contact Thor?”
“Isn’t that your line of expertise?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “Send a raven? Or an owl? And why do you need him?”
“You might need to talk to him about Loki, he might be doing some underground work again.”
"Does the MO look like Loki’s?"
"No idea but this time it seems there are no survivors. No one can tell us if a weird, tall man with gold horns came in the middle of the night to wreak havoc." Fury placed a finger on the folder. “The woman who wrote the report is some kind of a sorceress. You might want to talk to her. She might have an idea who did it.”
“Do you intend to add someone to the team?”
“If that is the case for this then yes. I think you’ll need each other.” Stark opened the folder and saw an agent profile. It was a file for a certain Stella Nystrom. “I talked to her and she was not that convinced that I work for the good guys. I need anyone of you to talk her into this. We need her.”
“Why not send Natasha in? That’s her specialty.”
“Your call, Stark. Detective Lords isn’t easy to convince.”
“Mr. Stark,” J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted, “Thor has entered the premises.”
Tony spread his arms. “Voila! Let him in, Jarvis.” After a minute the elevator doors opened and Thor and Loki appeared. “Jarvis, you didn’t say it was Thor AND Loki. Quelle surprise.”
“We heard we were needed?” Thor said as they approached Tony Stark and Nick Fury. Seeing them wearing Midgardian clothes was still weird for Tony. Thor was wearing a shirt underneath a maroon hoodie and jeans while Loki is wearing an all-black ensemble - buttoned-up shirt, tie, suit, slacks, and shoes. All black from head to toe. Weird duo to be seen walking around together in the city.
“Yeah. Have you heard of what happened in Kalambaka?” Tony asked them. “And why is Voldemort here?” Tony checked his wrists to see if the bands were still there, ready to summon his suit if needed. Fury stood still, his eye locked on Loki.
“Yes, the village was attacked. What about it?” Thor replied.
“Do you happen to have any information about who did it?” Tony said a little accusingly and threw a glance at Loki.
“For the record, I was in Asgard when it happened,” Loki interjected.
“I wasn’t trying to say it was you,” Stark replied, trying to sound innocent. "What's with the umbrella? Weather forecast said there will be no rain in the next 5 days. Or are you planning to make it rain?"
Loki rolled his eyes and sighed. "If Midgard gets too hot then I might," Thor joked as he playfully tossed the said object.
"It's his hammer," Loki said straightforwardly.
Stark grinned at Thor. "Finally figured out how to do that, huh?"
Fury cleared his throat. “Anyway,” he interrupted, “I was trying to figure out how to contact you, Thor. But it seems that you are already here, and it’s the two of you -”
“I can’t leave him behind.” Thor interrupted Fury back. Loki heaved a sigh of annoyance. “Besides, our father wanted both of us to see what happened in Kalambaka. He said there was unusual magical activity in the area. He wanted Loki to be on the case.”
"I bet you all are thrilled." Loki lifted his chin as he spoke.
“Uh, any way for us to speak to your father? I’d like to object,” Tony remarked.
"Is it really necessary?" Fury threw a side-glance at Thor.
"It is Odin's request, Director Fury. The Allfather will not let him do this if he sees that it will lead to destruction."
Tony scratched his chin. “I bet he didn’t see New York coming,” he muttered. "I actually didn't expect to see you walking freely after 3 years."
Fury and Tony looked at Loki, who was reading something from the screens. Loki felt their eyes on him. "I suggest that you trust me on this. I have been sent to multiple missions like this and I never fail." He bared them a grin that’s trying to be friendly.
“If I could easily say ‘sorry, mate, hard pass’, I would. But I don’t know what your father will say about that,” Tony remarked.
“I’ll have my eyes on my brother. He is also my responsibility,” Thor assured them, which Loki rolled his eyes on.
“Just remember, Thor. One wrong move from your little brother and I won’t hesitate to blast him out of Earth. Understood?”
“You have my word, Stark.”
Tony blinked off the uneasiness creeping up his shoulders. “And there you go. I think they got this covered,” Tony told Fury rather reluctantly. “Any thoughts on it?” He referred back to Loki.
“It surely wasn’t Midgardian.” Nick and Tony nodded in agreement. “Also not Asgardian, we can assure you.” Thor and Loki looked at each other.
“Alright, can we have your word?” The brothers acknowledged Fury's inquiry. “Regarding that, I need you to speak to someone. I have already talked to her but she doesn’t seem to believe me and I have a feeling you have crossed paths with her.”
“I thought this was my call to send Natasha?” Tony interrupted.
“I think it’s better if we leave this to the Asgardians. I believe you know her,” Fury told Thor.
“Who is this Midgardian?” Thor asked.
Loki, on the other hand, was one step ahead of his brother. He picked up the file Fury brought in and saw the profile. A lightbulb lit inside his head when he saw the photo. “Is it this woman?” he showed everyone the page.
“Yes.”
Loki looked at the photo of the woman. Stella Nystrom. So that was her name. Her dark hair was tied to the back. Her fierce, brown eyes looked straight to the camera. Her plump, pinkish lips were trying to control a smirk. He felt that warm feeling once more after pushing it down since the first time he felt it. “I know her.” he finally said after a moment. “Thor, it was her.” he passed the folder to his brother.
“Ah, yes. It is her.” Thor agreed.
“Okay. My job here is done. I’ll leave you to do that while I do a deep clean.” Fury glanced at Tony and left the floor.