At Loose Ends
Chapter 13: At Loose Ends
Bruce turned back to normal and he watched as a doctor started working on Jericho, extracting the cyanide pill. Tony closed off the 51st floor, transferring the scepter to the next floor above, and busied himself with checking the damages of the floor, Happy by his side. Happy noticed that there was a weight being carried by Tony internally.
“You need to get some rest, Tones.” Happy told him as they facilitated the repairs on the floor. Tony was staring blankly into the grey wall in front of them. “Tony? Tony?” He waved a hand in front of him.
Tony jerked and came back to the room. “Yes?”
Happy was still looking at him. “Yeah, you badly need to sleep.”
“I’ll get some rest after this.” Tony crossed his arms on his chest and yawned, covering his mouth with a hand.
“No. Do it now.” Tony looked at Happy, whose lips were in a stern, tight line. “Come on, I can handle this.” Tony ignored his friend and watched the people repair the floor. “Or do I need to call Pepper?”
“Okay.” Tony moved to leave the room. “No need to fly her back from London. I’m leaving.” He turned to the door.
“JARVIS, make sure he gets to the penthouse.” Happy commanded the AI.
But Tony didn’t go straight to the penthouse. Instead, with a little verbal battle against his AI and a remote Happy, he went straight to the medical bay.
Stella was in one of the bigger rooms on the floor. Tony entered and the soft beeping of the machine next to the bed welcomed him. She was connected to the machines and IVs around her through the tubes and wires. She looks a little better after the medical staff cleaned the blood off her and changed her clothes. Her chest slowly rising and falling gave Tony a bit of comfort. He stopped by the foot of the bed, his hands resting on the hard plastic frame. “How is she?” He asked quietly.
“She is stable, sir. Her blood levels are now up by 56%,” the AI replied.
“She wouldn’t wake up sooner, will she?”
“We couldn’t tell, sir.”
Tony remained to stand, dejected. He didn’t know what to do as of the moment. He wanted to work on the case but it doesn’t feel right. Deep inside, he knew he needed her and Loki. The Avengers needed both of them. But now one has passed away and the other is unconscious, he felt like he was trapped in the middle of a labyrinth with no exit.
Natasha and Steve arrived hours later, entering a downcasted tower. Natasha rushed to the medical bay upon arrival. Steve found Bruce wrapping his hands on a warm cup of chamomile tea in the common area near the labs where he usually works, soft classical music playing in the background. Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight”.
“Hey.” Steve sat on the single couch on Bruce’s left side.
“Hey,” Bruce replied and smiled weakly.
Steve leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “How bad is it?”
“Depends on what you’re talking about.” Bruce raised his mug to his lips.
“Stella?” Steve looked at his teammate with doleful eyes.
Bruce took a moment of silence, sipping his tea, before putting it down and replying. “She doesn’t have her powers back and now she’s confined in a hospital bed again. She hasn’t even fully recovered yet and she’s down. It’ll take weeks, maybe months for her to recover,” he explained, anxiously rubbing his palms together. Then chuckled sadly. “She’s gonna hate it.”
Steve smirked, imagining how Stella would react if she finds herself waking up in a hospital bed in the middle of an unfinished mission. Even when he only knew her for a short time, he knows she’s going to be disappointed for sure. Steve stood up. “I’m going to see her. Maybe Nat’s still there,” he told Bruce, who nodded in reply.
The door to Stella’s room opened. Natasha turned to see who it was. “Hey, Steve.”
“Hey.” Steve stood by the foot of the bed. Natasha was cradling Stella’s hand on her lap. “Any developments on her?”
Natasha looked at their unconscious teammate on the bed. “Still no other movement aside from her breathing. She had it bad.”
“Loki’s dead.” Steve reminded her as if saying Stella’s condition was not the worst thing that happened while they were out.
“I know.” Natasha placed Stella’s hand back to the bed and moved to face him. “Bruce said she was under the influence of the scepter.”
“Have you seen the footage?”
“No. Not yet. How about you?” Steve shook his head. “I don’t know how she will react to his death.” He looked at her quizzically, like he was asking ‘what do you mean?’. Natasha recognized the look. “I think they have an affinity for each other. Loki won’t go the extra mile to save her.”
Steve straightened his back. “Maybe he was just saving her because he needed her?”
“We need each other.”
“No, I mean Loki needed her for the tesseract. It’s her half-brother who we’re facing anyway.”
Natasha pursed her lips. “I think it’s more than that. Loki is different around her. Sure, he can be the usual Loki we know but he’s...different,” she explained as she remembered how Loki would talk to Stella, or that time he was panicking, carrying an unconscious Stella after their Athens stint. “Has anyone notified Thor about the situation?”
“I think so. I’m not sure.”
“I’ll keep Stella safe here. You look out for him when he arrives.”
“Why?”
Natasha turned to watch Stella. “Just do it, Steve.”
Thor was notified of Loki’s death by Heimdall, though the latter didn’t specify who killed Loki and how he died. He just told Thor that he died. When Heimdall returned to his post, he sought for Loki but he had disappeared across the realms. Heimdall knowingly smirked.
Thor immediately left Asgard with a heavy heart and arrived in the tower seconds later. JARVIS notified everyone of the god’s arrival and Steve rushed to meet him.
A part of Steve was anxious to see an angry Thor storming in, demanding to see who killed his brother. He knew how much Thor cares for Loki and he knew Thor doesn’t want Loki to go back to his waywardness.
But a morose Thor in all his Asgardian ensemble was what Steve met. Steve waited for Thor to enter the building before greeting him. “How did he die?” That was Thor’s first question.
Steve slightly tilted his head forward. “The tower was invaded by Ares’ demigod overnight. Loki was stabbed after and died.”
Thor’s eyes went dark. A roll of thunder was heard outside the tower. “Where is this demigod?”
“He’s now imprisoned and under control. I suggest you leave that to us.” But Thor walked past Steve, to the elevator. Steve caught up with the god.
“JARVIS, is the prisoner in this building?” Thor bellowed.
“The prisoner is in an undisclosed location, Mr. Odinson,” the AI replied.
Thor turned on his heels, now facing Steve. Steve stopped on his tracks when he saw fury all over the god’s face. “Are you keeping secrets from me, Rogers?” Thor growled, his knuckles turning white from gripping the handle of the Mjölnir. Steve stood his ground. Rain started to pour outside.
Steve understood why Natasha wanted to keep Thor away from Stella. Nat’s command was to keep Stella away from the situation as possible and right now Steve was having a hard time going with the flow, given that he’s also not fond of secrets among the team. But Natasha urged him to do it. And if Thor was going to misunderstand the whole thing, it’ll cost Stella’s life, for sure.
To let the other Avengers rest if ever what Nat was thinking would happen, he called Sam and Clint to stay in the tower for a while and they were on stand by a floor below. Natasha was in the medical bay being the last fort. Steve was waiting for Thor to say or do something.
“I’m sorry about Loki.” Steve broke the silence.
Thor’s angry façade melted to sorrow. “I thought he could never die again,” Thor replied and settled on the couch. Steve approached him and gave him a pat on the back, not knowing what else to say. “Who else was with him?”
“Tony, Bruce, and Stella.”
Thor’s head rose a little. “Stella has not yet fully healed. Was she safe while it happened?” He looked at Steve, who shook his head. Thor realized that his friend might be injured once again. “Where is she?” Thor’s voice was still heavy.
“She’s in the hospital.” Steve lied.
The god looked up to him, his brows furrowed in worry. “How is she?”
Steve sat on the couch in front of Thor. “She has lost a lot of blood, given that she has not yet recovered from her previous injuries and she fought last night. She’s still unconscious.”
Thor stood. “I’d like to see her.”
Steve nodded sympathetically. “We will see her when the time comes.”
The next day, after getting some rest, Bruce and Tony dove into studying Stella’s physiology. By the time they walked into her room, her blood levels had stabilized and she had gained color, though she was still unconscious. Her wounds looked better now, even the stab wound was not swelling anymore.
With the help of JARVIS, Tony has determined the energy levels of Stella’s power, the AI detecting the foreign matters coursing through her body but now concentrated at her core, near her heart.
“I tried running scans on her but it wouldn’t show up in the images,” he told Bruce as the latter peeked over his shoulder, checking the blood and energy levels on the screen.
“So it’s like a Jedi’s midi-chlorians?” Bruce added.
Tony stifled a yawn before replying. “ Uh, sure. But I’m still figuring out how to quantify her energy levels. We need help with this one.”
Bruce walked to his station and typed something. “But isn’t she a demigod? She sure has Zeus’ blood in her veins that can speed up her recovery.” He swiped a finger on his screen and a window popped on Tony’s screen. Tony scrolled through. “Ichor. The blood of the gods.”
“The question is, can it be passed on to their children?” Tony pressed some icons on the screen. “It’s an unknown element. Nothing in the world’s database.” He started another scan on Stella. “We’re looking for another unknown element or matter,” he told his AI. A yellow light ran through Stella’s body. Bruce and Tony were fixated on the screen, anticipating the unknown matter to pop on their screen. “Run it again,” Tony commanded and the process was repeated twice. Still nothing.
“It’s a myth, Tony.”
“Norse gods were a myth until Thor and Loki showed up,” Tony replied, not leaving his sight from the screen. “You were the one who treated her first, right?”
“It was Loki,” Bruce replied.
Tony crossed his arms and scratched his chin. “Mmm. We need an ouija board.”
“Why?” Bruce glanced at Tony.
“What was the color of her blood?”
“Red.”
“She doesn’t have it, then.” Tony’s eyes ran through the screen, trying to find an answer. “Says here it’s going to be gold or something like that.”
“But we can’t conclude something as nothing even if we have not seen it.”
“And you’re telling me it’s a myth?” Tony scowled at him and he just shrugged. “We need help on this one. JARVIS, connect me to doctor Faiza Hussain.”
A few floors below, Natasha, frustrated, exited the room where Jericho’s holding cell was. “How did it go?” Steve asked.
“He doesn’t want to talk to anyone except Stella.” Natasha pulled out an earpiece and placed it on a small tin container sitting on the metal work table. “I guess you heard everything.” She leaned on the table and crossed her arms on her chest.
“Not everything. I arrived 5 minutes ago.” Steve’s eyes were fixed on the monitor showing what Jericho was doing on the other side of the room. This time, he was sitting on the chair, legs propped on the table, his mouth opening as if he’s singing. “How’s she?”
“Stable but has not woken up yet. Tony and Bruce have now detected her energy but they’re still figuring out how to quantify her levels.” Natasha explained.
“At least it’s there. Good to know.”
Natasha studied his grim face. “So, where do we go from here?” She lamented.
“Stella’s still unconscious, this prisoner won’t talk, Nevada was a dead man’s land…” Steve paused to breathe. “At this point, I have no idea.”
“Is that the prisoner?” Natasha and Steve flipped to the direction of the gravelly voice. Natasha’s hand instinctively rested on the holster of her stun rod.
“Thor…” Steve acknowledged. He dropped his hands, ready to block any blow if ever.
Thor stepped out of the shadows and stopped before them. “Has he been here the whole time?”
“No. He just arrived here this morning.” Natasha interjected.
Thor ground his teeth in anger, his knuckles turning white from clenching too tight. “I’ll make him talk.” Thor stormed to the holding cell.
Steve stepped in front of the god. “Thor I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Why are you protecting this prisoner?” Thor’s nostrils flared, keeping his hands to his space to prevent hurting Steve.
“We’re not protecting the prisoner, we just think it’s not a good idea for you to enter the cell,” Steve explained.
“Out of my way!” Thor shoved Steve aside with one hand. Steve caught his arm and tried to push him back, but Thor overpowered Steve and he stormed into the holding cell. Thor opened the door, stomping his booted feet, Steve tailing him. Their arrival startled the young demigod inside. Thor wrapped his massive hand on Jericho’s neck, lifted him, and pinned him to the wall. Jericho’s eyes widened at Thor as he tried to pry open the god’s hand. “Who commanded you to kill my brother?!”
Jericho’s reply was a mess of garbled words and choking. Thor shifted his hand and pressed the Mjölnir on Jericho’s chest, allowing the latter to breathe and reply. “I didn’t kill your brother! It was Stella!”
Thor clenched his jaw. “The guardian would do no such thing.”
Jericho fleered. “Oh, that’s one thing you don’t know about - UGH!” Thor pressed the hammer on his chest. Jericho tapped Thor’s arm and the latter loosened a bit. “That’s one thing you don’t know about her,” he continued. “She’ll do anything for the mission.” Thor didn’t look convinced. “She’s only using you and in the end, she’ll bring you to Ares and you will all fall on your knees before him.”
“I will bow to no one.” Thor hissed.
Jericho grinned. “Oh, she will make you. We will make you. She already killed Loki because he refuses to do so.” He noticed Steve was still on the door, alert. “Why don’t you ask your trustworthy teammates here? I believe in this kind of smart building, there must be some kind of footage that night.” Thor released him unceremoniously and Jericho dropped on the floor with a thud. “Ow.” He pushed himself up. He looked up and Thor was still looming over him. “Stella killed Loki, Thor. She stabbed him with a scepter.”
Thor turned and pounded to the door, to Steve. “Thor, that’s not what happened.” Steve declared.
Thor stopped before Steve and glanced back to Jericho. “Who are you to say these things?” He asked.
Jericho stood up at some point. “One thing’s for sure. I know her better than all of you do.”
Thor continued to the door. “Thor, listen -”
“You are hiding things from me. What happened exactly?” Thor thundered as they left the room, interrupting Steve. Steve, who was standing behind Thor, met Natasha’s eyes. A cold sweat trickled on Steve’s temple as he waited for Natasha to speak. That was the plan, Natasha was going to tell Thor what happened in due time. But the time was premature.
“Remember what happened to Loki last 2012?” Natasha started. Thor’s blue eyes were fixed on her, sending daggers. Natasha pressed a button and a screen went up to life, showing them the scene during that night when Jericho invaded the tower. Natasha and the others already saw this video and they understood what happened. This was Thor’s first.
Thor saw how his brother fought the shadow warriors and how he worked with Stark. The image changed and showed Stella fighting Jericho, swinging her ax until she disarmed him and got hold of the scepter. Seconds later they saw Stella fall on her knees, her eyes changing blue, along with her whole aura. Thor started to realize what happened. His anger turned to anguish as he watched his friend, the guardian, thrust the scepter to Loki. Thor released his clenched fists and gripped the edge of the table.
“This cannot be. It cannot be,” he muttered.
“It wasn’t Stella’s fault.” Natasha consoled. “Do you have any idea what happened to her and who was behind that? It was the same thing as what happened to Clint and Loki himself.”
“Yes, it is the same,” Thor replied, head down. “But Loki never said anything about who is behind all these.”
“This is not Ares, is it?” Steve clarified.
“If this is Ares then we would be seeing the same effects on Jericho.” Natasha returned. “And we don’t have any information yet as to who Ares and this Jericho is. We’re hoping Stella would wake up soon for answers.”
“Ares also does not have the scepter to use it on his demigods,” Thor added. “He is using a different kind of magic. If only Loki is here with us, he can give us answers. He must know something since he has been studying everything since we were little,” he fondly recalled. Then he turned to Natasha. “Where is Stella?”
“Still in the hospital,” she replied quickly.
Thor was not picking up on the lie so Natasha and everyone else worked around it. He straightened up, still contemplating the events and the information he had received. “What happened to Loki after he fell on the Bifrost is still a mystery among us. He would never tell us what happened after that.” Thor sighed. “He doesn’t trust us,” he said bitterly.
Silence falls on them, letting them into their minds. Thor is mourning for Loki’s death and for the unfortunate event that fell on the guardian. Steve stood there, thinking it’s too late and concluded that they had run out of options. Natasha started to think of possibilities, even thinking of using the truth serum on Jericho so they won’t waste time.
Days after, Clint stormed into the tower and confronted Natasha with what he found out. “Is it true?” He asked when he saw Natasha combing through SHIELD agent files on a laptop in one of the working areas in the tower.
“Hi, Clint. Nice to see you,” she said without her sight leaving the screen.
“Hey, Nat.” Clint snapped his fingers urgently in front of her. “Is it true?”
“The what?” She replied, still not looking at him.
“Did Stella go under the influence of the scepter?” Clint whispered as if someone could hear him even though it was just the two of them on the floor.
“Have you seen the footage?”
Clint grabbed a stool and sat. “Yes, and I’ve read the report.”
“And that’s what happened.”
“Natasha, this is dangerous,” he said with great emphasis.
Natasha finally looked up. “When was our lives not in danger, Clint? And besides, you can thank her for killing that one person who’s at the top of your hit list,” she huffed. “What did Fury say?” Clint raised an eyebrow. “We haven’t heard a word from him.”
“He said we deal with it.”
“Of course.” Natasha picked up her glass and took a sip of her protein shake. Then she glared at the screen.
“How can we guarantee that she’s not under the influence of whatever that is forever?”
She placed her glass down. “That we have to find out.”
“Great...”
“She passed out right after stabbing Loki and that’s it until now.” Clint signed. “We can’t wake her up. She’s too beaten up. I guess you know her previous injuries,” she replied.
“I can’t go out there with someone who is possibly mentally tied up to something sinister,” he insisted.
“You won’t. I’ll handle that.”
“It’ll be hell if you’ll be under the scepter’s influ-”
“The scepter’s locked away in a vault. Tony did that right after the event. It wouldn’t leave that floor ever.”
Clint relaxed a bit and placed his hands flat on the table. “What’s next?”
“Inject truth serum to that guy. I can’t find any active records on him. All we know is that his name is Jericho and he’s a possible demigod.”
“That’s it?”
She crossed her arms on her chest. “We wait for Stella.”