The Unquiet Thought, Chapter 15
Plotty things continue.
Chapter 15
Five minutes later Rhodey calls him.
“What the fuck happened.”
It’s not really a question.
“Nothing. Nothing? We’re fine, nothing happened, we’re okay. Right, Loki? Tell him we’re okay.” Loki makes some kind of panicked choking noise. “Slight miscalculation, that’s all.”
He rubs at the scratches on his neck where Loki’s nails caught hard enough to sting.
“How is JARVIS calling to tell me you have a concussion nothing?”
“I don’t have a concussion.” Rhodey snorts, Tony immediately turns to Loki (who hasn’t moved since his eyes had cleared, backing up quickly) and hopes he sounds reassuring. “I don’t have a concussion.”
“Tony?” Steve careens into the lab, the door barely opening before he forces his way through and oh god, really? Why is this happening now. “JARVIS paged me, what’s going on?”
“You know what, why don’t we go somewhere else?”
-
It curls in on itself, Dummy and You whirring in confusion close by; it does not know where Butterfingers is, Butterfingers does not speak to it often.
It’s broken. It sits there and does not move because if it moves it will break everything else.
-
“He did what?!”
Steve is pacing, Rhodey is shrill over the speakerphone. Tony would tease him about that except it would be counterproductive right now.
“It was a glitch. These things happen. It is generally standard to have setbacks in scientific experimentation. Do you remember the video of me trying the repulsers for the first time?”
“Yes,” Steve stops moving, his jaw tight. “That was not funny.”
“We are initiating Plan B.”
Tony spins to the nearest speaker emitting Rhodey’s voice. “No. No. No way in hell. Not happening,” because hell if he’s going to let S.H.I.E.L.D. make off with Loki now.
“He tried to snap your neck!”
“He did not!”
“Sir,” JARVIS interrupts him. “I’m going to have to agree with Colonel Rhodes and Captain Rogers.”
“But I had a breakthrough!” They all stare at him. Okay, so technically just Steve, but Rhodey is staring at him as much as he can in the only communicating via audio sense. And JARVIS has cameras, so it's like staring. “Really, I scraped the surface.” Tony counts that as a win. In that there was a response and not that he almost died. Because that part was a little alarming. “I just have to be more careful about it next time.”
“Tony-”
“Don’t mom voice me Steve. Did you see how he reacted? JARVIS pull up the lab feed.” The A.I. hesitates because he's totally not on Tony's side right now, but eventually the television lights up with a view of the lab. Loki is still huddled in the corner where they had left him. Shit, he’ll have to do something about that. “Look how guilty he feels.”
Arms crossed over his chest, Steve watches the feed sullenly for a few minutes.
“Fine.”
Tony slumps back onto the couch, throwing his arms up in the air. “Thank you.”
“I don’t want you alone with him anymore.”
And then sits right back up again. “Are you fucking kidding me.”
“No, another Avenger is going to be there at all times.” The only reason Tony relents is because it’s Cap talking and not Steve, there is no way he’s getting this past Cap. Plus Rhodey immediately disagrees with the decision to let Loki stay at all, so there’s not a lot of space for him to talk.
“All the time?” Rhodey finally asks.
“All the time.”
There is angry silence over the line.
“When I’m back state-side I want in this rotation.”
“Of course.”
Another pause. It’s like they’ve both forgotten he’s here.
“Okay.”
“We’ll take care of him, Colonel.”
“You’d better. JARVIS? Same deal as before. Call me.” The line goes dead.
Tony watches Cap grumble into his hands. “I’m not five, you know…” He looks at the grain of the table and thinks for a minute. “Not Clint.”
“Of course not Clint, I’m not stupid Tony.”
“Not Natasha either.”
“Black Widow is a professional.”
“Assassin.”
“Tony, this is not up for debate.”
In that moment Bruce walks into the room and Steve gestures widely to him, causing the other scientist to pause mid-step and look at them both warily.
“Explain.”
Tony rolls his eyes.
“Hey, Bruce. I have something I need to confess.”
“That you’re trying to bring back the Loki that invaded Earth?”
“I’ve been studying- wait, what? how did-”
“You’re not exactly subtle.”
“Yes, well… everyone knows? Why hasn’t Barton killed me yet?”
Bruce shrugs like it's obvious. “Steve.”
Steve waves. This annoys Tony probably more than it should.
“… right. Back to important things.”
So he explains. It’s muddled and disjointed, but it’s something and for the first time he’s able to articulate that it’s become less about bringing the first Loki back, and more about figuring out how to break the bond to Thor without hurting him. “Other than that, I’m not sure what I want to do anymore.”
They end up sitting around the breakfast table. Bruce asks him questions and Steve tries to follow the scientific jargon. Clint is in the vents above them, which they all Know, but pretend not to.
“It’s like he’s not running at full cylinder sometimes, I don’t know. Does that make sense?”
Steve thinks for a minute and then nods. “I’ve noticed that too.”
“Can we even break the bond?” Bruce leans forward. “Or shift it? I got the feeling it’s ingrained pretty deeply.”
“I’m rich and eccentric; I can do anything I want.” Steve gives him a look of exasperated annoyance and Bruce hardly reacts at all except for the tiny little tilt of his mouth that Tony has started to watch for. “Come Bruce,” he claps, Bruce rolls his eyes. “We must science!”
“Science isn’t a verb, Tony.”
But he still follows. That’s why Bruce is his favorite.
Chapter 16
Chapter 15
Five minutes later Rhodey calls him.
“What the fuck happened.”
It’s not really a question.
“Nothing. Nothing? We’re fine, nothing happened, we’re okay. Right, Loki? Tell him we’re okay.” Loki makes some kind of panicked choking noise. “Slight miscalculation, that’s all.”
He rubs at the scratches on his neck where Loki’s nails caught hard enough to sting.
“How is JARVIS calling to tell me you have a concussion nothing?”
“I don’t have a concussion.” Rhodey snorts, Tony immediately turns to Loki (who hasn’t moved since his eyes had cleared, backing up quickly) and hopes he sounds reassuring. “I don’t have a concussion.”
“Tony?” Steve careens into the lab, the door barely opening before he forces his way through and oh god, really? Why is this happening now. “JARVIS paged me, what’s going on?”
“You know what, why don’t we go somewhere else?”
-
It curls in on itself, Dummy and You whirring in confusion close by; it does not know where Butterfingers is, Butterfingers does not speak to it often.
It’s broken. It sits there and does not move because if it moves it will break everything else.
-
“He did what?!”
Steve is pacing, Rhodey is shrill over the speakerphone. Tony would tease him about that except it would be counterproductive right now.
“It was a glitch. These things happen. It is generally standard to have setbacks in scientific experimentation. Do you remember the video of me trying the repulsers for the first time?”
“Yes,” Steve stops moving, his jaw tight. “That was not funny.”
“We are initiating Plan B.”
Tony spins to the nearest speaker emitting Rhodey’s voice. “No. No. No way in hell. Not happening,” because hell if he’s going to let S.H.I.E.L.D. make off with Loki now.
“He tried to snap your neck!”
“He did not!”
“Sir,” JARVIS interrupts him. “I’m going to have to agree with Colonel Rhodes and Captain Rogers.”
“But I had a breakthrough!” They all stare at him. Okay, so technically just Steve, but Rhodey is staring at him as much as he can in the only communicating via audio sense. And JARVIS has cameras, so it's like staring. “Really, I scraped the surface.” Tony counts that as a win. In that there was a response and not that he almost died. Because that part was a little alarming. “I just have to be more careful about it next time.”
“Tony-”
“Don’t mom voice me Steve. Did you see how he reacted? JARVIS pull up the lab feed.” The A.I. hesitates because he's totally not on Tony's side right now, but eventually the television lights up with a view of the lab. Loki is still huddled in the corner where they had left him. Shit, he’ll have to do something about that. “Look how guilty he feels.”
Arms crossed over his chest, Steve watches the feed sullenly for a few minutes.
“Fine.”
Tony slumps back onto the couch, throwing his arms up in the air. “Thank you.”
“I don’t want you alone with him anymore.”
And then sits right back up again. “Are you fucking kidding me.”
“No, another Avenger is going to be there at all times.” The only reason Tony relents is because it’s Cap talking and not Steve, there is no way he’s getting this past Cap. Plus Rhodey immediately disagrees with the decision to let Loki stay at all, so there’s not a lot of space for him to talk.
“All the time?” Rhodey finally asks.
“All the time.”
There is angry silence over the line.
“When I’m back state-side I want in this rotation.”
“Of course.”
Another pause. It’s like they’ve both forgotten he’s here.
“Okay.”
“We’ll take care of him, Colonel.”
“You’d better. JARVIS? Same deal as before. Call me.” The line goes dead.
Tony watches Cap grumble into his hands. “I’m not five, you know…” He looks at the grain of the table and thinks for a minute. “Not Clint.”
“Of course not Clint, I’m not stupid Tony.”
“Not Natasha either.”
“Black Widow is a professional.”
“Assassin.”
“Tony, this is not up for debate.”
In that moment Bruce walks into the room and Steve gestures widely to him, causing the other scientist to pause mid-step and look at them both warily.
“Explain.”
Tony rolls his eyes.
“Hey, Bruce. I have something I need to confess.”
“That you’re trying to bring back the Loki that invaded Earth?”
“I’ve been studying- wait, what? how did-”
“You’re not exactly subtle.”
“Yes, well… everyone knows? Why hasn’t Barton killed me yet?”
Bruce shrugs like it's obvious. “Steve.”
Steve waves. This annoys Tony probably more than it should.
“… right. Back to important things.”
So he explains. It’s muddled and disjointed, but it’s something and for the first time he’s able to articulate that it’s become less about bringing the first Loki back, and more about figuring out how to break the bond to Thor without hurting him. “Other than that, I’m not sure what I want to do anymore.”
They end up sitting around the breakfast table. Bruce asks him questions and Steve tries to follow the scientific jargon. Clint is in the vents above them, which they all Know, but pretend not to.
“It’s like he’s not running at full cylinder sometimes, I don’t know. Does that make sense?”
Steve thinks for a minute and then nods. “I’ve noticed that too.”
“Can we even break the bond?” Bruce leans forward. “Or shift it? I got the feeling it’s ingrained pretty deeply.”
“I’m rich and eccentric; I can do anything I want.” Steve gives him a look of exasperated annoyance and Bruce hardly reacts at all except for the tiny little tilt of his mouth that Tony has started to watch for. “Come Bruce,” he claps, Bruce rolls his eyes. “We must science!”
“Science isn’t a verb, Tony.”
But he still follows. That’s why Bruce is his favorite.
Chapter 16