Lean On Me (I Promise, I Will Not Fall)

Chapter 10

Fury wasn't going to bring them to the table at first, the flowers he means. There was something different about them and he had felt oddly protective over them since he found them next to Phil. When one of the lower agents tugged on a petal of one, Nick almost shot them right there until he realized that the flower was completely intact and stronger than it looked. It was fascinating.

So, as much as he hated to do this, he grabbed the cards, dipping them lightly in blood, and the flowers and marched over to the table, "These were in Coulson's jacket." He tossed them down, directing his next words at Steve, "Guess he never did get you to sign them."

Fury watched as Steve reached for one of the cards, one of Captain America saluting the camera, sa he expected but it was Tony that caught his attention. The Stark was staring at the flowers, like he was contemplating grabbing them. As he continued speaking, the inventor reached forward and touched the stem of one of the flowers, smiling sadly like he knew something about them that they weren't privy to.

"Phil Coulson died still believing in it," Nick said, looking at both Steve and Tony, the only two Avengers left on the Helicarrier available since Thor and Bruce were on the ground below and Natasha was with Clint. "In heroes."

Stark stood up and stormed out of the room, his mouth set in a thin line that promised something ugly for anyone that stood against him. He ignored Steve, who tried to stop him, and glared at the SHIELD agents blocking the door, the two moving out of the way for him like he would throttle them right there, never mind that he didn't have his suit.

--

Natasha sat next to Clint and ran a cloth over his head, her eyes soft. She didn't know exactly how to tend to someone in pain, that was something that wasn't taught in the Red Room. If you were injured, you were deemed broken- and no one wanted broken things.

"You know, I saw something weird," Clint spoke, his voice a bit rough. "Or met someone weird. It was when I was in New Mexico with Phil." He didn't notice Natasha's slight grimace. "He told me about the tesseract, about the portal."

The redhead raised an eyebrow, "He did? What else did he say?"

"He said that Thor is his student and that he still had a lot to learn," The archer blinked a bit as he remembered, pulling slightly on his restraints as he sat up more.

"Thor told Tony that his father might be his teacher," Natasha revealed, moving her hands towards the restraints to release them.

Clint's eyes widened, "Yeah, and my bet is that it's not Howard he's talking about. I'm starting to think we all know this guy somehow."

"Before you found me, this man would talk to me," The Black Widow admitted. "He guided me but I never saw what he looked like. Do you think that the guy you mentioned might be him?"

"I think so," He nodded. "Maybe even Cap knows him."

"Maybe I know who?" Steve stood in the doorway looking at both of them, a hint of concern in his eyes as he studied the two.

Clint and Natasha looked at each other before looking back at the blonde. "Well..." The archer started.

--

Tony touch-downed on the landing pad, letting his suit disassemble around him. He watched Loki, taking careful steps as he approached the bar, skimming his hands on the smooth surface.

"Please tell me you aren't appealing to my humanity," The god of mischief watched the human, his blue eyes sparking with curiosity and surprise when he saw a red and gold stone resting just above his arc reactor.

"No," The inventor slipped on his bracelets before pouring himself a drink, downing it quickly. He set the glass down and smiled, "Drink?"

Loki frowned slightly, "You are different than the other mortals, Stark. Why?"

Tony tilted his head, his brown eyes studying the god, "Why do you think it's me that's different?" He picked up a green flower with gold speckles that rested on the bar, "You dropped this in Germany."

Loki's lips pulled back in a snarl and his hand tightened around the scepter, "Hand that to me, mortal, before I remove your limb from your pitiful body!"

The Stark, to his credit, didn't seem at all fazed by the threat as he looked down at the flower, twirling it in his hand, "You wouldn't really hurt your Angasiiar's son, would you?"

The god of mischief froze then, his mouth setting in a frown as he nearly dropped his scepter. After a moment, he spoke, "You do not know what you speak of."

"I think I do. You still have the stone, right?" Tony looked up at Loki and the god was reminded of a man that he had practically grown up with, a man who would tend flowers just outside the palace of Asgard. "The one my dad gave you."

Without thinking, Loki pulled out the stone Perseus had told him to always keep close, that, if spun, would always allow his best friend to find him.

"I know you're not in control, Loki," Tony spared a glance outside but there were no aliens yet. The god hadn't given the signal so maybe this conversation was helping. "Dad knows this, too. He's worried about you."

Loki looked as if he was about to say something when his blue eyes glowed brighter for a moment and his whole demeanor changed, "Your father is a fool and you, pitiful mortal, cannot stop me from taking Midgard."

The inventor's eyes widened when the god shot his scepter and then proceeded to throw him out the window.

The green and gold flower crumbled to ash on the floor, the wind from the broken window blowing it away over New York as Chitauri started pouring out of a portal in the sky.