The Secret Asgardian (An Avengers Fanfiction)

Chapter 18: Stark's Rules

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18. Stark’s Rules

We stumbled out of the elevator at the top floor, laughing at a funny story that Tony had told me about a mishap between his girlfriend Pepper and the mechanical arm in the lab. Nick glared at us icily, still stood in the same spot, with his arms crossed tightly.

I bit my lip sheepishly, and retreated to the couch, sprawling across it tiredly. The nose bleed had stopped, and I was no longer dizzy and weak, but I was quite tired. I’d already wiped away the blood.

“Hey Nick,” Stark greeted him casually, and I moved my legs so he could sit beside me.

Thor was like a statue, still in the same position. His eyes flicked over to me, checked for damage, and then finding none returned to the floor and glazed over slightly. Nick walked around the couch so he was stood in front of us, now with his hands on his hips, and Stark and I shared a brief, amused glance.

“We’re down to three avengers and a child,” He began, stating the obvious.

When we didn’t interrupt, he continued.

“We have no agents, at least none that we know are alive or can contact.”

Silence.

“We don’t have a base anymore,” Nick continued, shooting Thor a look which was ignored by my uncle.

“And I don’t know what this all about. No one has bothered to fill me in yet. Eldrid, do you care to share with me exactly why there is a child here when I know for a fact that Tony doesn’t have kids?”

“Ew, kids. No thank you,” Stark shuddered at the thought, and I saw Diana glare at him.

I sighed and began to explain.

After about fifteen minutes or so, I finished, and Nick was looking thoughtful.

“Atlantis?” He murmured, and I nodded.

Nick began to pace, and I leaned back further into the soft leather.

“And you say the girl, Diana, can lead us there before Loki?” Nick asked me, and before I could answer Diana butted in.

“Don’t talk like I’m not here! Yes, I can lead you there. I’ve been studying this for a long time,” She growled heatedly, jumping up from her seat.

Stark chuckled softly as Nick turned to her with his eyebrows raised.

“I just need few days to correctly piece together the clues, and then I’ll know exactly where we need to go first,” Diana muttered, fists clenched tightly.

“How are we going to get there, wherever ‘there’ is?” I chipped in.

“Leave that to me. I have a little something up my sleeve that we can use,” Stark supplied, an eager look in his eyes.

“Why have I got a bad feeling about that?” Nick asked dryly.

“And what are we going to use as our new base?” I asked.

All eyes turned to Tony, who sighed.

“Fine, Stark Tower can be the base – temporarily. There are a few spare bedrooms you can use on Level 6 and there’s a meeting room on Level 2. But if my tower’s going to be S.H.I.E.L.D’s new headquarters, then I get to make the rules. Rule 1: No secret agendas, Nick,” Tony said sharply, shooting Agent Fury a harsh look.

“What do you mean?” He said stiffly, sounding defensive.

“We all know that you wanted to use the Tesseract as a military weapon,” He said bluntly, and Nick opened his mouth angrily but Stark cut him off, “There’s no point denying it. We already told you that we knew. But that doesn’t matter now. Loki wants to find Atlantis for a reason, whether it is for knowledge or a new weapon. I don’t know. But whatever it is, you need to give us your word that you’re not going to use it as a military weapon without telling us first.”

There was an awkward silence, and I looked at Tony in amazement. I think that was the most serious that I’d ever seen him. His eyes were locked with Nick’s in a silent showdown, before Nick looked away.

“I give you my word that I won’t withhold any plans from you.”

Tony relaxed slightly and smiled easily. I thought I saw an odd look in Nick’s eyes for a second, but then it disappeared.

“Good. That makes life a lot easier. Ok, Rule 2: when I throw parties, you all have to attend as my personal guests – there’s no debates,” Tony grinned evilly at me, and I shut my mouth with a snap and gritted my teeth.

Of course, I should have known he’d concoct some form of torture for us. Nothing was ever free in life. I was beginning to learn this from the humans. Suddenly, Tony looked thoughtful, like he was considering something.

“Oh, you’re excused from that rule, kid,” Stark said after a moment, glancing over at Diana who looked relieved.

“And Nick, I’m sorry but I think you’d cramp my style,” He continued, and Nick smiled, glad to be excused.

“Thor, you don’t have to come either. I don’t think it’d be your type of thing,” He said finally, and I scowled in outrage.

“Hey, that’s not fair! That means that the rule only applies to me!” I cried angrily, and Tony smiled impishly.

“Sorry, firefly, but that’s the rule.”

I looked to Thor pleadingly, and he frowned, considering it.

“Eldrid’s not allowed to get drunk or … well, do anything else unsavoury,” Thor told him sternly, and Tony winked.

“Of course.”

I couldn’t believe this! I glowered, attempting to keep my temper in check before I set the room on fire.

“Rule 3: Don’t pester me when I’m in the lab,” He continued, and Nick snorted.

“Anything else?”

“Nope, I think that’s it.”

“I think I’d rather go back to Asgard, and that is really saying something,” I muttered, and Thor cracked a smile.