Universal Headaches

Chapter 18

Blinking awake, Sutton found herself staring up at swaying trees and a few pitying faces. Her eyes drifted lazily from object to object while she let herself wake up fully. Bruce had her wrist in his hand and was keeping track of her pulse. Sutton blinked and sucked in a breath.

"How-how long have I been out," she asked.
Bruce let go of her wrist.

"Just a couple minutes. Nothing serious."

She nodded and proceeded to sit up slowly. The hum of the radio was now off and she was grateful for it.

"Lady Sutton," began Thor. He was crouched before her and looking so distressed that it almost killed her. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am for my brother's actions. Know that he will see justice. He will right this wrong done to you."

Sutton shook her head and stood up gingerly, brushing off her jeans.

"You don't have to apologize for him, Thor. It's not your fault." She sighed and her hands were trembling at her sides. "I should have expected something like this."

Clint shot a glare at Natasha.

"Told you we couldn't trust him."

"Of course not. But he got us out of immediate danger. Everything else can be fixed later."

Sutton let out a huff of air through her nose.

"I don't know. This is...this is pretty bad. They think I'm a-a terrorist. Oh gosh."

Tony shot Bruce a look, eyebrows raised, as if saying, see? Bruce just shook his head while removing his glasses and pinching between his eyes. Sutton narrowed her own eyes at him.

"What," she demanded. "What are you two not saying?"

Now Tony shook his head and waved at hand at her flippantly.

"Don't worry about it right now, kid."

Her nostrils flared in irritation but she was interrupted from insisting on an explanation by the announcement that it was finally time to leave. It was after five o'clock and dark enough to sufficiently cover their silhouettes in the shadows. Tony unpacked his suit for the first time since the pizza boy incident. He gripped the sides of the case and pulled outward; Sutton watched diligently as Tony Stark became Iron Man.

Wow, that's still cool. Focus on the armor, focus on the mission. Don't think about jail. Don't think about Loki. Don't think about your future right now.

The armor wrapped perfectly and securely around his body showing just how it was made for him. The red and gold shimmered in the little available light. Perhaps it would be a good idea if he worked on a stealth line of Iron Man suits. With his face plate still up Tony groaned.

"Ok, who's first? Let's get this over with."

Sutton tried not to imagine everyone lined up like Iron Man was a new amusement park ride, but it was too amusing not to consider.

"Your IQ must be 'this high' in order to get a ride with Iron Man."

Through her uneasiness she smiled flatly at her own joke. The two S.H.I.E.L.D agents stepped up first and Tony grabbed each under an arm and shot off. Sutton watched the blue glow from the repulsors as they faded away. Thor considered the skies and smiled to himself.

"How about you, Lady Sutton," he asked. "Would you like to fly as well?"

He was lazily spinning Mjölnir in his hand and Sutton's heart sped up. Maybe her life was spiraling out of control and maybe Loki had deliberately screwed her over and maybe she now had about a .01% chance of ever having her normal life back, but she couldn't deny herself this excitement.