Ace of Hearts [Loki Laufeyson] BOOK I

The Stronghold

The whole jet ride from the tower to Jay's supposed stronghold was dead silent. Tony was glaring daggers at Loki, noticeably clenching and unclenching his fists as if he was trying to decide what way he should kill the god. Loki, however, was staring unblinkingly at the ground, a small smirk on his lips. Clint was silent as he was flying the jet, periodically glancing back at the other Avengers.

"Landing, everyone," Clint announced reaching up and flicking a few switches before everyone felt the jet start to descend. When he landed it, he pressed the button to open the ramp so everyone could get off. "Alright, I'll stay with the jet. Try to figure out how to get inside."

Loki stood up first, his eyes flicking around to look at everyone before walking down the ramp and over to the singular tree in the middle of the clearing. His forest green eyes scanned the seemingly normal wood before he spotted a darker line forming a box. It was almost unnoticeable. He placed his hand on top of it, pressing in lightly. The panel sunk into the tree, sliding aside to reveal a glowing blue keypad. Loki took the slip of paper out of his pocket, narrowing his eyes at the pad before inputting the code. By this time, the other Avengers had gathered around him to watch.

The whole team turned to look at the jet as the ground started to shake. A circle appeared in the grass around the jet, slowly lowering deeper down into the ground before it disappeared completely, a new circle of grass appearing right where the jet had disappeared. Loki's eyes stayed on the pad as it blinked green, the wooden panel sliding back in front of it before the whole tree just split in half and opened up, revealing a ladder with soft golden LEDs lighting up the way down.

"Welcome, Avengers. Please proceed with caution down the ladder. Mrs. Stark will be joining us soon." A female robotic voice said, the sound echoing down the tunnel. Loki was first, grabbing the ladder before sliding down the sides, landing gracefully down at the bottom. His eyes landed on a large, metal door that suddenly opened, revealing a huge hangar with six jets all lined up beside each other - the jet they took here all the way at the end of the line. Hawkeye was getting out of the jet, his eyes widening as he looked around. On the other wall were six different motorcycles, along with a few fancy cars.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Bruce said as he entered the huge room - the others right behind him.

"If you turn to your right, you'll see a large blue and gold door. Go through there to find the living room. And, a message from Jay:" Jay's voice suddenly took over the announcement, "Don't touch my shit, alright!' So, don't touch her stuff, please. Off of the living room, you'll find a hallway with twelve rooms - you should be able to find one. The one at the end of the hall is hers, don't go in there. If you need anything else, just ask. I'm always here. Other than that, Miss Jay says to make yourselves comfortable." The voice cut out as the Avengers entered the living room.

There was a large, black L-shaped couch in the middle of the room sitting on a white fluffy carpet and in front of a huge flat screen TV, and a table littered with a few McDonalds wrappers in front of the couch as well. Underneath the TV was a wooden cabinet filled with various game controllers, games, a PS4 and an Xbox, along with a box filled with movies of almost every genre. Beside the couch was a small table with a lamp along with several books about engineering. On the far wall beside the couch were several projections of the surrounding area above the underground base, presumably from cameras above-ground. To the left of the entrance of the living room was a small table with a few newspapers stacked on it, along with a tipped over wine glass. Behind the couch on the back wall was a bar with three shelves all filled with different types of alcohol. There were other kitchen appliances in there as well - a stove, fridge, toaster, and a few cabinets filled with other foods.

Tony gravitated towards the bar, immediately pouring himself a glass of scotch and sitting down on a swiveling stool as Bruce sat across from him- not partaking in the alcoholic beverages. Thor was immediately drawn to the smell of pop tarts in the cabinet and took out the several packages in there before moving to the toaster and putting two of them down with a grin on his face. Steve and Bucky went to the small table to sit down and read the newspapers like the old men they were, while Sam, Clint, and Nat went to sit down on the couch and turn on the TV.

Loki, however, spotted the hallway that the AI had mentioned and walked down it, peering into each of the rooms. As he reached the end of the hallway, he stared at the blue and gold painted door before it suddenly swung open. Loki raised his eyebrows at it, wondering why it had opened for him.

"Miss Stark would like you to have her room, as there isn't enough for everyone. She gives you permission to look around." 

He walked inside, flicking the light switch before letting the door slowly close behind him. He had to admit, the room was pretty nice. The walls were painted dark blue, the sheets of the large queen sized bed pitch black with elegant and intricate golden designs on it. On either side of the bed was a small nightstand, each with a lamp and several books on top of them. To the right of the bed was a desk with various papers strewn about on the surface of it, along with an empty mug, another McDonald's wrapper, and a closed laptop. To the left of the room was a door leading to the bathroom, one right beside it leading to a large, walk-in closet.

Loki's eyes finally landed on a long case at the end of the bed that had looked like it hadn't been opened in awhile - as evidence, it was covered in dust. He walked over to it, crouching down before carefully undoing the locks and opening it. There were several other smaller boxes in there, each labeled with a deteriorating sticker with a messy scribbling of handwriting on it. The labels they had were, 'Mom's stuff', 'Step-dad's stuff', 'Blueprints', 'Fun Times', and finally 'HYDRA'. His eyes lingered on the last one, but before he could open it, he suddenly heard Tony shout his name.

The god rolled his eyes, letting the trunk close before walking to the door and leaving the room. As he re-entered the living room, he looked around for the billionaire - but was promptly shoved up against the wall with a golden and red metal hand around his neck.