Uniting Asgard [Book Three]

Chapter Twelve

 Tony felt his heart stop as he took in what Loki had said. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he slowly placed his tool down on the table beside him.

"A few days?"

"Sif, one of Asgard's most valiant soldiers, has returned after being captured by Thanos," Thor told him. "She's resting now, but when she is ready, she is going to tell us about Thanos' weapons so we can be at an advantage."

"And we do have some more news." Loki spoke.

"What could be worse than knowing Thanos will be attacking in a few days?" Tony scoffed.

"The fact that he has four stones."

Tony felt his stomach drop as he placed his hand against the table.

"Four? He has four?"

"Sif told us that he now has the time and mind stone."

"That means... oh god..." Tony trailed off.

"Yes... Vision is dead and your friends have been attacked."

"We have to help them." Tony stated.

"We can't." Loki put his hand to Tony's chest. "If we go now, we could be walking into a trap. He could be there waiting. It's not safe for any of us."
"They could all be dead or hurt and have no means of helping themselves." Tony argued.

"And you want to add yourself to that list?" Loki retorted. "Thanos is coming and we need you to build our weapons. We need you here."
Tony cleared his throat as he softly pounded the table with his hand.

"Leaving is not an option, Tony," Thor broke the silence. "If we leave, Thanos might have his henchmen waiting for us."

"And if we do go help your friends, we leave our home unprotected and open for attack. We all have to be here to protect Alice." Loki explained.

Tony looked around the room and gripped the edge of the table, grounding himself.

"Everyone, get out."

Thor and Loki shared a look as the other workers around them stopped what they were doing to face Tony. He pulled himself away from the table as his chest heaved. His eyes hurriedly moved around the room taking in everyone's confused glances.

"I said get out!" Tony shouted.

He then watched as all the workers quickly put their tools down and headed up the stairs. Tony then turned to Thor and Loki and groaned as he narrowed his eyes.

"I said everyone." He hissed.

"Tony, we just-"

"Out!" Tony shouted.

Thor placed his hand on Loki's shoulder, stopping him from approaching Tony.

"Leave him be. We'll come back later." Thor whispered.

The two quickly headed up the stairs to find Pepper at the front door asking the other lab technicians what is going on. Pepper turned around and smiled weakly seeing Thor and Loki standing by the door to their basement.

"What's happened?"

"We just told Tony the news." Thor spoke.

"News?" Pepper inquired. "News of what?"

"Thanos is coming in the next few days." Loki spoke.

Before either of them could say anything else, they heard crashing coming from the basement. Pepper told the two to stay where they were and that she would go after Tony. She hurried down the steps, gripping onto the banister.