⤷ may 4, 2012
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"All right, get him on his feet," Tony says, the group of seven dispersing. "We can all stand around posing up a storm later. By the way, feel free to clean up."
Irina smirks at him, following after him. "What, I thought you liked theatrics?" She teases him.
Tony turns to her, sniffing as he offers her a wry smirk. "You forget that my blood is your blood, Roberts," he mutters in a teasing voice, quiet enough for the others not to hear.
Irina squints at him. "Watch it," she warns lightly.
"Oh, don't get prissy," Tony waves her off. "I'm not a total asshole. I'll let you reveal your super secret real identity in your own time — which, by the way, we need to talk about your fake name; Emma Roberts, really? You do know she's an actress, right?"
She gives a shrug. "Worked out for me the last five years. Besides, I didn't know she was a real person until last year."
"Who gets the, uh, magic wand?" Romanoff asks, stepping up with the scepter in hand.
"S.T.R.I.K.E team's coming to secure it," Steve answers.
"From S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Irina asks, turning back to the others. Steve nods.
The elevator beeps just on time, and Irina glances over to see a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents coming in. She steps over to Steve, who looks over at her with a brief smile. Her eyes flicker to his wounded abdomen. "You want to get that checked out, Cap?"
Steve eyes her own shoulder wound. "If you get that checked out," he returns.
She smirks, shrugging her shoulder to feign being unbothered by the pain, but ending up wincing at it, anyways. Steve takes a step closer, eyes concerned. "You gonna be alright?" He checks.
Irina hums. "Maybe. Might need to take a few extra days off work once this is all over and done with."
Steve's eyes light up in realization. "Right, the café," he says.
"Mhm," she nods. "If you stop by after this is all over, I'll treat you to a cup of tea or something. On the house."
Steve raises his eyebrows, the ends of his lips twitching up. "Really? Thanks."
Tony lets out a scoff from behind her, but when Irina turns around, she doesn't find him near her, instead slowly getting his suit off on the other side of the room. She frowns in confusion.
"Roberts?" Steve speaks up, and Irina looks back at him with a hum. His eyes ask the silent question.
"Oh," she blurts out, "I'm fine. Yeah. Maybe I do need to get checked out," she mutters.
Steve pats her uninjured shoulder, passing by her. "Find a medic downstairs and get checked up," he says, before turning away and pressing a hand to his comm. "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue."
Loki is quick to take his appearance as he passes, going cross-eyed in a mocking manner. ""On my way down to coordinate search and rescue"," he repeats, before returning to his original form. Irina passes him with a derisive snort, not even sparing the lost god a glance as she flips him off. "I mean, honestly, how do you keep your food down?"
Thor slams a muffling piece of technology to his mouth. "Shut up," he groans.
Irina slides into the elevator, standing beside Tony in the midst of Thor, Loki, and a half dozen other S.H.I.E.L.D agents. The Hulk tries to get inside, but not before everyone else is voicing their complaints.
"Whoa! Whoa, whoa!" Thor stretches out a hand.
"Hey, hey. Buddy!" Tony says. "What do you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached."
The doors begin to close as Hulk lets out a growl. "Take the stairs," suggests Thor. Irina can see Loki waving goodbye wordlessly.
She smiles sheepishly at the green beast. "Sorry!" She calls.
"Yeah. Stop, stop —" Tony begins, and Irina blinks in surprise when the Hulk roars with anger and punches the elevator doors just as they shut.
She meets Tony's eyes with raised eyebrows. "It's somebody's time of the month," she murmurs.
Tony lets out a snicker.
When the elevator reaches the bottom, Irina files out along with the rest of the group, striding in between Thor and Tony as they make their way out into the lobby. She glances ahead, frowning when she notices a group of agents in suits approaching them, a man leading their way.
She leans slightly closer to Tony. "Who the hell is that guy?" She asks in a whisper.
"Pierce. Just try and keep your smile from straining too much," Tony mutters back, before flashing the group a smile and a wave as they slow to a stop.
"Uh, may I ask you where you're going?" Pierce asks.
"Bit of lunch and then Asgard. I'm sorry, you are..?" Thor asks, gesturing to Pierce.
"Alexander Pierce," answers Tony. "He's the man above the folks behind Nick Fury."
"Oh," Thor whispers.
"My friends call me Mr. Secretary," Pierce says with a smile. "I'm gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me."
"Uh, Loki will be answering to Odin himself," Thor says.
"No, he's going to answer to us," Pierce pushes. Irina feels a sense of unease, staring at him. "Odin can have what's left. And I'm going to need that case. That's been S.H.I.E.L.D. property for over 70 years."
An agent reaches for the case, but Tony pulls away. "Hand over the case, Stark," the agent says. Irina shares a quick glance with Thor, who puts his hand out to stop the agent.
Tony reaches out with his free hand. "I'm not gonna argue who's got the higher authority here...I'm just saying the big guy wants the case. Might as well give it to him."
"I need the case," Pierce pushes. Irina glowers at him from beside Tony.
"I know you got a lot of pull, I'm just saying, jurisdiction..."
"Okay, then give me the case."
"Well, jurisdiction..."
Pierce grabs the handle of the case, and Irina flinches at the action, as if by instinct. She stretches out a hand, pressing it against Pierce's chest and pushing him back. He grunts, eyes glancing at her hand before sliding up to her face.
Their eyes meet.
And for some reason, Irina wants to hide away in a ball.
She falters.
"Get your hands off me —" Tony begins to shout, before he lets out a choking gasp. He drops the case, and falls to the floor, the arc reactor in his chest stuttering, flickering on and off.
"Stark?" Thor calls.
"Shit —" Irina curses, kneeling beside him, "Tony!"
"He's convulsing," an agent states.
"No shit, Sherlock!" snarls Irina as she turns him onto his side. "Tony? Tony!"
Pierce looks over their heads. "Medic!" He calls.
Distantly, she can hear someone call out, "Medic! Give these guys some help!"
Oddly, it sounds like Tony.
"Speak to me," Thor urges, holding onto Tony tight as he continues to gasp for air. "Stark, i — is it your chest machine?" He stammers. "Breathe, breathe..."
There's a loud sound, and Irina glances over her shoulder just in time to see the Hulk barge out from the doors to the stairwell, knocking a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent back as he roars, "No stairs!"
Loudly, Irina curses. She turns back to Thor. "Handle him!" She pats his shoulder, glancing worriedly at Tony as she jumps up and runs over to the Hulk, who slams his fist into the wall. "Buddy! Buddy!" She calls.
The Hulk turns to her with a snarl, and Irina stops in front of the collapsed agent, stretching out her hands as she looks into his eyes. "It's alright. Sorry for not letting you take the elevator, alright? Dick move. But the fighting's over. We need you to calm down," she says gently. "Can you do that for me?"
The Hulk snarls, clenching his fist and raising it to hit her, but Irina stands, hands outstretched, looking into his eyes, and offers a small smile. "It's all right. You did good. The best. No need to fight anymore, alright?" She whispers. "Just...calm down."
Hulk lets out a huff, eyes flickering away and back to her as he seems to debate her words. She watches his expression slowly relax, and his eyes blink rapidly. Suddenly, the Hulk lets out a groan, and turns, stumbling away. Irina assumes it's to go transform back into Banner.
She lets out a sigh, and turns to the agent, who gets up with a grunt, mumbling something to himself that she can't decipher. "Hey, you all right?" She asks, offering a hand to him. The agent stares at it blankly, letting out a low hum, as if debating it. Irina frowns.
"Hey, Madison Montgomery!" Tony calls. Irina's gaze shoots up, shoulders sagging in relief when she finds Tony standing, looking like what had just happened never did. "You coming or what? We've got a rogue god around here somewhere."
"One second!" She calls, and looks back down to find...the agent gone. "What the —" her gaze whips around the room, but she doesn't find him. He's gone, completely off her grid.
"I have eyes on Loki," Steve's voice echoes in her ear. "14th floor."
Irina sighs, rubbing at her forehead as the confusion of it all gets to her. She makes her way back to Tony and Thor, who regard her with concern. "Are you all right, Lady Emma?" Thor asks.
"Fine," Irina sighs. "Just tired. Let's just...hurry and get that shawarma. Rogers, will you be alright handling Loki?" She asks into the earpiece. When she doesn't get an answer, she frowns. "Rogers?"
The sound of rustling on the other end catches her ear, and she focuses. Steve's voice sounds, though it sounds deeper than before. "Loki secure. I've found the Cube, as well."
She lets out a breath of relief, nodding. "Good. Should we come to you?"
"I'll be fine... Is everything all right downstairs?"
"Yeah, not to worry. We had a bit of an accident with the Hulk, but it's all been handled. We'll meet you at that shawarma joint in — what, an hour?" She glances at Tony, who sniffs and gives a nod.
"Yeah, so don't dally, Capsicle. We won't wait for you," he says.
"Tony," Irina warns lightly, and scoffs when all Tony does is flash her a smile. "Take your time, Cap. You and I both need to check with a medic, anyways." There's a crackle of silence on Steve's end, and Irina frowns. "Cap?"
"Right," Steve's voice blurts out in a hurried voice, "of course. I'll be down in a minute."
Irina smirks. "Got some head trauma there, Rogers?" More silence. She frowns in concern. "Rogers?"
"...Maybe," Steve's voice sounds choked. "Maybe I do — have head trauma, that is... "
"Well, you and I will both get checked out together," she huffs out a laugh. "See you in a minute."
"Yeah — and Roberts?"
"Yeah?"
More crackling silence follows in the wake of Steve's words, and Irina almost debates a problem with the comms, until Steve's voice comes in again, staticky and low.
"See you in a minute."
Irina hums in response, albeit a tad confused as she shares a glance with Tony, who merely shrugs. "Don't look at me. Come on, I'm starving," he huffs.
Irina smirks at him as she walks past. "Right. Wouldn't want you to get cranky, now would we?"
"God, you're awful."
"Wonder where it comes from."
"Give me three guesses."
𓆩*𓆪
After the initial confusion in the tower, Irina finds herself bandaged up in the shoulder, her injured arm in a sling as the group meets up for the shawarma joint Tony had suggested.
The restaurant is open, its owners sweeping away the stray rubble inside. Funny enough, they don't question them as they come in, and manage to make up their orders for them as they continue to sweep away the rubble in their small store.
Irina is seated between Thor and Tony as the Avengers silently chew away at their collective shawarma meals. She finds it all rather delicious, really.
Leaning back in her chair, Irina wipes at her fingers with a napkin. "We should make this an annual thing," she blurts out.
Romanoff meets her eye from across the table, and she smirks. "Not a bad idea," she hums.
"Are you kidding? I'll be ordering this place out every other week," Tony says.
Irina lets out a chuckle, shaking her head.
It was content.
She could get used to this.
𓆩*𓆪