"Sir, you requested I monitor all transmissions for any sign of the return of the terrorist, Loki." JARVIS' gentle tones intruded on Ozzy Osbourne's wailing.
"Yeah?" Tony Stark set his welding torch aside. Some things—okay, most things—he ignored. The god of tossing-lovable-billionaire-playboys-out-of-windows wasn't on that list of things. "What you got, J.?"
"I have intercepted a recording I estimate with 99.989% accuracy shows Loki of Asgard speaking before a large audience somewhere here on Earth."
"Right. Okay." The coffee in Tony's stomach turned chilly and sour. "Wake up the others." He stopped and blinked. "It is still night, right?" A quick affirmation from JARVIS that it was indeed just shy of 5 a.m. had Tony nodding. "Yeah, good. Get them up, order breakfast from somewhere decent. Lots of it. Thor's in house. And coffee. Oh my God, coffee. If we're dealing with the psycho little brother from hell, I need coffee. And good scotch." He wrinkled his nose as JARVIS acknowledged his orders. Okay, a shower would be a good idea, too. He headed for his suite to get cleaned up while everyone else got moving.
Loki on Earth again. Yeah, it was going to be one of those days.
Tony sniffed his coffee. "So JARVIS told you what's up? Because I don't want to go through all that again. Good. And no, I haven't see it either. I needed caffeine before I tackled Crazy Cats." Not going to mention the triple before the coffee. He didn't need Cap ragging on him this early. "All I know is J. says he can't I.D. where the transmission comes from. It's pre-recorded but seems pretty recent. Anything else we'll have to don our deerstalkers and figure out." Tony waved his cup in Steve's direction. "Doyle died in the Twenties. I figure you might get that one, grandpa."
"Yeah, I got it." Spangles didn't sound all that happy about it this time. Musta caught him in the what—three, four hours sleep he thrives on? Blue eyes glowered at Thor. "I thought Loki was supposed to be on Asgard, under whatever conditions your dad set up. So what's he doing back here?"
"My brother remained imprisoned when I left Asgard, serving his sentence. I know not how he might be free." Point Break reached for a cronut knock-off. "My father's magic is great and he holds Loki in close quarters. My brother's magic is contained. Mayhap this is an imposter?" Thor made that seem something to feel hopeful about.
"If it's somebody messing around, they've got one hell of a sick sense of humor." Hawkeye Barton tossed half a bagel back onto his plate. "Then again, Manson's still got groupies."
Widow twitched one corner of her mouth, which might or might not mean anything. "We can speculate all morning long or we can watch the damned thing and try to figure it out." Tony sort of wondered what was in her coffee. "If we don't start, we'll be here tonight still talking about nothing."
Smart woman. "Play it, J." Tony leaned back and waited for the shit to hit the fan. Though God knew, a new shot at Reindeer Games wouldn't be unwelcome. Tony still owed him a couple missiles up his skinny ass.
Hawkeye snorted as the screen showed a dark room. The sounds of people proved the video played, but only an occasional red electronic indicator light showed. "Well, we won't tell much if this is all we've got."
"Humanity, look how far you've fallen." Screams sounded from the darkness. Okay, so there was more.
"Fuck. Yeah. That's him." Barton's face twitched. Sort of all over at random intervals. One shoulder did, too. "Bastard."
"Lining up in the sweltering heat for hours." The screaming increased in volume.
"God, they sound terrified." Cap shook his head, righteous indignation on the part of Loki's victims already gearing up. Whatever his shortcomings, you couldn't fault the Icepop for caring about people.
"Huddling together in the dark...like beasts." Loki, on the other hand...The voice gained more menace with every word, and the screams from the blackened hall reached nearly deafening proportions. Tony felt a twitch catch him behind the knees as well. What the hell is the insane demi-god doing to them?
Thunder rolled and a flash of lightning showed an interior space, something utilitarian, public, ugly. Not a house. It vanished before Tony had more than an impression of it, then a spotlight came up on a lean figure in black and green. The leather lacked part of the armor and he didn't have the god-awful horned helmet, but there was no mistaking the guy.
"Loki." And didn't that just come out with way more dislike than he'd thought it would.
The crowd knew it, too, and went nuts. But not the way Tony expected. Camera flashes went off as the psycho held his arms out to the side, palms empty and open in a gesture of welcome.
"Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki, Loki..." The chant started immediately, swelling with each repeat of his name. A look of stunned pleasure settled over the Trickster's face for the initial few seconds, then a smile blossomed. He raised a finger to his gently curved lips. "Shh." The assembly immediately fell silent.
"JARVIS, freeze that." Clint looked like he wanted to put arrows through whatever satellite had broadcast the original video. "What the actual fuck is that, huh? What?"
"They're...cheering him." Steve's glower had morphed into shock. "They're chanting his name like he's Jack Dempsey or something. He's got complete control over them."
"I'll bet. Fucking mind control." Clint growled.
Widow frowned. "That wasn't the way it worked before. He didn't do the cheering crowds. The scepter allowed him to control worker bees. Emotion wasn't part of the equation. This is new." She studied the image of Loki, the finger pressed to his lip, the glitter in his eye. "He looks good. Really good. He's gained weight. No injuries. He's...happy."
Tony didn't even want to think about what it might take to make Loki happy. He took another drink of his laced coffee. "Roll it again, J."
The figure on the screen spread his arms in a gesture of welcome and spoke again, his gaze intent on his audience. "I am Loki..." He stopped as a new cheers erupted. "...of Asgard..." The noise level grew and a bright smile flashed across Loki's face. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose." The cheer turned to a roar. "Stand back, you mewling quim." Laughter mixed with the roar as a human scuttled off the stage in mock fear, Loki joining in the laughter.
"Okay, that's wrong. That is so wrong. He's...playful." Tony shivered.
"The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for a place in this chamber." Pale eyes surveyed the dark space where the crowd sat, or maybe stood. Tony couldn't tell for sure. But Loki seemed to find it lacking. "In this meager palace of Midgard, the arena they call Hall H."
The roar didn't dim. It got louder.
"What's Hall H?" Bruce Banner had been silent to this point. "It doesn't sound like any place I've ever heard of."
"Pause the video." Tony thought for a second. "Well, that's one clue then. We're looking for a really large building that has part of it called Hall H. That makes me think there are likely Halls A, B, C, D, E, F, and G at least, too. A big stage, a long table arrangement set up with microphones, a podium. I've seen that enough times. It's outfitted for some sort of panel discussion. So, a convention center or a really big hotel, maybe? Something civic? J. when the camera pans, scan and count to see if you can get some idea of the size of that place and how many people are in the room. Anything that will tell us where this place could be. Resume play."
Wherever he was, Loki loved the attention. He stopped rubbing his thumb against his finger and opened his arms again as he smiled out at the multitude, body language relaxed. "You should have let me rule you when you had the chance." Just a soft, calm, little regret. And a fucking smile.
The audience went absolutely ape-shit.
"You gotta be kidding me. They want him to rule?" Cap shook his head, baffled and bewildered at the outpouring of adulation for the destroyer of his beloved New York.
Bruce spread his hands in a who knows gesture. "Sounds like it."
"Yet here you are." Loki continued, a little more flair to his words now. He raised an arm, pointing out into the mass of people and Tony cringed, expecting fire to leap from those pale fingers and sear some poor schmuck. Instead, Loki pulled his hand back to his lips. "Shh!" Okay, not what Tony'd ever expected. Shushed by the god of destruction and chaos. What the hell? The playful glint danced in Loki's eyes again. "Kneel!"
Now that was the asshole they all...wait...what? "They're laughing. Why are they laughing? They're cheering and laughing and fucking kneeling, and he's not even looking! This is crazy." Tony stared at the screen in amazement.
"Your ears yearn for untold stories. Your eyes crave for unseen sights. Your imaginations ache and hunger." Loki played his audience now, his voice softer and his hand in a loose fist at his waist. A quick turn and once again the God of Chaos faced the crowd. His voice dropped lower and softer. "Where are your Avengers now?"
Damn, that was...seductive.
The roar nearly overwhelmed the speakers. Tony could hear individual shouts of agreement, calls of "Yeah, man" and "That's right" amid the general wordless screaming. There were also cries of the god's name and of "Chaos." Then the sheer mass of approval greeting a stronger voice shouting out "There's nothing they can do. X-MEN either!" left Tony breathless.
"J., pause it. I—just pause it." He sat for a moment, staring at Loki's benignly smiling face, and felt ill. "Are you all hearing what I'm hearing?"
"I think 'still working on believing' applies here real well." Cap rubbed a hand over his smooth chin, suddenly looking a little closer to that ninety-years-old bit. He glanced at Thor. "What do you say about all this?"
The big guy's eyes were suspiciously bright as he stared at the smiling image of his brother. "I say that had my brother come to Midgard in this fashion to begin with, you would all be calling him king." Those bright eyes closed and he sighed. "Ever was Loki charming and eloquent. He earned the name Silvertongue. It was not given him in jest. This is more the manner of conquest I would expect from him, the sort of plot and plan at which he excels. The Chitauri attack...it never seemed in his style. It lacked his elegance." He waved a massive hand at the image. "This is my brother, in truth. Yet, he does nothing wrong. If people wish to worship him, it is his right as a god. We can do nothing."
Tony shuddered. Yeah, what could you do when people willingly surrendered to evil?
"Do you wish to continue, sir?" JARVIS sounded like he really didn't want to.
"Yeah. It can't get much worse." Tony caught Cap's eye. "Right? I mean, they love him; they hate us. What could be worse?"
"Claim loyalty to me..." Loki folded his wide-spread hands over his lean stomach in a beguiling gesture, sending the crowd into a frenzy. "And I will give you what you need." He grinned broadly, openly, face lit with joy, returning the energy he was being fed. Thor nailed it; Loki was a showman. The velvet voice, the graceful gestures, the sweep and drama. Yeah, the dude knew how to play a room as well as Tony himself. Crap.
And he wasn't even trying to hide it! The fucker was all P. T. Barnum and the crowd loved him all the more. Right there, the tilt of his head said I'm feeding you a line. It also said, don't you love me for it? even as he waited patiently for the frenzy to die down, eventually calming it with a finger to his lips.
"Say my name."
Oh God, no.
"Loki!" Almost as one voice, the hall erupted. Loki waggled his fingers in a come-on gesture as he paced the stage.
"Say my name." A little more insistent, teasing...seductive.
The crowd obliged, louder and even more synchronized. "Loki!!"
"Say my name!" Somewhere between an order and a plea, a call as he spun, truly a leader now.
"Loki!" Ever louder, Tony could imagine the stage vibrating from the sound of it.
"Say! My! Name!" Arms outstretched, head thrown back, body arched and lit by the constant camera flashes, a modern idol, a 21st Century god.
"LOKI!" One voice. Perfect and strong. Committed to one being, filled with love and adoration. From off to the side a male voice called out that his wife loved Loki. Just out there, plain as day, as if it were a source of pride for the guy.
The sick feeling churned up in Tony's gut again. "Pause it, J."
Cap arched a brow. "It got worse." He drew a long breath. "Back in the day—"
Clint groaned and Bruce kicked the archer in the ankle.
Cap just gave the spy a hard look. "Back. In. The. Day. Hitler used to have rallies. He could talk up a storm. His people loved to hear him yack. He took over half of Europe just by talking." Spangles pointed at the frozen, exultant face of the Trickster. "Hitler had nothing on Loki. Not even by half."
"So why haven't we gotten a call from Fury?" Natasha had been quiet for the whole performance, Miss Spy Eyes just taking it all in. "SHIELD monitors everything on the planet. Something like this, Fury should have us on full alert and storming the battlements. So why hasn't he?"
"Loki kept this rave super-secret? Hell, I don't know. It's scary as all fuck. If they weren't speaking English, I'd think it was in a hostile country, but they aren't big on the speaking English deal in places that hate us." Tony sighed, too confused to think about it yet. "Let's finish it up. Roll tape, J."
Damn, Loki looked too freaking happy. He lowered his arms. "It seems I have an army." Tony wasn't sure the sound system would survive the sheer decibel level. The screams and cheering soared to their greatest, nearly deafening. Yet Loki calmed them with one lifted finger. "Feast your eyes!" With that order, he whirled away, striding off the stage as the video cut out and ended.
"J, tell me you've found something on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, NASA, anything. There's gotta be something." Tony really wasn't ready to accept, or let any of the rest of them fall into acceptance, that the guy they'd risked their lives to boot off planet Earth was now its newest rock star and had the planet willingly kneeling at his feet.
"No, sir. Only this so far. However, in regard to your other request, I would roughly estimate the assembly to be between five and seven thousand. It also appears he was at Comic Con. Or so the logos on the tables and behind him say."
"No! No. He cannot have been at Comic Con. That is not allowed. That would be like...sacrilege." Tony shook his head. "Not to mention, converting the nerds of the world is very bad."
"Comic Con? Isn't that that big annual to-do in San Diego you told me about? The science fiction and fantasy stuff?" Cap glanced back at the screen as if expecting a replay. "What would he gain by being there? It's a bunch of teenagers who've got nothing better to do than fixate on a bigger bunch of fictional characters."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Not teenagers, old guy. Teenagers can't afford the sort of money it costs to go to Comic Con. Tickets alone, if you can manage to get them, are like two hundred dollars. If you can get them. Then there's the hotel, airfare, meals. And stuff. Oh my God, you can't go to Comic Con without hitting the Dealers Room." Damn, that had been fun. "You need a few thousand just to moderately enjoy it." Yeah, stunned looked good on Spangles. "So your average attendee is going to be moderate to decently affluent, educated, net-savvy, and probably just the kind of person you want in your corner if you want to try and take over the U.S. Crap."
"Yeah." Clint snorted. "Only time all year the eggheads climb out of their cubicles."
"Some of those eggheads happen to be military special forces, derp. Have you looked at the cosplayers? Those muscles aren't all foam rubber." Tony sighed. "As for the cubicle nerds. Yeah, they come out in droves. And that's the point. Loki owns them. They run computers. And computers run the world. Including all the world's weapons. You getting the idea?"
The single expletive off Cap's lips was still tame by today's standards, but for the Boy Scout it was plenty enough.
"Half of SHIELD takes vacation time for it." Widow leaned back, arms crossed over her chest. "We're pretty much screwed."
"How is this not all over the news, though? Comic Con is huge. It's all over the media. Loki showing up would be somewhere. JARVIS, do some more checking. There has to be more. Photos, gifs, something." Tony dropped his forehead to the table, bouncing it a couple of times, because it had to feel better than this. "Bruce, tell me I'm wrong. Please. Tell me that for the first time, I'm sooooo wrong."
The physicist tapped his glasses on the table. "I sorta hope so, because with a think-tank like that at his command, we might not only be outgunned, but they could probably figure out between them how to reduce every one of us to dust." An uncomfortable glance swept to Cap. "No matter what's been done to our genetic makeup, good or haywire."
"Fuck." That level of paleness didn't become Clint.
Thor slumped a little lower in his seat. "This is why my brother is considered one of the greatest strategists in the Nine. The more I think on it, the greater I marvel at our victory over him. What sort of doppelganger has he left in his cell, I wonder? Or is he there and this we see a duplicate? In either case, he has made great magic."
"Sir." JARVIS poked back into the conversation. "I have found other...perhaps 'disturbing' is the best adjective at the moment...information along the lines you just saw. Would you like it up on the monitor now, or would you care to finish your conversation first?"
"No." Bruce got up and poured fresh tea into his mug. "If there's more, we need to see it, disturbing or not."
Spangles nodded. "People willingly kneeling, cheering and holding a...a pep rally for him is pretty bad." He sighed. "Show us what you've found, JARVIS."
"As you wish, Captain Rogers. I've discovered a set of photographs and a very brief animated gif." The AI didn't sound pleased. "I'm putting them on the screen now."
"Oh. My. God." Tony honestly couldn't think of anything else to say.
Barton was a little more eloquent. "You fucking traitor!" He reached for the bow and arrow that—luckily for Cap—weren't there.
"Oh. My. God!" Scotch. There needed to be more scotch. Or maybe there'd already been too much...
"That's not me!" Cap's big blue eyes got about half again bigger, expression pure shock, mouth working over those same three words but without sound for a good couple seconds. When he found his voice again it cracked like a tween's. "Th-that's impossible! Guys, I swear it!"
"I'm sorry, Captain, but a comparison of you and these images, some of which are rather high resolution, reveal a greater than 98% correlation. All features, scars, and an overwhelming majority of freckles match." A certain pride entered JARVIS's tones. "A cross-match with past images increases the freckle match to 100%."
"I am not buddies with Loki. I'm not. I never have been. I don't care what the pictures say. JARVIS, run your blasted scans on me right now. I'm not lying." Cap stood and pointed up at the animated GIF image the AI had just singled out. "I don't know who that is in those pictures, but that's...God, what is he doing to Loki? What the hell is..." The rich color which had painted Cap's temper on his face drained out. "Oh, my God."
Tony stared at the images, not sure even his genius brain could comprehend them. Cap—or a guy who sure as Hell appeared to be Cap—laughing his ass off with Loki, hanging out, the best of BFFs, or something. He looked as the image of Cap reached out and grabbed a handful of Loki man-boob and gave it a good grope. Yeah. He had no idea what that actually was either. "I think that's illegal in Georgia."
He considered the glee on the film-Cap's face. "And Texas. Yeah, definitely illegal in Texas."
"Steve, just...maybe you better sit back down for a minute. You don't look so good."
Bruce's voice brought Tony's attention back around. Yeah, Spangles looked like he was about to hurl, or maybe faint. If nothing else, his lungs were about to do a real good imitation of the asthma attacks listed in his pre-serum medical history.
"Yeah, park it, grandpa. Passing out doesn't help anything." Tony looked from the laughing images to the ghost-pale First Avenger. "That's not you. First of all, you'd never grope another guy in public. Or private. Do you even know how to grope someone?" Bright red streaks appeared in the paleness. "I'm thinking no. Secondly, whoever he is, he's way more fun than you are."
"Tony." Bruce gave him a look that held a touch of green at the corners of the big guy's temples. "Not helping." Jolly Green got up and filled a highball glass with Smirnoff, then brought it back and set it in front of Steve. "Down the hatch, kid. One swallow. With your metabolism the buzz'll only last about five minutes, so breathe while it buzzes."
"So, Loki what? Made a duplicate of Cap? And doesn't that just fuck us sideways." Clint headed for the bar himself. "Next move is replacing Cap with the fake. Christ. Luckily we're on to the plan. We can, I don't know, put a chip or something in Cap so we know it's him."
"The Captain is not the only resident of the tower pictured with Loki." JARVIS cut in. "I have located these images as well."
"Holy fuck." Tony stared because...well...that was disturbing. On so very many levels. Wait. Were Natasha's cheeks a little pink? No. No, because the Black Widow did not blush. Ever. The sun didn't come up in the west and Romanov didn't blush because there were pictures of her kissing Loki. Right? He looked to Bruce, hoping for solace.
"That looks...cozy."
"And you gave me grief about not helping?" He glanced at the pictures again, trying to get his brain on something besides the disturbingness of the kiss and the really a whole lot less disturbingness of the butt-shot of the tight jeans Widow sported. Fortunately in focusing on where not to look, he noticed something else. "What's that in the background? Looks like some guy holding a boom mic. Or a really big feather duster."
"Analysis indicates it is a boom mic, sir." JARVIS supplied, being the ever-helpful little AI Tony created him to be. "I gather this gives you an idea?"
"What else you got?" Tony waved a hand over the group. "Never mind who of us is in them, if it's more than just Cap and Widow, just put 'em up. We can take it."
"I'm still locating material. Here is what I've found so far." JARVIS sent pictures to the screens. Loki alone but sometimes with one of the others. Mostly with Steve. Sometimes with Tony. A few times with Natasha. With Clint. Oh, that went over big. Loki with short curls and a beard with his arm slung around Clint's shoulders in the most affectionate way. Clint strolling beside Loki, Widow on his other side, while Thor flanked Loki.
Thor. Jesus. Those pictures needed their own album. Dozens of them. Thor and Loki laughing together. In their familiar armor and in regular Earth clothes. One stood out though, and not just because it made Thor send Mjölnir through a wall. The brothers in full armor, bodies touching from head to toe, foreheads together, rubbing noses, Thor's fingers curved to barely touch Loki's hand as he gazed straight into Loki's eyes with the tenderest expression. And Loki grinned as if he were the happiest man on the planet.
Tony wanted to weep for Thor's sake. Every time one came up where Loki and the fake Thor were hugging, were laughing, were looking at each other like they might just break into song any second, he wanted to just break down and cry for the big guy.
Eventually, Thor stood and swept a hand at the screens. "And you have always asked why I wished to redeem my brother. Behold." Silent tears flowed and he sank back into his chair. "Behold."
Awkward silence settled over the Avengers. Thor gathered himself up, squaring his shoulders. "Regardless, I cannot allow this realm to fall. There are no answers here. I would speak with Heimdall and assure my brother remains within Asgard's prison." He left with carefully measured steps, as if each one pained him.
Clint stared at the collection of screens for a few more seconds. "I need a drink. About the size of the one Steve had." He pushed his uneaten food around. "You know the really crappy thing about all this? I can see him pulling this off." Tony knew the "him" in question wasn't Cap. "When, ah, when I worked—when I was forced to work for him, he wasn't the way you'd think. I mean, how do you imagine Loki would be as a leader?" He looked around the table, waiting for answers. So, not a rhetorical question.
"He's smart, that's for sure. Bag full of cats and all. Crazy can be smart." Bruce toyed with his glasses some more. "But dealing with the migraines of ruling a planet? He'd probably start chopping heads within a day. An hour."
Clint shook his head. "No. Not at all. That's for outsiders, for people who weren't his. He has—had no patience for them. Once you belong to him, it's a totally different story." His face and shoulder did that twitching thing again. "He...he takes care of his possessions."
"Possessions?" Steve had managed to regain his equilibrium at least. Jolly Green was right; you'd never know the kid had just knocked back enough eighty-proof to have Clint unconscious on the floor. "You mean he owns them. Slaves."
"Not the way you mean." Clint sighed. "You ever read up on kings in history? The old stuff. Before the Magna Carta. The Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, all that? It worked really weird. The king owned everything and everyone. Even if you were free, even if you were a nobleman or a member of the royal family, you belonged to the king. But if you were really the king and not a tyrant, you were owned by the people in turn. You had certain responsibilities and duties to them. Loki believes in that."
Tony scrunched up his face. "What? Noblesse oblige and all that crap? You've got to be shitting me. Rock of Ages thought he was lord of the manor and should treat you all like his knights?" The urge to laugh nearly sent him tumbling from his chair.
"I'm just saying it could have been a lot worse. He made sure we were all fed, had so many hours of rest each day—that kind of thing. It wasn't a chain gang." Barton glowered. "I still want to put an arrow in his brain, but I can't say he abused us. So yeah, this whole be my devoted followers and I will give you all you need thing makes sense. It's totally him. That's all I'm saying."
Silence fell over the room for a few minutes, each of the others engrossed in whatever private little thoughts they had about that. Tony still wanted to laugh, but he had to admit, it was a hell of a tactic to use on modern America. Things were monumentally screwed up, economically, politically...socially was doing pretty decent, at least as far as Middle America finally realizing they had a collective voice that could topple policy. Hand them everything they need to straighten out their lives—hell, they'd elect him to office. He wouldn't have to conquer anything.
A small explosion rattled the windows on this side of the helipad, and Tony watched Thor walk out of the aurora borealis storm. Gotta say, Goldilocks does know how to make an entrance.
The frown on the usually sunny face certainly went with his title. The big guy looked a bit...stormy. "My friends. I bring news."
Duh.
"My brother is indeed still in the dungeons of Asgard, so I know not how it this other Loki so entrances the masses. Nor does my father. It is a great concern to him. He would see this for himself and perhaps discover how it is that duplicates of us can be found, yet are not found. It is most confusing." Thor gestured, swinging that honking huge hammer back toward the balcony. "He would have you all come to Asgard that we may seek our answers together. Tony Stark, surely you can bring the video and photos?" He pronounced the words very carefully.
Tony arched a brow, and his mouth kicked in before it probably should have. "What, Daddy can't condescend to set foot on Midgard? We're all just tiny and petty after all, huh?" Okay, so the bit of unvarnished truth under the sceptre's spell still held a few open wounds.
"My father rules the Realm Eternal. It is difficult for him to leave." Yeah. Says the crown prince who can't meet my eyes. Thor couldn't lie for shit.
"Fury'll have a cow when he finds out we've all taken a holiday off-planet." Bruce considered his glasses, the corner of his mouth quirking. "Then again, he can let someone else worry about his threat-watch list for a change."
"That alone might make it worth it." Tony stood, already aware of just how he could handle what Thor requested. "JARVIS, download everything you've found to the emergency mobile server. You're going off-world."
"Oh goody." Sarcasm dripped from his AI. Like father like son.
"Hey, think of it as an adventure." Tony headed for the lab. "I'll need the portable solar generator and the extra arc reactor, too."
Not surprisingly, Cap followed him. "Are you sure this is a good idea? We have no idea what we're walking into. I mean, we're talking another planet, and there's only one way back, and that's...magic."
Tony sighed. "Since we haven't invented our own yet, yeah. I haven't had a chance. I mean, been sort of busy. So I left it to Thor's girlfriend. I guess she's not as fast as I am."
"I wasn't faulting you, Tony. I just don't know as I like the idea of not controlling the escape hatch, you know?" Broad shoulders lifted. "So how big's this solar generator? You need a hand?"
Tony considered for a moment. Solar generator, mobile server, extra suit... "Yeah. It's about the size of an attache case. So's the mobile server. And I want to take—" He suddenly remembered Thor might be able to hear him and waited for the elevator doors to close. "I want to take my anti-Asgardian armor. Just, you know, in case. It's another suitcase's worth."
"Anti-Asgardian?" Cap's brows popped up. "How did you even know what to design? It's not like we've ever met any of them except Thor and Loki."
"Supposedly their greatest warrior and their most powerful mage. There was also an incident in New Mexico with a machine thing. SHIELD had information and blueprints. What SHIELD has, I can find." Tony stepped off onto his personal R&D floor. "It took out a town. And Thor. I have something that can take it out. I have something that can take out several of whatever it was."
Cap grinned, shaking his head. "I don't know as you're going to like to hear this, but you're as bad as your dad. I come looking for a replacement for my shield, since the USO one got demolished, and he's talking electrical relays. You should have seen some of the demos he had lined up. All I wanted was a shield, and he's trying to sell me a computer."
"A perfectly reasonable response." Tony grinned at the deceptively plain silver cases JARVIS had waiting for them. "Thanks, J. All ready to go?"
"Giddy with anticipation, sir."
JARVIS' dry tone left Cap chuckling. "Did you design him that way, or did he pick it up on his own?"
"Little bit of both." Tony stepped onto the platform and willed the XLVII onto his body. This close, there wasn't a lot of danger, though a shin guard did clip Steve in passing. Suited up in everything but his helmet and faceplate, and with those tucked under his arm, Tony reached for the server. "He's just testy because he gets car-sick."
Steve rubbed his shoulder before he hefted two of the cases, one tucked under his arm and the other in the same hand. Damn. Nano-tech was great, but those particular suckers still weighed about a hundred pounds each. "You're lucky I don't bleed for long. Let's get going."