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Chapter Text

Bruce replaced his medical equipment in his bag as he finished with his patient’s wound. He had gotten the frantic call from the man’s daughter, claiming that he had had an accident and now his cut was not healing properly. When Bruce had arrived, the gash on the old man’s leg had been an angry red with pus oozing from within. He had immediately cleaned the wound and given the man an antibiotic to put on it, promising to check back up with him in a week. So here he was, and the infection seemed to have faded away and the wound was healing nicely.

“You’re medicine is almost as good as the Ghost’s healing.” The old man wheezed from where he lay on his cot, gray beard just passing his shoulder. Bruce glanced up from his bag and gave the man a bemused look.

“Ghost?”

“Ah, yes. The beautiful Ghost of Calcutta.” The man replied. That gave Bruce pause; he had heard of different superstitions in his travels, but had never heard a ghost being described as beautiful. And, even though he had been living in Calcutta for a while, he had never heard any whispers of it being haunted.

“What ghost?”

“Not a what, a who.” The man huffed out before giving Bruce an incredulous look. “You mean no one has told you of the Ghost and her powers?” Bruce shrugged uncomfortably under the man’s beady black gaze. "One would think, with you being a healer and all, that you would have heard about her before now.”

“I’m a doctor, not a healer.” Bruce corrected gently. The old man waved him off, his frail limb jerking in the air as if to shoo away the comment.

“Makes no difference to me. You help the sick get well again, and that’s what the Ghost does too.” Bruce had to admit he was intrigued. He had been unaware that there was anyone else out there helping the sick of Calcutta. He hadn’t run into anyone else in all his days of working the streets.

“I haven’t seen her around.” The man snorted.

“Oh, she doesn’t leave her home. You have to go to her.” Bruce frowned.

“But what if you can’t get out of bed? Doesn’t she make house-calls?” The man shook his head, beard shaking.

“No, no. The Ghost only works her magic in her sanctuary – her home. If one is truly desperate, they will find themselves outside her door, be they able to walk or not. You obviously do not know her story.” Bruce internally sighed as the old man seemed to puff up with importance. He knew he was going to tell him the story of this Ghost, whether he wanted to listen or not.

“A couple of years ago a woman appeared in town, as swift and silent as the wind. No one knew who she was or where she came from. She just seemed to appear.” The man began in a gruff whisper, as if retelling something sacred. “On the day she arrived, she went up and down the streets healing the sick and dying with a single touch of her fingers. In just one day she helped cleanse our city of much hurt and pain; she helped us without ever asking for anything in return. She then announced that she would be there if we ever needed her again, and disappeared to the outskirts of the town where she continues to heal those in need with her supernatural powers to this very day.” The old man hacked out a cough, jerking Bruce out of the trance he seemed to have fallen into during the man’s tale.

“But why do you call her the Ghost of Calcutta?” The man gave Bruce a big grin, teeth yellowed with age.

“She was a beautiful woman, but the strangest thing was that she was white from head to toe. Her hair was the color of pure silk and her skin the color of milk. Even her clothes were white. The only color to been seen on her were her eyes, a blue that could see into anyone’s soul. That is how she got the name of Ghost. She seemed like a lonely spirit that had wandered here to help those of us still among the living.” A small silence stretched out after the man’s words and Bruce, assuming that he was done, made to get up from his small stool.

“Well, that was an interesting story but –”

“Oh, it’s not story! It’s true! I even met her once.” Bruce raised one brow, skeptic.

“Really?”

“Oh yes. Before you came to town with your fancy medicines, I had to go see hr. I had broken my arm and was in a great amount of pain. I decided to seek her out, and I found her hut just outside the city, just like she had told us she would be.”

“What happened? Did you really meet her?” The man glared at Bruce for interrupting.

“Of course I met her! That’s the whole point of the tale, yes?” Bruce gave a sheepish smile and gestured for him to continue. The man grunted in irritation, but continued. “I had to wait for hours in the hot sun before she finally appeared, almost like a mirage in the heat of the day. I had even started to doubt her existence, as you do now.” The old man gave Bruce a pointed look and he averted his eyes, ashamed. Perhaps he had been too hasty in categorizing this as an old man’s delusional babble, but who could blame him? He was claiming that there was a woman with magical healing capabilities. It simply wasn’t possible. But, even with that logic firmly in mind, Bruce felt the stirrings of hope in his heart. Maybe she was a real person. Maybe, just maybe, she actually was able to heal things like the old man claimed. Maybe she could help him.

“She took one look at my arm and ushered me inside, into her tiny shack. I thought at first that she couldn’t truly live there, not after all she had done for the people of our town, but she did. She lived in a shabby little hut, just as if she were the same as the rest of us, as if she weren’t graced with the amazing gift of healing.” The man shook his head, disbelief tinging his voice. “She gave me a cool glass of water and insisted that I drink, having used my strength to get to her home. Even though water is not easy to come by out here, especially not clean water.” Bruce realized that now that the old man knew he had Bruce’s undivided attention, he was dragging his story out, making it longer with unnecessary details. But Bruce remained silent, not wanting to offend the man any more than he already had. The man gave Bruce a satisfied smile before continuing.

“She then asked – asked! – if she could heal my arm.” The old man chortled in amusement. “As if I would have said no! I, of course, agreed and then…” The man paused, eyes far away, lost in a distant memory. “…she healed me.”

“How?” Bruce whispered, afraid of breaking the spell the old man’s story seemed to have cast upon the room.

“I don’t know. All I know is that she touched my broken arm and light spilled from her fingertips. The light seemed to wrap around my arm like a blanket. I tell you, it was like nothing I’d ever felt or seen before, and I have yet to witness anything like it since. It was…it was comfort and safety and bliss in one blinding package. One minute I’m blinking away from the dazzling light, the next my arm was healed. Like it had never been broken.” The man sighed wistfully. “It was incredible.”

“Sounds like it…” Bruce murmured, mind racing at the possibilities this woman might present for him and his problem.

“She wouldn’t accept any form of payment either, not even the food I had brought. She just wished me a happy, healthy life and then politely showed me the door. I’ve never seen her again.” The old man smiled. “I suppose that’s a good thing, considering that I would have to be sick or hurt to go to see her again. I was actually thinking of going to see her if you hadn’t come around with your fancy medicine. Not as fast or as pleasant as the Ghost’s healing, but still efficient. You’ll do.” The old man chuckled, patting Bruce on the shoulder with his bony hand. Bruce smiled faintly.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. She’s just a few miles out in the east. You’ll know her hut when you see it.” Bruce looked at the man in surprise; he hadn’t said he was going to search her out. The man just gave him a knowing look.

“I can see it in your eyes. Something troubles you, and you hope she can heal you. May she heal you just as she healed me all those years ago.” With that parting message, the old man was obviously dismissing him and Bruce beat a hasty retreat, thanking the daughter of the old man for the food she gave him as payment.

Could there really be a woman out there that could heal anything?

Could she heal the Hulk?

Chapter Text

Bruce was a patient man. He had to be to be a scientist. Some of his experiments lasted years and the papers he wrote after them took just as long, if not longer. But his patience was wearing thin as he leaned against the shack that the old man had told him about.

He had finally gotten the nerve to seek out the mysterious Ghost of Calcutta at her home east of the town and, after several grueling miles, he had found the hut. The old man hadn’t been kidding when he had said that it was just as dingy and small as the homes of the poorest people in Calcutta. Nothing impressive to say the least. He had been waiting here, in the hot Indian sun, all day. Waiting for a woman that he was trusting was real based on one old man’s story.

He thumped his head back against the wall of the house and closed his eyes, disgusted with himself.

He had been a fool to believe that there was really someone out there that could cure him of the Hulk. Let alone a magical woman that just so happened to be in the same town that he had ended up. This must have been the universe’s idea of a cruel joke. Bruce laughed mirthlessly. How gullible could he be? He had been waiting there all day, and for what? The sunburn he was sure to sport tomorrow? The dreary walk home in the dark, as the sun was already beginning to hide behind the west? At least the cool air was a relief to his overheated skin.

Still, he waited. Just in case. He figured he would give the mysterious Ghost half an hour more to appear before giving up and writing this off as a joke.

When he heard the light sound of crunching gravel underfoot his eyes shot open and he came face to face with the Ghost of Calcutta.

His first thought was that she really was all white.

In the back of his head, Bruce knew her to be albino, but he couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the beautiful, white woman that stood before him. She had white hair and skin, just as the old man had described, and even her traditional sari was a beautiful white, somehow untainted by the dust that surrounded them. She cleared her throat and he jerked out of his silent observation.

“Sorry – I just – I thought – I mean – Uh…” Bruce sputtered and then trailed off, feeling like an idiot. The woman merely smiled down at him in amusement.

“It’s alright. I’m used to such reactions. Most people think I am just a myth.” Bruce was surprised to find she spoke perfect English, tongue flowing smoothly over the words with an ease that only natural-born speakers possessed. She chuckled at his look of befuddlement.

“Perhaps you would like to come in?” She prodded, opening the door and looking back at his form, still curled up against the side of her house. “Or were you just here to see if I was real?” Bruce scrambled up, swiping dust off of his clothes from where he had sat in the dirt.

“Uh, no. I would like to come in, please. I was hoping you could help me.” The woman gave him a friendly grin.

“Most people that end up at my door do.” Bruce had to duck to follow her in to the small shack, but was surprised to find that the interior seemed much roomier than the outside had let on. It was about the size of a dorm room, with a tiny kitchenette in the corner, a table with two crude stools for meals in the center, and a small cot shoved in the other corner that was covered in obviously hand-sewn blankets. There was only one door besides the entrance, and Bruce figured that it led to the bathroom. All in all, it might have been small, but it seemed to fit the woman’s needs as she bustled about the minuscule kitchen, gathering two glasses and filling them with water for the both of them. She gestured for him to sit as she grabbed the glasses and brought them over to the table.

“Thank you.” Bruce drank gratefully, his throat parched from a day of waiting in the sun. The woman simply nodded and took a sip of her own.

“How long were you waiting out there? Your skin is very burnt.” She inquired curiously, still sipping at her water. Bruce blushed.

“All day.” He muttered, keeping his eyes on the chipped glass of the cup. Her eyes widened.

“Goodness! What a day you picked to come see me. I was out all day enjoying the land. I’m really sorry you were kept waiting for so long.”

“It’s alright. I just…hope you can help me.” The woman sighed and placed her cup gently on the table.

“I don’t think I can heal what I’m assuming you want me to heal.” She said quietly. Bruce looked at her in confusion.

“Why do you say that? I haven’t even told you what I want you to heal.”

“My power allows me to sense people’s auras and through them what ails that person. Your aura is split into two; there is another being entwined within your own spirit. It is interlocked with your mind and emotions. I assumed that this other being is what you wanted me to heal? You want it to disappear?” Bruce gawked at her, mouth hanging open, before he regained his composure.

“Well, yes.” She shook her head sadly, white hair seeming to quiver with her movement.

“I thought so. But I can’t heal that. It is a part of you. If I tried to take away this other aura, this other being, it would kill you.” Bruce felt the hope that had blossomed in his chest at the story of the woman shatter with her words. So, even though this woman was supposedly magical, had even demonstrated some power by sensing the Hulk, she couldn’t heal him. Bruce grit his teeth, trying to hold back frustrated tears.

“Thank you for your time.” He muttered before making to stand and leave.

“Wait!” The woman grabbed his hand and lowered him back down into his chair, much to his confusion and irritation.

“Look, you just said that you can’t get rid of the Hulk, so there’s no reason for me to stay here.”

“I can’t heal this…Hulk… presence inside of you, but I can help you bear its burden.”

“What?”

“My powers are not limited to physical illnesses. I can heal the mind as well. Whatever this creature is that shares your body, it causes you a lot of stress and agitation. I can help relieve some of that tension you carry within yourself. I don’t just heal physical injuries, but emotional and mental as well, though they are more difficult and tend to make reappearances.” Bruce snorted in derision.

“Whatever you say.” Bruce’s irritation bled through his voice and language. The woman pursed her lips.

“Even if you don’t believe me, it wouldn’t hurt for me to try to ease your emotional and mental strain, would it? I hate seeing people in pain, any pain. Please allow me to heal you. Then you can tell me I’m a fraud and walk out the door or you’ll hopefully feel better and this creature that haunts you will not be as much as a burden.” Bruce hesitated at the woman’s words, and the slight pleading tone she took on. “You have nothing to lose.” The woman reminded him gently and he sighed.

“Fine. You can try to heal my mind, or whatever.” The woman gave him a pleased look before she got up from her seat to move closer to Bruce. He twitched, not used to having anyone so close to him anymore. The woman merely gave him an encouraging smile.

“It’s okay, it won’t hurt. I promise. I’ve actually been told that my healing feels nice.” She murmured soothingly, as if trying to calm a frightened animal. Before Bruce could respond, the woman placed her gentle fingertips on either side of his head and a brilliant white light erupted from within them. He immediately closed his eyes to shield them from the blinding light. Bruce gasped as he felt something – was it truly magic? – twine around his mind. He felt the Hulk pulse within him, as if readying to fight against the foreign invader, but then he miraculously settled down with a contented hum. Bruce couldn’t help but grin as the strain of holding back the Hulk lessened and then disappeared altogether. After a few moments of absolute bliss, in which Bruce felt better than he ever had before, even before the Hulk had entered his life, he felt the magic fading from his mind. He opened his eyes and blinked, trying to readjust them to the dim lighting of the hut after being exposed to such intense light.

“Thank you.” He whispered, the feeling of peace still lingering inside him. The Ghost gave a small, strained smile and moved back to her seat, blinking furiously. Bruce eyed her worriedly, noticing her obvious pain.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, it’s just the photophobia. Being albino, light sometimes hurts my eyes and healing always calls for intense light.”

“So, whenever you heal, you hurt yourself?” Bruce asked, slightly horrified. She shrugged.

“Basically, yes. But I heal those who need it. That’s all that matters to me.” Bruce stared at her, in awe of her sacrifice. She had to hurt herself to heal others. Bruce waited patiently for the woman to regain her sight before he began his questioning.

“So…are you a witch? A sorceress? How do you heal? What do auras look or feel like?” She laughed, the sound carefree.

“Nothing as fabulous as that. I’m sure you’ve heard of mutants, yes?” Bruce nodded in affirmation. “I’m a mutant that can heal anything I touch by manipulating people’s auras. Unfortunately, I can’t heal myself. Hence, the eyes hurting every time I heal.”

“Interesting. And have you always had this ability? I know some mutants are born with their mutation, but some grow into them later in life.”

“Perhaps I should learn your name before giving away my life story to you.” She teased. Bruce blushed.

“Sorry. Curiosity often gets the best of me. I’m Bruce Banner, and you are?” He held out his hand for her to shake and she smiled, gripping it firmly and shaking it, as if this was any normal situation.

“My name is Irene. Irene Morrow.”

Chapter Text

Bruce and Irene grew close as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. They talked about everything and anything. Irene eventually opened up more about her past life in the United States, how she had been despised by her parents for being a ‘freaky albino’, and had then kicked her out when her mutation had developed. Bruce had felt anger welling up inside him at the thought of anyone mistreating this sweet woman that he was growing to love as a sister. The Hulk, sensing his anger, had almost made an appearance, but a quick impromptu healing session calmed the Hulk down within seconds.

Bruce had finally decided to enlighten her on his full condition, considering she had poured her heart out to him about her mutation and backstory. Fully expecting her to run when she discovered the truth to his ‘split aura’, he was pleasantly surprised when she merely thanked him for trusting her enough to tell her about it. She also went on to inform him that the two of them were not that different. While she was a mutant, born with her mutation, he could be considered a mutate, someone who had garnered their power through an outside source. Bruce was amazed to find such a strong friendship out here in the middle of nowhere. When he had moved to Calcutta, he had been fully prepared to cut himself from all human contact, yet here he was, becoming fast friends with this myth of a woman.

With some guidance from Irene, Bruce even managed to make contact with the Hulk. He had always thought that the Hulk was a separate entity that he was cut off from, that simply took over his mind when he got too emotional. But now he knew that the Hulk really was just an extension of himself, albeit a very childlike and violent extension. Bruce found that the Hulk was easier to control now that he could converse with him, if the grunts the Hulk used as a language counted as a conversation. He was amused to find that the Hulk liked Irene just as much as Bruce did because of her care for him. It was strange, actually knowing that the Hulk was just trying to look out for him. He had always assumed that the Hulk was just there to make his life difficult.

After the months of progress with the Hulk, Bruce began to feel more and more confident, but was still wary of letting his guard down completely. Irene understood, but kept up her encouragement to just live as if he were a normal mad. But Bruce had a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that all of this was just too good to last.

He was right.

Bruce was in a good mood as he made the trek back to his home. He had just gotten back from doctoring another one of his patients and was looking forward to Irene’s promised visit tonight. But he knew he was screwed the moment he entered his house. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and the Hulk shifted in his head, as if to warn him of the intruder.

Whoever it was was content to wait in the shadows, believing that Bruce had no idea that they were there. Bruce took a deep breath before moving further into his abode, switching on the lights to come face to face with a red-headed woman in a black cat suit. She obviously worked with some kind of government agency and that made Bruce tense. They knew where he lived. How long had they been watching him? Did they know about Irene?

Determined not to bring his new friend into this, Bruce decided right then and there that he would avoid all talk of her if brought up and pray that she didn’t arrive for her visit until after this strange, yet obviously dangerous, woman was gone.

 “You know, for a man who’s supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle.” He sat down heavily in one of the chairs he kept at his shabby table, eyeing her reproachfully.

“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret.”

“Then what is it? Yoga?” She smirked slightly as he glared at her. Looking at the walls around them, he suddenly felt more people out there, the Hulk stirring in the back of his mind again at the thought of being cornered. Whoever these people were, they were armed and weren’t afraid to use their guns. Not like they would do much good against the Hulk, but they could definitely hurt Irene if she came at an inopportune time. Bruce decided to test the honesty of the woman before him.

“I uh…assume the whole place is surrounded?”

“Just you and me.” She replied easily. Bruce frowned, now knowing that whoever this was, she was a liar. If Bruce hadn’t already known they were surrounded, he would have believed her. She had lied with such a straight face and had no discernible tell. Of course, it was in Bruce’s experience that all government agents were master manipulators.

“Who are you?”

“Natasha Romanoff.” She said with just as much ease as the last reply, and Bruce had to wonder if that was a lie too. He couldn’t be sure.

“Are you here to kill me, Miss. Romanoff? Because that’s not going to work out for everyone.” He muttered darkly.

“No, no. Of course not. I’m here on behalf of SHIELD.” Well, it could have been worse. It could have been the general that had sent this obviously deadly woman after him. Not that that would have accomplished anything, but still. The thought was still there.

“SHIELD. How did they find me?”

“We never lost you, doctor. We’ve kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent.” Bruce paused then, looking at the woman in confusion.

“Why?”

“Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now I need you to come in.” Bruce wasn’t sure who Nick Fury was, but he assumed that he was the leader of SHIELD. What he truly wondered was why SHIELD needed to bring him in at all. If they had known about his whereabouts for this long, why was he needed now? Either way, Bruce wasn’t interested. He was finally happy here in Calcutta.

“What if I said no?” Natasha looked at him blankly, as if that just weren’t an option. He supposed, to her, it wasn’t.

“I’ll persuade you.” Bruce phrased his next question carefully, fully aware that whoever this Natasha was, she had to know about the Hulk and all in entitled.

“And what if the… other guy says no?” She smirked slightly, as if she knew something he didn’t. Bruce didn’t like that feeling.

“You’ve been more than a year without an incident. I don’t think you want to break that streak. Besides, my intel suggests that you might have a little… help with that situation.” Bruce gritted his teeth, knowing the ‘help’ she mentioned was, without a doubt, Irene. Following his earlier vow, Bruce chose to ignore it, hoping that Natasha would let it drop, as slim as that chance might be.

“I don’t always get what I want.” Natasha frowned.

“Doctor, we’re facing a potential global catastrophe.”

“Well, those I actively try to avoid.” Natasha sighed and then took out her phone, quickly unlocking it and swiping across the touch screen to get to the information she needed. She held it up for him to see a little blue box that seemed to glow with energy.

“This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet.” Bruce swallowed heavily, but stood firm in his decision not to get involved.

“What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?” He chuckled mirthlessly. Natasha rolled her eyes.

“He wants you to find it. It’s been taken. It emits a gamma signature that’s too weak for us to trace. There’s no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that’s where I’d be.”

“So Fury isn’t after the monster?”

“Not that he’s told me.” Bruce snorted.

“And he tells you everything?”

“Talk to Fury. He needs you and your friend on this.” Bruce felt the other guy stir as his anger began increasing at the thought of Irene being dragged into this mess. He couldn’t just sit and ignore them trying to get her involved anymore.

“Leave her out of this.”

“I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. She helps control the Hulk, so she needs to be a part of this.”

“You know nothing about her.” He growled. Natasha tensed and grabbed her weapon, pointing it at him. From experience, Bruce knew his eyes had started to glow an eerie green, proving the Hulk was close to the surface. Still, she was either very brave or very stupid, as she did not stand down.

“I know enough. I also know that she’s at the door.” Before Bruce could answer, Irene walked in and froze where she stood, eyeing the two of them contemplatively.

“…I’m guessing that this isn’t a normal social call?” She asked lightly, as if she hadn’t just walked in on someone pointing a gun at the man she had grown to view as her only family.

“Irene, get out of here. I’ll take care of this.” Bruce growled, moving himself so he stood between the two women. He felt Irene’s gentle hand on his back and relaxed slightly, finding peace in the knowledge that she was safe.

“She deserves to know what’s going on here and decide whether or not she will help.” Natasha argued, slowly lowering her gun as she noticed Bruce’s shoulders slumping and the green in his eyes fading.

“Don’t lie, Miss. Romanoff. You won’t give her a choice, just like you’re not giving me one.” He snapped. Irene’s hand caught his and gave it a squeeze before she came to stand beside him.

“Tell me what’s going on. Who are you?” Natasha explained everything again to Irene with a patience Bruce didn’t think she possessed. After she was done, it was silent for a few minutes as Irene processed all the information she had been given. Finally, she turned to Bruce, her eyes set with determination.

“Bruce, we have to go.”

“What?!”

“We both know that if this really is a global emergency, then we would never forgive ourselves if something happened and we could have put a stop to it. We need to go.” Natasha gave Irene a short nod, expressing her gratitude at the backing in the only way she knew how. Bruce sighed in resignation. He knew Irene was right. He had the chance to help the world instead if hindering it with the Hulk; he should be jumping on the chance. He just didn’t like that Irene was being pulled into this world as well.

“I don’t want you involved in the Hulk’s mess.” He murmured, looking sadly down at Irene. She smiled and got on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Hulk is a part of you. And I want you in my life, so I want him as well. You’re like the family I’ve never had Bruce. I’m not going to throw it away the moment hard times come.” Bruce sighed again and turned to look at Natasha seriously.

“And after this mess is over, you’ll leave Irene and me alone? Drop us off back here, in Calcutta?” Natasha nodded, though Bruce thought he noticed a slight hesitation. He shook it off, knowing that only time would tell if that was another one of her lies as well.

“As long as there’s a Calcutta to come back to. If you don’t find the Tesseract, there might not be.” Bruce wanted to roll his eyes at her melodrama, but her expression made him think that she was actually being serious. He let out a deep breath through his nose, knowing what he was about to agree to was stupid, but that he didn’t really have a choice.

“Fine. I’ll go. But I’m just going to find the Tesseract.”

“That’s all we ask. Now, there’s a car waiting for us out front.” Bruce turned to Irene who smiled at him before moving towards the door. Bruce followed her outside and wasn’t surprised to find dozen of SHIELD agents surrounding the place. Irene glared at the men and then at Natasha before continuing on towards the car. Bruce turned back to Natasha with a brittle smile.

“Just you and me, right?”

Chapter Text

Several thousand miles away, out in the Atlantic Ocean, Tony Stark, in his red and gold Iron Man suit, cut a pipeline transport with a laser cutter. When the pipe was cut all the way through, Tony placed an energy reactor inside, grinning as it lit up. Job done, Tony rocketed out of the water and began heading back towards Stark tower. Tony stopped in midair in front of said tower and spoke into his helmet to his ex-girlfriend and current CEO of his company, Pepper Potts.

“You’re good on this end. The rest is up to you.” Inside the Iron Man suit, an image of Pepper appeared on his helmet’s monitors.

“You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?” She asked.

“Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining energy.” Tony stated proudly.

“Assuming the reactor takes over and it actually works.” Pepper responded and Tony snorted in amusement. Of course it would work.

“I assume. Light her up!” In moments Stark Tower lit up brightly, making the other buildings of New York pale in comparison.

“How does it look?”

“Like Christmas, but with more… me.” Tony watched as his image of Pepper rolled her eyes before getting what Tony liked to call her ‘business look’.

“We have to go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I can do some more tomorrow. I’m working on the zoning for the next billboards.” Tony groaned in exasperation. Would she never stop working?!

“Pepper, you’re killing me. Remember? Enjoy the moment.”

“Just get back in here so we can celebrate.” Tony grinned and cut off the video feed, launching his suit towards the Tower. He arrived in his penthouse and allowed JARVIS to quickly relieve him of his suit as he walked in. Tony remembered the time when he had had to stand still for JARVIS to remove the suit.

Tony wasn’t very good at standing still.

“Sir, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line.” JARVIS informed him as he made his way towards Pepper, who was still staring at her computer screen and watching the numbers.

“I’m not in. I’m actually out.”

“Sir, I’m afraid he’s insisting.” Tony held back an aggravated sigh. Why was it that whenever Tony just wanted to relax, SHIELD would pop up?

“Close the line, JARVIS.” He ordered before turning to Pepper.

“Levels are holding steady… I think.” She murmured, her voice somewhat muffled by the hand she held in front of her mouth as she watched for any signs of failure.

“Of course they are, I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question: how does it feel to be a genius?” Pepper scoffed, waving her hand in dismissal.

“I really wouldn’t know, now would I?”

“What do you mean? All this came from you.” Pepper shook her head, her red hair falling into her face from where it had escaped her practical up-do.

“No, all this came from that.” She pointed to Tony’s chest, where his arc reactor lay and Tony held in a wince at her slightly disgusted tone. The arc reactor had been a major reason why they hadn’t worked out. Pepper just couldn’t handle it being a part of Tony and was actually squeamish about it at some points. The other major component had been him being Iron Man. Pepper just couldn’t handle the stress of being the girlfriend to a man that risked his life so often, and they had split amicably. Though it still hurt Tony that one of his closest friends could not bring themselves to accept all of Tony; that included his reactor and life as a superhero. Rhodey had no difficulties, so Tony just couldn’t understand why Pepper did. Whatever the reason, Pepper just couldn’t fully accept him and his life. It hurt, but Tony accepted it as just another ‘fuck you’ life had thrown his way. Shaking his head to clear it of his thoughts, Tony brought himself back to the present conversation.

“Give yourself some credit, please. Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself… twelve percent of the credit.”

“Twelve percent?” Pepper arched a perfectly plucked brow and Tony knew he had screwed up. Oh well, it was too late now, so he forged on.

“An argument can be made for fifteen.”

“Twelve percent? For my baby?” Pepper asked as she grabbed a bottle of celebratory champagne and filled two glasses.

“Well I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally. I lifted the heavy things. And sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you. My private elevator was teeming with sweaty workman.” Tony paused and grabbed the champagne Pepper offered him. “I’m going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren’t I?” Pepper gave him a sickly sweet smile.

“It’s not going to be that subtle.”

I’ll tell you what. Next building’s going to say ‘Potts’ on the tower.”

“On the lease.” Pepper hedged and Tony gave an exaggerated wince.

“Call your mom, can you bunk over?” Tony and Pepper’s friendly banter was interrupted by JARVIS.

“Sir, the telephone. I’m afraid my protocols are being overwritten.” Suddenly Coulson’s face appeared on Tony’s phone screen and Tony had to hold back a curse. Damn SHIELD agent. How did he even do that?

“Stark, we need to talk.” Tony picked up the phone and looked as blank as possible, trying to take on the appearance of a robot.

“You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message.” Coulson sighed in irritation.

“This is urgent.”

“Then leave it urgently.” At that moment, the elevator doors slid open to reveal Coulson himself, wearing his usual suit and tie.

“Security breach.” Tony muttered before looking back at Pepper. “That’s on you.” Pepper merely grinned. Tony supposed that this was what he got for only giving her twelve percent.

“Phil! Come in.” Pepper got up and approached the agent and Tony followed suit.

“Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent.” She ignored Tony’s comment much to his annoyance, he didn’t like being ignored, and continued.

“Come on in, we’re celebrating.”

“Which is why he can’t stay.” Pepper gave him an exasperated look while Coulson held a file out towards him.

“We need you to look this over as soon as possible.” Tony looked down at the file and then back up to Coulson without taking it.

“I don’t like being handed things.”

“That’s alright.” Pepper butted in. “Because I love to be handed things. So, let’s trade.” She passed her flute of champagne to Coulson and took the file, and then took Tony’s champagne and left him with the file.

Tony had felt he had definitely been gyped in this tradeoff.  

“Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday.” Tony griped, still not opening the folder.

“This isn’t a consultation.”

“Is this about the Avengers? Which… I know nothing about.” Too late, Pepper caught her slip up but Coulson merely sighed. Tony figured that he knew that Tony would tell Pep about it, along with Rhodey. They were his closest and best friends, after all. He would have to be stupid to assume Tony would keep the Avengers to himself, and Coulson was no fool.

“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn’t even qualify.”

“I didn’t know that either.” Pepper interjected, lying once again.

“Yeah, apparently I’m volatile, self-obsessed, and don’t play well with others.”

“That I did know.” Pepper smirked as Tony pouted.

“This isn’t about personality profiles anymore.” Phil interrupted, getting antsy.

“Whatever. Miss. Potts, got a minute?” Tony dragged Pepper over to the side where he quickly placed the files into his own database for it to sweep. After a couple of seconds of scanning, Tony turning back to Pepper. “I thought we were having a moment.”

“I was having twelve percent of a moment.” Tony rolled his eyes. “This seems serious, Phil’s pretty shaken.” Tony frowned at her words, noticing once again her referral to the agent by his first name. Was there something going on between them?

“How did you notice? And why is he Phil?”

 “What is all of this?” Pepper asked, looking at all the data sweeping across the holographic screens.

“This is…” Tony swept his arm across the screen and the different profiles appeared, floating in the air in front of them. “…this.”

Tony and Pepper watched in silent awe as images appeared before them. There was Captain America in action and slowly being thawed after his seventy year stint in the Arctic. Next to him, the Hulk attacked the army at Culver University and a man with shaggy, blonde hair took on what seemed to be a giant, killer robot. At the end was an image of a thin, pale man with black hair that was dressed in green who was standing next to a cube that let off unearthly blue light.

“I’m going to take the jet to D.C. tonight.”

“But –”

“You’ve got a lot of homework.” She reminded him, gesturing to the holograms. Tony couldn’t really argue with that, so he merely sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Pepper gave him a sympathetic smile. “Work hard.” She said before following Coulson to the elevator and out of the tower, leaving Tony alone.

Tony grabbed the holographic Tesseract and stared at it, beginning to worry.

Chapter Text

Irene was in awe of the helicarrier. She had never seen an anything like it, let alone been on anything like it. It was like a monstrous, steel beast that had opened up its gaping maw to engulf her and Bruce whole. She stood with Bruce in the midst of agents scurrying around, getting their work done. Irene had no idea that the government could afford anything like this magnificent piece of machinery.

Then again, thinking of the US debt, Irene was almost positive they couldn’t.

Natasha had gone to get someone else that would be helping with the Tesseract catastrophe, leaving her and Bruce to simply gaze out over the ocean. Irene breathed in, enjoying the fresh sea air. She had always adored the ocean. She wondered why she had chosen to settle in an area of India that was so far from the sea. But, in the end, Irene didn’t regret her choice as it had led her to Bruce.

“I love the ocean.” She sighed wistfully, watching the waves curve and sway down below them. Bruce gave her a weak, nervous smile and nodded. Irene held back a frown. Ever since Natasha had barged into their lives, Bruce’s teal aura had become stained with black worry and stress clouds. The green aura that was constantly behind the teal had been growing darker as well, showcasing the Hulk’s agitation at the situation too. She had noticed that, besides the dark clouds that signaled that another healing session was needed soon, the longer that they were around these people and this situation the more Bruce had reverted back to the timid, shy man that she had first met all those months ago. It hurt her to see him so reserved, now knowing how open and happy Bruce could be if he let himself. She missed seeing the untainted teal color of his aura that signaled that everything was well.

“Dr. Banner.” A deep voice spoke from behind them and they both turned to see the man Natasha had gone to get. He was incredibly tall, with well-kept blonde hair and kind, blue eyes. But his aura was what Irene really focused on, as she usually found that she could judge people pretty accurately based on the color of their auras. His was a steady, pale orange. In her experience, orange was one of the most trustworthy and reliable colors of auras to have, and Irene decided that she liked the man immediately. Though there were several dark clouds within the orange, letting Irene know that the man could use almost as much healing as Bruce needed. She wondered what it was that caused this obviously strong and kind man to carry so much pain, but kept her curiosity to herself for now. Bruce gave another one of his nervous smiles and shook the man’s hand.

“Oh, yeah. Hi. They told us you’d be coming.” The man smiled politely and turned to Irene.

“I’m afraid I don’t know your name, ma’am.”

“Irene. It’s nice to meet you…?”

“Captain Steve Rogers, ma’am.” Irene grinned at his formality.

“Please, just Irene.” Steve gave her a shy smile, the orange around him pulsing happily.

“Irene then.” He turned back to Bruce, suddenly all business again. “Word is you can find the cube.” Bruce wrung his hands and Irene put hers on top of his to stop him, sending him a small pulse of her healing magic as she did so to try to help calm him. He gave her a grateful smile before addressing the Captain.

“Is that the only word?”

“The only words I care about.” Steve stated firmly. Bruce hesitated, as if doubting his sincerity, but eventually gave him a genuine smile.

“Must be strange for you, all of this.”

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Irene looked between the two of them in confusion. She had dozed off on the plane ride here, and apparently Bruce had forgotten to fill her in on what Natasha had informed him about, because he seemed to know who this man was while Irene had no idea. Seeing her bemusement, Bruce was quick to realize his error.

“Oh, you were asleep, weren’t you? Steve here is Captain America. He’s going to help combat the person who stole the Tesseract, Loki.” Irene looked upon the Captain in a new light and the man blushed under her scrutiny. If he was the original Captain America, it was no wonder he had some mental wounds. Irene had thought he had died fighting the Nazis in World War Two, but stranger things had happened than a man seeming to be brought back to life. Hell, the man she viewed as a brother turned into a giant green beast!

“You know, I could help heal you, if you’d like.” Irene began to explain what she meant when Steve looked at her in confusion, but Natasha decided that she had been ignored long enough.

“Gentlemen, Irene, you may want to step inside in a minute. It’s going to get a little hard to breathe.” As she spoke, the helicarrier began to shake and groan around them. Irene grabbed onto Bruce to steady herself.

“Is this a submarine?” Bruce gave a humorless laugh at the Captain’s question, eyeing Natasha.

“Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?” The three newcomer moved slowly over towards the edge of the ship, looking down over the sides. Irene gaped in awe as gigantic fans began slowly lifting the aircraft up over the water. Steve seemed to share her amazement, but Bruce remained negative.

“Oh no. This is much worse.” Irene could only sigh. Natasha ushered them into the belly of the beast and towards the bridge. The three of them entered just as a female agent turned to speak to an imposing black man with an eye patch. He wore a black trench coat and radiated authority. Irene assumed that this man must be Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD. She immediately distrusted him as he showed no visible aura. Irene had only met one other person without an aura, and she knew that only people who had everything to hide had the ability to shield their aura from her powers.

“We’re at a lock, sir.”

“Good. Let’s vanish.” He replied gruffly before turning to face her, Bruce, Steve, and Natasha. Steve immediately hands the man a ten dollar bill, muttering about some sort of bet. The man’s lips twitched, as if holding back a smile, before holding out a hand for Bruce to reluctantly shake.

“Doctor, thank you for coming.”

“Thanks for asking so nicely.” Irene shrunk upon herself as the man turned his intense gaze on her. The lack of aura was really freaking her out. She was so used to them being a permanent presence around people, no matter who they were. Even Natasha had a dark maroon aura.

“Miss. Morrow. Thank you for accompanying Dr. Banner.” Irene tentatively shook his hand as well, feeling as if his grip would break her hand.

“Anything I can do to help.” She said quietly, wishing she could turn invisible, like the ship apparently could. Bruce, seeing his friend’s discomfort, butted back into the conversation.

“So, uh, how long are we staying?” Bruce’s eyes were slightly hard as he stared the director down, daring him to tell them that they wouldn’t be able to leave. Bruce had a feeling that SHIELD wanted to use Irene’s unique abilities, but Bruce would not allow them to abuse her kindness like that. Irene noticed the standoff between the two men, but didn’t comment on it. After a couple of awkwardly silent seconds Fury answered.

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you two are in the clear.”

“Where are you with that?” Fury turned towards a man that introduced himself as Phil Coulson to Irene and Bruce before launching off into an explanation.

“We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

“That’s still not going to find them in time.” Natasha snipped darkly from behind them. They all ignored her.

“You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

“How many are there?” Bruce frowned in thought before answering.

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?” Irene’s head swam with all the intelligent babble that was spilling from Bruce’s mouth. She had known he was smart, but what he had just said went way over her head. She wasn’t an idiot by any means, but being next to Bruce while he was in his element made her feel very small.

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Miss. Morrow and Dr. Banner to the laboratory, please.” Natasha nodded briskly before beginning to lead the two of them down a long hallway filled with many twists, turns, and doors. She looked at Bruce with a smirk.

“You’re going to love it, Doc. We’ve got all the toys.”

Chapter Text

Bruce watched the screen intently as Nick Fury talked with the prisoner and the reason the Tesseract was missing; Loki. The man seemed perfectly comfortable for someone who had just been captured, and Bruce did not like it.

“In case it’s unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass…” Nick pressed a button that opened a hatch underneath the cage Loki was being housed in. Wind whistled through the hole as Nick made his point of dropping abundantly clear. “Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?” Fury closed to hatch and pointed at Loki. “Ant.” He then pointed back at the button that would open the hatch to drop Loki. “Boot.” Bruce knew there had to be some meaning behind the last statement, but wasn’t too keen on figuring it out. He knew what that cage was originally built for, and it made him uncomfortable knowing that SHIELD really had planned on him coming here, whether he wanted to or not. They probably would have just drugged him.

“An impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.” Loki smirked into the camera, and Bruce felt as if it was aimed directly towards him. He shifted and wished once again that Irene had accompanied him to the bridge. She had decided to stay in the lab, resting due to jet lag fatigue, and Natasha had allowed it. But, of course, she had insisted that he come. He still didn’t understand why.

“Built for something a lot stronger than you.” Fury said.

“Oh, I’ve heard. The mindless beast, makes play he’s still a man.” Bruce swallowed down some anger at that comment. He knew it wasn’t true, and Irene knew it, but based on the looks everyone on board had been sending him, they were the only ones that did. He wasn’t just a mindless beast. At least, not while he was Bruce Banner. And even when he was the Hulk he now believed he had a slight sense of control. “How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?”

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it’s fun. You have made me very desperate.” Fury glared at Loki, eyes hard. “You might not be glad that you did.” Loki grinned maliciously.

“Oh, it burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is.” Fury just smiled back, and Bruce could clearly see the urge to strangle the God in the man’s eyes.

“Well, you let me know if ‘real power’ wants a magazine or something.” With that parting shot, Fury left the room and the monitor Bruce and the others were watching on flickered off. They all stood there in an uncomfortable silence for a bit before Bruce couldn’t take it anymore.

“He really grows on you, doesn’t he?” Steve sighed before turning to the other God they had apparently picked up while apprehending Loki. His brother, Thor.

“Loki’s going to drag this out. So, Thor, what’s his play?” Thor frowned deeply, and Bruce could tell that his brother’s actions were taking their toll on the big man, no matter how strong he appeared to be.

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth in return for, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army? From outer space?” Steve questioned and Bruce honestly never thought he would ever hear that question phrased in a serious way.

“So, he’s building another portal. That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.” Bruce spoke almost to himself, but Thor turned to him, eyebrows raised.

“Selvig?”

“He’s an astrophysicist.” Bruce explained, thinking Thor didn’t know who he was, but Thor shook his head, eyes suddenly very sad.

“He’s a friend.” He said quietly.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.” Natasha piped up for the first time, mentioning the loss of her partner, a man named Barton if Bruce remembered correctly from Natasha’s debriefing.

“I want to know why Loki let us take him. He’s not leading an army from here.” Bruce snorted at the Captain’s words.

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.” Thor straightened at Bruce’s words and, too late, Bruce remembered that Loki was Thor’s brother. It seemed family ties could withstand even betrayal to Thor.

“Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he’s my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha informed him coldly, garnering a rather sheepish and ashamed look from the God of Thunder.

“He’s adopted.” Bruce, wanting to change the subject, at least for Thor’s sake, began talking of what the people on Loki’s said had taken.

“Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?”

“It’s a stabilizing agent.” A voice rang out and the group turned to see Tony Stark walking in with Coulson. “Means the portal won’t collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD.” As he walked over he paused by Thor, patting his arm. “No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing.” He turned back to the group as a whole and continued, as if switching from conversation to conversation was as natural as breathing to him. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.” Bruce watched as the genius went to the center of the bridge, where Fury usually stood and began giving fake orders.

“Uh, raise the mid-mast! Ship the top sails! That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did.” Stark then covered one of his eyes with a hand and looked around. “How does Fury do this?”

“He turns.” A female agent that was often with Fury told him dryly. Bruce knew he had been introduced to her, but couldn’t quite remember her name.

“Well that sounds exhausting.” Bruce had to hold in a smile at the man’s antics. Tony was obviously a character. Stark turned back towards the group again, grinning. “The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component that he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” The agent from before asked with disbelief tinging her voice.

“Last night. The packet, Selvig’s notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked curiously, having read the notes but not understood them at all. He couldn’t understand how anyone could become an expert in one night, but if anyone could do it, from the stories he’d heard, Stark would be it.

“He’s got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.” Bruce mused aloud, mind whirling with the information he had on the cube.

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.” Tony bounced back his thoughts and Bruce took a moment to process it.

“Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Tony grinned at Bruce and he couldn’t help but smile back at the man’s enthusiasm.

“Finally, someone who speaks English!” Tony exclaimed as he made his way over to Bruce, eyes alight with mischief.

“Is that what just happened?” Bruce heard Steve mutter off to the side and held in a grin.

“It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You’re work of anti-electron collisions is unparalleled.” He paused letting his actual respect sink in before his eyes twinkled with humor. “And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous, green rage monster.” Bruce looked down, a blush working its way up his neck.

“Thanks.”

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube.” Fury said with finality as he walked in. “I was hoping you might join him.”

“Let’s start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” Steve suggested.

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.” Thor, having been quiet during Bruce and Tony’s brainstorming session, made his confusion known.

“Monkeys? I do not understand.”

“I do! I understood that reference!” The captain shouted proudly, before blushing and looking down, embarrassed. Bruce couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, he had come from such a different time, no wonder understanding a reference would excite him. Tony just rolled his eyes before turning back to Bruce.

“Shall we play, doctor?” Bruce gave him a small smile.

“Let’s play.”

Chapter Text

Tony had no idea what time it was, but it didn’t really matter to him. He had always worked odd hours anyway. Besides, he got to play with his new Science Bro! Tony glanced over to where Dr. Banner was quietly leading him towards the lab SHIELD had set up for them to find the Tesseract. Tony knew all about the man and what he had been through and didn’t blame him for being so withdrawn. But he also knew that Banner was as much a genius as he was, and shouldn’t have been hiding in his shell as much as he was. Of course, that might just be the environment they had found themselves in. Tony was sure Bruce was not comfortable being around so much government-y stuff due to his past run-ins with them.

Tony kept up a constant stream of chatter as they walked, not caring in the slightest the Bruce had yet to respond to a single thing he said. He would get through to the big guy; he always succeeded in what he set out to do. Before they entered the door to what Tony assumed was the lab, Bruce came to a sudden halt. He turned, fidgeting with his glasses, to face Tony.

“I forgot to mention, my friend in in there sleeping. So, maybe be just a little quieter? Also, she’s albino, but try not to stare. Thanks.” Before Tony could get a word in edgewise, Bruce had fled into the laboratory. Shrugging at the other man’s awkward behavior, he entered the room. He immediately caught sight of the lovely creature curled up on the couch. Tony found it impossible for him not to stare, but not for the reasons Bruce probably thought he might.

Tony had never seen anyone like her. Her white hair cascaded down her back to her waist, shifting like sand with every steady breath she took. Her skin was a shining ivory, smooth and creamy. Tony couldn’t help but wonder if she was as soft as she looked. He could just imagine the stark contrast his tan, scarred hands would reveal if he were to cup her pale cheeks. She was thin and willowy, yet had womanly curves in all the right places. A small, content smile quirked her pale pink lips as she slept peacefully. Tony suddenly wanted nothing more than to capture them with his to see if she tasted as sweet as she looked. And she did look sweet. She wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous like many of the models Tony was known to finagle with in the past, but she had a kind of delicate, serene look to her that inexplicably drew him in. Tony found himself wishing that she would wake up so he could see her eyes. After all, eyes were the windows to the soul and Tony had a feeling that hers was just as beautiful as the rest of her. Tony stared at her sleeping form, stunned into stupidity for a couple of seconds before Bruce snapped him out of his stupor.

“I told you not to stare! I’m just glad that she’s not awake so she doesn’t have to see you gawking at her like that.” Tony shook his head, drawing himself further out of the trace that the woman seemed to have cast on him. He turned to Bruce, plastering on his patented Stark smirk.

“I need to get me one of those.” He snarked, earning a glare from the good doctor.

“She’s like my sister. Please show a little respect.”

“Fine, I’ll tone down my Tony Stark charm. But if she can’t resist, it’s not my fault. Just saying.” Tony laughed quietly, making sure not to wake the beauty on the couch, before going to help Bruce with Loki’s scepter, which had been brought in before they had arrived. Bruce grabbed a gamma ray detection scanner and began looking over the scepter, checking for any radiation while Tony looked on, fascinated. After a couple of seconds of quiet, which was rare when Tony was involved, Bruce finally broke the silence, much to Tony’s relief. He couldn’t handle too much quiet. That’s why his lab was always blasting with ACDC and the like.

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports on the Tesseract. But it’s going to take weeks to process.” Bruce muttered, obviously frustrated. Tony scoffed.

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.” Bruce looked at Tony with disbelief, admiration, and a bit of sheepishness. The sheepishness was explained by his next words.

“And all I packed was a tooth brush.”

“And your insanely hot sister figure.” Tony pointed out, to which Bruce simply rolled his eyes, already getting used to Stark’s abrasive nature. “You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, and R&D. You’d love it, it’s candy land. You can bring that sister of yours too.” Bruce gave him a small, pained smile.

“Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of... broke Harlem.”

“Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension, no surprises.” Tony subtly grabbed a miniature electrical prod and quickly zapped Bruce, wanting to see his response.

“Ow!” He shouted, just as Captain Spangly-Pants came in, giving Tony a death glare. Tony pointedly ignored it.

“Nothing?” Tony asked, amazed. There wasn’t even a hint of the gamma green eyes that he had been told forewarned of an impending transformation.

“Hey! Are you nuts?!” Steve asked furiously, continuing to glare at Tony.

“You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s you secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

“Me.” A melodic voice answered him and the three men turned to see Bruce’s companion wide awake. Tony could only swallow hard as he finally got his wish to see her eyes. They were a striking icy blue, but although the color conveyed a chill, her gaze was full of warmth and humor. Their eyes seemed to lock, his warm, brown clashing with her pure blue. Tony felt himself become even more enamored with the mystery woman. There was just something about her.

“Huh?” Tony finally responded, and wanted to slap himself. The first time he talks to her and he acts like a fool. She giggled, the sound light and music to Tony’s ears.

“I’m what keeps him calm. I help him contain the Hulk.” She prompted and Tony drew back, confused. He looked between Bruce and his newest fantasy.

“How?! Please tell me you don’t wear him out. He’d break you!” The woman laughed at his insinuation while Bruce blushed and the Captain seemed to be frothing at the mouth.

“You have no right to speak to a lady like that! Is everything a joke to you?!”

“Funny things are.” Tony immediately shot back.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny! No offense, doctor.” The woman seemed to get irritated by that comment, and Tony had to think that the feeling of familial love was obviously reciprocated by her. Either that, or something stronger. Tony felt a pang of jealousy at the thought.

“He is not a –”

“No, it’s alright.” Bruce soothed, throwing a calm smile towards the woman – Tony needed to figure out her name, he couldn’t keep calling her ‘woman’ – and turning back to the Captain. “I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“You’re tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.” He heard the woman chuckle and preened at the knowledge that he had made her laugh.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Steve asserted, pulling Tony back from his proud moment.

“You think I’m not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.” Tony stated before pulling out a bag of blueberries he had stashed in his pocket in case he got hungry, popping a few of them into his mouth.

“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Tony rolled his eyes at the Captain’s naivety.

“He’s a spy. Captain, he’s the spy. His secret have secrets.” Tony pointed at Bruce. “It’s bugging him too, isn’t it?” Bruce paled at being put on the spot and began to babble.

“Uh… I just want to finish my work here and…”

“Bruce, just say what’s on your mind.” The woman interrupted.

“Doctor?” Steve prompted as well.

“’A warm light for all mankind’, Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.”

“I heard it.” Bruce pointed at Tony, who watched the interaction between the two closely.

“Well I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki, it was posted all over the news.”

“Stark Tower? That big, ugly –” Tony glared at Steve and he quickly changed his words. “– building in New York?” Even though he didn’t get along with Tony, Steve still tried to be polite. Tony almost snorted at the thought. He then offered Bruce some blueberries which the other scientist gladly took.

“It’s powered by Stark Reactors, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?” Tony nodded.

“That’s just the prototype. I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.”

“So, why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?

“He’s right. It does seem strange, though I wasn’t there for the actual statement in question.” The woman piped up, now leaning back on the couch and listening to the three of them talk in earnest. Tony grinned at her and offered her some blueberries from the bag too. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.” Tony waved her off.

“Call me Tony, Mr. Stark was my father. I still haven’t caught your name, gorgeous.”

“Irene.” He savored the knowledge.

“Pretty name for a pretty woman.” He winked as Irene’s milky skin became stained with a pale blush. Steve just rolled his eyes while Bruce chuckled at his friends flirtations, even if they were with someone he considered a sister. Bruce had already accepted that Tony was not going to be a gentleman around Irene. “Anyway, I should probably look into all that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD’s secure files.” Steve stared at him in horror.

“I’m sorry, did you just say…?”

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we’ll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide.” Tony popped a few more of the berries in his mouth, letting Steve ruminate on that for a few seconds before offering him some of his snack as well. “Blueberry?” Captain No-Fun just glared at him.

“Yet you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around?”

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, now possible.”

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.”

“Orders aren’t always made to be followed.” Irene said quietly, earning a scowl from the Captain. Tony, on the other hand, gave her a grin. Now here was a woman after his own heart!

“Correct. And following isn’t really my style anyway.” Steve gave Tony a condescending smile.

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

“Of the people in the room which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?” Tony ground out, not wanting to admit that Steve had hit a nerve. Before the Captain could answer Bruce piped up again from where he stood, coming to Tony’s aid.

“Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Steve seemed to hesitate for a moment, considering Bruce’s words before shaking them off.

“Just find the cube.” He ordered before storming out. After a couple of seconds of silence, Irene said into the quiet.

“Well, that was fun.” Tony smirked.

Definitely a woman after his own heart.

Chapter Text

“That’s the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn’t have kept him on ice.” Tony commented as he turned back to his two companions.

“Well, he was born in a different time period with very different experiences than us. That’s probably why he has so much baggage.” Irene said thoughtfully and Tony raised a brow at the last part, another strange surge of jealousy coursing through him. How would she know about the Cap’s baggage? Had he confided in her? Were they close?

“The guy’s not wrong about Loki.” Bruce interjected, breaking Tony away from his slowly seething thoughts. “He does have the jump on us.” Tony snorted.

“What he’s got is as ACME dynamite kit. It’s going to blow up in his face and I’m going to be there when it does.”

“And I’ll read about it.” Bruce smiled wryly and Tony shook his head.

“Or you’ll be suiting up like the rest of us.” Bruce grimaced.

“Ah, see, I don’t get a suit of armor. I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.”

“Bruce.” Irene piped up, sounding sad, yet reprimanding. “You know that Hulk isn’t as bad as you thought. We’ve worked on this. Don’t let SHIELD convince you otherwise.” Tony still wasn’t sure how Irene could calm the Hulk, but it seemed that she did have some experience with it. He was curious as to how and if she had ever really met the big guy. Either way, it was becoming abundantly clear that Tony needed to know more about Irene. Before his mind could go completely off topic, Tony rejoined the conversation, hoping no one had noticed his slight lapse of attention.

“You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart.” Tony paused at the horrified gasp from Irene. He gave her a small smile, trying to convey to her that everything was alright. Looking back at Bruce, who had noticed the exchange but opted to ignore it, he pointed at the arc reactor that was lodged in his chest.

“This stops it. This little circle of light. It’s part of me now, not just armor. It’s a terrible privilege.”

“But you can control it.”

“Because I learned how.” Tony shot back.

“It’s different.” Bruce muttered sadly, hiding his face behind a holographic screen of information. Tony walked over to where he stood and slid the data away, looking into his new friend’s wary eyes.

“Hey. I’ve read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you.”

“But it didn’t. You survived, Bruce.” Irene said quietly from the couch, where she still sat. Bruce gave a huff of laughter.

“So, you’re saying that the Hulk… the other guy… saved my life?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” Irene questioned softly.

“That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Tony answered. Bruce just shrugged, looking back at the data that continued to pour over the screens in front of him. Understanding that the conversation was over, Tony made his way over to the couch. He sprawled across it, making sure to take up as much space as possible to get him closer to Irene, placing his head in her lap. Irene, for her part, took it in stride.

“May I help you, Tony?” She asked, laughing. He grinned up at her.

“Yes. I want to know more about you. Your full name, how you met Bruce, how you keep the Hulk under wraps, how you know about the Captain’s baggage, your favorite color, when you’ll go out with me…” Irene blushed prettily at the last one. Tony chanced a sneaky glance over at Bruce to see if he would mind that Tony was flirting with his sister, but the man was already completely engrossed in his work. That left Tony and Irene basically alone for this conversation, not that Tony minded in the slightest. Irene didn’t seem to care either.

 “Well…” Tony waited patiently as Irene sorted through her thoughts. Her fingers began absently stroking through Tony’s hair and he practically purred under her touch. Usually he hated people touching him, especially his hair, but there was just something about Irene that made it alright. Tony knew he should be at least slightly concerned about how connected he felt to this woman already, but decided to just enjoy the moment of peace while he could. He let his eyes flutter closed as he enjoyed her caresses. “I suppose I’ll start with the first question. My full name is Irene Morrow. I met Bruce in Calcutta when he came to me hoping I could heal the Hulk.” Tony’s eyes shot open.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Heal the Hulk? What do you mean? Why would Bruce think you could do that anyway?” Irene seemed to hesitate, as if she were afraid of his reaction. Tony felt like whimpering with loss as her fingers stopped their movements as well.

“I am a healer. It’s my mutation.” That gave Tony pause, and he looked up into her wary and suddenly tired eyes.

“You’re a mutant?”

“Yes…” She trialed off and Tony felt her tense underneath him. He realized that many people must have pushed her away because of that fact alone and that made him sad. No, no wait. It made him furious!

How could anyone judge her based on something she couldn’t control and, hell, she even used it to help people! From what Tony knew about her, which, admittedly, wasn’t much, she was a beautiful person, outside and in. Knowing she was still waiting for his reaction, Tony decided to keep the conversation light by mixing in some humor. The last thing he wanted was to push Irene away.

“That’s cool. I’ve always wondered if I was somehow a mutant. Can being devilishly attractive count as a mutation?” Tony wiggled his eyebrows and Irene laughed, relaxing.

“I don’t think so, but if it is a mutation you have it bad.” As if realizing what she had just said, Irene blushed again, making Tony snicker. He couldn’t wait to keep making that blush appear on her sweet face.

“Why, thank you, Irene. You’re not so bad yourself, gorgeous.” And there went that blush again.

“So, you heal things. But, I’m guessing you couldn’t heal Brucie Bear over there.” Irene shook her head.

“No. The Hulk is entwined with his own being. I couldn’t just heal that away. But I could heal his mind to help Bruce contain the Hulk.” Tony quirked a brow, intrigued, and gestured for her to go on. “I see people’s auras. The auras can tell me if a person is injured, either physically or mentally. Then I can manipulate the person’s aura to help take away the strain on mental injuries, or the pain of physical ones. Auras are also a good way to judge someone’s character.”

“What’s my aura like?”

“Yours is a pale blue, almost like the light from your chest piece.” She traced the outline of the reactor with her fingertips, eyes focusing on something just past Tony; his aura he supposed. Tony tensed under her touch but then just as quickly relaxed. No one had been as comfortable around the reactor as Irene appeared to be now. Images of Pepper’s disgusted face floated into his head, but he quickly dismissed them, content to watch Irene’s pale beauty instead. She had once again resumed combing her fingers through his hair and Tony needed to speak, if just to keep himself from falling asleep in her lap.

“Is blue good?”

“There are many shades and hues of blue, some good and some bad. But, in my experience, the lighter the color, the better the person. You are a good man. A bit flighty and unpredictable if the shifting of your aura is anything to go by, but a good man.” Tony looked up at her and once again got lost in her blue eyes. There seemed to be a sincerity to her that just drew him in. He supposed that, with all the lies his life had been full of, the honesty radiating off of Irene was refreshing. It was also nice to be told that he was a good man, even if he didn’t necessarily believe it. It was enough that Irene believed.

“So, my shade of blue is good?”

“Yes. Though it is stained dark with emotional strains.”  Tony scoffed.

“Emotional strains? I’m Tony Stark. I have no emotional troubles.” Irene frowned and Tony saw a spark of anger in her eyes at his easy dismissal.

“You can lie to yourself, Tony, but you can’t lie to me. I sense many distresses swirling through your aura and therefore your mind. But if you wish to live in a land of illusion, you be my guest. You’re only hurting yourself.” Tony flinched slightly at her words, knowing them to be true He knew he suffered from PTSD after Afghanistan. He also knew he had abandonment and trust issues from his dad and then from Pepper, even though she had never physically left. He hid all of his hurt and pain behind his patented Tony Stark smile and everyone seemed to buy it. Except Irene.

“Alright, so even I’m not perfect.” He finally said, trying to bring some humor back into the conversation. There had already been too much seriousness today and Tony was really growing tired of it. Irene rolled her eyes, but accepted the peace offering for what it was.

 “Whatever you say, Tony.”

“So, I’m guessing that’s also how you know that Captain Red, White, and Blue has issues?” She nodded, her eyes becoming far away once more.

“That man has been through a lot of pain.” She murmured and Tony felt another pang of jealousy. He wanted her to focus on him, damnit! Not Captain Spangly!

“Well, I’ve been through a lot too. Will you kiss me and make it better?” He puckered his lips and made some kissy sounds, jogging Irene out of her thoughts and making her giggle. She slapped his arm playfully.

“And here I thought you had no problems, Tony.” She threw back at him, eyes twinkling with good humor and mischief. Tony pouted.

“I still deserve a kiss.”

“I’m sure Bruce will be happy to kiss you better.”

“But I don’t want Bruce!”

“What?” Said man said, looking up from his screens after the continuous use of his name. Irene and Tony looked at each other before bursting into laughter, making the scientist stare at them as if they had three heads. Bruce eventually just decided to shrug it off and went back to work. After the two of them finally calmed down, gasping for air, Irene said one thing that threw Tony off.

“Black.”

“What?”

“My favorite color. It’s black.” Tony couldn’t help but glance superstitiously at her white hair and skin.

“You sure about that, angel?” Irene grinned.

“Yes. I like it because I like to think of it as completing me. Like…yin and yang. Besides, I love the nighttime. It is so peaceful and the world just seems to take a breath of release.”

“But, the night sky is more a deep, dark blue. Not black.” Tony pointed out cheekily. Irene rolled her eyes.

“Yes, well, it looks black most of the time. Just let me have my favorite color in peace.” She huffed, causing Tony to laugh at her mock indignation. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Red.” He answered immediately before smirking. “Followed closely by gold. Basically, my favorite color is me.”

“You aren’t full of yourself at all, are you?”

“Perish the thought!” Irene threw back her head and laughed, the carefree sound bouncing off the walls of the lab. Tony knew then and there that he wanted to hear more of that laugh. After this thing with Loki blew over, Tony would be damned if Irene went back to Calcutta with Bruce.

Because he was going to try his hardest to make sure Irene went home with him.

Chapter Text

An hour later, Tony and Irene had managed to drag Bruce out of his science coma to join them in conversation. Bruce sat on a wheeling office chair and Tony had shifted so he was sitting up on the couch next to Irene. Irene sat in the corner of the couch, her legs curled up underneath her for warmth. Tony wouldn’t stop teasing her about being an ‘Ice Queen’.

“I can’t help it that I’m cold!” Irene laughed, unfurling one leg long enough to give Tony a light kick before quickly burrowing her toes back into the couch cushion.

“You’re cold and you’re snow white. Okay, no. Forget Ice Queen, I’m calling you Snow White instead.” Tony teased, reaching over to pinch her side, causing Irene to squeak. Bruce laughed at their interactions. If he noticed that Irene and Tony had become close over the last hour of talking he didn’t comment on it.

“Well, I suppose Snow White is better than her last nickname.” Tony arched an eyebrow, looking at Irene.

“You already had a nickname and you didn’t tell me?! That’s it, we can’t be friends anymore.”

“What a travesty.” Irene deadpanned, much to Bruce’s amusement and Tony’s mock offense.

“Well, what was it? Now you’ve got to tell me!” Irene sighed. She had never been fond of her nickname.

“The Ghost of Calcutta.” She responded, playing with the hem of her new shirt. She had received American clothes when she had come aboard the helicarrier, so as not to attract as much attention. She was very grateful to Natasha for that, but at the same time wondered how the other woman knew her sizes. Tony seemed to mull over her last nickname before nodding.

“Hmmm. I like it. It’s cool and mysterious. But I’m still calling you Snow White.” Irene rolled her eyes but was inwardly thrilled that he would not use the nickname the people of Calcutta had given her. She liked being named after a princess much more than being named after something that was dead. And it was nice that Tony didn’t feel the need to tiptoe around her albinism. It was refreshing to find someone who understood that it was just a part of her life and not something that she was afraid to talk about.

“So, since I’m Snow White, that makes me royalty. Does that mean I can order you two around?”

“You can order Bruce around all you want, Snow. But a Stark doesn’t take orders.”

“Not even if they were from someone as pretty as me?” Tony pretended to be deep in thought.

“Okay. Maybe we can come to an agreement.”

“What kind?”

“Obviously one that is sexual in nature –”

“Okay! That’s enough for me folks.” Bruce interjected quickly, blushing furiously at the way the conversation had turned. Irene and Tony laughed at his red face.

“Don’t worry, Bruce. Royalty never strike bargains.” Tony put his hand over his heart.

“So that whole thing was a ruse?!”

“Of course. And now I can say I’m one of the few that have managed to fool the great Tony Stark.” Irene smirked and Tony pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Bruce watched on in amusement.

“Now that’s just rude, Princess.”

“Now which am I, Princess or Snow White?”

“Both. To everyone else you’re Snow White, but you’re my Princess.” Tony winked and Irene blushed at his insinuation.

“As much as I hate to interrupt this touching moment, I need to borrow Irene.” They all jumped as Natasha seemed to appear out of nowhere. Irene studied the maroon aura floating around the woman and noted that it seemed darker than usual. Natasha was concerned or agitated about something.

“What for?”

“I’m going to talk to Loki and, after learning about your healing capabilities, Thor would like you to assess his brother. See if you can help him through his pain.” Natasha sneered the last part. “Maybe you can get him to stop his plan to dominate the world.” Bruce stood up from his chair.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“I don’t believe I was asking for your permission, Dr. Banner.” Natasha turned towards Irene, who bit her lip, deep in thought. It was possible that Loki was just hurting and lashing out, albeit in a very dangerous and deadly way. However, Irene was worried about coming face to face with the man that seemed to have no qualms about killing people. Seeing that she was actually considering it, Bruce turned to her, eyes wide.

“You can’t seriously be thinking about doing this, Irene. He’s a madman!”

“I have to agree with Bruce here, Irene. I don’t think you should be anywhere near Reindeer Games.” Tony spoke up, eyes serious for once.

“I have to. If there’s a chance that I can actually help end this without bloodshed than I have to try.” Irene said before taking a deep, steadying breath. She turned back to Natasha who was watching her with unreadable eyes. “Let’s go.” The other woman nodded briskly before ushering Irene out of the lab, ignoring the protests from Bruce and Tony.

“Usually I’d ask you to change into a SHIELD uniform to blend in, but you’re not going to blend in either way so you might as well come as you are.” Natasha stated bluntly as Irene followed her down the long hallways. After many twists and turns that made Irene dizzy, they arrived at a very unassuming door and Natasha turned to her seriously. “Don’t trust a word he says. He’s the God of Lies. Everything he says and does has an angle. Don’t let your kind nature overpower your logic. Loki is dangerous. Remember that in here.” Irene gulped but nodded her head before Natasha opened the door and slipped silently inside. After a brief hesitation, Irene followed her in, the door sliding shut behind her. The room she entered was dominated by a giant, glass dome that contained one occupant.

“There are not many people that can sneak up on me.” Loki said casually as strode towards the side of the glass where Natasha and Irene were standing. He wore a strange garment made of green and gold armor and his inky black hair fell down to his shoulders. He was thin and lanky, but strongly muscled as well. It was his aura that truly gave Irene pause however.

It was an emerald green.

Irene was surprised. She had figured that his aura would be a darker color, like Natasha’s, but his was between dark and light, as if neutral. What really made Loki’s aura strange was the dark gray aura, almost black, surrounding his like a halo. It reminded Irene of Bruce’s and the Hulk’s aura, but she could sense that these two auras were not connected. Irene immediately knew that Thor had been right – something was terribly wrong with Loki and it had something to do with the gray aura that was subtly trying to overpower Loki’s pleasant green one. Irene had never encountered anything like this, one aura trying to overpower another, but she was determined to do what she could to help. Besides the gray aura, multiple black spots were dotted over Loki’s emerald aura, and she knew that, even without the gray, Loki was struggling. This was not a super villain. This was a desperate man that was hurting badly. As Irene took in Loki, Natasha continued to talk to him, ignoring her presence entirely.

“But you figured I’d come.”

“After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate.” Loki’s eyes strayed to where Irene stood and his blue eyes narrowed in curiosity. “And who might you be?”

“I want to know what you’ve done to Agent Barton.” Natasha said, ignoring Loki’s question and cutting off any introduction Irene might have made. It annoyed Irene a little, being so dismissed when Natasha was the one to invite her, but she understood the woman’s position. She was here to get information, not chit-chat. Loki eyed Irene for a moment longer before turning his attention back to Natasha.

“I’d say I’ve expanded his mind.”

“And once you’ve won. Once you’re king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?” Loki smirked and Irene shivered at his callus expression.

“Is this love, Agent Romanoff?”

“Love is for children.” Natasha volleyed back bluntly, making Irene cringe. The longer she was around these people, the more she understood why they all seemed to have dark auras. They had such dismal outlooks on the world. “I owe him a debt.” Loki sat down, getting comfortable on the other side of the glass.

“Tell me.” Natasha seemed to hesitate, but apparently decided that telling him about her debt wouldn’t hurt because she spoke.

“Before I worked for SHIELD, I… well I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skillset. I didn’t care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD’s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call.” Irene listened intently to the story and felt sympathy for the strong woman in front of her. She had obviously had a rough life and had been used for her ‘skillset’ more times than not. Irene held a new respect for her; having been hurt so much but still keeping on. Loki cocked his head.

“And what will you do if I vow to spare him?”

“Not let you out.” Loki laughed, the sound loud in the empty room.

“Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?”

“Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that. I’m Russian… or was.”

“What is it you want?”

“It’s really not that complicated. I’ve got red in my ledger, I’d like to wipe it out.” Natasha responded quietly. Loki eyed Natasha as if looking at a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

“Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov’s daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire? Your ledger is dripping, it’s gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than you will change anything?” Loki suddenly stood, radiating anger. “This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic!” Irene watched closely and noted that Loki’s blue eyes seemed to flare in time with the pulsing of the gray aura. Now that was interesting. Were Loki’s eyes truly blue, or was this a physical representation of what the gray aura was doing to him? She would have to talk to Thor about Loki to understand more about him.

“Oh, Loki…” Irene whispered sadly as she watched the blue in his eyes engulf his sanity. She was almost positive that Loki was in no more control than Agent Barton was.

“You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!” Loki slammed his fist against the glass of his prison, causing both Natasha and Irene to jump at the sudden action. “I won’t touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he’ll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I’ll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!” He snarled, his eyes rolling madly. Natasha turned away from Loki, hiding the disgust and terror she felt from Loki but not from Irene. She saw it all. She saw Loki’s eyes flash green in remorse and then back to the cold, uncaring blue as he saw the effect his words had on Natasha. Green. Just like his aura. That was his true eye color.

“You’re a monster.” Natasha said quietly. Loki chuckled darkly.

“No, you brought the monster.” Irene frowned, understanding that he was referring to Bruce. Natasha’s distraught expression suddenly cleared and she turned back to Loki, once again poised.

“So, Banner. That’s your play.” Loki paused, shocked at the sudden change in emotions emanating from the agent in front of him.

“What?” Natasha ignored him, touching her earpiece and speaking into it.

“Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I’m on my way with Morrow. Send Thor as well.” She looked to Loki, smirking. “Thank you for your cooperation. Morrow, come on.” Natasha walked briskly towards the door, but Irene moved further into the room, towards where Loki had frozen at Natasha’s words.

“You’re hurting. I can see that. But you are also not yourself. I hope you are able to find yourself before anyone else gets hurt. I wish I could heal you, but I can’t touch you and I’m afraid I can’t heal without physical contact.” Loki looked at her, his eyes suddenly turning green once more and softening.

“Who are you?”

“Irene.”

“Irene. A beautiful name. Well Irene, you deserve to be treated like a queen. I sense the magic inside you. I can help nurture it.” Then the moment was broken when his eyes flashed back to the eerie blue. A smirk worked his way up his face. “I will take you as a prize when I destroy this place. You will make a lovely war treasure. I will look forward to breaking you.” Irene stepped back.

“I hope that you do not win, but I also hope that you do not lose completely, Loki. I know you’re still in there. I’ve seen it. Fight.” Irene whispered before turning and walking out without a backwards glance to where Natasha was waiting impatiently at the door. She ignored Loki’s shouts of derision and hatred towards her; she knew that it wasn’t truly him. As they exited the room to make their way back to the lab, Natasha glanced at Irene.

“So, you believe what Thor says is true?”

“I know it is. His aura is being overpowered by an outside force. He is in no more control than your partner is at the moment. Did you not notice his eyes changing color?” Natasha hesitated, but grudgingly nodded in affirmation. “Did you not tell us that the eye color changing was the sign for mind control?”

“But Loki is controlling other people.”

“And someone is controlling Loki.” Natasha sighed.

“Even if that’s true, we need to accept that you can’t heal him because we can’t let you close enough for him to hurt you. You’re an asset that we can’t lose, especially if he’s after the Hulk. Come on. Let’s get back to the lab.”

Chapter Text

Natasha led Irene through the helicarrier at a fast pace, only pausing to open doors that were locked with an access card. They finally arrived at the main area that she, Steve, and Bruce had been introduced to Director Fury. There, seeming lost and looking completely out of place among the masses of agents stood a tall, bulky man with shaggy blonde hair.

“Thor.” Natasha called, gaining the big man’s attention. He turned at his name and took in Irene. Irene gulped at his imposing figure. He stepped forward and held out his hand towards her.

“You must be the Lady Irene.” Irene placed her hand in his and he leaned gently down to kiss the back of it. Irene, flustered by the unexpected action, stuttered.

“Y-yes. I’m Irene.” Thor smiled gently before his eyes became serious.

“You just came from speaking to my brother, yes? Did you find anything strange about him?” Irene nodded.

“Yes. I believe something is controlling him, just as he is controlling others. What color are Loki’s natural eyes, Thor?” He raised a brow, confused by the question.

“My brother’s eyes are green, my Lady.” Irene nodded, glancing over at Natasha with a pointed look. The agent rolled her eyes with impatience and annoyance.

“Well, right now his eyes are blue.”

“Like the Tesseract.” Thor murmured, eyes widening in realization. “We must free him from this mind control. Could you not help him, my Lady?”

“We won’t let her get near enough to Loki for him to hurt her. We need her to help contain the Hulk. Speaking of which, we need to get going to the lab. Now.” Natasha growled before turning on her heel and walking towards the hallways again. Irene and Thor quickly followed, for fear of losing her in the long passageways.

“I will help Loki in any way I can.” Irene whispered to Tor as they rushed to catch up with Natasha. Thor gave her a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Lady Irene.”

“Just Irene is fine.”

“Irene then.” She smiled up at the big man before they found themselves at the lab, listening to the raised voices from within.

“What’s going on?” Irene muttered as they entered and she was immediately hit with auras dark and pulsing with anger. Bruce whipped around to face Natasha when he noticed her entrance. Irene cringed, noticing that the Hulk’s aura was dangerously close to becoming the dominant aura.

“Did you know about this?” He snapped, glaring at the red-head.

“You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?” She snipped back, gesturing for Irene to go to Bruce. Irene hesitated, not knowing what was going on, but followed her suggestion and moved to Bruce. Bruce immediately moved her to stand beside him and Tony, who looked as if he was facing off with the Director.

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” Bruce growled to Natasha before turning his attention to Irene. “Are you okay? Loki didn’t try anything, did he?” Irene shook her head in the negative and his shoulders slumped in relief.

“Loki’s manipulating you.” Natasha spoke again, causing Bruce to tense back up. Irene wanted to tell the agent to keep her mouth shut. She wasn’t helping this explosive situation.

“And you’ve been doing what exactly?”

“You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.” Natasha sneered. “You came because of her.” She pointed at Irene and Irene shrunk back at being called out. In her retreat, she ran into Tony, who looked down at her in surprise.

“Sorry.” Irene muttered. Tony gave her a tight smile.

“No problem, Princess.”

“Yes, and I’m not leaving because you suddenly get a little twitchy.” Bruce volleyed back to Natasha. “I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.” Irene gasped at the news. She had come here to help save the world, not help destroy it! Director Fury sighed before pointing at Thor, who had remained quiet all this time in his bemusement.

“Because of him.” Fury ground out.

“Me?” Thor looked so confused that Irene couldn’t help but sympathize with him. Not only did he have to deal with his brother trying to take over the world, but now he was being blamed for this mess as well. Irene wasn’t sure she could handle it if she had been in his place.

“Last year, earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” Fury explained tiredly.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet!” Thor defended, obviously offended at what Fury was implying.

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you? And you’re not the only threat. The world’s filling up with people who can’t be matched, they can’t be controlled.”

“People aren’t meant to be controlled.” Irene said quietly, to which Bruce, Tony, and Steve nodded in agreement.

“And besides, it’s not like you controlled the cube very well, now did you?” Steve added.

“You’re work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki and his allies to it. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Irene glanced sharply at Thor, her already pale skin blanching.

“A higher form?” She squeaked out. Tony reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Irene wanted to clutch at his hand for support, but reluctantly let it go when he pulled away. Everyone else ignored her comment.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something” Fury snarled.

“Nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything down.” Tony snarked, baring his teeth in the semblance of a smile.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” Fury ground out and Irene saw Tony tense as his words struck a nerve.

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep –” Tony quickly snapped his head in the direction of Steve, shocked to have been suddenly made the bad guy.

“Wait, wait! Hold on. How is this now about me?”

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?” Thor huffed from where he stood, irritation marring his features.

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.”

“Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?” Fury shot back.

“Are you all really that naïve? SHIELD monitors all potential threats.” Natasha said coldly. Bruce looked at her oddly.

“Captain America is on the potential threat watch list?” He asked, incredulous.

“You’re on the list? Are you above or below angry bees?” Tony sarcastically asked, adding more fuel to the flames.

“I swear to God, Stark, one more crack –”

“Threatening! I feel threatened!” Tony exclaimed. Irene, anxious to get away from the anger that permeated throughout the room, hesitantly backed away from the group. She paused when she felt a strange sort of icy heat at her back. She turned around to find that she had run into the table Loki’s scepter resided on. The gem at the end of it was glowing an eerie blue. The same color blue that Loki’s eyes were when the gray aura was controlling him.

That couldn’t be good.

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos.” Thor spoke over Tony and Steve’s bickering.

“It’s his M.O., isn’t it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We’re a time-bomb.” Bruce chuckled darkly, and Director Fury and Natasha tensed.

“You need to step away.” Fury ordered. Tony laughed harshly, throwing his arm around Steve’s shoulders.

“Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Steve pushed Tony away in disgust.

“You know damn well why! Back off!” Irene watched as Tony got right up in Steve’s face.

“Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me.”

“Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?” Steve snarled back.

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.” Steve scoffed.

“I knew guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other gut crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire.” Steve shook his head, a bitter smile pasted on his face.

“Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.” Irene watched in horror as Tony’s light blue aura darkened to navy, his anger tainting it.

“A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!” Irene winced at his words, knowing that Tony was letting his anger get the best of him. He wasn’t truly such a mean person, but Irene hated seeing what anger could turn people into. The Captain wasn’t much better, his aura looking more red than orange.

“Put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.”

“You people are so petty… and tiny.” Thor said with an unamused laugh.

“Yeah, this is a team.” Bruce said. Seeming to remember that Bruce could become the Hulk in high tension situations, Director Fury turned to Natasha.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his –”

“Where? You rented my room.” Bruce said, moving back towards where Irene stood by the scepter. Irene, seeing her chance to tell someone about the glowing gem, turned to Bruce.

“Bruce, the gem –” But Fury interrupted her.

“The cell was just in case –”

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t! I know! I tried!” Silence consumed the once loud room as the occupants all looked at Bruce with pity and horror. Bruce looked down. “I got low. I didn’t see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping people. I met Irene. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!” Irene wanted to protest at Bruce thinking that he put everyone at risk, but Bruce wasn’t done. He turned to Natasha, who looked at him warily. “You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?!” Bruce reached back and grabbed Loki’s scepter and Irene gasped as the gray aura from Loki seemed to materialize around Bruce. So it was the scepter! Seeing his movement, Natasha and Fury grabbed their guns.

“Doctor Banner… put down to scepter.” Steve commanded slowly, holding out his hands as if to ward off an attack. Bruce seemed to hesitate, the gray aura still surrounding him.

“Bruce, Put it down.” Irene said firmly, grabbing his wrist. He turned to her and blinked in surprise, as if coming back to himself. He took a deep breath and set the scepter back down on the table, and everyone seemed to let out the breaths they were holding. The relieved silence was broken by one of the computers beeping.

“Got it.” Tony muttered as he went over to check it.

“Sorry, kids. You don’t get to see my little party trick after all.” Bruce said quietly as he went to join Tony by the computers. Irene followed him and looked at the screens, noticing that there seemed to be something off. A little blinking light.

“Have you located the Tesseract?” Thor asked, perking up.

“I can get there faster.” Tony said.

“Look, all of us –”

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard.” Thor interrupted Steve. “No human is a match for it.” Tony, ignoring Thor’s words turned to leave, but Steve stood in his way. 

“You’re not going alone!” Steve growled.

“You going to stop me?”

“Put on the suit, let’s find out.”

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Put on the suit.”

“Enough, both of you!” Irene snapped, finally at her breaking point. When the two men looked to her in shock, she pointed at the blinking dot on the screen. “What is that?” Tony came over and looked at the monitor before his eyes widened.

“Get down!” He shouted just before he threw Irene under him and an explosion rocked the helicarrier.

Chapter Text

“Irene? Irene! Come on, Princess, wake up!” Irene groaned as Tony’s voice filtered through her foggy brain.

“T-Tony?” She murmured as she forced her eyes to open, seeing Tony sigh in relief.

“Glad you’re okay, Princess.” He helped her sit up, and Irene noticed they were the first ones up, the others not having had the warning that she and Tony had.

“Oh god, where’s Bruce?!” Irene asked suddenly, looking around for her friend. She knew that, without her, the Hulk would be let loose.

“I think he fell to the floor below us, but it’s too late for you to calm him down, Princess. I need you to find a safe place and stay there, can you do that for me? Bruce would kill me if I let his sister get killed.” Tony locked eyes with her, making sure she nodded before making his way over to Steve. Steve looked up at Tony with wide eyes and mussed hair.

“Put on the suit.”

“Yep.” Before Tony and Steve left the room, Tony turned back to Irene. “Safe place, got it?” Irene nodded again.

“Stay safe.” She called after the two men as they went to do what they could to help the floundering helicarrier. Irene knew she should listen to Tony’s advice and find a safe place to hide, but she couldn’t help going over to the broken window that Bruce and apparently Natasha had been thrown out of. She looked down to see Natasha a few feet away from a trembling Bruce, whose eyes had gone green, signaling his impending transformation.

“Natasha, run!” Irene shouted to the woman, who seemed to be petrified in fear. Her voice seemed to wake Natasha up from her terror-induced trance and she bolted towards the nearest door. Irene watched, half in horror half in awe, as Bruce’s clothes ripped and his peach skin turned green. With a roar, the Hulk finally made his appearance and Irene witnessed him for the first time. The Hulk’s green aura had long ago become the dominant aura, Bruce’s teal aura taking a back seat. The Hulk roared again and the helicarrier shook with his rage.

“Hulk smash!”

“Hulk, no!” Irene screamed before she could stop herself. The giant green being that used to be Bruce turned her way, letting out deep, heavy breaths. Irene raised her hands in the symbol of surrender. “Hulk, it’s me. Irene. Remember? I’m Bruce’s friend. I’m your friend.” That seemed to make the Hulk pause, a flash of recognition passing through his eyes.

“Irene?” He finally said, his voice rough with disuse. Irene nodded desperately.

“Yeah, Hulk. It’s me.” The Hulk gave her a scary grin, his teeth seeming to fill up his entire face.

“Hulk like Irene.” He shouted with glee, blowing Irene’s hair back with the force of his shout. Irene nodded, her ears ringing.

“That’s right! Hulk likes Irene. And Irene likes Hulk. But, Irene needs Bruce right now. Can Hulk go back to being Bruce?” The Hulk frowned, trying to process Irene’s request. Irene knew that it was only a matter of time before someone came in and angered the Hulk again, so she needed to act quickly. “Please, Hulk? Then I promise Bruce will let you out later, okay?” Irene had no way of knowing that she would be able to convince Bruce to do such a thing, but she was getting desperate. The Hulk grinned again.

“Hulk can play later?” Irene nodded vigorously.

“Yes, yes! Hulk can play later! But right now –” Before she could finish her sentence there was a shout and several armed men came out from the door Natasha had vacated earlier. The Hulk turned to them, and immediately noticed their weapons. “No!” Irene shouted as they began shooting at him. The Hulk snarled in anger before charging them. Irene watched in horror as he picked one of the men up and threw him into a wall.

“Irene!” She whirled around to find Thor towering over her, watching the Hulk attack the men as well. “The man of iron told you to hide, did he not? Go! I will take care of the beast!” He began to swing his hammer like a helicopter fan, but Irene grabbed his wrist, making him pause.

“That’s no beast, that’s Bruce! I will go hide if you promise not to hurt him too badly! They shot at him, they started it! Please, Thor! He’s like my brother!” She shrieked, tears streaming down her face. Thor looked at her is surprise.

“That is Doctor Banner?” She nodded. “Then I will try not to harm him. Now, go.” With that, Thor lifted off the ground with his hammer in flight, ramming into the Hulk and allowing the remaining men that the Hulk was attacking to scurry for cover. Irene wanted to stay and watch to make sure that Thor wouldn’t hurt the Hulk too badly, but knew that she should go hide. With one last glance at the fight between the Hulk and Thor, she made her way through the debris and down the hallway. She was soon lost amongst the twists and turns of the helicarrier, none of the passing agents wanting to stop to give her directions. She somehow found herself outside of Loki’s containment room and paused. She knew that Loki was not in full control, but she also knew that he was the one that had caused all of this. If she could somehow get him to come back to himself, maybe she could stop this madness. She knew it was risky, and dangerous, and definitely not going to hide as she had promised both Thor and Tony, but she felt like she had to do it. Curse her good nature. She took a steadying breath before opening the door.

There stood Loki, smiling serenely as the chaos he instigated went on around him. When he heard the door open, he turned to her in surprise.

“Well, well, well. My war prize has decided to come to me herself. Decided that you would rather be on the winning side, my sweet?” He slyly asked her, coming up to the edge of the glass. Irene walked over to the glass as well, looking deeply into Loki’s blue eyes.

“If I let you out, will you kill me?” She asked quietly, unsure of where her bravery had gone. Loki snickered.

“Why would I kill you? You will be much more useful to me alive. I did some pondering while I was in here, and I remembered that the beast had a friend that helped control him. That wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?” Irene stayed silent, but that was all the answer Loki needed. He nodded. “I thought so. Now, not only will I have a war treasure, but a useful one at that. Perhaps, if you’re good, I’ll even make you my consort.” He grinned wickedly, eyeing Irene up and down. She shivered before backing away.

“I... I don’t think I can do it. I’m sorry, Loki. I wish I could heal you, but I can’t let you out when you’re so deranged.” Loki tutted, shaking his head in amusement.

“That’s alright, my sweet. I don’t need you to get free. You coming to me is just an added perk.” After saying this, Loki nodded his head to someone behind her and she was suddenly grabbed. She gasped in pain as the unknown agent quickly and efficiently restrained her hands, making sure not to let her touch him. They must have found out about her powers. Loki smirked as he watched her struggle. “No need to strain yourself, my sweet. It will all be over soon.” She was soon completely tied up and gagged. She watched in horror as the controlled agent released Loki from his glass prison. The man stepped over to where Irene lay and grinned down at her. “You’re so much more enjoyable when you can’t speak. Now, you get a front row seat at my next little trick. That idiot Thor should be here any minute.” He waved his hand and another Loki appeared in front of the glass dome’s doorway. Irene’s eyes widened.

“Thor should be coming now.” The man under Loki’s control said monotonously. Loki winked at Irene before waving his hand over both of them. When Irene looked down, she realized that Loki must have used his magic to make them invisible, because she could no longer see herself. Loki truly did have strong magic. Thor soon appeared, just as predicted and rushed at the fake Loki shouting.

“No!” The agent at the controls quickly shut the door, leaving Thor trapped in the cage. The real Loki made himself and Irene appear once more and Thor’s eyes widened as he took in his brother standing over the bound and gagged Irene.

“Are you ever not going to fall for that?” Loki chuckled. Thor angrily slammed his hammer into the glass of the cage but, to his and Irene’s shock, the glass only cracked. However, the impact of the hammer on the glass shook the entire helicarrier and Irene could see that Thor was afraid of slamming his hammer against the glass again, for fear of making things worse. Loki smirked and walked over to the controls, which the mind-controlled agent had vacated after his job was done. “The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?” Suddenly, the agent that had freed Loki went down, and Irene watched as Coulson walked in, carrying a vicious looking gun.

“Move away, please.” He ordered and, to Irene’s surprise, Loki did as he was told. Coulson smiled slightly, moving closer to where Loki stood over Irene once more. “You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does. Do you want to find out?” Irene gasped behind the gag as she saw the real Loki appear behind Coulson. She tried to shout a warning but Loki was too fast. He stabbed Coulson through the heart, smiling as the agent went down.

“No!” Thor shouted from within his glass prison, only able to watch the horror unfold. Loki thrust Coulson into the wall before making his way over to the control panel once again. He eyed Thor one last time before flipping the switch causing the glass cage to plummet down into the air with Thor inside it. Irene screamed in horror behind the gag, causing Loki to turn to her, grinning maliciously.

“Time to go, my sweet.” He said as he leaned down and picked up Irene, holding her surprisingly gently.

“You’re going to lose.” A weak voice sounded and Loki turned to face the barely-alive Coulson.

“Am I?”

“It’s in your nature.”

“Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky… where is my disadvantage?”

“You lack conviction.” Coulson responded faintly, shifting his hand ever so slightly towards the weapon’s trigger. Loki snorted.

“I don’t think I –” Suddenly a beam of orange energy shot out from the gun, blasting both Loki and Irene back through the wall. Loki took the brunt of the impact of the fall, but Irene took the brunt of the blast. She cried out in pain as she felt burns instantly form on her side where she had been shot. She lay in Loki’s arms, whimpering in pain as he groaned from his place on the floor. Another one of Loki’s mind controlled agents came and helped Loki up.

“Agent Barton is compromised, sir. We need to go, now.” The agent told Loki and the god grimaced.

“Fine. Let’s go. There’s nothing more to do here anyway.” He muttered before he started following the agent. Irene could only assume that the agent was leading them towards Loki’s escape. Desperate to get out of the situation, Irene wiggled her hands that were tied behind her back, hoping to get some skin to skin contact so maybe she could heal Loki’s mind. Loki frowned down at her before rolling his eyes. “There will be no healing today, my sweet. Why don’t you just take a quick nap while I get us out of here. When you awaken, I will be the ruler of your pathetic planet.” He smiled before muttering some words that made Irene’s eyes heavy with fatigue. She tried to fight it, but Loki’s magic was too strong. She soon fell into a deep slumber.

Chapter Text

Tony sat at the debriefing table with Steve, numb with shock. Thor had been dropped out of the helicarrier. Bruce had jumped out as the Hulk, attacking an armed jet. And Irene had been taken by Loki. Of all of them, Tony was most worried about Irene. Tony knew that the Hulk would make it, and was fairly certain that Thor would as well, but Irene? She wasn’t outfitted for battle. This wasn’t her fight. She had just been dragged in by SHIELD to help contain the Hulk, and now she was in the hands of Reindeer Games. He was terrified that his new friend wouldn’t make it out of this one alive. Loki wasn’t known to be forgiving. Figured. He finally found a woman that seemed to see all of him and like him and she was taken by a deranged maniac. Fury paced in front of the two men before finally speaking.

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.” He threw Coulson’s Captain America trading cards onto the table. Steve picked them up, eyeing the bloodstains with sorrow. “We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming.” He sighed. “Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on the same number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea.” Fury gestured towards Tony. “Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could work together when we needed them to, fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.” Tony got up heading for the door. He could take it anymore, couldn’t hear this. He already knew that they had all screwed up. He didn’t need Fury to tell him.

He walked down the halls to the containment room. He leaned against the empty glass container, trying to control his breathing. He wouldn’t cry. He heard heavy footsteps and knew Rogers had followed him in.

“Was he married?” He asked Tony quietly.

“No. There was a cellist, I think.” Tony replied, not looking at the star-spangled man with a plan. Tony couldn’t blame Capsicle for what had gone down, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be anywhere near the famed hero.

“I’m sorry. He seemed like a good man.” Rogers spoke again after a brief silence. For once, Tony just wanted the silence to consume him. He also wanted something strong to drink.

“He was an idiot.”

“Why? For believing?”

“For taking on Loki alone!” Tony ground out, anger bubbling up within him.

“He was doing his job.”

“He was put of his league. He should have waited. He should have…” Tony trailed off, knowing that his thoughts were going nowhere. Rogers put his hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony.” He whispered. Tony shrugged off his hand, walking away.

“Right. How did that work for him?” Tony muttered.

“Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” Tony turned to face Steve sharply, the bubble of anger inside him bursting.

“We are not soldiers! I am not marching to Fury’s fife!” He snarled, clenching his fists.

“Neither am I! He’s got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we’ve got to put that aside and get this done.” Steve shot back. Tony’s anger deflated slightly. “Now, Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list…” Tony eyed the bloodstain where Coulson had fallen and interrupted.

“He made it personal.”

“That’s not the point.”

“That is the point. That’s Loki’s point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?” Tony muttered, staring at the blood as if it would give him all the answers.

“To tear us apart.”

“He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.” Tony thought allowed. Steve stared at him, not understanding where this was going, but letting Tony speak anyway.

“Right, I caught his act in Stuttengard.”

“Yeah. That’s just a preview, this is opening night. Loki’s a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered…” Tony paused, all the pieces finally clicking into place. “Son of a bitch!” Finally understanding what Loki was up to, Tony raced out of the room, with the Captain following closely behind him. They split ways, the Captain going to get Natasha and Tony going to retrieve his suit. Loki had made this personal. Loki had taken it to Tony’s home.

When Tony rocketed off the helicarrier in his Iron Man suit, he knew he was heading straight into a war zone. But he didn’t care. He was going to find Reindeer Games and save Irene and the world.

He’d show Rogers that he wasn’t just a suit.

Chapter Text

Irene woke slowly, her mind sluggish. She didn’t recognize her surroundings. She blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings. The room she resided in was large and luxurious, colored in creams and browns with a few gold accent pieces scattered here and there. The king-sized bed she lay on was plush and soft, and for a minute Irene considered burying her face back in the silk-sheeted pillows and going back to sleep. But when a boom resonated through the building she was in she shot up, sleep forgotten. Memories flooded through her mind and she gasped as she remembered that she had been kidnapped by Loki. Wherever she was, Irene was sure that Loki wouldn’t be far. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and only then did she realize that sometime when she was sleeping Loki had changed her.

She now wore a beautiful green chiffon dress that matched Loki’s armor. It floated around her and Irene shivered as she felt the air hit her revealed back. It was held up by one shoulder sash and was deceptively simple in design. Irene blushed at the thought of Loki seeing her naked, but shook her head. Now wasn’t the time; she needed to find Loki and stop whatever madness he had planned for the world. He had foolishly untied and ungagged her, so she was free to move about and free to make physical contact whenever she found him. She moved herself off the bed, careful not to trip on the hem of the dress, and went to the door. She heard voices from the other side and hesitated, wondering if she should come out when no one was there. She decided to listen in on the conversation to decide.

“…you should have left your armor on for that.” Loki’s voice pierced through the door and Irene shivered at the amusement that tinged it. Loki was planning on taking over the world and he was treating it like a joke. Now, Irene knew it wasn’t truly Loki, but was him currently and she had to be careful around him until she could hopefully force the gray aura out of Loki.

“Yeah, it’s seen a bit of mileage and you’ve got the blue glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?” It took her a minute, but Irene gave a start when she realized that the second voice was Tony’s. So that must be where she was! She was in Tony’s home! That explained the luxury.

“Stalling me won’t change anything.”

“No, no, no! Threatening. No drink? You sure? I’m having one.” Irene couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Of course Tony would be drinking at a time like this. She heard footsteps and Loki’s voice appeared further away now. She cracked open the door and peered out, making sure not to make any noise as she did so.

“The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?” Loki asked, facing the window.

“The Avengers.” Tony said simply and both Loki and Irene looked at him in confusion. Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ kind of thing.”

“Yes, I’ve met them.”

“Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that one.” Tony admitted, taking a drink from his tumbler. “But let’s do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-God; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breathtaking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

“That was the plan.”

“Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you.” Loki scoffed.

“I have an army.”

“We have a Hulk.” Irene had to hold back a laugh at that one. Only Tony.

“I thought the beast had wandered off.” Irene gasped quietly. The Hulk was gone? What had happened? Irene decided that now was the best time to try to get to Loki. His back was to her, as he was facing Tony, and Tony was doing a great job of distracting the God. She just needed to make sure Tony didn’t give her away. She slowly crept out of her hiding place behind the door. She caught Tony’s eyes and gestured for him to be quiet. Even as his eyes softened with relief at seeing her unharmed, he nodded imperceptibly and kept up his conversation with Loki.

“You’re missing the point. There’s no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you. Because if we can’t protect the earth, you can be damned sure we’ll avenge it.” Irene had almost reached Loki at this point, as was about to reach out and brag his hand, when he began moving. Irene froze, worried that she had been caught, but Loki was only moving towards Tony, his scepter glowing harshly. Knowing that the scepter was what Loki used to control other people, and what was controlling him, Irene’s eyes widened as he raised it threateningly towards Tony.

“How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?”

“Loki, no!” Irene cried as he tapped his scepter on Tony’s chest. The resulting ping from the scepter hitting the arc reactor rang through the air as Loki turned to face Irene.

“Well, well, well. Looks like you have awakened just in time to witness my victory, my sweet. However, I need to focus on the upcoming battle. Stark, lock her back in the bedroom.” Loki ordered, not realizing that his mind control had not worked on Tony.

“No thanks.” Loki turned to Tony, shocked that he was still in his right mind.

“It should work.” Loki murmured, looking down at the scepter in his hands. Tony shrugged before sending a wink Irene’s way.

“Well performance issues, you know?” Loki snarled and picked Tony up by the throat, throwing him across the room. Irene screamed as he landed dangerously close to the window. For a minute, she thought Loki was going to toss him out. Loki stalked towards Tony again, preparing to pick him up again, but Irene had had enough. She leaped across the room and grabbed Loki’s hand. She would have preferred to be in contact with his head, where most of the damage was, but she would have to take what she could get. Loki whipped around to grab at her, but she held on to his hand tightly, as if it were her lifeline. She focused her mind and felt her healing magic rise to meet Loki.

It was the hardest healing session she had ever had to do. She was not only fighting against the pain of the bright light emanating from her fingers, but she was also fighting against Loki tugging on her arm, trying to rip her off of him and the gray aura that surrounded Loki fought her influence as well. She was reminded why she always asked permission before she healed people. She groaned in agony. She wasn’t sure that she would be able to truly heal Loki at this rate. Suddenly, Loki’s prying arms were removed from her and she blinked through the blinding light to see Tony holding Loki in place. He nodded towards her, giving her a strained, yet encouraging smile.

“Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. I trust you, Princess.” He said and she gave him a weak smile as she closed her eyes and focused all her energy on kicking out the dark aura that had been plaguing Loki for who knows how long. Her magic pulsed around them, fighting against the darkness that surrounded Loki. As she finally reached the heart of the corruption, she felt more than heard an enraged roar from deep within the gray aura. She knew that, whoever was doing this to Loki, knew they had lost their control over the God. Irene opened her eyes to slits to watch as the gray aura dissipated into nothing, leaving only Loki’s emerald green aura behind. The aura was still spotted with black clouds, but Irene would have to deal with them later, she was too tired to continue. She groaned in exhaustion as she finally let go of Loki’s hand and her knees buckled. “Whoa there, Princess.” Tony said as he caught her, keeping her from falling flat on her face.

“Thanks.” Irene murmured as she blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to clear the bright dots from her vison.

“Allow me.” She heard before gentle fingertips brushed across her eyelids. The pain faded away and the bright red and blue dots of light did as well. Irene blinked once again before looking up into Loki’s now emerald eyes. He smiled at her.

“Are you all right now, Irene?” She nodded her head, still slightly shocked that she really had managed to heal Loki. Tony shifted behind her.

“Okay, what just happened?”

“Irene freed me from the control the Titan Thanos had on my mind. She somehow recognized that I was in no more control than agent Barton was when I was controlling him.” He took Irene’s hand in his and kissed the back of it, much like Thor had done when she had first met him. “Thank you. I am in your debt.” Tony pulled Irene away from Loki, glancing between the two of them.

“Seriously? And now you expect us to believe that, all of a sudden, you’re good now? Not buying it, Reindeer Games.” Irene turned to face Tony, who still held her to him protectively.

“Tony, he’s telling the truth. If his words don’t prove it to you, maybe his actions will. I’m sure Loki will be helping us stop the invasion now, right?” Loki nodded.

“I will do everything in my power to right the wrongs that have been committed. I know you do not trust me, Stark, but trust her.” Tony still didn’t look sure. Irene put her hand to his cheek, drawing his eyes to her.

“Please, Tony. This is my mutation, remember? I heal things. I just healed Loki. Now, isn’t there a planet you need to save?” Tony looked at her and then out the window, where strange beasts were coming from a giant hole in the sky.

“Army. Right.” He muttered. He turned back to Irene. “Promise me you’ll be safe.” Irene smiled.

“Last time I promised that I was kidnapped, but I’ll try harder this time. Now, go. The world needs you.” Tony sighed before looking up at Loki calculatingly.

“Prove you’re worth something. Keep her safe and shut down the portal. Got it?” Loki nodded.

“I will protect your loved one with my life.” Irene’s eyes widened and she blushed scarlet.

“Oh, we’re not – I mean – Tony’s just –” Irene gasped as Tony’s lips covered hers, wringing a beautifully rushed kiss out of her. When he finally pulled away, Irene was left gasping. Tony smirked.

“Don’t argue with the God, Princess. We’ll finish this later.” Tony promised before setting Irene on her feet. “JARVIS?” With a crash, Tony’s suit shot out of a different room and attached itself to Tony as Irene and Loki watched.

“Wow.” Irene whispered, touching her lips lightly. Tony laughed from within the Iron Man suit.

“Not sure if the ‘wow’ was from the suit or from the kiss, but I’ll take either option. See you later, Princess.” Tony nodded his head towards Loki. “Remember what I said, Reindeer Games.” He said before rocketing out of the penthouse. Irene looked up at Loki, who was already grinning down at her.

“Looks like I just got you a boyfriend.” He snickered as Irene blushed harder, remembering Tony’s lips on hers. She wasn’t exactly opposed to that. Loki’s eyes turned serious. “Come now. We must shut down the portal and then help your Avengers save the world.”

Chapter Text

Irene and Loki made their way up to the roof where the Tesseract lay. Irene paused in horror, seeing all of the creatures flying out of the giant hole in the sky. They were humanoid creatures with dark gray skin, much like the color aura that had been controlling Loki. They wore some type of armor and held spears and weird looking guns. They flew around on strange flying scooter-type things.

“What are they?” Irene asked, half in fear, half in disgust.

“The Chitauri. They work for Thanos.” Loki told her, resignation and remorse coating his voice. Irene turned to him.

“Listen, this is not your fault. If the Avengers aren’t blaming agent Barton for what he did while under your control, then they can’t blame you for what you’ve done under Thanos’ control. You just need to prove that you’re not the man the Avengers thought you were.” Loki sighed.

“Easier said than done, I’m afraid.” Irene’s eyes widened as a giant creature came through the portal, bigger than the Chitauri.

“Well, how about we start by closing the portal so more of…whatever that thing is… can’t come here?” She squeaked as she watched it chase after Tony in his suit.

“A leviathan.” Loki muttered.

“Oh, god.” They heard and turned to see a man shuddering, half hidden by a piece of fallen debris. “What have I done?”

“Dr. Selvig, you were not in control. Tell me, is there any way to close down the portal?” Loki turned to the man, Selvig. The man, for his part, gave a little shriek and curled up against himself, muttering about how he ‘couldn’t go through Loki’s control again’. Loki sighed. He gestured for Irene to approach the man. She did so, cautiously, unsure of how he might react to her.

“Uh, Dr. Selvig?” The man glanced up at her.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Irene. I want to help. Loki won’t hurt you anymore. Can you tell us how to shut down the Tesseract?” The man stared at her, still watching her with wary and grief-filled eyes. Irene groaned inwardly.

“Dr. Selvig, this is important. This wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what you were doing.”

“Well… actually I think I did.” The man before her finally croaked out. “I built in a safety to cut the power source.” Irene’s eyes widened.

“That’s great! What is it?” A thump sounded from behind them and Irene turned to see Natasha, glaring at Loki, gun raised.

“His scepter.” Loki raised his hands in the sign of surrender, eyes on the barrel of the gun pointed at his head.

“No! I healed him, he’s in control again. Natasha, look at his eyes! They’re green!” Irene shouted, jumping up from where she had kneeled in front of Selvig. Natasha paused. Irene stepped in front of Loki. “Please, you’re not blaming your partner for what he’s done, you can’t blame Loki.” She pleaded.

“It – it might be able to close the portal.” Dr. Selvig broke the silence, gesturing towards the scepter that Loki still held. Natasha sighed, gritting her teeth.

“Fine. Give me the scepter so I can close the portal down.” She ordered and Loki immediately handed it over to her, not wanting to cause any more problems. Irene breathed a sigh of relief, knowing it was almost over. Natasha swung the scepter towards the force field that surrounded the Tesseract and touched her earpiece. “I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!” Irene heard a crackling, tinny voice come from the other end, but was unable to make out the words. However, Natasha did not close the portal.

“What are you doing?! Close it before more of those things come out of the portal!” Irene shouted at Natasha. The other woman shook her head.

“Stark says he has a nuke heading in. He’s planning on sending it into the portal.” Irene gasped.

“A nuke?!” Irene gasped. Loki shook his head in disgust.

“It seems your government decided that your Avengers weren’t enough. They planned to just destroy everything here. How charming.” He growled. Natasha glared at his words, but didn’t deny them. They all watched as Iron Man flew the nuke up towards the portal, rocketing into it. Irene anxiously watched the portal for Tony’s return, fidgeting in worry. Why wasn’t he coming out?

“Come on, Stark…” She heard Natasha whisper, the scepter still poised over the Tesseract, ready to close the portal. A voice came through Natasha’s earpiece again and, this time with the lack of fighting going on beneath the tower, Irene could clearly hear Steve’s voice.

“Close it.” Irene turned to Natasha in shock.

“No! Tony’s still in there!” Natasha looked at Irene with a hint of pity.

“I have to, Irene. We need to close it before more of those things come out, or the explosion from the nuke reaches us. I’m sorry.” Irene cried out in horror as Natasha closed the portal, with Tony still inside.

“No…” Irene whimpered, watching the portal’s opening slowly shrink in size. She felt Loki come up behind her and squeeze her shoulders in a sign of support.

“Look.” He whispered. Irene turned her tear-streaked face up to the sky again. Iron Man fell from the portal at the last possible second, barely making it passed the closing doorway.

“He’s back!” She gasped, before taking in his still falling form. “He’s not slowing down!” Before anyone could do anything or say anything else, the Hulk jumped up from a building, snagging Tony out of the air before he crashed. “Hulk!” Irene cried, happy to see that her green friend was okay as well. She turned to Loki. “We have to get down there!” Loki nodded before wrapping his arm around her waist. He turned to Natasha and raised a brow.

“Would you like a lift as well, agent Romanoff?” The red-head shrugged and moved over to Loki as well. With a few muttered words and a flash of green, the three of them appeared down on the street where the Hulk, Captain America, and Thor stood over Tony’s unmoving body. Irene raced over.

“Tony!” The others looked up at her as she ran over, before tensing at Loki’s presence. Irene was too worried about Tony to defend him now though. She kneeled in front of him, looking at his dark chest piece. “Tony, no…” The Hulk, knowing that Irene wanted the man in iron to wake up, gave a vicious roar that shook the buildings that were still standing. Tony gave a sudden gasp, sucking air into his lungs.

“What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.” Irene hiccupped out a laugh, tears of joy falling from her eyes. Tony looked up at her. “Unless it was you. You have permission to kiss me.” Irene laughed again before thinking ‘what the hell’ and pulling Tony up just enough for him to give him a kiss. They both pulled away panting.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again, you hear me Tony Stark?” Tony chuckled, wrapping his metal-coated arms around her.

“I’ll do my best, Princess.”

“I hate to break up your moment, but a little help would be appreciated, Irene.” Irene looked over to find Loki pressed up against a wall, Steve and another man aiming their weapons at him. Irene assumed that the mystery man was agent Barton, Natasha’s partner that had been under Loki’s control. Thor stood off to the side, looking unsure. Irene sighed before she reluctantly moved from Tony’s side and went to stand in front of Loki. Steve and Barton looked at her in shock.

“Irene, what are you doing?” Steve asked, gesturing for her to get out of the way. Irene began to explain the situation for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Loki was under mind control, just like agent Barton. He is not responsible for his actions, any more than he is.” She pointed at Barton, who looked murderously at Loki.

“Screw that. I don’t believe it.” He snarled, still aiming an arrow at Loki. Irene glared at him.

“Then I don’t believe that you weren’t in control of your actions. If Loki is to be blamed for his actions under mind control, then so are you.” Barton seemed about to argue, but Natasha put her hand on his shoulder.

“Clint, she’s telling the truth. He actually helped close down the portal.” She gave Loki the stink-eye. “As much as I hate to admit it, he’s innocent.” Agent Barton, or Clint as she now knew him as, looked between the three of them before groaning in defeat and lowering his weapons. Thor took that moment to stride forward, engulfing his brother in a huge hug.

“Brother, I am so glad that Irene was able to bring you back to your senses!” He bellowed, causing Irene and Loki to wince at the volume.

“I am glad to be back. Though I have much to make up for.” Loki replied, much quieter than his brother. Thor nodded.

“But, we will accomplish your redeeming acts together!” Loki rolled his eyes at his brother’s enthusiasm, but gave him a smile.

“Yes, we will.” Irene grinned at the two of them, Loki’s green aura and Thor’s yellow aura pulsing brightly with happiness.

“Alright. Hey. Good job, guys. Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day. Have you ever tried shwarma? There’s a shwarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I want to try it.” Tony spoke up from where he still lay on the ground. Irene giggled.

It was finally over.

Chapter Text

The next day Loki and Thor were preparing to head back to Asgard. Irene had made Thor swear that Loki would be treated as a victim, not as a villain, if he went back. Tony didn’t understand everything that had happened, but he was just glad that the invasion hadn’t been successful and that he was alive with a possible new girlfriend. He had yet to talk to Irene and Bruce about going back to the Avengers nee Stark Tower but Tony was determined to get them to come with him back home. He would never admit it, but he was worried that Irene would think that he had moved too fast and would want to return to Calcutta with Bruce. Sure, she had kissed him too, but that could have just been the relief from him coming back from the portal alive. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the kiss, be it a relief-kiss or not. Tony watched from the side with the other Avengers as Irene said goodbye to Loki and Thor.

“Promise me that if Odin gives Loki any trouble you will help him come back here to earth. We’ll take care of him here if Odin doesn’t act like a real father towards him.” Irene ordered Thor who nodded with a slight smile quirking his lips. Tony knew that Thor found it amusing that such a tiny mortal was not afraid to order him around. Luckily for Irene, Thor was a good sport about it.

“I will make sure Loki is taken care of, Irene. Fear not.” Thor took Irene’s hand and kissed the back of it, much to Tony’s displeasure. He knew it was a custom where Thor came from, but it still shot a pang of jealousy through him. But he knew he had nothing to fear from the God of thunder, he had made it abundantly clear that his heart belonged to that one astrophysicist, Jane something-or-other. Tony made a note to invite her to come research at the tower. If the Avengers were going to be a team, they should keep their loved ones close for protection. Irene turned to Loki next, giving him a big hug, much to his surprise and Tony’s irritation. He knew Irene was loveable, but did she have to be so close to Loki?

“You’ll be okay, right?” Loki smiled down at Irene.

“Of course. Even if Odin does not believe I was not in my right mind, Frigga will. Everything will work out. And I will be sure to come visit you when I can. We can work on your healing powers. Maybe we can find a way for you to heal without you hurting your eyes.” Irene snorted.

“I doubt it. But if anyone can figure it out, it would be you. Either way, I look forward to your next visit. Make it as soon as possible, okay?” Loki nodded before accepting another hug from Irene. This time he looked past her shoulder to where Tony stood, giving him a slight nod. Grudgingly, Tony nodded back. He understood that Loki would have gladly gotten involved with Irene but was letting Tony have her. He also knew that if he screwed up Loki would have no qualms about scooping her up. Either way, they were at a shaky truce. Irene stepped back from the two gods and Tony moved forward, holding the Tesseract inside a glass tube. He had whipped up the containment unit last night, knowing that the Tesseract was dangerous on its own. He handed the Tesseract over to Thor and shook hands with him. Tony stepped back and snagged Irene around the waist, dragging her closer to him. She came willingly, leaning back against his chest with a sigh. Tony rested his head on hers, breathing in her sweet scent of lilacs. They watched with the others as Loki took the other end of the glass tube that held the Tesseract and the two gods disappeared in a flash of energy. Tony felt Irene flinch back at the bright light and he quickly turned her away from it, trying to shield her from the rest of the beam. Irene smiled up at him.

“Thanks, Tony.” She said, burying her face in the joint where his shoulder met his neck. Tony relished the closeness before she pulled away and turned towards the others. Tony knew that they were leaving and she wanted to say goodbye. She moved towards Steve, who rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to heal you, Steve?” Steve shook his head, giving her a sheepish grin.

“No, thank you. I think I’d rather work through my issues on my own, if that’s alright with you.” Irene laughed, the sound music to Tony’s ears.

“Of course it’s alright. But if you ever change your mind, search me out, okay?”

“Will do.” He returned her hug hesitantly before moving off towards his motorcycle, raring it up and driving away. Irene then turned towards the two assassins.

“If you try to hug me, you might find yourself lacking arms.” Natasha deadpanned and Irene giggled.

“I’ll leave you alone then. Clint?” Clint raised his eyebrow.

“I think Tony might shoot me with a laser if I said yes to one, so I’ll pass.” Tony smirked and shrugged innocently as Irene shot a mock glare his way.

“Well, even If you don’t want a hug, may I be allowed to heal you? I know you’re suffering from what Loki made you do. I can help ease your burden.” Clint shifted uncomfortably.

“Well I –”

“Clint.” Natasha looked at him, and they seemed to have a silent conversation. Irene waited patiently as they did so. Finally, Clint sighed.

“Fine. Do your healing thing, I guess.” Irene nodded before raising her hands to Clint’s forehead. He tensed, but didn’t move away. Tony watched as the now-familiar light spilled from Irene’s fingertips. Clint immediately closed his eyes and relaxed, his face smoothing out. Tony had to wonder what it felt like to be healed by Irene. From what he could tell, it felt amazing. He wouldn’t mind having a healing session with Irene. A private one. Irene stepped back from Clint, blinking rapidly. Clint opened his own eyes and gave Irene a brief but genuine smile. “Thanks, Irene. I owe you one.” Irene waved him off.

“Nonsense, it’s what I do. Natasha, do you want one?” The other woman shook her head.

“No thanks, I’m good.” Irene looked at the other woman unbelievingly, but let it go. She waved as the two of them got into a SHIELD car and drove away. Finally it was just Tony, Irene, and Bruce left. Tony clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

“Well, now’s my part.” He took a deep breath. “Listen, I know you both have lives back in Calcutta, but I would really enjoy it if you two came to live with me.” He turned to Bruce. “I can fund any research you want to conduct and help out in any way I can. I can also arrange for you to have a ‘Hulk Room’ so big mean and green can come out and play without anyone getting hurt and without you worrying.” Irene and Bruce glanced at each other.

“Uh, Tony?”

“I’m not finished.” He turned to Irene next. “I know I don’t have a good record with relationships, and I can’t promise you I won’t screw up, because I will, but I can promise that I’ll try my best for you.” Tony took a deep breath. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. “And when I mess up I’ll embarrass you with obnoxiously expensive gifts trying to make up for it, and keep bugging you until you say you forgive me. And even then I’ll doubt you’re not mad at you and be extra careful until I get cocky and screw up again. I’ll spend too much time in my lab and forget about some of our dates. You’re right, I do have issues, but I’ll deny them until they get really bad and then –”

“Tony!” Irene covered his mouth with her hand. “We’ll stay.” Tony grabbed her hand and moved it to his cheek, nuzzling into it.

“Really?” Irene and Bruce nodded.

“We talked about it last night. We decided that we’ll give it a shot. We both kind of miss social contact. There was no need to convince us, though it was sweet of you.” Tony cleared his throat, suddenly embarrassed about bearing his heart when he, apparently, didn’t need to.

“Well then. That’s great. Um. Yeah. Let’s just go then.” Irene giggled and Bruce rolled his eyes. Irene pulled Tony down for a kiss. Tony melted into it, but Irene pulled away before he could make it too heated.

“I’d be happy to be your girlfriend, issues and all. We’ll get through it together. Just as long as you’re trying, okay?” Tony nodded, hope for the future filling his chest. Maybe he had finally found the girl that would stick with him, Iron Man and all. He gestured for them to get into his car before jumping into the driver’s seat. Putting the car into gear, he zoomed off towards his tower with his new girlfriend and Science Bro.

Even though the invasion had ended, now was just the beginning of the Avengers.