Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Vision put the disk in, and they all settled down. Tony was starting to feel his anxiety rise slightly at the thought of the portal, but he hid it well. Rhodey though saw through his friend’s mask, but only gave him a concerned glance, knowing that Tony would deny it.
[00:00:10 to 00:00:58]
“The Other.” Thor whispered before any of them could ask. Several of them raised their eyebrows at him.
“The Other is a servant of Thanos.” Thor elaborated, Tony didn’t know why but it felt as though a dark, cold shiver passed through the room at the name. He did not like it.
“Who’s Thanos?” Steve asked cautiously.
“A madman, they call him, I hope that we never see him.” Thor stated grimly.
Natasha didn’t know why, but it seemed that they were going to see this, Thanos or at least encounter him in some way, since he seemed like a big threat. And she also came to the conclusion that she did not like him.
[00:58 to 00:01:00]
A collective shiver passed through the room again.
[00:01:00 to 00:01:10]
“We won’t burn but we will fight for what is ours.” Sam confidently stated, the others nodding at it.
“We have done it before, and we will do it again.” Steve said.
Thor mused quietly, “Before I came here, I never thought that humans were so resilient. You were thought of as not the weakest but most definitely not the strongest race in the Nine Realms, but after you defeated the Chitauri,” Thor’s voice held some pride in it, which made them smile, “Other races started respecting you more.”
Thor then looked with a smile to Tony, “Especially you Tony. I am honored to call you my friend.”
Tony was perplexed, “Um…thanks big guy….but what did I do?”
Thor seemed amused, “When you flew through the portal,” Tony clenched his fists to calm himself, “You destroyed the mother ship. No one had ever defeated an army of Thanos before. You are known as a fierce warrior across most of the Universe my friend.”
Tony was stunned into silence, the rest of the room too.
Rhodey clapped him on the back, “So not only the Earth knows of him but the rest of the universe does too? That’s my brother.”
Tony gave him an eye roll, “Trying to steal the show are we?”
Rhodey swatted him, “I don’t need to steal your show. I don't think my ego will be as big as yours.”
“Whatever, you’re just jealous.”
“In your dreams.”
“Let’s continue the movie, shall we?”
[00:01:11 to 00:02:05]
“Nope, should’ve just walked away.” Clint remarked.
“Fury was almost too late getting out of there.” Natasha quietly revealed.
Tony whirled at that muttering, “He never told me that.”
Rhodey questioned him, “Do you really think he’d have told you that he almost died?”
Tony smiled sheepishly, “Oh yeah…he wouldn’t.”
[00:02:07 to 00:02:15]
“Yeah, nobody authorized you to test the Tesseract either.” James said.
“But how did SHIELD end up with the Tesseract?” Sam questioned.
Natasha spared a glance to Steve and answered, “It was fished out of the ocean by Howard Stark when he was searching for Steve and when he found it, it was kept with SHIELD since Howard was a founder. Though, there were some records that said, it was lost for a brief time before it turned up again….nobody knows for sure though.”
Steve blanched, “They lost the Tesseract, how does one even do that?”
“It was kept in a secure place. We have no idea how it happened, or where it was.” Clint admitted.
“So somebody could have experimented with it…” Bruce voiced the echoing thought.
Wanda interjected, “Then why give it back? It couldn’t have been HYDRA because they already had access to it, so who was it?”
All of them pondered for a moment before coming up blank.
“Let’s just continue the movie.” Vision suggested.
[00:02:16 to 00:02:19]
“We turned it off, and the Tesseract would turn it back on.” Clint supplied.
[00:02:21 to 00:02:36]
“She’s right, they had no idea what they were dealing with.” Rhodey said.
“But it was best we got away, since the entire facility and some surrounding areas were destroyed after that.” Clint revealed.
“Was anyone harmed?” Bruce questioned.
“Not in the explosion. But after…you’ll see anyways.” Natasha answered.
Bruce frowned but didn’t ask further.
[00:02:37 to 00:02:54]
“Oh my God Nick, people’s lives are more important than your stupid weapons.” Tony shouted in frustration, the room agreeing with him.
“What was he even thinking ordering that?” Sam asked in disbelief.
[00:02:55 to 00:03:06]
“It isn’t funny.” Tony seethed, frustrated at Nick.
Clint agreed, “It wasn’t and it was the best way to describe it. There was no other word for it.”
[00:03:07 to 00:03:22]
“At the state I’m seeing the Tesseract even now, even if you had the device I don’t think harnessing energy from space would be possible.” Bruce observed.
“Yeah, I thought so too. Also, the device wasn’t ready. They should’ve evacuated sooner.” Clint agreed.
[00:03:23 to 00:03:31]
“Hey! Gamma radiation though not as high as mine but still even in low quantities can be harmful.” Bruce exclaimed.
[00:03:32 to 00:03:40]
“I see better from a distance.” Clint clarified before anyone could say anything.
“We know Clint. You’ve only told us that like a hundred times maybe?” Natasha joked.
This attempt garnered a few chuckles around the room.
[00:03:42 to 00:03:53]
“They should just have left the Tesseract in the water. It’s been enough trouble.” Steve said, sighing.
“Sometimes I wish they would have done that, but someone would have tried to find it anyway and that someone could cause a lot of problems.” Natasha pointed out.
“It anyways ended up in the wrong hands.” James noted.
“But SHIELD still could keep an eye on it.” Clint argued.
“And SHIELD’s every move was controlled by HYDRA, and they’re a lot more discreet.” Tony said.
Thor ended the debate by saying, “The Tesseract is a powerful object, no matter what happened someone would have come looking for it. Maybe they wouldn’t have come now but someday…yes.”
“The Tesseract is in Asgard, right?” Wanda asked.
Thor nodded, “Yes, but it was destroyed. So I am assuming that the Tesseract was destroyed along with it.”
Steve sighed in relief, that thing had made problems for him since World War I.
[00:03:55 to 00:04:12]
“I’m surprised Barton, that’s the first time I’ve seen you use your brain.” Tony couldn’t resist taunting him.
“Shut-“ Clint began but Natasha placed a warning hand on his shoulder to stop him and noted, “I think he has the right to say that Clint. You’ve been doing the exact same thing for the past two movies.”
Clint sat back down grudgingly but still scowling.
Tony bit down the smirk that was threatening to break out. It was refreshing to criticize the bird brain for a change.
[00:04:13 to 00:04:47]
Tony felt his breath hitch slightly at the space beyond the portal, he was trying not to think about it at all.
Rhodey was glancing at his friend concerned though Tony waved him away, Rhodey knew how much this was bothering him.
[00:04:48 to 00:05:22]
“Is it just me, or does he look really tired?” Sam observed.
Tony nodded, “Me too. Thor didn’t you say that Loki is with you?”
Thor confirmed, “Yes, he is with us on the ship.”
Steve interjected, “Wait, hadn’t you told us this before that he died?”
Thor rolled his eyes, “No he hadn’t died. It’s a long story but you get used to it.”
“What? Him dying and coming back to life?” James asked incredulously.
“Though he only pretended to die, but since I always thought he was dead, yes, you get used to it.” Thor smiled slightly.
“Isn’t he supposed to be like evil?” Wanda asked.
Clint stated, “Yes he is evil-“
When Thor interrupted glaring at Clint, “It varies from moment to moment but right now, he is my brother and he isn’t evil.”
“What do you mean right now he is your brother?” Clint asked instead.
Thor said, “Well sometimes Loki can be my sister…”
“How can he be your sister sometimes?” Steve asked, really confused.
Thor struggled to explain, “He can, uh, change his form to look more feminine if he likes….whatever he feels like that day.”
Tony had a sudden realization, “Oh you mean gender fluid? It’s the term we use for people who don’t relate to a fixed gender. They can identify themselves however they prefer for that day.”
Steve’s eyebrows furrowed, “That’s a thing now?”
At the same time Thor said, “Yes, you could call Loki gender fluid.”
Natasha directed her words to Steve now, “Steve being like that is now accepted, there are many more identities than male and female. Just don’t say anything like that in public please, we’ll educate you about it later on.”
Steve was still frowning but he nodded.
Sam interjected, “I think we’re getting way off the point here.”
Clint agreed, “Yes we were speaking about how evil Loki was-“
Thor interrupted again angrily, “Do not say that about my brother. None of you know what he went through. I know he tried to hurt you but all I ask is that you give him a chance to explain himself.”
Clint grit his teeth, “Do whatever you want, but keep him away from me.”
Thor frowned but didn’t say anything further, the rest of the room meanwhile had resumed watching the movie.
[00:05:23 to 00:05:24]
“Like he’s going to do that.” Rhodey intoned sarcastically.
[00:05:31 to 00:05:35]
“Oh thank God.” Tony mutters, glad that Nick wasn’t hurt, then he turns to Clint, “Thanks.”
Clint simply says, “Anyone would’ve done the same.”
“I know.”
Clint isn’t sure whether to smile or make another wise crack but he lets his lips twitch up slightly.
Tony does the same.
[00:05:36 to 00:06:06]
“It was like he was looking directly into his soul. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think in that moment. It was like I was paralyzed.” Clint quietly admits.
“You couldn’t have done anything Clint. Do not take the blame on yourself.” Thor advised.
Tony shook his head, the guilt never really goes away.
“I know, but the guilt never really fades.” Clint said quietly, “No matter how much people tell you, it never does. I think almost all of us in the room can understand that.”
The room nodded uneasily, they had all done things they weren’t proud of, and these thoughts would always haunt them.
[00:06:07 to 00:06:36]
“Loki would never miss that.” Thor said.
“And just casually walking away would never have worked either.” Natasha stated, “Even any normal person would’ve noticed him.”
[00:06:37 to 00:06:54]
“I can imagine that becoming a meme.” Rhodey whispered to Tony, who laughed silently, “I can agree with you on that one. Peter would love it.”
“Burdened with a glorious purpose?” Wanda asked, confused.
Vision clarified, “As far as I’ve seen, he was told to control Earth, rule them.”
Thor further added, “Thanos was after the Tesseract too.”
“Why though?” Sam asked.
Thor shook his head, “I don’t know, but it cannot be good.”
Tony got a sinking feeling that Thanos was going to cause a lot of their problems.
[00:06:55 to 00:06:57]
“He’s not going to like that…” Bruce winced, “At the time at least.”
Thor added, “Selvig must have thought that perhaps if he knew me, and was my brother. He might be an ally.”
“After Selvig just watched him kill a dozen people and mind control others?” James asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Maybe he hoped.” Rhodey suggested
“Maybe.” James accepted
[00:06:58 to 00:07:05]
“Trample us more like.” Steve muttered.
[00:07:06 to 00:07:12]
“It wouldn’t be under Thanos.” Thor grimly stated.
“Neither would it be under Loki.” Clint pointed out.
Thor shook his head, “Loki makes a good ruler. At the time he was being controlled but when he assumed my father’s place in Asgard, he ruled better perhaps than even my father did.”
All of them looked surprised at the revelation.
“But at the time it still wouldn’t be good, since he was under Thanos’ control.” Bruce reasoned.
“No it wouldn’t.” All of them agreed.
[00:07:13 to 00:07:28]
“People should have what they want,” Steve hotly said. “They should be free.”
Tony disagreed, “Too much freedom courts chaos. It’s as simple that. If there were no rules, the world would be a disaster, people running around arguing, stealing, hurting. It would never work.”
Steve has to concede that.
“Too much freedom courts chaos.” Sam mused, “That was deep.”
Tony grinned, “I have my moments.”
[00:07:29 to 00:07:32]
“He doesn’t.” James stated.
[00:07:34 to 00:07:35]
“Just get out of there Nick.” Tony urged, slight worry leaking out of his voice, despite his efforts.
[00:07:35 to 00:07:47]
“Nice plan but he was risking a lot.” Vision lauded.
[00:07:48 to 00:07:53]
Clint hung his head. He hated feeling that powerless. Seeing his actions now just made it all more horrible.
Tony was fidgeting clearly worried, even though he knew Nick made it out, he couldn’t not worry.
[00:08:03 to 00:08:12]
“She would’ve seen through that easily. Also you were behaving really suspiciously.” Natasha pointed out.
[00:08:16 to 00:08:26]
“If she would have stopped you, would you have hurt her?” Wanda asked timidly.
“Yes, we wouldn’t be able to control ourselves.” Clint said subdued.
Natasha gave his arm a firm squeeze, reminding him that he wasn’t to blame.
[00:08:32 to 00:08:37]
“Just get out quickly.” Tony said hurriedly.
Rhodey whispered, “He’s alive and well Tones, I think now you get how we feel.”
Tony muttered, “Guess this is payback then.”
Rhodey smiled, “It most definitely is.”
[00:08:38 to 00:09:08]
“Was everyone evacuated?” Bruce asked.
Vision said, “Records show that most were evacuated before, but some of them just managed to escape narrowly.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
[00:09:09 to 00:09:14]
Steve sighed in relief, “At least he had the sense to value lives over the weapons.”
“I think Fury was so adamant about it because these weapons could prove very effective,” Natasha hastily added, “If used correctly by the correct parties of course.”
Tony shook his head, “Those weapons were extremely dangerous. They would completely level the field, mass destruction at it’s finest. I’m glad that they’re destroyed.”
The room agreed with the assessment.
[00:09:15 to 00:09:30]
“This looks like a scene straight out of an action movie.” Sam commented.
“But then this would definitely be an action movie, I just want to know how whoever the person is managed to obtain the footage.” Tony pondered.
“I think we can discuss that later, let’s just get this over with.” James said.
[00:09:31 to 00:09:38]
Tony heaved a sigh of relief, “He was lucky he made it out in one piece.”