Chapter Text
The thing is, now that they've retrieved Loki's staff, rounded up most of Hydra's leftover hoodlums, and dealt with the whole Ultron debacle, Tony doesn't really spend all that much time with the Avengers. He catches up with them now and then, sure, just to check in and make sure no one has triggered any potentially world-ending, cataclysmic events, but otherwise he sticks to his solo Iron Man gig and leaves well enough alone. He has more than enough on his plate, what with the media fallout post-Sokovia—apparently it's his fault that his global defense system became sentient, went completely off the rails, and tried to annihilate the human race—and he knows the Avengers will let him know if, for some reason, they need him.
That's why, when Steve calls him out of the blue and tells him to meet the gang at the new SHIELD-run facility, he knows better than to blow it off and Skype in, as tempting as it is.
The new facility doesn't look like much, and it being in the middle of nowhere means Tony can't take his private jet to it without being incredibly conspicuous, so he resorts to flying there in one of his stealthier Iron Man suits. When he arrives, he takes the time to store his suit in a safe place before he goes to the door and punches in an access code—an access code, honestly, in the age of artificial intelligence and helicarriers. What is this, the nineties?—and walks right in.
Clint is there, leaning against the wall and apparently waiting for him; when Tony walks in, he straightens and pushes his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "Hey. About time you showed up."
"Well, you know, traffic at this time of day is the worst." He adjusts the cuffs of his sleeves. "So they dragged you out here, too?"
Clint shrugs. "It's not so bad. I figure I can sacrifice a few days of paternity leave in exchange for a good night's sleep away from home."
Right, new baby. Tony had forgotten about that. "My invitation didn't say anything about a slumber party. Is Steve holding out on me? If I'd known, I'd have brought Captain America pajamas for everybody."
"Hey, if you're there, how are we going to give each other makeovers and talk about you behind your back?" Clint jerks his head toward a hallway. "C'mon, everyone is congregating down this way."
"It's not a surprise party or anything, is it? It's not even my birthday."
Clint barks a short laugh. "Like we could throw anything that could compare to a Stark party. Sorry. As far as I know, it's all business."
Tony frowns. "As far as you know, huh? So they haven't told you anything either?"
"Nope. I'm just as in the dark as you are." Clint leads him to a door at the end of the hall and punches in another access code to open it. He goes in first. "Got him."
Steve stands up. "Good, then we're all here."
'All' apparently means Steve, Natasha, Clint, Tony, Maria Hill, and Thor, who Tony had assumed was still up in Asgard. They're clustered around a conference table that is slightly too big for the room it's in, and Thor is crammed into a chair that is considerably too small for him. It makes for a pretty funny picture, but Tony regardless makes a mental note to get in SHIELD's database and add 'chairs that a demigod can sit in comfortably' to their shopping list.
Natasha nudges a chair out for Clint, leaving the chair by Steve, near the head of the table, open for Tony, and he takes it as he finishes surveying the room. He has to give SHIELD a little credit, he'll admit; for all that the facility doesn't look like much on the outside, they did a halfway decent job on the inside. Three of the four walls in the room are digitized to project images and look to be holograph-capable, and if the tablet Hill is fiddling with is any indication, it looks like this meeting is going to have an audio-visual component. Tony is a sucker for good AV. So is another Avenger, but...
"Bruce is still MIA?" he asks, already sure he knows the answer.
Hill shakes her head. "There's been no sign of him since we found the Quinjet, but we're keeping an ear to the ground. We'll find him soon."
Clint and Natasha exchange a look, but neither says anything and no one comments on it. Instead, Steve nods to Hill, who swipes a few things on her tablet and projects what looks like a cell phone video onto the wall.
"Loki is back," Steve says—somewhat unnecessarily given the footage, which shows Loki walking down the street of some urban metropolis Tony only half-recognizes. London, maybe? It's a little hard to tell. "On Earth."
Clint frowns. "No Chitauri though, right? Big deal. He's not the easiest to tackle, but we can handle him all right. What are we waiting for? Let's take him down and get him back to Asgard where he belongs."
Steve looks to Thor, who shakes his head. "I'm afraid it is not as simple as that," he says. "When Loki made his escape from Asgard—"
Tony interrupts. "Hold up. Last time your brother came up in conversation, you said he was dead. What happened to him being dead?"
Thor's jaw tightens. "It would seem Loki took the opportunity to play on my sympathy and on my grief and has been living in Asgard unbeknownst to any of us."
"Yeah, okay, that sounds like him," Tony says. "But for two years? I mean, I know you weren't there the whole time, so don't think I'm trying to pin this one on you, but come on. Two whole years and no one realized he was lurking around?"
Thor continues in lieu of clarifying. "When I confronted him, he came at me. We fought, but he retreated before we could strike final blows, and he departed Asgard. Not, however, before stopping in the dungeons and releasing scores of prisoners."
Clint frowns. "I don't think I like where this is going."
Hill shakes her head. "What do you mean by 'scores', Thor?"
"Our prison records are not as precise as I might have liked, so I cannot be entirely certain. At least eighty." Thor pauses. "We assume they accompanied Loki here from Asgard."
For a long moment, the room is silent. Then, finally, Tony speaks up.
"Are you trying to tell us that Loki brought eighty-some escaped Asgardian convicts with him to Earth? Because that's what I'm getting from this."
Thor shakes his head. "No, of course not."
Tony exhales. "Okay. Good."
"The majority are not Asgardian at all," Thor says, as though that is supposed to make everything better, "and we captured and re-imprisoned fourteen of them before they could complete the journey here."
"Right, because that's definitely good news. Sixty-six escaped convicts—plus Loki—is way more manageable. Definitely." Tony drums his fingers on the table and watches the thirty seconds of cell phone footage looping on the screen across from him. "It looks like he's alone here."
"That has something to do with interdimensional space travel," Steve says. "Thor tried to explain it earlier. You might understand it better than I did."
"I don't quite understand the mechanics of it myself," Thor admits. "Such intellectual pursuits have always been more of interest to my brother."
"Essentially," Steve continues, "once Loki is through, he can arrange it so the rest of them show up anywhere he wants, whenever he wants."
Tony frowns and drums his fingers against the table as he tries to puzzle out the physics behind that. If he assumes Loki's form of space travel follows suit with the Einstein-Rosen Bridge theories they've more or less confirmed fit into the mechanics of the Bifrost, it sort of makes sense. "It would have to be sooner rather than later, though, right? Hanging out between worlds can't be exactly safe."
Thor nods. "Yes, I believe you are right."
Clint holds up a hand. "Hold up. As far as we know, it's still just Loki here so far. Big deal. Let's just grab him before he can bring the other guys through. Problem solved, right?"
Steve nods. "That's the plan, for now, but thinking long term..."
"They'd probably get through eventually with or without Loki's help," Tony ventures. "Not right away, and probably not all of them would survive the trip, but a good number would. And there's no way of knowing where they'd wind up."
"It could be anywhere in the nine realms," Thor agrees. "Regardless, I doubt Loki will wait long before calling on his new allies. I've reason to think he is after the Infinity Stones, and he will know I am in pursuit of him. He will act quickly to gather them while he has the chance."
Natasha frowned. "The Infinity Stones?" she repeats.
"Whatever they are, I'm guessing they're more than just rocks," Tony says.
"They are gems containing great power," Thor explains. "There are six in all. Loki's staff contained one, although it is now in possession of the Vision. The Tesseract is another. I encountered a third in my battle against the dark elves, and I've heard rumors of something that might be another on the far reaches of the cosmos. I know not where to find the remaining stones, but it is not likely a coincidence that they are making themselves known now."
Tony rakes his fingers through his hair. "So what happens if Loki manages to collect them all?"
They all ignore Clint's humming the Pokemon theme song, and Thor shakes his head. "I do not know if Loki knows how to manipulate the stones, or if he knows how to wield them to their full potential. Regardless, the consequences of his coming into possession of the stones would be dire, for all of the realms."
Steve nods. "That's why it's in our best interest to round up Loki fast, before he brings in any reinforcements. Once he does—"
"Guys," Hill interrupts, stabbing at her tablet. "We may have been too optimistic. Look."
She swipes up and the footage of Loki on the screens is replaced by more cell phone footage—lots of footage, all playing at once—of what looks like wormholes opening up in various cities. Tony does recognize some of these—there's New York, Paris, Tokyo—but there are even more that he doesn't. And, from every wormhole, there are creatures—not men, because no one would mistake these things for human—pouring out of them and, as soon as they have their feet on solid ground, disappearing into nothing.
Everyone is silent. After the footage starts to loop, Hill shuts it off and the screens all go black.
Natasha is the first to speak. "Should we proceed to Plan B?"
Steve nods. "We talked about this before the rest of you showed up," he explains, taking his seat again. He clasps his hands together and rests them on the table, leaning forward. "Natasha believes we can't go after just a few of these guys without tipping off Loki, and we can't go after just Loki without the rest of them knowing and potentially going rogue and causing even worse trouble. I think she's right."
"So, what?" Clint says. "We just take them all on at once? Look, I can do a suicide mission now and then no problem, but we're starting to make them into a regular thing and I haven't gotten around to updating my life insurance policy yet."
Natasha shakes her head. "Going at them head-on would only make things worse. Instead, we'll take them down from the inside."
Clint furrows his brow. "If you're going where I think you're going with this..."
She doesn't confirm or deny it, but she continues for everyone else's benefit. "Loki is setting up an operation on what is relatively unfamiliar territory for him. He's been here before, but not long enough to really get the lay of the land. If he wants to stay under the radar, he needs someone who knows how to live in the modern world to work with him."
"An undercover agent," Hill says. The vague sense of awe in her voice implies this is the first time she's heard this plan; somehow, that isn't at all comforting, considering she's second-in-command of the biggest, baddest spy ring in the business. "You want someone to infiltrate Loki's base by pretending they're on his side."
"That's right." Steve looks to Thor. "We'll need to know everything you can tell us about Loki. How he thinks, what he looks for in his allies, everything."
Thor shifts uneasily in his seat—although, given the tiny chair, he might just be losing feeling in parts of his body and moving to try and get the blood flowing again—but he nods. "Of course. I'll give you what I can."
"Good. Tony, you'll work with SHIELD to pinpoint Loki's location. Once we know where he is, Natasha will—"
"Hold up," Tony interrupts. "You're sending in Natasha?"
Steve hesitates, clearly not sure why Tony is asking. "Yes."
"Yeah, no. That's a stupid plan." He lifts up his hands before anyone can protest. "Don't get me wrong, I get it. She's trained in this sort of thing. She's the best." He glances in Natasha's direction. "That's right, Agent Romanoff, you heard me. I said you were the best. You can mark it in your calendar if you want."
"Maybe later," she answers.
Tony goes on. "But here's the thing: Loki knows she's the best. If she waltzes in on him, subterfuge is going to be the first thing on his mind, and he'll probably kill her. I think it goes without saying that him killing her isn't good for her, it isn't good for us, and, long term, it's not exactly good news for life as we know it."
Steve frowns. "So what do you suggest?"
Tony looks around the table. "Well, Thor's no good. Clint probably wouldn't get a pass, either. I mean, you're good, Clint, but Loki's got to know you're still pissed about the whole mind control thing a few years ago."
"Damn right I am."
"Steve, the idea of you trying to team up with a supervillain reads like a bad joke. Bruce would be good, maybe, because he's got that honest face. Plus, there's no chance Loki could kill him. But since we can't find him, our best bet is probably someone Loki doesn't already know. How are the newbies shaping up?"
"I'm not going to send in one of the recruits," Steve says. "Colonel Rhodes is here under the supervision of the US military. Not only does he outrank me, but I don't have that kind of authority. Sam thinks fast, but he's never run into Loki before. I'm not sure how he'd do. And Wanda and the Vision, well... They're still pretty raw."
Hill hesitates. "There are the others..."
"Skye's team?" Natasha shakes her head. "They're not ready, either. They've barely started training, and you know what the guys on the bus would say about it if we put them out there like that." She glances in Tony's direction. "Pending any other bright ideas, that just leaves you."
Tony laughs. "Yeah, funny. No way. I'm pretty sure that's not going to fly, either. I'm not exactly the evil villain type. Maybe we can outsource this. Who do we know?"
"Actually," Hill hedges, "you do have something of a history. Not as a criminal, but the weapons manufacturing didn't exactly make you a lot of friends."
"I gave that up."
"And became Iron Man," Natasha points out. "Essentially, a one-man band of weaponry."
"Yeah, but for justice and stuff."
Natasha shrugs. "Maybe, but you do make a lot of enemies in that suit."
"Including the press," Clint offers. "They really hate you right now, man."
"The press loves me."
Hill raises her eyebrows. "I can pull up at least a dozen editorial pieces that say otherwise. Most of your headlines aren't favorable at the moment."
"Yeah," Clint agrees. "Know what the headline was last week? 'Tony Stark: Hitler of the modern age.' Hitler, man. You got compared to Hitler."
Steve makes a face. "That's terrible."
"Shock factor, Cap." Clint shrugs and leans back in his seat. "It sells."
Thor frowns. "I don't understand. Why is Tony facing such criticism?"
"There are all kinds of rumors going around that Tony is going back into weapons and stuff," Clint explains. "Some of the more outrageous networks are saying he's testing them on people. They think that's what he was trying to do with Ultron."
"That's ridiculous," Thor says. "Ultron was merely an error in judgment."
"Right? Thor gets it. My intentions were pure. That's got to count for something."
Clint goes on as though Tony hadn't said anything. "Yeah, but you know what they say about leopards changing their spots."
Thor tilts his head a bit. "I do not, actually."
"They say they don't do it." Clint looks back at Tony. "Look, we all know you're not a bad guy, but a lot of people are questioning you right now, and seeing as how Loki was sort of into you back when he first came to Earth, it's actually kind of perfect."
It takes a second for that to sink in, and then Tony bolts up in his seat. "I'm sorry, what did you just say? He was what?"
Clint shrugs. "Like, not in a creepy school kid crush kind of way. He just thought you were interesting, I guess."
"How has this not come up before? What the fuck, Clint?"
"Sorry, man. I guess it just never seemed all that important until now."
Thor makes a thoughtful noise. "It does make some sense," he says. "Loki has always appreciated those with wit and a sense of humor, and you do possess those qualities in some abundance. He was very fond of Alfheim's residents for that same reason, and of flyting. He would likely consider you a worthy opponent."
"Flyting?" Hill asks.
"It is a game. The players insult each other in verse. It can be very entertaining, and Loki is something of a master." Thor smiles. "His biting tongue and quick turn of phrase are legendary on realms extending beyond Asgard."
"Right, well, the witty banter aside, you're also a pretty powerful guy," Clint says. "I mean, if I was going to make a power grab and try to take over the world, you'd probably be in my top ten list of people to either take down or get on my side. You'd maybe even be in my top five."
Tony doesn't want to admit it, but that's vaguely flattering. And a little insulting. He should at least make the top three. "We're getting off track here."
"We are," Steve agrees. "But, Tony, they do have a point. You might actually be perfect for this. You have a history of making rash decisions, and with all the backlash you've been getting lately, it's not completely unreasonable to think you might try to team up with Loki. It doesn't hurt that you're a known Avenger, either. Loki might see that as an advantage, if you can convince him that you really have split with us."
"He's not going to believe that," Tony says, a bit aghast. Loki, after all, is a pretty smart guy—at least, Thor has made him sound like a smart guy—and Tony knows firsthand that he's pretty damn perceptive, not to mention batshit crazy. One wrong move and Tony could find himself on the wrong end of a knife, and that's a best-case scenario.
Then again, Steve's right, too: if he can pull this off—if he can somehow convince Loki that he's turned tailcoat and is out to get revenge on the team that did him wrong—then maybe he's got a shot. And it's not like he hasn't set the revenge precedent before. Iron Man was more or less born from his wanting to get even with somebody, and it wasn't all that long ago that he gave a known criminal mastermind his home address just for the chance to even the score when a friend of his got hurt. So... Maybe, if he can put the right spin on all this, this could work.
That said, he's not going to put any money on it. He's played at enough casinos to know better than to place a bet that large, no matter what the stakes.
Not that it's ever stopped him from playing, of course.
"Okay," he says. "Okay. Maybe this could work. I mean, the odds aren't good, but it is possible. Maybe. There's an outside chance. A slim one."
Steve nods his approval. "We'll make sure you have everything you need," he promises. "Natasha will give you some basic training. We'll set you up with a wire so that we can listen in and you can call for backup if you—"
"Whoa," Clint interrupts. "You really want to put him on a live comm? If Loki or any of his goons see that, it's a dead giveaway. They're not even going to ask questions. They'll know he's a spy and they'll take care of him in a second. Right, Nat?"
Natasha shrugs one shoulder. "I've never worn a wire."
"You've never needed to," Steve reasons. "Tony hasn't done anything like this before."
"I can have FRIDAY keep tabs," Tony offers. "Forward you anything important."
Steve shakes his head. "It's better if you don't reach out to any of us. This is risky enough without adding another layer."
"Exactly why he shouldn't wear a wire," Clint says.
"He's completely inexperienced," Steve argues, "and he's trying to deceive Loki. There are a thousand things that could go wrong."
"Hey now," Tony says. "Let's think about this for a second. All you need me to do is convince Loki to let me on his team and then get enough of his trust that I figure out how to take down his entire operation, right?"
Steve frowns, considering him. "Right..."
"I have tons of experience."
"Tony..."
"I do. I was CEO of a multi-million dollar company," he points out. "What do you think that job description entails, exactly? Because trust me, it's not that far off."
"How do you figure?" Clint asks.
"I used to get information on companies all the time so that I could take them apart and merge them with Stark Industries. I had to kiss a lot of corporate flunky ass to do it sometimes, too, until I really made a name for myself. Pretending to be whoever it is they want you to be to get something done? Piece of cake. I do it all the time."
"I don't know..." Steve hedges.
He sighs. He really didn't want to drudge this back up, but... "Plus there was that time I was being held hostage in Afghanistan and convinced the guys there I'd build them a bomb," he reminds them. "You should have seen the looks on their faces when they caught a glimpse of my battle armor. You know, the Mark I? Maybe you've heard of it? It was kind of a big deal."
The team seems to consider that a moment, and then Clint lets out a low whistle. "Maybe you should have been a supervillain after all," he says, and Tony thinks he hears a hint of admiration in his voice. He's only slightly concerned by it.
Thor nods his head. "This is good," he says. "You are like Loki in some ways. That may give you something of an advantage."
Tony decides he really doesn't want to know why Thor thinks he and Loki are anything alike. Really, he doesn't. "Won't that give him an advantage, too?"
Thor laughs. "That is precisely the sort of question he would ask," he says. "Yes, this will work fine. I'm certain of it."
Steve furrows his brow. "No wire, then. Are you sure you're okay with that, Tony?"
"Do I have a choice?" He shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. Thor thinks it'll work. Let's all think like Thor." Tony isn't nearly as confident, of course, but, hey, he's done harder things. He can't really think of any at the moment, but he's sure he has. And besides, he's Tony Stark. He's more or less made a career out of doing things that should be impossible; this will just be one more to add to this list.
Steve watches him for a good thirty seconds without saying a word, and then he settles back in his seat. "All right, we'll try it. Let's get to work finding Loki so we can get started."
"Yeah," Tony agrees. "The sooner we find him, the sooner we get this over with."
One way or the other.