Summer looks up from her book and freezes. “You … aren’t Flyte.” To that self-evident remark, eyebrows high on her face, she adds, “Who are you?”
She shudders, involuntarily leaning away from that smile. It shouldn’t be frightening; it’s the innocent, playful smile of a child. But she knows entirely too much of what is behind it.
“We stopped you once. We can do it again.” It’s all she can say in the face of this smiling danger.
A triumphant smirk is formed when Summer leans away.
“That was once. And the thing is I can fail as many times as i need to finally have my plans come together. If you all fail once in stopping me… You’re doomed,” He hisses in sick pleasure.
“There’s one of you, and many of us,” she points out. “You have to know of and understand all of us to win. We only have to understand you. Just you. And we’ve your brother to help with that, I think. You’ll never win, Loki. Never.”
How in the world has she fallen into the dramatic face-off scene? This is life, it’s not a book or a movie. She shakes her head slightly.
“Yes but more of you mean it’s more entertainment for me and also means that I can figure out who is your most valuable members and who is your least valuable members. If one member falls that is valued a lit. Everything begins to crumble.” A small frown is made. “Thor thinks he knew me yet he did not. I am not the same person he knew in the past. He does not know what I do or what I know anymore. He believes he is stronger than me and will take me to Asgard to serve their justice but yet claims to be my brother and wants everything to be as it was before everything start. Once he is convinced that nothing will be the same maybe then you will have a chance of defeating me properly.”
She starts to laugh. He sounds so … familiar, with those words. Just a frustrated sibling, jealous of his older brother. “You sound like me,” she manages, knowing he’ll be offended at the comparion, but unable to help herself.
She shoved his shoulder. “Sneaking! There’s no sneaking here. Do you know how hard it is to /sneak/ with Jarvis looking over my shoulder all the time?” Summer shook her head. “You know how he is, he wants the people he cares for close to him. /You/ were gone.” She didn’t mean it to come out accusatory, but there it is.
James looked at Summer for a second. “I wasn’t sneaking first off and second, a simple satellite call or letter would’ve been fine. I may be gone but I’m not out of touch or anything.” He was hiding it well but the fact that no one tried to talk to him about none of this was sort of hit him that this happened while he was away. “I know how he is…but hey, you two are together now and Tony’s out of my hair. He’s your problem now,” he said jokingly.
“Look, I don’t know how Tony might’ve tried to reach you. You weren’t even around when I came on the scene, remember? So don’t get all rawr at me about it.” She sighed, gnawing at her lip. “He missed you a /lot/, okay. I’m not a substitute for you. I don’t know, maybe he thinks you’re still mad at him over taking the company down from weapons manufacturing — or for all the stuff at the Expo back then.” A pause. “/Are/ you upset that I’m moving in with him?”
Doc darted away when Boris moved, eyeing the otter narrowly and lashing her tail. When Boris made no further moves, she deigned to creep back, headbutting Jarvis’ hand insistently and offering a tiny, squeaky meow.
“It’s all posturing,” Jarvis assured the cat, his tone mildly conspiratorial. He resumed petting her, scratching her chin. “He’s harmless as long as you aren’t something small and shiny.” Evidently, even the (former) computer was not immune to talking to the animals.
Well, Doc was small, but she was definitely not shiny. She was sleek and dark, with a few pale spots turning her coat calico. Green-gold eyes peered up at Jarvis, occasionally flicking over to check on Boris. She tipped her chin up, eyes slitting almost closed, and began to purr loudly.
“Oh yeah? Were there specifics? Did you leave him with plenty of caffeine?” Summer glances up from her laptop, grinning. “Or is this him doing that thing where he’s afraid he’ll screw it up if he tries to … make his friends be friends?”
Summer leads the way outside, through the private halls, because Stark Tower is still one of the headquarters of Stark Industries, after all, and it’s impolite to interrupt the staff. She casts a bemused glance at Clint. “You’re in hiding, afraid for being hunted, and you come here to hang out? Are you actively trying to get yourself killed?” Her tone makes it clear she’s teasing, but there’s still an element of truth in her words. Sooner or later, he’s bound to be spotted by someone he doesn’t want to be seen by.
“I’m good at making a quick escape if needed but didn’t you say that ‘I’m safe here’ before,” Clint answers teasingly grinning at you. “The other Clint is not in trouble here I believe, so your SHIELD should not be hunting me. Unless my SHIELD runs after me I don’t think I actually have to worry that much but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.”
“Very true. And if SHIELD from your universe comes hunting you, we probably have a bigger problem, no offense, than them hunting you. That kind of spillover is very bad.” Summer pushes open the door and goes outside, picking her way down the icy steps. “Which way did you want to go?”
“None taken.” he says smiling, it’s not very easy to offend him. “You have a point there. I find it very unlikely that they would really follow me anyway. They don’t have the technology yet.”
“Let’s go to the right, I think I remember a park being a walking distance away there.”
“If we threw a stone hard enough we’d hit Central Park,” she shrugs. “That’s why I moved into this area to begin with, before I ever met Tony properly.” Summer pulls her coat closer around her neck, giving an exaggerated shiver. “There’ll be drink stands by the ice rink, I’m sure.”
“What did you say?” she asked, slightly accusatory. “I assume from the lack of debris you didn’t scare him into Hulkout, so what in the world did you say?”
“He had questions about everything he’s missed,” Tony replied, his tone awash in innocence. “I was just answering his questions. Like a good friend.”
“Your halo is crooked. You were trying to provoke him, as usual.” Summer shook her head. “You’re lucky he likes you, I think. /What/ did you say?”
“Oh yeah? Were there specifics? Did you leave him with plenty of caffeine?” Summer glances up from her laptop, grinning. “Or is this him doing that thing where he’s afraid he’ll screw it up if he tries to … make his friends be friends?”
“Ghiradelli. It’s expensive, but /so/ worth it.” Summer bypasses Clint’s hand and slips out the door. “Come on,” she shouts back, heading to the elevator. She wonders briefly if he’s living in the Tower, now, and where, and asks him while Jarvis takes them smoothly down.
Clint makes a note of the brand in his head and follows after you. “I don’t think I have tasted that before, maybe I could have a sip next time ?” he mentions as he catches up. “Well I have a small flat of my own but I come here to spend time with you all. Tony did show me the guest room before though and I have bunked there some nights,” he adds and thinks would Tony ever ask him to stay. He was offered the room for a night to clear his head after all.
Summer leads the way outside, through the private halls, because Stark Tower is still one of the headquarters of Stark Industries, after all, and it’s impolite to interrupt the staff. She casts a bemused glance at Clint. “You’re in hiding, afraid for being hunted, and you come here to hang out? Are you actively trying to get yourself killed?” Her tone makes it clear she’s teasing, but there’s still an element of truth in her words. Sooner or later, he’s bound to be spotted by someone he doesn’t want to be seen by.
“I’m good at making a quick escape if needed but didn’t you say that ‘I’m safe here’ before,” Clint answers teasingly grinning at you. “The other Clint is not in trouble here I believe, so your SHIELD should not be hunting me. Unless my SHIELD runs after me I don’t think I actually have to worry that much but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.”
“Very true. And if SHIELD from your universe comes hunting you, we probably have a bigger problem, no offense, than them hunting you. That kind of spillover is very bad.” Summer pushes open the door and goes outside, picking her way down the icy steps. “Which way did you want to go?”
Summer looks up from her book and freezes. “You … aren’t Flyte.” To that self-evident remark, eyebrows high on her face, she adds, “Who are you?”
She shudders, involuntarily leaning away from that smile. It shouldn’t be frightening; it’s the innocent, playful smile of a child. But she knows entirely too much of what is behind it.
“We stopped you once. We can do it again.” It’s all she can say in the face of this smiling danger.
A triumphant smirk is formed when Summer leans away.
“That was once. And the thing is I can fail as many times as i need to finally have my plans come together. If you all fail once in stopping me… You’re doomed,” He hisses in sick pleasure.
“There’s one of you, and many of us,” she points out. “You have to know of and understand all of us to win. We only have to understand you. Just you. And we’ve your brother to help with that, I think. You’ll never win, Loki. Never.”
How in the world has she fallen into the dramatic face-off scene? This is life, it’s not a book or a movie. She shakes her head slightly.