Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 90

Natasha plans to sneak into Avengers Tower without anybody noticing she's there.

Unfortunately, Tony is right outside the elevator, using his Iron Man glove as a laser pointer for Snowflake to chase around.

He looks up when he hears the elevator ding. "Oh, hey, you're back."

Natasha nods uncomfortably. "Mm-hmm." And now she waits. How long is it going to take him to say something? He has to know. He may not be terminally online, but for as big a story as it is, SHIELD's files leaking online, he has to know.

"Heard you took down SHIELD," he says.

"Well, you know..." She trails off. Yeah, she took down SHIELD. She probably took herself down in the process, with how much of her own past is now online for the world to see.

But all Tony says is, "Good on you."

Natasha forces a smile.

Yeah.

Real good.

Tony puts his hands in his lap, and Snowflake crouches down, ready to pounce whenever he brings the laser back. She can tell by the shift in mood where this is going, and it's exactly what she'd hoped to avoid.

"Okay, I gotta ask," Tony says.

Natasha swallows hard. Here it goes.

"What the hell happened to Fury?"

Natasha stares at him.

What?

"Because you said he's dead but it looks like a lot's changed in the last 48 hours and the internet's not so sure anymore."

Natasha blinks.

That's it?

He's been online, he's seen the fallout, he's almost certainly seen the things she's done, and he just wants to know about Fury?

"He's alive," Natasha says cautiously. "But as far as everyone outside this tower is confirmed, HYDRA killed him."

Tony clicks his tongue. "Got it." He mimes zipping his lips. "Would've asked Loki, but I'm pretty sure he's been sleeping for, like, 16 hours straight."

She raises her brows. A small part of her finds that weird, but a much larger part of her can't figure out why Tony's not saying anything. He has to know what she's done. There's no possible way he's been online and hasn't seen it. It's everywhere, and he hasn't said a thing.

"You guys really wore him out, huh?" Tony adds.

He's still not saying anything.

Does he really not know? Is it not as big of a deal as she thinks it is? Does she just feel like everyone already knows because it's her? Maybe they don't. Maybe it's not as bad as she thinks it is.

"I guess so," Natasha says. "I don't blame him. If I'd had nothing else to do, I probably would've done the same." It was a long couple of days. She could go for a nap. And, honestly, 16 hours of unconsciousness doesn't seem that bad right now.

"Fair enough," Tony says. He lifts his hand from his lap and the laser returns. Snowflake jumps after it, putting a smile on his face. "When's Cap coming back, you know?"

She shakes her head. "No idea. He took a pretty good beating. I don't think he's up for an hours-long car ride."

Tony raises his brows. "What, can't take a plane?"

"His head is the size of a watermelon," Natasha deadpans. "When I say he took a beating, I mean he took a beating." She felt kind of bad, ditching him like that, but he has Sam to keep him company while he's icing the hell out of his face. She just really wanted to come home.