ANGRBODA ※ Tony Stark [1]

29 - ANSWERS

THE S.H.I.E.L.D MEDICAL TEAM moved around each Avenger like a cloud of bees. They were brought back to the Helicarrier under the orders of Fury and the main bridge had been accommodated for them. He was overseeing that they all got proper medical care, even Bruce, who had gone back to his normal self.

It was definitely more practical to keep them away from the public eye for now. Every media outlet on the planet was blowing up with footage and reports on the seven heroes who fought against an alien army in New York. The world had never seen anything like it.

Loki had been caught somewhere in the rubbles and taken into S.H.I.E.L.D's custody. He hadn't fought off much. After all, there wasn't anything left to fight for anymore. He knew he had lost.

The Scepter and the Tesseract were hidden away and placed in secure containers. As soon as Thor was ready to go, he'd take them back to Odin's vault in Asgard, where they belonged.

Fury scanned the room. All seven of them were sitting around, recovering from the battle and getting their wounds checked up. Natasha was teasing Banner about something, making the rest chuckle. They were chatting away like the oldest of friends, like they hadn't just fought off the greatest threat in the history of mankind.

His eye landed on The Harpy sitting on the side with Stark. A medical assistant was wrapping her arm in a thin bandage. He walked over to her and stood, hands folded against his back.

"Angrboda."

The Harpy looked up at him. The worried frown he'd gotten used to seeing on her face had disappeared. She looked completely serene for once.

"Fury."

The quick glance she exchanged with Tony did not escape him. She stood up to face the Director, expectantly. Fury cleared his throat.

"I'd like to apologize for what I said a few days ago," he winced slightly "For the record, I would never—"

"It's alright Director," she cut him off, looking amused. The truth was, Angrboda simply did not have the drive to care about these things anymore. It seemed so futile in the grand scheme of things and especially after all that had happened.

Fury cracked a small smile — probably the first one she'd seen since she met him — glad there wasn't any bad blood between them. He soon left her to rest and Angrboda sat back next to Tony; an amused grin on her face.

"What was that about?" Tony asked as one of the nurses stitched up a wound above his brow.

"He's just holding out an olive branch," she shrugged, leaning against her seat "It's a nice gesture."

Tony didn't say anything. For him, it was enough that they made it out alive. His heartfelt look made a certain warmth surge in her chest. If she was that kind of woman, she would have probably been flustered, maybe even blushed.

No point in denying it anymore: she was completely and stupidly in love with this man.

"Remember what we talked about?" he finally broke the silence "When all of this is over... Malibu."

Angie's face fell slightly. It wasn't what he said. No, the wish of Malibu was still there. She wanted it as much as he did but... it ushered her back to Loki's revelation, somehow. His words still haunted her.

"Tony... there's something I've been meaning to tell you," she finally said "About Loki."

"What about him?"

"During the battle, he said something..." she trailed off hesitantly. It was hard to say it out loud when she could barely fathom the idea "He said my brother... Fenrir... he's alive."