Spooky Action at a Distance | Frostiron

I'll Be Dancing on My Own

Tony had never seen anything like it. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that. Although it did explain a lot about Thor. Thor led them around the palace, showing them to their individual rooms, the dining room, the ballroom, the library, the healing room, and lastly, the garden. Tony had never been one for gardens, but the place was so elegant. He could see a woman, she looked to be in her forties, definitely older than Thor, crouching down next to some flowers, gold magic seeping through her hands. He should've guessed that it was kept alive by magic.

Tony was in awe. Asgard was so much more beautiful than he'd ever imagined. He'd only seen a tiny fragment of it, from the Bifrost to the palace, but it was beautiful. He could see why Thor loved it. The people seemed nice enough, but he didn't know if that was just because they were visitors. He hadn't met the king and queen yet though, and he was still nervous to do that. Even though Thor had assured them that his parents were lovely and they were excited to finally meet them, it was terrifying to meet the king and queen of Asgard. Especially since they were gods. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, trying to look at the different colours to ground himself. He looked up at the palace, only to find a figure on a balcony, watching them. He squinted slightly, only to gasp when he realised who it was. That wasn't possible. Thor said that he was in a cell. What kind of cell had a balcony? Bruce, who was standing right next to Tony, heard the engineer gasp and he followed his gaze, only for him to tense as he saw the smirking god, looking directly at them.

Tony didn't know how he felt. He felt scared. Sick. Angry. Petrified. Sad. Shit. He didn't know what to do. It was as if he was frozen on the spot. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to punch the smirk off of the god's face, but he couldn't get close enough. He was assured he wouldn't see Loki. So why could he see the god? Why was the god smirking directly at them, as if he knew the fear he caused Tony? As if he knew how his appearance would torture the mechanic?

"Ah, yes, that's quite enough of the garden now. Let's head in," Thor rushed out, realising why the team had gone quiet.

How did Thor think he was going to get away with hiding the fact Loki wasn't in a cell? There were guards outside Loki's room, both day and night, and of course, he had a balcony! Thor cursed himself for forgetting that. Though at least with the Avengers around, there was a small chance Loki would do anything. He supposed that that was good, in a way, but now he had to explain why the homicidal maniac wasn't 'rotting in a cell', as Thor had originally told the team.

They all followed Thor into a room, one that was linked to the garden but had a table and chairs, even a couple sofas. There were steps to go down to the communal area of the room, the top being level with the garden. Tony rushed in, trying to forget about what he saw. He kept focusing on colours. Gold. Red. Silver. Gold. Silver. Gold. Red. Why was everything the same colour? Bruce rushed over to the scientist and tried to calm him down, instructing him to breathe in time with him. Bruce didn't quite know what else to do. Tony's anxiety wasn't really a secret anymore. Not after the third time, Thor mentioned Loki. Tony had a panic attack right there and then, in front of the entire team. It was a shock to them, they hadn't even realised that Tony was struggling, Tony kept his usual façade up and no one realised. Then again, who could go through a wormhole and almost die and be okay? They beat themselves up over it, all feeling guilty that they hadn't noticed. Since then, they kept clear of anything that could be linked to Loki, and they'd always be on hand to calm Tony down if he needed it. They genuinely cared about him, and they all hoped he'd be able to see that one day.

"I'm truly sorry. I didn't think he'd come out of his room," Thor explained, already feeling bad.

Clint was visibly struggling to stay calm, either from anxiety or rage, not even Natasha could tell. She stayed by Clint's side, trying to silently assure him that she was there. He had struggled considerably after the incident. Sometimes he'd wake up in a sweat, unsure if he was being controlled again or not. It was hard to see her friend struggle so much. It was hard for her to see both Clint and Tony struggle so much after what happened. Steve watched his teammates either struggle to stay calm or try to keep the others calm, feeling his rage grow.