Lieutenant - Daughter of the Captain

Chapter 13.0 - Fear

Tony spotted the machine housing the cube. It was perched on the very top of his own tower, glowing vibrantly.

"Sir, I took off the arc reactor, the device is already self-sustaining," J.A.R.V.I.S. informed Tony.

"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig," He orders the doctor, who was operating the machine under the influence of Loki's scepter.

"It's too late. It can't stop now," He starts, shouting up at Tony, "He wants to show us something, a new universe," He finishes sounding slightly deranged.

"Okay," Tony states simply, before firing his repulsor at the cube. A force field sends a shock wave out, knocking back both him and the doctor.

"The barrier is pure energy, it's unbreachable." J.A.R.V.I.S. states.

"Yeah, I got that," Tony muttered, "Plan B," he began lowering himself onto the Tower's patio.

"Sir, the mark seven is not ready for deployment," J.A.R.V.I.S. cautioned against what he comprehended to be Tony's plan of action. Tony was not beyond arguing with his A.I..

"Then skip the spinning trims, we're on the clock," He ordered, landing on the tower's catwalk as machines began removing his suit piece by piece.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity?" Loki spoke from where he entered the tower on the opposite side of the room, watching the billionaire remove his suit of armor.

"Actually, I'm planning to threaten you," Tony corrected him, making his way to the bar.

"You should've left your suit of armor on for that," Loki smirked, "Or maybe you're here for her?"

He gestured to the floor, where a familiar little blonde girl sat leaning against the back of the couch, unconscious.

Tony sighed, holding his gaze on her figure as she seemed to twitch, as if she was having a nightmare.

"What'd you do to her?" Tony asked, non-threatening, instead he attempted to sound almost curious.

"Would you like to see?" Was all Loki said, before he pointed his scepter at the girl and whispered.

"Wake..." He hissed.

She shuddered, and twitched, gasping as she awoke with violent coughs that morphed into sobs. Her small body shook, and her hands hugged around her, clutching at her chest as she nearly wailed.

Tony looked on with something akin to horror. She looked like she was in physical pain, but he knew that wasn't it.

The air around her seemed to bend with every sob, as if invisible waves radiated off of her.

Tony's hand gripped the countertop, and Loki steadied himself with the Scepter as the waves began to hit them. Each one felt different.

Tony was overwhelmed with emotion. Fury, then pure joy, then envy, it wasn't until tears welled up in his eyes at the strong wave of sorrow that he somewhat understood what Loki had done.

"...kid..." He said, approaching the girl. The waves shuddered through them, but they felt no physical pain.

Loki only smiled, the twitch of his eye the only thing revealing that he felt any of what she was doing.

"Kid...can you hear me?" Tony spoke again, only a foot or so away from her, and he knelt down. From this proximity, he could hear her mumble to herself but could not make out the words.

"You can't help her," Loki stated maliciously, "You can't change anything now, the Chitauri are coming and there's nothing will stop them. What have I to fear?" He asked, but the response did not come from the billionaire.