Steel Hearts

- 38 -

Operation: Time Heist

Loading: Brainstorming Session

After the test run, we all settled into the conference room. Chairs were scattered around the table as we faced the screens. I was busy typing away on the tablet that controlled them. I projected photos of all six of the Infinity Stones.

Scott had claimed a chair next to me, wanting to know as much as possible because he had little to no knowledge of any of them. Before starting, I had tried to explain in the easiest way possible what the Infinity Stones were to him; I think I made him even more confused.

"Okay, so the how works. Now, we gotta figure out the when and the where," Steve states as he stands beside the screen showing the soul stone, "Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"Or, substitute the word 'encounter' for 'damn near been killed' by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony corrects, coffee cup in hand.

"Well, I haven't," Scott says, "But I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."

"Regardless, we only have enough Pym particles for one roundtrip each and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history," Bruce says as he walks behind us and to the front of the room with Steve and Tony.

"Our history," Tony adds, "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just stop in, yeah?"

"Which means we have to pick our targets," Barton concludes.

"Correct."

Steve had made his way toward me, running a comforting hand over my shoulder and I lean into his hip, "So, let's start with Aether. Thor, what do you know?"

When he doesn't respond immediately, all eyes turn to where the man in question was slouched in a chair in the corner of the room. Sunglasses were still on his face and a beer can in his hand, though he hadn't moved a muscle when spoken to.

Natasha asks, "Is he asleep?"

"No, no. I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey states.

Flicking a small force field toward him, I hit Thor on the forehead. He jolted awake with a loud battle cry, startled. Settling once he had realized that he wasn't being attacked.

After a short reminder, Thor grumbled from his chair and sauntered toward the front of the room. He blinked aggressively, adjusting to the fluorescent lights as he took his sunglasses off.

"Uh, where to start? Um... The Aether, firstly, is not a stone. Someone called it a stone before," he pointed to Steve who had furrowed his brow in confusion, "Um, it's more of an angry sludge sort of a thing... so someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that."

He tilted his head backward to put in eyedrops before speaking once more, "Here's an interesting story, though, about the Aether. My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Ooh," he chuckles softly, wiggling his fingers for dramatic effect, "Scary beings. So, Jane, actually... Oh, there she is. Yeah, so Jane was an old flame of mine. You know, she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time and then the Aether stuck itself inside her and she became very, very sick."

Steve glances down at me, brows furrowed and he was severely confused. All I do is offer an awkward smile and shrug.

"And so I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from, and uh we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see and I got to introduce her to my mother..." he pauses and sighs, emotions overcoming him, "who's dead and, um... Oh, you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so... Yes, these things happen, though. You know? Nothing lasts forever. The only thing that-"