Worthy

Part 14 - Couldn't Get Worse

"This was supposed to be a simple recon mission Kate," Tony snaps. "So how did the kid get hurt? How did Klaue get the drop on you?"

"Because he was more prepared than we had given him credit for," you snap back, guilt in your stomach that Peter had gotten hurt.

"Then why didn't you take Barton and Thor with you?" he slams his hand down on the table, making you jump. Tony had never been this angry with you; it had to be because of Peter getting hurt. Tony felt personally responsible for his well-being, and you'd just proven that you couldn't keep him safe.

"Agent Brooks made it very clear that our help was not needed," Thor interrupts, making anger mix into your emotions with the guilt.

"Are you shitting me?" Tony stands up and sighs. "The kid could have been hurt worse, you could have been..." he pauses, before turning his back on the table.

"Like you said Tony, this was a recon mission. The last thing I needed was some meat head stomping his way through that ship. I made the right call for that, but I didn't consider all the facts, sure I fucked up there..."

"If you'll excuse me, but that meaty head is the reason you got off that ship." Thor butts in again, giving you a small sly smirk.

"Well, thank you princess but I didn't exactly ask you to..." You stand up and walk over to Thor; he matches your pose, and even though you have to look straight up at his giant frame, you don't back down as the two of you shout over the top of one another.

"ENOUGH!" You both look over to the corner of the room, not so much surprised at the outburst, moreso at the person it had come from. Bruce was always the calmest, softest spoken person at the compound. "Would the two of you stop that for five minutes?"

"It was like this on the jet," Barton sighs. You throw Thor one last derisive look before heading back to your chair, throwing yourself down.

"They can't work together," Tony sighs, walking back to the table and sitting next to Thor. "I warned you." He meets your eye, confusing you even more. Who was he talking about? Was he taking Thor's side now? You remember how he had tried to curtail Fury's plan, is that what he was talking about? Or was this because he had tried to tell you to deal with your problem with him.

"Well they're going to have to get used to it," Steve interrupts, finally walking into the meeting room with Peter, both of whom sit next to you.

"You do realise we're sitting right here, right?" You roll your eyes at Tony who just smirks.

"And why will we have to get used to it?" Thor asks, knowing the answer as soon as he sees who's walked through the door behind Steve: Fury.

"Because I'm telling you to." He marches front and centre to the table, once again throwing a file on the table. "And because we'll need you to." He nods at Stark who uploads information through FRIDAY to the console. "Even though the mission was a failure," Fury looks over at you and Thor, "Turns out it did give us something."

FRIDAY displays an image of a group of four aliens on the screen: the Children of Thanos, you presume. "Is that...?"

"Yes, I got Danvers to send the information as soon as Thor mentioned them." Fury stops you, looking over at Thor, letting him take over the meeting.

"Disciples of the mad Titan Thanos," Thor interjects. "He's responsible for an untold number of atrocities across the realms." He pauses before looking down at his hands. "Also for Loki." he mumbles, not quite ready to bring his brother back up into the conversation. "He was the reason Loki attacked your planet," he looks around the room, not meeting your eye, before settling on Vision. "He used the mind stone to brainwash him into taking this world."

"Klaue mentioned Vision!" Peter pipes up. "He said he was after Mr Stark's vision."

"He meant Ultron Pete," You reply, "He was going to give them the mind stone; not sure what for though. With him gone, they sought out Klaue."

"What bothers me more here is the fact that Danvers didn't know it was them who had stolen from the Kree?" Steve asks.

"Yes, how did the great Captain Marvellous miss out on that information?" Tony asks, raising an eyebrow at Fury.

"We needed to be sure," Fury remarks, face blank. "She didn't have all the facts at the time..."

"So you sent us in with nothing," you snap. "What if these guys had been with Klaue?"

"Why the hell do you think I sent Thor with you?" Fury leans over the table. "You're the one who wanted a limited team." He meets your eyes.

"With limited information." You stand and walk over to him. "If you and Danvers had cared to give me all the facts I could have made a better decision." Fury doesn't even flinch as you stand in front of him, both of you staring at each other.

"You have a real attitude problem Brooks, you know that." Fury half smirks. You hear Thor scoff, but you ignore him keeping your eyes focused; half on Fury, half on the image of the aliens behind him. Fury quits first, noticing your not quite into the staring contest anymore. "Danvers thinks he's after Infinity Stones, but he's testing the waters. After we," he meets Tony's raised eyebrow once again. "After the Avengers stopped Loki, he's obviously been trying to come up with another plan."

"Any ideas Thor?" Steve asks, but Thor shrugs his shoulders.

"Thanos has been causing chaos across the realms for years; for what reason is still unclear. But very few survive his judgement."

"Why hasn't Asgard intervened?" Bruce asks.

"My father," he pauses, for once a slight nervousness has overtaken the god of thunder. "He is the only one who can declare war on another. And Thanos is good at covering his tracks. He manipulates others to do his bidding."

"Like Loki," You interrupt, feeling a small pang of sympathy for him. Thor simply nods.

"Well unlike Loki," Fury jumps in. "He inserts himself into political landscapes, according to Danvers. Everything that happened with Ultron, it's not a coincidence he jumped on that bandwagon."

"What about the other infinity stones?" A meek voice pipes up: Wanda.

"We only know of two on Earth," Fury replies, while FRIDAY shows the next image on the screen: Doctor Strange alongside Vision. "But we've had dealings with another two." Once again he looks over to Thor, who is still absentmindedly looking down at the floor, before Bruce nudges him.

"Uh, yes the wizard has the Time stone." He looks over to Steve. "The Tesseract was another one, and the aether. Both of which are now safely secured off this world." He gives a small smile, before looking down again.

"So we need to get as much information on these stones as we can." You reply.

"FRIDAY is up to date with all the SHIELD information," Tony starts. "All the details about the Tesseract from my dad's day, and from New York."

"We need more than that," Fury interupts again, still looking at Thor. "We need to know for certain that the tesseract is safe...."

"I can assure you there are no safer place in the whole of the nine realms than the vaults on Asgard." Thor scoffs.

"And we need to talk to Loki." Fury continues, ignoring Thor's statement. "If he was manipulated as you say, he can give us more information about Thanos, maybe give us a way in with him to find out his plan." Instantly Thor's eyes flash up at Fury's, rage surging through him. The room starts to dim as the clouds outside darken and a small rumble of thunder echoes throughout the room. The only person who doesn't flinch is Fury.

"My brother is not a bargaining chip Fury," Thor stands and joins you beside him, anger pulsing from him as the clouds outside start to clear. You can't help yourself, but you gently place a hand on Thor's arm; despite the intensity of the situation, Thor can't help but be slightly comforted by your touch.

Noticing the sudden closeness between you, Fury simply looks at you both before walking out of the room. "Take Brooks with you. It's about time you all had a reunion." Thor rips his arm away from your touch, storming after him.

"Just when you thought it couldn't get worse," Tony sighs, throwing his glasses on the table.