Obsession (Loki Fanfiction)

Chapter Three:

Arriving at work, I find there is a Costa take out coffee waiting for me. It is still warm when I pick it up and take a sip from its lid. Milk and two sugars, the way I liked it. I smile to myself. He knows me too well, I think as I retrieve my lab coat from behind the door.
"Hey Isobel," a warm and familiar voice says as I sit behind my desk.
"Chris," I return his greeting before holding up my coffee. "Thank you for this, but you really shouldn't be wasting your money on me."
Chris, a tall and fair haired man, with sculptured features and distinct blue eyes glances up at me in confusion.
"Isobel, I don't mind. I was going in anyway so I thought I would get you one as well."
"You really shouldn't have, but thank you. I appreciate it."
"No problem Izzy."
Neither of us attends to what we are supposed to be doing. Chris clears his throat.
"How did your appointment with the therapist go?"
I flush, remembering the questions Leah had asked.
"Well thanks," I say.
"Are you still having the dream?" Chris questions me further.
He knows I have been having the dream, except that he doesn't know exactly what the dream entails. Despite Chris being my best friend, I can never bring myself to tell him. I'm about to reply when my phone vibrates inside my pocket. The caller ID reads unknown. I place the phone against my ear.
"Hello?"
"Miss Jones?" An unfamiliar male voice says.
I feel my face drain of colour.
"Who's this?" I ask as calmly as I can manage.
"Miss Jones, this is Agent Ben Taylor of SHIELD. Do you have a moment?"
SHIELD? Why were they calling me? Chris watches me in concern. I pull a confused face, raising my shoulders and shaking my head. I have no idea either.
"Yes," I answer firmly.
"Miss Jones, do you remember the attack on Manhattan?"
Manhattan. Back then I had been working for Tony Stark, helping to develop weaponry sourced from a piece of the Tesseract. It had never been completed. After the invasion Stark had inexplicably fired us all. I returned to London where I was fortunate to take up an occupation as a forensic scientist. I have never looked back until now.
"Miss Jones?" Agent Taylor prompts me. I realise I haven't answered the question.
"Yes," I reply. "I do."
"You were helping to develop a weapon for Mr Stark, correct? Which could potentially prevent future invasions?"
"Yes," I answer, beginning to feel irritable. If he knew all of this information already, why was he questioning me about it?
"Miss Jones, Mr Stark has personally asked me to call you because he would like you to continue with the project."
It takes me a few moments to fully compose myself as the information filters through my mind. It had been over a year since the invasion. A year since the villainous Norse God Loki had been returned to Asgard by his brother. A year since I had been fired before returning to an ordinary life. After all this time, why is it now that Stark requires my help?
"Tony Stark fired me," I speak coldly. "We all were. If he had wanted me to continue constructing the weapon he wouldn't have fired me in the first place."
"Miss Jones," I sense the exasperation in Agent Taylor's voice. "I understand you are upset about the drastic action Mr Stark took last year. The decision he made was down to personal reasons alone. He wanted me to inform you that you were the best scientist he had ever taken on board his team. You mean a lot to him, Miss Jones."
I close my eyes. Tony Stark had meant a lot to me as well. He had been the first to have given me an occupation, encouraging me to work for him. He would supervise me whenever I needed it and allowed me my own personal accommodation nearby Stark Towers. Rather than my employer, Stark had also become a personal friend.
"What would you have me do?" I sigh. I was doing this for Stark alone.
"Thank you Miss Jones. We will be sending you the weapon piece and would like you to finish constructing it before returning it back to SHIELD. You are all we have to save humanity in the future. Without this who knows what we will standing up against?"
Indeed. I roll my eyes. One alien invasion had been enough.
"Thank you for calling Agent Taylor. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Miss Jones."
The line goes dead.