Pretty When You Cry

Chapter 7

"The rest of the Avengers have arrived upstairs."

"Fuck," Tony replied. They'd come at the worst possible time. "Did they say why?"

"Apparently Director Fury has grown tired of you not returning his calls, and sent them to find you."

Tony sighed. He had been ignoring Fury lately. He'd actually been ignoring almost everyone, even Pepper. He'd been enjoying his new toy too much.

Well, all he could do now was try to get them out as quickly as possible.

"Tell them I'll be right up, that I'm finishing something in my lab. Then lock this room down, make sure the soundproofing is activated. Do not, I repeat, do not let anyone besides myself in here."

Tony took a second to glance at Loki, who was trembling in fear. He was on another bad trip, and there was no telling what hellish nightmare he was experiencing.

"And JARVIS?" Tony added.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Kill the television. He can go the rest of the day without it."

"Will do, Sir."

"Thanks."

00

Tony rode his elevator up to the first floor, where he found his superhero colleagues waiting.

"Hi, guys," Tony said, "Listen, you can tell Fury I'm just busy. I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to him, but - hey, what's wrong with him?" he asked, looking at Thor.

The blonde warrior was sitting on a chair, crouching forward. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, and he looked to be in agony.

Bruce looked concerned. "He was fine when we were over at SHIELD HQ..." he kneeled down, and began poking and prodding at Thor, trying to assess the situation.

Everyone else watched nervously. Thor had begun to sweat, and tremble.

Bruce checked his pulse rate.

"His heart's going way too fast. We need to get him to the medical clinic. Tony, I'll talk to you later, after we've sorted this. Clint, can you help me bring him in?"

Clint nodded. He got on one side of Thor while Bruce stood on the other, and together, the two helped the blonde walk down the hall towards the elevator.

Steve, Natasha, and Tony followed behind them.

"Any idea what the hell that was about?" Tony asked.

Steve and Natasha both shook their heads.

"He really was just fine at HQ," Steve said.

By the time they got into the medical area, Bruce already had Thor laid out on a bed. He must've acted very fast. He was busy hooking Thor up to various machines to test his heart rate, blood pressure and the like. Thor, meanwhile, just laid there, letting Bruce do as he pleased. It frightened everyone a little to see someone who was normally so strong in such a weak state.

"Can he talk?" Tony asked Bruce, who was reading the machines.

"I think he's too weak."

Thor then made a sound, a weak, whining sound, and everyone turned their attention to him. He seemed to be trying to say something.

"What's going on?" Clint asked, moving closer to Thor's bedside.

Again, Thor tried to say the name that was on his mind: Loki. He was obviously getting sick because Loki was nearby. No one seemed to be able to understand him, though. The whole experience was extremely frustrating.