Universal Chaos

Chapter 12

Jarvis refused to hang up on them, despite how politely she asked. He must have felt as though he'd already pushed the boundaries of Tony's patience enough for one day. Sutton was afraid that she'd be on the line the entire time it took for someone to fly over. Like maybe they'd try to keep her talking so she couldn't try to fix this on her own like she planned.

But they eventually hung up. Though not before trying to make her promise not to attempt anything rash.

Sutton promised she wouldn't be rash.

The house went silent. Sutton sat, immobile and stoic for some minutes. The longer she sat, the more that dread compacted inside her and squeezed against her ribs.

Soon, soon, soon.

It took some convincing, but she finally forced herself to stand and she made her way over to the front door just to try it. As she had been so obviously informed, it wouldn't budge.

So she had a couple of hours or so. She wasn't sure exactly how many.

"Alright," she tried to reassure herself. "No problem. It shouldn't take that long to think of a reasonable solution. And imagining things doesn't take any time at all. This is doable."

"You are from a universe of stories, surely you can think of something."

She jumped, jostling her leg again as she twisted to face the voice.

"Freaking flambé! Can you stop doing that?"

Loki sat on the opposite end of the couch. He was leaned forward, a bit less casual looking than the last time. Sutton noted that it seemed like he had a few extra pieces of armor on that hadn't been there before. She felt a chill sweep through her.

"How close is he?"
Loki's mouth ticked and his fingers curled in a brief, jerking movement.

"Close enough that you should be putting a bit more effort into this."

"I just saw you- You know what? You're not really very helpful. Either you have some ideas or you don't! So do you have something to say, or are you just set on appearing every few hours to toss ominous warnings at me?"

That earned her an admonishing look as Loki flared his nostrils. She crossed her arms in aggravation and sneered right back.

"If I assist you too much, He may start to suspect me. And if you manage to fail, I would rather not be next on His list."

"Thanos-"

"SHH." Sutton widened her eyes as she tilted her head to the side in frustration. Loki held up his hands, as if trying to ward her off from making the same mistake twice. When she remained quiet, he ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "You mentioned Nothing," he said. "Use that."

Sutton flicked her hands out to the sides, gesturing emptily.

"Nothing? You want me to use nothing against him? Oh my gosh, you're useless. If you're going to be like this, you can leave. Or I can always call Tony and Steve back and tell them you're here. Maybe imagine that they reach me a bit faster than anticipated."

Loki glared right back.

"You ungrateful child. Once the dimensional walls fully refortify, you'll no longer be able to peel them apart on your whim." She waved flippantly at him.

"Goodbye!"
He stood then and brushed off some imaginary dust from his dark green tunic.

"You are from a universe of stories," he said again. "Maybe you should start thinking like it." His eyes snapped down to accuse her. "You already tried the easy way. Now actually think. When did the course of a story ever run smooth?"
Sutton pressed her palms together and pushed the edges of her fingers against her lips.