A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

24. No Shit

A few hours after Naomi's abruptly ended conversation with Loki, the Andvari was cruising toward Earth, the skull of Surtur stored safely. Of course, Thor's definition of safe apparently meant chucked to the side of the common room- where Naomi was able to take selfies with it undisturbed. The passengers were dispersed through the ship, Loki most likely brooding over something in his room, Thor steering in the cockpit, and Naomi left to inhabit the common room.

The woman was unwilling to open conversation with Loki again just yet, and she felt that bothering the guy flying the ship for attention wasn't the best plan. Thus, she was left with no wifi to entertain her, or even any downloaded episodes on Netflix. Naomi and Tony had spent so long going over how to save the universe, she had forgotten to provide entertainment for herself on the trips. She supposed she had assumed hanging out with superheroes would be enough, but somehow Naomi was becoming acclimated to it.

Her office job back home constantly threw new challenges at her, just when she though her boss couldn't top the last week. Funny how an assistant gig could help prepare her to become so accustomed to the impossible happening. Reminiscing on her job back home paused Naomi in her thoughts, drifting back to her own dimension and her former life. It had never been up for debate that she would go back home after this was over, Naomi hadn't ever brought it up. No doubt her new magic friends could provide some help, but somehow asking them to consider sending her back after the war was over seemed selfish. Hopefully, Naomi thought, I'll figure everything out after this is over.

However the fight was far from over, and Earth was not far from sight. Naomi had no clue how space travel worked, in her dimension or in this one's, but somehow the Asgardian ship had a built in hyper-space feature that came in quite handy. She figured the Andvari worked similarly to the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship, but thus far she hadn't been able to confirm the theory. Yet her thoughts of space travel went to the back of her mind as Thor steered the ship over expansive fields of green. The common room had several portholes covered by thick glass, providing Naomi an airplane-like view of what she assumed to be New York. 

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Once again, the God of Thunder showed no respect for lawn maintenance as he touched down in the fields surrounding the Avengers facility. Already, several cars were traveling toward their golden viking spaceship when their docking bay door opened. To the SHEILD soldiers forming a perimeter around the ship, the three might have looked intimidating. In the open doorway, Thor towered over his two companions at his sides, which also prevented awkward glances between Loki and Naomi- unbeknownst to Thor. Faced with two well-known Gods and a random woman in one of their uniforms, several experienced fighters were left glancing at each other in secretive confusion. However, all of that paled in comparison when one of the various SHIELD cars opened its door, a figure stepping out with swagger only one person could possess.

Despite herself, Naomi broke into a grin before Tony even spoke, and a sense of being grounded washed over her, no pun intended. Tony Stark, in all his glory, quietly dismissed the majority of the soldiers, only two cars remaining as the trio strode to greet him. Even walking in a line with her childhood heroes felt so strange to Naomi, as though she was one of them on the movie screen. It was a silly thought of course, but it comforted her discretely.

"I just can't get rid of you, can I Hepburn?" Tony greeted, his smile contradicting his words warmly. Hepburn herself smirked in return, thankful to be back in her sarcastic groove.

"Maybe you should try harder next time, Tin Can." She shrugged, earning a light chuckle before Tony turned to greet Thor.

"Point break." He nodded, overly formal in his dramatics. 'Point Break' simply rolled his eyes at the nickname, shifting the powerful weapons in his arms like toys. Thor had been tasked with carrying the Skull and Tesseract inside the facility, since Naomi wasn't strong enough and Loki wasn't trusted enough.

"Stark. You clearly haven't changed since I saw you last." His booming voice had an amused undertone, playing along to the light atmosphere. Tony only replied with a nonchalant shrug, turning to the final member of the party. Looking over Loki, he almost seemed surprised, as though the man was not what he had expected.

"Hey I'm gonna to invade New York, wanna come?" He asked dryly, the God in question smirking in turn.

"Tempting, I admit," he charmed. "Perhaps we can reschedule." Tony gave a slight 'hm,' glancing back at Naomi to get her opinion on Loki. Once more, Thor rolled his eyes, his Midgardian humor shining through.

"You can trust him, Tony." She assured, keeping her gaze strictly on Stark, ignoring the prodding green eyes in her peripheral vision. Tony however was clearly not all that assured, suspicious as he looked back and forth between Naomi and Loki.

"You trust literally everyone, Hepburn." Tony stressed the pronunciation on 'literally,' reminding Naomi of a beloved TV show character- not affiliated with Marvel. Her tastes did expand beyond superheroes, however surprising that may be.

"You are very trusting, Lady Naomi." Thor added, his brows pulled into a knowing look as he nodded at her. She resisted to correct the formal title he added to her name, but she supposed it was better than 'Lady Swanson.'

"A virtue not many possess." Loki said, a meaningful glance thrown at Tony, who ignored it.

"Well then, lets get this show on the road." Tony nodded back at the cars waiting to transport them to the Avengers facility, which was just beyond walking distance. Also, Tony Stark was not one to make his arrival by walking, it would be a disgrace. As Naomi followed the group to the SHEILD cars, she could not help but feel that she was forgetting something, or perhaps someone. Her pace slowed as she chewed her lip, racking her brain for what she could have missed. Deep in thought, she hardly noticed when a raven-haired trickster slowed his pace to match hers, intent on re-starting their earlier conversation. Unfortunately, the universe was not so kind as just then, Naomi was reminded of what she had forgotten.

Behind them, a light sizzling noise emerged from nowhere, first alerting the Asgardians with their enhanced hearing. It was then that Naomi noticed Loki next to her, momentarily forgetting the happening behind her back as she studied his profile. It was only a small lapse in focus, however it was enough to leave her as the only person facing forward, and therefore watching Tony and Thor's reactions to what she already knew was there.

"Hello, my name is Doctor Stephen Strange." Strange's tone was abrupt and to the point. Whereas Thor was completely bewildered, peering over the artifacts he was handling, Tony recognized the man. Doctor Strange was one of the many heroes Naomi had debriefed him on, and only reacted to the wizard with an exasperated look. Naomi of course, was grinning giddily as she finally turned around, seeing Bumblebee Cumquat in all his glory. The master of the Mystic arts was not focused on her, but on Loki.

It was what she had forgotten, that in Thor: Ragnarok, Strange was alerted when Loki arrived on Earth. She could only hope that he wouldn't send the man falling for thirty minutes this time.

"I have some questions for the Asgardians." Strange continued, peering between Loki and Thor in complete seriousness. Behind him, the cloak of levitation, or Levi, billowed dramatically, though there was no wind.

"Yeah." Naomi spoke up, attracting Strange's attention, along with everyone else's. "No shit Sherlock."

They were all clueless as to why she found that so funny.