A Twist Of Marvel || Infinity War

26. Ghostbusters

Tony Stark's laboratory was most likely in its strangest state yet. Two Asgardian gods changed into human attire were roaming about the place, one obviously tasked with babysitting the other, both incredibly bored. A woman from another dimension with intricate knowledge of everyone else in the room was seated on a bar stool, discussing battle plans with Tony. The billionaire was flitting about the desk he and the woman were at, looking over diagrams and pulling up holographs. However among it all, the strangest element was the floating man in the center of the room, his head twisting in several different directions at a time-literally.

The five cryptic words Naomi had said to Dr. Strange had convinced him to use the fames time stone- and had been for the last fifteen minutes. Eventually, the people not sitting in midair cross-legged had gotten over the spectacle. Presently, Naomi and Tony caught each other up on what had happened during Naomi's trip to Asgard.

"So whats happened with Vision and Wanda?" She asked, tapping her fingers rhythmically against the cool metal desk. Everything in the lab was cool, and it struck Naomi that there was hardly any warmth in the place. However there wasn't time for such thoughts, and unfortunately she couldn't think on it deeper, for the sake of the schedule.

"I've located them in Scotland and sent a message, but nada so far." Tony huffed, running a hand through his hair. Naomi frowned, a little ticked off in spite of herself at the news. She knew that she had no right to be, since the couple didn't know what she knew- but if they didn't respond in time both of them could face lethal consequences.

"What did you tell them?"

"Not much, it wasn't a very secure connection, but they know I need their asses over here asap." Tony was alike to Naomi in that he too was frustrated at the slow reply, though she suspected there were other reasons. Relaxing her arms on the desk top, Naomi took more care with her words, studying the Iron man.

"Have you called Steve?" She asked.

Tony tensed for a moment, staring at the metal before releasing a tired breath. Propping himself on the desk, he met Naomi's prodding gaze with an apologetic one, smirking weakly.

"I'm sure you know the answer to that." He said. His expression was strikingly vulnerable, unusual for the sarcastic man. It made Naomi's own features twist into dejection, her shoulders lowering and hunching over the table to rest her chin on her arms.

"I have to- it's my job." She spoke with a tense smile, looking up at Tony from her slumped position. He saw straight through her, glancing at the rooms other occupants before mussing her hair quickly.

"This ain't all on you, kid." It was a simplistic pep talk, but coming from Tony it meant the world to Naomi. Paired with the affectionate gesture- she didn't fail to remember it was the second time he had ruffled her hair- it immediately lifted her spirits. The melancholic aura lifted from their workspace, filled instead with a tentative wholesomeness. It quite made Naomi feel like she was a child again, though it was a silly thought to have.

"Yeah, I know." It was true- she did know that Tony took on a lot of the burden with her, forming a sort of partnership. At the present, Naomi had the closest personal relationship with the Stark- forged through similar senses of humor, and an impending war. "So are you gonna call?"

"I'll do you one better- who you gonna call?" Tony smirked, avoiding the question and quoting ghostbusters in one sentence. However Naomi found it funny for other reasons Tony wasn't even aware of- a sense of deja vu filling her laughter.

"Ghostbusters!" She whisper-screamed, not wanting to attract the attention of the gods who were now lounging on some spare chair they had found. Strange was still floating in the corner- he hadn't taken this long in the movie, and it was vaguely worrying Naomi. "Seriously, though Tony, we need Steve and everyone else to win this." Her brows drew in as she remembered something she had heard from Anthony Russo- the avengers lost because they were divided. Not for the first time, the sudden remembrance of the consequences of Infinity war, now much more real, stabbed into Naomi's mind. "We can't lose, Tony."

"We won't." Tony assured, going so far as to pull the fated phone out from his jacket pocket. He studied Naomi for a moment, taking in her pleading eyes and defeated manner. Pressing his lips together, Tony nodded to her, dialing the only number in the phone and walking away from the desk with the phone to his ear. Smiling lightly, Naomi watched the back of his head as he waited for Steve to answer, which she knew he would.

It was once again proven that Naomi was in a cinematic universe, as convenient timing allowed for Strange to emerge from his trance at that moment. He dropped onto the floor quite suddenly, gasping for breath as he alerted everyones attention. Even Tony, with the phone still pressed to his ear turned around to take a look, before shrugging and turning back. Naomi was quick to move to the sorcerers side, nearly knocking over her stool as she shot up. Thor and Loki quickly joined her, Thor bumming it in jeans and a jacket whilst Loki chose to wear a form-fitting black suit. No doubt it was designer and overly expensive, but Naomi certainly wasn't complaining.

Recovering from the use of the time stone, Strange turned his eyes to Naomi, crouched a bit away from him on the floor.

"Why couldn't you have been lying?" He asked rhetorically, already seeming resigned to fight the war. Naomi's only response was to smile sadly- she too wished she had been lying, desperately.