Umbra

Chapter Thirteen

"Is it safe?" Grey mumbled as she watched Tony suit up. Steve, having easily fallen back into his role as Captain, had already given out orders for the New Plan. Tony would take Grey and fly to New York to distract Loki ("Are we taking a plane?" "I'm just gonna hold you, it's not far." "What."), while Natasha, Steve and the newly acquired Clint Barton would arrive in one of the quinjets. Grey had yet to meet the infamous archer.

They hoped Bruce and Thor would've figured out Loki's plan.

"I'm not gonna drop you." Tony kept his helmet up as he grinned down at Grey, who raised her eyebrow.

"I don't trust you."

He placed his metal hand over the spot covering his chest, wincing. "That hurt my heart, Shadow." Grey gently smacked him on the arm.

"It'll seriously be okay?" She asked again; worry having laced itself through her words. She wasn't just talking about the flight. Tony looked down at her and spoke without a trace of comedy.

"I promise. It'll be fine."

Grey took a stuttering breath, before looking back down at herself. Maria had given her another specially rendered suit, seeing as her original one was covered in blood. The dried redness had been scrubbed off her cheeks and hands, but there were still flakes under her nails. She didn't realise she had been staring at them until the hand of Tony's suit slipped into hers. Grey looked up at him and smiled.

"So, what's the plan when we get in there?"

"I want you to stay visible. I'll do most of the talking."

Grey rolled her eyes. "As usual."

"I'll pretend you didn't say that." Tony shot her a wink, and then shrugged nonchalantly. "If I happen to get thrown of the building, don't freak out."

"But-"

"Just keep him distracted."

"How?"

Tony shifted slightly. "Use your womanly charms." He accepted the second smack he received. "Okay, I deserved that."

Steve's voice suddenly rang through their earpieces, sounding as righteous as a hero should. "You two should shoot of. Word is Loki is at the tower." Tony's face broke into a smirk.

"Ready to go for a ride?"

"This is the only ride you're ever getting from me, Stark."

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After the longest flight of her life, Grey could finally see Stark Tower. She had disappeared from fright, and she had held her arms so tightly around Tony's neck that they had cramped. She heard Tony's chuckle through the earphone, and rolled her eyes.

As they neared the tower, Grey spied the figure on the balcony. She frowned as she realised it was Loki, back in his extravagant golden armour. He was staring right at them.

"Hold on, baby." Tony mumbled, before she felt him slow down and hover. Grey peered over his shoulder in disbelief; in front of them was the device holding the Tesseract, a bright blue light glowing from it – the same shade of blue which was Loki's eye colour. An older man stood next to the contraption, looking exhausted.

"Shut it down, Doctor Selvig." So that's who it is, Grey thought. She thought back to Thor defending this man, who was now working with his brother.

"It's too late!" yelled Selvig, his smile bordering on crazy. "It can't stop now. He wants to show us something! A new universe."

Grey felt Tony pull her closer, tighter, to him, before shrugging. "Okay." He aimed his hand towards the Tesseract and fired.