Mischief on Midgard

Trouble in Paradise

The tone was far more severe than usual as the Avengers gathered in Tony's lounge. Well, all of them but Thor. While the blonde was an official member of the Avengers, humans had yet to invent a communications system that could reach beyond their own solar system. Not only that, but Thor had failed to provide them with a means of contact him. Loki would have pointed that out to Thor the next time he saw him, but he was not about to grant the big Oaf any favors.

Bruce was in charge of his body for this little meeting. Which made sense. He was still the one 'in charge' most of the time as he was the one with the most developed brain. For now. Loki had already come to the conclusion that the Hulk did not lack in the intelligence department. All that he really lacked was experience. The Hulk's ability to absorb, learn, draw conclusions, and grow as an individual so quickly, showed that he might very well have the potential to become smarter than Bruce.

That thought... didn't actually sit very well with Loki. The Hulk was frightening enough as it as given his seemingly limitless strength. Combine that with an intelligence as great if not greater than Bruce's? Loki mentally shook his head. As it was, Hulk still had the mental growth of a one or two-year-old at this point. Even though he had potential, it would be years before Loki would have to concern himself with the big green guy outpacing him.

Years that could pass in the blink of an eye.

How many of the others had caught on to the same thing? How many of the Avengers has realized the Hulk's sheer potential? A one-year-old able to form complete sentences and grasp the complex concepts of life and death was... remarkable in all honesty. Loki mentally shook his head a second time.

That wasn't the team's concern right now. Natasha had been gone for a secret meeting and had returned with new information.

"Right. You all recall the mind-staff that had been wielded by Loki during his attack on New York," she started, her tone grim. "It went missing while S.H.I.E.L.D was purging Hydra from its' ranks. We've finally been able to confirm that it is in Hydra's hands at this time. There is a good chance that they are, or will be, using it for Human Experimentation."

Steve hissed through his teeth like an angry cat, his jaw flexing with contained anger. Natasha flashed a knowing look his way before focusing on the group.

"Sadly, we do not currently know where they are keeping it stored," Natasha said, crossing her arms and cocking her hip in a pose that exuded her annoyance and upset. "Fury has been searching for potential leads, but he hasn't found anything beyond confirmation that the staff is in their hands."

"You think we can trace the staff given that it gives off Gamma Radiation?" Tony asked thoughtfully.

"I already tried," Bruce said, equally thoughtful. "Nothing came up right away. Keep in mind, though, that it is possible to shield Gamma radiation sources to prevent that. Remember the suitcases used to store the staff and the Tesseract? They were lined with a led layer that kept the radiation contained. Hydra could be holding the mind-staff in a led container to stop us from tracking the source. That or... they could just be deep enough underground to block the signal."

Loki frowned and put his hand to his chin. Perhaps... it would be smarter for him to leave the staff in Hydra's hands rather than try to reclaim it. The Avengers were concerned about what Hydra might do with the staff. They didn't know that there was a much larger threat looming in the darkness of space. If the Avengers could track the staff, they would likely try to retrieve it themselves.

The fact that Hydra seemed to be keeping it so well hidden might prove to be a good thing in the long run.

On the other hand, it was a great tool. Loki could use it without having access to his own magic. Anyone could if they knew how to trigger its' abilities. If led could be used to hide it from those searching for it, he could then continue with his plan to recover the staff for himself. It was a quandary. Retrieve the mind-staff and conceal it from both the Avengers and Hydra, keeping it as a trump card or leave it where it was so that the Avengers could try to reclaim it.