"Alright then! Let's get to the bottom of this little mystery, shall we?"
"Stark, we-!"
But before Coulson can finish whatever he was going to say, one of the people who piled out of the other car walks up and gives Tony a hefty smack on the back.
"Tony Stark! You said you would escort us to Mjolnir, no? Is it nearby? Who are these people?"
The blond screams 'meathead' to Natasha, but at the same time, her instincts also scream that he 's dangerous… a warrior for sure. Stark barely pays any mind to the back slap however, seemingly taking it in stride.
"Introductions first, Thor. It's only polite. The bland one is Phil Coulson, Agent with SHIELD. The one clad in leather who could snap your neck with her thighs if she wanted to is Natasha Romanoff, also Agent of SHIELD. But don't worry, I' m working on turning her to our cause."
The way Tony exaggeratedly winks in Natasha's direction almost makes her want to strangle him. He has to know that saying shit like that only makes Coulson and Fury more suspicious of her, right? Only… no. Him being so obvious about it will probably have the opposite effect if she really thinks about it. He's made no secret of his attraction to her, and they know that Natasha has continued to warm Tony and Pepper's bed even as their SHIELD liaison.
… Them knowing about that has set them at ease, hasn't it? They think they know Tony is trying to seduce Natasha to the 'dark side' as he likes to call it. They think they know all about his numerous ham-fisted attempts at turning her. And because they think they know all of that, they have no idea that he turned her before she was even assigned as SI's SHIELD liaison. Stark was always three steps ahead, wasn't he?
"And last but not least! This is Pepper Stark, my very own lady wife."
Pepper smiles as she steps forward, the first of Tony ' s introductions to actually do so, offering her hand to this ' Thor ' character. Wait a second … Natasha blinks, her synapses firing as she finally makes the connection between a hammer that fell from the sky and a musclebound blond named Thor. There was no way though, right?
"Ah! Lady Stark, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance! I am Thor Odinsson, Prince of Asgard, God of Thunder!" Natasha stares as the self-proclaimed Prince brings Pepper's knuckles up to his lips and brushes them with a quick, respectful kiss. From her periphery, she can see Phil doing the same.
To her credit, Pepper doesn't even blink as she gives Thor a welcoming nod before moving to stand at her husband's side. Meanwhile, Tony is all grins as he steps back up to the plate.
"Yeah Agents, you heard that right. According to Thor here, he was exiled by the All-Father to Earth after a bit of an argument they had last night. Hence the atmospheric disturbances… and the big honking hammer in the central courtyard."
"You were truthful then, Stark? You have already located Mjolnir?!"
"I told you, didn't I buddy? Let's get you inside so the two of you can be reunited, yeah?" At that, the self-proclaimed God, who is vibrating with excitement and barely repressed energy, all but darts forward. Tony moves to follow at a more sedate pace, only for Coulson to stop him with a hand on his arm.
"Stark, are you sure this is a good idea? This isn't exactly protocol."
Tony raises an unimpressed eyebrow at that.
" This isn' t a SHIELD operation, Agent. SI protocols are different from SHIELD protocols. We don't tend to shoot first and ask questions later, for one."
Coulson scowls at that, revealing just how much Tony gets under the man's skin at this point. Natasha finds herself suppressing a smile again. Phil seemed more than happy to follow Pepper's lead, but the moment Tony showed up, his general abrasiveness seemed to just … rub the veteran SHIELD Agent the wrong way. Natasha couldn't really blame him… Tony was an acquired taste in more ways than one.
"Besides, when we got here, it was to find the locals already trying and failing to lift the hammer one after another. Which means one of two things is about to happen, Coulson. Either we're about to make friends with one of the aliens that Norse Mythology was based on by reuniting him with his hammer and proving ourselves to be good, upstanding 'Midgardians'… or…"
"NO! HOW CAN THIS BE?!"
Natasha doesn't jump as Thor's anguished cry splits the air, reaching them all the way outside of the facility, though the civilians that Tony has brought with him all do. Tony just gives Coulson a look before pulling himself free of the Agent's grasp.
"Shall we, Agent?" As it turned out, yes they shall. Following after Stark along with all the others, Natasha lets herself be led to the central courtyard, where they find Thor kneeling on the ground in the last rays of the slowly setting sun, staring at the hammer he'd obviously just failed to lift. He still has one hand on its handle, giving it a tug every once in a while, but to no avail.
"Thor, buddy. Everything alright?"
Natasha can't help but throw Stark a look at that. Why was he still entertaining this guy's delusions, exactly?
"I… I am not worthy. The hammer… my father placed an enchantment on it."
With his free hand, Thor wipes some dirt away, revealing an engraving on the head of the hammer that he brushes with his thumb. "'Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.' That is what it says."
Silence falls for a moment, split between incredulity and uncertainty. More than a few looks are shared by those watching the seemingly sad scene. But Natasha… Natasha only has eyes for Tony as he walks forward and places a hand on Thor's shoulder. Just what was the crazy man up to now? What was the point of all of this?
"Sounds like you know what you need to do then, Thor."
When the kneeling man glances up at Tony in confusion, he just grins and shrugs.
"Would your father have dropped you and your hammer so close together if he didn't think you could become worthy again? Seems to me he's testing you, Thor." Those words bring a change over the despondent blond, whose eyes slowly widen as he staggers to his feet.
"You… you are right. I must think on this. It would seem my Father has a lesson for me to learn here. I must figure out what it is!"
Still smiling, Tony nods his head amicably enough.
"Let me get you a room then, Thor. Plenty of those around here for you to do a lot of thinking in."
Behind Thor's back, Tony holds up a finger in Coulson's direction and Natasha realizes that the other Agent has opened his mouth to speak, only to be preempted by Tony's nonverbal shushing. As Phil's mouth shuts with the audible sound of his teeth clicking together, Natasha has to hide another smile at the interaction. Pepper, meanwhile, steps right up to the civilians Tony has brought along. "Dr. Foster, Dr. Selvig… right this way. I've had Phil and his men setting your equipment up in your new lab for you. Don' t worry, they've been very gentle, I've made sure of it."
As the SI CEO leads the dazed and confused scientists and their intern away, Natasha can't exactly blame them for looking so over their heads. Frankly, she herself is barely treading water here right now… and she's supposed to be on the inside. Whatever the fuck Tony is doing here, Natasha doesn't fully get it just yet. She's sure she will eventually though. For now, she just has to have faith that Tony and Pepper have this all under control.
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