Chapter 7

Barton spent the next few minutes teasing Natasha and me. 

She let it roll off her, not having an ounce of embarrassment being caught in such an intimate moment. All the while, she still refused to move off my lap, only having moved from straddling me to sitting sideways to talk with Barton.

I had no intention of moving her either. I was appreciating that the most gorgeous woman I'd ever met was clinging to me like a ferocious koala.

I was ripped out of my enjoyment by Rogers throwing the door open. He hesitated only for a moment, seeing Natasha sitting in my lap,

"Stark found the cube."

"Where?" I ask him, lifting Natasha out of my lap and getting a pouting glare in return.

"Stark figured out Loki would use his tower in New York for whatever he had planned. He already suited up and left. I came to get everyone."

"Okay then. I can move the fastest on my own. I'll even beat Stark there." I told them and was about to leave when Natasha grabbed my arm,

"We ARE going to finish this later." She says in a husky voice, staring me dead in the eye.

I give her a nod and a smile before displacing rapidly, exiting the helicarrier, and making my way to NYC.

_____________________

In only twenty seconds, I passed Stark as he flew with full thrusters toward the city. Another thirty seconds and I've arrived on top of Stark's tower.

Upon landing, I'm met by an older man fiddling with a large device, and at its center is the cube, glowing brightly.

He turns and sees me standing behind him. Surprised by my sudden arrival, his glowing blue eyes widen, revealing that he is under Loki's thrall. So I shift behind him and, as gently as possible, knock him unconscious and lay him on the ground.

I turn my attention toward the device. It's rather massive, made out of metal with cables that pulse with energy being siphoned from the cube.

Moving to rip the cube out of its housing, I'm halted by the sudden appearance of a barrier protecting it. It rebuffs my hand, but pushing my power through my body into my arm lets me phase right through it.

I grasp the cube, and suddenly, a searing pain floods my body. It almost reaches the height of the pain from the Hydra experiment, but soon, it turns into an intoxicating thrum of sheer power pulsing throughout my body.

I feel it. It's not the cube that has this power. It's what lies at its core. Something old and powerful. It pulls at me, wanting to show me something.

An abyssal void. The nothingness before time began, infinity, then a blinding flash. After I regain my sight, I see waves of color and hues all thrown outward from a singular point in space. At its center, six colors, blue, yellow, red, purple, green, and orange, revolve around each other before launching in every direction in streaks of light.

The blue light heads straight toward me. Slowing to almost a crawl, it floats in front of my eyes. It condenses into a jagged black stone that pulses with light from its core, turning all that I see blue.

I'm pulled out of the vision by someone shaking me. The blue light fades, and I'm back on Stark Tower's roof, the cube still in my hand.

"Hey, you good? I've been calling to you for a minute. You've just been staring into space."

I turn and see that it's Stark who's finally arrived. But when I do, he flinches,

"Woah! What's with the eyes?" he says, stepping away from me.

I look at him, confused,

"What do you mean? I can see just fine." I ask him.

"Your eyes are glowing blue like the cube, man. Are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should put it down." He says worriedly.

My eyes? I focus on the energy pulsing through me from the cube. The Space Stone... I stem the flow of it entering me until it stops altogether, yet I still feel it inside me. 

Stark lets out an audible sigh,

"You had me worried there, Gandalf. Thought you might have switched sides. Didn't fancy our chances against you."

"Yeah. I'm still me," I assure him. "Well, now that we have the cube, whatever Loki had planned for it, sure as shit isn't going as he thought it would." 

"I can't wait to take a picture of his face when he finds out. It's going to be priceless. I think I'll get it framed." Stark chuckles, "I'm going to drop down to the penthouse and swap out this suit. Point-break did some serious damage with that lightning of his. Feel free to come on in. We can have a toast to a job well done and the world not ending... I still want to have that talk about you breaking the laws of physics."

Stark lifts off the roof and glides down to the top floor of the tower.

I noticed an open briefcase that seemed to have held the cube for transport, so I placed it back and closed it shut. I pick up the case and gently grab hold of the older man I knocked unconscious, bringing him with me as I hop down to the terrace of Stark's top floor and lie him down on a couch inside.

"JARVIS, make notes on the electrical plasma damage to the MK. VI, and expedite the Mk. VII's completion," Stark dictates to his AI butler while moving behind his drink bar, "Grab a seat. What's your poison of choice?" He asks me, making a flourish to the plethora of alcohol behind him.

"Whisky, with a splash of water," I answer him, setting the case on the large table in front of the semi-circular couch in the center of the room and taking a seat.

"Ah, a man after my own palate, I see." 

He pours two glasses and walks over, handing one to me, and takes a seat across from me. Taking a sip, he pauses and points over to the older man,

"Why is Doctor Selvig sleeping on my couch?" he asks me.

"He was building the machine on your roof when I arrived. Romanoff told me she knocked Barton over the head to get him back from Loki's mind control, so, " I shrug.

"Riight. Anyways-" 

"Sir, I've picked up a SHEILD aircraft entering the city's airspace and heading this way." JARVIS cuts in.

"Well, that'll be the cavalry."

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It's not long before Rogers, Natasha, and Barton arrive, surprised but thankful that Loki's plan was derailed.

Grabbing the case and carrying Doctor Selvig into the back of the jet for medical attention, we head back to the helicarrier. Natasha told Fury that the situation had been dealt with. The tesseract was secured, and I had retrieved Doctor Selvig. 

A medical team was waiting on our return and took the still-unconscious Selvig on a stretcher to the sick bay for observation. Almost immediately, Fury called us to the bridge.

When we arrived in the conference room, I made sure no sound could leave before I set the case on the table. Seeing that everyone, including Banner and Thor, was present, I gave them a summary of what happened.

"- After breaching its barrier and grabbing the cube... something happened. I've been thinking about what it, for lack of a better phrase 'showed me" since it happened. Six stones were created at the dawn of our universe, each one being a primordial essence. The cube is the container for one of these stones. And I believe Loki's staff to be another; I know something extremely powerful lies at the center of its jewel."

Everyone in the room is silent for a few moments before Thor speaks up,

"You speak of the Infinity Stones, and you say you withstood its power? You are far stronger than I thought, seiðmaður. There are ancient stories of those who tried and failed to wield a stone and parished for their folly."

"It certainly felt like it was trying to kill me at first. I still feel an echo of it when I flex my power across my body." I say to him.

"So, are we sure this was Loki's last gambit? Does he know his plan failed?" I ask everyone.

"The reclamation of the tesseract has foiled his plan to bring his army here. It is time that I take him back to Asgard to face his crimes." Thor answers me.

"Welp, it was nice having this little get-together. We should do it again sometime. Maybe without the whole world-ending threat, though. I know Pepper wanted to thank you, Dante, so drop by sometime when you can." Stark gets up and leaves after putting on his sunglasses with a flourish.

With that, everyone broke up, some like Thor and Bruce, preparing to leave. While with Natasha and Barton, it was just another day on the job. But Natasha did give me a searing look filled with her promise for later.

Fury had agent Hill go with Thor to make sure he doesn't try anything to escape again. When everyone else was gone, he turned to me and looked at the case.

"I've cut off all sound from the room, so anything said won't leak out," I speak first, staring into his eye, "I'm still deciding if I should give you the cube, Fury. We may work together in the future to take down Hydra, but turning this over to you is another thing entirely. Where is the staff as well?"

His eyebrows furrow and a deeper scowl washes over his face before he takes a deep breath,

"I can't say I wouldn't do the same. As for the staff, I had Coulson personally lock it away before going underground with his team."

"Is that wise? You only knew Hydra was controlling SHIELD for a few days. Suppose there is any record of it. They will find it." I question him.

He scowls again and growls from being reminded of that slight.

"I'll make sure it's where it should be. Or I'll have to hunt that down, too. I'll contact you when I have 'my' people dig up who's who." He grumbles and walks out.

I'm left sitting alone in the room, staring at the case, thinking about what to do with it when everything freezes. 

Everyone outside the room is frozen mid-action. I sense space shift behind me. Someone's here. 

I displace out of my chair and push my power out to lock down this person who suddenly teleported in. But I'm met by resistance; a barrier in space fights my control.

I'm brought up short when the person who suddenly appeared smiles at me.

"Peace, Dante. I am not your enemy. I merely wished to speak to you in private. You may call me Ancient One."