Chapter Text
“Sir, the telephone, I’m afraid my protocols are being overridden.” Jarvis interrupted the conversation.
Tony hesitated, turning and motioning for Jarvis to put the videocall through, “Ah..”
“Mr Stark, we need to talk.”
Tony let out a heavy sigh, “You have reached the life-model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message.”
He ignored Pepper’s snort of amusement as Coulson responded, “This is urgent.”
“Then leave it urgently.” The lift doors slid heavily open, and Tony arched an eyebrow, “Security Breach!”
“Mr Stark.”
Pepper beamed at the intruder, “Phil! Come in!”
Tony gave her a funny look, “Phil?”
“I can’t stay.”
“Uh… his first name is Agent.”
Pepper rolled her eyes, striding over to Coulson, “Come on in, we’re celebrating.”
“Which is why he can’t stay.” Tony bit out through a false smile as he followed in her footsteps to the awaiting SHIELD Agent.
Coulson ignored him, and made to hand him a laptop, “We need you to look this over.” He ignored how Tony was already shaking his head, and continued in his calm voice, “As soon as possible.”
“I don’t being handed things…”
Pepper interrupted, “That’s fine, because I love to be handed things.” She traded her glass of champagne for the device, and turned to Tony, “So let’s trade.” And reached out for his own glass, only for it to dissolve into sparkling gold light, Tony along with it. “What?”
Coulson reached for his gun, “He’s here, isn’t he?”
Tony’s drawl echoed from behind them suddenly, and they both turned to face the balcony, “Honestly, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He cocked his head, “Though I did warn you it was a lifemodel decoy.”
Coulson glowered at him, “Loki, Stark. He’s compromised you.”
Pepper glared at him, “Tony!”
Tony blinked, “I can honestly say he hasn’t.” He paused, “I can also heavily imply that that isn’t in Lokes’ skillset.”
“And you know this how?” Coulson glared at him.
Tony shrugged, stepping casually closer, “You didn’t think Thor was the first Aesir to set foot on Midgard since the Allfather established his ban, did you?” He paused for a moment, amber eyes scanning over the other man in a disconcerting manner, “You did. Huh. Howard made contact with Ullr during his search for Rogers.” Tony shrugged, “I gave him a head’s up that Thor was around, but he declined to make contact.”
“There are Asgardians on Earth, and you didn’t tell us.”
Tony gave him a piercing look, “Ullr willingly banished himself from Asgard. He’s Aesir in biology only.” He slid onto the couch before them, sprawling comfortably, “As far as he’s concerned, the only Aesir he has any intention of being loyal to is Loki, and that’s only because he feels a debt due to his mother’s actions in regards to Jormungandr et al.”
Pepper glared at him, “So we have a potential enemy on our hands, and you stayed silent?”
“Again, Pep. Not relevant. Loki has no power of mind control.” He raised his hands in a so-so manner, “Manipulations? Sure. But only in the sense that he can talk you around in circles until you think that whatever he suggested is your own idea. Otherwise, he does not lie, and he does not control.” He paused, “From my understanding, he finds that cheating, so even if he could, he wouldn’t.”
Coulson frowned, holstering his weapon, “So why did he wipe out a base, and enslave the survivors.”
Tony leant forward in his seat, “JARVIS? Footage.”
“On it Sir.”
A holographic representation of Loki’s attack on the SHIELD Base played out. “Huh.” Tony peered closer. “Rewind. Zoom in on his face.”
“What are you seeing Stark?”
“Seidr leaves a mark on her users Coulson. That’s one of the reasons the Aesir so disparage those who use it. Deviance is never an accepted part of society, no matter the society, and Loki stands out enough as it is with his hair and build… his seidr is well-known in terms of hue.” He paused, “For those who know what to look for, of course.” He snorted upon seeing the image. “That’s not Loki. Or if it is, he’s no the one in charge.”
Pepper frowned, “How do you know?”
Tony motioned to the still of a snarling Loki, and shrugged, “What colour would you say his eyes are?”
Coulson glared, “They’re blue, Stark.”
“Exactly. Loki’s seidr is green. The same shade as his cloak if you want to be specific.” He shrugged, “His eyes are his marker, if his eyes are blue, then it’s not him in control.”
“And you have evidence to prove this?”
“JARVIS, show me Barton both pre- and post- exposure.” He motioned to the provided images, “Enough evidence for you?”
“Shit.” Coulson pinched the bridge of his nose, “Any chance of this, Ullr?, agreeing to consult?”
Tony shook his head, “If he wants to, he will. As it is, he’s still pissed at Thor and Odin for what they did to Loki’s kids. I know enough of the theory that I can probably help, but Ullr won’t reveal himself to Asgard’s notice unless there’s really no other option.”
Coulson paused, “Is it always the eyes?”
“Planning on tracking Ullr down through facial rec?” Tony snickered, “No it’s not. The eyes only manifest in specific levels of power, and even then it varies. Sometimes they’ll grow scales, or affect the temperature instead.” At Coulson’s silence, he shrugged, “As far as I know, Ullr has kept his marker underwraps since he first escaped here… he’s not going to be found unless he wants to be.” He paused, “Saying that, I think I have some homework to be done, don’t you? Since you seem to want to mobilise the Avengers.” He rose to his feet, and headed over to a desk set by the windows.
Pepper sighed, “Which I know nothing about.”
“Not that I can see how that concerns me… it was scrapped, I thought.” He glared back at the shocked agent, “And I diddn’t even qualify.”
“I did not know that either.”
“Yeah, apparently I’m volatile, self-obsesseed, don’t play well with others…”
“That I did know.” Pepper gave Coulson an amused smile.
“This isn’t about personality profiles anymore.”
“Whatever,” Tony muttered distractedly, “Ms Potts, got a second?”
She smiled at Coulson, and whispered, “Half a moment.” And headed over to the other side of the room, where Tony was waiting.
Tony bent over the touchscreen to the laptop he’d appropriated unnoticed, entering in the password he shouldn’t have known. “You know, I thought we were having a moment.”
“I was having twelve percent of a moment, and you weren’t actually even here.”
“Ah… about that.”
She bent over his workbench, “This seems serious, Phil’s pretty shaken.”
“How would you know this? Why is he Phil?”
“What is all this?”
“This is uh…” He made a flicking motion and moved the videos to the hologram screens, revealing the assorted information SHIELD had gathered on their Avengers candidates. “…this.”
Pepper stared in fascination at the screens, “Yes. You have homework.” She swallowed, and turned back to Coulson, “You wouldn’t happen to be passing La Guardia, would you?”
“I can drop you off.” He smiled at her.
“Thank you.” She turned back to Tony. “I’ll head out to DC tonight. You have homework, a lot of homework.”
“As you wish, Ms Potts.” Tony smirked, “And when I’m done?”
She leant in to whisper in his ear, “You can explain to me why I’ve never heard of Ullr before.”
“Ah.”
“Goodnight Tony.”
Tony waved distractedly, scanning over the gathered information, ‘This… this is not good.’