Everything was still on track. Everything was still going according to plan. Loki might be a woman this time around, but she was still using the same playbook as last time. Get herself captured as a distraction so her minions could complete their work … and cause general dissension and chaos among Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the process.
Except Tony had new information this time. Information he still wasn't entirely sure what to do with. He'd seen Loki's eyes before, back when she'd tried to kill him during Thor's first visit to Earth. When she'd stabbed him in his kidneys and slammed him up against a wall before leaving him to bleed out, Tony had gotten a very, VERY good look at Loki's emerald green eyes.
So then why, pray tell, was Loki sporting big bright blue irises this time? Tony could sort of understand why they hadn't noticed the discrepancy originally. Thor had the same almost unnaturally blue eyes after all. Like they were almost too blue to be real. And Thor wasn't controlled by the Scepter.
But Loki had green eyes when she'd first stabbed him. Tony was confident about that. Now she was here on Earth wielding the Mind Stone in what Tony could only assume was a specially crafted weapon that could utilize the Mind Stone's powers to turn people into mind controlled slaves. Specifically, blue-eyed mind controlled slaves.
Tony wouldn't have thought much of it, except that Thor had told him some of what had happened with the male Loki before Tony had come back in time. Apparently, the Loki from the original timeline had managed to redeem himself before the end, even trying to kill Thanos in an all or nothing sacrifice play that Tony would have never considered the God capable of before.
Hadn't worked out of course, but now it had Tony doubting himself. What if Loki wasn't herself right now? What if she was just as controlled by the staff as the rest of them? It didn' t change the fact that she'd tried to kill him not once, but twice before Thanos ever got his hands on her… and yet, Tony couldn ' t shake that there was a possibility here. Something he should take advantage of.
He could-
Sir.
Tony blinks as JARVIS contacts him via technopathy. No actual audio, technically no traceable connections. Just J's voice in Tony's head.
Yeah J? What is it? There's a pause before JARVIS finally speaks.
I'm afraid that through a lapse in judgment on my part, Captain Rogers, Captain Carter, and Sergeant Barnes all wound up watching the news coverage involving Loki's display in Germany. They are now asking to speak with you most insistently.
Tony's eyes widen at that, making him grateful that he's wearing Sneaky at the moment so nobody else in the quinjet sees his reaction.
What? I mean… I didn't exactly order you to keep them away from it or anything, but damn, that's… not good.
Not necessarily bad either, Tony supposed. But still very much not good. In fact, it had the capacity to be very, very messy. Yes Sir. I had spread myself too thin in an effort to crack the code regarding Loki ' s magic and her ability to hide her compatriots and the Tesseract from my senses. I'm afraid this resulted in my failure to properly monitor the three Super Soldiers. I have failed you on both fronts, Sir. My sincerest apologies.
Tony takes a moment to process that. Yeah, he supposed the secrets of magic would probably be one of the few things left that could truly tax JARVIS' processing at this point in time. Unfortunately, Tony couldn't exactly ignore this. Not because the Super Soldiers might break out of their containment and expose themselves to the outside world if he just left them to their own devices, but rather because they might TRY to break out and discover that in spite of the amenities and nice rooms they'd been afforded, they were actually in gilded cages that they couldn't escape from no matter how they tried.
… Yeah, probably best to avoid them figuring that out. Though there was no reason to freak out, not really. Especially since… What's their individual reaction like, JARVIS?
… Currently, Sir, the only one truly agitated is Captain Carter. Sergeant Barnes has been urging caution and expressing no desire to leave his quarters as usual and Captain Rogers seems indecisive and torn between the two of them.
Yeah, that sounded about right. And that… that Tony could work with.
Tell them I'll be over to visit ASAP, J. Tell them we've already captured Loki and as soon as she's secured, I'll be there to talk. But making sure she doesn't escape has to take priority.
There's another pause and then…
They understand, Sir. Captain Carter is willing to wait. But not wait long, Tony suspects. No matter. This wasn't unsalvageable. Not by a long shot. In fact, there was already a fun little plan forming in his mind's eye.
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