Chapter Text
Tony was sprawled out on a lounge chair on the Tower deck, turned slightly on his side to relieve pressure against his healing back. A glass of lemonade sat on the table next to him. He would have been drinking something a little stronger but alcohol had been banned while he was on the pain meds and still taking antibiotics. Tablet number three, now repaired and once again without any nasty teeth marks, was wedged between the chair arm and Tony’s thigh as he tapped out some ideas for an impact resistant opaque material to replace the ceiling tiles on the helicarrier. Panda was off in a corner digging into one of the huge potted ferns that decorated the deck. A small cleaning robot was having the time of its electronic life vacuuming up the soil Panda was flinging out of the pot, beeping and whirling across the floor.
Footsteps sounded across the deck and a shadow fell over Tony. He hummed in his throat in acknowledgment. “Tony, time for your meds,” Steve said quietly. Tony raised one hand and Steve put two pills into the cup his palm. He popped the pills into his mouth and chased them down his throat with a gulp of lemonade. The dark haired man then went back to tapping on his tablet. Steve waited for a moment but then turned to leave as Tony continued to ignore him.
Tony’s hand shot out and Steve yelped as it latched onto his arm, yanking him down on to the chair. “Tony, no, I don’t want to hurt you. You’re still healing,” protested Steve as Tony arranged his limbs.
“Shut up. It’s fine,” snapped Tony, wiggling around so he was lying more on Steve than on the chair. Pain flashed across his face as his movements pulled on healing skin and then he settled. “See? Like I said, it’s fine.” He propped the tablet against Steve’s belly and the other chair arm and went back to his schematics.
Steve hesitantly put his arm down around Tony’s shoulders and slowly relaxed. He watched the top of Tony’s head for a moment, his thumb gently rubbing at the curve of Tony’s shoulder. Chirping drew his gaze across the deck, to where Panda was basically destroying a potted plant. The alien had attracted the attention of two of the floor cleaners now. “Tony?” he asked quietly.
“He’s fine,” replied Tony.
“He’s killing that plant.”
“He’s having fun. Some sort of burrowing instinct, I think. I’ll get the plant replaced later.”
Steve sighed and closed his eyes, lying back in the chair. “You know you can’t keep him,” he muttered. Tony tensed against him, fingers stilling on the tablet screen. Steve looked down at him with a sympathetic frown. “Panda doesn’t belong here, Tony. Once you and Jane figure out how to stop the Tesseract from punching holes in other universes when it’s used, you should work on sending Panda home.”
Tony turned his face into Steve’s chest. “He doesn’t have a home,” he muttered.
“What?”
“He doesn’t have a home. They’re all dead, Steve!” Tony snapped, suddenly struggling to sit up.
Steve caught him and eased Tony back against him, the dark haired man tense and glaring. “No, don’t do that. Explain to me what you mean,” he pleaded gently.
Tony sighed and relaxed, curling up against the other man again. “Panda showed me, when he first fell on me. It was just a lot of feelings and images but I could see them. His family, his clan or whatever, they’re all dead. The gremlins killed them all. It wasn’t just a war between them, it was genocide. Panda is alone, Steve.”
Steve sucked in a shocked breath. “I’m so sorry,” he said quietly, bringing his other arm up to hug Tony in comfort. He glanced over at Panda but the little alien was still engrossed in the potted plant. Steve didn’t think it was ideal for Panda to be forced to live with them, they were practically strangers, but if Panda’s whole family was gone, well, Steve knew what it was like to suddenly be alone and in a strange place.
“Once we fix the Tesseract, Thor will take Panda to Asgard with him,” Tony muttered.
Steve looked down at him in surprise. “You’re sending him to Asgard?”
Tony sighed. “It’s not fair for Panda to stay here when only Thor and I can talk with him and it’s not like we can take him out and start handing him to people to see if they can hear him talk. If Thor can talk with him because of the All Speak, then everyone on Asgard should be able to talk with him. He’d be lonely if he stayed here.”
“That’s…” Steve paused, rubbing Tony’s arm and thinking. “Amazingly mature and perceptive of you.” He yelped as Tony pinched him hard in the side.
“I can be mature and perceptive if I want to be,” complained Tony, pouting at him. “I’m not a complete idiot when it comes to feelings, you know.”
“They’re just messy and you rather ignore them most of the time,” teased Steve, smirking.
“Avoidance works just fine, I’ll have you know.”
Steve pressed a kiss to Tony’s temple, which caused the dark haired man to freeze for a moment before melting against him. “It really doesn’t,” Steve muttered. Tony cuddled against him for a moment before wiggling around again. Steve grunted as a pointy elbow pushed into his chest.
“Panda?” called Tony. The little alien popped his head up out of the pot, gone from a fluffy cloud white to the brown of the potting soil. “Panda,” said Tony chidingly, fondness rolling in his chest. “You are a mess. Come here.” Panda flung himself from the pot and lumbered across the deck until he was in snatching range and Tony was able to pick him up. “I think there is more dirt on you than there is left in the plant pot,” Tony grumbled. The two floor cleaner robots were going to town on the mess. Tony turned Panda upside down and ruffled his fur so most of the soil fell to the floor. Panda squeaked as he dangled, sounding sort of like a pig, and the floor cleaners went nuts, beeping in protest.
“Sir, do not torment the cleaning robots. We do not want them to stage another protest for better working conditions,” pleaded Jarvis.
“That was once and it was years ago,” Tony said quickly as Steve eyebrows shot up. “It’s not what it sounds like.”
“It is exactly what it sounds like,” Jarvis disagreed.
“Shut it!” Tony snapped. He sat Panda in his lap. “You look ridiculous.” He brushed at his ears with a sigh. “Like you’ve been dipped in chocolate.”
What is chocolate?
“It’s a sweet food that humans like. I’ll see if you can have some later,” replied Tony absently, still petting Panda. He cocked his head and stared at Panda with an unhappy look on his face while Panda preened under the attention. Steve squeezed Tony’s shoulders. “Panda, do you like us?” Tony asked.
Yes. Very much.
“Do you like Thor?”
I do. He is very nice.
“How do you feel about going to Asgard with Thor?”
Panda sat up, fuzzy ears twitching. You wish to send me away?
Tony was barely able to contain a flinch as a wave of fear and sadness washed over him. He gave his head a little shake. His ears were ringing again. “No, Panda,” soothed Tony, pulling the little alien close. “I would never want to get rid of you. But you wouldn’t be happy here with only Thor and me to talk to. On Asgard, everyone would be able to hear you. You wouldn’t be so alone there.”
Panda curled himself into a ball, hiding his face. I am alone no matter where I go.
Tony fought off the smell of smoke and blood and the sound of screaming, shoving it away from his mind. They weren’t his memories anyway and it felt disrespectful to be experiencing them. He stroked down Panda’s back. “I’m sorry,” Tony muttered. He bent down close to Panda, although he knew with Steve’s superior hearing that the other man was probably able to hear everything he was saying anyway. He wanted this conversation to at least seem private. “That grief will never go away, I’m sorry to say,” Tony whispered. “It will lessen with time but that’s all. You’ll always miss them. But if you stay on Earth, Panda, you’ll have to remain hidden, either up on the helicarrier or in the Tower. In Asgard you’d be able to speak with and go anywhere you wanted. You wouldn’t have any freedom if you stayed here.” Tony felt Steve squeeze him gently, evidence that he had indeed heard everything Tony had said. Panda was silent, a miserable ball of fur against Tony’s stomach. He leaned back against Steve with a sigh, his side aching.
“What did he say?” asked Steve softly.
Tony shook his head. “Nothing yet,” he muttered back.
Finally Panda uncurled himself. You are right. When you fix the device, I will go with Thor to Asgard.
Tony gave a relieved smile. “I think that is for the best, Panda.”
The little alien scowled. I really do not like the helicarrier.
“It’s not such a bad place when it’s not being overrun by homicidal mutant lizards,” Tony said with a chuckle. Panda did not look convinced. He clicked and settled down in Tony’s lap for a nap.
“He agreed?” Steve asked.
Tony blinked drowsily and nodded. “He’ll go with Thor back to Asgard,” he answered through a yawn. He didn’t know if it was the pain meds that were knocking him out or if Panda was projecting or whatever again, making his mind go foggy.
“That’s good at least.” Steve tucked Tony more firmly against his chest. Tony hummed and let his head rest on Steve’s shoulder, eyes slipping closed. It looked like it was nap time.
(**)
Tony keyed in a few final numbers with a flourish, the screen filled with equations. “Jarvis, run that and throw up a 3D rendering,” he ordered, reaching to grab his coffee cup and taking a sip.
“Yes, sir,” replied the AI.
Tony stretched cautiously, careful of aggravating the healing wound on his back, and looked up to survey his surroundings for the first time in hours. Steve had been reading on the couch and had since fallen asleep, the book slowly sliding out of his lax grip. Soon it would fall to the floor with a thump and Tony knew it would jerk the solider awake with a flummoxed frown. Tony couldn’t help but smile, pleasant warmth buzzing over his skin. Steve had pretty much refused to leave Tony’s side since they left the helicarrier and Tony found his overprotectiveness, well, sweet. Nobody had ever shown him such consideration before. It might become irritating later, if Steve didn’t let off, but for now it pleased Tony and he allowed the other man to hover.
Tony turned to his table companion and found Jane staring off to the side, a laptop open in front of her and a pencil slowly sliding out from behind her ear. He couldn’t wait until it fell into her lap and startled her into yelping. He followed her gaze and found Panda messing around with some scrap metal on the corner of the table. The little alien was lifting a small metal pipe up, Dummy standing ready with a long screw and You holding a power drill. A few deft movements from the two robots and the pipe was secured into place. Panda lumbered around to the other side of the contraption, Dummy and You watching him avidly, and lifted a heavy weight on a flexible wire. He released it and the weight crashed into another weight, jerking it into swinging. “Huh. A Newton’s cradle,” said Tony, surprised.
“How is he doing that?” muttered Jane. Both Jane and her friend, Darcy, had tried to see if Panda could talk to them but neither had been able to. Darcy claimed to hear some sort of far off muttering before handing Panda back to Tony, a look of pain tightening her face. She claimed Panda to be totally ‘Japanese anime cute’ but touching him apparently gave her a migraine.
“He’s not actually an animal, Jane,” replied Tony. Panda was playing with an old laptop that Jarvis was helping him use. Tony could see instructions on the screen. Jane blinked wide eyes, ‘does not compute’ practically stamped across her forehead. Tony rolled his eyes. You think Jane would be used to weird stuff after meeting an Asgardian god, for pity’s sake. Speaking of Thor… “Where did Thor go?”
“Poptarts,” replied Jane, a ping from her laptop drawing her gaze away from Panda. She frowned down at the screen. The pencil slide out of her hair and she flailed after it before it could roll away.
“I am finished, sir,” announced Jarvis.
A blue hologram appeared in the air over the table, a set of detailed numbers and then a wire frame that looked like a badly misshapen trumpet flower. One side of the tunnel was exploded outward. Tony reached up and turned the wire frame around so the exploded part faced him and frowned. “Well, scrap that idea,” he muttered.
“Unless we’re looking to blow Asgard into bits and pieces,” said Jane, looking disappointed.
“Nope,” replied Tony, popping the ‘p’ sound. He swept his hand through the air and the wire frame hologram collapsed and disappeared. From behind them, Tony heard the book fall with a fluttery thump and the following snort as Steve jerked awake. Tony smiled, amused and charmed despite himself.
Steve yawned, sitting up and checking the other occupants of the workshop. Tony and Jane were still at their computers and Panda was rooting through a box of metal pieces, the makeshift Newton’s cradle still clacking away on the corner of the table. He rubbed his face briskly to banish the last of his sleepiness and glanced at his watch. Steve stood and walked up behind Tony, loosely wrapping his arms around the dark haired man’s shoulders, looking over his head at the computer screen. “Hey, how is it going?”
“Badly,” replied Tony sourly.
“Really badly,” added Jane with frustration. She knew that Thor was worried about not being able to travel home and she felt bad about not being able to help her boyfriend. She gave a key on her laptop a vicious push.
Steve smiled sympathetically, bucking his head to press a kiss to Tony’s shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll get it soon. Have you two eaten?”
Tony frowned, unable to keep himself from leaned back against Steve’s chest. “We just had breakfast,” he complained.
Steve chuckled. “That was hours ago, Tony. It’s after one now.”
“Huh?” Tony reached up to where Steve’s arm was looped across his collarbone and turned his wrist around so he could see his watch. It read 1:27pm. Way past lunch time, then. As if in agreement, Tony’s stomach suddenly growled.
Steve chuckled again, squeezing Tony’s shoulders tightly for a moment before stepping back. “Come on. We’ll head up to the kitchen, grab something to eat real quick, and you two can continue to plump the reaches of the unknown after.”
Jane stretched, arching her back and raising her arms over her head. “We might as well. It’s not like we’re getting anywhere.”
Tony gave her an insulted look and then sighed. “Alright. Panda?” he called across the table. The little alien pulled his head out of a box of bits and bobs. “Are you hungry? We’re going up for lunch.”
Panda trotted across the tabletop so Tony could pick him up. Food sounds good. Will there be Cheetos again?
“I’ll never forgive Clint for giving you so much junk food,” muttered Tony. “Yes, you can have Cheetos.” He lifted Panda so he could cling to his neck and stood. “Jarvis, trash that and save our work. We’ll pick up where we left off later.”
“Yes sir.” All of the computer screens went blank.
Jane groaned as she stood. “We’re never going to get it right,” she muttered.
Steve gently herded everyone toward the door. “Don’t say that, Dr. Foster. I’m sure Tony and you will figure it out soon. You just have to keep trying.”
Jane frowned in confusion as Tony chuckled. “Steve is better than those motivational posters with the kitten hanging from the tree branch saying ‘Hang in there!’.” Tony patted Steve on the arm with a smile. “Much cuter too.” Jane smiled as Tony ducked away from Steve’s gentle grab and mock growl. “Too slow!” cried Tony, hopping up the stairs with Panda hanging around his shoulders like a backpack. Steve gave slow, playful chase. Jane quickened her pace to keep up with them.
On the main level, Tony and Steve raced from the hallway and across the living room. Clint tilted his head back on the sofa to watch them clatter into the kitchen. Jane arrived a couple of seconds behind them, a tolerant smile on her face. An outraged squawk from Tony sounded in the kitchen. Clint rolled his head in the other direction. “Don’t they just make you want to throw up rainbows?” he asked as Jane walked past him.
“Try being trapped in the same room as them for hours on end,” muttered Jane. Clint snorted and then turned the volume of the TV back up as his show came back on. She entered the kitchen to find Tony and Steve inching around the island, the span of marble between them. Thor was by the left hand counter, his Never Ending Poptart Toaster going full speed. Jane went over to him and leaned her forehead against his chest.
Thor slipped a hand under her hair and rubbed at her neck. “How are you, fair Jane?” he asked in a voice that for him was considered soft.
Jane groaned as the knots in her neck melted. “I’m doing just lovely,” she muttered contentedly.
Tony danced around the kitchen island, keeping it between him and Steve. “You’ll never catch me!” he crowed. Steve gave the other man a narrow eyed look, amusement curling his lips. Panda clicked and clambered up over Tony’s head. Tony yelped as Panda’s little furry belly covered his eyes, reaching up to grab at the alien. “Ow! Panda, no fair!”
Steve darted around the island and grabbed Tony’s arms as Panda leapt off of Tony and landed on the counter. “Got you,” Steve teased.
Tony glared up at him. “You cheated. Panda helped you!” The little alien clicked a few times, lumbering across the counter to the fruit bowl.
Steve chuckled and leaned down to kiss the scowl off of Tony’s lips. Tony melted against him, leaning all his weight against his chest and trusting Steve to hold him up. Steve slid his arms around Tony’s shoulders and nipped lightly at his bottom lip. “Ham and cheese, ok?” Steve whispered.
“Uh huh. Fine,” slurred a happy Tony.
“Turkey for me!” shouted Clint from the living room.
Tony came alive, pulling away from Steve and whirling toward the door. “Get your own boyfriend to get you a turkey sandwich! Steve is mine!”
“Aw, come on, princess. Share!” Clint whined, hanging his head back off the sofa again and grinning at Tony upside down through the door.
“No! I am a selfish bastard and I will not share!” Tony glared at the archer as Steve prodded him into sitting on a stool at the island.
There was a soft beeping and Steve glanced down at his watch, going over to the little cabinet by the microwave. He fished out an orange pill bottle and shook a pill out onto his palm. “Time for your meds,” he told Tony quietly, offering the pill and a bottle of water. Tony’s eyes snapped away from Clint, leaving the archer to pout. He grimaced but snatched the antibiotic from Steve’s palm and swallowed it with a gulp of water. “Do you need a pain pill?” Steve asked softly.
Tony eyed the other orange bottle. His back hurt, yes, but the narcotic would make him sleepy and he had science to do and his back didn’t HURT hurt. He could do without it. But Steve would give him a LOOK if he thought Tony was ignoring so much as a paper cut. “Maybe just some Ibuprofen?” Tony hedged. Steve gave him a huge smile, which made Tony feel warm and then annoyed that something as simple as Steve’s smile could make him feel warm. He settled for giving the island counter an embarrassed glare. Tony wrinkled his nose as he saw Panda was eating a banana, peel and all.
Steve set up an assembly line of sandwich making, laying each piece of bread with ham, cheese, and a selection of mayo and mustard. Panda rolled an apple across the island and climbed into Tony’s lap to eat the fruit. Jane collapsed onto another stool, laying her head down on her folded arms. Thor sat next to her and gently petted her hair. Tony’s gaze drifted across them all and then settled on a spot on the backsplash, brain turning over like an engine and thoughts flying. “Would you like a sandwich, Thor?” asked Steve, setting a bowl of chips and a deli container of pasta salad on the island.
“I would, Captain. Thank you,” replied Thor, even though he had just eaten a whole box of Poptarts.
Steve continued in his food making, setting a plate with three sandwiches in front of Thor. He shouted for Clint and the archer entered the kitchen and set down in front of his turkey sandwich with a smug look. He was disappointed when Tony ignored him, mind elsewhere. Steve set a plate with a sandwich, chips, and some pasta salad in front of Tony and tapped the back of his hand lightly. Tony blinked at him. “Eat,” ordered Steve, setting a fork gently between his fingers. The dark haired man began to mechanically bring the food up to his mouth.
Natasha appeared in the kitchen, taking a juice from the refrigerator and accepting a plate from Steve. Bruce wandered in, yawning. “Jarvis said we were having lunch?” he mumbled. He had been running tests on the Tesseract most of the night.
“Looks like it,” said Clint, kicking the stool next to himself out. Bruce took the offered chair and Steve pushed over a plate, sitting next to Tony.
“Have you made any headway?” asked Natasha, adding a pile of chips to her plate from the bowl.
Jane huffed around her bite and swallowed. “No. We’ve had a few ideas but,” she winced, “none of them worked.” She gave her boyfriend a miserable look. “I’m so sorry, Thor.”
“I am sure you will come up with a solution soon, Jane. There is no need to apologize,” replied Thor confidently.
Clint leaned across the counter and waved a hand in front of Tony’s face. “It’s like nobody is home,” he muttered. Steve pushed his hand away, although Tony didn’t react at all, and told Clint to knock it off. Clint sat back in his chair and grumbled. Panda stole a chip off of Tony’s plate and Steve tore off a small piece of his own sandwich for the little alien.
Tony took a sip of his water and then a bite of his sandwich, his eyes still staring unfocusedly at the backsplash. He picked up his fork and stabbed a bit of pasta salad on the tongs, lifting it toward his mouth. He suddenly froze, eyes now focused like lasers on the spiraling noodle. Steve was the first to notice. “Tony? You ok?”
“I think he’s brain is overheating,” snorted Clint. Natasha thumped him in the arm, causing Clint to yelp and almost fall off the stool. Natasha packed a lot of power in her punches.
“You have an idea, Tony?” asked Bruce, recognizing that look as being on the cusp of a breakthrough.
“Spirals,” muttered Tony, shoving the fork into his mouth. He took two quick bites of his sandwich and gulped down the rest of his water. He then sat Panda on the counter and swiveled his stool around to hop off. “Spirals.”
“Tony? What’s wrong?” Steve asked.
“Spirals,” Tony shouted back, trotting out of the kitchen.
Everybody looked at Jane, as if she could decipher the man’s cryptic message. She was looking down at her pasta salad with an intense stare. “Spirals?” she echoed softly, her brow winkled in confusion. “Spirals?” Jane repeated, as if this would help her understand the pasta’s importance. Her eyes widened after a moment. “Spirals!” she cried in excitement. She grabbed Thor’s face and placed a loud, smacking kiss on his lips. Then she leapt off her stool and raced out of the kitchen with a loud cry of “Spirals!”
Thor licked his lips and grinned. “I knew it would not take them long,” he said happily. Panda clicked and pulled Tony’s abandoned plate toward himself.
(**)
They were back on the helicarrier, much to both Fury and Panda’s displeasure. They were on the water, having ascertained that no more gremlins were on the ship, sailing through the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic Ocean. They were a little far north, the salty wind with a chill that caused everyone to be wearing light jackets. The deck was completely cleared of planes and personnel, except for the Avengers. Jane was kneeling next to the Tesseract transportation device, poking at a few wires before snapping on the cover. Thor was standing over her in his armor, looking fond and indulgent as Jane fussed over the machine she and Tony had created to send him back to Asgard, hopefully without gathering any unwanted passengers this time. Natasha and Clint were loitering in the shade of the fake command tower, standing close enough to where an excited Darcy was trying to draw a nervous Bruce into conversation just in case they needed to intervene.
Tony hugged Panda to his chest, muttering into the alien’s fur. Panda clung to Tony’s neck, sometimes franticly grooming Tony’s hair and other times huddled into his shoulder. Steve dragged over a heavy black case and gestured for Tony to sit. Tony gave him a wan smile and sat on the case, shifting Panda to sit in his lap. Tony had a momentary thought about how funny it would be if Steve was informed he’d just instructed his lover to sit on a case of missile components. He then disregarded the thought as unimportant; the components weren’t armed anyway. (He hoped.) Steve stepped away so Tony and Panda could have some privacy.
“You’ll be fine,” insisted Tony, trying to tamp down on the wave of unhappiness trying to blanket his mind. They weren’t his emotions anyway.
I do not wish to be parted from you. Panda was clicking continuously is distress. It aggravated the headache Tony could feel building behind his eyes.
“We’ve talked about this,” Tony said gently. “You can’t stay here. It’s impractical and you wouldn’t be happy in the long run.” He stroked over Panda’s back.
Come with me!
An overwhelming desire to agree to Panda pleas swept through Tony and he gritted his teeth. A rush of hot anger prickled his skin, an emotion he was fairly sure was his own. Tony knew what the little alien was doing. The anger was quickly submerged by a wave of sorrow and fear. ‘Interesting survival skill,’ Tony thought, breathing deeply to try and clear his head, weeding his own emotions out of Panda’s projections. “I can’t do that. My home is here.”
I do not want to be alone. Tears leaked out of Panda’s blue eyes, matting his fur.
“Thor will ensure you make friends, Panda. He will be with you.” Tony’s ears began to ring and he gave a pained grunt. “Panda, please…” A weight seemed to suddenly lift off of Tony’s chest and he sighed, the grey creeping around his vision fading away. He rolled his shoulders.
Sorry. Panda muttered into his mind.
Tony rubbed behind Panda’s ears and didn’t mention it. “Everyone in Asgard will be able to speak with you, Panda. You’ll be much happier there and I shall visit as much as I can.”
You will? Panda asked hopefully.
“Of course,” replied Tony, smiling down at the little alien. The desire to stay with Panda crept over his mind again like a soft blanket, the very thought of leaving him painful, and – “Panda.” The feeling fell away as quickly as it had gathered. Panda huddled in Tony’s lap in misery and Tony stroked over his back. “You will be fine,” he soothed. He could see Steve watching them worriedly from the corner of his eye and flashed the other man a quick, tight smile. Tony felt a little like his heart was being torn apart.
Clint and Darcy suddenly started wolf whistling and everyone looked over. Thor had Jane bent back over his arm, the pair engaged in a heated kiss. Steve coughed and turned red. He looked away in embarrassment and happened to look in Tony’s direction. Tony smirked at him, smiling suggestively, and Steve turned even redder, covering his eyes with a hand. Thor ended the kiss with a loud pop and stood a dazed Jane up on her feet. “We shall not be parted long, fair Jane. I shall return soon. I swear,” announced Thor. Jane nodded with a silly smile and stumbled away, her hair full of static. “Friend Panda? Are you ready to depart?”
Tony stood, his amusement sliding away. He walked toward Thor, shifting Panda around in his arms. “You have your things?” he asked, eyes landing on the crate sitting nearby on the deck. Inside he knew there was a supply of Cheetos and all the toys Tony and the others had given Panda in the last few weeks, including the overstuffed dog bed (not that Panda knew it was a dog bed) he’d slept in, the stuffed bear Natasha had bought him (to give Panda something to cuddle), and the swing Clint had built.
Yes. It is all packed. Panda’s mind voice was soft.
Tony hugged him tightly. “It will be fine. You’ll see.” He smiled down into Panda’s bright blue eyes and had to blink back his own tears. He tugged playfully at Panda’s right ear. “Goodbye.”
Panda clung to Tony’s neck for a moment. Goodbye. Then the little alien hopped out of Tony’s arms and climbed up Thor’s shoulder. Tony’s lips wobbled, which was just ridiculous, and he fought down a whimper.
Thor curled one arm to support Panda and clapped Tony on the shoulder. “All I have to do is press the blue button, Tony, and I shall be transported home?”
Tony glanced down at the device sitting on the crate and nodded. Theoretically, anything touching the device would be transported when it activated. “Yeah. Remember to make sure your touching it when it goes or you’ll be left behind.”
“I shall remember,” agreed Thor with a nod. Tony backed away and then trotted over to stand with the others. Steve wrapped an arm around his shoulders and Tony leaned against his side. “Farewell, my friends!” called Thor.
“Bye, Thor!” shouted Darcy, waving extra hard.
“Goodbye!” Steve called. Natasha and Bruce waved while Clint gave Thor a thumps up. Jane sniffled and waved as well. Thor reached down and pressed the button on top of the device, a blue light bubbling up around it like a fountain.
“This is safe, right?” asked Darcy suddenly. “I mean, it’s not about to exploded, is it?” Clint gave the growing light a nervous look and stepped behind Natasha, who was unimpressed with this action.
“Yes, it’s fine,” said Jane, slightly insulted. The blue light danced with red and golden sparks and gathered into a sphere around Thor and Panda. Jane frowned. “I think,” she added.
“Tony?” muttered Steve as the light began to spin.
Tony bit back a pulse of anxiety that was not his own and squeezed Steve’s waist. “You might want to shield your eyes. This is going to be bright,” he warned as the glowing sphere suddenly broken apart and a beam of light shot up into the air with a boom, splitting the sky apart. A gust of wind slammed into them. Steve wrapped both arms around Tony as everyone stumbled. Darcy yelped as she slipped and fell. The light crackled and snapped, chasing itself up into the air and into the gap cut through the atmosphere. Stars and blackness lurked through the breach in the sky, making Tony shiver. (He wasn’t very fond of space, not after riding a nuclear missile through a mystical portal. The night sky always seemed a bit more…threatening to Tony after that.) The light was sucked up into the gap and the break bled closed, the sky once again blue and perfect.
Tony felt his ears pop and the heavy weight in the back of his mind disappeared. As suspected, the deep attachment he felt to Panda faded away. Tony liked Panda, don’t get him wrong. The little alien was cute and fluffy and innocent and would fetch tools like a good lab assistant. How could Tony not like him? But the mind link between them was gone and Tony felt lighter without it, less focused and overrun with thoughts about the little alien.
Jane pushed her tangled hair back and stared up into the sky. “Well, we either sent them back to Asgard or dropped them on Pluto,” she muttered. A round zigzag mark had been burned into the deck where Thor had activated the device.
“Pluto was an option?” asked Darcy, taking Clint’s offered hand and standing.
“Sort of?” hedged Jane, looking guilty.
“I noticed the new color scheme,” Bruce said wryly. “Red and gold, Tony? Really?”
“I swear to god, it was not on purpose,” Tony replied with a grin. “The modifications just ended up like that.”
“Are you fuckers done yet?” Fury’s voice drifted through their earpieces. “I’d like my helicarrier deck back.”
Steve reached up to his ear. “Yes, sir. We’re done,” he dutifully reported.
“About damn time,” grumbled Fury. The hangers for the planes slid open and began to rise. Workers returned to the deck and began to direct the planes into position, returning to its disguise as an aircraft carrier. “If you’re done, then go away. SHIELD doesn’t have time to babysit you anymore.” They all heard the line click dead.
“A Quinjet will be available to return you to New York,” Hill said over communications. “Have a nice day,” she said shortly and then was silent.
“We work with such happy people,” said Clint sourly. Natasha gave a delicate snort.
By Tony’s ear, Steve’s watch beeped mid-day and, like one of Pavlov’s dogs, Tony’s stomach growled in response. “Lunch?” he said hopefully, looking up with pleading eyes at Steve. He knew there were a few more doses left of his antibiotics, his back ached slightly, and he was hungry. Damn beeping watch.
“Sure,” said Steve pleasantly. “Here or should we eat at home?”
“Let’s go home,” announced Darcy. “This place gives me hives.”
“Allergic to authority?” asked Clint.
“Nope,” Darcy replied with a sharp smile. “Allergic to bullshit.”
“Oh snap! Girl has got some bite!”
“You’re just mad they won’t let you wander around,” Jane said as the group drifted toward where their transport waited.
“This place is like Roswell and Area 51 rolled into one!” complained Darcy. “I can’t stand it.”
Steve and Tony slowly followed their friends, their voices drifting over them on the sea wind. “Are you okay?” asked Steve, concern coloring his tone.
Tony nodded. “I’m fine,” he muttered.
“I’m sure Panda will be just fine,” Steve said, trying to soothe him. Tony had no doubt about that. Panda would have everyone in Asgard wrapped around his little claw soon enough. Tony hummed in response. They all clambered into the Quinjet and strapped into the passenger seats, Clint having a short argument with the pilot that ended with the man storming off the plane and the archer settling into his abandoned seat with a smirk.
“You know, I am going to miss Panda a little,” announced Bruce.
“He sure was cute!” agreed Darcy.
“It was nice to have someone around to cuddle with,” admitted Natasha, who had been caught snuggling with Panda on the couch more than once.
“We should get a pet!” cried Clint. “Hey, Tony! Can we get a dog?”
Tony, who had not been paying all that much attention to his teammates, barely looked up. “I’ll see what I can do about it later,” he muttered, which was pretty much his standard answer when someone asked him for something because people mostly asked him to fix or build things.
“Yay! We’re getting a dog!” Clint exclaimed happily.
“Tony!” hissed Steve. “Tony!” The dark haired man finally blinked up at him, drawn out of his thoughts by Steve’s insistent voice. “You just told Clint we could get a dog!”
“What?” yelped Tony. He looked up to find the others grinning at him. “No! No dogs! They’ll pee over everything and be a pain. No way!”
“What about a cat?” asked Natasha in a reasonable tone.
Tony paused. Cats were self-reliant, right? There’d be a litter box but he could design a bot to take care of that. “Um…” he muttered, thoughts flying.
“Yay! We’re getting a cat!”
“I haven’t said yes yet, Clint! Clint? Did you hear me? Clint!”