Once they finally pried Loki out of the shattered stone steps he’d been embedded in, the team bound his hands, loaded him onto the Quinjet, and immediately turned for home.
Only a few minutes into the flight, the comm channel crackled to life.
Nick Fury.
"Did he say anything?"
"No, sir," Natasha replied from the pilot’s seat. "Honestly... he looks a little shell-shocked."
That was putting it mildly.
Loki had envisioned something entirely different.
He’d expected an epic clash with Captain America, a battle worthy of legend before allowing himself to be captured. Three hundred exchanges. A narrow defeat. A dignified surrender that would make him look every inch the cunning god.
Instead, some lunatic had dropped out of nowhere, body-slammed him into a staircase, and ended the fight before his speech had even finished.
He’d planned on getting captured.
Just... not like that.
Even now, he still hadn’t emotionally recovered from the humiliation.
"Just bring him back," Fury said flatly. "We’re out of time."
He paused, frowning at the background noise.
"...Why does it sound like a bar fight in there?"
Natasha rubbed her temple.
"Nothing to report, Director."
The source of the chaos was impossible to miss.
Tony Stark.
"You cheap bastard!" Tony roared, helmet tossed somewhere across the cabin while Captain America struggled to keep him restrained from behind. "Come over here! I’ll kick your ass!"
There wasn’t much mystery about who he was yelling at.
His grand entrance had been perfect.
The armor.
The dramatic landing.
He’d even timed the music.
Then Evenson had stolen the spotlight by dropping Loki through solid stone like an orbital strike.
If anyone aboard felt more embarrassed than Loki, it was Tony.
Evenson, however, possessed the serene confidence of someone who had survived demons, eldritch horrors, and Warlock politics.
He planted his hands on his hips, lifted his chin, and pointed smugly at Tony.
"Come on, then."
"I’ll flatten you again before you finish taking one step."
"You...!"
Tony’s face turned crimson.
His hair looked one emotional breakdown away from defying gravity.
"Cap! Let me go! I’m going to beat him into scrap metal!"
Captain America tightened his grip.
"I’m trying."
"Little Tony."
The gentle female voice instantly froze the billionaire in place.
Every muscle locked.
A bead of sweat slid down his forehead.
Very slowly, he turned.
Peggy Carter sat nearby behind a pair of sunglasses, smiling pleasantly.
For a moment Tony merely thought she looked familiar.
Then recognition hit.
He inhaled sharply.
"...Aunt Peggy?"
"Come sit over here."
Her voice remained warm.
When Tony didn’t move quickly enough, she added, still smiling,
"Be a good boy."
The temperature around Tony seemed to drop ten degrees.
Without another word, he hurried over and sat exactly where she indicated.
Buried somewhere beneath decades of confidence and ego lay a childhood memory powerful enough to override both.
Howard Stark had always been distant.
Maria Stark had always spoiled him.
Under normal circumstances, that combination should have produced an impossible child.
Instead, Tony had somehow grown into one of the greatest minds on Earth.
Peggy deserved more credit for that than anyone realized.
She and Howard had been close friends for years. They had worked together, saved one another’s lives countless times, and she often stayed at the Stark household.
Which meant she’d spent plenty of time around a young Tony.
Unlike Howard, she never ignored him.
Unlike Maria, she never indulged him.
She praised him when he earned it.
She scolded him when he deserved it.
Naturally, rebellious teenage Tony had once thought:
You’re not even my parent. Why should I listen to you?
That attitude lasted exactly one afternoon.
He had watched Howard Stark, the smartest, most arrogant man he knew, make one ill-advised joke.
Peggy had kicked him straight into a river.
Jarvis had tried to intervene.
She’d thrown him over her shoulder.
Four times.
Afterward, both men apologized.
Immediately.
Young Tony had learned a valuable lesson.
Ignoring his father was survivable.
Ignoring his mother was manageable.
Ignoring Aunt Peggy could very easily become a full-contact sporting event.
After that, he’d never tested the theory again.
Peggy studied him for a moment.
"You really..."
She hesitated.
For an instant, sadness crossed her face.
"...You really do look just like your father."
"Yeah..." Tony nodded awkwardly. Seeing the world’s most notorious playboy this restrained was almost surreal.
Then he blinked.
"Wait... you really are Aunt Peggy?"
"You look..." He searched for the right word.
"...young."
"And beautiful."
Peggy laughed softly.
"You inherited your father’s talent for flattery."
Her eyes shifted toward Evenson.
"I have someone to thank for my youth."
The meaning was obvious.
Drop the grudge.
Tony understood.
For approximately three seconds.
Then he immediately abandoned all dignity, slid across the cabin, threw an arm around Evenson’s shoulders, and grinned.
"My friend."
"Interested in becoming my personal wellness consultant again?"
"I’m not saying I’m getting old."
"I’m simply noticing a decline in... scientific productivity."
Evenson slowly removed Tony’s arm.
"Friend?"
"I don’t usually call people friends after they secretly build devices specifically designed to counter my magic."
Tony didn’t even bother pretending ignorance.
"You have to understand how scientists think."
"I’ve never encountered power like yours."
"If I didn’t study it, curiosity alone would’ve kept me awake every night."
"’Study it,’ huh?"
Evenson narrowed his eyes.
"I heard it had a much more specific purpose."
Sarah spoke without missing a beat.
"The Anti-Warlock Bracelet, boss."
Tony pointed at her.
"Absolutely false."
"I’m demanding an explanation from Fury."
Evenson waved the issue away.
"It doesn’t matter."
"My abilities aren’t something science can simply reverse engineer."
Tony folded his arms.
"I’ll admit..."
"What you did to me was terrifying."
"When you hit me, I was almost unconscious."
"JARVIS should’ve taken over the armor immediately."
"But after analyzing my trajectory, he concluded that even if I slammed into that moose at full speed, I wouldn’t actually be injured."
"He was right."
"The impact wasn’t the problem."
He grew more serious.
"Your spell was."
"I’ve never heard JARVIS issue warnings like that."
"Every major organ in my body nearly shut down at once."
"My heartbeat almost disappeared."
"He calculated that taking over the suit wouldn’t save me."
"So he diverted nearly all available power and processing capacity into counteracting your spell."
Evenson nodded thoughtfully.
"So that’s why you stayed semi-conscious."
"I expected you to black out completely."
Tony coughed awkwardly.
"...I didn’t."
"Because JARVIS injected me with three emergency doses of adrenaline."
"Interesting."
Evenson actually considered that.
"You might have found a direction for future research."
"Increase the dosage."
Tony looked pained.
"I ran the numbers."
"To fully negate your spell..."
"I’d need about a gallon."
"I’d die from the adrenaline before the curse wore off."
He immediately returned to his original objective.
"So..."
"About making me twenty years younger."
"Think of all the people I could help."
There was a suspiciously long pause.
"...Through science."
Evenson looked at him.
Sure.
Science.
"I’m afraid that’s impossible."
"Peggy regained her youth because she possessed the innate potential to learn magic."
"You don’t."
Tony refused to surrender.
"What exactly determines magical talent?"
"Maybe gene therapy could create it."
Evenson answered with complete sincerity.
"I have no doubt science can reshape the human body."
He leaned forward.
"But can it reshape the soul?"
Tony silently dismissed the question.
Let’s find proof souls exist first.
A deafening crack split the sky.
Lightning flashed outside the aircraft.
Natasha frowned.
"Where’s that coming from?"
"We’re above the storm clouds."
Sif suddenly stood.
"Thor."
The Quinjet lurched violently.
Something enormous had landed on the roof.
Natasha lowered altitude and opened the rear ramp.
Moments later, Thor strode inside.
He didn’t waste a single word.
He swung Mjolnir.
Tony, who had once again been walking toward the disturbance, was instantly flattened.
Thor grabbed Loki by the arm...
Spun Mjolnir...
And launched himself back into the storm.
It was less a rescue mission than a highly efficient brother extraction.
Tony climbed to his feet, furious.
"Why is everyone hitting me today?!"
He blasted after them without hesitation.
Captain America was a fraction too slow, but still grabbed a parachute and jumped after the pair.
Only seconds later he noticed someone diving beside him.
"This time you’re not leaving me behind."
Peggy.
Without a parachute.
Steve’s heart nearly stopped.
Then enormous demonic wings erupted from her back.
She gave one powerful beat, accelerating past him with ease.
As she swept by, she waved cheerfully.
"Bye!"
Within moments, everyone had disappeared into the night.
Evenson finally wandered to the open ramp at a leisurely pace.
Beside him, Sif stared into the darkness where Thor had vanished.
"They really just left."
He shook his head sympathetically.
"I can understand ignoring me."
"But they didn’t even acknowledge you."
Sif smiled faintly.
"Thor becomes... very focused during battle."
Evenson decided not to point out that Thor’s attention span occasionally resembled a charging rhino.
Love tended to smooth over those details.
He stepped toward the open ramp, looked into the freezing night...
Reached out...
...and pressed the bright red button beside the door.
The ramp slowly closed.
"For the love of..."
"Would it kill anyone to shut the door behind them?"
"I’m freezing."
Natasha glanced back from the cockpit.
"You’re not going after them?"
Evenson blinked.
"I can’t fly."
"I don’t have a parachute."
"How exactly was I supposed to leave?"
He looked at Sif.
"You?"
She folded her arms.
"No."
"If I could fly, I’d already be gone."
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