He isn’t expecting to see Loki here. In fact, Bruce is the last person for whom he’d expect that Loki would want to help search. Yet here he is, another individual who might actually be of some use in the proceedings. That alone is enough to make Tony glad that he’s here, regardless of what anyone else might think.

There’s nothing for him to contribute to the conversation and he knows it. More and more, he feels like an outsider among them, this collection of people who possess genuinely worthwhile skills for this type of endeavor. Not for the first time, he thinks he ought to have ignored Steve’s earlier call and just gone out on his own. All he’s doing here is standing around being useless, wasting time.

And it’s that thought that prompts him to make an executive decision.

“I’m going. My communicator’s on. You need me, you know how to reach me.” He doesn’t want for a response, doesn’t care to listen to the arguments. He simply turns as he’s speaking and starts walking away.

They’ll meet up eventually or they won’t. Either way, he’s out.