I started to walk towards the lab where Stark and Dr. Banner would be, hoping that maybe I could help them. As I turned a corner, I ran into Steve, literally ran into him. I felt his arms unconsciously wrap around me as I fell backwards from him.

"I'm sorry, Miss Barton. I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alright?" Steve asked as he let go of me.

"Steve, I told you, call me Melody."

"Melody, then," he said with a slight grin.

"And yes, Steve, I'm fine. It was my fault. I wasn't paying a lick of attention to what was going on around me. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Melody."

I smiled at him. "So, where were you headed?"

"I was trying to find the lab where Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are, but I think I'm lost."

"No worries," I said while laughing, "I'm headed there myself. Follow me, Steve. We'll be there in no time." I took one look at him, then took off running down the corridor.

"No fair!" I heard Steve yelling from behind me. I couldn't help but laugh at his indignation, but I didn't stop. He's a super soldier, he can keep up. I was slightly puffing when I finally arrived at the lab, Steve a few steps behind me. "How did you manage to do that?"

"What? Beat you? Easy, training." I gave him a look to let him know I was completely joking. "I just happen to know where I'm going a little better then you do, Steve."

"Now that I can believe. Shall we go in, now?"

"No time like the present. Sorry, bad joke."

"It's fine. I actually thought it was pretty funny."

We walked into the lab in time to see Stark shock Dr. Banner with some sort of device.

"Ow!"

"Nothing?"

"Are you nuts?" Steve yelled at Stark. I didn't really blame him, but these two were going to end up killing each other.

"You really have a lid on it don't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Tony continued.

"Stark," I tried to warn him.

"Is everything a joke to you?"

"Funny things are." I snorted. It was a perfect response to a pretty stupid question. I may not like Stark, but Steve wasn't the brightest when it came to dealing with Stark.

Steve shot me a look. "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, doctor."

"No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"Dr. Banner is right, Steve. He can control himself." It was time I started being the agent I was trained to be.

"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut."

"Tony, shut up," I told him, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a male brawl.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Really? Were they just ignoring me?

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

I turned and looked at Dr. Banner. "I could have sworn I told both of them to shut up." He merely shrugged his shoulders.

"You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Stark pointed to Dr. Banner. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

Dr. Banner looked startled to have the attention placed on him. "I.. I uhh.. I just want to get my work done."

"Doctor?"

Dr. Banner just stood there for a second before continuing. "A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it. We all did."

Dr. Banner pointed towards Tony. "I think it was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post it all over the news."

"That big ugly," Steve hesitated after seeing the glare that Tony gave him, "building in New York?'

"It's powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?" Dr. Banner looked at Stark.

"That's just the prototype. I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now." Stark gave a not so modest shrug.

"So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Dr. Banner was referring to Stark, but was asking me. I couldn't answer the question. I didn't have the answer to the question.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure photos."

"Excuse me, what?!" I said, shocked. I may not like SHIELD, but they had raised me, in a sense.

"I'm sorry, did you say...?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Including any of yours, Agent Barton Pretty. Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Steve questioned Stark. I was in too much shock about what was going on. I couldn't believe that this was happening now of all times.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war,and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."

"Steve's right, Stark." I said.

"But I'm not really the following type, Miss Barton. It's not my style"

"And you're all about style, aren't you." I could hear the challenge in Steve's voice.

"Steve, not now. We shouldn't be fighting each other." I was doing my best to diffuse an almost impossible situation.

"Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, B. not of use and C. working for the people keeping secrets from us?"

"That was uncalled for, Tony." Steve said.

"Steve, tell me none of this doesn't smell a little funky to you."

I could see that Steve was considering what was being said, but before he could make a decision, his training kicked in and he dismissed all possibilities.

"Just find the cube," Steve said before walking out of the lab. I shot Dr. Banner an apologetic look and quickly followed Steve out.

"Steve, wait!" I called out.

"I just don't get it," he said once I caught up to him. "Howard Stark never acted like that. He was a respectable man. But Stark, he can't even think through what he's doing."

"He's a genius, Steve. All geniuses are eccentric in some way." I couldn't believe that I was defending Tony, but I also knew that having the two of them fighting would not be good in the long run.

"You're not eccentric, in any way."

I started to blush, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't be modest, Melody. Agent Romanoff was telling me about it. Why don't you want anyone knowing about it?"

"I.. uhh... I.." I couldn't think of an acceptable response to his question. Steve just chuckled at me.

"I'm going to go looking around. You go back and help the scientists in there. I'll be fine."

He started to walk off. "Steve," he stopped and turned around and looked at me, "I promise, I had nothing to do with any of the testing of the Tesaract." I could tell that the whole conversation in the lab didn't sit well with him. "Clint was the one assigned to it, protecting it."

"Thanks for telling me, Melody. " He said before he continued on his way. I walked slowly back into the lab.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I honestly completely got distracted from all my writing. But, since it's now summer, I should be able to write more. Leave a review telling me what you thought about this chapter or what you think is/should happen!