Chapter 4

Over the course of two whole days, we'd been in the captain's cabin at least eight times, not including the first time. Apparently, somebody had: clogged every single toilet on board (even in the women's restroom, which I found hard to believe), stuffed ping-pong balls inside of all the medicine cabinets, placed whoopee cushions in various places throughout the ship, dyed the swimming pool and on-board aquarium water green (the poor maintenance people; it took them a while to figure out that that wasn't algae covering the tank), and taped a "hug me" sign on Thor's back (in which, upon being mobbed, Thor zapped everyone within a perimeter of five feet; Loki watched in shocked amusement). The prankster(s) also took my shield and let the children play with it, telling them that it was a Frisbee. I chased it frantically as it flew through the air gracefully. In the process of pursuit, my shield whacked me in the forehead, causing a long and loud ring to echo throughout the ship and my skull. I began to see stars appear and the whole world fell into darkness as I went unconscious. When I woke up, I was in a coffee shop. There was a handwritten sign on the front door that read, "Meet with Steve Rogers and get FREE coffee!" My heart beat wildly like a tiger trying to escape a circus cage as I raced to find an exit.

I skidded to a halt when I found fans lined up at the door, making the glass crack under the force of many hands pushing at it. On the bright side, the people outside were elated. The bad news: the glass broke. People and shards of glass descended upon me, resulting in a short trip to Bruce's room. Dr. Banner diagnosed me with a shoulder and elbow out of place on each arm, along with several bumps and bruises and scrapes all over. Bruce helped me pop my shoulder and elbow back into their rightful places before giving the cliché order: "Now you just relax and take it easy and everything will be just fine."

I nodded, "Thanks, Doc," and went on my merry way.

I'll tell you, I was a bit more aware of my surroundings after the incident. Instead of watching my feet as they struck out before me, I paid attention to who was doing what and where. I scanned the hall and scurried to my room warily in a swift streak of red, white, and blue. I pressed the door closed and sighed. Then, just my luck: Knock knock knock!

"Oh, good lord," I mumbled under my breath. I turned sharply to the entrance/exit of my temporary home and peered through the peephole. "Who is it?"

"The pizza man!" came Tony's irritated, but teasing voice from the other side. From the overhead view of the peephole, I could see the shorter man's dark mound of grease-filled hair. Beside him was Pepper, her nose buried in a notebook she was writing important things in. Tony lifted his head to peek through the peephole as well, his brown eye growing at an alarming rate, startling me. "It's the awesomest guy on the face of the planet, that's who!"

I opened the door slowly, my nonexistent smile having even less of a chance of appearing. Tony stood inches from the threshold, his arms crossed and expression disapproving.

"What's going on, Tony?" I inquired, trying to silently ask him to cease his foot tapping. It reminded me of Thumper the Bunny.

"Furry called another freaking meeting with the captain." He paused, the noise of his toes against the hallway carpet stopping briefly while he thought. He then looked me in the eye, a grin threatening the corners of his lips. "Not you, 'captain'; the ship's 'captain'." he clarified.

I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, Stark," I grumbled as I squeezed past him towards the captain's cabin. My thoughts swam past the coral reef that was my brain. Actually, when I saw coral reefs on TV, it always reminded me of brains… Er, anyway… I wondered what would happen if-no, scratch that–when we got into too much trouble. No more dining in the dining hall? Or maybe, no more room service? Most of my thoughts seemed to be about food, I noted. My stomach growled and I clutched it, realizing that I hadn't eaten anything this morning amid all of the confusion. I tried to ignore my hunger and Tony's fierce comments about this and that. To make sure that he wouldn't be suspicious to my inattentiveness, I threw in a "Uh-huh," every now and again. I thought it was funny when Pepper began doing the same exact thing. Soon we found ourselves in the all-too-familiar captain's cabin. We filed into place along with the others, our frequent visits becoming routine. I felt like a kid being shunned to the principal's office. Nicky Fury, "the principal", flashed onto the screen. He seemed rather POed, even with the view of the back of his head.

"What?" Fury whipped around impatiently.

"It seems we have a CAATT situation, Director." The captain spoke in code. "Again." he added grimly.

Fury's steely gaze seemed to say more when he blandly mustered, "Don't let it happen again," like the last seven times.

This time, though, he looked as if he had a secret to tell, but you'd die before you got to it. It was the way he didn't draw out a whole speech about self control like a teacher that gave it away. He wasn't acting like himself. However, it wasn't my place to question, so I simply replied, "Yes, Sir."

It still kept bugging me that Fury wanted us to be on this trip. Loki had a point earlier: Fury didn't care about what we wanted, did he? Or maybe that was just Loki's vengeful spirit and "silver tongue" trying to manipulate an Avengers coup against Fury. Either way, there was something going on.

When the Nick Fury Show ended, we all began to walk away as if nothing had happened.

"Stop!" the captain yelled. We obeyed with only silent question written on all of our faces. The captain stood very still as if he were evaluating us. Finally, he said, "Follow me."

It wasn't a request, either, it was a command. So, off we went. No arguing. No rude comments. Not even a snarky, no, make that Starky comment from Tony. We followed the heavier man through the ship, in and out of various staff only corridors and rooms. Soon, we came to an old, dreadfully forgotten deck. Its floorboards were worn and creaked under our weight; they looked like they had at least an inch thick of dust on them! We all exchanged confused glances with each other. The captain continued, nonetheless, to the edge of the boat. I remained at the back of our little group, preferring to listen to the waves crash against the side of the boat rather than watch them. The captain used an elderly pulley system, the rope withered and looking like it would give way any moment now. At the end of the thick twine was a small boat, not much bigger than one you'd go fishing in. The captain turned around after securing the diminutive lifeboat.

"Listen, folks," he began. His face was sober, but I could see a crazed, unsettling gleam in his eyes. He sighed sympathetically, but it was almost an empty gesture. "I know that you're all famous heroes, but I can't take all of these complaints anymore! I just can't! I was a young lad myself, once, and I love to laugh and have fun but"-he shook his head-"you have to know when to quit. For crying out loud, you're ruining this cruise's reputation! I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to toss ya overboard."

My eyes widened. And I thought that "throwing someone overboard" was just a modern day expression. I didn't know that people were actually tossed over the side of ships!

"Wait," Tony stopped, trying to regain his composure. He then began to chuckle. "Oh, I get it! You're totally kidding! Okay, joke's over! Are we on Candid Camera? Smile everyone!" The captain's serious expression wouldn't waver. "R-right?" Tony sounded scared.

The captain only stepped aside and motioned toward the lifeboat with a slow sweep of his arm. He was serious. We filed into a line and hopped from the ship to the tinier vessel. Tony and I were the last ones, and I let the shorter man go first. He glumly obliged. As he walked cautiously behind Pepper, I noticed how he closely examined each step as if to make sure his feet were placed accordingly. I shook my head. Right then, I came to a halt as a thought occurred to me.

"Oh, crud! I forgot my shield!" I blurted, achieving strange looks from the others. I couldn't believe I'd remembered the blasted thing!

The captain, after pursing his lips in a short thought process, nodded to one of his crewmen who ran off towards the cabin. Within two minutes he returned, the item in question in hand. I thanked him and attached my weapon on my left arm and fearfully jumped off the larger vessel. The boat bobbed unsteadily with all of us in it. The captain peeked over the side of the ship and looked sorrowful. Yet, it was another empty emotion. I couldn't figure out why, but between the captain and director, I didn't know who was acting funnier. And it wasn't "funny haha".

"Sorry it has to be this way," he called over the spray of the ocean.

"Then why'd ya do it, then?" Tony muttered.

The tiny boat then began to shift and departed unceremoniously from the mother ship. We were sent adrift upon the seven seas.

Howdy! Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! It's super awesome! So, I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and next chapter, *spoiler alert* they'll be on an island! I know, it's so cliche! But still! ^^ I am also open to suggestions of scenarios of what will happen to them on their "new vacation spot"! On the boat, or where they land! Please review and tell me whatcha think! And keep reading because its good for you!