Stark swept in the room and immediately apparently tried to provoke a Norse god when he said, "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."
Um, no. Bex had to bite back more than one bitchy comment when Stark finished that sentence. There were very hard feelings. Having to use her powers randomly on a large metal object was not fun.
Bullets and anything bowling-ball size or less were incredibly easy to maneuver. She could do whatever she wanted with them, juggle or spell out swear words in mid air. But unless she had taken an intravenous suppressant hours beforehand, Bex couldn't move large objects with the exact same accuracy. She could always pull metal towards her. It was the instinctual reaction. But when she suddenly had to move a larger object she had to be a little more careful.
And taking into account the fact that using her powers on large objects when caught off guard was pretty draining, plus her tendency to be even more cranky than usual when tired, and she was a very unhappy camper.
Bex didn't understand arc reactor technology. She knew it was blue, it glowed, and Tony Stark was a fucking genius for creating it in a bite size portion. Beyond that, she could only recite what she'd read in scientific articles he'd published. But Bex was fairly certain a godly Asgardian weapon slamming into it was a bad thing.
Yet another reason she hated teams: there was a degree of responsibility for the safety of others that she had to take on. It was so much worse when the team members didn't seem to have any self preservation instincts at all.
So having to maneuver Stark out of the way seemed like a necessity Phil would insist on her doing. But in that fraction of a second when Bex had to choose what to do, she realized that there was a very small probability that she could accidentally push him towards Thor.
Six foot three. Approximately 240 pounds assuming bone density aligns with that of a human. Incredibly increased strength and near invulnerability. Threat level 10.
The estimated 3.8% chance that she would move him closer to the god usually wouldn't factor in, but on this mission if anything went wrong it would be on her head. Or worse, it could affect Clint.
So she'd gritted her teeth, put on her big girl pants, and yanked a huge robotic suit towards herself.
"Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."
Bex whipped her head around to the general direction that Stark had been facing and say that it was Agent Brian Kelly – 20 years old, threat level two. Also known as the man whose shoulder she had dislocated when he grabbed her without warning. She figured it would be overkill to glare and terrorize him yet again.
So obviously that was what Bex proceeded to do.
Stark's jab at Fury's lack of eye, however, brought her back to the present as she had to stifle her laughter. She noticed that Natasha looked a little pinched along with Hill, but those two had always been closer to the Director than she had.
Phil looked equally amused. This was why he was a close second to Clint on her list of things she cared about in the world.
1. Clint
2. Phil
3. Sarge
4. Natasha – mostly for the way she looked at Clint, and the way he looked back
5. Betty – her favorite sniper
6. Kayla – the younger half sister she hadn't seen since she was seventeen and only vaguely remembered
Stark hadn't really shut up since he entered, but as entertaining as it was to see him piss almost everyone off, she still flinched when he said, "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily."
It just – it fucking hurt to be reminded that Clint had been dragged into this as an unwilling participant to Loki's plan. S.H.I.E.L.D. had saved him from a life as a mercenary that had slowly been killing him. He was loyal to the organization, much more so than she. Bex was first and foremost loyal to Clint, Coulson, and Natasha to a degree. Clint was the one who had made the call to save her life. And he was the one who had rehabilitated her, not S.H.I.E.L.D. But now he was somewhere surrounded by enemies and picking off agents on his own side that he had probably known at some point or another.
Stark and Banner started prattling on about the cube's properties and how it could be used to create a portal while Bex was doing her best to follow along and memorize some of the terms so she could look them up later. She didn't really know how any of the specifics they were talking about worked. When Stark saw her out of the corner of his vision nodding along to what he was saying, he suddenly stopped talking and called out to her.
"Tink, you following?"
Bex decided the nickname wasn't worth getting upset over. If anything it would make others underestimate her. However, she responded in a tone that left no room for further questions or comments.
"Not really. I'm just the muscle."
Stark snorted and continued his theories without a moment's pause. Rogers still looked incredibly, incredibly confused. Though to his credit, Captain Spangles had been shoved into the future. And to him the war had been only weeks ago. Everyone he knew was dead.
The last one, she could relate to. Of course, she'd been the one to put a bullet into nearly everyone she had ever loved. It was by pure fucking amazing luck that her younger sister had been with relatives when SCYLLA had kidnapped everyone for their experiment.
To SCYLLA's immense pleasure, their hypothesis had been correct. Once her memory had begun to return and she recognized the line of people she'd killed, she finally cracked. Brainwashing and conditioning had been much easier to perform on someone who'd gone hysterical and half insane.
Tony Stark continued to spew out inaccuracies that seriously impeded their potential snarky banter when he went on to say, "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
Banner looked taken off guard by the bold statement, which was understandable. Natasha had been the one to bring him in, and he'd apparently been in the middle of nowhere. A straight up poster boy of an inferiority complex and self loathing.
Bex wasn't proud of it, but she really wished he'd stayed out of the way. He was a liability, and isolating himself was really the safest option. It was hard to get pissed off when there was no one around to bother you.
Stark was a very bothersome human being from what she'd observed thus far.
Phil interrupted her inner musing when he nonchalantly walked over to her and stood just beside her. Before she could ask what was up or how he'd been, she felt him slip something into her right pocket. A quick assessment of its shape and size revealed that he had somehow found the iPod that had been in her apartment the last time she'd checked.
Dear god, this man was fucking fantastic.
"Phil Coulson, you are the greatest. You know what – I'm gonna do something to pay you back. I'll take the water balloons filled with fake blood out of the lockers of the rookies at headquarters that Clint and I planted three weeks ago. Consider it done."
Bex didn't have to look at him to know that he'd rolled his eyes and was probably sporting his I'm-trying-to-appear-disappointed-but-secretly-find-your-pranks-with-Barton-amusing.
Bex herself was a little bit entertained by the Asgardian and Rogers when they began interjecting after Stark's pop culture references.
"Monkeys? I do not understand."
Rogers sat up a bit and looked enthusiastic when he said, "I do! I understood that reference."
Give the man a medal. Or a trophy with a tiny Captain America action figure glued to the top.
Stark and Banner soon left to go to the lab where the gamma radiation was being tracked, and once more Bex found herself without a purpose. Before she could wander off or climb up into the air vents to relax a bit alone, Fury turned to look at her.
"Harmon. I want you in there with them. Keep a close eye and report back periodically to let myself or Agent Coulson know what they are up to. Any sign of a dangerous situation emerging and you have permission to engage. Otherwise remain on the periphery."
Bex straightened up, not exactly thrilled with playing babysitter but acknowledging that she might be one of the best for the job. As a sniper, sitting still and observing targets who were moving around was second nature to her.
With a mock salute at Fury and a more earnest nod and small smile to Phil she made sure nobody could see, she strode off for her playdate with Iron Man and the Hulk.
