Author's Note: Update, as requested! I hope this means I get more reviews… *insert wink and nudge*
So, a ton of dialogue in this chapter, so I apologize. This is the big argument scene, and surprisingly I actually remembered a lot of the dialogue. Huh. That would've been useful a few chapters ago.
So… shit's about to go down. That is all I really can say.
Born To Die
Put on the Suit
Natasha Romanoff, spy and assassin, grinned smugly. Astonishingly simple victory.
"So… Banner? That's your play."
Loki stared at a completely calm Natasha in surprise, before uttering the only word he could think of at the moment: "What?"
He had thought he had the advantage, but he suddenly had to admit there was at least one person on this ship better with words than he was. Better than him, Loki the Silver-Tongued.
He looked to the SHIELD agent for a reply, but Natasha wasn't paying attention to him. Instead she was speaking to Fury. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She turned back to Loki, and he noticed she had a slight smile on her face. "Thank you for your cooperation."
Loki stared after her, shaking his head before smiling. They had no idea of what was about to come.
AAA
"What is Phase Two?"
At hearing Tony's accusative voice, Natasha froze outside the lab before tearing inside. Unfortunately, Rodgers was right behind her.
"Phase Two is SHIELD using the Tesseract to make weapons," he explained shortly, tossing a futuristic gun onto the table. "Sorry," he told Tony, "the computer was moving a little slow for me."
Ana ran in, Thor in tow. "What's going on?" She breathed. "I got your call, Steve."
No one answered her. "How can we trust SHIELD if you're keeping tabs on all of us, and building weapons," Tony questioned, staring at Fury.
"This is just like Hydra," Steve added. "Except you all are acting like the good guys?"
Natasha snorted, her eyes on Tony. "You're one to talk. Stark, if you were still in the weapons business, you'd be all over this." She kept speaking before he could reply. "And are you all really that naïve? Of course SHIELD monitors all potential threats. Captain Rodgers and Hydra is why this happened in the first place!"
Ana stepped in, looking at Natasha as if she didn't even know her. Which, in reality, she didn't. "Wait, you're blaming Steve for this now?"
Nodding in agreement with Ana's disbelief, Bruce decided to speak up: "So… Captain America is on the potential threat watch list?" He shook his head.
Seeing the opportunity for a quip, Stark laughed, turning to Steve. "I can't believe you're on that list. So are you above or below angry bees?"
Steve made a move toward him, but Ana held him back. "I swear to God, Stark, one more crack…"
"Threatening! I feel threatened!"
Ana rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like a child, Tony," she reprimanded.
"I don't believe I gave you permission to call me Tony," he crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest
"Shut the hell up, Stark. Don't you think she's gone through enough?" Steve shot at him, moving in front of Ana.
The brunette almost growled. "I can take care of myself, Captain…"
Steve ignored her, turning back to Fury. "And you! I thought you brought us together to save the world, not to bring you a weapon maker!"
Fury looked disgruntled, and Ana could tell he was about to attempt to defend himself. "Phase Two isn't even about you," he snapped. "It's about him."
He pointed to Thor, and everyone stopped arguing and stared at him in surprise. Thor, the one person out of all of them who seemed by far the most innocent. Fury sighed.
"Me?" Thor stuttered in disbelief.
Fury sighed in exasperation. "When the arrival of a visitor from another world had a grudge match that leveled a small town, it confirmed that we are not alone in this universe. People got worried."
"Our race means no harm," Thor assured him, almost offended.
"No one in the nine worlds cares about Midgard, Director," Ana said, putting her hands on her hips. "Most of us want peace, and will aid Earth in any war, not fight against it."
"You don't understand. You all aren't the only races out there!"
Thor's eyes hardened. "On the contrary, your work with the Tesseract is only a sign that the Earth is prepared for a higher form of war."
"We only want to be ready, to have some control in the results," Fury defended.
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor threw back.
Before Fury could reply, Bruce laughed. All heads turned to the supposedly shy curly haired scientist. "It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team?" He asked. No one answered, waiting for him to continue. "No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb."
Fury surreptitiously placed a hand on his gun. "You need to step away," he warned.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony quipped, smiling though it didn't quite reach his eyes.
Steve stepped forward. "You know damn well why," he hissed lowly. "Back off."
Tony glared at him. "I'm starting to want you to make me," he shot back.
Ana stepped between them, laying a hand on each chest. "Boys…"
Fury noticed a slight tremor in Bruce's hand. He took another step toward the doctor. "Agent Romanoff, why don't you escort Doctor Banner back to his-"
"Back where?" The scientist interrupted. "You rented my room."
"The cell was built…" Fury began.
Only Bruce cut him off again. "In case you needed to kill me," he finished, "but you can't! I know! I tried!" All fighting stopped. Ana was frozen behind an equally frozen Captain America and Ironman. Natasha shifted uncomfortably, and Thor sat back against the counter in surprise. "I got low," he explained, eyes facing the floor. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth... and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you" –he glared at Natasha, who looked away- "dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"
He walked toward the Black Widow, who backed away slowly. "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"
Everyone with a weapon reached for one, and Tony and Steve bumped into each other as they both unconsciously moved to block the brunette between them. Ana would've smirked in any other situation, but all she could do was tighten her grip on her knife.
"Doctor Banner," the ex-princess said softly, and Bruce's green-tinted eyes met hers. "Put down the scepter."
Bruce looked down, shocked to see the object in his grasp. The computer beeped, interrupting the silence. "Got it," Tony said quietly, motioning toward the screen.
Banner gently put down the scepter and headed to the computer. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."
As every else followed Bruce to the computer, curious of the Tesseract's location, Steve turned to Tony. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" He accused. Tony shrugged, almost wanting to laugh at the Captain's bravado. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
Tony smirked. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Thor chuckled softly from the computer, and the tension within the others eased with Tony's jokes, though they would never admit it. Steve, however, only grew angrier.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve retorted, and Tony tried not to flinch. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire."
Steve laughed spitefully. "Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero?" Tony asked with incredulity. "Like you? You're a lab rat, Rodgers." He paused, before giving the Captain a taunting smile. "Everything that you are came out of a bottle."
Steve had, by now, had enough. "Put on the suit, then. Let's have it out."
Tony grinned. "Normally you wouldn't be this nasty, Captain. I wonder if a certain brunette has anything to do-"
"Put on the suit!"
Ana wasn't listening to the men fighting; instead, she was staring intently at one of the many computer screens. "Guys, what does this mean?" She asked. "It looks sort of ominous," she pointed out, gesturing to a blinking red dot.
Tony reluctantly came up behind her. "I'm sure you're overreact- shit," he realized, before swiftly pushing Ana to the floor before she could protest.
Boom.
Everyone went flying; Tony had thrown himself onto Ana before the blast, and she was breathing hard. Against her will, she liked the feeling of Tony's warm body on top of hers, and by the way Tony's arms wrapped around her waist as they shakily stood, he liked it too. "I thought you hated me," she breathed, laughing lightly.
"I'm glad you're safe," he murmured instead of replying. He squeezed her before letting her go. They noticed they were up first, the others slightly worse off. They had not been aware of the explosion before it happened.
The brunette nodded, then after hearing Natasha frantically attempting to soothe a trembling Bruce through the broken window below, it turned into a shake of head. "Not for long," she whispered, before tearing away to run toward the window.
Tony attempted to grab her wrist, but she had already leaped through the window. He cursed under his breath, before he felt his arm being grabbed. He looked back, seeing a slightly out-of-sorts Steve Rodgers, who was already in the process of tugging him toward the door.
"Put on the suit," he repeated, but now there was a desperate undertone to his voice.
"Yeah," the billionaire agreed, and they ran out together.
AAA
Ana landed in front of Natasha, who was literally shaking in fear. "Go," she demanded firmly, lifting the pipe from Natasha's leg. She checked Bruce's progress; his clothes were ripping. "Nat, run. As fast as you can. Compose yourself, find Clint. RUN!"
Natasha scampered to her feet, jumping and clearing the green man and tearing out of there. Ana took a deep breath, bracing herself. The Hulk turned to her, and roared so loud that Ana was sure she lost some of her hearing.
"Right," she whispered to herself. "Time to run."
She took off through the pipework, trying to keep a cool head. She could hear the Hulk's labored breathing behind her, using that as a compass of where not to go. She got a few fiery swipes in, but all in all she knew nothing she did would hurt the green giant. She just needed to get him off the helicarrier.
She kept away from him as best she could, but eventually she was cornered. She breathed deeply, pressing herself against the wall before slowly sinking down into a defensive position. She grimaced as she looked down at her seared tank top, torn beyond repair.
The Hulk charged, but was waylaid by a flying Thor.
"Thanks, bro," she whispered, before running down the hall toward the broken engine. Maybe Steve and Tony could use some there.
As she ran, she tore her tank around the midriff. So now she was left with holey jeans, and a bra she was glad she was wearing, because her new half-top barely covered a thing. And she really didn't want to change into her crazy, itchy armor.
"Steve," she began loudly, pressing her earpiece. "Come in. What do you need me to do?"
"Ana!" the blonde man shouted in reply. "Get the lever, the red lever! Tony is going to be stuck, and I'm trying to shoot these guys… they just keep coming."
The brunette replied in the affirmative, swinging herself up to reach the ladder. She tried not to be seen, but one gunman noticed, and Steve was too preoccupied with shooting what he believed to be the last man.
Ana had just pulled the lever, saving Tony, when she felt the unfortunately familiar pain shoot through her stomach. She gasped at the throbbing agony, yet still the smiling gunman had an answering knife in his heart before he could even blink.
She looked down at her bare –and now bloody- stomach, before meeting Steve's horrified eyes. Hers were full of pain, but she still opened her mouth to speak.
And then, even as Captain America desperately lunged for her, she toppled off the side of the aircraft.
Steve felt himself tearing up in desperation and despair, but forced them back. He couldn't cry now.
"We did it, Rodgers." Ironman landed next to him. "Coulson is… he's down. Thor and Bruce are gone, but they'll be fine. I think" –he finally looked at Steve, immediately forgetting what he was going to say- "What's wrong?"
Steve looked up at him, and Tony felt the worried ache in his chest grow wider. He didn't want to – he couldn't think… "Steve," he added, using the soldier's first name for the first time, "don't sugarcoat it. I need to know."
Captain America shook his head, still staring into the clouds before. "It's Ana," he said hoarsely. "She's gone. Bullet… through her stomach. Fell off… no chance."
Tony wanted to kick something. Hard. And yell. Scream, even. But all he could do was stand there, staring at the same empty space that Steve was.
"Who shot her?" he breathed. "Who, Steve?"
"Not worth it, Tony," his teammate replied. They were teammates, now, after all this.
"Steve," he pleaded.
"The one with the knife," Steve conceded softly, not turning.
Tony ripped his gaze from the hollow, empty air, looking with hateful eyes upon the obviously dead man. He opened fire.
He couldn't stop, even when Jarvis gently warned him about the power level. His gaze was as cold as ice. There was an aching emptiness in his chest.
Steve didn't flinch, didn't even move, until he heard Ironman collapse behind him. Only then did he kneel beside the broken billionaire, ignoring the unrecognizably charred body in front of them, wrapping his arms around the –technically- older man. There they sat, the proud man and the humble man, the sexy and the sweet, but all in all, they weren't that different. Not at all.
"Why didn't I forgive her?" Tony asked morosely.
"Tony-"
"You forgave her," the billionaire stated emotionlessly.
"I did."
"You deserved her."
"But she loved you," Steve admitted truthfully.
There was a hollow pause before Tony replied, his voice breaking.
"I think I might've loved her too."
AAA
I should've worn the armor, Anastasia thought dimly as she fell, before she blacked out. The last thing she registered were strong arms wrapping protectively around her waist.
AAA
I have an odd obsession with italicizing random words when Bruce is speaking. No one else, I guess.
Any guesses as to who saved Ana? I dare you guys to figure it out.