Chapter 10: Meeting at the Round Table
Disclaimer: No Marvel for me, sadly.
Secondary Warning: I just returned and yet I am too leave once again. This time, however, my journey shall not affect my updating! Plus I'll have an entire 24 hour train ride to write. I shall get much accomplished! ...Probably… RESPONSES!
stormrunner74~ Why thank you yet again for your review! Also I know that feel way too well. Why can't fictional people be real?
pizzafan123~ So happy to hear from you again! No worries, my trains of thought are also a mess so I know what you mean. I'm so glad you're loving Eve because she has become near and dear to my heart. (On a side note, she may or may not actually be asking Loki some of her many questions at some point…*wink*)
lizziecats~ Bunches of thanks for your review! I just honestly can't thank you enough. I'm overjoyed that you've enjoyed my story and I hope I don't let you down in later chapters.
One awkward and silent jet ride later and we're back on the helicarrier. Funsies. An armed guard meets us at the dock to dramatically escort Loki to his cell. Is everyone here a drama llama? Tony takes off to get out of his damaged suit while Steve, Natasha, Thor, and I all head for the conference table in the command center of the ship.
Romanoff sits on one side while Steve heads for the opposite and I tag along. I plop into my chair and wait. Thor refuses to sit and instead stand off to the side. When Bruce joins us a minute later he takes up a place standing behind the seat beside me. Is sitting so hard? These people need to get to my level of lazy before they collapse. Sleep is a necessary function and I haven't gotten any in way too long. Being lazy is the third best thing. (Caffeine is the second best, just so ya know.) I want my fluffy pjs and a nighty night drink. What I need is a nice sugary cup of tea...yum.
Well that train nearly got out of control. Good thing Fury started his monologue or else I might be thinking about the origins and history of tea. The table apparently doubles as computer because when I look down I'm greeted to a live feed of the security cam in Loki's fancy circular glass cell. Woo, showtime!
"In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass," warns Fury as he messes with a control panel and presses a button opening a hatch below the cage, "Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" he asks before closing the hatch.
"Ant," he says while motioning to Loki. "Boot," he continues with a motion towards the controls. Loki just chuckles.
"It's an impressive cage," Loki admits. "Not built, I think, for me."
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury indulges. What is stronger than a god that Fury felt the need to have a cage for on a helicarrier?
"Oh, I've heard," Loki gloats. Really, he knows and I don't? Why am I always so lost? "A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man." I notice Natasha glance at Dr. Banner. No way! Seriously? Bruce just looks down. You have got to be kidding me!
"How desperate are you," Loki continues, "that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I?" Fury repeats. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
"Ooh," Loki taunts, "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is."
"Well let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something," Fury retaliates with a small grin while heading for the door.
The screen shows Loki approach the camera. He knows we're watching. How intimidating. I'm shaking in my boots. I roll my eyes as the video feed cuts out. What a dork.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" comments Banner sarcastically. So he does have a sense of humor, fantastic!
"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve concludes. "So, Thor, what's his play?"
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known," Thor informs us. So how does he know about them? "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
"An army? From outer space?" Steve questions.
"Sounds like it," I confirm.
"So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," Bruce realizes.
"Selvig?" Thor inquires with a bit of concern leaking into his voice.
"He's an astrophysicist," Bruce tells him.
"He's a friend," Thor he's responding to the kidnapping of his friend better than I did. Kudos, bro.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha supplies, "along with one of ours."
"I want to know why Loki let us take him," Steve chimes back in. "He's not leading an army from here."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him," Banner advises.
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother," Thor threatens.
"He killed 80 people in two days," Nat tells him.
"He's adopted," Thor adds. I snort. That explains a lot. Oops, I've gained attention again. I clear my throat.
"He should definitely be our main focus. Crazy means unpredictable and dangerous. Or maybe that's just what he wants us to believe. He's the mastermind behind all this. He holds all the cards while we hardly even know what game we're playing," I decide to voice my opinion since I already have everyone's attention. Steve nods his agreement. At least I have one supporter.
"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce elaborates. "Iridium… What do they need the iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony informs us as he walks in with Phil. "I'm just saying, pick a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive," Tony tells Phil before fully joining us.
"It means," Tony continues while walking around the table towards Thor, "the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He even pats Thor's arm.
"Also," he expands while heading for Fury's control console, "it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants.
"Uh, raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails," Stark jokes gaining the attention of the agents below. "That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."
"No way, these computers have Galaga?!" I exclaim as I jump out of my seat only to be stopped by a hand on my arm.
"Wrong train, Eve," Steve says. Wow, he references my analogy to how my head works just like I do in my head. Fast learner, this one.
"Right," I nod as I sit back down.
"How does Fury even see these?" Tony asks while pointing to the left control panel.
"He turns," Hill replies with her best done voice.
"Sounds exhausting," Tony says before turning back to the matter at hand. "The rest of the raw material, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick start the Cube."
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" asks Hill.
"Last night," Stark reveals. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" I hit Steve shoulder and raise my hand.
"I read them," I state feeling vaguely proud of myself for not being totally lost for once. Steve rolls his eyes.
"You fell asleep," he retaliates.
"While reading them. So what if I didn't 100% finish them? I got the main concept," I defend myself. "Besides, I bet I retained more than you. You still don't understand how my DVD player works."
Steve ignores my jab in favor of asking, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"
"He would have to heat the Cube 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Banner explains from where he is pacing behind us. Nevermind, I'm lost again.
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony rebutts. Just getting more lost here guys.
"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Banner replies. Okay, I'm thoroughly confuddled. (Confuddle is a word that combines the words confuse and befuddle to make a word worthy of my lack of understanding.)
"Finally, someone who speaks English," Tony pronounces while approaching Bruce.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve remarks. I giggle behind my hand.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," Tony greets Bruce with a handshake. "Your work on anti electron collisions in unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Thanks," Bruce mutters after a brief pause.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury declares as he joins us. "I was hoping you might join him."
"I'd start with that stick of his," Steve suggests. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."
"I don't know about that," Fury replies, "but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys?" Thor asks. "I do not understand."
"I do," Steve exclaims with a point of his finger for emphasis. "I understood that reference," he adds as he turns to me.
"Good job, sweetie," I praise him with a pat on the shoulder. Aw my poor sweet summer child. Wait, he wouldn't get that reference. Nor should he ever. I'm hiding that series from him at all costs. Steve shrugs off my hand good naturedly as Tony turns to Bruce.
"Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark asks Banner.
"This way, sir," Banner motions and leads him towards the door.
"Wait, guys," I call after them. "Do you mind if I stop by the lab in a bit? I promise not to get in the way or break anything."
"Of course you can, Ms. Green," Bruce answers. Thank goodness! Now I can finally ask Bruce about earlier. It's been in the back of my head all day.
But first I have some very important business to attend to. I get up and dash over to the computer next to the guy who was playing Galaga earlier.
"So, bro, can I play?" I ask him.
"Uh...sure?" he responds hesitantly. So I plop back down into a chair and bring up the game and start playing.
"What other games do you have on here?" I inquire.
"Um…" he starts.
"Eve," Steve addresses me sternly from over my shoulder.
"Yes, Steve?" I reply without looking away from the game.
"Is now really the time for games?" he chastises.
"Tony and Bruce get to go play with science so why can't I play a video game classic?" I pout as I pause the game and turn towards him with a pleading look.
"Eve," he repeats exasperatedly.
"Fine," I sigh and get up again. "You can have your game back, bro," I tell the agent as I follow Steve away. I'm too busy pouting to see the grin on Fury's face.