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Chapter 6: Cracking the Cube

An hour passed and, as much as they entertained me, I was getting tired of Thor's tales of his own heroics around the Nine Realms. Romanoff, who I wasn't going to intentionally strike up a conversation with, had left the bridge not too long after Banner and Tony. Then Steve took off a few minutes into Thor's current tale of how he impersonated some goddess to win his hammer back from a giant. Phil and Agent Hill were overseeing the bridge while Fury was away again. I cut off Thor as he described his battle with the giants, telling him I should go to the lab to give Tony and Doctor Banner my input. Thor agreed, saying any information would be useful.

I saw Steve in the corridor outside the lab. His jaw was clenched and he looked thoroughly annoyed. I tried calling out to him twice. He looked around determinedly, not seeing me, and walked off in the other direction. My fist clenched. There was not much that got on Steve's nerves. But I had a wonderful idea of who may have done just that.

I marched into the lab when Tony said, "That's the guy my dad and Macie never shut up about? I'm wondering if they should have kept him on ice –"

"He's not wrong about Loki. He's got the jump on us."

"What did you do, Tony?"

Tony, who had been making his way towards Doctor Banner, spun around. Howard's lazy grin appeared on Tony's face. Doctor Banner's eyes shifted towards us before he returned his attention to his work. "Nothing," Tony feigned innocence. He rolled his eyes playfully as he turned back to look at the work Banner was assessing.

"They why did I just see Steve leaving in such a hurry?"

"Maybe he's cranky. Old people get upset when they don't take their naps."

"Don't be so immature, Tony."

"Captain Rogers was just telling us that he thinks Loki is up to something," Doctor Banner said, not looking away from his work. "Tony doesn't believe him."

"Loki's working with an Acme dynamite kit," Tony huffed. "It's going to blow up in his face. And I'm gonna be there when it does."

"Is that why Steve looked so annoyed? You'd rather this all – blow up – then stop it now," I frowned.

"Well, if it does blow up, we'll read all about it," Bruce smiled at me. Tony, who had ignored me again, started fiddling with another screen.

"Or, you'll be suiting up with the rest of us," he murmured. Then, as if gracing me with his gaze, Tony finally looked at me again. "Don't you miss a little action? I saw you in Germany, Macie. It's like riding a bike. You'll be begging to suit up again when the time comes."

"No, Tony. I wasn't fighting because I miss it or like it. I fought because Steve needed help –"

"And if I needed your help? Would you so gallantly come to my aid?"

"Yes, of course –"

"Then you won't be reading about Loki's downfall, you'll be a part of it. Same goes to you, Banner."

Doctor Banner chuckled as he shook his head, "No, you see, I don't get a suit of armor like you. I don't have a healing abilities. I'm exposed…like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This," Tony tapped the faint blue glowing arc reactor under his shirt, "this stops it. This little circle of light, its part of me now. Not just armor," I watched as Tony met Banner on the other side of the monitor screen. He had a complete serious look on his face, "It's a terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

As Tony questioned Banner about his accident with the gamma radiation, I stared at the scepter which was on a table across the room. I unconsciously ran a thumb over my left wrist, feeling the unnatural heat from my poisoned veins. It was a terrible privilege to be a mutant. Whether you accepted it or not, your abilities became a part of you. A few years ago, someone had tried to make a cure. There was complete chaos in the mutant community. I had thought about taking it. There were trials being done and test subjects were needed. Rogue decided to go. Storm did everything in her power to stop her. But I managed to convince Ororo otherwise. What would she know of the pain Rogue felt? Ororo was a goddess in her village. People like me and Rogue, we were treated like villains, like the scum of the earth. We killed things – people. It was awful, yes. But I was able to control it. I learned to control my mutation so it wouldn't control me. Rogue couldn't do that. She had no control over her mutation and was forced to wear gloves and full body clothing so her skin couldn't touch anyone else's. So I knew where Banner was coming from. I knew why he was afraid.

A hand on my shoulder brought me back to the present. Doctor Banner was looking at me with a deep curiosity. "Are you okay," he asked nicely.

"Yeah, yes, thank you," I shook my head clear. Remembering why I had originally come to the lab, I asked softly, "I know I'm not a scientist, but is there anything I can do to help?"

"Any information you can give us on the Tesseract will be helpful," he chuckled encouragingly.

"Oh please," Tony drawled. "Do tell us more war stories."

"Tony," Doctor Banner warned.

I turned to face the only Stark child. I haughtily placed my hands on my hips, "What is wrong with you today? Are you actively trying to piss everyone off?"

"No more than usual," Tony smirked slyly. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

Turning back to Banner, I said, "It's a weapon of mass destruction. Even with Howard's technology, however, we were – limited. I remember him saying that its emission signature was unusual. Obviously we learned that it wasn't from earth. It was always unstable, crackling or flowing within itself." As I recounted to Banner what I remembered about the cube – the death and destruction and HYDRA's technological advances behind it – I stared out the glass observation windows down at the bridge. Phil was talking with Thor who was staring at a monitor. I sighed, "Schmidt was foolish for thinking he could control that kind of power and he died because of it. Loki will no doubt head down that same path. There's a reason he took Erik Selvig. But I couldn't tell you for what. I agree with Steve. Something isn't right. None of this feels right."

"I don't know about your feelings," Tony mocked, "but Selvig is one of the world's leading astrophysicists. That's why Loki grabbed him."

"But why? What could he possibly know about the Tesseract that –" Banner stopped.

"He's using it to possess people, right? Maybe – maybe it's showing him something. How to gain more power from it."

"That's not possible," Tony crossed his arms.

"No it isn't," Banner said slowly. "Doctor Mitchell, you said that when Schmidt looked into the cube, his eyes changed, like he'd seen something within the cube itself, right?"

"Exactly," I said enthusiastically. "What if the Tesseract can show someone unlimited power and how to wield it?"

"What? Like the Ark of the Covenant? No way," Tony frowned at us.

"When Steve and I fought Schmidt on his plane, the cube opened up or something. It was as if we were standing in space, looking at the universe with all its chaotic beauty. Whatever Schmidt wanted to learn, he was denied because he was sucked away," I threw my arms up enthusiastically. "Maybe, to understand what the Tesseract is, one has to be possessed by it? Maybe that's what Loki knows and he's using Selvig to get the information he wants through Selvig's own curiosity?"

Tony stepped up to the same monitor Banner and I were standing in front of. Something on the screen had spiked in our passionate discussion and we'd ignored it. Tony started tapping and swiping on codes and information that I couldn't understand.

"What's happening," Banner asked, concerned.

"I don't know," Tony cocked his head. "We can't access the model."

I had no idea what he meant. Numbers and words were scrolling up the screen in highlighted red or blue boxes and words were connected by blue or red lines. The red boxed words and numbers disappeared, leaving the blue as more appeared when Tony tapped them. Tony tapped a small white box on the screen and a huge 'ACCESS DENIED' appeared in the upper corner. Tony pouted. Banner removed his glasses and cleaned them on a purple cloth. He pinched the bridge of his nose before replacing his glasses.

"What did you do, Tony," the scientist asked.

"I put JARVIS inside the SHIELD computers," I groaned. "We need to access SHIELD files to help sweep for the Tesseract's signature. And if we learn some dirty little secrets along the way, I won't complain."

"You're supposed to be on their side, Tony," I reminded him.

"Don't you want to know what SHIELD is hiding? Because I do. And I don't think my dad would have liked his organization keeping secrets from him."

"You aren't your dad."

Tony swiped his finger cross the screen, making everything go away except a small box at the bottom of the screen. It was still running figures, trying to gain access to the SHIELD computer files. The rest of the screen was as clear as a window. Tony slowly turned towards me with a tight smile, "So you like to remind me."

"Uh, guys," Banner waved his hand at us, gaining our attention. He was gazing out the observation window down at the bridge. Fury was staring up at us with a violent expression. "I think we're gonna have company soon."

"Good," Tony said cheerfully. "It's time for a break anyway."