Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season last year. I recently got a lot of alert and follow emails and I wanted to thank everyone, especially to Anissa (who left a review way back in September!). Thanks for your interest in Bucky and Macie. I have big, big plans coming up which I hope you'll love as well. To OurAria, thanks for adding both me and my story to your favorite/follow list! Again, I wish everyone the best and enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter 7: Explosion

Tony walked over to a lowered counter and jumped up, tucking one leg under the other as it hung over the side. He pulled the screen he was working on over to him so he could watch the progress. He patted the spot next to him and I pulled myself up, letting my heels clack against the metal drawers below. Tony pulled the packet of freeze dried blueberries out of his pocket and offered me some. I took a few as Banner shook his head, going back to work on a different monitor.

It wasn't too much longer when Fury came stalking into the lab quite annoyed. "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

Tony kicked his legs, "Uh, kinda been wondering the same thing about you."

"You're supposed to be searching for the location of the Tesseract," Fury narrowed his eye.

"We were. The model's locked," Banner replied. "We're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within a half a mile."

So that's what they're doing, I thought to myself as my eyes went from the monitor screens to Fury and back to the screens. The larger computer on the other side of the room had a red search bar that was almost half full. It was the one Tony had been working on earlier. It was working on a gamma signature location using all of the linked spectrometers around the globe.

"No muss, no fuss. You get your cube back," Tony shrugged. The computer Tony was sitting next to suddenly came to life with a green 'ACCESS GRANTED' and a pop up with the name 'PHASE 2' appeared. Tony hummed, "What is Phase 2?"

At that moment, there was a loud thud on one of the metal counters. Steve had loudly placed a metal cylindrical weapon down. It looked oddly familiar to a HYDRA weapon. Steve released the handle of the weapon and clenched his fists, "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons."

"What," I glared at Fury.

"Sorry," Steve said to Banner and Tony, not looking sorry at all, "the computers were moving a little too slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean we're making –"

"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony cut in loudly. He moved the monitor screen around to face Fury. "What were you lying?"

On the screen were a series of blueprints for various weapons created by SHIELD using the power of the Tesseract cube. A nuclear missile was turning on the screen, opening up to show the inner workings of the weapon that was clearly stamped with the SHIELD insignia. Thor and Romanoff entered the lab just as Steve started reprimanding Fury. He preached peace, but he was no different than any other man.

"Did you know about this," Banner asked the Black Widow as she moved forward to take a protective stance by Fury. Thor looked confused.

"Want to remove yourself from this environment, Doctor," it seemed she was threatening Banner.

The underlying warning was: remove yourself, or I'll do it forcefully. Banner's brown doe eyes widened in shock. "Hey," I snapped at the redhead, growling lowly. "Threaten him one more time and we'll have a problem on our hands."

"Thank you, Doctor Mitchell. But I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you," Romanoff raised her hands in surrender. Her eyes narrowed at me as I moved to stand near Doctor Banner. Banner laughed. She was probably doing the exact same thing. It was what she was trained for. But I could see that the scientist was starting to get a little worked up. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged me off and reached for the computer screen with the missile schematics on it. Sneering at Fury he asked, "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction?"

Fury didn't miss a beat when he answered, "Because of him."

Without even looking, Fury pointed accusingly at Thor. The Asgardian looked around the room with a more confused expression. He blinked at the SHIELD Director. His arms were still crossed when he pointed to himself, "Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," Fury explained. Banner and Tony shared a look. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor defended.

"That doesn't mean Loki does," I huffed under my breath. Thor glared at me and I shifted uncomfortably.

"You're not the only people out there, are you," Fury turned to Thor. "And you aren't the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

I sighed. I missed the days when the only threat the world had to worry about were dangerous mutants. Fury was right, however. It seemed like I had come into a universe full of dangerous beings who were intent on controlling and destroying each other.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki and his allies to it," Thor lectured Fury. "It is a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form," Steve questioned with narrowed eyes.

"So what your trying to say is that all the 'realms' ignored Earth because they thought our weapons were primitive? That we weren't even worthy to compete with?"

"They forced our hand," Fury looked at everyone but Thor. "We had to come up with something –"

"A nuclear deterrent," Tony shook his head sarcastically, "because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you and your father made your fortune, Stark?"

"That was a different time, Fury, and you know it," I pushed myself away from the counter I was leaning on. I sauntered over to Tony's side. "Without those weapons, we'd be living in a different world."

"Like you should be," Fury countered.

"We aren't going into that right now," Tony pointed a finger at Fury threateningly.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep –"

"Hold on," Tony cut off Steve, shaking his head. "How is this about me?"

"Isn't everything," Steve squared his shoulders as he placed his hands on his belt.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor added, stepping closer to Fury who looked like he was going to have an aneurism.

"Excuse me," Fury turned on Thor, "did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

That's when arguments exploded in the lab.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust," Thor began to complain.

Black Widow's fists balled as she called both the Asgardian and her boss naïve. Like a mother holding off two of her children, Romanoff tried to deflect the conversation and bring it back to the Loki situation at hand. Turns out, Steve was on the list of security threats. I laughed at that.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you, Poison," Romanoff almost spat out my name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "You've been a top threat for three years."

"Oh, please," I laughed again. "Being on top of SHIELD's security threat list is like having a gold-fucking-star. There are worse lists to be on. But you would know all about that. How's the Red Room doing these days?"

"THREAT," Tony shouted above everyone's raised voices, "Verbal threat! I feel threatened!"

"Don't speak of things you know nothing of, Fury," Thor grunted.

"Are you really trying to start something," Black Widow stepped closer to me. There was a touch of death in her eyes. Looks like I hit a sore subject. She touched a button on her wrist gauntlets and they came to life, buzzing with an electric charge.

"You think your little toy can hurt me? Your Widow's Bite would be nothing but a bee sting," I growled. I felt a fire in my wrists as I held back my own bite.

"You speak of control and yet you court chaos."

"What are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos," Banner shook his head. My head snapped around. Banner was looking around frantically as he backed slowly towards Loki's scepter. "We're a time bomb!"

The quarreling stopped for a moment. Fury reached out to Banner. His eye flicked to the weapon, "You need to step away."

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam," Tony clapped Steve on the shoulder.

Steve batted Tony's hand away angrily, "You know damn well why so back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony nodded slowly.

"Big man in a suit of armor," Steve taunted, "Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony answered back without missing a beat. Romanoff shrugged. I hated to admit it, but I agreed with her. Tony was all of those things.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I don't care what Macie says about you. The only thing you fight for is yourself." Tony glanced my way. I found I couldn't look at him, electing to stare at Steve instead. Steve was sneering at Tony. "You aren't the type to make a sacrifice play," he continued. "You wouldn't be the guy to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I'd rather cut the wire," Tony responded seriously. Now even Banner rolled his eyes.

"Always a way out," Steve shook his head in disbelief. "You may not be a threat. But stop pretending to be a hero."

"Alright, Steve, stop," I implored forcefully, stepping forward. I placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back a little. "You made your point. Now it's time to back off."

"No, I want to know," Tony narrowed his eyes at Steve. "A hero like what? You? You're a lab experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Put on the suit," Steve challenged, "let's go a few rounds."

"Let's not," I growled as I pushed back on Steve once more. He'd stepped closer to Tony again, almost squishing me between them.

"You're one to talk," Tony laughed sarcastically, "You and Romanoff over there were about to go all MMA on us a minute ago."

Thor's laughing finally pulled the two's attention away from each other. Thor was still laughing as he said, "You people are so petty, and tiny."

"Oh yeah, this is a team," Banner scoffed.

"Agent Romanoff would you escort –"

Suddenly, my head started to ache. Pain pierced my brain between my eyes and spread towards my eyebrows. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to relieve the pressure I was feeling. I breathed heavily as the tightness above my eyes constricted. Apparently Tony was feeling the same because I felt one of his hands on my shoulder, his other rubbed the middle of his forehead. Something was happening. As soon as I felt it, the pain was gone. I realized that I couldn't remember why I felt like I wanted to fight Romanoff. I hadn't, and then suddenly, I wanted too. Like something – or someone - was prompting me too. Banner's agitation took precedence over the strange feeling I had. He was arguing with Fury now.

"The cell was just in case –"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried," a small, surprised breath escaped my lips. Everyone else, Fury included, were staring at Banner with frowns. He looked at us all, thinking of his next words. "I got low. I didn't see and end," Banner told us softly. There was a deep pain in his eyes. "I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping people. I was good. Then you dragged me back into this freak show!"

Banner started turning toward the table with Loki's scepter. He kept talking. It was like he wasn't even aware of what he was doing as he got more and more heated. Thor shifted on his feet, fingers twitching as he watched Banner grasp the handle of the scepter. The blue orb inside was crackling. Natasha was slowly raising her wrists to her chest as I stepped forward, prepared to take out the scientist if I had too. Tony and Steve took each side of me as Banner's body faced forward again.

"You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm..."

Bruce Banner was now holding Loki's scepter in both hands. Fury reached for his gun, prepared as we all were to take action if Banner lashed out. It was Steve who called out to Banner first. He calmly asked him to put down the scepter. The doctor looked down, staring in complete surprise at the weapon in his hands. He looked back up, terror evident on his face.

Before anyone else moved, the computer behind us started going off. The gamma scanner was beeping wildly. Without looking, Banner quickly put the scepter down and walked towards the computer. "Sorry, kids," he apologized with a bit of humor, "you don't get to see my party trick after all."

"You located the Tesseract," Thor asked what we were all thinking. I hurried to Banner's side.

"I can get there the fastest," Tony practically boasted.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it," Thor emphasized.

"Geeze, Blondie, I was just saying…"

Banner and I stared at the screen in disbelief as the energy signature match bar rose from eighty percent to ninety perfect in less than a second. "That doesn't seem good," I whispered to the scientist.

"You aren't going alone," Steve reached for Tony as he started to leave the lab.

Tony smacked Steve's hand down, "You going to stop me?"

"Put on the suit. Let's find out," Steve baited Tony once more.

Ninety-Three Percent.

"Guys…"

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

Ninety-Five Percent.

"Guys!"

Ninety-Six Percent.

"Put on the suit."

"GUYS," I yelled at the two men.

Ninety-Eight Percent.

"Oh my god," Banner was stunned as the bar filled to one-hundred percent.

Then, fire erupted from the floor, sending us all in different directions of the lab.