Loki was escorted into an impressive holding cell where he was greeted by Nick Fury. The whole walk back Natasha never took her eyes off of Johann, and he hated it. The others filed in to the bridge where they all stood around a monitor as they watched the small confrontation unfold. Johann stood at the back of the group listening intently to what the trickster God had to say about his circumstances.

'It burns you to 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.'

A scoff escaped Johann's mouth at the phrase. He more than anyone knew what it was like, to gaze into the soul of the Tesseract, its power unyielding, waiting to be harnessed by someone who could. A pang of hatred and jealousy stabbed his heart as he lowered his head for a moment. He tuned out the conversation that unfolded in front of him. His mind trailing to the prying questions of Natasha which caused him to clench his jaw. Johann had never truly felt settled when they left boot camp, the tension in his body was suffocating. An obnoxious American accent had awoken him from his desolate headspace, it was the voice of Tony Stark.

"Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails… That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice but we did," Tony sauntered around the bridge as if he owned the place before covering one of his eyes with his hand. "How does Fury do this?"

"I presume he turns," Johann spoke the snarky remark from the back of the group. All eyes turned to him for a moment but his gaze never shifted from Tony Stark's intrigued stare. Tony's eyes narrowed before a small smile stretched across his face. He then began rattling off about what their former ally, Clint Barton, may need to help use the Tesseract. Dr. Banner and Tony engaged in friendly scientific banter while Johann glanced at Steve who looked thoroughly lost in conversation. The conversation ended with a misguided compliment in regards to Banner's ability to transform into the Hulk should he lose control. A half-hearted 'thanks' escaped the scientists mouth.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him. I also want to know how Loki managed to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury interjected glancing around the room.

Before anyone could say anything Tony smiled at Banner with a playful gesture, "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"Let's play some," Banner replied quietly as the two left the laboratory that had been set up for them. Johann slowly slunk over to Steve as he glanced around the room as the others began dispersing. His eyes met with Fury who just gave him a glare. Johann sighed and Fury took that as a response to his anger and went off with Agent Hill.

"You know, that sceptre of his sure does work like my- old HYDRA weapons, wouldn't you agree Rogers?" Johann said quietly, practically whispering it into Steve's ear. Steve perked up at the mention of it, Johann had made a valid point. It was similar in nature definitely, and if he were to use the cube he would have just as much destructive power as HYDRA did at its peak, if not worse. Steve turned to look Johann directly in the eye a serious light flashed through them.

"You and I need to have a chat," With that Steve dragged Johann out of the bridge and marched him down the hallway with him. Once they were out of ear shot of everyone he suddenly stopped. "You need to pull yourself together. If we're going to be helping Fury then we help Fury. You don't get to pick and choose which battles you fight. You have to go for all of them. It doesn't matter how bad the odds look, that's what being a good guy is all about."

Johann clocked out of the conversation the moment he said 'you need to pull yourself together' why should he? No one here respected him as a fellow member let alone if they found out who he truly was. His time at the boot camp demonstrated that fact to him clearly enough, even with the extra "help" he received from the onsite psychologist. They never helped him, because they didn't understand him. They hated him the moment he sat in front of them, and he knew that. Not that he minded of course, he knew why the world understandably disliked him, but now he was forced to play nice and it was becoming too much. The phrase 'good guy' entered his mind and suddenly his eyes met back with Steve's. "Why should I have to be the good guy? I wish I was left back in the ice so then I wouldn't have to deal with this phony rhetoric. You're the good man remember? Isn't that why Erskine chose you over me? Because you were just so perfect in every single shape and form and had no flaws." His voice was raised and anger was clearly evident in his eyes, but Steve had noticed an expression he had seen once before. It was the same face Johann made when he told him that he was nothing special and he just happened to be chosen by Erskine. It was a brief look of sadness, jealously and disappointment but not with Steve it was a disappointment in himself. Both of them were silent for a moment as Johann stared down at him waiting for a response, one he did not get. For a moment Johann thought, what if he did try and be like Rogers' for once. Would he then be his equal? "Fine." He said abruptly breaking the silence, "I will try and 'pull myself together' but-." He paused with a grimace. His fist clenched as he noticed the disappointment rising in Steve's face. He looked away for a moment, he didn't want to disappoint him. After all, if he disappoints Steve that just proves Erskine's theories about who he truly is.

"I cannot help you anymore Johann. You're too far gone, you've become like one of them! And I fear… that it's partially my fault."

Johann paused in a moment of thought his eyes drifting back to Steve's determined gaze. Steve studied the look he received from the man, and it reminded him of Bucky. It was the same sad look Bucky gave every time Steve turned up beaten and bruised from a fight he had gotten in to. It wasn't necessarily sad, it was more like disappointment. At first Steve thought Bucky was disappointed in his actions, but now he understood it wasn't his actions, it was Bucky's failure to protect Steve that hurt him. For a moment the world paused as they both seemed to be locked in each other's intrigued gaze, staring into each other's soul afraid to be pulled away from the vision they saw. The connection was broken when Johann heard a noise of a door unlocking from further up the corridor. He hastily thrust his hand forward and offered a handshake to Steve. "I will try, for as long as I can keep this façade up."

Steve glanced down at the hand and smiled shaking it earnestly, "then that is all I, and Fury, can expect. Remember you are here for a reason, he wouldn't have saved you if he didn't want you." The hand shake was broken the minute he finished the sentence. Steve looked down at his hand confused, did he say something wrong?

Johann looked uncomfortable with the sentiment. There is no reason why anyone would want him, and the thought that he was wanted for some grand purpose made him uneasy.

Steve turned his head to see where the noise had come from but, there was nothing. With a sigh he shifted his gaze back to Johann smiling. "Guess it wouldn't hurt to have a look around?" Johann just shrugged in agreement and they walked off together. Moments later, a figure slowly stepped out from one of the storage compartments.

Natasha, with an intrigued lift in her eyebrows, her arms folded across her chest, had her suspicions finally answered. 'So, the Red Skull is the one strutting after the Captain. Yet, he's not hiding that fact from Fury or Steve. They both know… If they know, then who else does?' She thought to herself as she watched them walk away before disappearing down one of the many corridors. 'A purpose? Fury could have let me know,' a heated anger shot through her mind but was quickly washed away by her stoic resolve. "I'm sure he'll have a good reason for this." She spoke out load as her eyes darted back and forth as her mind whirled with the new information.

"You suspicious of that tall fellow who suspiciously seems like someone we should know but are being made to believe he's a nobody?" Tony said with a smirk as he stood in the doorway of the laboratory Banner tinkering away with screens in the background. "Kind of suspicious if you ask me." Natasha slowly tuned her head towards Stark a coy smile on her face.

"Even so, since they are so obviously so suspicious then clearly they are no threat," she said slowly lifting her heel ready to leave.

"But perhaps that makes them more of threat. We don't suspect anything of the Agent, but its clear Fury is hiding things from us. Overtly and covertly." Stark said with a raise of his brow before he threw a small metal rod towards Banner, "go long!" The rod collided with the Doctor's hands with a small zap. Banner let out a yelp of surprise before it fumbled out of his hands and onto the desk. He let out a deep sigh as he stared begrudgingly past Tony and at Natasha, who shot a furious look towards the suave man in front of her.

"You finished?" She questioned and received a reply of a small chuckle as Tony stepped back into the lab and beckoned her to follow. She closed the door behind them and leaned against the wall her arms folded.

"You're Fury's little friend, hound dog perhaps? So tell me, why did Fury call us here and why now? There is something he isn't telling us and I can't do the equation without all the variables." He spoke flicking one hand across a screen and the other sneaking into a bag of blueberries on the desk beside him. "He's a spy right? You're a spy too, probably many little worker spies with Fury being the Queen Spy. His secrets have secrets, and its bugging the big man here too," Tony finished his small tirade with a hefty wave of his hand as he looked over at Banner who seemed to shrink in on himself. Natasha paused for a moment before she too turned her attention towards the Doctor.

"Look, I-I just want to finish my work-"

"Bruce?" Natasha asked firmly.

"A warm light for all mankind, that's what Loki said… I think that was meant for you Stark. The Reactors that power the building, a self-sustaining energy source. The building can run itself for what, a year?"

"I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now, don't forget that's just the prototype," Stark added smugly before Banner continued.

"So, Nat, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"SHIELD has their reasons for doing what they do, and I'm not about to be the one to tell Fury what to do and with whom," Natasha said darkly as her eyes shifted to look out of the window.

"Well, we don't need you to confirm it for us Cujo, once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files we'll know in a few hours ever dirt secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide."

Natasha rolled her eyes with a sigh and unfolded her arms. "Now you see why he wouldn't want you around," she turned to leave for the final time but a voice stopped her again.

"The guy, ah Agent, who do you think he really is," Banner said in a quiet voice. She paused, she knew the answer, but that would be betraying the trust Fury had in her, even if he wasn't the one to tell her. She clenched her fists before turning back to face him.

"I don't know," then, with one final look at Stark she leaves without another word. The door shut behind her and Tony scoffed before chucking another blueberry into his mouth. Banner noticed his expression curiously before recalling the exchange he had with the Agent after they landed on the helicarrier.

"He seemed eager to know where the tesseract is, it was strange, but perhaps he just wanted to make a good impression," Banner said mindlessly before turning back to his work. Another scoff escaped his partner's mouth as he fumbled for another blueberry. "What?"

"You know Bruce, if I wanted to make a good impression I wouldn't be antagonising one of the smartest people in our little band, would you?" He chuckled with a glance out the window remembering the smart remark the Agent made to him earlier. "Very uncreative name too, also, why not just use his real name? Not like any of us are hiding, except perhaps Lassie-"

"Natasha," Bruce bit back bitterly with a cold glare at Stark, "so what if he's Fury's personal secret spy or whatever, you'll find out soon won't you. Anyway, maybe he is just meant to infiltrate conversations like, well this one we're having now."

"He's doing a terrible job at that. You know when we intercepted Loki in Germany he didn't even tell me his name, he just glared at me. He's got a mean look and then he didn't help us when Shakespeare went to kidnap Loki. He clearly isn't one who appreciates help nor is he one who wants to help, and that accent I mean-" A spark had ignited something in the mind of the intelligent Mr Stark as he looked over at the sceptre. "You said he was interested in the tesseract?"

"Yes… Where are you going with this Stark? You think he's one of Loki's guys?" Banner asked following Stark's eyeline toward the sceptre in an attempt to understand.

"The accent, German, not trying to hide it. Very enthusiastic about the Tesseract, clearly meaning he knows a lot about it and…" He waved a hand at Banner hoping he'd finish his sentence for him.

Banner took a moment to ponder what was being said before the spark had too sprang into his mind. The Red Skull but Fury wouldn't be so foolish as to let him near the cube. Memories of toiling through hours of reading and footage of the super soldier that was Steve Rogers he forgot the earliest documents were one pertaining to that of the Red Skull. "The Agent," he paused as Stark's eyes lit up knowing his lab partner had come to the same conclusion, "is the Red Skull."

"Bingo!" Stark triumphantly waved his arm in the air before throwing a stray blueberry at the doctor who managed to catch it and eat it. "Fury must know who he is, after all, the secret man clearly knew Cap when he was, well, a Capsicle so the Red Skull must have been there at the same time correct? The question is, Bruce, why bring a known war criminal who has previously held possession of the tesseract onto a mission for the good guys to get the shiny cube?"

Banner reluctantly sighed as the spark wore off inside his mind. While it was fun playing Cluedo he truly didn't want to get involved in all of this convoluted mess and turned his full attention back on the work at hand. "I don't know Stark and frankly I think it's for the best. Anyway, we should be focusing on this, I've got a feeling Loki's got the jump on us." Stark looked at the Doctor curiously then, with a quick glance, checked the timer on his decrypter 'I guess I'll find out soon enough.'