Eighteen
"I wish there was more time in the world for me to talk about what needs to be said," Emily whispered as she found herself leaning into McCoy.
The team dispersed once Tony and Bruce started working together. Emily knew that she would need to get back to work sooner or later. For the time being though she wanted to spend what little time she had with McCoy. She felt guilty enough for hiding that part of her past from him. He'd seen the scars on her wrists and he knew that she was prone to self-harm in the past. The cuts had only started after the nightmares returned, along with the feeling of insecurity. The pain helped numb the hole that was left in her heart when McCoy chose Pamela over her. It also acted as a way to help maintain control over her emotions, though even that was temporary.
McCoy frowned and gently ran his thumb down the line of her chin. He hated seeing her like this. He hated knowing that he was the reason behind some of those scars. It left him wishing that he'd said something sooner, or done something sooner instead of ignoring the situation. There was no turning back the clock though, and McCoy knew that wouldn't get them anywhere.
"Darlin', I'm the one who should be apologizing," he reminded her with a kiss on the forehead. She couldn't hide the smile that followed. For a brief moment, she found herself imagining that there was no threat to worry about. That it was just the two of them and they could finally be themselves. All at once, the sound of footsteps pounding the steel floor reminded her of where they were. "I just wish I could've said something sooner. Hell, anything would've been better than knowing what you went through."
Emily held back a sigh of frustration. There was never enough time in the world for them. There were things she desperately wished she could say, but she knew it wouldn't be the right opportunity. She couldn't help but meet his questioning gaze as his fingers delicately brushed along her skin, carefully examining the area where a bullet wound had been earlier.
"I told you it wouldn't scar over," she reassured him with a knowing smirk.
"Can't exactly blame me for worrying," he pointed out. Emily just rolled her eyes, though that didn't stop her from leaning into his touch once he rested his palm against her skin. "Not that it would matter… you're beautiful with or without scars."
"Flattery will get you anywhere," she let out a light laugh. The way his eyes lit up was enough to light up the whole space. She hadn't seen him smile like that for a long time. She let out a quiet sigh when she kissed him firmly on the lips. Threat or no threat, she wouldn't deny the fact that her feelings for McCoy were getting in the way of work. "I just wish we were together under better circumstances."
"You and me both," McCoy replied without missing a beat.
Her heart fluttered with joy as his hands carefully glided across her skin. She knew he could feel the suit she was wearing, and how much he detested said suit. She almost snorted as she recalled how he tried convincing her it wasn't necessary to wear. After the dozens of questions that came from the SHIELD base she was assigned to at the time, she knew better than to believe that was possible.
"I'm not even sure what I'm going to do about Kirk," she admitted when they found a better place to hide. It took a moment for her to notice the pang in her heart as she realized how different their lives would have been had this mess not happened. Kirk's recent discovery of her past was just the tip of the iceberg, and she had a feeling it wouldn't get much better once everything was situated. "He's already on edge knowing that I work for SHIELD."
She watched as McCoy's face fell at the mention of Kirk. They both knew the kid wouldn't hesitate to alert the entire Academy once they were released from the agency. And the more Emily thought about it, the more she couldn't blame him for wanting to do so. After all, she had lied to him while they were getting to know each other. Kirk and his father were very much alike in that aspect – they believed in the truth rather than keeping secrets from everyone. Her heart sank at the thought of having to tell Kirk everything she knew about his father. She hadn't even told him the worst part of her life regarding Captain Kirk.
"It ain't gonna be easy, all things considered," McCoy nodded in agreement. He frowned at the thought of how Kirk had handled the whole thing like the immature child he was. "Kid's not gonna let this go anytime soon."
Well, he isn't wrong about that, she thought bitterly. She had a feeling that once this was all over, going back to the Academy wasn't going to be an option. While she still submitted assignments and made sure that everything was on time, she knew she couldn't physically show up without Kirk giving away her position.
"I know," she sighed. Her heart sank at the thought of not being able to see him again, especially when this was all over. "It isn't going to be easy."
McCoy's face softened when he suddenly kissed the top of her forehead affectionately, knowing this was difficult enough for her.
"No one ever said it would be," he reminded her with a pointed look. Emily held back another sigh when she allowed his hands to roam her body. She couldn't explain the sudden rush of emotions he brought out whenever they were close like this. "Lord knows I'm never gonna meet someone like you at the Academy. Hell, I know for damn sure I wouldn't wanna meet anyone else like you."
She couldn't hide the sheepish smile that followed. His words lingered in the air, along with the affection she felt. In spite of what Kirk told them earlier, McCoy would always care for her. He still lived with the regret of what happened between them. She wanted nothing more than to reassure him that she would never stoop to that level again, but the words fell flat on her tongue.
"I'm pretty sure Clint would still use you for target practice if he was given the chance," she snorted in amusement. McCoy's brows furrowed together at the mention of Clint's hostility. He of all people knew how angry Clint had been when their lives fell apart. Tony had been angry as well, but both Pepper and Laura held them back for a good reason. "I never wanted you or Kirk to be dragged into this mess."
To her surprise, McCoy suddenly kissed her tenderly on the forehead. Nothing could have prepared her for the rush of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. It was during times like these that she wished the world wasn't at stake. She wanted nothing more than to relish the warmth and comfort he provided, but she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
"I'm still amazed that you care so much about Kirk, given the way he's been actin' since he found out," he remarked.
She couldn't hide the sheepish smile that followed at the mention of Kirk. Despite the crap he was giving her at the moment, Emily couldn't necessarily blame him for reacting that way. She had been bracing herself for a worse outcome, and she was surprised he didn't rat her out to the Council.
"To be fair, I kind of expected him to act like an asshole when he found out," she admitted. "And frankly, I can't really blame him for acting that way… SHIELD has its own fair share of secrets, and anyone who doesn't know about the agency will likely jump to conclusions."
It was McCoy's turn to raise an eyebrow in disbelief. Even if he couldn't believe that she was willing to accept Kirk's awful behavior, he admired her tenacity to put up with it. There weren't many people who could deal with the constant berating Kirk had given her since they arrived on the airship. With a heavy sigh, McCoy gently kissed the top of her forehead and held her close.
"Darlin', sometimes I think you're a little too forgiving," he muttered halfheartedly.
Emily only smirked knowingly at that. She realized with a start that he had a point. Yet, she also realized that there wasn't any point in holding a grudge. She'd quickly learned the hard way that holding a grudge wouldn't get her anywhere. Anger was just a petty and pointless emotion that she couldn't hold onto, especially if her powers began to spiral out of control.
"I should probably get back to work," she let out a heavy sigh after realizing they would need backup in case Loki decided to attack. "God knows what's going to happen after this… with the team finally together, I don't know how much time we're going to have together."
She watched in amusement as McCoy's mouth twisted in a lopsided smirk. Even he wasn't in any hurry to face Coulson's wrath. Still, that didn't stop him from capturing her lips with his. Her body reacted faster than she thought possible. She practically melted into his warm embrace, allowing her arms to wrap around his neck.
"Last thing I want is you putting yourself in harm's way," he mumbled between kisses.
Emily had to bite back a gasp when his lips suddenly reached her neck. His warm breath tickled her skin, and she could feel him nipping every now and then. Her fingers began fisting into his shirt as she struggled to keep herself from moaning. She desperately wanted him to keep going, but to do so would mean breaking every protocol on the ship. As it was, she had a hard time controlling her emotions when McCoy finally got the better of her.
"Leonard…"
She knew she wouldn't last much longer if he kept this up. She could feel the smile forming as he gave her neck one final kiss, sucking tenderly before reaching her lips once again. He knew the effect he had on her, and he was taking full advantage of it. Emily realized with a start that he'd thrown caution to the wind in that moment. He didn't seem to give a damn if they were caught by passing agents. Some of which had already passed and refused to even look in their direction, though Emily could feel their curious eyes reaching them as they walked past them.
"Keep saying my name like that, and there goes our window of professionalism," he groaned after reluctantly pulling apart.
She couldn't hide the sheepish smirk that followed.
"You are an asshole, Leonard McCoy."
"And yet somehow you're willing to put up with me."
His dry chuckle was enough for her to laugh in response. She had to admit, she loved seeing this side of McCoy. And for a brief moment, she wanted it to last. But she knew she had to get back to work, and if anyone saw them now, she would likely be questioned.
"I need to go before anyone catches us," she reminded him.
McCoy only grimaced at the thought of what would happen if they were caught red handed. Though, he didn't bother trying to hide the smirk that followed when he saw the mark he'd left on her neck. He knew he would never hear the end of it when she found out. For now, he enjoyed the sight and offered a lopsided grin.
"Stay safe," he whispered after kissing her affectionately on the forehead.
He was aware of the risks that her job entailed. The frown written across his face was just another reminder of how dangerous those risks were. She simply offered a small, genuine smile and kissed him affectionately on the cheek.
"You know I can't make that promise," she reminded him.
She almost laughed when McCoy mumbled something under his breath, though he didn't bother arguing with that response.
It wasn't until parting ways with him that she found herself wishing they had more time together. This job had always been important to her, not just because it meant following in Coulson's footsteps. She loved being able to help people who couldn't help themselves. It gave her a sense of purpose and belonging, more so than when she lived with her parents.
Reaching out to McCoy now was riskier than ever. She hadn't missed the fact that passing agents were giving them strange looks along the way. Or the fact that nothing was said over McCoy's presence while he was on the bridge with her. Fury was also taking a huge risk by dragging him and Kirk aboard the Hellicarrier.
She tried pushing those thoughts aside as she reached the labs where Tony and Bruce were working. She had little doubt that Tony would stir whatever trouble he could with Bruce working alongside him. They'd talked about Doctor Banner and the work he pulled in the past. After hearing Tony brag about Bruce's work with Gamma radiation, she knew he'd be ecstatic to work alongside said doctor. So she wasn't surprised to find them working together in the lab.
Emily eyed the pair in amusement when she spotted Tony with a bag of blueberries, while Bruce was staring at a computer screen. Bruce looked entirely uncomfortable being in the same room as someone worth more money than he could afford. The doctor barely glanced up from his work when she arrived, crossing her arms as she made her presence known.
"Kiddo! It's good to see you again!" Tony greeted her with a toss of a blueberry.
She rolled her eyes as she caught the blueberry with ease, ignoring the wary look Bruce was now giving them. Until then the doctor had been relatively quiet. The few times he spoke up were on the bridge and before the Hellicarrier made its official launch. Seeing him now in his prime territory, she could tell this didn't make him feel any better.
"Busy goofing off I see," she remarked when she reached Tony. She hadn't missed the fact that both men had given the scepter a wide berth. Unease swept through her when she noticed that the tip of the scepter gave off the same eerie glow that the Tesseract had. "Wasn't it your dad who always complained about the fact that you were so easily distracted?"
"I'm pretty sure that everyone who didn't know the real me said that," Tony snorted in amusement. He gave her a playful nudge once the tension simmered down. "So I take it you and McCoy are a thing again? I heard your Pops complaining about it on the way here… honestly I think Coulson hates McCoy almost as much as I do."
"Wait a minute… You know Doctor McCoy?" Bruce finally spoke up for the first time. Emily glanced at him warily when she heard the genuine curiosity in his voice. "As in Doctor David McCoy? His work is pretty famous within the medical world."
"Knew him is a better response," she admitted guiltily. She looked down at the floor as memories of McCoy's father suddenly came rushing back. "Papa was good friends with him before he adopted me. He saved my life on more than one occasion… his son is pretty much my best friend."
"Again, still not sure how that was made possible," Tony rolled his eyes in annoyance when he realized they were both ignoring him.
"Because I'm even more stubborn than your sorry ass," she retorted in amusement. Tony just stuck his tongue out in response, though that didn't stop him from grinning when Bruce looked at the pair. "They weren't supposed to be here anyways… if Kirk hadn't been an idiot and hacked into the database, the agency wouldn't have needed to take them in."
"So, you're saying there's someone out there as smart as the three of us?" Tony asked in surprise. Emily pursed her lips together as he smirked. "I'm not counting McCoy because he's a surgeon. There's a difference."
By now, even Bruce was struggling not to grin when he realized this was just Tony's way of cutting through the tension. The tension itself had been thick just moments before she arrived. She knew he was feeling the stress of finding the cube before Loki got a hold of it again. That and he wanted to find out more about Loki's scepter. She glanced at the scepter itself warily as she noticed how the energy seemed to spike every now and then whenever she got too close for comfort.
"Technically I'm a physician," Bruce pointed out. "There's a difference, but we are somewhat similar."
"You shouldn't even be on the same payroll together," Tony retorted.
Emily just rolled her eyes at that. She knew Tony wasn't going to back down from the challenge of finding fault in McCoy. It was his way of protecting her from whatever the man might do to her. And as much as she hated to admit it, she knew he was right. McCoy made a lot of mistakes in the past, and he would have to live with said mistakes for the rest of his life.
"Since when have you ever had to care about money?" Emily snorted. Tony stuck his tongue out at her once more, though even he couldn't deny the fact that she was right. "At any rate, you can think whatever you want of Leonard. He will always mean more to me than some ordinary stranger I would have met at the bar."
That was enough to catch Bruce's attention. He must have noticed how close she and McCoy were after seeing the way she reacted to Tony's comments. Though he wasn't a psychologist, it didn't take much for him to get a read on someone.
The woman standing in front of him held an heir of mystery that had intrigued him from the beginning. She joked around Tony as though they were siblings. On the bridge she had been serious and working. He suddenly found himself wondering what she was like around McCoy and complete strangers.
"How'd the two of you meet?" he finally asked.
She was taken aback by Bruce's question. But as surprised as she was by his curiosity, she found herself relaxing seconds later. She knew he was watching their earlier interactions. He'd been dragged into this mess… probably quite literally. He didn't want anything to do with the agency, and she couldn't blame him. Like Kirk and McCoy, Bruce had likely been living a quiet life hiding from anyone who might have an interest in his 'assets'.
"Do you want to explain our life story or should I?" she glanced at Tony when he handed her another blueberry.
She took the fruit gratefully, knowing full-well it was just a distraction from the growing tension on the ship.
"About the fact that you're my adopted sister?" he said with equal amusement. "Pretty sure if Coulson hadn't been so protective of you, my Pop would've found some way of adopting you."
Emily smirked at the thought of how Howard would have tried convincing Coulson to adopt her. The thought was almost surreal. There had been a time when people were terrified of her. Back then she'd always believed that she would be considered an outcast by her parents. Now it suddenly felt as though she was surrounded by family, and she was only just beginning to understand how important that was to her.
"Papa hated the fact that we got along so well," she said thoughtfully. "I think he was just worried that you would be a bad influence on me."
"You didn't turn out that bad, did you?" he snorted with laughter as she slugged him in the rib.
Truthfully, Fury blamed him on her behavior towards authorities. Though if she was being honest with herself, her problem with authorities had always been an issue. It only got worse over the years, especially when she started working for the agency. Then she started to notice that not everything was in black and white.
"What exactly are you working on anyways?" she suddenly asked after noticing something unusual on the computer screen.
"Fury wouldn't have called us all here unless there was a good reason for it," he explained as he showed the algorithm he was running. Emily's brows furrowed together in annoyance when he looked back at the screen. "The Tesseract's energy source is similar to yours… which leads me to wonder why Loki didn't just take you instead to stabilize the portal they were building. Unless of course you were an unknown variable to him. I'm assuming Barton would've told him about you."
She pursed her lips together when he confirmed what Selvig had said back at the base. Unease crawled through her when Bruce glanced at the two of them once more, though this time with growing concern. She knew Loki would use whatever information Clint had on the people working against him. That thought alone sent a shiver through her.
"The Tesseract is made out of raw energy," she muttered as she glanced at Loki's scepter.
The tip of it looked eerily similar to that of the cube they had been studying just a day ago. She knew there was a connection between them, though she couldn't pinpoint what that connection was.
"Have you tried approaching it?" Bruce asked. Emily shared an uneasy look with Tony. "It would be useful to know whether or not there's some kind of connection between you and the Tesseract. Maybe that could be our way of finding the cube."
She was ready to say something when Tony's brows furrowed together curiously. He threw her a warning look when the words 'Phase 2' appeared across the screen. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when her name appeared alongside the word, along with what appeared to be prototype weapons.
"What is Phase 2?" he asked curiously.
Just as Tony said that, Steve came in carrying a large weapon before slamming it down onto the table, "Phase Two is that SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons," he announced.
Emily narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at Fury when he reached the room. Once again, she wasn't surprised by Fury's hidden agenda. Though, Emily suspected this wasn't entirely Fury's idea. They had been designing more weapons over the last couple of years since Tony pulled out of the industry. With the Tesseract in their hands, she suspected they had been hoping to design weapons similar to the ones used by Hydra hundreds of years ago. That was part of the reason her name had been on the screen. Since her energy signal was similar to that of the Tesseract, the agency had been hoping to use her as some kind of weapon as well.
"Sorry, the computer was moving a bit slow for me," he added, glancing at Tony.
"Rogers, Stark, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're—"
"I'm sorry, Nick," Tony cut Fury off before he could explain himself, "What were you lying?"
He moved the computer screen so that everyone could see what Phase Two was all about. Unease crawled through her when she realized he was staring at her name and the files that SHIELD was keeping under lock and key. Only a select few knew about her powers and what she was fully capable of. If she ever lost control, the end results would be disastrous.
"I was wrong, Director," Steve said scathingly, glaring at Fury, "The world hasn't changed a bit."
A sudden sense of foreboding swept through Emily as Thor arrived in the room with Natasha. She knew things had been tense before, but this was a whole new level of tension. Bruce finally looked at the screen in disbelief before glancing at Fury.
"Did you know about this?" he demanded.
"You were hacking into Starfleet's database this entire time," Emily put in after carefully reading the screen. She narrowed her eyes with outrage as she looked at Fury accusingly, "Is this why you wanted me to enlist? To act as a sleeper agent?"
"You want to think about removing yourself from this facility, doctor?" Natasha asked, ignoring Emily's question while keeping focused on Bruce.
Annoyance swept through her when she realized that they were ignoring her presence entirely. Not for the first time, Emily found herself wondering why the hell she was asked to join them in the first place. It wasn't as if they wanted her there.
"I was in Calcutta," Bruce chuckled darkly, shaking his head, "I was pretty well removed."
"Loki's manipulating you," Natasha said, stepping forward cautiously.
"And, you'd been doing what, exactly?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," she insisted.
"Yes," Bruce retorted, taking another step towards her, "and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He pulled the computer screen with his hands, "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"Because of him," Fury answered without hesitation, pointing towards Thor.
"Me?" Thor asked in confusion when all eyes swept towards him.
"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that leveled a small town," Fury explained, "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, out gunned."
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor assured him.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury deadpanned, "And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."
"Hate to break it to you, boss, but that's part of the reason the Federation exists," Emily narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms as Fury looked at her pointedly, "Most aliens want peace with the people of Earth."
"And, what about the ones that don't? What if the Klingons decided to attack?"
Emily furrowed her eyebrows in frustration when she realized where Fury was getting at with this. Turning Starfleet into a militarized operation was not part of the plan. She didn't want anything to do with that, as far as she was concerned. The Fleet had always favored itself in being a branch of scientific and historical outlet. She knew that if anyone saw the Fleet as anything other than such, there would be hell to pay.
"Like you control the cube?" Steve demanded.
"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor put in, "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."
"A higher form?" Steve asked, frowning at the thought.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."
"A nuclear deterrent," Tony cut Fury off before he could continue, "cause that always calms everything right down."
Fury turned to face Tony, eye narrowing, "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep—" Steve tried stepping closer when Tony cut him off.
"Wait, wait," he held his hands up in his defense, "Hold on! How is this now about me?"
"I'm sorry, isn't everything about you?" Steve asked.
"Steve…"
Emily shook her head, realizing this was turning into a major headache not only for her, but anyone else unlucky enough to listen to their squabbling. She tried to purge her emotions in an attempt to keep them from reaching McCoy. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel her stress, but she could already feel him reaching out for her.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor said.
"Excuse me!" Fury snapped, turning to Thor, "Did we come to your planet and blow things up?"
Once again, both Steve and Tony started bickering at each other over Thor's response to Fury. All the while, Emily was rubbing her temple in frustration as she tried to remedy the headache that was slowly killing her.
"Are you boys really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats," Natasha joined in the bickering, only adding to the tension slowly turning into a storm.
"Captain America is on threat watch?" Bruce asked in surprise.
"We all are," Natasha replied with a shrug.
More bickering ensued as objects began flying around the room. It didn't take a genius to figure out who was causing the objects to fly. Or the whole ship to start reacting. Under extreme pressure, her powers worked like a magnet, pulling just about everything towards her. It took everything she had not to lose control of her emotions. Her head was spinning enough as it was without this mess making things worse. She tried focusing her thoughts on McCoy as a way of keeping herself distracted. He did what he could to reassure her, though even that wasn't enough to keep them under control.
"It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team?" Bruce chuckled with a shake of his head, not looking the least bit surprised with everything that was going on, "No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're… we're a time-bomb."
"You need to step away," Fury warned.
Emily hadn't missed the fact that the scepter's tip was starting to glow an eerie blue. With Bruce getting more temperamental, she knew things weren't going to end well if he Hulked out in here. She knew this was Loki's work; he was playing at their emotions, hoping to turn everyone against each other. Worse still, his plan was working. A shiver of unease swept through her at the thought. If either of them lost control on the Hellicarrier, the end results would be disastrous.
"Why shouldn't the guy blow off some steam?" Tony asked, slapping a hand on Steve's shoulder.
Steve immediately ripped it away.
"You know damn well why," he snapped angrily, stepping right in front of Tony. "Back off!"
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."
"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony replied, grinning like an idiot.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve crossed his arms and glared back, "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."
That had to hurt. Emily knew that Tony's ego and pride would get in the way of things, especially in this instance.
"I think I would just cut the wire," he retorted.
"Always a way out," Steve shook his head in disbelief, "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero, like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers," Tony snapped. Emily swallowed hard at that. The fury written across Steve's eyes was inevitable, and would only lead to disaster at the taunting Tony provided, "Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
No one was aware of the imminent threat looming outside the Hellicarrier. As far as Emily was concerned, the real threat revolved around these idiots bickering like a couple of canaries trapped in a cage. She knew things were only going to go from bad to worse if she let this escalate any further.
"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds," Steve insisted.
Thor let out a hearty laugh, clearly enjoying this arguing.
"You people are so petty, and tiny," he chuckled.
"Yeah," Bruce shook his head, "This is a team."
"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his—"
"Where? You're renting my room," Bruce cut Fury off before he could finish his order.
"That was just in case you—"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't!" Bruce snapped, "I know, I tried. I got low, 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 dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"
Both Fury and Natasha had been relaxed up until than when Bruce moved towards the table where the scepter was. Emily sucked in a breath when she realized too late what he was about to do. Lifting the scepter and using it as a weapon was not part of the plan.
An eerie few seconds of silence filled the room as everyone just stared at each other, and Bruce as he reached for the weapon.
"Doctor Banner, put the weapon down," Steve said in a warning tone.
Bruce hadn't even noticed he was holding the scepter until too late. Relief swept over Emily when a beeping noise suddenly distracted them all – a signal that led them towards the Tesseract.
"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all," Bruce replied after walking over to the computer.
"You've located the Tesseract?" Thor asked as everyone converged on the computer. "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it."
"I can get there faster," Tony said.
"You're not going alone!" Steve snapped.
"I'm not afraid you, old man," Tony retorted, getting into his face while Emily facepalmed.
Just when the arguing had stopped, it was getting worse again.
"Put on the suit," Steve challenged through clenched teeth.
"Oh my God," Bruce whispered after reading the scans.
Suddenly, the Hellicarrier exploded from the inside of the ship. Glass shattered from the force of the shockwave, throwing everyone in random directions.
Emily was sent flying into the bottom room while Natasha and Bruce were sent somewhere else, along with Tony and Steve. Pain seared through her as pieces of glass whipped past her, cutting her suit and leaving fresh wounds. This was only going to go from bad to worse, as far as she was concerned.