I walked into the lab to find dad sitting on the bench skimming through all the files he'd already hacked into while Dr. Banner stood in front of the sceptre as he examined it.

"Hey Morgs. We just started sweeping for the signature," Dad said as he looked up. "We should have it locked in a few minutes."

I ignored his words as I went to stand in front of Banner on the opposite side of the desk. "Dr Banner, whatever happens next, I need you to remain calm."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Part of Loki's plan involves unleashing The Hulk. We need you to stay calm," I explained.

"How do you know this?" dad asked as he jumped down from the desk.

"I just finished talking to Loki."

"You what?!" he cried. "Why did you go talk to him?"

"Fury asked me to because he believed Loki's fascination with me would lower his guard and he would slip up, which he did."

"I don't care what Fury thinks, you shouldn't have gone in there with him!"

"Well I did. And I'm glad I did because Loki and I had quite an interesting little chat and he told me something which I said can't be true but he seems to think is very much so." I stalked towards him as I spoke. "He told me that Obadiah orchestrated the accident that killed mom. I don't know how he even knows their names, but I told him it was a lie because my father would have told me something as big as that."

I watched all the colour drain from his face as he listened to me speak. I waited for him to say something but nothing was coming out.

"Is it true?" I had my answer as I looked into his guilt ridden eyes but I wanted to hear him say the word. "IS IT TRUE?!"

After a moment he finally spoke. "Yes."

I let out the breath I hadn't known I'd been holding as I turned away and grasped the back of my head with my hands. I dug my fingers in my skull, hoping the pain would keep the tears at bay. I could see Dr Banner out of the corner of my eye. He was stuck between wanting to comfort me and wanting to leave us alone. He looked relieved as he saw Fury, Natasha, Steve and Thor walk into the room. I didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone but this wasn't a conversation that could wait anymore.

"Not one day ago you were preaching shit to me about not keeping secrets and you've been the biggest one of all!" I yelled. My hands fell from my head. I turned back to face him. "How do you know this? Have you known all along?!"

"No," he said sincerely. "After Obadiah died I was going through his computer and I found some files on your mom and the accident and….I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want to bring it back up and cause you more pain. They're both still dead, it doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything!" I shouted. "Mom was murdered." I could hear a gasp come from Natasha. I glanced over to see them all with similar expressions of shock on their faces, even Thor. "I could deal with her death because it was an accident. Accidents happen every day and people die. Shit happens and you deal with it. But this is murder. She was murdered by someone you thought was a friend."

I looked into his dejected brown eyes, watching as he scrambled to get words out to say sorry in a way he hadn't tried before. I was so sick of secrets in this family. I know I contributed my fair share of them recently but before that I had always shared my whole life with my father. But it seemed like he never did the same with me. There was always something he was hiding, information he was keeping from me in the name of 'protection'. Maybe he could justify it when I was a child but that excuse didn't apply anymore. I deserved to know the truth, and if he wanted the same from me, he had to start with himself.

I couldn't look at him anymore. I went to leave but Fury called out my name, stopping me in my tracks. I wanted to ignore him and keep on walking but I forced myself to turn back around. We still had a mission and any personal issues had to wait until it was completed.

"Stark, we found the bug you planted on the bridge," Fury said, his voice more stern and firm than usual. "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are," Banner said. "The models locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, then you get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," Dad said. The glass computer screen positioned in front of him suddenly flashed red. "What is Phase 2?"

"Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the Cube to make weapons," Steve said suddenly, stepping forward. "I found your stash of weapons downstairs."

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

"I'm sorry Nick," Dad interrupted. "What were you lying?" He spun the screen around to show blueprints of weapons clearly labelled Phase 2. Each design had a small blue orb at its centre. It was obvious the blue orb would be the Tesseract's energy, from which the weapons would draw their power. "Did you know about this?" he asked as he looked to me.

"No." I was offended that he would even think I had played a willing part in this. "I told you, I knew S.H.I.E.L.D had plans for the Tesseract but I didn't know what they were." I suddenly felt foolish for believing that S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't going to use the Tesseract's unlimited energy for their own personal gain.

"I didn't sign up for this," Banner said.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor," Natasha said from beside me.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving just because you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction," Banner said as he pointed to the blueprints for the weapons still displayed on the screen.

"Because of him." Fury pointed at finger towards a very confused Thor.

"Me?" he asked incredulously.

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

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people that can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve asked.

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

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something," Fury said.

"A nuclear deterrent," Dad said. "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark."

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

"Hold on. How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

A stood silently, watching as the 6 adults around me continue to bicker and quarrel like children. I might have joined in, demanded answers, if I wasn't still in shock and trying to process all this new information. My mum was murdered by that asshole Obadiah. I'd been working for S.H.I.E.L.D, trusting them, only to find out they were going to use my research on the Tesseract to build the most powerful weapons on the planet. I should have asked more questions from the start. Demanded to know everything they planned to do with the Tesseract. But I'd been naïve and blind, just grateful that they'd offered me a job and a different life. My naivety was catching up to me now.

"I mean, what are we, a team?" Banner said. "No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away," Fury stated.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Dad remarked as he laid a hand of Steve's shoulder.

Steve instantly knocked his hand away. "You know damn well why. Back off!"

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." I knew this showdown had been coming. All of dad's repressed anger and resentment towards Steve had slowly been bubbling to the surface and now he was about to blow.

"Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?"

Dad didn't hesitate. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve spat. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

I may have been angry at dad but I still had the innate desire to defend him. He may not be as patriotic and pure-hearted as Steve, but he was still a hero, just as much as him. "If you've really seen the footage then you know he is a hero," I commented. I could feel my anger pulsing in my veins, suddenly getting stronger. I had no idea where it was coming from but I was beginning to become just as irritated as everybody else in the room. "Besides, everything special about you Steve came out of a bottle."

I was shocked as soon as the words escaped from my mouth. I had no idea where that comment, or the rage behind it, had come from. Dad looked equally as shocked, while Steve just looked at me in stunned silence. I wanted to apologize but at the same time I wanted to keep going, to let it all out and scream.

"Agent Romanoff," Fury suddenly said, breaking to tense silence. "Would you please escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where? You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case-" Fury began.

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried."

Another silence descended upon the room. We all looked at Banner with surprise and a small amount of pity.

"I got low. I didn't see an end," he explained. "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 want to know my secret? You want to know how I stay calm?"

Slowly, as if not even realising it, Banner reached back and picked up the sceptre. My hand, as well as Natasha's and Fury's, instantly went for our guns.

"Dr Banner, put down the sceptre," Steve said.

Banner looked down at the weapon grasped tightly in his hand. He blinked, seemly as surprised as the rest of us that he had picked up the sceptre.

An alarm sounded from one of the computers. The Tesseract had been located.

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." Banner placed the sceptre back on the bench. Natasha and I followed Banner over to the computer to see where the Tesseract had been found, while everyone else began arguing about who was going to retrieve it.

"Oh my god," Banner said.

"What?" I looked over to briefly see a map of New York City before my attention was drawn to the sound of an explosion outside. Seconds later the flames and energy from the blast reached the room, exploding up through the grates in the floor.

I felt the floor beneath my feet give way. My stomach practically jumped up into my throat as I plunged down into the service halls beneath the room. Pain burst to life in each of my wrists as I reached out to break my fall. My knees hit the cold hard metal of the grate I landed on a second later. Glass and debris showered down upon me.

Gasping, I rolled onto my side to see I wasn't alone. Natasha and Banner had both fallen through with me. Thankfully it looked like Banner was out cold.

"Are you okay?" a concerned voice shouted from above. I looked up to see dad peering down through the gap. He had ash on his face from the explosion and a cut above his eyebrow.

"Yeah, we're fine," I called back. "Go help them."

"Are you sure?" He looked over to Banner, obviously concerned he was about to Hulk out, but the man was lying still and unresponsive.

"Yes, now go!"

He nodded and disappeared. Sirens and alarms were now blaring throughout the ship. No doubt whatever had just happened was part of Loki's plan. I needed to get up there and see just what the hell was going on.

"I need a hand," Natasha said. I crawled to my feet and made my way to her. Her leg was pinned underneath a pipe which had been damaged and ripped from the wall in the blast.

"Hold on," I said. I reached down and attempted to lift the pipe, only to find out it was extremely heavier than it looked. "Crap," I mumbled.

"I don't think we're fine anymore," Natasha suddenly said.

I glanced over my shoulder. Banner was waking up, his hands balled into fists as he grunted in pain.

"Shit." I pulled harder at the pipe while Natasha tried to wiggle out from underneath it but it wasn't working. Banner was trying to fight against the monster wanting to rise up but it looked like he was losing that fight. I abandoned my efforts to lift up the pipe and walked over to where he laid, writhing in pain. "I'm sorry Doctor," I said before I bought my fist down across his face twice.

"Son of a bitch!" My fist was throbbing in agony but it had done the job. Banner was knocked out again, giving us more time to get out of here. "He's got one hard head."

After another minute of trying, I managed to lift the pipe up enough for Natasha to slide her leg out from beneath it. "Thanks," she said.

"Let's go find out what's going on."

"I'm going to stay here, just in case he wakes up again," Natasha said.

I wanted to stay with her but I knew I would be more useful if I could get to my suit and help with whatever was going on up there. I jumped up the steps and started for the weapons room, where my suit was securely locked up.

I switched on my earpiece and found out that a small plane with Loki's brainwashed soldiers had boarded the helicarrier and had destroyed one of the engines. If they managed to destroy another one we'd be in serious trouble.

I felt comfort and relief as I reached the weapons room and felt the suit enclosed me in. Even though I knew the suit didn't make me invincible, I still felt like I could take on anything or anyone in it.

I re-emerged from the weapons room and was immediately assaulted with a hail of bullets being fired upon me. Two S.H.I.E.L.D agents, dressed in combat gear, were positioned at the end of the hall. They were obviously under Loki's control as they continued to fire. A blast from the repulsors in my hands sent them tumbling to the ground unconscious.

"Hostiles are on board," I said, the connection relaying this into everyone's earpieces. "They're dressed in S.H.I.E.L.D gear."

"Copy that," Fury replied.

I was torn between what I should do. I wanted to go around the ship and take out all the hostiles I could find but we were one engine down and all they had to do was take out one more and we'd be toast. So instead I raced to the nearest exit and launched myself into the sky. The sooner I fixed the damaged engine, the sooner I could go back inside and help stop the attack. Part of my mind was screaming at me to go back inside now but I ignored it. I had to believe the agents on the ship would be able to handle it. Right now the engine was more important.

I flew over the engine to do a quick survey of the damage. The primary structure was intact but there was a lot of damage and debris blocking the rotors. That's when I noticed Dad was already down there working on the engine.

"What have we got?" I asked as I flew down into the rotors to join him.

"Rogers has gotten the relays back up but we need to clear the debris out of the rotors before we can kick start it again," he said, his voice sounding clear through our connected intercom system.

"Okay, let's do it." Together we worked, using the lasers in our suits to break up the larger pieces blocking the rotors. Even though we were in the middle of a deadly attack and literally had the lives on everyone on board the hellicarrier relying on us, it felt so good to be working side by side with dad. We worked in synch and in that moment I felt more connected to him than I had felt in months. For a moment I even had a small smile on my face.

That disappeared the moment I heard a thunderous roar echo from the ship. It was a sound that could have only come from one thing.

"Hulk and Thor are on level 4," Fury said.

It was still a serious situation but my worries eased slightly when I heard Thor was taking care of it. If anyone was going to be able to stop The Hulk, it would be Thor and that hammer of his.

"Okay, now we need to reengage this thing," Iron Man said as the last piece of debris fell from the rotor.

"It won't restart without a jump," I said. "We're going to have to get in there and push it."

"If that thing gets up to speed you'll be shredded," Captain America exclaimed.

I was glad I'd studied the design of the helicarrier when I'd first joined S.H.I.E.L.D. "That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could-" I began.

"Speak English!" Captain America said.

"See that red lever?" I asked. "It will slow the rotors down long enough for us to get out. Stand by and wait for the word."

"Get out of here Morgan," Iron Man called out. "I'm not letting you-"

"Don't even start this." I ignored his words and his concern. I began pushing against the rotors and he soon joined me. Slowly but surely with the combined strengths from our suits the rotors began to move. We'd barely done one lap before the helicarrier started to slowly drop.

"Crap, they must have taken out another engine," I said.

"Starks, we're losing altitude," Fury's voice informed us.

"Yeah, we noticed," was Iron Man's curt reply.

We needed to get this engine going, and now or the helicarrier would literally drop from the sky. I focused every bit of energy I had in the suit into the boot repulsors, pushing me harder against the rotors. We pushed harder and the rotors began moving faster and faster but the helicarrier continued to fall. As I pushed with every bit of strength I had, I noticed something large drop from the ship. It quickly disappeared beneath the clouds before I could see what it was.

We spun around and around in circles as the rotors picked up speed. After a minute I could feel the helicarrier slow its descent before it stopped completely. We'd done it.

"Cap hit the lever," Iron Man said.

"I need a minute here!" Captain America yelled.

"Lever! Now!"

We continued to spin faster with every passing second. The rotors began spinning faster than us, sending us slamming back into the rotors behind us.

"Crap," dad muttered just before we were forced down into the small space below the rotors. We were getting tossed around like rag dolls.

"Steve!" I yelled.

For a moment I wondered if he'd been killed, and we were about to be ripped to shreds by the engine. But then the rotors slowed ever so slightly. We slipped beneath the gaps and tumbled into the sky. While I floated in the sky, taking a moment to catch my breath, Iron Man shot off instantly. I followed after him and watched as he body slammed into the man who had been shooting at Captain America.

I landed beside Captain America and flipped my face plate open. "Thanks."

"No worries," he got out in between breaths.

Together we walked down to join dad who was still lying on the floor next to the man he'd taken out.

"All hostiles have left," Fury informed us. "Agent Coulson is down."

I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I heard those words.

"A medical team is on the way to the lockup," another voice said.

"They're here." Fury's tone already told me the next words he was going to say. "They called it."

"No."

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