Chapter 8
Percy sighed as she and the Avengers plus Loki waited for either Dr Selvig or the Tesseract to appear so they could jump in to action. Percy was in the lab with Bruce and Tony while the others were who knew where.
Tony turned to her at her fifth sigh.
"You're God. Can't you just find the Tesseract?"
"I could but then that would be defeating the purpose of me giving you all Free Will. It is your actions and decisions that will make or break the world. I'm not here to make it easier for you. Yes, I'll step in if I believe what was going to happen isn't going to effect the future that I see for the universe."
Tony grumbled. "Alright."
"Blueberry?" Percy asked, snapping a baggy up and offering it to him which he took eagerly.
"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's going to take weeks to process." Bruce muttered, obviously frustrated. Tony scoffed.
"If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops." Bruce looked at Tony with disbelief and admiration.
"And all I packed was a tooth brush."
"You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, and R&D. You'd love it, it's candy land." Bruce gave him a small, pained smile. Percy just watched knowing that it was important for the two of these men to bond and have each other. Science Bros for life!
"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of... broke Harlem."
"Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension, no surprises." Tony subtly grabbed a miniature electrical prod and quickly zapped Bruce, wanting to see his response.
"Ow!" He shouted, just as Captain Spandex came in, giving Tony a death glare. Tony pointedly ignored it.
"Nothing?" Tony asked, amazed. There wasn't even a hint of the gamma green eyes that he had been told forewarned of an impending transformation.
"Hey! Are you nuts?!" Steve asked furiously, continuing to glare at Tony.
"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's you secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny! No offense, doctor."
Percy snorted and stepped into the conversation.
"Do you really think that the Hulk is going to be making an appearance with me around? I know how much Dr Banner hates transforming into him so I used my power to make the Hulk take a little nap."
Bruce shot a grateful look at the woman before turning his attention onto the captain.
"It's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Tony rolled his eyes.
"You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut." Tony said. He turned to Percy. "Hey Seph, why don't you loosen the reins a little bit on the Hulk so that we can have some fun?"
Percy shot him an amused look. "Even if I did, Tony, Bruce would still have the Hulk under control. He is a master at it now, I'm sure. I'm just making it a smidge easier for him.
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve asserted, pulling Tony back from his proud moment.
"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Tony stated before pulling out the bag of blueberries he had gotten from Percy, popping a few of them into his mouth.
"You think Fury's hiding something?" Tony rolled his eyes at the Captain's naivety.
"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secret have secrets." Tony pointed at Bruce. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Bruce paled at being put on the spot and began to babble. Tony then pointed at Percy. "And we literally have the God, creator of the universe sitting right there. Why don't we ask her?"
"Uh... Tony, Free Will, remember?" Percy said.
"Uh... I just want to finish my work here and..." Bruce said at the same time
"Bruce, just say what's on your mind." Percy said.
"Doctor?" Steve prompted as well.
A pause. "'A warm light for all mankind', Loki's jab at Fury about the cube when Fury asked where it was right before he said that whomever gave him the scepter was using magic to not let him outright tell the plan to take over the universe."
"I heard it." Bruce pointed at Tony, who watched the interaction between the two closely.
"Well I think that was meant for you. Even if nobody told Loki when he was still under mind control, it was posted all over the news."
"Stark Tower? That big, ugly –" Tony glared at Steve and he quickly changed his words. "– building in New York?" Even though he didn't get along with Tony, Steve still tried to be polite. Tony almost snorted at the thought. He then offered Bruce some blueberries which the other scientist gladly took.
"It's powered by Stark Reactors, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?" Tony nodded.
"That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now."
"So, 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?"
"Now that's the question, isn't it?" Percy asked, snapping up a blue chocolate chip cookie and munching on it.
"Anyway, I should probably look into all that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files." Steve stared at him in horror.
"I'm sorry, did you just say...?"
"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Tony popped a few more of the berries in his mouth, letting Steve ruminate on that for a few seconds before offering him some of his snack as well. "Blueberry?" Captain No-Fun just glared at him.
"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, now possible."
"I think Loki's former master is trying to wind us up. This is a being who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."
"Orders aren't always made to be followed." Percy said quietly, earning a scowl from the Captain, whom had seemed to forget for a second what exactly Percy was. Tony pointed at Percy, agreeing with her.
"Correct. And following isn't really my style anyway." Steve gave Tony a condescending smile.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?"
"Of the people in the room which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?" Tony ground out, not wanting to admit that Steve had hit a nerve.
Percy raised her hand. "Oh, pick me! I know the answer!" Tony smirked, loving the fact that his old nanny was picking his side. And before the Captain could answer Bruce piped up again from where he stood, coming to Tony's aid and making sure Percy couldn't insert another smart a** comment.
"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" Steve seemed to hesitate for a moment, considering Bruce's words before shaking them off.
"Just find the cube." He ordered before storming out.
"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice." Tony commented as he turned back to his two companions.
"Well, he was born in a different time period with very different experiences than us. That's probably why he has so much baggage." Percy interjected.
"What he's got is a ACME dynamite kit. It's going to blow up in his face and I'm going to be there when it does."
"And I'll read about it." Bruce smiled wryly and Tony shook his head.
"Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us." Bruce grimaced.
"Ah, see, I don't get a suit of armor. 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." Tony paused, looking at Bruce, he pointed at the arc reactor that was lodged in his chest.
"This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a terrible privilege."
"But you can control it."
"Because I learned how." Tony shot back.
"It's different." Bruce muttered sadly, hiding his face behind a holographic screen of information. Tony walked over to where he stood and slid the data away, looking into his new friend's wary eyes.
"Hey. I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."
"But it didn't. You survived, Bruce." Percy said quietly from the chair, where she was still sitting through all of this. Bruce gave a huff of laughter.
"So, you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life?"
"Is that so hard to believe?" Percy asked.
Bruce looked at her. "Yes, it is."
Percy stood and moved so that she was looking into his eyes. "Bruce, you were meant to survive that accident and you were meant to become the Hulk at somepoint in your life. You don't know this but you were born with an inactive X-gene. Like mutants. That inactive X-gene and the gamma radiation combined created the Hulk and enhanced him. You were meant to be a hero."
Silence as Bruce just stared at her for a moment.
"That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"
"I guess we'll find out." Tony answered. Bruce just shrugged, looking back at the data that continued to pour over the screens in front of him. Percy and Tony exchanged glances as the conversation was closed.
Back to work it seemed.
linebreak
"What are you doing, Mr Stark?" Fury asked walking into the lab.
"No what are you doing, Nick?" Tony asked. "Tell me, what is Phase 2?"
Captain Underpants came storming into the room with a large gun in his hands, plopping it down on the lab table.
"Phase 2 is SHIELD is making advanced weapons." Steve glanced at Tony. "Sorry, computers were going too slow for me."
"Phase 2 are just-"
"What, are you lying, Nick?" Tony asked, turning the computer screen around showing the Phase 2 plan.
"Did you know about this?" Bruce snapped, glaring at the red-head and archer when they came in followed by the Asgardian gods.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" She snipped back.
"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." Bruce growled to Natasha.
"Loki's former master is manipulating you." Natasha spoke again, causing Bruce to tense back up.
"And you've been doing what exactly?"
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." Natasha sneered.
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because you suddenly get a little twitchy." Bruce snipped back at Natasha. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
Director Fury sighed before pointing at Thor, who had remained quiet all this time in his bemusement, and Loki whom had both wondered over to stand behind Percy whom had sat back down and was watching everyone while eating a bowl of popcorn.
"Because of them." Fury ground out
"Us?" Thor looked so confused.
"Last year, earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Fury explained tiredly.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet!" Thor defended, obviously offended at what Fury was implying.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asked, pointedly looking at Percy whom merely wiggled her fingers at everyone before continuing to eat her popcorn. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."
"If people were meant to be controlled, I wouldn't have given them Free Will. None of my creations are meant to be controlled." Percy said in the slight silence in the conversation, to which Bruce, Tony, and Steve nodded in agreement.
"And besides, it's not like you controlled the cube very well, now did you?" Steve added.
"You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki and his master to it. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."
"A higher form?" Steve said, catching what he had just said, glancing at Percy. She nodded with what Thor said, agreeing with him.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something" Fury snarled.
"Nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything down." Tony snarked, baring his teeth in the semblance of a smile.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury ground out and Percy saw Tony tense as his words struck a nerve.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep –" Tony quickly snapped his head in the direction of Steve, shocked to have been suddenly made the bad guy.
"Wait, wait! Hold on. How is this now about me?"
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Thor huffed from where he stood, irritation marring his features.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this."
"No, they are just repeating the same mistakes and not learning from their past ones." Percy murmured.
"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury shot back.
"Excuse me? If it's anyone's planet, it's mine! I'm the one that owns the lease for it!" Percy protested but it fell on deaf ears.
"Are you all really that naïve? SHIELD monitors all potential threats." Barton said coldly. Bruce looked at him oddly.
"Captain America is on the potential threat watch list?" He asked, incredulous.
"You're on the list? Are you above or below angry bees?" Tony sarcastically asked, adding more fuel to the flames.
"I swear to God, Stark, one more crack –"
"Threatening! I feel threatened!" Tony exclaimed.
"And hey! Don't you be taking my name in vein, boy, or I'll whoop your a** to h*ll and back!" Percy interjected.
"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor spoke over Tony and Steve's bickering.
"It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time-bomb." Bruce chuckled darkly, and Director Fury, Barton, and Natasha tensed.
"You need to step away." Fury ordered. Tony laughed harshly, throwing his arm around Steve's shoulders.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Steve pushed Tony away in disgust.
"You know damn well why! Back off!" Percy watched as Tony got right up in Steve's face.
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve snarled back.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Steve scoffed.
"I knew guys with none of that worth ten of you. Yeah, 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 gut crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire." Steve shook his head, a bitter smile pasted on his face.
"Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero? Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!"
"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."
"You people are so petty... and tiny." Loki said with an unamused laugh.
"Yeah, this is a team." Bruce said. Seeming to remember that Bruce could become the Hulk in high tension situations, Director Fury turned to Natasha.
"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his –"
"Where? You rented my room." Bruce said, moving backwards.
"The cell was just in case –"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!" Silence consumed the once loud room as the occupants all looked at Bruce with pity and horror. Bruce looked down. "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 people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" He turned to Natasha, who looked at him warily. "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?!" Seeing his movement, Natasha, Clint, and Fury grabbed their guns.
"Doctor Banner... put down the scepter." Steve commanded slowly, holding out his hands as if to ward off an attack. Bruce looked confused but when he noticed the scepter in his hands he put it back down.
"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all." Bruce said quietly as he went to join Tony by the computers as they began to beep.
"Have you located the Tesseract?" Thor asked, perking up.
"I can get there faster." Tony said.
"Look, all of us –"
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard." Thor interrupted Steve. "No human is a match for it." Tony, ignoring Thor's words turned to leave, but Steve stood in his way.
"You're not going alone!" Steve growled.
"You going to stop me?"
"Put on the suit, let's find out."
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."
"Put on the suit."
"Enough, both of you!" Percy shouted. Then pointed at the blinking red dot on the computer screen. "What is that?" Tony came over and looked at the monitor before his eyes widened.
"Get down!" He shouted just before an explosion rocked the helicarrier.
Steve looked up at Tony with wide eyes and mussed hair from where the two of them had been blown out of the lab.
"Put on the suit."
"Yep."
Percy sighed. Looked like it was time for her to let the Avengers save the world by themselves. The rest of the Avengers had either been blown back by the explosion or were scrambling to help fight off the intruders.
With a snap, Percy disappeared from the lab and reappeared in the middle of her house in Tranquility.
Looked like it was time for some vacation before the next disaster happened.
...
"Where's Percy?"
"Fiji." Tony replied as he dodged a large flying whale.
"What? How did you know that?"
"Because she just sent me a picture of herself in Fiji with the words, 'Have fun!"
Silence over the comms.
"How come she didn't take me and leave you boys to handle this mess? God I have alien guts in my hair!" Natasha said.
A snap and Natasha was clean and her guns which had just ran out of ammo were restocked.