Steve jolted awake to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He rose, shaking his head and looking at his watch. I slept for three hours? He was still in his uniform, which was thankfully unwrinkled, and he felt completely refreshed after a deep sleep.
"Steve?" Eleanore's voice sounded outside his door.
"Maybe he's not here," Darren suggested from beside her.
"Sweetheart, who are you talking to?" Eleanore asked seriously.
"Oh yeah," Darren paused. "I forget sometimes."
Another knock sounded, this time quicker and more insistent.
"Just a sec," Steve called, checking himself over one more time, fixing his hair. His shield had been returned to his room after retrieving Loki, and he left it there in the corner.
"What's up?" he asked, opening the door.
"We're going to the lab to see what's going on," Eleanore told him, and Darren nodded along. They were both dressed differently than they had been before, changed out of their normal casual attire into more utilitarian outfits. Darren wore a plain green t-shirt and black jeans with black sneakers. He carried a small tablet in his hands, on which he typed and wrote with a soft-tipped pen. Eleanore wore a fitted, half-sleeve purple shirt and very tight black pants with no pockets. Steve would have called them tights, but they were thicker. Thin gray tennis shoes that were quiet as she stepped back from his door and a tight braid completed her ensemble.
""I'll join you," Steve decided as the door automatically shut behind him. He was glad they'd woken him up. He didn't need to sleep through more progress.
"Cool," Eleanore said, and turned to lead the way. Darren and Steve followed, the younger man still focused on the tablet in his hand.
"What is that?" Steve asked, noting the mathematical formulas displayed across the screen.
"Its plans for a more efficient quinjet engine that we can install in the current models," Darren replied, glancing up at him. "The trick is friction and energy usage. If I could figure out a way to have them start… smarter…" he rearranged a few of the symbols and frowned.
"I was meaning to ask you— are they made to fly low?"
"They can fly at any height," Darren said, looking up again and focusing on Steve. "They have special hover engines that can make them travel really fast, but they fly best at normal cruising altitude. Thirty-five thousand feet or higher. But," he continued, getting into the explanation, "If we want them to go below radar, they can, without the dangers of a helicopter."
"What sort of dangers?" Steve had seen prototypes made by the Allied military during the War, but he had never been in one.
"Blade stall, for one thing. It's not normally an issue, but if a helicopter goes too fast, the air traveling over the blades matches the speed of the air being pushed under it, and they can't get any lift." Darren frowned and switched another symbol on his screen. "And helicopters are very vulnerable to ground fire. Take out an engine and boom."
Steve looked up and saw Stark and Banner through the glass walls of the lab. "What's different about—" Stark shocked Banner and made him jump, and Steve's gut wrenched in anticipation.
"Hey!" he interrupted himself, striding ahead of Eleanore and Darren into the room.
"Nothing?" Stark asked, peering at Banner intensely.
"Are you nuts?" Steve asked, exasperated and relieved when Banner smiled calmly and returned to his work.
"Jury's out," Stark retorted, and Banner laughed. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you. What's your secret?" Stark moved back as Banner lifted a device over Loki's scepter. "Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"
"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked scornfully, not expecting to accomplish much. Stark needed to learn how to be part of a team if they were going to take Loki down.
"Funny things are," Stark replied, pointing the shocking device at Steve.
"Tony…" Eleanore sighed from behind Steve, and she and Darren walked into view.
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," Steve continued, looking to Banner as he realized how much the man was trying to help and keep them safe. "No offense, Doctor."
"I-it's alright," Banner assured him, looking at readouts on a screen. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle…" he looked at Tony, "Pointy things."
Stark grimaced and walked around to stand near Darren, looking over his shoulder at the tablet. "You're tiptoeing, Big Man," he told Banner. "You need to strut."
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve felt like everything was moving in a bad direction, beyond his control. Eleanore stepped closer to him, and nudged him with her elbow. He looked down at her, and she shook her head slightly, motioning to the elder Stark.
"You think I'm not?" Tony challenged, pulling a silver bag from a shelf. "Why did Fury call us in— why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
Steve suddenly took the older man more seriously, considering his questions. "You think Fury's hiding something?"
"He's a spy," Stark agreed. "Captain, he's the Spy. His secrets have secrets." He popped a piece of food from the silver bag into his mouth and gestured to Banner. "It's bugging him too. Isn't it?"
Banner raised his hands, "Um, I just want to finish my work here, and…"
"Doctor?" Steve asked, wanting his real opinion. If there was a conspiracy, if they were being used for something bigger, then he wanted to know.
Banner sighed and hesitated, then glanced at Steve, removed his glasses, and began to talk. "A warm light for all mankind— Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."
"I heard it," Steve encouraged, thinking back.
"Well, I think that was meant for you," Banner pointed at Stark, who held out the silver bag. Banner shrugged and took something from it. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."
"The Stark Tower," Steve clarified to himself. "That big ugly…" he glanced around at Darren and Tony, who were looking at him, one with confusion, one with challenging amusement. "…building in New York?"
"That's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source." Stark nodded in agreement as Banner continued, "That building will run itself for what? A year?"
"That's just the prototype," Stark added, looking at his son, who nodded. "We're kind of the only name in clean energy right now," he told Steve proudly. "That's what he's getting at." Steve didn't like being spoken to like a child, but he passed over it.
"So why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" As he spoke more, Dr. Banner became more confident, looking Steve and Stark in the eye. His voice still remained quiet and calm, lacking a lot of emotion, but Steve could tell he'd put a lot of thought into these ideas.
"I should probably look into that," Tony said, walking around the desk and pulling out a clear phone. "One my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."
Steve's mind absorbed the information and rejected it. "I'm sorry, did you say—"
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge," Stark looked up from his device and showed Steve the screen. It was full of shapes and symbols that Steve didn't understand. "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" he offered Steve the silver bag.
Steve ignored it. "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around."
"Tony," Eleanore interrupted, stepping between them and looking at the older man. "They can definitely hear you right now." Steve looked at her incredulously. Are you not worried about breaking and entering? He reassessed the facts he'd just heard, and his opinion of Eleanore's morals.
"Program's too far along to worry about that," Tony assured her. She rolled her eyes, and Stark turned his attention back to Steve. "An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically not awesome."
Steve turned his attention back to the team aspect of the problem. "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed." Banner looked up at him, and Steve met his gaze. "We have orders. We should follow them."
"Following's not really my style." Stark ate more blueberries and Steve fought the urge to shake the smug look off his face.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" He settled for a jab instead.
Stark was not amused. "Of the people in this room, which one is A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"
That hurt, though it shouldn't have. All Steve wanted to do was help, but these people seemed more focused on uncovering secrets than saving lives.
"Tony." Eleanore said sharply, doing what Steve already referred to as the look. Stark gazed at her with a bland expression.
"Steve," Banner said softly. "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you."
Steve looked from him, to Stark, to Eleanore, to Darren, who had come up behind her and was watching the debate quietly. He didn't want to fight with these people any more, and it wouldn't do any good anyway. Maybe they were right, after all. Maybe SHIELD did have something to hide. In any case, he wanted to be alone to think things through.
"Just find the cube," he said, and left the room.
"Tony, you were such an—" Eleanore began whispering as he walked away.
"Asshole? Haven't you been around me long enough to expect that?" Stark rebutted, sounding cocky. "Pick a better insult."
"I'm not trying to insult you, I'm trying to help."
"Why bother? What do we even need Captain Star-Spangled Values for anyway?" Steve paused, out of sight of the door. Why did they need him? He was outdated, old-fashioned, and he didn't have even the historical background to know what modern covert operations were like.
"That's just mean." Eleanore sounded disappointed. "You're better than that. You know we need him."
"But why? Tell me one good reason."
"He's a leader. We don't have a leader. We have me, the impulsive healer who is too hot-headed to stay out of battle, and my friend, the dragon, who bites the head off of anyone who crosses me. We have your son, the genius who is great at tactics, but bad at communication…"
"Hey," Darren interjected. "I communicate."
"Not quickly, and you take a long time to make decisions. I love you." Eleanore sighed and continued. "We've got Natasha, who is a trained solo killer, and has only ever really worked well with one person, who is currently in Loki's clutches. And Dr. Banner, whose Hulk side isn't into strategy. And you. Do I need to go on?"
"Not if you want to keep your inheritance," Stark grumbled, and Steve heard him walk away.
"I'm going to go find him," Eleanore was speaking to Darren. "See if he's okay."
"Where's Jet, anyway?" Darren asked her, clearly not overly worried about her assessment of his leadership skills.
"On deck, eating. See you later, have fun." She walked so quietly, he couldn't hear which door she had exited from or where she was headed.
Steve started walking away, not really wanting to talk to her or anyone right then, even if she had just stood up for him. He wasn't so sure that a leader is what they needed, not with the team consisting, as it did, of such independent people. He doubted very much that bringing them together would ever work anyway, simply because they were all so different, and they had such different goals.
The Howling Commandos, Steve recalled as he walked quickly along, had always wanted the same things. Their collective goal was to take Hydra down, win the war, and go home. And they had been willing to do whatever it took— long missions with minimal rations, cold nights of planning, hot days trudging through the rain. Steve didn't miss the circumstances, but he did miss the people. And the less-complicated facts that he had been responsible for finding and delivering the old-fashioned way.
He stopped cold in the hall as a new thought occurred to him. Why not just find out? I know where the weapons room is. He had passed the door labeled Authorized Personnel Only— Level 7 ID Required Beyond This Point. And through the tiny window of that door, Steve had seen normal issue artillery, new weapons, and a sealed door behind it that led to a dark room.
It would be so simple, and he wouldn't have to rely on anyone else to get the knowledge. It would be like breaking into minimum-security bases all over again. This he could do, and the appeals outweighed the questionable ethics. Better to ask forgiveness…
He made his way down the hall and up a flight of stairs to the level he needed. Most agents were asleep at this point, the middle of the night nearing dawn, and the halls were quiet. Nobody gave him a second glance as he walked purposely toward his goal.
Turning the last corner into the deserted hallway, Steve sensed something behind him. He looked back, and Jet was loping up to his side, blue eyes intent on Steve's motions.
"What?" Steve asked, wanting to shoo the alien, but aware that this was not quite a human and much more than an animal.
Jet just looked up at him, then around to the door Steve was headed to.
"Elle's downstairs in the lab. At least, she was a minute ago. Go find her," he suggested, wondering why the dragon was not guarding her as much as it normally did.
Jet didn't move, just looked up at Steve and sighed.
"Fine, stay here," Steve gave up and continued to the door that held his interest. Once he reached it, his access card didn't work, which set his plan back by a long way. He sighed, considering his other options.
Jet padded silently up beside him, and looked him in the eyes, then stretched his nose out to barely touch the door. Steve heard the lock click, but the light on the panel stayed red. Jet looked up at him again expectantly.
Might as well try, Steve thought, gripping the sides of the door. He strained, trying not to grunt as it slid open little by little until he and the dragon-dog stepped through. Steve closed the door again quickly, and the lock clicked back in place. They walked through the room of artillery and up the next door, where they repeated the process.
Steve and Jet walked into a long, dark room full of boxes, and Steve spotted a walkway overhead. He leapt up to it and over the railing with minimal noise, certain that no one knew he was there from the sound alone. He knew he didn't have much time, and he glanced down at Jet, who was sitting calmly on the floor, gazing at the entrance. Steve left him there, since he knew the dragon could jump or walk up the stairs to the catwalk if he wanted to.
Steve walked up to a nondescript door labeled Experimental: Tesseract Phase 2 — Authorized to Level 8 and Up. It was the only door with Level 8 on it, so Steve decided to start there.
This door was simple to open, swinging free with one strong yank. More boxes greeted him, metal sealed with lockable latches. One set of latches were already open, and Steve stood in front of the box, contemplating what could be inside.
Only one way to find out.
He opened the lid, and his heart sank into angry, battlefield memories as the new Hydra mask stared up at him next to a Hydra gun. So this is what SHIELD used the Tesseract for. Vaporized prisoners, the smell of smoke, the whisper as they burned, the screams, everything was seared into Steve's mind, burying him in a barrage of relived horror. He held back an angry shout, and instead rerouted all of his previous frustration into his new feeling of betrayal. He looked back into the hallway, from which voices were echoing, coming closer.
This was something his team should know.
"Captain Rogers," an unfamiliar agent exclaimed as Steve jumped from the catwalk, landing in a crouch. Steve held a Hydra weapon in his hand, and either that or something in his face caused the young agent to blanch and back away, letting him follow Jet out the door. No one followed them.
Jet split off from him as Steve returned to the lab where the Starks and Banner were still gathered, talking to an agitated Fury.
"What is Phase 2?" Tony asked as Steve entered the room.
Steve slammed the gun down on the table, earning the attention of everyone in the room. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons." He didn't bother to hide his anger, speaking sharply. Darren immediately walked over the started inspecting the gun. "Sorry," Steve told Tony. "The computer was moving a little slow for me."
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract." Fury walked over and laid a hand on Darren's arm, trying to move him away. Darren just glanced up and shrugged him off, earning him some new respect in Steve's book. "This does not mean that we're—"
"I'm sorry Nick," Tony spoke loudly, interrupting the reassurances. He turned his screen around to show designs for new, improved missiles based on Hydra's designs. "What were you lying?"
Steve couldn't believe it. Would Peggy have wanted this? No. "I was wrong, Director," he said, letting disappointment creep into his voice. "The world hasn't changed a bit."
"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Romanov as she and Thor walked into the room.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" She asked in reply.
"I was in Calcutta," Banner retorted, clearly frustrated. "I was pretty well removed."
"Loki is manipulating you," Romanov warned him, walking closer. For the first time, Steve thought, she looked dangerous.
"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Banner asked.
"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you."
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because you get a little twitchy." Banner moved toward the screen, and Steve had to respect his control. He wasn't angry, just intense. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."
"Because of him," Fury pointed to Thor, who looked confused.
"Me?"
"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 sounded like he was giving a speech as a politician. Steve didn't buy it.
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor protested.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury challenged. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched. They can't be controlled."
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve asked, getting tired of Fury's righteous monologue.
"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 is ready for a higher form of war," Thor said menacingly.
"A higher form?" Steve felt a sense of dread. If all the other aliens were gearing up to bash Earth, then what hope did a missile, no matter how powerful, have of stopping them?
"You forced our hand," Fury protested. "We had to come up with some—"
"A nuclear deterrent," Stark provided. "Because that always calms everything right down."
"Hey, what's going on?" Eleanore asked, walking into the room with Jet at her heels. She looked around warily, clearly feeling the energy the fighting produced.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark," Fury ignored her, and attacked Tony's credibility. Steve had heard about Stark's irresponsible weapons dealing, and it made him sick.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck deep in it, but—" Steve began acidly.
"Wait, wait. Hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony asked, and Steve felt bad for a second, for turning the argument away from his main point. Stark had been trying to help him, after all, cluing him into the problem and looking up the files as evidence.
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve decided to hide his guilt behind another jab, to get back at Tony for his 'useless' comments from before.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor interjected, looking at Fury.
"Excuse me, do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury rounded on him.
"Um, guys, this is getting out of hand," Eleanore spoke loudly, but was ignored as Romanov joined in and the conversations kept flowing.
"Are you boys really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats." The assassin looked annoyed, as though everyone should be bowing down in thanks to SHIELD for their safety.
"Captain America is on a threat watch?" Banner asked incredulously.
"We all are."
"Wait," Stark said, turning his attention from Steve. "You're on that list? Are you above or below anger beast?"
The conversation devolved from there, until everyone was against everyone else in the room. Eleanore pulled Darren to the side and began whispering to him, holding his arm, and Jet stood between them and the rest of the room. Steve felt sorry for them, because Eleanore must be feeling all the agitation from everyone involved, but he didn't care as much about that as he wanted to take Stark down a peg.
Suddenly, Thor's voice broke through the haze of comment and retort that had settled on Steve's brain. "You speak of control, yet you court chaos."
"That's his MO, isn't it?" Barton spoke into the silence. "I mean what are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're— we're a time bomb." Steve felt the hairs prickle on his neck as he saw the Doctor fighting for control.
"You need to step away," Fury ordered him, his voice commanding and concerned.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, laying a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"You know damn well why!" Steve brushed him away. "Now back off."
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Stark goaded, and Steve felt his anger and scorn rise.
"Yeah," he scoffed. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that away and what are you?"
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Stark retorted.
Steve was not impressed. "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." He prepared to fight dirty, using personal attacks that went deep. "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."
"I think I would just cut the wire," Stark replied, but Steve could see he was offended. Over Stark's shoulder, Eleanore was glaring at him with disappointment and anger. Darren wouldn't even look at him.
Steve pushed all that to the back of his mind and focused on his argument again, because all he wanted now was to win. "Always a way out. You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
Something lit in Stark's eyes, and he lashed out. "A hero? Like you? You're a lab experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
"God damn it, shut up," Eleanore pushed herself between the two men, and Darren took his father's arm and pulled him back, talking quietly.
"Steve, what the hell?" she confronted him, moving so he was looking at her, no Starks in his line of sight.
"I—" Steve wanted to explain, but now that she was there, calm was washing over him. "Don't do that!" His anger surged again, more powerful than ever.
"Do what?" she stepped back, almost flinching, and Steve didn't take the time to feel sorry. She could learn to live without controlling everyone around her. He turned back to Stark, who pushed Darren out of the way and got right in his face.
"Put on the suit," Steve taunted. "Let's go a few rounds."
Thor's laughter cut through the tension, making Steve annoyed. "You people are so petty. And tiny," he jeered.
"Yeah, this is a team," Banner sarcastically commented.
"Agent Romanov," Fury began, "would you escort Dr. Banner back to his—"
"Where?" Banner asked. "You rented my room."
"The cell was just in case—"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, I've tried." Steve felt a little of the anger he felt evaporate into compassionate surprise. Stark was silent beside him.
Banner looked around uncomfortably, crossing his arms. "I got low," he explained. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth. And the Other Guy spit it out." He looked around defiantly. "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 Romanov? You want to know how I stay calm?"
Steve's heart quickened as Banner laid his hands on the scepter and lifted it from its stand. The atmosphere of the room seemed charged with hateful energy.
"Dr. Banner," he said, trying to draw the dangerous attention to himself. "Put down the scepter."
Banner looked insolently at Steve, and his grip tightened on the glowing stick. Steve looked around, planning on the best way to get everyone out, if the worst should happen. Eleanore moved behind the counter Steve faced, and he saw her concentrating on Banner and on staying out of the way.
A computer beeped into the silence, drawing Banner's attention. He put the scepter down.
"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." He went over to the screen and started analyzing its contents. Steve saw it showed a map of the northeast United States.
"You've located the Tesseract!" Thor exclaimed.
"I can get there faster," Tony volunteered.
"I'll go with you," Darren said, and Eleanore glared at him from behind the other console. "What?"
"The Tesseract belong on Asgard, no human is a match for it," Thor retorted, looking down on all of them.
"You're not going alone," Steve told the Starks, who were heading for the door. He grabbed Tony's arm to halt their progress.
"You gonna stop me?" Tony batted his hand away and challenged Steve.
"Put on the suit," Steve told him, trying to make it an order. "Let's find out."
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Stark quipped, and memories of friends lost to time flashed behind Steve's eyes.
It only furthered his rage. "Put on the suit."
The computer was still beeping, and Steve heard Banner exclaim, "Oh my god."
An acute sense of dread hit Steve, and he identified the source as Eleanore, who was looking at Banner with horror and apprehension. Then an explosion rocked the ship, and Steve's perception was narrowed to darkness, heat, and light.
A/N: Getting to rewatch Avengers is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Thanks to everyone who is reading this, and please leave me some reviews so I know your thoughts on it as well.
Have a great rest of the weekend!
~PettyWhiteRose