Chapter 2

Melody POV

I own nothing but Melody

Steve and I walked into the lab that Stark and Dr. Banner were working in just in time to see Stark shock Dr. Banner with a little metal rod.

"Ow!" Dr. Banner grunted.

"Hey!" Steve yelled. Here we go.

"Nothing?" Stark asked while Bruce just looked amused.

"Are you nuts?" I asked confused but my eyes showed I was amused. Stark looked up to the two of us walking into the room.

"Jury's out .You really have got a lid on it haven't ya?" Stark said calmly, "What's your secret, mellow jazz, bongo drums, or a huge bag of weed?" He asked Dr. Banner. I looked to him disbelief as did Steve.

"Is everything a joke to you?" I asked seriously. "Gosh, you're just like you father."

"Funny things are." Stark said and pointed to me and Steve. "And I'm nothing like him thank you very much, Sexy Legs."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship is not funny. No offense Doctor." Steve added to my previous statement and I smiled a little that he ignored Tony's comment.

"No, it- it's alright. I wouldn't come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Bruce reassured us.

"You're tip-toeing big man. You need to strut." Stark said and made a hand motion.

"And you need to focus on the problem Mr. Stark." I said while glaring at said man.

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us?" Stark asked while eating some blueberries from a bag. "I can't do all the equation until I have all the variables." He shrugged and shoved a handful of blueberries into his mouth.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve asked.

"He a spy, Captain's he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too isn't it?" Stark asked Banner and we all turned to Banner awaiting his answer.

"Uhh, I just want to finish my work here and-" Banner said and of course, Steve cut him off.

"Doctor?"

"A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"We heard it, sadly." I said confused.

"Well, I think that was meant for you." Banner said to Stark. Stark offered him some blueberries and Banner gladly accepted. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark tower? That big ugly…" Tony shot a glare at Steve, "Building in New York." My wonderful partner finished. I chuckled a little at that.

"It's powered by an Arc Reactor, self sustaining energy source. That building can run itself for what, a year?" Banner asked Stark. Ugh, so many science terms here.

"That's just a prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at." Stark said to us. I rolled my eyes again and leaned against a table.

"So, why didn't SHEILD bring him in on the Tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Banner questioned. Good question Banner, good question.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking onto all of SHEILD's secure files." Stark said.

"I'm sorry what?" I asked with my eyebrows raised and crossed my arms.

"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge." Stark looked up to Steve and I and I glared at him. "In a few hours we will know every dirty little secret SHEILD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" I shook my head and walked closer to Steve.

"And yet you're confused as of to why they didn't want you around?" I asked.

"And intelligence organization that fears intelligence is historically not awesome." Stark replied.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who is believed to start a war and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them." Steve reminded all of us. I hung my head because I forgot and that is the number one rule of a soldier.

"Following isn't really in my style." Stark looked us in the eyes.

"And you're all about style. Aren't you?" Steve said and I sighed. I knew this was coming.

"Of the people in this room, which is A.) Wearing a spangley outfit and B.) Not of use?" Stark asked.

"Steve, Melody? Please tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" Banner asked. I looked at him and lowered my head.

"Just find the cube." Steve ordered and we walked out. We looked around and went down the left hallway. We walked until we found a door and I made Steve open it. We walked inside and heard voices so we jumped onto the catwalk and walked until we found more giant crates. We opened one and there was a big ass gun in it. We looked to each other in fear. We knew SHEILD was doing what we feared. They are using the cube to make weapons like HYDRA.

"Phase two is SHEILD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for us." Steve said placing the gun on the table. And let me tell you, I was angry. Steve and I were glaring at Fury while he spoke.

"Captain, Sergeant, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that-" Fury was cut off by Stark. Never have I been so thrilled to hear his voice.

"I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying about?" Stark moved the screen for us to see and there was the gun.

"We were wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." I spat at him when Natasha and Thor walked in. I wasn't just angry anymore. I was pissed.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Natasha.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" The red head asked Banner. He laughed a little bit before he responded.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed." Banner said bitterly and I quickly went closer to Steve.

"Loki is manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?" My eyes went wide at Bruce's statement.

"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you." She fired back.

"Yes and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHEILD is using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction." Banner said while pointing to a screen. I have to agree, I do too.

"Because of him." Fury said and pointed to Thor. I felt my eyes widen at this and my brow furrowed.

"Me?" Thor asked pointing to himself.

"Last year Earth has a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not armed, but we are hopeless, hilariously outgunned." Fury said.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor defended his home.

"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 who can't be matched. They can't be controlled." Fury said. I was a little shocked and that is why Steve said the next line.

"But you control the cube."

"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.

"A higher form?" I asked.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with-" Fury was cut off by Stark once again. Thank you dear Stark.

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

"Remind me again, Stark of how you got your fortune." Fury said while turning to look at said billionaire.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons he would still be neck deep." Steve said.

"Hold on wait, how is this now about me?" Stark questioned.

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" I asked. This man was too much like his father for the good of humanity.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor jumped into the conversation. More like argument.

"Excuse me, do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury asked the Norse god. And then the argument was on. I was arguing with Tony and Steve while Thor, Natasha and Fury were arguing together with Banner.

"You speak of control yet you cause chaos." Thor spoke when it got somewhat quiet.

"This is MO isn't it?" Banner asked. "I mean what are we, a team? No, no we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're- We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." Fury said and Steve pulled me behind him.

"Come on, why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark asked. I looked to him in disbelief and he put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"You know damn well why, back off." Steve and I said together while Steve shoved the playboy's hand off of his shoulder.

"Oh, I'm starting to make one of you make me." Stark said.

"Yeah, you're just a big man in a suit of Amor. Take that off and what are you?" Stave asked. I knew this was coming.

"Genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist." Stark looked him in the eye and said it. I shrugged and nodded once with Natasha.

"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're not the guy to make the sacrifice play. To until you lay down a wire and let the other guy crawl all over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony interrupted Steve's rant. Thank god. I thought a fight was going to break out between the two. Steve was grinning and I knew that grin anywhere. It's the 'let's go for a couple of rounds' grin. Bruce was smirking while I had fear in my eyes for my partner and other team member.

"Always find a way out. You know you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero." I could see the glint in Steve's eyes and I shook my head. If he got angry that means I would get angry and that means all hell is going to break loose.

"A hero, like you and Melody? You're both laboratory experiments. Everything special about you two came out of a bottle." Those last words almost break my cool and snap Stark's neck.

"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." Steve and I said together very dangerously. Thor started laughing bitterly. All the attention was turned to him instead of Stark, Steve and I.

"You people are so petty, and tiny." He said and laughed a little more. Tony and I looked at each other with distaste in our eyes. Steve looked to us and brought me closer to him. Banner said something I couldn't quite make out.

"Agent Romanoff, could you please escort Dr. Banner back to his-" Fury was cut off by Banner.

"Where? You rented my room." He reminded Fury.

"The cell was just in case we need to-"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. Trust me I know. I tried." Banner said and everyone wore shocked faces for a while.

"Bruce." I said soflty. He looked towards me and Steve brought me closer to him in case of anything happened. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in 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. You want to know my secret Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

"Dr. Banner. Put down the scepter." Steve spoke up and then I noticed he had it in his hand. The screen beeped and Banner put the scepter down.

"Sorry kids, looks like you don't get to see my party trick after all." Banner said walking past us to go to the screen. Steve let me go but only a little in case of anything happened to me.

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked. Natasha ran over to help Banner.

"I can get there faster." Tony said.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor said and Tony tried to leave.

"You're not going alone." Steve and I said together.

"Are you two going to stop me?" Tony asked. Gosh this man makes me want to smack the hell out of him.

"Put on the suit." Steve ordered. "Let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony said and once again the two were toe to toe. Great.

"Put on the suit." Steve ordered.

"Oh my god," Banner said quietly. Right after that an explosion sounded. I fell on the floor on my stomach with Steve next to me on his back, along with Tony. Natasha and Bruce fell through the floor while Fury and Thor fell on the floor.

"Put on the suit." I ordered to Tony while getting up. He nodded.

"Yeah," Steve, Tony and I all ran out the door. Steve and I ran to the sight while Tony ran to get his suit.

"We'll meet you there." I said and Tony and Steve nodded. Steve and I got to the sight and I yelled out. "Stark! Stark were here!"

"Good." He mumbled something else and then clearly, "I need one of you to get to that control panel." Steve nodded and jumped and did a flip to get to it.

"It seems to run on some type of energy." He yelled.

"Well, you're not wrong." Stark mumbled.

"Alright, all the relays are in place. What's our next move?" I jumped to join him and he looked at me strangely.

"Even if I clear the rotors it's not going to start without a jumpstart. I'm going to have to get in there and push." Stark said.

"If that thing gets to full speed, you'll be shredded." I said into the comms.

"That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and-"

"Speak English." Steve and I said together and Stark sighed. "I may have spent some time with your father in his lab but I don't understand scientist talk."

"You see that red lever? It'll slow the rotors down long enough to get out. Stand by it. Wait for my word." We both jumped over to it and stood next to it. Two men came out and tried to throw a grenade at us which Steve jumped and hit down. They tried firing at us but I just jumped and knocked his gun down. He tried to get into hand in hand combat with me and I just hit his head on the bar and threw him off the ship. The other backed away pretty quickly once they saw that and I grabbed the gun on the floor and jumped back up by the lever. I threw Steve the gun and he started shooting at the other guy while I jumped to his previous spot.

Steve slipped but he grabbed a rope just in time. I jumped and knocked the other guy off the ship before he could shoot anymore. I jumped back up by the lever and grabbed hold of the rope barley.

"Cap hit the lever." Stark said over the comms.

"Give us a minute here!" I yelled into the comms.

"Lever, now!" Stark was being tossed around under the engine and I could hear the metal hitting together. I hit the lever once I knew Steve was safe on the ship floor. A new guy was shooting at us until Stark flew in and hit the bastard. We all were on the floor and I gave Steve a hug just knowing he was safe.

We all got changed when we heard that Coulson was dead and were sitting in the conference room. Fury wanted to see Steve, Tony and I for some reason.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them." Fury threw the cards on the table and I sighed. Steve picked up the one with the most blood on it and looked at the picture of the two of us on the card in our uniforms with our old shields. I put my head down and picked up another one. It was another one of the two of us with our shields but our backs were to each others. I showed it to Steve and he sighed.

"We did an AR view. Our communications, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you, lost my one good eye." He sighed out, "Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though because I was playing something riskier.

"There was an idea. Stark knows this, called the Avengers initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people. See if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to-To fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea.

"And heroes." Stark got up and walked out of the room at those last words. "Well, it's an old fashioned emotion." I then got up and walked out of the room and closer to my room. I went to the one place I thought I could deal with this. Sure the guy might have been a little bit creepy but he was still a good person. Steve found me punching at the punching bag in the gym and the one thing that still haunts me is my brother's death. The memory of him falling had me in tears but I refused to let them fall.

"Melody, Melody snap out of it! I miss him too, but we have a job to do. And a solider always finds the best way to play it out." Steve's voice snapped me out of it when I accidently hit the bag too hard and it went flying across the room and split sand all over the floor.

"I miss my older brother, Steve. That's all I ask for but I can't have him because I let him die. I let him fall. I could have tried more and he would still be here. Bucky was the only family I had left and now I only have you. As soon as this is over I am going to see his grave. Do you think that we can move back to Brooklyn?" I asked him with tears falling down my cheeks. He sighed and removed the tears from my cheeks and pulled me into a hug.

"You're going to be ok. And yes I know. I still miss him too. No matter what's going to happen, you will always have your other brother. Even though, there is one thing I would like. And what I have always wanted to tell you, but not now. Just come on and let's just go finish this thing. Do it for Bucky. Do it for your family. Kill them like its HYDRA and they have Bucky again." Steve said and pulled away from me and grasped me on the shoulders. My breath was coming out ragged and I didn't know what to do.

Steve already talked to Tony and we were leaving for the battle soon and I went to get my suit on. Steve already got his on and I was getting dressed. I finally put on my gloves on and put my shield on my back. We made our way to go find Natasha and found her in the infirmary.

"Time to go," Steve said.

"Go where?" She asked.

"We'll explain on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?" I asked.

"I can." A guy walked out of the bathroom. And might I add he was pretty cute. My best guess was Hawkeye.

"You got a suit?" I asked and he nodded.

"Then suit up." Steve said and we walked out of the doorway and into the hallway.

"What is it you want to tell me?" I asked.

"I told you, later. But I promise I will tell you if we both get out of this alive." He said and I felt tears coming.

"What if one of us doesn't," I asked. He sighed and cupped my cheek in his large hand.

"You know we will. We're a team. If one of us has to carry the other out we will. And you know it." He said and kissed my forehead.

"Please, Steve. I need to know." I was pleading with him. He sighed once again. I had a feeling he didn't feel the same way of being in love with me as I am with him.

"Fine, how about I show you." He said and I must have had a confused look on my face because he kissed me gently. I was shocked for the first few seconds and then my arms went around his neck and went around my waist. I don't care if we are super soldiers or that my brother was his best friend. I know that Bucky would approve of the choice I made. Someone cleared their throat and we pulled apart immediately. There stood Natasha and, she said his name was Clint sanding there with smiles on their faces. I blushed and I have a feeling Steve did too and I hid my face under my chocolate brown hair.

"Finally you two kissed. You could see how you felt about each other in your eyes. It was actually kind of cute. You both looked at each other the same way and back each other up. Now, we must be going if we want to catch our jet." Natasha said and I smiled at her and looked up to Steve who was looking down at me. He smiled back and pecked his lips to mine one last time before we pulled apart and I pulled my shield off of my back.

We headed out as Steve made sure his was safely on his arm and mine and our masks were on. Clint looked like a kid in a candy store seeing the two America's in one place.