Happy Tuesday, my lovely readers!
Big thank you to my new followers: JesiLea, NeedtoRead10, Avalongirl55, need47, GrossEwww & lunatarimoon!
This chapter is in Steve's POV for the most part, but then reverts back to Lowri's POV.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters that may be used or any Marvel storylines or arcs.
Claimer: I only own the character Elizabeth Jones (Lowri Jones and any other names she uses) and her story past, present and future.
Recap
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect." Stark added. He headed around the table and went straight for Doctor Banner. They shook hands eagerly.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked a little sarcastically.
"Your work on antielectron collision is unparalleled and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green-rage monster." Stark said, shaking Doctor Banner's hand.
"Thanks." Doctor Banner answered shortly.
"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Director Fury said as he entered the bridge and quickly strode towards the table.
"I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve said.
"I don't know a lot about that but it is powered by the Cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Director Fury said.
"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor said slowly, he looked at Director Fury with a confused look written in his eyes.
"I do!" Steve burst out. He looked around the group, happy that he understood one of the new references people always seemed to be making but he was met with serious looks. "I understood that reference."
There was a moment of almost painful silence before Stark turned to Doctor Banner.
"Shall we play, Doctor?" Stark asked.
"This way, sir." Doctor Banner replied with a nod of his head. Together, they left the bridge, murmuring in low tones together.
Elizabeth turned to the circle of monitors and looked up at Director Fury. They spoke for a few seconds and then Elizabeth turned from him with a tired look on her face.
Steve stood up and blocked Elizabeth from leaving and she looked up at him, clearly exhausted.
"How're you feeling?" Steve asked, he looked down at her with concern in his eyes. Elizabeth looked up at him with a tired look in her eyes. She shrugged her shoulders, glanced at the floor and then offered him a small smile.
"I feel a little tired, but I feel much better than what I felt an hour ago." Elizabeth replied, her voice was weary and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other almost uncomfortably.
"Is there anything that you need?" Steve asked, his eyes searched hers again but he didn't actually know what to say to her, seeing her like this makes him see her in a new light. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
"A nap." Elizabeth said firmly. "What I need is a chance to shut my eyes and rest properly. I'm on my way back to my room on rest orders from the guy I hired." Steve chuckled and smiled at her.
"Well, don't let me get in your way. I'll see you later." Steve said gently, he stepped to the side and let her pass.
Elizabeth went on her way, offering him another small smile before leaving the bridge. Steve watched as she left the bridge, and he wanted to follow her. He has so many questions but he knew she needed to rest.
Instead, he chose to explore the helicarrier and to find a place where he can change out of his suit.
Steve passed by Doctor Banner's laboratory and spied Doctor Banner and Tony Stark in the middle of an animated conversation which resulted in Stark pulling out a small rod and jabbing Doctor Banner in the side.
Steve pushed his way into the lab, a serious look on his face.
"Ow! Doctor Banner yelped, he rubbed at his side a little ruefully and took a small step away from Stark, he jokingly glared him, Stark had a huge grin on his face as he placed the rod on the table in front of him.
"Hey!" Steve said loudly as he strode through the doors and he headed for the desk.
"Nothing?" Stark asked, ignoring Steve. Stark stepped around Doctor Banner with a smile still plastered on his face as Steve stopped in front of the desk laden with various objects unknown to him.
"Are you nuts?" Steve asked, glaring at Stark, he glanced at Doctor Banner to make sure there was no green in sight and then Stark looked over at Steve, the smile still on his face and he popped a few blueberries into his mouth as this entire day was completely normal to him.
"Jury's out. You really have a lid on it, haven't you?" Stark asked, he stared at Doctor Banner, "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" Stark asked, stepping closer to Doctor Banner.
"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve asked sharply as he placed his two hands on the table in front of him and leant forward slightly.
"Funny things are." Stark replied quickly.
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." Steve said hotly, he glanced at Doctor Banner with slight remorse in his eyes. "No offence, Doc."
"It's alright." Doctor Banner said gently. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." Doctor Banner admitted with a smile. He glanced at Stark and the smile grew wider.
"You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut." Stark said, striding around the desk and gesturing towards Doctor Banner.
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark." Steve insisted quickly. Stark annoyed him, he scratched at the surface and Steve didn't like it.
"Do you think I'm not?" Stark asked quickly, he narrowed his eyes at Steve and Steve had the idea that Stark didn't like him either. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us?" Stark continued, "And I reckon your old flame is in on all the juicy secrets. She knows things we don't and I'm pretty sure she's not compelled to fill us in."
"You think Fury is hiding something?" Steve asked, he pressed his lips together to stop himself asking whether Elizabeth was in on the secret too. He guessed she was, since she was so high up in this organisation but he didn't want that.
"He's a spy, Captain. He's the 'spy'." Stark said, he looked at Steve. "His secrets have secrets. And you be sure that he knew, as soon as he joined S. H. I. E. L. D. as one of those baby agents that he knew about a certain Miss Jones and all her secrets, which I believe she kept from you until recently?" Stark asked, he raised an eyebrow at Steve.
"Elizabeth told me as soon as I woke up." Steve said quickly.
"But she didn't come straight back?" Stark asked. Steve shifted his weight from one foot to the other and he narrowed his eyes at Stark. "She went away, right? On business?"
"Elizabeth was busy in the weeks that followed. But this isn't about Elizabeth. She's explained herself to me countless of times and I understand that she's not the same woman anymore." Steve answered shortly, his eyes followed Stark as he pushed himself off from the table and he stepped towards Steve.
"Are you sure, Cap?" Stark asked. "Lowri's a complicated character. She doesn't reveal her entire self to just one person."
"This isn't about her." Steve replied through gritted teeth.
"I can tell the subject of our infamous firefly is a little touchy for you." Stark said with a smirk, he stepped away from Steve and turned. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Stark asked, turning to Doctor Banner, who had watched the little exchange between Steve and Stark silently and with pursed lips.
Stark seemed to have the ability to be able to change topics and forget about previous conversations.
"Uhh, I just want to finish my work here and-" Doctor Banner said, but he trailed off as he tapped on the computer. His eyes glanced at the sceptre before looking at the monitor in front of him again. Something was off.
"Doctor?" Steve asked slowly.
Doctor Banner slid his glass off and sighed loudly.
"'A warm light for all mankind.'" He quoted Loki. Doctor Banner looked up at Steve, "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube," He added.
"I heard it." Steve answered.
"I think it was meant for you." Doctor Banner said, he turned to look at Stark, who had a mouthful of blueberries. Stark offered the bag of blueberries to Doctor Banner, who refused. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the Tower, it was all over the news."
"The Stark Tower? That big, ugly-" Steve began but he caught the look that Stark was shooting at him and shortened his next sentence. "-building in New York?"
"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run, for what, a year?" Doctor Banner asked, looking at Stark.
"It's just a prototype." Stark admitted before popping a few more blueberries into his mouth. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at." Stark answered.
"So," Doctor Banner began, "why didn't S. H. I. E. L. D. bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Doctor Banner asked.
Stark calmly walked around the desk and whipped out a little device from his pocket.
"I should probably look into that once my decryption programme finishes breaking into all of S. H. I. E. L. D.'s secure files." Stark said, tapping a few buttons.
"I'm sorry. Did you just…" Steve asked, blinking at Stark.
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few short hours, I'll know every dirty little secret S. H. I. E. L. D. has ever tried to hide, including the secrets your Elizabeth has been in on and kept dutifully. Blueberry?" Stark asked, offering the shiny little bag to Steve with a slight smug look on his face.
"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." Steve said through gritted teeth. Stark tensed up and brought his hand holding the packet of blueberries back.
"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Stark answered shortly. He glared at Steve.
"I think Loki is 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. We have orders, we should follow them." Steve said, glaring right back at Stark.
"Following is not really my style." Stark admitted cockily.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve asked icily.
"Of all the people in this room, which one is A: wearing a spangly outfit and B: not of use?" Stark asked, this sparked a short stare off between Stark and Steve.
"Steve. Tell me none of this smell funky to you?" Doctor Banner asked, he looked at Steve, who snapped his full attention to him and his gaze grew hard.
"Just find the Cube." Steve replied shortly before storming from the lab.
Lowri woke up sprawled on her stomach and in a completely dark room. She struggled to keep her eyes open because she really wanted to go back to sleep but there was something pressing on the back of her mind, telling her to shift her ass and get up.
She switched on the main light in her small room and blinked in the new bright light before moving to the full-length mirror and she looked at herself properly.
Though Lowri is literally at the top of the organisation and entitled to all the benefits of a director, she chose a simple room with a bathroom attached, the single bed was tucked away in the corner and the wardrobe was next to the mirror and accessed by sliding the door across.
She looked down at herself, starting from her head to her toes. Her hair was an absolute mess and her throat were decorated by purple and blue bruises, her face was dirty and she still looked tired, the clothes on her body were full of rips, cuts and bullet holes and the fabric on her stomach was gone, leaving dirty white bandages wrapped around her torso.
Everything else seemed intact and as Lowri looked back up at herself, her eyes settled on the star necklace hung around her bruised neck and she smiled. It's back where it should be. She could already feel the luck flowing through her.
Slowly, she began peeling off her many layers. She shrugged off the jacket and then pulled off her ripped shirt, she unwrapped the dirty white bandages on her torso to reveal the pink, puckered skin that had thankfully healed and gave her no issues. She kicked off her shoes and socks, stripped off the rest of her clothing and stepped into the bathroom for a shower.
The hot shower worked on her tight muscles and by the time she stepped out, finally clean, she felt like a new person. That shower had also woken her up properly and her eyes were brighter and her cheeks were rosy too.
Once she was dressed in another pair of black trousers and a dark grey vest, she stood in front of the mirror again to plait back her hair. The bruises on her neck stood out considerably so she pulled on a jacket to cover them up slightly.
Lowri stepped out of her room, unaware of the time or what had happened while she napped, and she headed for the bridge where she knew Nick would be. She assumed that from there, she could find out what she had missed while she had slept.
Nick was stood just beyond the large table, leaning against the rails and he turned to look at Lowri as she approached him.
"Has anything blown up while I've been resting?" Lowri asked as she came to a stop beside him. She leant forward on the rails and looked out over the lower bridge.
"Surprisingly not." Nick replied. He faced the lower bridge too and looked out. "I have a feeling that it might be your presence that makes things blow up, everything is fine when you're not here."
Lowri looked at him and pulled a face before smiling.
"Any luck on the search with the Tesseract?" Lowri asked.
"No. Stark and Banner are still looking for it." Nick said, "And Rogers is off somewhere, I'm not too sure."
Lowri hm'd gently and stepped back from the railing. "I think I'm going to go work my muscles. They feel a little tight." She added as she rubbed her bicep.
"Alright, just don't take your earpiece out, Romanoff hates hunting you down." Nick replied, he pushed off from the rails and headed for the circle of monitors. Lowri grinned as she walked away.
"I lost it." She called out as she walked away.
"Then get another one." Nick called back to her. On her way out, she picked up another ear piece and synced it to the chosen channel and then put it in her ear.
Once again, thank you to all my readers, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Have a good week!
Read, Review, Follow & Favourite!