Since I didn't want to sit next to Natasha and Banner wasn't sitting at all, I decided to sit next to Captain. I smiled as I watched Fury tell Loki, "Ant, boot," and "Tell me if power wants a magazine or something." Go Fury for not letting magic wielding maniacs get the better of him.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Oh, Banner, if only you understood.
"Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play? " Straight to the point, eh Captain? Good for you.
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
"An army from outer space." Thor's answer was a little much for the poor Captain.
"So, he is building another portal. That's what he needs Eric Selvig for." Banner was smart.
"Selvig?" It was good of Thor to remember him, let alone his name.
"He is an astrophysicist." Neither Thor nor Captain knows what that means. I wouldn't if I hadn't seen the movie.
"He's a friend."
"Loki has him under some sort of spell, along with one of ours." Oh guilt, I have been missing thee.
"I want to know why Loki let us take him. He is not leading an army from here."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him." An act Banner, a simple act.
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother." Thor did so much good in that comment, but it would all be undone and then some with his next.
"Agent Romanov." I cut her off before she could tally the number of people Loki had killed. "Yes, he has done some horrible things. Every single life is precious. And, unfortunately in many ways, Loki is being completely logical. Just because you only know what has happened on Earth, does not mean he is beyond reason. Many things happened on Asgard just before he left. Not even you, Thor, know them all." I had been very calm up to that point; it was very important they understood all that I was saying. Now however, I stood and slightly hissed at Thor for the fact of the line that never was. "And don't you ever mention him as adopted, or use it as an excuse. You only found out about it after he was gone. He found out about it only a couple days before trying to commit suicide by falling into the void of space." I breathed a little heavily after my mini-rant. Belatedly, I realized Loki might not have liked the secret of his birth announced like that. Thor would have done it anyway, but that wasn't an excuse. This is why I tried to plan what I said. I dropped back into my chair and ran a hand over my face.
The silence was broken by Tony's voice making its way toward the control room.
"I'm just saying, pick a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive." Having entered the room and realized all attention was on him, he then raised his voice to be heard by all and strode to the middle of the room. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails. That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Covers his eye. "How does Fury even see these?"
"He turns."
"Sounds exhausting. Now, anyone know what Loki was doing?"
"He was creating a distraction so his lackies could obtain iridium." Why, why did I answer Tony's question? Hill knew just as much as I did and had authority. To everyone but Coulson and Fury I was a nobody with no leg to stand on. I blessed Banner for saving my hide.
"Iridium…What do they need Iridium for?"
"It's a stabilizing agent. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." I tuned out as Tony explained scientific mumbo jumbo. "Something to," I loved the knuckle crack here, "kick start the cube."
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill's tone was full of condescension.
"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" You're the only one who got the reading, Tony.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" I was impressed Captain had kept enough to ask that. I didn't even try as Banner spoke some science blah, blah, blah.
"Finally, someone who speaks English." I was trying mightily to stifle my giggles at Tony's ridiculousness.
"Is that what just happened?" I'd always found Captain's comment ironically funny but living it I became more sympathetic.
"Most of the world's population couldn't have followed what they were saying. It came out as 'science, blah, blah, I like sounding smart, science' to me," I whispered to Captain. Hopefully this meant he didn't hear Tony complement Banner because that would just put Tony and Captain off on the wrong foot.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him." Impressive entrance, Director.
"I'd start with that stick of his. It might be magical, but it looks an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." You don't know how right you are about that scepter's importance.
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Oh dear. Fury was going to have some questions I couldn't answer.
"Monkeys? I do not understand." I'll talk to you later, Thor.
"I do!" I quickly tried to cover up Captain's awkward outburst.
"Don't diss flying monkeys that way! Elphie was just trying to help them." When every eye turned toward me I felt like shriveling up and dying. That was what my brain had come up with? Think before you speak. Think before you speak!
"Shall we play, Doctor?"
"This way sir." Everyone turned back to what they had been doing as Banner and Tony left the room.
"Rachel, follow me."
"Yes, Director Fury." He led me to a room empty of people. He remained standing, so so did I. He was silent and seemed to be waiting for me to speak, so I carefully constructed a response. "Director Fury, you have heard my recommendation. I have tried to tell you all the facts, but some of it is hard to say. Its implied or visual. If you have a better plan I will be happy to double check with what I know to make sure it will work. Or if you have any questions, I'll be happy to tell you what I know." Please don't ask about the scepter. Please, please. I simply don't know.
"Is there something you should be doing right now?" I thought through what was going on in the ship right now.
"I could be mediating Mr Stark, Doctor Banner, and Captain Rodger's discussion. Mr Stark has a tendency like mine to speak before he thinks." Fury made a noncommittal noise. I had another thought and greatly debated my answer. "I think I would like to speak to Loki. I'm not 100% confident in that decision though. Being denied that would remove a lot of stress in my life."
"What do you hope to achieve with the discussion?" That was the great debate.
"Not so much a discussion as a speech. I would fail miserably with a discussion. I want to...maybe put some ideas in his head. Something he can ponder on when he gets back to Asgard."
"It would be dangerous to send you in there."
"I've told you basically everything I know about the future, and I won't be antagonizing him. If you order me not to visit him, then I will comply." There was a moment of silence and I wondered just what was going through the Director's mind.
"How exactly are you proposing we send the nuke through the portal?"
"If you set the coordinates to Stark Tower and then Mr Stark nudges the nuke to a more vertical flight pattern it should go through." There were several moments more of silence.
"The children who call themselves heroes will need supervision. Can I direct that task to you?"
"Yes sir." When he didn't say anything else for several moments, I left the room. Once I was in the hallway though, I didn't have any idea where to go.