Chapter 8: Secrets Revealed
AN: so this is a long chapter with lots of stuff happening so bear with me and please be patient. This is going to be a long story, and I will at least try to get a few chapters out a month.
Onto the fic
When Steve and Tony finally returned to the jet, Thor was with them, Loki cuffed and in tow beside his brother. Steven let out a sigh of relief at seeing them unharmed before he pulled up his masks and projected the image of calm aloofness to the trio of warriors. Steven stepped aside as Thor brought Loki up the ramp and strapped him back into his seat. Thor turned and looked quizzically at Steven, calmly noting Steven's mask and dark attire. Thor turned to Steve and Tony as the ramp closed and the QuinJet smoothly took to the skies.
"You work with assassins and sell swords, Captain," Thor asked. Steve looked at Thor with a confused and surprised look on his face before Thor pointed his hammer at Steven, "him; he's a hired killer, is he not?" Steve opened his mouth and let out a hum of understanding.
"He's been assigned to our team," Steve answered, glancing in Steven's direction, noting the formerly retired assassin's forced calm as he sat down silently across from Loki. "He's…" Steve started, grasping for a diplomatic answer, before he sighed and shrugged, "it's complicated." Steve sent Steven an apologetic look, earning him a quick and soft smile, his eyes temporarily becoming warm and soft before they hardened again. "He's on our side, though. And I don't doubt that he'll watch our backs." Thor nodded before he became silent and brooded over what he had learned from Loki. Steven dared a peek inside Thor's head and if he weren't in full control over his features he would have become a pale as ash. An army was coming; one more dangerous than any before, save one, and Loki was given the reins.
Walking off the QuinJet and into the holding bay was very different from when Steven had walked on. When he got on the Jet everyone ignored him, or didn't notice him, but now, walking behind Loki as he escorted the Mad Asgardian off the jet with Steve and Thor at his side, he was very much noticed. Agents and workers stopped and stared. Guards instinctively reached for their guns, before they checked themselves and turned their attention back to Loki. Steven didn't mind, in fact, it brought a slight smile to his face. It showed just how much they remembered him, and that his work still had impacts. But for now he ignored it, and slipped away from Loki to follow Thor and Steve back to the bridge.
Steve and Thor entered first, followed swiftly by Natasha, who slipped in and claimed a seat at the table. Steven's clone walked up to him to greet him with a warm hand on the shoulder, and as he turned to face the room and reveal "his" Agent, Steven found himself facing over a dozen guns pointed at him or in his face. Steven stared at the assemblage with wide eyes for a heartbeat before a smirk pulled across his lips. A chuckle is pulled out of his chest before he grinned wide and began to laugh. No one moved as Steven, The Winter Knight, laughed heartily before he regained his composure. With a careless flick of his wrist, all the guns pointed at him suddenly disassembled in their owners' hands, and Steven calmly sat down in the chair beside Steve. An amused chuckle pulled out of his mouth as the guns reassembled in the air, barrels pointed down.
"At least they still remember me," Steven said with a wide grin, carelessly leaning back and placing his booted feet on the table, ankles crossed. He leaned over to Steve and with a wide and conspiratorial grin added, "Or do they just tell bogyman tales about me on dark nights?" the clone rolled his eyes and sent the agents, now holding their guns again, a scathing glare.
"Put 'em away," he ordered, "he's one of ours." Agent Hill looked about ready to argue before she thought better of it and holstered her own weapon.
"Do it." Steven grinned wickedly, with viciousness cut into his smile, before the clone turned a glare on him.
"Feet off," it ordered. Steven pouted and sneered in displeasure but acquiesced, slowly taking his feet off one at a time before sitting up properly and scooting his chair in. he ignored the "that's better" from the clone and turned on his view screen to the security footage from the detention center.
"In case it's unclear," Fury said typing on the keyboard controls, "you try to escape, you so much a scratch that glass," a few buttons later and the floor beneath the glass cage opened up like an iris, revealing nothing but open air. Loki approached the edge and looked down curiously, "thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works," he asked. Fury closed the door and turned to Loki, who was looking curiously at the controls. Steven narrowed his eyes and hummed over this. He would bet even money that Loki saw how they worked and had memorized the controls. Fury turned back to Loki both hands gesturing at him, "ant," then turned to the controls, "boot."
Loki seemed to find this amusing and let out a soft chuckle. His grin was manic and Steven wished for a moment that he could see into the Asgardian's mind, but it was a bright mess in there that he didn't want to detangle. Instead Steven focused on the ravenette's body language, and all the verbal queues using another talent he had, one cultivated by the Red Room and honed into a weapon: reading people. It was a skill any good interrogator had and one that any spy worth his salt needed in spades if they were going to survive ten minutes in the field.
"It's an impressive cage," Loki admitted, backing away from the glass with amusement in his voice and confidence in his step. "Not built, I think, for me," Loki said pointing at himself. It was a word trap, and Fury fell right into it.
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury admitted.
"Oh, I've heard," Loki said turning towards the camera. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man." Steven glanced up and saw Banner shift uncomfortably and quietly noted that Natasha was looking at him as well. She took that queue and honed in on it. She learned. Good girl. Steven's lips pulled slightly into a quick smile before he dropped it and listened to Loki rant.
"How desperate are you," Loki said to Fury, "you call on such lost creatures to defend you." Fury looked cold but controlled as he answered.
"How desperate am I," he asked, and slowly stalked towards the glass listing off his reasons, "you threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate," Fury said his face as cold as ice and his eye hard as stone; "you might not be glad that you did."
"Ooh," Loki said calmly, and Steven could see the arrogance coming off him in waves. "It burns you to have come so close," he taunted, backing away his face calm, but Steven could see the urge to grin and needle and tear at this wound. Loki was good, but his queues were obvious. "To have the Tesseract, to have power; unlimited power," Loki said raising his head and looking down his nose at Fury before he face went carefully blank, "and for what?" the grin came back as Loki turned to the camera again. Steven furrowed his brow for a minute, realizing that Loki did this before, and then he sucked in a breath as understanding dawned. It was a jab, for someone watching, and Steven narrowed his eyes and paid close attention as Loki said, "A warm light for all Mankind to share?" Tony, Steven realized it was a jab at Tony. But why, Steven snarled softly. He was missing something.
Loki turned back to Fury his face cold and full of quiet anger, as he said, "And then to be reminded what real power is." Steven felt a chill run down his back at those words, and the way Loki said them. It reminded Steven far too much of the Angels he had met with the Winchesters. The same arrogance and self-importance, and near disgust they held for humans, making them look down their noses at them like they were mud on their shoes, or worse; it was the same self-assurance in their powers and their place above humans that Loki had. Worse; it didn't jive with the man Lauro described when he asked about him. Steven furrowed his brow; something was wrong here, and it wasn't just with Loki.
Fury huffed out a snort of derision, before turning away.
"Well, let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something," Fury said flippantly as he left the room.
"He really grows on ya, doesn't he," Banner finally said sarcastically. Steven raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Steve before looking at Thor. The blond Asgardian was pacing in front of the table, his arms crossed as he brooded over what he had learned. Steve looked up and finally stepped into his role.
"Loki's gonna draw this out," Steve said, as he mulled over the conversation before looking up at the big blond, "so… Thor, what's his play?" Thor finally seemed to get out of his head for a minute, but he was still turning something over in his mind.
"He has an army called the Chitauri," he said and turned to the table, his arms dropping as he finally gave voice to his thoughts, "they're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people, and they will win him the Earth; in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor seemed so confident in his Intel, and that made Steven nervous. Steven swallowed hard as he peeked in Thor's mind and saw the threat Thor feared. Steve on the other hand looked skeptical.
"An army," Steve said slowly, "from outer space." Steve sounded almost incredulous.
"Weirder things have happened, Captain," Steven pointed out as he mulled over Loki's speech again.
"Point," Steve said absently, and he went over things again in his own head. Steven glanced up at Yasha, and suddenly it hit him: Loki never mentioned him; in fact he never mentioned either of them. Loki's Intel was not just outdated, it was also lacking, which meant that whoever told him about the Avengers had to have known about them, or have been on the roster, and Steven would bet his bayonet that it was Hawkeye. Yasha was an auxiliary member, an emergency back-up only, not in the data files for the Avengers, and Steven wasn't even on the roster because as far as Barton knew The Winter Knight was dead.
"So, he's building another portal," Banner said, as he took off his glasses and began to fiddle with them. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig," Thor asked, suddenly startled.
"He's an Astrophysicist," Banner stated.
"He's a friend," Thor corrected, and Steven saw the sudden concern on his face. A quick look gained the image of a beautiful woman with a lot of emotional feelings attached to her. A girlfriend, or lover, Steven surmised, and a pressure point for Thor; perhaps even a weakness.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha put in, and looked nervous when she added, "along with one of ours."
"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," Steve said, voicing his unease over Loki's surrender. He looked around and said, "He's not leading an army from here."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Banner said voicing his distaste over the trickster, "that guy's brain is a bag full of cats; you can smell crazy on him." Steven cracked a smirk at that comment.
"Sometimes the crazy ones are the most dangerous," Steven said calmly before looking up at the room, "and I know crazy." Steven bore his teeth in a shark's grin, chuckling slightly.
"Have care how you two speak," Thor said, obviously irritated, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother." Yasha blinked and grinned cheekily.
"Black sheep of the family," he jabbed with a cheery grin.
"Yasha!" the Clone of Steven barked in reprimand, and Yasha sank down a little, his grin gone; sufficiently cowed.
"Sorry," he mumbled. The clone nodded but Natasha didn't seem satisfied with the jab and dug in deeper.
"He killed eighty people in two days," she pointed out hunched over on the table, and glared coldly up at the blond without even moving. Steven quirked a smile, remembering that trick from a long time ago, and knowing that he taught it to her. Thor looked caught off his guard and floundered.
"He's adopted," he said as a weak excuse. Steven looked up and gave Thor an assessing look before he spoke.
"I've done worse," Steven said, causing the group to stop and look at him. Banner stopped fiddling with his glasses and Steve turned to look at him fully, and Thor gave him a look of shock and respect. Only Natasha didn't look surprised at this reveal, but she did look surprised that he was admitting it. After a minute the shock wore off and Banner spoke again.
"I think it's about the mechanics," Banner said, "iridium," he asked, "What do they need the iridium for?" but before he got any further a voice called out and gave him an answer.
"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony said as he strode in with Coulson on his heels. Steven looked towards the door and smiled. "So I'm just sayin'," Tony said softly and Steven would bet that only he and Steve could properly hear him, "pick a weekend, I'll fly you to Portland." Coulson waved it off and Tony gave one last try, "keep love alive." Steven smiled softly at such a caring gesture. Tony may not know how to tell people he cared about them in words, but he could certainly show it.
"It means," Tony said loudly as he walked into the room, explaining as he went, "Portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD." Tony then walked up to Thor and just had to jab at his pride a little. "No hard feeling, Point Break. You got a mean swing." He paused as he tapped Thor on the arm before continuing with his lecture, "Also, it means that the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants it." Tony approached Fury's control station, and Steven felt his amusement, and just knew he couldn't help himself. "Raise the mizzenmast, jib the topsail." Steven could feel the confusion of the crew and glanced over at Jonathan through his clone's eyes. He had to sigh with frustration at what his little brother was doing, before Tony beat him to it, "that man is playing Galaga," Tony said pointing over at Jonathan's workstation. Steve looked over as did some of the others, but Jonathan closed the game quickly, after being caught. "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did," Tony added as he looked at the station.
("Jonny,") Steven scolded his little brother after opening the connection, and Jonathan winced.
("Sorry,") Jonathan said sheepishly. Tony looked back and forth at the screens before covering his left eye and looking confused.
"How does Fury even see these," Tony asked.
"He turns," Hill answered calmly and decisively. Tony rolled his eyes and turned back to the screens.
"Sounds exhausting," Tony said, and began fiddling with the display. Steven kept his eyes sharp on Tony's hands because if Tony was going to do anything it would be now. "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density," Steven saw Tony's hand press against the side of the station and smiled softly when he saw a little device latch on. Tony hadn't changed. "Something to kick-start the Cube," he finished snapping his fingers and hands, in an abstract exploding gesture.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear Astrophysics," Hill asked coolly.
"Last night," Tony answered blandly, as if it took only a few hours to master a very complicated field of scientific theory. "The packet; Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers," Tony looked confusedly around as he took his hands out of his pockets, "am I the only one that did the reading?" Steven quirked a smile in amusement; only Tony Stark could make an emergency briefing packet sound like grade school homework reading.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source," Steve asked. Banner looked up from his glasses to answer.
"He'd have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the coulomb barrier," Banner explained as he paced behind his chair. He looked slightly anxious, but Steven knew that he was in his element, and was actually excited to explain his theory and work.
"Unless," Tony said his arms spread out like a pitch seller in a boardroom, "Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Steven let out a snort.
"If he could do that," Steven interrupted, "he could perform heavy Ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Banner, Tony, Steve and Natasha all turned to look at him with shock and Steven plastered on his most charming disarming grin. "Russia," he gave as an answer. Tony raised an eyebrow and hummed pleasantly.
"Finally," Tony said, "people who speak English." Steve looked at his dark companion with shock, realizing there was an intelligent man behind that mask and not just another thug. Tony approached Dr. Banner with enthusiasm, and reached out to shake his hand.
"Is that what just happened," Steve asked confusedly, wondering where those words came from and what they even meant. Steven took pity on the poor Captain and leaned over to whisper at him conspiratorially.
"I'll explain later," he said, and smiled. Steve gave the man a relieved look before turning back to his notes.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," Tony said as he shook the scientist's hand. "Your work on anti-electron collision is unparalleled," then flippantly added, "And I'm a hug fan of how you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Steven saw how Banner became slightly uncomfortable and shy after that, and had no idea how to even answer that statement.
"Thanks," he finally said dryly. Fury just had to break the moment as he finally entered.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury explained, "I was hoping you would join him." Fury was up to something, and Steven narrowed his eyes at the one eyed man, before he looked at Steve and discreetly tapped on the screen to show the scepter. Steve nodded in assent, before turning to Tony and Banner.
"I'd start with that stick of his," Steve suggested, "it may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon." Steven felt his spine stiffen just a little even at the mere mention of them. Sparks flashed across his fingers before he clenched his fists and reigned in his temper; before anyone noticed.
"I don't know about that," Fury said, and Steven leaned just slightly out of Steve's shadow to glare at Fury with icy eyes. "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." Steven grinned, recognizing that old reference, though he hadn't seen the film in a very long time.
"Monkeys," Thor said confusedly, "I don't understand…"
"I do," Steve said his face alight with joy at finally hearing a reference he knew. Steven could almost feel Tony's eye roll, and shot Tony a scathing glare through his clone. The billionaire didn't look one bit contrite and ignored the look. Steve reigned in his enthusiasm and shyly dropped his pointed hand, looking around the room like a shy schoolboy. "I understood that reference," he said. Steven smiled and caught the Captain's eye, trying to convey the warmth he felt through his smile. It seemed to work because Steve looked more sure of himself and less shy.
"Shall we play, doctor," Tony asked Banner. Banner gestured towards the door, grandiosely with a slight bow.
"This way, sir," he said and led Tony off to the lab.
Only once they finally left did Fury notice Steven.
"Oh, Hell, no," Fury drawled, and Steven plastered on his most charming grin. Fury shook his head in frustration, and held up his hand, "I don't need this kind of shit on my plate. It's too damn late and I'm too damn tired to deal with this." With that Fury walked away, leaving Steven to throw back his head and let out a cackle.
When Steven finally left the room, it was at Steve's heels. Walking in Steve's shadow again was like a walk down memory lane, such as it brought a subtle smile to Steven's lips and warmth in his soul he hadn't realized he was missing. Steve took a turn towards the lab, perhaps out of habit from his days in the war when he would stop by Howard's lab to watch him work, and maybe pester the man with Questions. It didn't hurt that Steve was young and genuinely wanted to learn what Howard was doing. Steven sighed sadly, knowing that Tony would not be as indulging, and it was partially his fault. Once upon a time, Tony may have actually loved meeting Steve and having him ask about his work, but that was before 91, before Steven had blocked all memory Tony had of Bucky and himself and consequently the reconciliation he had made with Howard towards the end.
Steve walked in the door at the worst time, both for his fraying temper and nerves, and for his assessment of Tony's character. He walked in just in time to see Tony jab a probe into Banner's side, lightly, but enough to give the man a shock and have him respond to the stimuli.
"Ow," Banner exclaimed more in surprise than any real pain but it was enough to have Steve's hackles up.
"Hey," Steve said, barging into the room. Steven hung back and lurked by the door rather than enter that wasp's nest that was brewing. Tony all but ignored Steve and leaned in close to gage the doctor's reaction.
"Nothing," Tony asked, and Steven could see Banner was more amused by Tony than irritated. But Steve could not see that, and a brief glimpse into his mind yielded the underlying fear for his unborn children.
"Are you nuts," Steve asked, marching over to the lab table where Tony and Bruce had laid out the Scepter. Tony ignored him for a second until Steve was right there, and threw out one of his snappy one liner.
"Juries out," he quipped, before turning back to the source of his fascination and scrutiny, "you really have got a lid on it, haven't you," Tony asked, his innate sense of curiosity driving at him. "What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?" Steven barely choked back his snicker, and had to bite his lips to keep from falling into a fit of giggles, when he heard that. Tony was still Tony, even all these years later. He was still a flippant snarky teen who just couldn't help himself by throwing out snappy little jokes and brushing aside social norms to do it. Steven schooled himself and walked up behind Steve to linger just behind his left shoulder.
"Is everything a joke to you," Steve asked in irritation.
"Funny things are," Tony sniped back, pointing the probe at Steve to emphasize his point.
"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," Steve said. Steven knew that this came from a place of genuine concern for everyone, mostly for his babies, but for everyone around them as well. Steve turned to the doctor apologetically. "No offence, doc," Steve added, kindly.
"It… it's alright," Bruce said, "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things." He looked at Tony quickly and nervously before going back to his screen. Tony backed away with a wry smirk on his face.
"You're tip toeing, big man," Tony said, "You need to strut." Steve seemed to get suddenly irritated but kept an outward calm. Steven looked sharply at him with a frown, and just knew that whatever was going to come out of Steve's mouth next was not going to ingratiate him to Tony Stark.
"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark," Steve snapped. Tony gave him a look that made even Steven want to grind his teeth together in frustration. Tony was not helping his image with Steve.
"You think I'm not," Tony asked Steve, as if he were slow. Steven saw the look in Tony's eye and knew the man was going to try and poke holes in Steve's sense of right and wrong; to pose questions that Steve didn't want to ask or have answered. "Why did Fury call us in?" Tony asked as he walked back towards Banner with a bag in hand, his tone curious and methodical. "Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." Steven saw the cogs turning in Steve's mind before he answered like the kid from Brooklyn would have, and not Captain America.
"You think Fury's hiding something," Steve asked, but Steven knew it was rhetorical. The gears were turning in his head and there was no stopping him now. Steven could have grinned and cheered and danced for joy. Steve was finally acting like himself again, and not drowning in other peoples' expectations of him.
Suddenly at the edge of his mind, Steven heard a cloying voice whisper, 'you can do it. You don't need them. Pick up the scepter and you can make the world better. You can rule them.' Steven flinched hard and looked over at the scepter, just keeping half an ear on the conversation around him.
"He's a spy," Tony said as if that explained everything. "Captain, he's 'the' spy. His secrets have secrets," Tony popped a handful of dried fruit into his mouth, and said around it "and it's bugging him too." Steven nearly missed the fact that tony gestured to Banner, as he finally was able to block the signal coming from the stone in the scepter. "And him too. Isn't it?" Tony gestured to Steven, who looked sharply up at the three sets of eyes looking at him. Steven didn't trust his voice so he only nodded.
"Ah," Banner stuttered and gestured to the table, "I just want to finish my work here, and…" Steven saw that he wasn't looking anyone in the eye, and smirked. The doctor was a good man, but a lousy liar. Steve saw this too and went for the jugular.
"Doctor," Steve asked, his brows furrowed with concern and a need to know the truth. Banner stopped and looked at Tony before seemingly contemplating his answer, before he took off his glasses.
"'A warm light for all Mankind,'" Banner explained, "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."
"I heard it," Steve said encouragingly. Suddenly Steven was taken back to the war when Steve was forced to interrogate a prisoner. This was the exact tone and expression he had when he did it: concern with just the right touch of authority and encouragement. It was eerie.
"Well," Banner said, and pointed his glasses at Tony, "I think that was meant for you." Tony held out his little silver bag, and Banner finally dipped his hand in to take some of the offered treat out. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."
"The Stark Tower," Steve asked, his brows rose in understanding, then a slight smirk stole across his lips, "that big ugly…" Tony turned to look at Steve and the blond dropped the lighthearted smirk and sobered, "building in New York?" Steven nearly snarled at Tony for making Steve's mask return like that. It was worse than when the brass had to directly order Steve to do something against his instincts and morals. Steven reigned himself in and plastered his own mask on of icy disapproval, and aimed it at Tony.
"It's powered by an Arch-reactor," Banner explained, "a self-sustaining energy source." Banner looked up at Tony and asked, "That building will run itself for, what, a year?" Tony seemed to preen a little under the praise, and Steven felt the need to roll his eyes.
"It's just the prototype," Tony said. He turned to Steve and boasted just a little, "I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting' at." Steven grits his teeth, and turned his mask of disapproval to arctic disdain. Steve was not slow, nor was he just a big brainless muscle man. He had a very intelligent mind in his head if anyone bothered to give him all the Intel, and let him make conclusions on his own.
"So," Banner asked, pointing at Tony, "why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract Project?" Banner shrugged in confusion, before adding, "What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" it was a valid question, Steven noted and saw Steve file that thought away too. He'd have to ask Jonathan to patch him into the servers so he could do a deep scan of the secure files. But it seemed Tony beat him to it.
"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files," Tony said as he walked around the table and pulled his phone out of his pocket to check its progress. Steven looked at Tony with wide eyed shock, and no small amount of fear. Digging too deep is what got his father onto HYDRA's radar and nearly got him and his whole family killed if it weren't for Steven's intervention. It seemed the apple hadn't fallen so far from the tree as everyone thought, but in this case it could get him killed.
"I'm sorry. Did you say," Steve started to ask, before Tony interrupted him.
"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge," Tony said, "in a few hours; I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" he asked holding out the bag. Steven couldn't help the fear that shot through him. SHIELD may not have thought he was alive, but they sure as hell would have a file on him, and Steven knew that it would not paint a pretty picture. And with his file came his Ada's and that was defiantly not something Tony ever needed to see. A guided search was what Tony needed, not a brute-force approach. Steven looked at Steve and saw the disdain and betrayal in Steve's posture, and knew that Steve was going to go on the offensive.
"Yet you're confused about why they don't want you around," Steve said with derision. Tony looked at Steve like he was an idiot for two seconds before explaining.
"An intelligence agency that fears intelligence," Tony asked with concern and suspicion in his voice. "Historically, not awesome," he explained. Steven saw Tony's big eyes just begging Steve for some understanding, but Tony had pushed all the wrong buttons and Steve was stubborn. He would never admit defeat.
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve explained. "This is a man that means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed." Steve looked at Banner then Tony, his voice taking on an edge that Steven only heard a few times, "we have orders. We should follow them."
Steven flinched, but hid it well. Those were words he had come to hate over the past sixty plus years. First HYRDA then the Red Room, they made him hate the very idea of following orders blindly. Steve was not one for following anyone's orders; it's why he was placed in charge of a commando unit. He did best without the brass breathing down his neck. Why was he clinging to this idea now? It made no sense. Unless SHIELD or rather HYDRA wanted Steve to fall into the role of an obedient soldier, then it made perfect sense. Steven ground his teeth together and vowed to make sure the ones responsible for integrating Steve back into the world and failing so miserably never saw the light of day again. Steve was no blindly obedient soldier, he was a prince; a King! He didn't follow anyone he didn't want to, and he made sure you knew it. Before this was over Steven was going to show SHIELD just who they thawed out of the ice in the first place.
"Following's not really my style," Tony shot back, popping a handful of blueberries into his mouth. Steve looked down his nose at Tony and Steven suppressed a wince.
"And you're all about style, aren't you," Steve said scathingly. Tony let it run off him effortlessly and Steven could not take his eyes off Tony's flippant manner. It was like seeing a train wreck coming and you couldn't help but watch.
"Of the people in this room," Tony quipped, "which one is, A) wearing a spangly outfit and B) not of use?" Steven shot Banner a pleading look with his eyes and signed help. Banner must have seen where this was heading because he interrupted Tony's evisceration of Steve's sense of self-worth.
"Steve," he said softly, and Steve looked at him, "tell me none of this smells a little funky to you." Steve looked back and forth at the pair and turned away.
"Just find the Cube," Steve said softly as he marched out of the room. Steven looked at the spot Steve had recently vacated, then back at Tony.
"You could have handled that a little better," Steven said. "How would you feel after finding out that your war isn't over after seventy years? He lost his best friend stopping the last mad man from using that thing, and gave his life so that we would all be standing here. You could have been a little more respectful. He's lost everything. Can you blame him for being a little jaded?" Steven calmly turned and followed Steve out of the room but before he reached the door he stopped and said over his shoulder, "you might want to look for any references to a 'Phase Two'; if you want to actually find your answers."
"How did you," Tony asked, and Steven turned with a smirk pulling wickedly across his lips.
"Let's just say you're not the only one who can hack SHIELD," Steven said then full on grinned, "And I have… a friend… to help me." Steven turned and followed Steve out.
When Steve leaves he is fuming on the inside. He stopped just outside the door and mulled over the thoughts in his head. Steven saw him standing there in his ridiculous uniform, the cut of his shoulders just a hair too ridged and his jaw clenched tight. Steven saw the inner debate and knew that Steve was already beginning to doubt SHIELD's mantra. All he needed was a push to get him to be that old Steve Rogers again, disobeying orders to find the truth and for the greater good.
"You have doubts, my Captain," Steven finally said. Steve jolted from his thoughts, and whirled around to look at the masked man leaning casually on the door frame just outside the lab. Steve turned his thoughts over in his head, debating whether or not he should trust this man, before he decided that he was a better choice than anyone else.
"He has a valid point," Steve said, "Stark that is." Steve clenched his jaw in the same way he used to when he saw some injustice that he wanted to fix. "They're hiding something about the Tesseract; it's got every hair on the back of my neck on end." Steven stared at his old Captain for a moment with a blank face, before his lips pulled into a cheeky grin.
"Then I suggest, my good Captain," Steve said, plying on the accent thickly, "that we find out the truth for ourselves." Steven's smirk turns positively wicked, with just a hint of malicious glee. "It'll be fun," he encouraged when he saw Steve's doubtful look, "like in old days, in the War, when you actually had to look for evidence and intelligence on the enemy." Steven pulled away from the wall and motioned Steve to follow. "Come on, cap. Shall we go spying?" Steve looked around for a moment before he squared his jaw and marched off toward the secure storage bays, mind made up. Steven followed behind Steve with a self-satisfied smile. He was having a ball. He hadn't had a chance to be himself like this in a very long time, and being around Steve brought out his most childish qualities that he had thought long lost. Nostalgia gave him a spring in his step like he hadn't had in a long time, and for the first time in years he felt like he used to before the Red Room.
Steven followed at a safe distance behind his Captain and helped turn suspicious heads away and back to their jobs. Steve is no spy, and that bright get-up of his was just too flashy for undercover work. Even in the War Steve was a lousy spy. He just didn't have the mentality and temperament for it. Steven and Bucky on the other hand, were perfect for it. They knew just what to do and what needed to be done. The only reason Steven hadn't done more spy work was because of his close relationship with Steve and his very recognizable features: his unusual luminous blue eyes, his sunshine gold hair, and his elvish ears. Steven smiled anyway, just loving the fact that Steve was being more himself than he had since he woke up, or maybe he just hadn't felt safe enough to show people Steve Rogers the way he did with Yasha, or in Hithlum with Arthadan.
("Steven,") Jonathan said, as he initiated a telepathic conversation. Steven rolled his eyes and followed Steve down another hallway towards the storage bay.
("what is it, Jonny,") Steven asked, ("I'm kinda busy at the moment. Can it wait?")
("No,") Jonathan replied, his tone a litter disturbed, ("Fury just asked Thor if he could torture the location of the Cube out of Loki.") Steven paused, and shook his head as he and Steve snuck around another corner.
("Loki will only give that up if it gives him the advantage,") Steven said, ("no, I don't think that'll work. Loki will give his information to no one, unless it's on purpose or it's by accident.") Steven smirked and in a pique of curiosity linked to the security systems. With cold and vicious glee, Steven smiled. ("Natasha's already on it.") Steven said. Jonathan quickly checked and sure enough, Natasha was on her way to the detention center. Jonathan smirked and huffed wryly.
("She's on her way,") Jonathan confirmed before he cut the link and severed their conversation. Steven chuckled as the finally found the right door. For a brief moment Steven actually felt a swell of pity for the Asgardian before he pushed it aside and stood guard while Steve quietly broke open the door. Steven had an idea of what they were looking for and tapped Steve on the shoulder. Using military sign he pointed to the upper terrace. Steve was surprisingly quiet as he leapt up and caught the railing, his feet not making a single sound as he climbed over the edge with cat-like stealth. Steven quickly followed, his boots making even less sound on the metal grates as he caught the edge of the railing and flipped over the side into a crouch. He tapped Steve's arm to get his attention. When Steve turned, Steven was close enough to whisper.
"We're looking for anything with containers that say Phase Two," Steven informed the Captain with a quiet whisper. "They'll most likely be in crates."
"How do you know this," Steve asked just as quietly. Steven turned to the Captain with a wry cut to his smile.
"You didn't think that SHIELD was completely air-tight with the projects," Steven answered, "the Agency caught wind of Project PEGASUS a while back, and began monitoring their communications. They picked up a mention of a Phase Two but no background, so they started digging. I was sent to find hard evidence. What little we know is that it's a physical project, that there are prototypes, they should be here." Steve nodded and turned back around to start looking for the right ones.
Steven followed behind and split off once it was obvious that there were too many to search one by one. Steven had just popped open another crate of just old parts, when Steve called out in a whisper.
"Stevan," he said, "I think you need to see this." Steven turned and saw Steve at the end of the room staring down into an opened crate. Steven approached and when he was close enough to see Steve's face he knew it was bad. Steve's eyes were cold and filled with barely restrained fury, his jaw set and his lips thinned. Steven approached the crate and soon saw why, and their appearance left him stunned and cold. In the crate were weapons alright, but they were things that he thought he would never see again: HYDRA guns, and the distinctive masks of a HYDRA soldier. Steven looked up and saw Steve boiling with righteous fury, and for once he hated being right.
This was not going to end well.
TBC…
End note: this chapter was long! I hope you like. Well that's the end of the buildup chapters. Up next: the Battle on the Helicarrier, and Loki's escape. I hope you liked this chapter, because it took me forever to write. So much dialogue! The next part is going to be a lot of action, and some dialogue, but mostly action. I'm sorry that I didn't do Loki's interrogation, but it didn't flow with my Steve centered scenes, so that got the ax, but at least its impact is the same.
I hope you forgive me for taking so dang long, but it is hard to write or get motivation to write, but I will try to get a few more chapters out before everything freezes again. Actually I think I'll set a goal of finishing this before the end of September. I might not make it but the deadline will give me a kick in the butt to get moving.