Wow! I had fun with this chapter!
XxXxXxXxXx
Trista was in the lab with Tony and Banner, as Tony and Banner talked she would included her voice when needed. But now she tuned them out as she went through the files in front of her.
Now holding a file in her hands she quietly walked out of the lab. She paused in the hall and pulled up a picture, looking at it she leaned her back against the wall as she tried to bring up info.
"Dr. Meioh." Steve's voice had her jump and look towards him. "Sorry." He apologized as he stopped at her side. "Trista."
She smiled. "Hi."
"Did Stark kick you out of the lab for some reason?"
"No." She shook her head. "I was looking for Molly Baker. She was our Princess' best friend. She personally blamed me when the Moon Kingdom fell."
Steve frowns. "Why personally blame you?"
Trista looked at him with hurt clear as day on her face. "Because I stood by didn't do a damn thing to help." She answered. "As Guardian of the Time Gate, I'm not allowed to interfere with current battles because if I did, I would suffer a fate worse then death."
Steve couldn't stop the wince. "That's harsh."
"Someone had to do the job, and Queen Serenity personally chose me as that guardian."
Steve pressed his lips together. "It sounds like a great honor." He said gently. "To be chosen by Her Majesty."
She nods. "It was the greatest day of my life." She looked at the file in her hands, then closed it. "With our Princess' death. That was the last time I saw Molly that so upset, was when Molly's boyfriend was killed right in front of her as he tried to protect her."
Steve winced. "Ouch, you definitely lose sleep on that."
"Very."
He cleared his throat. "Shall we check in on Stark?" He asks, changing the subject.
She blinks a little surprised, then nods. "Yes." She closes the flies and lifts it to her chest as the two walk side-by-side.
They walk into the lab just as Tony is poking and zapping Bruce.
"Ow!" Bruce cried, giving Tony a look.
"Hey!" Steve called, annoyed as he approaches the table, as Tony leans towards Banner.
"Nothing?" He asked in disappointment.
"Are you nuts?" Steve demanded still annoyed.
"The jury's still out." Tony answered sarcastically. "You got a lid on it, don't you? What's your secret? Mellow Jazz, Bongo Drums, a huge bag of Wees?" He smiled now.
"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve again demanded.
"Funny things are."
"Threatening the safety of everyone e on this ship is funny to you?" Steve asked, then paused turning to Bruce. "No offense doctor."
"None taken, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle … pointy things." Bruce said taking a glance at Tony.
"Your tip toeing big man. You need to strut." Tony points to Bruce as he walks around the table.
"And you need to focus." Steve said coldly, glaring at him.
"You think I'm not?" Tony asked curiously. "Why did Fury call us in now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equations if I don't have all the variables."
"You think Fury is hiding something?" Steve asked.
"He's a spy Captain, no he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony continued.
"There are some secrets to be kept hidden." Trista told him.
"And there are some that need to be spilt." Tony looked at her, then gestured to Bruce. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"
"I - I - just want to finish my work here and."- Bruce stuttered and trailed off.
"Doctor?" Steve pressed.
"'A warm light for all mankind'. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."
"I heard it." Steve nods.
"I think that was meant for you." Bruce said, looking at Tony. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower. It was still all over the news."
"Stark Tower? That big ugly." Steve began, till Tony gave him a look. "Building in New York?" He continued awkwardly.
"It's powered by an Arc Reactor, self sustaining energy source." Tony explained.
"That building will run itself for at least a year?" Bruce asked.
"It's just the prototype." Tony explained. "I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now."
"So, why didn't they bring him in on the Tesseract Project?" Bruce asked. "What are they doing the energy business in the first place?"
"I should probably look into that after my decryption program finishes breaking into SHIELD files." Tony replied as he moves to a screen.
"You did what?" Trista asked with shock.
"I'm sorry, did you say."- Steve started to ask.
"JARVIS' been running it since I hit the bridge." Tony looked dead serious. "In a few hours, I will know every dirty secret."
"And you're confused about why they didn't want you around." Steve said coldly.
"An intelligence organization scared of intelligence?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. "Historically, not awesome."
"I think Loki is trying to wind us up." Steve said. "He means to start a war. And if we don't focus he will succeed. We have orders. We should follow."
"Following's not really my style."
"And you're all about style, aren't you?"
"Out of all the people in this room, A; who is wearing a spangly outfit?" Tony starts. Outside in the hallway, Hotaru stood leaning against the wall as she listened and she could feeling the hot tension between Tony and Steve. "And B; not a fuse?" Tony finished.
"Tony, back off." Trista said in a warning tone. She looks at Steve. "But there is something that's not right." She admits gently.
Steve sighs. "Just find the cube." He leaves the lab.
XxXxXx
Out in the hall, Hotaru pressed her back to the wall behind her as she watched Steve leave the lab.
XxXxXx
"Just how thick are you?" Trista questioned Tony. "Steve's trying his best by following orders."
"And what about you?" Tony counters, almost hostile. "You can control time. How about you do something about that, huh?" He challenges.
"Tony." Bruce warns.
"What? She can manipulate time."
"Time has rules of its own, Stark. And I have to follow." Trista said in a hard voice.
"Rules are meant to be broken." Tony replied.
"And rules are meant to keep people safe." Trista continued.
"Uh huh. Then where were you when my parents crashed and never came home? Why didn't you stop them, huh?" He challenged. "Or how about you going through time to stop Thor's brother from stealing the Tesseract in the first place?"
"Stop it, Tony." Bruce warns, seeing the upsetting look on Trista's face.
"Just find the cube." She said, turning and stalking out of the lab.
XxXxXxXxX
Hotaru watched as Trista walked out of the lab and hurried down the hall and around a corner. "Trista!" The teen hurried after her and grabs her hand with both hers, the woman turns to the teen. "Don't take what he said personally!"
"How can I not?" Trista asked, wiping her tears. "In an annoying way he's right." She leans her back on the wall and slides down to sit, Hotaru sat next to her.
"But."-
"My job as Gate Keeper is to not leave the Time Space to interfere with what's happening."
"You've left to help before, and you're fine!" Hotaru insists. "You're still here, aren't you?"
"I was forced to watch as our kingdom fell to Beryl, and I also fell for a man who I could never have." Trista continued to try to wipe her tears. "And then I had to watch him fall for Serena." She stares off into space, tears sliding down her cheeks. "And then I couldn't do a damn thing when our fellow Scouts died." She chokes.
"It's not your fault Trista." Hotaru whispered, her own voice shaky. "None of this is your fault."
"Everybody around me gets to have a life." Trista looks around the empty hall, then back down. "They all get to go home to warm homes and people they love and love them in return."
Hotaru has own tears glittering brightly. "You can have a new chance, maybe this it." A few tears slid down her cheeks. "I feel guilty for having two homes … I guess you could say I'm lucky. I have my real dad and you." She wipes her own tears. "I know you like the Captain."
Trista shook her head sadly. "The man is from the past."
"God gave him a second chance." Hotaru said lamely and a shrug. "So he's really old fashioned. He's nice. He likes you, and you like him. I know I'm just a teenager, so I'm sorry that I don't understand."
Trista saw Steve coming down the hall, holding something over his shoulder. She cleared her throat and quickly wipes the last of her tears.
Steve frowns as he approaches. "Trista? Are you alright?" He asks in concern, lowering the weapon on the floor as he crouched in front of her.
"I'm ok." She forced a smile.
Steve didn't look convinced, but he held it in check. "Ok." He nods as he straightens his back, he looks at Hotaru and sees her tears. "Did I miss something?" He asks completely confused.
Hotaru forced her own smile. "Just a conversation." She tried to be cheerful with a shrug of both shoulders.
Steve looks at her, then to Trista. "Ok." He said slowly, he held out a hand for her. "Well, I found what I was looking for."
With her tears now dry, Trista takes his offered hand and he helps her up. "What'd you find?"
Steve turns his attention to the weapon on the floor, he grabs it and hauls it back onto his shoulder. "A weapon."
XxXxXxXxX
After a few minutes Fury storms into the lab. "What are you doing Mr. Stark?"
"Was wondering the same thing about you." Tony replied as he read a file.
"You're suppose to be locating the Tesseract." Fury reminded with annoyance.
"We are. The models are locked." Bruce pointed with his glasses to another screen. "And we're searching for signals now When we get a hit, we'll have its location within half a mile." He explains.
"Yeah, you'll get your cube back, no fuss, no muss." Tony teased. "What is phase 2?" He asked curiously.
Steve marches in with Trista and Hotaru behind him. The weapon makes a loud clang when Steve sets it down on the table loudly. "Phase 2 is SHIELD using the cube to make weapons." He said. "Sorry, the computer was moving a tad bit slow for me."
"Rogers, we have gathered everything related to the Tesseract." Fury responds. "That doesn't mean."-
"I'm sorry Nick!" Tony called, they all look at him as he turns the screen towards them. "What were you lying?"
"I was wrong, Director." Steve said. "The world hasn't changed a bit." He continued as Thor and Natasha enter the room.
"Did you know about this?" Bruce asks Natasha.
"You might want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" The red head asked.
"I was in Calcutta. I was removed."
"Loki is manipulating you."
"And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce asked, starting to get upset.
"You didn't come because I batted my eyelashes at you.
"And now I'm not leaving, because you suddenly get twitchy." Bruce said snidely. "I'd like to know why is SHIELD using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction?" He demanded, pointing at the screen.
"Because of them." Fury points at Thor and the two Scouts.
"Me?" They asked in union.
"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet." Fury began to explain. "Who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. Not to mention Japan who has multiple threats who like to make their way to Earth."
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor defended himself, enraged.
"And the world is at peace now that Mistress 9 and Chaos are both dead!" Trista added.
"The world is filling up with people that can't be matched, that can't be controlled."
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve questioned sarcastically and annoyed.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it and his allies." Thor added. "He is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." He said gravely.
"A higher form?" Steve asks concerned and confused.
"You forced our hand." Fury told Thor. "We had to come up with something."
"A nuclear deterrent, because that always calms everybody right down." Tony said while glaring.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury asks sarcastically.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep." Steve replied.
"Hold on, how is this about me?" Tony asked with annoyance.
"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve questioned snidely.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said as he walked towards Fury.
"Excuse me! Did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury demanded with a snark.
"Are you boys that naive, SHIELD has a list of potential threats." Natasha said.
Bruce turns to her. "Captain America's a threat?" He asks dryly.
"We all are." The red head told him.
"Wait he's on the list for potential threats?" Tony asked.
"Stark, so help me! You make one more wisecrack, I'm gonna." Steve starts to threat, moving towards the billionaire.
"Threat! Verbal threat! I feel threatened!" Tony pretended to be scared.
Hotaru watched silently still standing next to Steve, the tension is high as a kite.
"Yeah, this is a team." Bruce said. "No, we're a chemical mixture for chaos. We're a time bomb."
Hotaru silently watched as he backed away from everyone and she inched closer to Steve. "Dr. Banner, step away." She said cautiously.
"Why should the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"You know damn well why, back off!" Steve said angrily shoving Tony's hand off.
"I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony glared at him.
"Yeah, a big man in a suit of armor. Take that off and what are you?" Steve demands, getting in his face.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony listed.
"I know guys with none of that, worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you fight for is yourself. You're not the type of guy to play the sacrifice play, to lay on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire."
Steve continued to even more annoyed. "Always a way out. You may not be a threat, but you better stop being a hero." He said icily as his blue eyes darkened.
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment Rogers." Tony said angrily. "Everything that makes you special, came out of a bottle."
"Put on the suite, let's go a few rounds."
Thor laughed. "You people are so petty and tiny."
"Yeah, this is a team." Bruce sarcastically spoke up.
"Agent Romanoff, will you please escort Dr. Banner to his."-
"Where?" Bruce cuts Fury off. "You rented my room."
"The cell was just in case."-
"In case you needed to kill me!" Bruce again cuts the Director off, his voice loud and harsh. "But you can't! I know, I tried!"
Everyone stared at him with shock.
"What happened?" Trista asked concerned.
"I - I got low. I didn't see an end. So I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spits it out." Bruce answered. "So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. It was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. Do you want to know my secret Agent Romanoff? Do you want to know how I stay calm?" As he ranted everyone watched him cautiously, Hotaru hugged Steve's arm and he gently pushed her behind him as she continued to cling to hm.
"Dr. Banner." Steve's voice held caution. "Put down the scepter."
Bruce then realized had held Loki's scepter, he didn't know he even grabbed it.
As she still hid behind Steve, the computer beeped signally the end of the scan, but when it beeped Hotaru jumps still clinging to Steve's arm.
"Sorry kids." Bruce said, turning and putting the scepter down. "I guess you're not going to see my party trick." He moves to the computer.
"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.
"I can get there faster." Tony called.
"The Tesseract belongs to Asgard. No human is a match for its power." Thor tried to reason.
As Steve moved, Hotaru let him go as he grabs Tony's shoulder. "You're not going alone!"
Tony spun, shoving his hand off as he glared back. "You're gonna stop me?" He demands as he spread his arms in a come at me gesture.
"There's a lot of high testosterone going on right now." Natasha said as they watch Steve and Tony inches away from from knocking each other out.
"Really?" Trista asks with sarcasm. "I thought it was alpha males trying to pee on each other's territory."
"Put on the suite and let's find out." Steve's tone is hard and dark.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony got in his face.
"If he's old, then us Scouts are ancient." Trista said, she found that comment amusing.
"Oh my God." Bruce said in fear. Suddenly there was a large explosion sending everyone flying. Steve and Tony flew towards Hotaru, she had landed between them.
"Put on the suit." Steve said in a non threatening way.
"Yep!" Tony quickly agreed.
"Hotaru." Steve starts.
"Are your alpha males back on leashes now?" The teenager answered, rubbing her head.
"Yes, yes they are." Tony quickly said.