chapter vi.
( avengers )

this      fire       is      blazing,
we're     trouble      making,
we     got      you     shaking.
ready set, ready set let's go
ready set let's go — sam tinnesz

shield helicarrier
may 3, 2012

I watch Loki from a distance as a large circle of armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents lead him down the hall and past the lab. He carries himself with such confidence and ease that it's actually unnerving. Before he turns to the corner, he glances back at me and he's still wearing that spine-chilling smirk. I merely scowl in response, but I know that this does absolutely nothing. He's not scared of me. No one is scared of me.

I look to my right and see most of the other people that I've read about from the files in what I believe to be the briefing room. I quietly step through the doorway, feeling a little out of place. After all, the people in this room are incredible beings and I'm just, well, me. Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, is sitting at the table while Natasha Romanoff, one of the best spies and assassins in the world, is sitting across from him. The man we fought in the forest, Thor, as I've remembered he's called, is standing on the opposite side of the table, resting his arms over his chest. He also happens to be from outer space, which is, you know, kind of great and cool and awesome. He's also kind of a dreamboat, but that's not important.

Then standing nearest to me is Bruce Banner. He's a few years older than my dad and most definitely smarter than I ever will be. He is all that I remember hearing about a few months ago before Dad and I went to go talk to General Ross about the Initiative. A nuclear physicist who was exposed to gamma radiation which ended up making him become an enormous green creature. I've heard so many different perspectives about Bruce Banner. Some call him a criminal, some call him a monster, some call him a scientific mishap, but I can only call him a victim.

I look to the screens on the big table and watch as Director Fury stands outside of Loki's glass, round cell.

"In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass," Director Fury presses a button and suddenly the ground is gone from underneath the round cell.

Loki merely glances down, but he doesn't look frightened at all though. I would be.

"Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap," Fury snaps, "You get how that works?!" the ground closes underneath the cell before Fury points at Loki, "Ant," he then points at the button, "Boot."

I cross my arms over my chest as I remember what Loki had called us back in the facility.

Loki only smirks, walking in a small circle as if inspecting his new prison, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think," he tilts his head with a knowledgeable expression, "for me."

My brows furrow and my arms drop to my sides in confusion.

If it wasn't built for Loki, then who was it built for?

Fury answers in that same threatening tone, "Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard," Loki slowly turns to look into the camera and it's as if he can see us from where he stands.

Bruce Banner. They built a cell, a cage, for Bruce Banner? I clench my fists in anger. I've never met the doctor personally, but I don't have to to think that this is inhumane. Bruce Banner is not some animal or criminal.

"The mindless beast makes play he's still a man," Loki mocks with a smile in his voice.

I grit my teeth and once again cross my arms over my chest before I watch as Natasha and Bruce slowly exchange a glance.

"How desperate are you," Loki breathes out before building in volume, "that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?! You threaten my world with war," Fury walks closer to the glass as he seethes, "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," then comes the threatening Fury I know and, yes, come to love (not that I'd admit it out loud because that's a little bit creepy and weird, but he's grown on me, even if he did kidnap a few days ago), "You might not be glad that you did."

"Oh," Loki squints a little before tilting his head forward to mock Fury, "It burns you to come so close."

I'm still standing behind everyone until I spot Dad walking into the room with Phil at his side. Yes! I walk over to them and hug Phil tightly. He seems a little surprised at this, but he quickly hugs me back. I pull back and smile up at him before I hear Dad make an obnoxious show of clearing his throat. When I look over at him, he juts out his chin and spreads out his arms expectantly. I roll my eyes and give him a wimpy half-hug that he scoffs about. I laugh quietly before giving his shoulder a light shove and walking back over to where I was originally standing so I can keep watching the show.

"To have the Tesseract, to have power," Loki leans his head back as he steps backwards, "unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

Real power.

Gosh, this guy is creepy.

Fury smirks, "Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something."

I smile a little at his joke before I see Loki smirk at the camera once more, "I'll want the girl."

My feet stumble back from the screen as if this motion can protect me from Loki's words. Me? What would anyone want with me? I didn't know it was possible, but this man had somehow become creepier. Everyone else in the room freezes and I watch as Fury comes to an irritated halt. I feel all eyes turn to me and my shocked face. Some of them are just realizing that I am in the room. I make a point to look each of them in the eye, trying to show that I'm, you know, tough. Oh Lord. My face suddenly feels very warm by the attention of both the people in this room and of the frightening man in the prison cell. My palms suddenly are sweaty and my stomach feels like a stone.

"Excuse me?" Fury intimidatingly walks back over towards the glass.

"The girl," Loki smugly directs his attention back to Fury, "The young one."

"Psh," I irritatedly scoff, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.

"The one from before. What was her name?" he says it all for show as Fury just glowers at him, "Ah, yes, Lisa Stark."

I can see Dad's hands twitching a little as his expression becomes very hard.

"She's of no importance to you," Fury snaps, but he still keeps his face as measured and controlled as he does everything.

Loki looks back at the camera to show his pristine teeth, "She's more important than you think. More than anyone thinks, even her father, even herself."

My eyes flicker down to my shoes, swallowing back the hurt of how truthful those words sound. Whether or not they really are true, I'm not sure I'll ever know. I purse my lips, but I don't look at Dad even though I can feel his stare. It's nearly like he's trying to apologize to me, trying to convince me that I'm important. I don't want to hear it right now for some reason. Natasha looks up from the screen and somehow I allow her to catch my eye. She just gives me this stern nod, but I think it's meant to be encouraging because I actually do feel a little encouraged by it. I don't know. Steve looks up at me too, but I don't make the same mistake twice in allowing anyone else to catch my gaze, even if it's meant kindly.

"Oh, she's quite an interesting one. A little weak, but she has much potential, wouldn't you say?"

My hands ball into fists and Fury just narrows his eye at him.

"From what I've been hearing, it seems that you were not aware that Lisa Stark would be accompanying her father. I'm wondering if you believe you should have constructed one of these for her as well," Loki spreads out his hands in display of his cell.

My face turns an even deeper shade at his words.

"What is your fascination with Miss Stark?" Fury asks curtly, ignoring the Asgardian's insinuation.

Loki just laughs a little, shaking his head as if he's amused, "She'll come to me. If you want your answers, she'll come to me."

Dad is suddenly at my side and his shoulders are straightened out as if he's preparing himself for a fight. I reassuringly take his hand and give it a squeeze, trying to show my lack of worry. Fury just gives an amused and arrogant scoff that Loki doesn't buy in response. He leaves the holding cell and then the feed goes black. None of us speaks, we're all just too caught up in his words from both conversations. The first one being about world domination and then the second one being about I suppose the best word for it would be harassment. Somehow I don't think restraining orders work against aliens.

Unfortunately.

Bruce suddenly speaks up with irritability, "He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve speaks up, glancing at the muscly man standing at the edge of the table, "So, Thor, what's his play?"

The blonde man turns to face everyone, "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known," my brows furrow in confusion, "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

The Tesseract. Dad and I glance at each other as I feel all the breath leave my lungs. This is the end of the world. Aliens are literally coming to conquer the planet. I clench my hands into fists to stop them from trembling.

"An army?" Steve asks incredulously, "From outer space?"

Although I'm in the same exasperated boat, I laugh through my nose a little.

"So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for," Bruce says.

I think about that poor scientist who was turned just before I was. The misery his and Agent Barton's brains must be enduring is nearly unthinkable, something only I can even begin to fathom. I suppose there is only one main reason that I really feel so torn up about Doctor Selvig and Agent Barton being controlled; I was in the same situation, even if it was for hardly ten minutes.

"Selvig?" Thor looks confused.

Bruce quickly explains, "He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend," Thor responds, his face still contorted with concern.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha says before quietly adding, "along with one of ours."

Agent Clint Barton. I have only met him once in my life and that was in the facility, but it was long enough for me to like him. He tried to protect me, even though he knew absolutely nothing about me. I feel like I owe him something. From what I read about in the files, he is incredible with a bow and arrows. He's another spy and assassin like Natasha. Apparently, as a pair of partners, they're pretty much unstoppable. After what I've seen and read, it isn't hard for me to decide that I'd hate to come up against him in any fight.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here," Steve says and that is actually a pretty fair point.

Steve thinks he's not leading an army from inside that cell, but what if he is? Loki's too pleased to be inside a cage. He has a plan. A plan to destroy everyone and everything. And none of us can do anything to stop him because we don't have any idea of what his twisted plan could be.

"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," Bruce insults the man as he shakes his head.

"Have care how you speak," Thor coolly replies, displaying out one hand from his crossed arms, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

With a deadpanned expression, Natasha responds flatly, "He killed eighty people in two days."

Thor seems to contemplate this before deflating slightly and saying, "He's adopted."

I roll my eyes and speak up, "Okay, so what's his deal with me?"

Uh oh, the forbidden question.

They all glance around at each other, awkwardly hoping the others have an idea. Dad still hasn't left my side and he keeps running his free hand through his hair, deep in thought. He tends to do this nervous habit whenever he's freaking out. I never like to see it because that usually means that I have a very good reason to be freaking out myself.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely personal," Steve breaks the silence with a deep frowns, looking at me.

I feel my insides shudder at the thought.

He keeps going, "He acts as if he knows you, when you've clearly never met him or remember meeting him."

"Well, isn't that awkward," I let out a small, weak laugh.

Dad's eyes flicker to me. By how he has one arm crossed over his chest, his jaw resting in his fist, and his eyes slightly narrowed, I can tell he's not in the mood for my lame jokes.

I nod quickly, shutting up as I look back down at my feet.

"Well, she's not going to talk to him," Dad shrugs casually, but his face is deathly serious, "That's the end of that."

Everyone nods in agreement and I can't help but let out a quiet sigh of relief. I was worried I was about to take a hit for the team here and have to go interrogate Thor's, a.k.a Mr. Muscle's, creepy baby brother. I'm glad we're all on the same page. Dad quickly changes subjects, clearly not liking the previous topic. I zone out for a while, not really interested in all of the science until I hear a very interesting word being 'portal'.

"... portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D.," Dad lightly backhands Thor's arm as he passes him, "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

I smirk before Dad goes on about, I think, iridium, "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants."

Oh, that's wonderful. Not only can this guy open a portal to the galaxy, but he can also control when and how he uses it.

Dad walks over to the front of the large table and stands by a couple of lifted screens. It's a good spot to watch everyone as the entire room filled with men and women are working away at computers. It would make sense for it to probably be Fury's spot.

Dad goes on, joking, "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails."

Well, as bad as a time this is, it makes sense if this is a ship. I mean, Fury does have an eyepatch. 'Arrrrg' goes the pirate. Oh God, I really do need to get my jokes in order.

Dad suddenly points to a random agent amidst the large sea of them before us, announcing, "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."

Realizing he's been caught, the agent quickly switches tabs back to his actual work. I roll my eyes. Great, the fate of the world is in the hands of some idiot playing Galaga when he should be doing, I don't know, secret tech agent business or something.

Dad covers his eye, looking around at Fury's screens in front of the table, "How does Fury do this?"

A very unimpressed-looking female agent responds flatly, "He turns."

My brows furrow a little as Dad continues to move around the monitors and I'm the only one to notice him discreetly slide a bug underneath Director Fury's desk. We briefly make eye-contact and I blink in understanding. No one can know. My face goes back to being blank and Dad goes on with the show.

"Well, that sounds exhausting," he sighs before talking again, "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. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" the unimpressed agent asks, slightly surprised as she stands with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Last night," I snort a little before he continues, "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers," Dad looks around, astonished and a bit irritated, "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

I raise my hand, shyly. I fell asleep, sure, but when I woke back up, I finished them. Man, were they boring. Everyone looks at me and I blush, quickly lowering my hand and looking everywhere but at them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Natasha just smiling fondly and spinning slightly in her chair. Steve looks astonished, and, I don't know, maybe confused. Bruce looks impressed and Thor just blinks from me to Dad. I don't feel too sad if I can't really impress the "God of Thunder", I mean, he travels between planets and can control lightning with a hammer that no one else can pick up. I think I can live with him just blinking at me.

Dad snaps his thumb and middle finger together before pointing in my direction, "And that's why you're my child."

Steve promptly ignores us, "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

I offer up an answer, giving a very teacherly nod, "Well, he's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," 'so yes' goes unsaid.

But that didn't seem to help Steve at all; his blonde brows simply crinkle together and wrinkles appear on his forehead.

Dad looks thoughtful, walking back around to my side of the table, "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

Bruce furrows his eyebrows a little as he adds in, "Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally! Someone who speaks English!" Dad cheers, contentedly motioning towards Bruce.

Steve looks around with raised eyebrows and a jutted out chin, "Is that what just happened?"

I laugh a little, "You get used to it."

I watch as Dad and Bruce shake hands, respectfully.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled," Dad nods with that same happy expression on his face.

I'm glad Dad doesn't think of Bruce like so many of the others do.

"And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Ugh. Not what I meant.

Bruce just purses his lips and briefly looks down, "Thanks."

Director Fury walks in, immediately addressing what Dad just said, "Doctor Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him."

I stare at him in question, hoping he'll offer up any ideas of why the top guy on my creepy list has it out for me. I'm nobody. I'm just a sixteen year old girl who happens to be an eccentric billionaire's illegitimate, slightly insane child. I'm nothing important for anyone to pay attention to, especially when there are so many other much more dangerous things the man could be focusing on. My head moves back and forth a little as I desperately try to catch Fury's eye. He seems to be making a point of not looking at or even acknowledging me. Whatever is going on, he clearly does not want to address it. How wonderfully infuriating. Eventually, I simply give up with an irritated huff.

"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve leans forward on his elbows, "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

It's true. I've done a lot of research and Loki's sceptor does seem to work like what I've read about from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s old files. HYDRA was this very large branch off of Nazism during Steve's time. Steve and his Howling Commandos, as his team was called, battled HYDRA for many years until Steve took them down just before he crashed into the ice. As happy as I am that they're gone, I can't help but remember how terrifying their superior weapons were. They were unlike anything that I've ever seen or heard of before or since.

Fury doesn't seem as convinced, "I don't know 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."

We go through a few more of Steve's decadal and, Thor's uh, galactical barriers before Dad finally looks back at Bruce, saying, "Shall we play doctor, Doctor?"

Bruce agrees, "Let's play some."

"Cool, well, I guess I'll just tag along," my voice is light and I shrug my shoulders, feeling kind of useless.

I'm like a spare part around here; it's pretty annoying. I mean, Loki brought up the honest fact that I am not even supposed to be here. I should be with Pepper in D.C., but I'm here and there is absolutely nothing that I can be used for.

Before spotting that dumb agent switching tabs back to Galaga, I roll my eyes and walk towards the doorway where Dad waits for me with Bruce in the hallway. A sudden hand grasps onto my arm and I jerk back in surprise, letting out a quick gasp. I look up at Fury's eye (oh God, not again) and furrow my brows. Dad steps slightly closer to us, being as protective as ever, but it still surprises me. Why would Dad think I need to be protected from Fury?

"Well, hello to you too," my eyes narrow and I don't bother taking the confusion out of my tone.

"Miss. Stark," he finally acknowledges me, but doesn't release my arm.

"Furry, you wanna tell me why you're getting all grabby?" I ask, trying to sound just like Tony Stark.

I wonder if that's my defense mechanism. Whenever I'm scared or unsure, I try to sound as sarcastic and lax as possible. I try to sound as much like Tony Stark as possible. I suppose, despite what I may say when I'm angry, I do want to be like him, just as that boy at the Expo did. He was willing to fight simply because that was what he had seen my father doing. My father is my defense. He always has been and I pray he always will be.

Fury drops his hand from my arm before nonchalantly saying, "I'd like you to meet me in the briefing room in three hours. Got it?"

"Question?" I ask permission.

"No." He answers, unblinking.

"'Kay," I shrug again and step to follow Dad out of the room.

When he doesn't move from his spot, I nearly bump into him before giving him a funny look.

He stares at Fury long and hard before saying lowly, "She's here for me. Not you."

The way Dad said it almost makes it sounds like he is arguing over some girl he likes with Fury. I look between them, confusedly. Neither of them say anything for a long moment; they just stare at each other with near scowls. I raise an eyebrow at Natasha, waiting for her to clear up my dense mind.

She mouths, "You and Loki."

"Oh," I mouth back with slow, careful nod.

"I want you to remember that," Dad doesn't take his eyes off of the man for another long moment.

Then he puts his hand on my back and guides me away from the others. I sigh, getting a little irritated that Dad is being, well, Dad. As we make our way down the long and confusing halls, I look up at him so that I can scold him about it. Though the look he flashes in my direction quickly makes me clamp my mouth shut.

Protective Dad: 1

Lisa/Me: 0

We continue following Bruce until we reach a big lab full of different equipment that kind of reminds me a bit of our workshop. However, this seems a little more sciency while our workshop is a little more, um, mechanical? I brush my loose hair back behind my ears as I move over to the scepter that is holstered on top of the table. It's metal and it curls at the end, forming a pointed tip. It's as odd and creepy as it's owner.

"What do you think he's going to use it for?"

"Something terrible, I'm sure," Bruce walks up to my side, studying the scepter through his glasses.

I turn to him and hold out my hand, "Hi! I'm Lisa Stark by the way, which should be pretty obvious at this point, but you know, niceties and all that."

Bruce seems surprised by my cheerful, and long, greeting, like he expected me to shy away from him. I keep smiling.

"Bruce Banner," he hesitates to shake my hand and I'm confused of why at first.

Slowly, I look down to my outstretched hand and realize that this is his first time seeing my thruster. The skin has healed pretty well around the rims of the metal, but it's still badly scarred and flayed a little. He's not sure if I'm safe. I blush in embarrassment as Dad moves to my side as if sensing my shame.

Suddenly Bruce is taking my hand and shaking it, "I wasn't sure if I was going to hurt you."

I look up at him with wide eyes, "What?"

Bruce looks confused at my own confusion, "I've done my research about your father, Miss. Stark, and you were a big part of that research. I realize how painful your thrusters must be for you. I wasn't sure if putting pressure against them would hurt."

I almost feel like hugging him. I thought he was scared of me hurting him and yet he was scared of him hurting me. No one has really ever seen my thrusters as a danger to me, always as a danger to them. People realize that I can pretty much control my thrusters, but that doesn't mean they still don't see me as a threat. There are still people out there that call for my imprisonment, calling me a danger to society. But, then again, I guess someone who has been called the same thing would understand.

Relieved, Dad drapes his arm across my shoulders, "Ready to get working, Smalls?"

"Yup," I turn away with a smile.

Next thing I know, Dad and I are working at the screens as we try to figure out how the scepter is being powered exactly. Dad keeps sliding different equations and algorithms in my direction so that I can help him get them done quicker. My brain is aching from all of the mathematical stress. I hate math. It's the worst. Yes, the added emphasis was necessary. Bruce is studying the scepter itself, checking it for gamma radiation. I'd rather be helping him with that instead of doing this.

"What do you think Fury wants?" Dad suddenly asks, not looking up at me as he works.

"I don't know," I say thoughtfully, "I mean, the last time he wanted me to meet up with him," that's a nice way of putting it; really he just broke into Pepper's apartment and dodged a lamp that I threw at him, "was because you were dying," I raise an eyebrow at him, "you're not dying, are you?"

He rolls his eyes over to me before using his finger to create a circle around his face, "This face is too sexy to die, Lees."

"You are too creepy for words, Dad," I roll my eyes back, "That wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for anyway, but okay," I shake my head and sigh, growing solemn again, "I'm not certain what it is that he wants yet."

He angrily clenches his jaw as if he already knows what Fury really has planned.

"Dad," I poke his shoulder, teasingly, "I'm totally fine. This isn't the first time I've had a weirdo asking questions about me."

"Oh great, that makes me feel better," he presses his lips into a thin line before he leans a little closer and asks quietly, "Do you want me to go with you?"

I smile at the way his shoulders are hunched and he's purposefully turned his back to Bruce so that we can have a "private" conversation in which I'll actually be able to answer honestly. It's like he's not wanting to embarrass me in front of the other kids at the new school. He doesn't know if I want him taking me to my first class on the first day. So, I play along.

I lean a little closer too and just as quietly say, "I'll be okay. I don't want the other kids to start making fun of me, thinking that I need my daddy to walk me to school."

He laughs, looking back down at his work. I glance over at my shoulder at Bruce, pursing my lips. I'm not sure if I should ask or not. Even if I was just teasing about being around the new kid at a new school, it's kind of how this feels and I don't want to seem like that wimpy, scared, and incompetent sixteen year old girl that can't do anything. I want these people to think that I can handle myself.

"Hey Dad?" I ask quietly, tapping my finger against a nearby screen and then on some papers.

"Hey Lees?" he responds, distractedly.

I bounce in my seat a little, still unsure of my next words, "Loki's plan," I see his shoulders tense, "whatever it is, whenever it's set into motion, if it works," Dad looks up at me slowly and I struggle to say my next words, "what are we honestly going to do?"

Dad blinks to his hands, thinking carefully about his next words, "I'll fight."

"And if you can't win?" I whisper.

He takes my hands and turns me to face him fully, "You trust me, Lisa, right?"

"Dad," I roll my eyes.

"Do you trust me?" his grip tightens on my hands.

I nod, "Of course."

"Then you know that I'll take care of you," his eyes drill into mine before he playfully nudges my cheek with his knuckle, "Okay, Smalls?"

"Yeah."

Bruce clears his throat awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt. We both turn to him so he can feel like he's free to speak.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process."

I kind of zone out again. Unfortunately, I have to get back to figuring out these equations because apparently they're important. What I wouldn't give for my bed back in Malibu, some chocolate milk, and a box of glazed donuts. Wow, that sounds good. Whoever said that a way to a girl's heart is through diamonds and jewels is an idiot. I swear, if a boy proposed to me, writing out the words 'marry me' with glazed donuts, I would say 'yes'. Immediately. Man, I'm hungry.

Suddenly I hear a zapping and I turn to see Dad poking Bruce with a electrical cow prodder thing.

"Ow!" Bruce jumps and holds his side, looking at his attacker.

"Dad!" I scold, still focusing on my dad studying Bruce for any scary reaction to being zapped, "That was mean!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the door sliding open and Steve walking in with an angry look on his face.

Dad squints at Bruce, jutting his chin out, "Nothing?"

Listen, I'd probably hulk out if I got zapped by a cattle prodder.

"Hey!" Steve snaps at Dad, "Are you nuts?!"

"Jury's out," Dad turns back to Bruce, impressed, "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

I roll my eyes again, but I'm smiling a little at my father's teasing, "Oh my gosh."

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve glares at him.

Dad points at him, "Funny things are."

Ha.

"Threatening the safety of everyone," for some reason, Steve chooses to point at me as a representation of 'everyone', "on this ship isn't funny," he looks at Bruce and politely says, "No offense, Doctor."

Bruce shakes it off, "No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"You're tiptoeing, Big Man," Dad taps his arm, "You need to strut."

Steve scolds him, "And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark."

Why is Steve so angry all the time?

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us and why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

I blink, thinking about that.

Maybe Loki isn't the only one who has a big plan that none of us know about.

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Steve honestly seems surprised.

I pipe up, catching their attention, "No offense, Steve, but you haven't exactly been here very long. As much as I like Director Fury, it's clear that he has a lot of things that he keeps close to his chest. A little too close."

"Mmhm. He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy," Dad agrees with me, "His secrets have secrets," he points to Bruce, "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"

Bruce struggles, not wanting to get involved in anything, "Uh, I just wanna finish my work here and,"

"Doctor?" Steve prods.

We all stare at him, waiting.

It takes Bruce a moment to respond, "'A warm light for all mankind', Loki's jab at Fury about the cube."

"I heard it."

Bruce points from Dad to me, "Well, I think that was meant for you two," I look at Dad who just barely glances at me as Bruce continues, "Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news."

Steve makes a face, "The Stark Tower? That big ugly," Dad and I give Steve a look and he tries to clean up his words, "building in New York?"

I sigh and swivel in my chair. Bruce continues to bring up some really good points. The more he and Dad begin to talk, the more I begin to dread the truth about what S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing. I thought we could trust them. I mean, they saved Dad's life. And Natasha works for them. I get that there's a very limited amount of honesty, but it's a secret government agency so it can kind of be expected.

Suddenly something Steve asks catches my attention, "I'm sorry, did you say,"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge," oh, they're talking about the bug Dad planted, "In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever tried to hide," he holds out a packet of blueberries, "Blueberry?"

"Oh," I jolt out of my seat and pad over to Dad.

My fingers are just dipping in when Steve harshly says, "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around!"

At first I think he's talking to me and I'm about to be severely insulted, but it's Dad who responds, "An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," shivers run over my skin at the mention of his name, "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."

Life isn't about following orders. I'm not saying that you just get to live and follow no moral code, but I think that when it comes to other people telling you what to do, you have to decide what is right and what is wrong. I don't believe that blindly following men and women, who are all faulty, is the right answer.

And I am about to let out my spiel, but Dad answers with a much less morally aligned response and a much snarkier one, "Following is not really my style."

Well, you can't argue with that, can you?

Steve smirks bitterly, "And you're all about style, aren't you?"

Ouch.

Something flashes in my dad's eyes, something that I can't quite understand. Steve's hit him somehow. He's struck a nerve. Somehow Steve's comment has hurt him. But I already know what he'll do and say now. He'll do what he always does. He'll respond with sarcasm and insults because it masks whatever he's feeling; he hides his pain underneath his arrogant exterior because he's afraid to show weakness. No one else can see it, but me.

Dad steps around a little, "Of the people in this room, which one is: A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?"

I let out a quiet sigh.

"Steve," Bruce, thankfully, speaks up before the stupid bickering between the two of them can continue, "tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

Steve looks almost convinced for a moment, but he quickly moves on, "Just find the cube."

He turns and curtly walks out of the room, but I can tell his mind is still reeling at the thought of S.H.I.E.L.D. hiding something. I look down and see that my hand is still stuffed inside the packet of blueberries. Man, I'm hungry. I go to finally grab a couple tiny little blueberries, but Dad walks away and the packet is torn from me, leaving me empty-handed. I sigh in defeat and remorse.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."

"Dad," I say in my best motherly tone, shaking my head and making a face at him, "Come on,"

He ignores my look and comment to merely shrug.

Bruce, once again, doesn't take sides, "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."

"The only question is," I cautiously move over to them by the work table, "this jump that he has, how big is it? It has to be ginormous for him to feel as confident as he looks."

Dad goes sarcastic again, "What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit," I don't even know what that is, but I can pretty much read the context clues, "It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it," Bruce nods with a small, sad smile.

I give him a funny look, "You don't think you'll fight if it comes down to it, Doctor?"

Bruce purses his lips, "No, it's better if I don't. I'll get someone hurt or killed. When," he pauses and he blinks with force, which I didn't know was possible, but he does it, "When I'm not me, it's never really easy to tell which side is which. It's better if I stay out of it."

"Uh-huh," Dad shakes his head, still munching on the much desired blueberries, "You'll be suiting up like the rest of us," he points to me suddenly, "rest of us, minus you."

I roll my eyes before Bruce goes, "Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it," he points at his arc reactor before he sadly looks at me, "Lisa has two metal thrusters in the palms of her hands and special wires curling up her veins to power them. These things, the arc reactor, the thrusters, the wires, it's part of us now, not just armor or a way to fight. It's a," he pauses as he thinks, "terrible privilege."

I suppose I've never really thought of it that way.

"But you can control it," Bruce nods to us, still arguing his point.

For the most part, I think but don't say aloud.

"That's because we learned how," I hoist myself up onto the table and criss-cross my legs, "And look how you're doing now, Doctor Banner. You seem like you have learned to manage it. How do you it?"

He shrugs my question off.

I try out a different approach, "It doesn't matter how those people see you; you don't have to believe that you are the person that they say you are. The way you see yourself is more important than how others see you,"

Those are beautiful words for me to give as advice, but I don't even listen to them myself.

Dad smiles at me a little with this distant look in his eyes.

"It's different," Bruce quickly turns away to the computer before Dad slides the information he's studying away so that he'll listen.

"Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk," Bruce nearly winces at his own words, "the other guy saved my life?" Bruce just nods sarcastically and bitterly, "That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

Dad pauses before smiling a little, "I guess we'll find out."

Dad pulls me off of the table and I follow him back over to our work station.

"You might not like that," Bruce responds quietly to our backs.

"You just might."

Well, whatcha think?! Isn't Loki's obsession with Lisa creepy?! And Tony is being as much as a cinnamon roll as ever (dang, I love him). And now Bruce is around and him and Tony are Science-bros, it's pretty great. Oh! And don't you like the connection that Lisa has with Bruce? I feel like, in a way, they're similar in that they believe that they're monsters. Okie-dokie, vote, COMMENT, and give me a follow!

So there were also a lot of gifs in this because I wanted to get almost everybody in there. Sorry if ya didn't like it. It was a super-duper long one this time, huh?

And go check out Little Ironies. If it's not up, it should be any second.

Funny Thingamabob that kinda matches this chapter:

Same, Phil, same.