CHAPTER SIX.
PETTY ONES.

NATASHA AND THOR ENTERED the lab at just the right time, in Alexios' sarcastic opinion. More people the merrier, she liked to say. It hadn't even been a matter of seconds until the two joined in on the arguing between the guys. Alexios stayed quiet for once, patiently waiting for the outcome.

Bruce looked to Natasha, "Did you know about this?" He asked, referring to the whole situation.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha shot back quickly, looking over at Bruce.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed," he remarked.

"Loki is manipulating you," she stated, walking towards him.

Bruce scoffed, "And you've been doing what exactly?"

Alexios knew that he wasn't wrong. In a matter of minutes, they all knew things that S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't want them to know. Even though Alexios knew these were hidden for a reason, most likely for safety, she couldn't believe the number of things they learned.

Natasha took another comment towards Bruce, which was countered again by him. He grabbed the screen that Tony had mere minutes ago, showcasing it to everyone and pointed at the blueprints of different weapons.

"I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction," Bruce stated, tightly gripping the screen as everyone fell silent for a moment.

Nick spoke up and motioned to Thor, "Because of him."

Thor glanced at Nick, utterly confused. "Me?"

"What does Thor have to do with this?" Alexios scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet," Nick began to explain after everyone shared confused glances with one another. "Who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we alone, but we're hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

"But playing with an alien force is going to attract them, Nick!" Alexios exclaimed, "If there are such things as aliens."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor stated, raising his chin towards Fury.

Fury turned to him quickly, "But you're the not the only people out there, are you?" He questioned. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve pointed out, looking up at Nick rather than the floor.

"So, like us? We can't be controlled." Alexios questioned, cocking her head to the side slightly. "Nick, look at us. We're assassins, two people who should technically be dead, a super soldier, a god and a woman who controls fire. We're looking for a stupid cube!"

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. Like Lady Alexios had said before." Thor stated, uncrossing his arms and stepping closer to Nick. "It is a signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for higher forms of war."

"A higher form?" Steve asked.

"You forced our hand." Nick said. "We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent, because that always calms everything right down." Tony shrugged.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark." Nick scoffed, turning around.

Steve stepped his up, his hands at his belt. "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep. . ."

"Wait, wait. Hold on," Tony interrupted, throwing up his hands. "How is this about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything." Steve retorted.

"D–mn," Alexios muttered quietly, leaning back against the counter while still sitting on the stool. Things were stirring, and she knew it.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor declared.

Nick turned around and faced the golden god, "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

Alexios sometimes knew when to stay out of things, and luckily, this was one of those times. She wasn't directly involved in any of it beside her unnecessary sarcastic comments.

"Are you boys really that naïve?" Natasha questioned, glancing between Thor and Nick. "S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats."

"Captain America's on threat watch?" Bruce asked.

Natasha looked at Bruce and nodded, "We all are."

Alexios did not know she was potentially on the threat watch list. She had done nothing to be put on the watch list, besides burn one tree when she was fifteen, but never did anything else after that incident. Her powers terrified her and she never used them unless she knew that she wouldn't harm anyone or damage anything. Alexios made sure to be careful.

Her head snapped up to loud bickering, now seeing everyone all huddled together besides Bruce who still stood at her side. Alex couldn't hear a proper thing with everyone rambling amuck. It was like a kindergarten class.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor spoke loudly, getting everyone to slowly stop all the bickering.

"That's his M.O., isn't it?" Bruce asked simply,  "I mean, what are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos, like Alex said. We're a time bomb."

Nick turned around and slowly stepped towards Bruce, worry written in his features. They all knew that was rare for Nick.

"You need to step away," he demanded.

Tony threw his arm out and put his hand on Steve's shoulder, asking, "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

"Oh my god," Alexios groaned.

Steve was quick to remove Tony's hand, glaring at the brunet genius. "You know d–mn well why. Back off!" He exclaimed.

"I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony stated simply.

"Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor." Steve mocked, stepping closer to intimidate Tony. "Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony rattled off easily, looking at Steve with eyebrows raised.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself." Steve stated, seeing Tony clench his jaw in reaction. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony remarked, shrugging simply.

Steve scoffed, glancing around before resting his attention back on Tony. "Always a way out. You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you?" Tony asked for mock clarification. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds," Steve suggested with full confidence.

Thor laughed, "You people are so petty and tiny."

"Tell me about it," Alexios finally spoke up loud enough to gain everyone's attention. "Okay, look at us. We're arguing, over what? I'm sure my sarcasm isn't helping, but seriously? This is the world we're talking about. We're trying to save the f–cking world, so grow up, stop arguing and act like freaking adults."

"Yeah, this a team alright." Bruce muttered.

"Agent Romanoff, would you please escort Dr. Banner to his. . ." Nick began, but was quickly interrupted by Bruce.

"Where?" He questioned, "You rented out my room."

"The cell was just in case. . ." Nick tried to explain, turning around slowly towards Bruce.

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried." Bruce informed, leaning forward. Everyone glanced over at the scientist, shock written on their faces. Bruce explained, "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So, I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back to this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Everyone tensed as Bruce clutched the scepter in his hand, and he didn't even realize. Alexios swallowed nervously, slowly standing up and backing away from the counter and Bruce. She noticed that Nick had placed his hand on his gun as did Natasha once she was behind them both. Alexios paused, standing behind Thor, using him as a shield.

"Bruce," Alexios whispered.

"Dr. Banner," he looked up at Steve's voice, seeming startled. "Put down the scepter."

They all glanced down at scepter as Bruce did. A surprised and quiet moment was shared until different computers started beeping and setting off alarms.

"Sorry, kids," Bruce apologized, "You don't get to see my party trick after all."

"You located the Tesseract?" Thor questioned, following Bruce across the lab.

Alexios moved away from the god, sighing as the men began to argue again. She pursed her lips, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms and watched them. Alex couldn't help the sarcastic and pained smile as she shook her head.

"You've got to be kidding me," she murmured.

More arguing ensued and Bruce muttered something quietly. Nothing lasted long as the floor beneath their feet shook and explosions were heard.

• • • •

wowza, this was a long one, but I'm proud of it. Anyway, is anyone still reading this? I'm just wondering because I'm feeling so discouraged with this story and any thoughts would be so appreciated.

Alright, I'm done. Much love, my friends. 💕