Variant or Variants of the MCU?

Chapter 18: The Candidates

Bruce: <chuckles> well, those I actively try to avoid.

Nat: this. <shows a picture of the Tesseract on her phone and places the phone on the table> is the Tesseract. It had the potential energy to wipe out the planet.

Bruce puts his glasses on and looks at the picture.

Bruce: what does Fury want me to do, swallow it?

Nat; he wants you to find it. It's been taken. It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be.

Bruce: so, Fury isn't after the monster?

Nat: not that he'd told me.

Bruce: and he tells you everything?

Nat; talk to Fury. He needs you on this.

Bruce: he needs me in a cage?

Nat: <goes to grab the phone> no one's going to put you in a...

Bruce: <slams the table> STOP LYING TO ME!

Nat pulled a gun from under the table and aimed it at him as Bruce backs off.

Bruce: I'm sorry. That was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. Why don't we do this the easy way where you don't use that and the other guy doesn't make a mess.

Nat had something in her eyes that probably she never felt for a long, long time: Fear.

Bruce: okay? Natasha?

Nat: <puts her gun down and gets on her ear piece> stand down. We're good here.

The shield agents outside all stand down.

Bruce: "just you and me."

SHIELD Base

Councilman: <screen> this is out of line, Director. You're dealing with forces you can't control.

Fury: you ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?

Councilman: <screen> you're saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?

Fury; not Asgard. Loki and Amora.

Councilwoman: <screen> they can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother.

Fury: our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile, but he's worlds away. We can't depend on him to help, either. It's up to us.

Councilman: <screen> which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2. It was designed for exactly this...

Fury: Phase 2 isn't ready. Our enemy is. We need a response team.

Councilman: <screen> the Avengers Initiative was shut down.

Fury; this isn't about the Avengers.

Councilman: <screen> we've seen the list. You're running the world's greatest covert security network, and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks.

Fury: I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need.

Coucilwoman: <screen> you believe?

Councilman: <screen> War isn't won by sentiment, Director.

Fury: no, it's won by soldiers.

Brooklyn Gym

Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, was in the gym alone as he was punching a sandbag as he woke up in a new world after 70 years of being asleep.