Rogue Power || Percy Jackson the Avenger

[5]

Annabeth frowned as she stared at the files. "This isn't adding up," she said. Tony looked up.

"What isn't?"

"I know why I'm here," she said. "To turn Loki in with Thor and Percy. What's the other reason? And why now?"

"What d'you mean?" Banner was interested too.

"What I mean," Annabeth said, stabbing a strawberry on her knife from the bowl. "Is that this entire thing is off. What was Fury doing with this cube before it got stolen?"

"He was trying to harness the power," said Banner. "To provide a... clean energy source that never ran out."

Annabeth pointed her knife at him. "Exactly. 'A warm light for all mankind', we all heard Loki." She swept a file off her screen to theirs. "This is all of S.H.I.E.L.D.s history and track record. Look through that and tell me if there's anything not about violence in some way."

As the two men scrolled, Annabeth went on. "And not to mention, Fury bringing us all in right now. Like he's gathering an army. It may be to 'protect the earth', but it sure as hell doesn't seem like it. No, he wants as many wild faces under his eye as he can."

"So, what do you think Fury's up to?" Tony asked, a small smirk pulling at his lips.

"Based off the data and files I got on their project with the tesseract, I have no idea," Annabeth confessed. "The entire thing is encrypted and coded to appear harmless, but there's one thing for certain. It's not a nice little energy source."

"You're on the right track," said Tony, sending something off his screen to hers. "I've been hacking into their files on a constant program Jarvis is running when I'm out. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret they're trying to hide."

"And you wonder why they don't want you around?" A new voice came in. Steve and Percy walked in, Steve staring staring defiantly at Tony.

"Well, I'm just trying to do my work," Tony said casually. "I can't do the equation unless I have all of the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something, then?" Steve challenged. Tony spread his hands.

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony bit half a strawberry and pointed at Banner then at Annabeth. "It bugs them too, isn't it?"

Steve looked at them. Annabeth shrugged vaguely, for once not flushed. She was deep in thought as she worked, engrossed in Daedalus's laptop.

"Doctor?" Steve asked.

Banner looked up, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Well, that jab at Fury? 'A warm light for all mankind'? I think that was meant for you," he said, looking to Tony. "About your tower."

"Stark tower?" Steve interjected. "That big ugly—"

"The architectural design is phenomenal," Annabeth argued, looking up. "And the entire thing is powered by an arc reactor. A self-sustaining energy source. With no one running it, it'll run the building for a year and a half before shutting off."

"Exactly," Banner said with a small smile. "But then, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him to headquarters in the first place?"

"Maybe because he's an annoying—"

"Yeah," Percy interrupted thoughtfully. "If they really are making an energy source for all mankind, why didn't they use Tony?"

"I should probably look into that," said Tony through a mouthful of strawberry. "But after I hack into those files."

"We have orders," said Steve. "We should follow them."

"Steve," Banner interrupted. "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you."

A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Just find the cube," he said before stalking off.

Tony snorted as the door slid shut behind him. "That's the guy my dad never shut up about? I'm wondering if we should've left him on ice."

"Mhm," Percy agreed, mouth full of strawberry.

"He is right in a way," said Annabeth. "We need to focus on the problem. Loki's got the head start in this race, what we need to do is stab his heart out and finish it."

"I like the way you think." Tony nodded in approval. "What Loki's got is a dynamite kit. It's going to blow up in his face. And I'm going to be there when it does."

"Me too." Percy reached for another strawberry.

"Uh huh. Well I'll read all about it." Banner didn't look up from his screen.

"Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us," Tony said.

Banner laughed without humor. "Oh, I don't have a suit. I'm exposed. Like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"Yeah, well, I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying to eat its way into my heart every second," Tony countered. "This stops it." He tapped his chest and a blue light appeared. "This little circle of light, it's a part of me now."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how to." Tony stared Banner in the face.

Banner shook his head. "It's different."

"Hey," Percy said. "You don't think it's easy to control my powers, do you? Every time someone does something to tick me off, you don't think I want to immediately drown them in a giant water hamster ball?"

"Can you do that?" Tony asked, fascinated.

"The point is, it's not easy to learn how to control something that's a part of you. But over time it gets easier. I know it's cliché, but it's true, doc." Percy spread his hands.

"Look, Doctor," Annabeth said softly. "I know all about your incident. That much gamma exposure... you should've died. Immediately. But you didn't."

Banner scoffed. "That's nice," he said. "So the Hulk saved me? Saved it for what?"

Tony smiled. "I guess we'll find out."

"You may not enjoy that," Banner warned.

"And you just might."