Circus Acts || Clint Barton ✓

[ four ]

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha remarks offhandedly.

Thor offers an apologetic shrug. "He’s adopted?"

"I'm adopted too, but if I killed eighty people, I'd be a hazard to society," Celeste says. "What makes Loki so special?"

"I think it’s about the mechanics," Bruce continues, staying on the science behind it all. "Iridium, what do they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent. Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Tony joins the conversation as he and Phil enter the room. Patting Thor on the back as he walks by, he comes to a stop at the control panel at the front of the room. "No hard feelings, point break, you got a mean swing."

Thor merely gives him an odd look.

"Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants," he continues before directing his attention to one of the S.H.I.E.L.D personnel sitting behind one of the monitors. "Ah, raise the mizzen mast, ship the topsails." The personnel also looks at him strangely before returning back to what's on his screen. "That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did." Standing now at the command area of the ship, Tony covers one eye. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns!" Agent Maria Hill snaps.

"Sounds exhausting," Tony huffs, starting to mess with the screens. "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 of high energy density. Something to kick start the Cube."

Celeste finishes her smoothie and tosses the empty plastic container into the nearby trash can. "I hate to interrupt your rant, but since you seem to know everything, can you please tell me where to find a decent smoothie place?"

Tony spins on his heel, fixing her with an unamused look.

How can she possibly be thinking about smoothies at a time like this?

"Listen, Tony. You try telaporting three times and getting electrocuted within the span of thirty minutes."

"Fair enough," he concedes.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria questions.

"Last night," he answers nonchalantly. "The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers- am I the only one who did the reading?"

"I'm pretty sure he's the only one that can actually understand the reading," Celeste jokes, earning a quiet laugh from Natasha.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asks.

"He’d have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce states.

"My God, now there's two of them."

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the Quantum Tunneling effect," Tony counters.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally. Someone who speaks English."

Steve glances around at the others, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Is that what just happened?"

It’s good to meet you, Doctor Banner," Tony says, shaking Bruce's hand. "Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks?"

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube," Nick says as he enters the bridge area, his tone leaving no room for argument. "I was hoping you might join him."