While they walked through the corridors, Keira saw some of the agents throwing them uneasy glances. Luckily, the Captain was protected by his image, so despite carrying a gun, nobody dared to stop them. As they approached the lab, Keira could hear low voices seeping through the closed door. And if she wasn't much mistaken, Fury had joined the party.
"What is Phase Two?"
The question was shot at the Director just as the words popped up on the monitor in front of Tony, and at the same moment, Keira and Steve slipped through the door.
Steve walked over to a nearby table and slammed the gun down, causing everyone to direct their attention to him. "Phase Two is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons." Not only did he look pissed, but he also sounded like he was, something she guessed didn't happen often.
Keira glanced between Banner and Stark, as it seemed like they finally had managed to hack their way into SHIELD's files. Or rather, Stark's UI. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for us." She folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the table as her gaze directed itself to Fury, waiting for some kind of explanation.
"Rogers, Nowak, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're maki-" Fury tried to explain as he walked closer to the table, but in Keira's opinion, it sounded more like the beginning of a defense speech.
Her face turned blank, not giving away any of the feelings that were boiling just beneath the surface. She hadn't needed to keep her emotions at bay for a long time, so to slip into this mask of impassivity felt odd. It felt like old times. Fury, out of all the people in this room knew about her history with HYDRA. He knew how much she despised the organization, and yet he was experimenting with their equipment?
To be honest, it felt like a betrayal.
"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony got up from his sitting position on the table and turned one of the screens towards them. And what did the screen reveal, if not SHIELD's plans to in fact use the Tesseract as a power source for weapons? "What were you lying?" The man asked sarcastically, and Fury threw him a dirty look that bounced off the billionaire without a problem.
"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve stated coldly, and at that moment the door slid open, revealing Thor and Natasha.
The redhead's eyes were directly diverted to Banner, who looked greatly annoyed at this revelation. "Did you know about this?" He asked, gesturing towards the screen.
"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha suggested, completely ignoring Banner's question.
Banner laughed humorlessly before answering, "I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."
"Loki's manipulating you." Natasha said, trying to defuse the situation.
"And you've been doing what, exactly?" He retorted. Well, good spotted, doctor. Not a bad observation at all.
"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."
"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Banner took ahold of the screen and turned it towards Natasha. "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." He finished, turning towards Fury who would know the most about it.
Fury was silent for just a moment before pointing at Thor. "Because of him." He then took a deep breath, as if he was hesitant about the next few words he was about to utter before he pointed towards Keira. "And because of her."
Keira's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Thor looked seriously affronted at being pointed out as the bad guy here. And she couldn't say that she blamed him. Why were they the cause of the weapons? "Us?" She questioned, a small frown on her face. This was not taking the direction she had expected.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town." Fury took a few slow steps towards Banner, urging him to understand the reasoning behind the weapons. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."
"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor protested. He had tried to protect the Earth last year, so he wasn't wrong. The Asgardians should be counted among the allies. Just because Loki was a power-hungry maniac, didn't mean they all were. You shouldn't judge a group based on one individual.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And you're not the only threat." Fury countered. "The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled." The man had now turned towards Keira, who was chewing the inside of her cheek.
"You mean us. Me. Mutants. We are a force you can't find a way to control. You're worried." Keira stated, and she was proud to hear that her voice was calm and collected, despite her feelings raging underneath her façade.
She had thought that Fury, out of all people, had no problems with her capabilities, but now it turns out that he was afraid all along? Maybe not of her personally, but of her kin. Because there were far more powerful mutants out there, she was just the tip of the iceberg.
"Absolutely, I am." Fury said, meeting Keira's gaze. "Mankind is scary enough as it is, even without aliens or visitors from other planets. But now, people are becoming their own weapons. You can't expect me to just stand by and watch that chaos unfold."
Keira chuckled humorlessly. There it was. Powerlessness. "So, you planned to use fear against us?" She questioned, staring at Fury. Was that the plan all along? To build weapons to force the mutants into submission? To have them tagged like animals?
"You want to control them like you controlled the Cube?" Steve joined in, thankfully dragging away Keira's focus from her spiraling own thoughts.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor reprimanded, knowing more than anyone in the room what the other realms in the Universe could bring to Earth.
"A higher form?" Steve questioned, not liking the sound of that at all.
Fury ignored Steve but instead kept his eye on Thor. "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."
"A nuclear deterrent." Stark joined in. "'Cause that always calms everything right down."
Keira drowned out the conversation, her mind working furiously. This wasn't right. They were all arguing like children, throwing blame at anyone except themselves.
The conversation was becoming more heated by the minute, and she didn't like it at all. This was the team that was supposed to protect the Earth against an army of aliens, and yet they couldn't even be in the same room together without starting an argument.
While the men drew closer to each other, Keira instead backed away. Arguments were generally something she tried to avoid, because they took more energy than they were worth most of the time. So instead, she found herself beside Banner and the scepter. A much more comfortable place for her as she preferred being in the background.
Speaking of the scepter, as her eyes landed on it, she saw the gem gleaming brightly blue. Its light was pulsating slightly, and she could swear that she felt its powers messing with her. Like a quiet buzzing in the back of her head, making her more irritable than usual. Maybe that's why everyone's tempers were running so hot?
The conversation that was happening had turned into a blur and she was unable to hear the words properly. But she could make out the raised voices, which was never a good sign in an argument. Her head tilted slightly as she watched the gem and slowly, she reached out her hand toward the gem. It was as if she was entranced by it, as if it was calling for her, and she couldn't resist the strong urge of wanting to touch it.
But Banner's words broke her out of her trance. "In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried."
Everybody froze at this, pity painting their features as they looked at the scientist. Keira's eyes averted from the gem to the side of Banner's face, and she couldn't help but feel for the doctor at this moment.
To feel like you had no other choice than to end your own life was such a hopeless feeling, one that no one should ever experience. Keira could feel Natasha's gaze on her, but she avoided it. This was not the time to recall old memories.
"I got low. I didn't see an end." He started, his voice calmer and much softer now. "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 into this freak show and put everyone here at risk." Banner's eyes were fixed on Natasha and the last sentence had been a clear jab at her. She was the one who had gotten him into this mess.
"You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" Banner suddenly snarled, staring at the redhead and swiping the scepter off the stand in the process. This caused both Fury and Natasha to reach for their gun holsters as everybody else tensed up.
Keira however kept her posture relaxed and reached out a hand, placing it on the man's shoulder, who jumped slightly at this. "Doctor Banner, put down the scepter, please. " She said calmly as the man's gaze met her own.
The confused look on his face told her that he hadn't even meant to grab it in the first place. He glanced down at it, confusion and shock running through him. It was as if he hadn't been aware of his own movements.
Keira kept her hand on the man's shoulder, gently squeezing it in comfort as the sharp blade of the scepter was pressing gently against her. As it had already proven it could hurt her, the bandage on her forearm as proof, she wasn't exactly keen to go another round against it, in case Doctor Banner lost his marbles.
At that moment, a computer beeped, breaking the tense atmosphere. It looked like they had located the Cube, at last. Everybody except Natasha turned towards the computer, and Banner put the scepter down on the table. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all." He walked calmly towards the computer and Keira let go of his shoulder with a great sigh.
"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked, trying to get ahold of the situation. The technology of Earth was still a mystery to him.
"I could get there fastest." Tony challenged rather childishly.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor said but was bluntly ignored by the soldier and the billionaire, whose egos were about to start another battle.
"You're not going alone." Steve grabbed Stark's arm as he was about to leave, but Stark smacked him off.
"You're gonna stop me?" Stark retorted, an annoyed look on his face.
And once again, the two men were face to face. These two couldn't stop, could they?
"Put on the suit, let's find out."
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."
"Put on the suit." Steve said through gritted teeth.
Seriously? They were supposed to be adults, and yet they were acting like children. Keira couldn't stand on the sidelines anymore but instead pressed herself between the two men, pushing them apart and holding them at arm's length from each other. "That's enough." She growled. "Seriously, what has gotten into you two? You two are acting like babies." Since she wasn't as tall as them, they stared daggers at each other over her head.
"Hey! Enough!" She shoved them both hard in the chest, which caused both men to stagger backwards. Thank god for enhanced strength. "You can measure your egos later, but as of right now, the rest of us would appreciate it if you two could shut your mouths and actually do your jobs. We have more important matters to attend to."
This, finally, made the two men back away from each other. They didn't say anything but still glared at each other, and at Keira. But she could live with that. Turning towards Banner, her feeling of unease didn't vanish as the scientist's face was pulled into one of concern.
"Oh my god."
It was all she was able to hear before an earsplitting explosion rocked the ship and fire burst out through the grates in the floor of the lab, throwing everybody backwards in different directions.
Her back smashed through the glass by the force of the explosion, and she didn't have time to catch her breath before she crashed down onto the metal below. Two other bodies slammed down on the metal beside her, and she covered her head as glass and debris rained down on them. A faint ringing reverberated in her ears from the explosion and as she opened her eyes, the world around her swayed.
The loud alarm blared, and she got up on shaky legs as she shook her head, trying to clear her vision. Her gaze fell on Natasha, whose leg was trapped under metal pipes and rubble. Next to her was Banner, lying flat on his stomach.
"We're okay." Natasha said, pressing her hand to the comm in her ear. When Banner groaned, a worried look adorned the redhead's face as she questioned, "We're okay, right?"
How this woman was not dead, or at the very least knocked unconscious by the fall was a miracle, but a miracle Keira was grateful for. She approached Natasha with shaky steps, intent on removing the rubble from the redhead's leg but as her gaze landed on Banner, she froze mid-step.
The doctor was on his hands and knees, his body fighting against itself as he fought to keep control over the monster within. It was as though her blood froze over in her veins. The Hulk unleashed in the Helicarrier? That would be a total disaster. The monster had the capability to destroy the whole ship singlehandedly.
"Doctor? Bruce? You gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants." Natasha tried to calm the doctor down, and Keira finally came to her senses, moving forward once again. But Natasha waved her towards the doctor, urging her to try and keep him calm rather than freeing her. "We're gonna be okay. Listen to me."
Two crew members came running, asking if they were okay but Keira waved them away as she warily neared the doctor, whose body was convulsing by the effort of keeping the monster at bay. "Bruce, we're gonna get through this. Don't let Loki win." She said quietly, crouching down between him and Natasha, just in case something went wrong.
"I swear on my life, I will get you out of this. You will walk away and never ever-" Natasha's voice echoed from behind her together with the sound of her fist slamming down gently on the metal.
"Your life?!" Banner turned towards them, his voice deeper and more rage-filled than ever. Small patches of green could be spotted upon his face and Keira understood that the doctor wouldn't be able to keep the monster at bay for much longer. Everything that had happened was simply too much to contain.
So, she sprinted over to Natasha's side and lodged her fingers under the rubble, prepared to lift when the scientist's back suddenly arched as a loud groan escaped his lips. The patches of green were even more pronounced, and it didn't take long until the muscles underneath his purple shirt expanded and ripped the fabric apart. In what seemed to be a last effort, the doctor managed to drop himself off the platform, giving them some distance from the hell that was about to unfold.
"Keira, could you please get a move on?"
Natasha's panicked voice broke Keira out of her reverie. She hadn't even realized that she had frozen as she watched the doctor's transformation. "Uh, yes, yes of course." She shook her head, angry at herself for her lack of usefulness, and lifted the pipes high enough so Natasha could pull her foot free.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Keira offered a hand to the redhead, who took it gratefully and got pulled back up on her feet. Both of them jumped down from the platform, but if they had hoped for a silent escape, they were sadly mistaken. The now fully transformed Hulk was leaning against a crumpled-up cooling cylinder, his back to them.
But as the two women stared at the creature, he slowly turned his head towards them, rage burning in his eyes. This was Keira's sign to turn into her diamond form and she pushed Natasha behind her towards the stairs.
"What are you waiting for? A marathon invitation? Run!" Keira hissed at Natasha, blindly swatting behind her to get the redhead to move.
Keira didn't take her eyes off the Hulk, who charged at them with a roar. As she heard Natasha's limping steps up the stairs, she put her hands up, her hands clenched into fists. How the hell was she supposed to deal with the green juggernaut?
So, like any normal person would, she began running toward the monster. It was terrifying, every fiber in her body was screaming at her to stop and follow Natasha, but she didn't. When the giant swiped at her with one of his enormous fists, she dropped down to her knees and slid underneath his grasp between his legs.
As the diamond slid against the steel, a shrieking noise reverberated through the hangar and the green giant roared in discomfort, swiping angrily at the stairs where Natasha had just been. He ripped the metal apart as if it was nothing more than cotton candy, but luckily enough, Natasha had managed to elegantly pull herself up to a higher level just before the stairs disappeared beneath her feet. It was a very impressive maneuver considering her injured leg.
If everything had gone according to plan, Keira would've been saved by her sliding move, but she wasn't that lucky. Instead, she got hit by the stairs that the Hulk still swung around in fury and crashed into a wall. The metal creaked and bent before her body hit the floor with a dull thud.
For just a few seconds, she just lay there, gasping for her and with her heart pounding hard in her chest. But another roar caused her to scramble to her feet, leaning against the dented wall. Her skin was back to normal now, and she shook her head in exasperation. "Bloody hell... Why am I the one who gets to fight the green bean?" She groaned to herself, clutching her midriff before lifting her gaze and preparing herself to be met by the furious green face of the Hulk.
But to her surprise, he hadn't turned around to face her.
No, because she had landed quite a distance away, the juggernaut had decided to hunt after Natasha instead, who was nearer to him. Keira began to run, but she could only watch as the Hulk bashed in the grate where the redhead undoubtedly had been standing just a moment before.