-
"Fuck around and find out"
-
"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury asked, storming into the lab.
"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony retaliated, making Jaime look up, curious about what was going on.
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Fury said, glaring at Tony.
"We are. The model's locked, and we're sweeping for the signature now," Jaime stated, slightly confused.
"When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile," Bruce added, pointing at the screen.
"Yeah, then you get your cube back. No fuss, no muss," Tony said.
"What is 'Phase 2'?" Tony asked as something popped up on his screen.
A slam echoed through the room as Steve entered the room, placing a large gun on the table. Jaime looked at the gun with furrowed eyebrows, even more confused than she was ten seconds ago before glaring angrily at Fury.
"'Phase 2' is S.H.I.E.L.D. using the cube to make weapons." Steve spoke.
Jaime raised her eyebrows, looking at Fury in disbelief, scoffing as he avoided eye contact with her.
"Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me." Steve apologized.
"Rogers, we've gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're making-" Fury spoke, walking towards Steve but got cut off by Tony.
"I'm sorry, Nick. What, were you lying?" Tony asked, spinning around the screen in front of him.
"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said, sounding disappointed.
"Did you know about this?" Jaime asked, hoping that the answer would be no, as Thor and Natasha entered the room.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor? You too, Jaime?" Natasha asked.
"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed." Bruce shot back.
"Answer my question." Jaime demanded.
"Loki is manipulating you both." Natasha stated, moving closer to Bruce and Jaime.
Jaime scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "And you have been doing what, exactly?" Jaime asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrows.
"Neither of you came here because I batted my eyelashes at you," Natasha argued.
"Yes, and we're not leaving because suddenly you get all twitchy," Bruce stated.
"I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction," Jaime said, pointing at the screen.
"Because of him," Fury said, pointing at Thor.
"Me?" Thor said, confused.
"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned," Fury explained.
"My people want nothing but peace with your people," Thor defended.
"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asked. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled," Fury continued.
"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve quizzed.
"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki in, and his allies. It is a signal to all of the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war," Thor said, raising his voice slightly.
"A higher form?" Steve questioned.
"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something-" Fury began.
"A nuclear deterrent. Because that always calms everything right down," Tony commented.
"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark," Fury argued.
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep-" Steve began but got cut off.
"Hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony questioned.
"I'm sorry. Isn't everything?" Steve quipped.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor stated smugly.
"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury asked, turning towards the blonde.
"You treat your champions with such mistrust," Thor raised his voice again.
"Are you boys really that naive?" Natasha asked, joining the argument. "S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats," she continued.
Jaime sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose before grabbing a chair to sit on and watched the chaos break free.
"Captain America's on threat watch?" Bruce asked.
"We all are," Natasha responded.
"Wait, you're on that list? Are you above or below angry bees? What about you, King Kong?" Tony asked, turning towards Jaime.
"Don't call me that," she warned.
"Or what?" Tony challenged.
"Fuck around and find out," she said, giving him a death stare.
"Stark, so help me God if you make one more wisecrack-" Steve began.
"Threat! Verbal threat," Tony said dramatically.
Jaime sighed, shaking her head as she watched the idiots around her.
No one in the room noticed that Loki's sceptre was glowing brightly as they continued to argue. Natasha had unconsciously moved closer to Jaime.
"You speak of control yet you court chaos," Thor argued.
"That's his M.O, isn't it?" Bruce asked, grabbing Jaime's attention as everyone turned towards him. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."
"You need to step away," Fury ordered.
"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, placing his hand on Steve's shoulder, to which Jaime rolled her eyes.
"You know damn well why. Back off!" Steve shouted, pushing Tony's hand off his shoulder.
"I'm starting to want you to make me," Tony said.
"That's what she said," Jaime mumbled. She thought that she said it quietly enough for only her to hear until she heard a snicker beside her.
As she looked up, she saw Natasha with her hand on her mouth, trying to suppress a smile. Jaime quickly looked away when Natasha looked down, making eye contact with her.
"Yeah, big man i a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve asked, circling the man before geting in his face.
"Genius, billionair, playboy, philanthropist." Tony answered as Natasha and Jaime nodded in agreement.
"I know guys with none of that, worth ten of you." Steve quipped. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself."
"You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down a wire and let he other guy crawl over you." Steve continued.
"I think i would just cut the wire" Tony argued.
"Always a way out." Steve smirked, glancing around the tense rom as Jaime glared at him. "You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment Rogers, everything special about you came out of a bottle." Tony spat.
"No offence, Jaime." Tony said sparing a quick glance at the woman.
"It's okay." Jaime sighed.
"Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds" Steve threatend.
"You people are so petty, and tiny." Thor said chuckling.
"Thor, buddy. It'd be much appreciated if you could just zip it for like two damn minutes. Thanks," Jaime muttered, irritation etched on her face as she rose from her seat, running a hand over her forehead in frustration.
"Yeah, we're supposed to be a team." Bruce chimed in.
"Agent Romanoff, could you please escort Dr. Banner and Jaime to their-" Fury started.
"To where? You rented our room?" Jaime scoffed, arms folded, head tilted in defiance.
"The cell was just in case-" Fury attempted to explain.
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, i tried." Bruce interjected, his words hanging heavy in the air, silencing everyone. Jaime glanced at him, sympathy shimmering in her gaze, which he reciprocated. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, i put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out."
Jaime swallowed hard, her gaze dropping as tears welled up, memories of her own struggles flooding her mind. Natasha glanced at the tall woman beside her, offering a sympathetic smile in silent understanding.
"So i moved on. I focused on helping other people, i was good. Until you dragged me back into this freakshow and put everyone here at risk." Bruce continued. "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?" Bruce said, walking backward toward the Scepter.
Bruce didn't realize he had picked up the spear. Jaime unconsciously pulled Natasha toward her by the waist, positioning herself in front of her, ready to fight, while both Natasha and Fury instinctively placed their hands on their guns.
"Bruce, put down the scepter," Jaime said softly, extending one hand toward Bruce while the other rested protectively on Natasha's stomach behind her.
Bruce looked down in realization as a computer beeped in the lab, prompting everyone to turn toward it. Jaime released a breath she didn't know she was holding before murmuring, "Thank you, father," She glanced at Natasha, who was staring at her.
"What?" Jaime chuckled, confused.
"Nothing," Natasha said, smiling brightly at her.
"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked as Natasha and Jaime walked toward the others who stood by the computer.
"I could get there the fastest," Tony said.
"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it," Thor stated firmly.
"You're not going alone," Steve said, grabbing Tony by the arm.
"You're going to stop me?" Tony asked, slapping Steve's arm away.
"Put on the suit, let's find out," Steve threatened.
"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Tony retorted.
"Put on the suit," Steve growled.
The computer in front of Bruce started beeping again, prompting Bruce to take off his glasses in shock.
"Oh, my God," Bruce mumbled before a big explosion erupted.
[1537]