Thermonuclear Astrophysics
"Is he saying anything?" Fury's voice asked through mine and Nat's headsets.
"Not a word," Nat replied.
"Just get him here. We're low on time."
"Hey, can you manage?" I turned to face Nat, sliding down my headset. "I need to stretch my legs."
She gave me a curt nod and I thanked her, getting out of my seat and moving to stand where Tony was. "Hey, big brother," I grinned, throwing my arms around his neck.
"Hey there, little sister," he ruffled my hair and let me go. "Did you enjoy my entrance?"
"You just had to be the dramatic one, didn't you?"
"Makes a change from it being you," he countered.
I glared at him. "Okay, that was rude."
Tony simply chuckled and fell silent as Steve wandered up to us, his face set in a solemn expression. "I don't like it," he said to us, standing next to me and facing the opposite way to Tony.
"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony joked.
"I don't remember it being that easy," Steve pointed out. "This guy packs a wallop."
Steve and I turned to face Loki, who was strapped into his chair with a hardness. He was silent, just looking around at each of us in turn.
"Still, you're pretty spry for an older fellow," Tony looked at him, Steve looking back at him slightly offended. "What's your thing, Pilates?"
"What?" Steve asked.
"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
"Tony, don't antagonise him," I scolded him but he ignored me.
Steve's expression hardened slightly. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."
"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you," Tony told him.
Before I could interject, there was a loud clap of thunder rolling across the sky and thick clouds converged.
"Where's this coming from?" Nat's voice sounded worried.
I frowned. "I'm pretty sure the weather forecast wasn't stormy..." I muttered.
Then came the lightening in brilliant white bolts and I automatically gripped onto Steve's arm as the sound surprised me. The three of us glanced down at my hand around Steve's bicep and I quickly let go and coughed.
Steve's attention went from me to Loki behind me and I composed myself before turning to watch him. "What's the matter?" Steve asked. "Scared of a little lightening?"
Loki looked at the three of us. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."
"What follows?" I echoed and shared a glance with Tony.
The jet suddenly jerked with the force of something hitting the roof. Tony quickly reached for his mask, putting it on and the eyes lighting up as I pulled my gun from my holster and click the safety down.
Tony moves towards the end of the jet, flicking the hatch so it opens. "What are you doing?" Steve yells at him.
"Tony, you can't go out there!" I added before gasping as a man landed on the open hatch, a thick silver hammer in his hand; Thor had officially arrived. Tony raised his arm to blast him, but Thor just hit him with his hammer and sent him flying back. He then grabbed Loki by the neck and dragged him out of the hatch again, using his hammer to fly off.
"Well, shit," I breathed out.
"And now there's that guy," Tony grumbled before marching back towards the open hatch.
"Another Asgardian?" Nat asked from the pilot's seat.
"It would seem so!" I yelled back.
"That guy's a friendly?" Steve questioned.
"Doesn't matter," Tony answered. He turned back to us. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."
His back faced us again. "Stark!" Steve stepped forward. "We need a plan of attack!"
"I have a plan," he said simply, turning his head to one side slightly. "Attack."
And then he flew from the plane after the two. I raked a hand through my hair. "You know, one day I'm buying him a journal so he can write down possible plans of attack so next time THIS WON'T HAPPEN!" I yelled the last bit out of the open hatch, knowing he couldn't hear me. I watched as Steve hurried over to where the parachutes were and began to put it on. "Oh, not you, too. Can't you guys just stay here? Sit this one out?"
Steve shook his head. "I don't see how I can."
"These guys are legendary! They're basically gods, Steve!" I told him, feeling myself get more and more annoyed.
"There's only one God, Miss Stark,-"
"It's Rose!" I angrily corrected him.
"Sorry, Rose. There's only one God, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He finished, and by now he'd clipped the parachute into place. And with that, he turned, grabbed his shield and jumped from the plane.
I spun around to Natasha, climbing back into my seat. "You know, I'm really tempted to fly off and leave them there."
Nat just chuckled. "You know that Tony and this Thor guy can fly, right?"
I thought for a moment. "Okay, so I forgot they can fly but Steve can't."
Nat shook her head. "Come on, Rose, let's just pick up the guys. Then you can yell at them to your heart's content."
I sighed and began to manoeuver the jet downwards, scanning the ground for any sight of the four men. It didn't take long to find them, Nat and I just followed the trail of flattened trees until we came to a clearing of them, the men stood there in a circle. We landed swiftly and they got back on board with no questions.
~
Once back in base, I immediately made my way onto the bridge and sat down at the table with a heavy sigh, exhausted. I sat next to Steve, watching the big screen that showed Loki in the cell meant for Banner.
"In case it's unclear," Fury's walked into view of the camera. "If you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass..." Fury flipped a switch and it seemed to open a hatch below the cell. "It's 30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?"
He shut off the switch and gestured from Loki to the controls. "Ant, boot."
"Does anyone understand that?" I whispered around the table but they all shook their heads.
Loki's laughter echoed out, and sent shivers down my spine. Steve gave me a questioning look but I shook my head. "It's an impressive cage," Loki said. "Not built, I think, for me."
"Built for something a lot stronger than you," Fury replied coolly.
"Oh, I've heard," Loki turned his head to look directly into the camera. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man." Natasha, Steve and I looked to Banner with caution, who looked almost ashamed "How desperate are you that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"
"How desperate am I?" Fury repeats. "You threatened my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace but you kill because it's fun," By now, Fury had walked right up to the glass panel. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."
If not for the circumstances, I would've smiled at the sight of angry Fury. It was a rare sight to see him well and truly pissed off, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.
"Ooh," Loki teases. "It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have the power...unlimited power. And for what?" He glanced back at the camera again. "A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is."
Fury turns his back on Loki. "Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine, or something." he called as he walked out.
Loki walked back over to the camera and looked right up into it, before the screen went black again. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce commented.
I shook my head. "He freaks me the hell out."
"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve said. "So, Thor, what's his play?"
Everyone looked to Thor, who's back was half turned away. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known." He faced the table, a grim expression on his face. "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."
"An army...from outer space," Steve clarified.
"So, he's building another portal," Bruce chipped in. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."
"Selvig?" Thor repeated.
"He's an astrophysicist," I informed him.
"He's a friend," he frowned.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Nat told him. "Along with one of ours." she added sadly.
"I want to know why Loki let us take him," came Steve's voice. "He's not leading an army from here."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Bruce said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him."
I snorted, trying not to laugh out loud. Thor interjected, "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."
"Okay, he killed 80 people in two days," I pointed out.
There was a pause. "He's adopted," Thor reasoned and I smirked.
"I think it's about mechanics," Bruce said, continuing the logical conversation. "Iridium...what do they need the iridium for?"
"It's a stabilising agent," the sound of Tony's voice made everyone's heads turn to watch as he walked in with Phil, mumbling something to himself before Phil departed. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."
His eyebrows rose as he approached Thor. "No hard feelings, Point Break, you gotta mean swing," he told him, tapping his arm a few times. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." he came to a stop in the circle of screens Fury usually stood. He glanced around. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails," everyone stopped to look at him, so naturally he pointed at a random guy. "That guy is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Tony then placed a hand over his eye and spun around. "How does Fury even see these?"
"He turns," Maria Hill deadpanned.
"Sounds exhausting,"
"Tony," I chastised him.
He finally grows serious as he wanders over to a screen. "The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs-"
"Is a power source of high-energy density," I finished, nodded my head slowly as I understood. I could see Steve looking at me with both equal amounts of shock and confusion.
"Exactly," Tony pointed at me. "Something to kick-start the Cube."
Maria looks at both Tony and then me. "When did you two become experts in thermonuclear astrophysics?"
"I'm just a genius," I shrugged with a grin, giving Natasha a glare as she rolled her eyes at me.
"Last night," Tony simply said on his behalf. Maria tilted her head slightly in question. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers," Tony stepped back up towards the table. "Am I the only one who did the reading?"
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve interrupted.
"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," I replied, looking at Tony for confirmation.
He nodded, spreading his hands out. "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."
"Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Bruce retaliated as Tony moved towards him, evidently impressed.
"Finally, someone who speaks English!" Tony cries out. I coughed. "Besides my little sister."
Steve shifts in his seat and looks around at the rest of us. "Is that what just happened?"
I nodded slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid so, Cap, I'm afraid so."
Tony shakes Bruce's hand. "It's good to meet you, Dr Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled," he complimented and Bruce seemed genuinely touched, until Tony added, "And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster."
I groaned. "I'm related to an idiot," I mumbled, only Steve hearing and sharing a smile with me.
"Thanks," Bruce nods, not quite sure how to take the compliment.
"Dr Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury informed Tony as he walked into the bridge room. "I was hoping you might join him."
"I would start with that stick of his," Steve suggested. "It may be magical, but it looks an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube," Fury replied. "And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys?" Thor repeated. "I do not understand."
"I do!" Steve cried out happily. Both Tony and I glanced at each other and shared an eye roll. "I understood that reference."
"Of course you did," I shook my head and laughed at him as Tony and Bruce walked off. Steve simply looked down at me, before joining in laughing too.