"We think Fury's hiding something," he dropped before glancing back at Steve "Well, Banner and I think so, at least."
⁂
ANGRBODA'S EYES widened "What?"
"You never wondered why S.H.I.E.L.D took the Tesseract out of its case? It's the only reason Loki was able to open a portal into Earth."
She paused for a second, glancing at Steve and Bruce who were waiting for her to make the connection, and it wasn't hard to do so "That means they were using the Tesseract, weren't they?"
Tony nodded with a grin "Exactly."
"And that's why you think there's something else Fury's not telling us?"
Tony laid his hands on the table between them "He's a spy, Angie, even his secrets have secrets," he then pointed at Banner "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"
Bruce shrugged fatalistically "I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."
"Luckily, I'll have answers once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files," Tony showed a half-full download status bar on the screen of his phone.
Steve's eyes almost popped out of their sockets "I'm sorry, did you say...?"
"Jarvis has been running it since I came here," Tony announced "In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide."
Angrboda had to admit she was quite impressed. It was usually in her nature to be suspicious of everything and everyone but she hadn't been quite herself since learning of Jötunheim's destruction. She hadn't second-guessed S.H.I.E.L.D as much as she normally would have. It was reassuring to know someone was taking the relay.
But clearly Steve was not as impressed, as told by the dirty look he sent Tony "And yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?"
This made Tony cock an eyebrow "An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."
"I have to admit, this doesn't smell right at all," Angrboda conceded.
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve argued "This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them."
His patronizing tone made Angrboda's irritation spike more than it should have "If you had listened to a word I said earlier Rogers, you'd know Natasha will tell us all about Loki's plans as soon as her interrogation is over. We are trying to find the cube. But if Tony and Bruce are right, this puts everything into perspective."
Steve stayed quiet for a few seconds. The frown on his face deepened and his mind finally seemed to take in the possibility that the organisation he worked for might indeed not be as transparent as he hoped... But being the obedient soldier he was, the nagging thought was quickly shaken off.
He shook his head resolutely "Just focus on the Tesseract," he insisted before storming out of the lab.
Tony rolled his eyes watching him leave. He slid his phone back in his pocket and leaned against the table Angrboda was sitting on.
"Is that the guy my father never shut up about?" he sneered "Wondering if they should've kept him on ice..."
She crossed her leg over her thigh before shrugging "He's a soldier, it's in his nature not to question orders. But you saw the look on his face. He'll come around."
On the other side of the room, Bruce looked up from his computer screen "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us."
Angrboda took the pager that Natasha had given her earlier out of her pocket and glanced at the small LED display screen "Not for long I hope."
The pager was connected to her earpiece and the outcome of the interrogation should be sent to her any minute now.
⁂
The Detention Centre was completely quiet if not for the small thudding sound made by Loki's boots. He paced back and forth, painstakingly slow, along the length of his glass cell. Thoughts ran wildly through his mind but they were interrupted as he felt a presence behind him.
An eerie grin spread on his lips as he stopped walking without facing the newcomer "There's not many people that can sneak up on me."
He finally turned around to see Natasha standing on the other side of the glass, arms crossed over her chest.
"But you figured I'd come."
"Of course. After whatever tortures Fury could concoct and Angrboda's pitiful attempt at intimidation," his grin turned bitter "I knew you would appear as a friend. And I would cooperate... supposedly."
Natasha's face was impassible "I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."
Loki chuckled "I'd say I've expanded his mind."
"And once you get what you want... Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?"
"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" the smug look on Loki's face made Natasha want to kick him brutally in the teeth.
"Love is for children," she scoffed "I owe him a debt."
He sat down on the one chair in his cell "Tell me. I love myself a sappy story"
Natasha had no idea what pushed her to comply with his request so easily but she knew she had to make him think she was transparent so he would be too, later on.
"Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D," she began "I made a name for myself in other ways. I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar, in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me... but he made a different call."
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked.
"Certainly not let you out."
Loki laughed "Ah no, but this is amusing. Your world is in the balance and you bargain for one man? There must be something else you want."
Natasha shrugged "It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger; I'd like to wipe it out."
Loki got closer to the glass, looking much more menacing "Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red," he hissed "And you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?"
He watched the effect of his words on her and was satisfied to see the tears forming in her eyes. He had broken down her thin facade of indifference now replaced by a look of shock and disgust.
"You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!" he slammed his fist into the glass wall of his cell, making Natasha flinch "I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"
Natasha gasped as her hand curled over her mouth. She turned around, taking a few steps away from Loki, her body shaking all over.
"You... you're a monster," she muttered quietly.
Loki laughed "No, you're the one who brought the monster on this ship."
Natasha froze. She stayed silent for a moment as all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
Suddenly, a small grin spread on her face, contrasting sharply with the distraught act she was just putting on. She turned around, completely poised and blinking away the fake tears.
"Oh my God, Banner... that's you're plan?!"
Loki's face fell "What?"
Natasha took out the pager from her belt and brought it near her lips "Angie, it's me. I figured it out: Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab AT ALL COST. I'm on my way."
She then turned to Loki who looked completely aghast "Thank you for your cooperation," she nodded pompously before strolling out.
⁂
"I can't believe it..."
If anyone had entered the tech lab at that moment, they would've come across a very unusual scene, something you clearly didn't get to see everyday: Tony, Bruce and Angrboda clustered together in front of a computer screen, knee deep into S.H.I.E.L.D's most secure files. They had been digging through the organization's darkest secrets for the last half hour, the second Tony's decryption program had finished breaking into the system.
And so far, they did not like what they were finding, not at all.
"This is insane," Bruce ran a hand through his hair "S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to use the Tesseract to make weapons?!"
It was Tony who had figured it out first. There were dozens of records of experiments done with weapon prototypes. All of them involved using energy yielded from the Tesseract. There were also hundreds of plans for guns, rifles, rockets and bombs; enough weaponry to decimate half of the Earth's population. It was horrifying.
Tony shook his head "This is classic; I should've known..."
They continued scrolling through the documents for a while, too appalled to say anything. But suddenly, one of the files caught Angrboda's attention.
She stopped Tony's hand from moving the screen "Wait a second..."
She selected one of the records which had a small picture in the thumbnail. She had instantly recognised the image but was dreading to confirm her suspicions.
Bruce clicked on the file, enlarging the picture and the text under it. All of their eyes widened in shock.
"Is that..."
"...me," she finished feeling her blood start to boil in anger "Those bastards put me on their watchlist?!"
They skimmed through the endless notes and texts that accompanied her photo. Everything S.H.I.E.L.D knew about her was gathered in that file in a surprising amount detail: from her background information to her physical appearance, her personality traits and her range of powers... she had genuinely no idea how they managed to get some of that information.
Bruce kept scrolling and almost snorted when he saw his own picture "Oh, there I am..." he said not really surprised at all.
"S.H.I.E.L.D got you both to work for them and put you on their watchlist?!" Tony exclaimed astonished "What kind of messed up system is this?!"
It didn't take long for Angrboda to put two and two together "So all this talk about wanting me on the team... Fury was just lying to keep an eye on me..."
Tony glanced at her and was surprised to find her looking genuinely upset. He hadn't expected the news to affect Angrboda so much. She usually seemed so detached from it all, perhaps he'd been wrong in assuming her involvement with the Avengers was purely by default. It was true that her options had narrowed drastically as of late but perhaps she cared much more than she let on.
He was looking for something to say, anything that wouldn't seem out of place but they were interrupted by the sound of Angie's pager beeping loudly from her pocket.
She stepped away from the two men and activated her earpiece to listen to Natasha's message:
"Angie, it's me. I figured it out: Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab AT ALL COST. I'm on my way."
She slowly looked up from the ground to see Tony and Bruce already staring at her expectantly. Her gaze lingered on Bruce as Natasha's words echoed again and again and an alarmed expression spread slowly on her face.
_______________________
Omg guys so sorry it took me so long to update, ironically this chapter has been ready for over a month (along with a dozen other chapters) :'( but I was on holidays until last week and had limited internet access, plus wattpad was completely out of control, but I promise I'll update much more frequently from now on!
Don't forget to like and comment ♡
-L