Fire and Ice

•10•

Kate falls onto the metal platform below the lab, Nat and Bruce next to her. Up above, she hears Cap shout, "Put on the suit!"

"Yep!" Tony replies.

"Hill?!" Fury asks. Kate, without a comm, hears no reply, but then he says, "Stark, you copy that?!"

"What's he copying?" Kate groans.

"Engine three is down, they have to make repairs outside," Nat replies.

"Coulson!" Fury shouts. "Initiate official lock down in the detention section, then get to the armory! Romanoff?"

Nat presses her comm instead of shouting up at him. "We're okay." She looks at Kate and Bruce, the latter of which is struggling, panting. "We're okay, right?"

"I'm not," Kate replies, finally sitting up so they can get a handle on the situation. Nat's foot is trapped under a beam that fell, and Kate still doesn't have shoes on, her periodic table socks on full display. That's especially great since it looks like she's gonna have to fight again. She sighs. "Where's the stupid comms?"

Nat reaches into her pocket, pulling one out. "Here."

"Since when do you carry an extra with you?"

"It's Clint's."

Kate only nods in understanding before slipping it into her ear and pressing down. "Tony! You need a welder?"

"Let me get back to you on that," he replies, making Kate wince; Clint has his comm turned up to the moon.

"Doctor..." Nat says next to her, reminding Kate of the not so great situation on her other side. His skin is starting to tinge green. "Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants."

"Are you hurt?" someone calls in the distance. Nat waves them away, and Kate turns to Bruce.

"We're gonna be okay," she says, scooting slightly closer to him. "Listen to me. I get it, okay? I get you, and I know how this feels. But you have to fight it. Push it down — push it down as far as it will go. Alright?" But he doesn't act like anything is alright. "I promise you, we will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never ever-"

"You promise?" Bruce laughs, but his voice changes. It's the other guy.

He gets up, on his knees, skin turning greener and greener. His shirt rips as he gets to his feet and stumbles back, falling off the platform. Kate goes to Nat, who's trying to pull her foot out. The beam is too heavy for Kate to lift, but she still tries, heating up her hands as she does. "I'm gonna have to melt this."

"That's gonna take too long," Nat panics. Kate turns up the heat as far as she dares. Below, they can hear the Hulk replacing the much preferred scientist. Nat pulls on her leg, Kate strains to lift and melt, and, finally, Nat's foot is free.

Instead of running away, however, Nat jumps down off the platform. Kate is about to follow, wondering how much it'll hurt her feet, when Hulk roars. Nat turns and goes straight up the stairs, and Kate meets her at the railing as Hulk rips the stairs from the walkway.

Nat turns and flips over some pipes to the other side of the walkway, and Kate follows her lead, glancing behind them at Hulk. The grated floor hurts her feet, but she doesn't have the time to complain, especially as Hulk tries to rip it out from under her and Nat. Kate scrambles after her, briefly wondering how in the world she does all this so smoothly.

"Stark, I'm here!" Cap shouts, and Kate winces again, still following Nat, getting deeper into the ship. It gets darker.

Tony replies and Kate tries to listen, seeing if she can be of use. "Good. Let's see what we got. I got to get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris. I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position." Kate, during a pause, realizes there is absolutely no way she can help remotely. "What's it look like in there?"