A Soldier's Journey

Part 3: Immaturity Strikes Again

"He really grows on you, doesn't he." Bruce says sarcastically. "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asks. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor says. "An army...from outer space." Steve says. "So, he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for." Bruce says.

"Selvig?" Thor asks.

"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce says.

"He's a friend." Thor responds. "Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Romanoff says. "I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve says. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him." Bruce says. "Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother." Thor defends. "He killed 80 people in two days." Romanoff says. "He is adopted." Thor says.

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium, what do they need the iridium for?" Bruce asks. "It's a stabilizing agent." Tony says as he walks into the room. He mumbles something to Phil, before walking to the front of the room. "It means, the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at Shield. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing." Tony says as he pats Thor on the shoulder. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants. Raise the mizzenmasts, jib the topsails. That man is playing Galaga." Tony says as he points at Steve. Steve looks absolutey confused. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Tony covers one eye with his hand. "How does Fury even see these?" He asks. "He turns." Mariah Hill responds. "Sounds exhausting. 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. Something to kickstart the cube." Tony says as he messes around with Fury's technology. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Mariah asks. "Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony asks. "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asks, getting Tony back on track.

"He would have to heat the cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier." Bruce says.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect." Tony says.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet." Bruce replies.

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Tony says as he walks towards Bruce. "Is that what just happened?" Steve asks, making me smile slightly.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work in antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." Tony says. "Thanks." Bruce says awkwardly. "Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube, I was hoping you might join him." Fury says as he also walks into the room. "I would start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon." Steve says. "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys." Fury says. "Monkeys...I do not understa..." Thor starts before Steve interrupts. "I do. I understood that reference." Steve says excitedly as he looks around the room. "Shall we play doctor?" Tony asks, getting back on topic. "This way sir." Bruce says, the two men disappear into the hallway.

I look down at my hands, that are shaking in my lap. I start to feel a slight pounding in my head, so I get up and walk out of the room. After years of having my powers, I know that this means a vision. Every single time this happens. I quickly rush down the hall, trying to get away from all of the eyes. I hear footsteps following me, so I quickly speed up. Eventually, I make it to the room that my suit was in before and close the door behind me, sliding down the side of the door. The empty, dark room is better than being out in public. My head starts pounding faster and faster and my hands start trembling. I take a deep breath, lean my head against the door and close my eyes. Thousands of images rush through my head. Sounds and voices fill my brain. I see the team rushing around the city. We look up to see a large portal with thousands of beasts coming through...The chitauri. The beasts land and begin attacking us. My vision is interrupted when I hear a knock at the door. I take a shaky breath and stand up. I open the door and see Steve standing outside. His curious expression turns into a look of worry. "Lauren, your eyes..." He says. I quickly turn around, silently cursing myself for forgetting that my eyes turn from hazel to bright blue when I have a vision. I face away and start walking further into the room, trying to calm down and hoping that it'll go away.