Memories || MCU ²

𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 | 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧

– MAL WATCHED THE SCANNER HOVER OVER THE SCEPTRE, IMPATIENTLY POPPING HER LIPS. She was waiting for her turn to study it with her own... resources. "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract." Bruce observed. "But it's gonna take weeks to process."

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around six hundred teraflops."

Bruce chuckled, pulling the device away. "All I packed was a toothbrush." They both looked on with interest as Mal's eyes turned black, her pupils igniting a red that matched the now-glowing gem between her brows. Her power seemed to emerge directly from her; smoky tendrils that reached out to brush against the sceptre. The blue stone flickered, responding immediately. "What are you getting?"

She shook her head. "It's hard to tell without the Tesseract here to compare, but Kallian's right about the magical energy signature."

Tony shrugged. "Of course she is." Mal shot him a curious look. "You know, I did listen to some of my dad's ramblings about the war. Dr. Kallie Johnson was more than a scientific inspiration. Her work on Capsicle was even more revolutionary than Erskine's." He glanced up at Banner. "You know, you should come to Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's candy land."

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke... Harlem."

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises." He stabbed him lightly with a small electrical stick, eliciting an 'ow' but nothing more. 

"Hey." Snapped a new voice. 

"Nothing?"

Steve strode in, an irritated look on his face. "Are you nuts?"

"Jury's out." Tony looked at Bruce. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve glared. 

"Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offence, Doc."

"No, it's alright." Banner assured him. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

Tony smirked as he moved towards another table. "You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut."

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark." Steve piped up. 

"You think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think he's hiding something?"

"He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets."

"He's got a point." Mal offered. 

"Thank you." He nodded at Bruce. "It's bugging him too. Isn't it?"

"Uhh... I just wanna finish my work in here and-"

"Doctor?" Steve frowned. 

He sighed. "'A warm light for all mankind', Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."

He nodded. "I heard it."

"Well, I think that was meant for you." He pointed to Tony, who offered blueberries. He snagged a couple, then proceeded. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly..." He trailed off at Mal's snickering. "...building in New York?"

"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?"