It's Been a Long, Long Time

08

Steve and Frank walked out of the lab. Still torn apart by the possibility, they walked away, towards the hull of the ship.

BACK IN THE LAB

"Those are guys my dad never shut up about?" Tony said. "Wondering if they shouldn't have kept them on ice."

"The guys aren't wrong about Loki," Bruce replied. "He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does."

"And I'll read all about it."

"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up like the rest of us."

"Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"You know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." He pointed at the mini-arc reactor in his chest. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor. It's a... terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different." Bruce tried to read the computer screen, but Tony slid the data aside with his finger so the two could see face-to-face.

"Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

Tony paused a beat. "I guess we'll find out."

Bruce and Tony got back to work at their respective computers.

"You might not like that," Bruce told him.

"You just might," Tony replied.

INT. HULL HANGAR, SECURE STORAGE 10-C ­- NIGHT

Steve and Frank, with all their might, slid the heavy iron door and stealthily walked in. SECURE STORAGE 10-C was a large warehouse, filled with stacked metal crates. Steve and Frank looked up, seeing another level. They leapt up high and held onto the catwalk railing. Steve and Frank continued moving forward.

INT. VAN­ - NIGHT

Selvig and a few other soldiers were driving inside a long tunnel. With the CMS device inside, Selvig carefully picked up the small cylinder shape iridium with metal prongs and lightly placed it in a slot within the CMS. The CMS accepted it. Selvig looked at it with a devilish smile.

INT. BRIEFING ROOM ­- NIGHT

On a S.H.I.E.L.D. monitor, there was a photo and record of Jane Foster. Thor looked at her, remembering. With him was Agent Coulson.

"As soon as Loki took the doctor we moved Jane Foster," Coulson said. "We've got an excellent observatory in Tromso. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe."

"Thank you," Thor replied. "It's no accident Loki taking Erik Selvig; I dread what he plans for him once he's done. Erik is a good man."

"He talks about you a lot. You changed his life. You changed everything around here."

"They were better as they were. We pretend on Asgard that we're more advanced, but we... we come here battling like Bilchsnipe."

"Like what?"

"Bilchsnipe? You know; huge, scaly, big antlers. You don't have those?"

"Don't think so."

"They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path." He walked over to the side of the ship and looked out the window, lamenting about what had happened and what may come. "When I first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here and your people paid the price. And now again. In my youth I courted war."