A Light in the Dark (An Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 5- A Discussion in a Lab

Chapter 5- A Discussion in a Lab

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports of the Tesseract,” Bruce said as he scanned Loki’s scepter. “But, it’s going to take weeks to process.”

“If we bypass their main frame and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops,” Tony said as he started tinkering with his personal computer.

“All I packed was a toothbrush,” Bruce said.

Stark crossed the lab, making his way towards Bruce. “You know, you should come by 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,” Bruce replied, still working on the scepter. I started to make my way over to the pair, so I could cross-reference the readings from Selvig’s report with those from the S.H.I.E.L.D. database.

“Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises,” as Tony said surprises, he jabbed Bruce in the side with an electrified rod.

“Ow,” Bruce said.

“Stark,” I said, warningly.

At the same time, Steve came in the room. I felt my heart skip a beat when I saw those cool blue eyes glance at me. Wow, he sure was cute, even when he was slightly pissed. “Hey!”

“Nothing?” Stark asked Bruce, perplexed.

“Are you nuts?” Steve asked, walking up to Tony.

“Jury’s out,” Stark retorted half-heartedly, all of his attention still trained on drawing out the Hulk. “You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow Jazz? Bongo Drums? Big bag of weed?”

I snickered at his last guess. “Is everything a joke to you?” Steve asked Tony.

“Funny things are,” Tony said.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny,” Steve said, his gaze flickering to me as he said ‘everyone’. “No offense, Doc.” He added on at the last second.

“It’s all right, I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things,” Bruce said.

“You’re tip-toing, big man. You need to strut,” Stark said, walking around the lab table.

“Well, it’s obvious that he doesn’t want to strut,” I said, standing up for Bruce.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark,” Cap said right after me.

“You think I’m not?” Stark asked. “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 Fury’s hiding something?” Steve asked, getting a cute, puzzled look on his face.

“Well, he is a spy,” I said.

“No, he’s the spy. His secrets have secrets,” Tony corrected. “It’s bugging him, too. Isn’t it?” He said, motioning over to Bruce.

“Uh…” Bruce said, flustered. “I just want to finish my work here, and…”

“Doctor?” Steve asked, cutting Bruce off.

He sighed. “’A warm light for all mankind.’ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube,” Bruce said.

“We heard it,” Steve replied.