MIRACULUM 𖤐 THE AVENGERS

02. BIG BLUE CUBE

CHAPTER TWO
❛ BIG BLUE CUBE ❜

     SHE GOT OUT OF THE jet, careful of the new surroundings, Nick had told her that she would have a safe room isolated from other rooms, which made her feel a tiny bit better about being there.

     She looked lost, Nick had already went inside to deal with other things he had to. She might be a scientist but she'd never been on a helicarrier in the middle of the ocean.

     Right then was another jet landing, she was caught off guard by a certain redhead behind her, "First time here?" She said. Jane gasped at her and quickly laughed it off, "Yeah, you scared me there."

     "Come with me, Fury told me you'd be here." She said. "That was fast." She mumbled under her breath. She followed her as she had no idea where she is. "My name is Natasha Romanoff, welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D." She said not taking a look back at Jane. "Jane Andrews." She said in return.

     They were walking towards the jet which has just landed earlier. "Agent Romanoff," a man wearing sunglasses called out to her, "this is Captain Rogers." The man said pointing at a man who looked very old-fashioned. "Ma'am." The man said. "Hi," Natasha replied, "they need you on the bridge, they're starting the face-trace." She told the agent. "See you there." He replied as he made his way to the bridge.

     "Captain, this is Jane Andrews. She's a potential scientist." Natasha introduced. Jane shook his hand, "Steve Rogers." He said and she nodded at him.

     "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." She said, as she continued to walk. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon." She added.

     "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" She asked him and realization struck Jane, she had no idea that Steve Rogers was Captain America — who her mom idolized as a child. "Trading cards?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow. "They're vintage. He's very proud."

     "Dr. Banner," Steve called, putting his hand out for the doctor to shake. "Oh, yeah, hi. They told me you were coming." He shook his hand.

     "Word is you can find the cube," Steve said. "Is that the only word on me?" The doctor asked. "Only word I care about."

     "Jane Andrews," Jane put her hand out, "I'll be helping you in the lab, I guess." He took her hand. "Bruce Banner."

     "Ladies and gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute," Natasha broke off our little introduction, "it's going to get a little hard to breathe." She stood.

     Jane quickly stood by her side. "Why, what's happening?" She asked cautiously. The two men were confused as she was. 'Flight crew, secure the deck' a voice said, sirens were heard. Natasha took Jane's hand, "It's gonna be okay, just take a few deep breaths." She whispered to her.

     "Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

     "Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?" Bruce scoffed.

     Natasha had a smile on her face which sent a little wave of comfort to Jane. The helicarrier was warming up. "Oh, no, this is much worse." Bruce said, his voice full of sarcasm as the carrier took off.

✿

     "Gentlemen," Nick Fury made his way to where the captain and doctor were — stopped midway by Steve giving him 10 dollars. "Doctor, thank you for coming." He said. "Thanks for asking nicely," Bruce replied, "so, how long am I staying?" He asked.

     "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." He answered. "Where are you with that?" Bruce nodded.

     "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible cameras on the planet. Cellphones, laptops, if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Phil answered. "That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha said from behind, crouching next to a picture of the compromised man.

     "You have to narrow your field," Bruce added, "how many spectrometers do you have access to?" Bruce said. "How many are there?" Nick replied.

     "Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." Bruce said as he took off his coat and folded it in his hands. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."

     Jane was mentally taking notes as she wanted to be a scientist but never had a chance. Helping them find this big blue box they call the Tesseract was one chance for her to actually do what's shes good at for good.

     "Do you have somewhere for me to work?" The doctor asked. "Agent Romanoff, please show Dr. Banner and Miss Andrews where they'll be working at." Nick said.

     "You're gonna love it doc, we've got all the toys." Natasha said as she led Jane and the doctor to the laboratory.

✿

     "Not one for talking are you?" Bruce said across the lab. "Huh? Uh, yeah, I didn't mean to seem quiet, sorry." Jane replied from her working station. "Don't apologize." The doctor chuckled. "Sorry." She apologized once again.

     After a few seconds working on the tracking algorithm, Jane decided to start a small talk while they do so. "What do you think they're doing?"

     "In Germany? I don't know, finding Loki I guess." He answered. "Loki, the one they call a norse god?" Jane asked. "No, I wouldn't say he's a god," he said, "just, a very, very insane person."

     Minutes passed when they were working at the lab, they captured Loki, passing through the lab to get to the cell.

      Loki looked at the doctor with a sinister grin plastered on his face as he passed by. "What was that all about?" Jane questioned. "I don't know, I told you, he's insane." Bruce replied.

     "So, what brought you on board?" He asked her.

     "I just wanted to help, I guess." She sighed. "Don't we all?" He said.

✿

     "Ant," Nick gestured to Loki's cage, "boot." He pointed to the controller system for the cage. Loki laughed. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." He grinned. "Built for something a lot stronger than you." Nick corrected.

     "Oh, I've heard." Loki smiled, turning to the camera. "A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man." He said. "And not to mention you brought another monster on board? And don't worry, I'll make sure I'll get my hands on her." He added.

     By this time Jane's focus was fixed on Loki. How the hell is she gonna keep in control on this plane? What was she thinking? Has she lost her mind?

     "How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" Loki taunted.

     "How desperate am I?" Nick walked closer to his cell. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun." He stood firmly in front of him. "You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

     "Oh, it burns you to have come so close, to have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power, and for what?" Loki scoffed. "A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is."

     "Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something."