He chuckles and motions for me to follow him. We come around another corner but are stopped short by a large door with a very official sign that says "SECURE STORAGE" and is clearly locked and only accessible by keypad.
"This looks promising," I whisper.
He grins and works his fingers into the seam of the door. He pulls and I can see his muscles straining. The door creaks and then suddenly releases with a dull clank. We're in. He widens the gap just enough for us to slip through and we find ourselves in a huge storage room. Boxes and compartments line the walls in addition to the multiple levels of stairs and walkways. This could take a while.
"We should probably start in the back," Steve reasons. "They'd put the most important stuff farthest from the door."
"I don't have any better ideas," I say and we climb up a level and walk all the way to the back corner.
Steve picks a box and slams his fist into the lock. I wince, hearing his knuckles crack. He might heal fast but you'd think it would hurt! The lock breaks easily and he lifts the lid. I can't believe my eyes.
Guns. Big ones. And helmets and gas masks and grenades. All top of the line and boxed up, ready to go. Steve just stares down like he can't really believe it.
"Did you know about this?" I ask him quietly.
"Stark and Banner had suspicions," he replies, "but I wasn't willing to wait for a computer to tell me the answers."
I nod. He's a very hands-on guy and likes to do things himself. Plus I'm not sure I would've trusted the computer, even if Bruce was running it. But seeing it here, holding the gun in my hands, there is no doubt in my mind that SHIELD has started some kind of large-scale military operation. This many firearms is not just a precaution.
"We should take this back to Stark and Bruce," I say slowly. "They'll want to see it."
Suddenly my intercom crackles with Natasha's voice. "Loki plans to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well."
I look at Steve in horror. "We have to get to the lab!" I exclaim.
He does not reply but he grabs the biggest gun in the crate and we sprint out of storage and down the hall to the lab. We've made it just after Director Fury.
"What is Phase 2?" Stark is questioning him as we walk in.
Steve thumps the gun onto the table as Fury starts to make excuses.
"Phase 2 is SHEILD uses the Cube to make weapons," he states flatly.
"Now, Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract and that was just-" Fury starts but Stark cuts him off.
"I'm sorry Nick, what were you lying?" he asks innocently and spins his screen around to show the blueprints and records he'd just broken into. Natasha and Thor have arrived; Natasha makes a beeline for Bruce.
"You wanna think about removing yourself from this situation, Doctor?" she says quickly.
He scoffs. "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."
"Loki is manipulating you," she stares him down but he doesn't flinch.
"And you've been doing what, exactly?" he fires back.
"You didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you," she's getting angry now.
"No, and I'm not leaving because you get a little twitchy," Bruce replies evenly. "I want to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction!"
We're all getting pretty angry and I can see Fury grinding his teeth together. I'm about to step forward and calm a few people down when he says something completely unexpected.
"Because of him." We all look up; he's pointing at Thor.
Now I'm super confused. Apparently so is Thor.
"Me?" he says disbelievingly.
"Last year Earth had a visitor from another world who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," explains Fury. "We knew then that not only are we not alone but we're hopelessly and hilariously outgunned-"
"-by people who want nothing but peace with your planet!" interjects Thor.
"Yes but you're not the only people out there are you?" Fury shoots back. "And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can't be controlled."
"What, like you control the Cube?" Steve says.
Natasha gets in the middle of things. "Are you boys really that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats!"
"Captain America is on the threat list?" Bruce asks incredulously.
"We all are," she sniffs back.
Everyone begins talking over each other and I move into the background to look at the scanners. They're 85% complete. So close! If only everyone would just stop talking! I look up to get everyone's attention but Fury is already moving to take charge of the situation. He steps forward to confront the biggest threat in this room.
"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner to his-"
"Where?" Bruce butts in, "you rented my room!"
Fury holds up his hands trying to calm everyone down. "The cell was just in case-"
But Bruce is having none of it. "-in case you had to kill me, but you can't! I know, I've tried!"
Everyone goes silent. I freeze and stare at him. At that moment he looks so vulnerable. My heart goes out to him. He immediately looks sorry he's said it but you can't stuff your words back into your mouth once they're out.
So he shrugs. "I got low. I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So you wanna know my secret Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"
He's getting so angry now; I wrench my eyes from his face and look down to see his hand clenching the scepter. Everyone else spies it too.
"Dr. Banner," Steve says gently but firmly, "put down the scepter."
Bruce looks down at his hand like he's surprised to see the scepter there, but as he looks back up the scans beep. I glance down. 100% complete. Bruce plunks the scepter back onto the table and joins me at the screen. The computer narrows in on his results and I gasp. But then the room explodes.
*****Author's Note*****
Yay cliffhangers! Haha but if you've already seen the movie you basically know what happens.
Idk when the next chapter is coming but it's soon I promise(hope).
Please keep sharing my story and don't forget to vote and comment feedback!!
