TOXIC ~ STEVE ROGERS [1]

Chapter Eighteen

"What are you doing here?" Rogers snapped. I held my hands up in mock defense.

"Eavesdropping, obviously," I said rolling my eyes. Rogers had his arms folded over his chest and stood in front of me.

"Why?" Rogers interrogated. I lowered my hands, and started wandering the room, hoping my false confidence would seem real.

"Because, I don't trust anyone on this ship, aside from Dr Banner here," I said, poking instruments here and there.

"Uh, why only me?" Banner stuttered awkwardly. I felt a little bit bad for him.

"Because you're a) not a spy, b) I can't smell freedom radiating off you, c) you're not alien and d) you're not Tony Stark," I listed off, spinning some kind of dial.

"Thanks," Banner said unsurely.
"And why should we trust you? You said yourself you're a criminal," Rogers spouted. I sighed.

"I was a criminal. Not any more. And apparently I'm never finishing art school either." I spun around. I saw recognition in Stark's eyes.

"You're the photography girl. The one who took that picture of the Ironman landing in my tower," Stark said chomping on blueberries. I mock bowed in front of him.

"You know each other?" Rogers asked, looking between us.
"I sold him a picture. He sent someone to pick it up and gave me a check for $500," I said simply. Stark stared at me.

"Mmmm," he said. Then he gestured to me with his hand, swallowing his food.

"You look good, by the way. Very good," Stark turned to Rogers. "Don't you think she looks good?" Now it was Rogers turn to look awkward. He crossed his arms tighter and shifted on his feet.

"Yes, very good," he said, looking everywhere but at me. I leaned up against a bench and crossed my own arms.

"Thanks, but that isn't what we should be talking about," I said, trying to steer the conversation away from me. "None of us trust SHIELD. And like Stark said, it's bugging him too," I said, nodding in Banner's direction. All the attention was on Banner, and he seemed to shrink into himself.

"Doctor? A beat," Rogers said. Banner shifted on his feet.

"A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the cube." We all nodded at his words.

"I heard it," Rogers replied. Banner pointed at Stark with a screwdriver.
"Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn't post that all over the news." It took me a few seconds to realize what he was saying.

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly-" Rogers stopped when Stark gave him a withering look. "-building in New York?" Banner nodded.

"It's powered by arc reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?" Stark nodded in mock humility.

"That's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. Apart from you," he gestured at me. I rolled my eyes.

"So why didn't SHEILD bring him in on the Tessaract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Banner had a good point. I was beginning to wonder if SHIELD had brought me in for more than just some mission.

"I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files." Stark mused. Rogers looked shocked.

"I'm sorry, did you say...?" I clicked my fingers. All eyes were on me.

"The small metal disk on Furys desk. I saw you place it there earlier," I said to Stark. He looked impressed.

"Wait you knew about this?" Rogers said seriously. I shrugged.

"I didn't know what it was but I guessed it was some kind of hacking device. I wasn't about to rat on him either. I'm curious about what SHEILD is hiding." Rogers glared at me.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we'll know every dirty secret SHEILD has ever tried to hide," Star held out a silver bag. "Blueberry?" He offered. "Don't mind if I do," I said, taking a handful.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" Rogers snarked, looking with disapproval at both Stark and I.

"An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible." Stark said. I popped a blueberry on my mouth.

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them," Rogers was getting riled up now, and I could see a muscle tick in his jaw.

"Following is not really my style," Stark stepped forward. The tension was blaring between the two men, and I glanced over at Banner who returned my gaze with wide eyes.

Rogers smiled sweetly, and it was terrifying.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" He said. Stark looked offended.

"Of the people in this room, which one is a) wearing a spangly outfit and b) not of use?" Stark retorted.

I raised my hand.
"Does that mean I'm useful?" I said smiling. Stark pointed at me.

"You are very useful to me, yes. Plus, I like you a lot." He commented. Stark and Rogers stared at each other. Banner broke the silence.

"Steve, tell me none if this smells a little funky to you?" Rogers stepped back, his face contemplating the possibility he might be wrong. But I could tell he wouldn't think about it much. He was the ever loyal soldier, and soldiers didn't question their orders. Only followed them through.

"Just find the cube." He said coldly and strode out the room. The door shut behind him. I whistled.

"He needs to get out more," I said, spinning around to see Stark and Banner.

"He's still stuck in the 1940's. I guess things were simpler back then," Banner said, continuing with his work. I looked over at Stark.

"I'm not really that useful, am I?" I said. He grinned.

"In the lab? No. But I like you more than I like Capsicle," Stark said, playing with some kind of land equipment. I sighed.

"I'm gonna go see what he's up to," I said, moving towards the door.
"See you around Keight," Banner waved.

"You too Banner," I said before waltzing out of the lab, Captain America on my mind.

Authors Note
Captain America on her mind....