TOXIC ~ STEVE ROGERS [1]

Chapter Twenty One

The next morning, I met Rogers in the hallway next to the warehouse we had discovered yesterday. I wore my hooded suit, feeling a lot better even after only a few hours of sleep.

We said nothing as we retrieved a sample of guns from the crate we had opened earlier, and walked back through the ship to the lab. We stopped outside the door.

"I'll go in, and you wait out here. Ok?" I said to Rogers, before waltzing into the lab, where Tony and Banner stood.

"Keight," Banner acknowledged, his face downcast. I slipped over to Tony and kept my voice low.

"What's wrong with Banner?" I whispered.

"Last night, when you and Rogers were AWOL, Romanoff talked to Loki. Found out he wants to unleash the big guy," Tony said quietly, being considerate of Banner behind us.

"The big guy?" I questioned. I didn't quite understand.
"The Hulk," Tony answered.

"Oh, right, yeah," I said, thinking how stupid I was to miss that. I wandered over to Banners workspace. I trailed my hands over the table, admiring Loki's glittering gold scepter on the table.

"Your program pick anything up Tony?" I asked loudly.

"I'd say we got something," Tony winked at me. Banner looked between us.

"You're on first name basis now, that's nice. When did that happen?" Banner said.

"Last night," Tony replied, swiping across a transparent screen.
"Yeah," I grinned. "I showed him what I could do with my hands."

My comment earned a snort of laughter from Tony, a look of disgust from Banner and a weird growl noise that came from Rogers outside the door, that I'm sure no one else heard. I patted Banner's arm.

"Don't worry I'm kidding. Although, I did use my hands to destroy a few of SHEILD'S practice targets," I lowered my voice and leaned in towards.

"Rogers and I found something last night that might interest you," I whispered, just as Fury strode into the room.

"What are you doing, Mr Stark?" Fury said angrily. Tony leaned against the table next to me. I crossed my arms.

"Uh...kind of been wondering the same as you," he mused.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tessaract." Fury scolded. He was a little bit terrifying when he was angry, I had decided. But I really didn't want to get on his bad side, seeing as he knew the truth about me.

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile," Banner replied, looking calm and collected which was the opposite of what I felt.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," he swept his hand across the hanging screen he had been working on just before.

"What is PHASE 2?" He asked boldly.

Suddenly, a hand slammed one of the crate guns on the table, and Rogers spoke up, his tone cold and angry.

"PHASE 2 is SHEILD uses the cube to make weapons," he looked over at Tony.
"Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow." Fury looked around at us, his gaze landing on me.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tessaract. This does not mean that we are..."

"I'm sorry Nick," Tony said sarcastically, before moving the screen towards Fury.

"And I don't think it's a coincidence that these weapons need an external power source, and when the Tessaract stolen, I was bought in as part of this 'team'. From what I see, this team has enough muscle on its own. So why am I here?" I glowered at Fury, my voice dripping with vemon. Tony looked at me with pride.

"Why were you lying?" Tony challenged.

"I was wrong, director. The world hadn't changed a bit." Rogers spat.

At that moment, Natasha and Thor walked into the lab. Natasha had her eyes on Banner, but Banner's returned gaze was less than friendly.

"Did you know about this?" He asked angrily.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha said. Banner chuckled.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you" Natasha warned. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but think Loki on the mountain.

"And where have you been, exactly?" I asked. Natasha ignored me.

"You didn't come here because I battered my eyelashes at you," she said.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHEILD is using the Tessaract to build weapons of mass destruction," Banner said firmly. My eyes flicked to the screen in front if Fury. My anger built.

"And I wanna know why my name is in your PHASE 2 files," I spouted, pointing at the file. Fury didn't change his expression, but when I looked at Natasha she looked guiltily at me.

"Because of him," Fury said, pointing his finger at Thor.

"Me?" Thor said stunned.

"Last year we had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levels a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned," Fury said.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor said, looking intensely at Fury. Fury stared back.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people that can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

Furys statement sparked rage in me. I stepped forward, my eyes glowing.

"People like me, right? Is that why you bought me here? To control me?" I spat at him. Rogers came to my rescue, agreeing with me.

"Like you controlled the cube?" He said icily.

"Your work with the Tessaract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war," Thor said seriously. Rogers cocked his head.

"A higher form?"

Fury looked with anger at Thor.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."

I threw my hands up in the air and groaned loudly. Banner noticed me, but stayed tuned in to the conversation. I could have kept listening. Instead, I made my way over to the screen that still showed the files from PHASE 2. There was a folder with my name on it, and in my rage I tapped on it.

The file was large, and very extensive. A detailed analysis of my abilities. Ways to enhance them. Potential weaknesses. I couldn't believe that had come up with all of that within a few days. But as I moved onto the second page, it wasn't about my abilities anymore. There were my school grades, examples of my work, an analysis of my fight patterns, my IQ, pictures of my apartment, hanging out with Bri and Max. I made my way through the files, and they went further and further back, right back to pictures of me at the airport, staying in my hotel and finding Bri in the cafeteria when I first arrived.

They been monitoring me ever since I arrived in New York.

And within every file were reports on my health, my blood, brain activity recorded on sensors in my room. Reports on physical appearance, behavioral changes, and changes in speed and strength.

Which meant they knew that I would eventually gain powers.
They knew even before I did.

Authors Note
So, SHEILD isn't what she thought it was. Who will she turn to? Steve, or Loki?