Umbra

Chapter Eleven

"Doctor Banner... put down the sceptre."

Bruce looked down, his expression shocked as he realised he has the sceptre grasped tightly in his hand. He looked back up, finally realising that Natasha, Fury and Grey all had their own hands on their guns. He slowly put it back down, and Grey saw everyone else visibly relax, but not her.

The one computer which had survived the previous blackout suddenly sparked into life, sending out a sharp alert. Tony moved from Grey's side to the computer, his eyes lighting up. "Got it."

"Sorry kids," Bruce mumbled as he looked over Tony's shoulder at the screen. "You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

"You've located the Tesseract?" Grey asked, her body tingling in anticipation.

Tony nodded, a determined look on his face. "I can get there fastest."

"Look all of us-" Steve started, but Thor interrupted him. "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

Grey watched as Tony scoffed and turned to leave, but Steve stepped in front of him to stop him. "You're not going alone!"

"You gonna stop me?" Tony raised his eyebrows.

Steve moved closer to Tony, sizing him up. "Put on the suit, let's find out." Grey moved to them, shaking her head.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony quipped. Steve looked furious.

"Put on the suit."

Grey wedged herself between the two men, pushing them apart with her hands. As he felt her hand on his chest, Tony squirmed as an electric shock travelled through his arc reactor. He gasped slightly when he did it, his hand moving to clasp onto hers. Grey didn't notice, instead focused on staring down Steve, who was still bristly. "Stop it. Now. We have bigger problems to worry about."

"You keep defending him." Steve growled, looking back at Tony.

"Because you keep attacking him." Grey shot back fiercely. Tony and Steve both started arguing once again, before Bruce abruptly said in fear.

"Oh my God!"

Suddenly an explosion wracked the Helicarrier, a deafening reverberation following it. The team were thrown in every direction. Natasha and Bruce were both launched out of the room into a low hanging storage unit, out of sight. Grey was slammed against one of the desks, a pained groan escaping her lips

. Tony winced as he scrambled up, looking around for her. "Grey!" As he watched, she flickered in and out of vision before disappearing completely. Steve clapped him on the shoulder, demanding his attention.

"Put on the suit!"

Tony was dazed, and he looked back at where Grey had been laying, before nodding absentmindedly. "Yeah." Steve helped him up, before they both rushed out of the lab. Grey coughed from her spot, and she faintly came back into view.

"Lady Grey!" Thor, who had been thrown back into one of the walls, quickly moved over to Grey. A drop of blood fell from her nose, which she wiped away defiantly with her hand.

"I'm okay." She let Thor help her up, but at the touch of his hand, Grey felt a shockwave of electricity travel through her body. With a yelp, she pulled herself away, holding her hand to her chest in panic. Thor stared at her with a grave expression, before he pulled her to him again.

"We do not speak of this now. Wait until after the battle." He let her go again, before he looked back at Fury and spoke to him. "Lady Grey and I will go and ensure Loki is secure." Fury waved them off as he yelled orders down his earpiece.