Across The Stars

Avengers

The Quinjet lands down a massive battleship known as the Helicarrier. It has two runways. One with direct access to a hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel. Agent Coulson and Steve walk down the ramp, meeting up with Natasha, Savannah and Serra. Coulson: Agent Romanoff, Agent Stark, and Agent Stark, Captain Rogers. Steve: Ma'ams? Natasha: Hi. She looks at Coulson. They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace. Savannah: Hey. Serra: Hello. 

Coulson: See you there. Coulson walks away, leaving Steve with Natasha, the pair walking towards the railing of the Helicarrier. Natasha: It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet? Steve: Trading cards? Natasha: They're vintage, he's very proud. Bruce Banner is seen walking around the ship, trying to stay out of the way while people walk in his way. 

Steve: Dr. Banner. The two walk up to each other and shake hands. Bruce: Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming. Steve: Word is you can find the cube. Bruce: Is that the only word on me? Steve: Only word I care about. Bruce: Takes in the sentiment. It must be strange for you, all of this. Steve: Looks off to where a group of men in training are running, remembering his days in the army.  Well, this is actually kind of familiar. Natasha: Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe. The Helicarrier starts to shake as it prepares to take "sail". Others aboard strap down planes and Quinjets in preparation. 

Steve: Is this a submarine? Bruce: Really? They wanted me in a submerged, pressurized metal container? The two both move closer to the edge of the Helicarrier. Four huge lift fans mounted on the sides starts to lift into the air as the ship takes flight. Steve watches in awe while Bruce just smiles. Bruce: Oh, no. This is much worse. The doors part and we enter the bridge of the ship. A flurry of activity, dozens of agents sit in front of their viewscreens. 

Agent Hill shouts instructions to leave. Nick Fury who is at the command chair. Hill: We're at lock, sir. Fury: Good. Let's vanish. The Helicarrier rises high into the heavens. Suddenly the entire ship is covered in reflecting mirrors, which then camouflages in the sky. Steve and Banner walk through the glorious, gleaming bridge. Fury: Gentlemen. Steve gives Fury 10 bucks, referring to his earlier statement about never being surprised again. 

Fury walks over Banner and extends his hand. Banner, reluctantly shakes it. Doctor, thank you for coming. Bruce: Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying? Fury: Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear. Bruce: Where are you with that? Nick Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha eyes an image of Clint Barton on a computer screen. Coulson: We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. 

Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us. Natasha: That's still not gonna find them in time. Bruce: You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to? Fury: How many are there? Bruce: Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof, and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work? Fury: Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please. Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall. Natasha: You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys.

Steve watches until the monitor goes black. Thor, who didn't even look, just listened, stands there, torn apart. They all just stand there in stunned silence. Finally. Banner: He really grows on you, doesn't he? Steve: Loki's gonna drag this out. Meela: So, Thor, what's his play?

Thor: He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract. Steve: An army? From outer space? Banner: So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for. Thor: Selvig? Banner: He's an astrophysicist. Thor: He's a friend. Natasha: Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.