They all watched Loki in his cage with Nick from the controls room. "A mindless beast", Loki said. "Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?" "How desperate am I?" Nick replied. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did".

"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is"

"Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something"

They shut off the camera. "He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Grace said. "Loki's gonna drag this out", Steve said. "So, Thor, what's his play?" "He has an army called the Chitauri", Thor explained. "They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract".

"An army from outer space"

"So, he's building another portal", Bruce said. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for". "Selvig?" Thor said.

"He's an astrophysicist"

"He's a friend"

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours", Natasha said. "I want to know why Loki let us take him", Steve said. "He's not leading an army from here". "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki", Bruce said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him". "Take care how you speak,'' Thor said. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother". "He killed 80 people in two days", Sadie stated.

"He's adopted"

"I think it's about the mechanics", Bruce said. "Iridium... What do they need the iridium for?" "It's a stabilising agent", Tony said, entering the room with Agent Coulson. "I'm just saying, pick a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive". Grace rolled her eyes. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD", he continued. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing. Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants. Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails. That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did. How does Fury even see these?" "He turns", Maria replied.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube"

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Grace asked. "He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier". "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect", Tony added.

"Well, if we could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet"

"Finally, someone who speaks English"

"Is that what just happened?"

"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster"

"Thanks"

"Dr Banner is only here to track the Cube", Nick said, entering the room. "I was hoping you might join him". "I would start with that stick of his", Steve suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon".

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys"

"Monkeys? I do not understand", Thor said. "I do", Steve blurted. "I understood that reference". "Shall we play, Doctor?" Tony asked Bruce. "This way, sir", Bruce replied and they went to his lab.

In the lab, Tony poked Bruce. Noticing this, Steve and Grace rushed in. "Hey!" Steve called out. "Nothing?" Tony asked Bruce. "Are you nuts?" Grace asked him.

"Jury's out. You really have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?"

"Funny things are"

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny", Steve pointed out. "No offence, Doc". "It's alright, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things", Bruce replied. "You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut", Tony said. "And you need to focus on the problem, Mr Stark", Steve said.

"Do you think I'm not? Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables"

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Grace asked him.

"He's a spy. He's "the" spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him, too. Isn't it?"

"Uh...", Bruce stuttered. "I just want to finish my work here, and..."

"Doctor?" Grace said.

"A warm light for all mankind." Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube"

"We heard it"

"Well, I think that was meant for you, Tony"

Tony offered him one of his blueberries and he took one. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news", Bruce continued. "The Stark Tower? That big, ugly building in New York?" Steve said. Tony and Grace glared at him. "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source", Bruce said. "That building will run itself for, what, a year?" "It's just the prototype", Grace said. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now", Tony said, Grace cleared her throat. "We are the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at". "So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Bruce asked. "What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files"

"I'm sorry. Did you say...", Steve began.

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around"

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome"

"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"

"Following's not really my style"

"And you're all about style, aren't you?"

"Of the people in this room, which one is, A, wearing a spangly outfit, and, B, not of use?"

"Steve, tell me none of this seems a little off to you", Grace said. "Just find the Cube", he said and left the room.

Steve stopped in the hallway and caught Rachel's eye. He motioned her over. She looked confused but walked over. "What's up?" she asked.

"Come with me" 

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