CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
PHASE 2

OLIVIA HAD FORCED HERSELF TO be distracted for the rest of the day as Tony and Bruce messed around with whatever they were doing. She had no clue what Steve was doing, only passing by him the halls upon noticing the angry look that crossed his face after exiting the lab where the two scientists had been. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she wondered what it was that Tony had done now. However, Olivia found herself heading towards the cell in which Loki was being held, stopping upon noticing Natasha was already inside. And she couldn't help but listen to their conversation.

     "There's not many people that can sneak up on me." Loki told the red haired assassin who stood there looking at him with no emotion on her face.

     "But you figure I'd come." Natasha took note, and the god only smiled at her.

     "After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate." Loki answered, turning around and walking towards the direction in which Natasha stood on the other side of the glass.

     "I want to know what you've done to agent Barton." Natasha simply answered him, her hands hanging down by her sides.

     "I'd say I've expanded his mind." Loki responded.

     "And once you've won." Natasha spoke. "Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?" She walks forwards a few steps before crossing her arms over her chest and keeping her eyes on the god.

     "Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki questioned with amusement.  

     "Love is for children. I owe him a debt." Natasha plainly answered him. That was all Olivia needed to hear, for her heart seemed to crack slightly in her chest as she clenched her jaw before exhaling and turning on her heel. She made her way back towards the lab, entering and offering the two scientists a small smile as she hoped onto one of the desks that they weren't using.

     "Wolfie, glad you could join us." Tony told the female.

     "I'm sure you are, Stark." She sarcastically replied. She had been forced to work with the man in the past, and he was a pain in the ass, but the two had a weird and very sarcastic relationship that took place between them. She noticed the tesseract on one of the screens along with something else that made her cock her head to the side as she raised an eyebrow at the man. "I've chosen the wrong time to enter the lab, haven't I?" Just as she said those words, Fury entered, seemingly angry. "That would be a yes," She mumbled under her breath.

     The wolf put her hands up in defense before saying, "What ever happened, it wasn't me. I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

     "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury questioned.

     "Uh. . . kind of been wondering the same thing about you." Tony lightly answered.

     "You're supposed to be locating the tesseract." Fury states.

     "We are. The models locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." Bruce spoke.

     "And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," Tony continued. The monitor to left of Olivia beeped and a collection of 'SECRET FILES' popped up. She cocked her head slightly.

     "What's PHASE 2?" Olivia asked looking at the screen, then to Fury raising an eyebrow. As far as she remembered, she had absolutely no knowledge of whatever this "PHASE 2" was. And Fury knew she hated it when things were hidden from her. That's when Steve suddenly stormed in the lab and drops an unknown weapon onto the table.

     "PHASE 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons." Steve explains with rage.

     "Is that why you looked angry when coming out of the lab earlier?" Olivia questioned the blonde who just glanced at her in acknowledgement before turning back towards Tony.

     "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me," Steve told the billionaire.

     Fury looked between Steve and Olivia―︎who was looking at him with a clenched jaw and an expectant eyebrow―︎before saying, "We gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're―︎"

     "I'm sorry Nick," Tony interrupts moving the screen to face Fury, "what were you lying?"

     That's when Thor and Natasha both walk into the lab. Natasha looks straight at Banner, and Banner looks at her, clearly angry before asking, "Did you know about this?"

     "You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha responded, calmly.

"He was in Calcutta, he was pretty well removed." Olivia defended the man, looking at the woman with a slightly hurt look in her eyes from the words she had spoken earlier. Natasha looked at the woman with a frown, utterly confused as to wear her attitude towards her had come from before she ignored the dark haired woman and turned back towards Bruce.

     "Loki's manipulating you." Natasha tried.

     "And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce asked the redhaired woman.

     "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." Natasha snapped at him.

      "And I'm not leaving because you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Bruce snaps back.

     "Because of him," Fury says, pointing at Thor.

      "Me?" Thor asked confused.

      "Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We found out that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned." Fury explained to the man.

     "My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor quickly told the man.

      "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 who can't be matched, they can't be controlled." Fury tells the blonde god.

      "Like you controlled the cube?" Steve questioned angrily.

     "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war." Thor scolded.

     "Higher form?" Steve asked looking at Thor.

     "You forced our hand we had to come up with something." Fury shot back.

     "Nuclear Deterrent, 'cause that always calms everything down." Tony stated.

     "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury said to Tony. Olivia looked between the two and just gave up on trying to calm the argument down, reaching from Tony's blueberries and munching on them as if they were popcorn and she was watching a drama.

     "I'm sure if he still made―︎" Steve started.

      "Wait, hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony asked pointing to himself.

     "I'm sorry isn't everything?" Steve asked.

     "I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor commented.

     Olivia chuckled in amusement, popping another blueberry in her mouth before saying, "Well, buddy, you thought wrong."

     "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow things up?" Fury asked Thor.

     "Did you always give your champions such mistrust?" Thor asked the man, slightly amused.

     "They're not my champions." Fury snapped at the god.

     "Are you boys really that naïve?" Natasha questioned, looking between them. "S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats."

     "Captain America's on a threat watch?" Bruce questioned.

     "We all are." Natasha told the man, agitated with the situation. Olivia continued to watch the several arguments that were all going on at once, her bag of stolen blueberries still placed in her hands.

     "You speak of control, yet you court chaos." Thor told the group, his arms crossed over his chest.

     "It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're. . . We're a time bomb." Bruce told them.

     "You need to step away." Fury told the man.

     "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony questioned, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder. Steve was quick to slap his hand off.

     "You know damn well why, back off!"

     "Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony challenged him.

     "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve asked, getting right up in the male's face.

     "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony simply answered.

     "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve hissed. "Yeah, I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

     "I think I would just cut the wire." Tony shrugged his shoulders, making Olivia roll her eyes.

     "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." Steve said dangerously low.

     "A hero? Like you?" Tony questioned. "You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!" Olivia winced at this, frowning deeply at the man's harsh words. Natasha went to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but Olivia moved away from her.

     "Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds." Steve challenged the man.

     Thor couldn't help but laugh at this. "You people are so petty, and tiny." Olivia's lips twitched at this.

     "Yeah, this is a team." Bruce mumbled.

     "Agent Romanoff, will you escort Dr. Banner back to his―︎"

     "Where?" Bruce cut Fury off. "You rented my room."

     "The cell was just in case―︎"

     "In case you need to kill me, but you can't. I know, I've tried." Bruce snapped, and suddenly the room became quiet. He glanced around before continuing, "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!" He turned his attention towards Natasha before saying, "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

     That's when Natasha and Fury both placed their hands on their guns, Natasha glancing warily at Olivia who was closest to the man, though she could see her claws replacing her natural nails. "Dr. Banner, put down the scepter." Steve told him.

     That's when the computer beside Olivia beeped, making her walk over to it whilst Bruce said, "Sorry kids, guess you don't get to see my party trick after all." Bruce put down the scepter and walked over to the computer, joining Olivia's side.

     "Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked and Olivia nodded her head towards the god.

     "I can get there faster." Tony announced, causing Olivia to roll her eyes.

     "Look all of us―︎" Steve started before Thor interrupted him.

     "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

     "You're not going alone!" Steve said to Tony who had turned and was about to leave.

     "You gonna stop me?" Tony challenged.

     "Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve challenged back.

     "I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

     Put on the suit." Steve said through gritted teeth.

     "Oh my god, will you two shut up?!" Olivia yelled at them, her eyes glowing before turning back to the screen. That's when their eyes suddenly widened, and just as Bruce yelled out, and explosion happened, sending everyone flying.