[Captain America burst into the laboratory just as Banner was recovering from the shock, his footsteps heavy with purpose. "Hey!" he barked, his voice carrying the unmistakable authority of a military commander. "Are you nuts?" His expression reflected genuine concern rather than anger, his protective instincts kicking in for both Banner and everyone else on the helicarrier.]
[Tony continued staring at Banner's face with scientific curiosity, completely unfazed by Steve's interruption. "You really have got a lid on it, haven't you?" he observed, ignoring Captain America entirely. When Steve pressed forward, Tony finally acknowledged him with a dismissive glance: "You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut."]
[He turned back to Banner with genuine interest: "What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?" His rapid-fire questions were delivered with the casual air of someone discussing lunch options rather than containment strategies for one of the most powerful beings on the planet.]
[Captain America's jaw tightened with growing frustration at Tony's reckless behavior. "Is everything a joke to you?" he demanded, his 1940s sensibilities clearly offended by Stark's cavalier attitude toward potential danger.]
[Tony popped a blueberry into his mouth, his response flippant: "Funny things are." The casual shrug that accompanied his words only served to heighten Steve's irritation.]
["Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," Steve countered, his voice taking on a harder edge. Then, remembering his manners even in frustration, he turned to Banner with genuine respect: "No offense, Doctor."]
[Banner waved away the concern with practiced ease, a man accustomed to people walking on eggshells around him. "No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle..." he gestured vaguely at Tony's prod, "pointy things." His self-deprecating smile couldn't quite hide the weariness behind his eyes – the constant awareness of what he could become at any moment.]
[Tony moved around the laboratory table, his energy restless as always. "You're tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut!" The advice was delivered with characteristic Stark bravado, but beneath it lay something more genuine – a belief that Banner's condition didn't define him.]
[Captain America stepped forward, positioning himself more directly in Tony's line of sight, refusing to be dismissed. "And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." His tone made it clear this wasn't a suggestion but an order from someone used to being obeyed.]
[Tony reached for a silver packet of blueberries, tearing it open with practiced ease. "You think I'm not?" he challenged, popping a berry into his mouth. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before?" Each question was punctuated by a subtle shift in his expression, the gears of his brilliant mind visibly turning. "What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." His hands moved in quick, expressive gestures that betrayed the constant activity of his thoughts.]
[Captain America's eyes narrowed slightly, Tony's words striking a chord with his own nascent suspicions. "You think Fury's hiding something?" The question was both challenge and genuine inquiry – the tactical mind of a soldier recognizing potential intelligence.]
["He's a spy. Captain, he's THE spy. His secrets have secrets." Tony pointed accusingly with a blueberry before eating it. He gestured toward Banner who was working diligently at his station. "It's bugging him too, isn't it?"]
[Banner looked up, startled at being dragged into their confrontation. "Uh...I just wanna finish my work here and..." His natural inclination to avoid conflict evident in his hesitant response.]
["Doctor?" Steve pressed, sensing Banner might have insights worth hearing, his tone gentler than the one he used with Tony.]
[Banner sighed deeply, recognizing he couldn't remain neutral. He removed his glasses in a gesture that seemed almost defensive. "'A warm light for all mankind to share,'" he quoted, referencing Loki's earlier taunt to Fury. "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."]
[Steve nodded, recalling the exchange. "I heard it."]
[Banner pointed toward Tony with his glasses. "Well, I think that was meant for you." He accepted the offered bag of blueberries from Tony, their scientific minds already aligned despite having just met. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."]
["The Stark Tower?" Steve interjected, his expression slightly dubious. "That big ugly..." He caught himself, but not before Tony's eyebrows shot up in indignation, "...building in New York?"]
[Banner continued, unperturbed by the slight tension: "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?" The scientific admiration in his voice was unmistakable as he popped a blueberry into his mouth.]
["It's just the prototype," Tony replied, momentarily forgetting his irritation with Steve in his enthusiasm for his technological achievement. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at." His pride was evident, but so was the genuine achievement behind it.]
[Banner's expression became more serious as he connected the dots. "So, why didn't SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" The questions hung in the air, pregnant with suspicion.]
[Tony moved toward another workstation, his agreement with Banner's assessment obvious. "I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files." The casual way he dropped this bombshell was pure Stark – treating a major security breach as casually as ordering coffee.]
[Steve's head snapped up, his expression a mixture of shock and disappointment. "I'm sorry, did you say...?"]
[Tony faced him directly, unapologetic and direct: "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." He extended the silver packet toward Steve with mock politeness. "Blueberry?"]
[Steve ignored the offered snack, his focus entirely on the ethical breach before him. "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around?" The question was rhetorical, tinged with the disappointment of someone who believed in doing things by the book.]
["An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome." Tony's dismissive tone made it clear he saw nothing wrong with his actions – in his mind, transparency was a virtue SHIELD clearly lacked.]
["I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve countered, his tactical mind assessing the bigger picture. "This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed." His posture straightened slightly, the soldier in him coming to the fore. "We have orders. We should follow them."]
[Tony's expression made it clear what he thought of that approach. "Following's not really my style," he retorted, munching another blueberry with deliberate casualness.]
[Steve's patience visibly thinned, his jaw tightening before he delivered a pointed assessment: "And you're all about style, aren't you?" The barb was aimed directly at Tony's well-known ego.]
[Tony's response was immediate, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Of the people in this room, which one is A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?" The challenge was direct – a questioning of Steve's relevance in a world of advanced technology and supernatural threats.]
[Banner glanced between them uncomfortably, caught in the crossfire of clashing personalities and eras. "Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" He posed the question gently, genuinely curious about whether the Captain's famous moral compass was detecting anything amiss.]
[Steve hesitated, clearly weighing the questions they'd raised against his instinct to trust the chain of command. After a moment's consideration, he moved toward the door with renewed purpose. "Just find the Cube," he instructed firmly before exiting, his footsteps echoing as he departed.]
"Big and ugly... Do you really think so, Captain?!!" Tony couldn't help it.
"Uh... to be honest... Yeah!" Captain America hesitated for a moment, then nodded and admitted it.
"Okay! Jarvis! I remember the renovation of the building is not yet completely completed! Make sure they restore it to its original appearance! I like it that way!"
Tony started telling Jarvis to work without hesitation.
Scott pursed his lips: "It seems that the captain's words have irritated Stark!"
Rhodes rolled his eyes and said, "He is just like this. The more you dislike it, the more he wants it!"
"Yeah! That's right!" Banner shrugged, indicating that he fully agreed with what Rhodes said.
Tony glanced at them and felt that this was no longer the Avengers' meeting room, but a vegetable market.
If there had not been any new progress in the recent research on the Dark Elf warships and he had been feeling a little anxious, he would not have come over to chat and relax.
I can only say that thanks to Banner, a lot of pressure was shared by Tony, so that Tony didn't have to work as hard as in Steel III.
[After leaving the laboratory, Captain America paused in the corridor, his expression thoughtful. Rather than returning to the bridge as might have been expected, he turned and headed in the opposite direction, his purposeful stride suggesting he wasn't simply going for a walk. Something in the conversation with Stark and Banner had clearly resonated with the super-soldier, sparking a decision to conduct his own investigation.]
[Back in the laboratory, Tony continued his critique of Captain America, unaware of the captain's change in direction. "That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" he scoffed, the shadow of Howard Stark's admiration for Steve Rogers clearly a sore point. "I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice."]
[Banner continued working with the sophisticated equipment, his response measured but thoughtful. "The guy's not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us." His scientific mind acknowledged the tactical assessment, even if he wasn't fully aligned with Steve's by-the-book approach.]
[Tony dismissed Steve's insights with a wave of his hand. "What he's got is an ACME dynamite kit. It's gonna blow up in his face, and I'm gonna be there when it does." His confidence bordered on arrogance as he manipulated holographic displays, checking the progress of his hacking program.]
["Yeah," Banner replied with a small smile, his voice tinged with gentle sarcasm. "I'll read all about it." The implication was clear – while Tony would be at the center of the action, Banner would be safely elsewhere, reading newspaper accounts after the fact.]
["Uh-huh," Tony responded, moving closer to Banner's workstation. His expression shifted to something more genuine, the mask of sarcasm momentarily dropped. "Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us."]
[Banner shook his head, a sad smile playing at his lips. "Ah, see. I don't get a suit of armor." His finger tapped against his own chest in a mirror of Tony's earlier gesture. "I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare." The vulnerability in his admission was striking from a man so carefully controlled.]
["You know," Tony began, approaching the subject with unusual directness, "I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart." He tapped the glowing arc reactor visible through his shirt. "This stops it. This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armor." His voice quieted slightly, revealing a rare glimpse beneath the armor of wit and bravado he typically wore. "It's a... terrible privilege."]
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