[Tony moved closer to Banner, his normally flippant demeanor replaced by rare sincerity. He held Banner's gaze with unexpected intensity: "But you can control it. It's different than a suit of armor. It's a terrible privilege."]
["But you can control it!" Banner countered, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. The comparison clearly struck a nerve – Tony's technology versus his uncontrollable transformation.]
["Because I learned how," Tony replied simply, the statement carrying more weight than his usual rapid-fire banter. The admission of vulnerability from the normally guarded billionaire hung in the air between them.]
["It's different," Banner insisted, his hands fidgeting with a pen, a physical manifestation of his constant internal struggle for control. His eyes briefly met Tony's before darting away, decades of conditioning making him wary of emotional connections that could trigger unwanted responses.]
[Tony swiped his hand across the screen separating them, clearing away the data to remove the barrier between them – both physically and metaphorically. "Hey, I've read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you." His tone was careful, probing at the edges of a theory he'd clearly been considering.]
[Banner caught Tony's implication immediately, his scientific mind connecting the dots. "So you're saying that the Hulk... the other guy... saved my life?" He considered this perspective with genuine curiosity, as if trying on a new pair of glasses. "That's nice. It's a nice sentiment. Saved it for... what?" The question wasn't rhetorical – he genuinely wanted an answer to the purpose behind his survival and transformation.]
[Tony had no easy answer, his characteristic certainty temporarily absent. "I guess we'll find out," he offered with unusual humility. It was a rare moment of Tony Stark acknowledging the limits of even his understanding.]
["You might not enjoy that," Banner warned with a sad smile, turning back to his work, his fingers dancing over the equipment with practiced precision.]
["And you just might," Tony countered, returning to his own workstation but with a thoughtful expression that lingered long after their conversation ended.]
"Banner! You know I always think you should live in peace with Hulk!" Captain America saw this and turned to Banner and said.
Banner nodded: "Yeah! I know! But... I can never forget the harm Hulk brought to me!"
"But it also protected you! Didn't it?" Natasha glanced at him indifferently.
Banner pursed his lips: "Maybe! It has indeed saved me many times! God! I... I need to think about it carefully!" He covered his head and stopped talking.
"Maybe we should ask Wanda for help! Separate Hulk and Banner, let them open their hearts and have a good talk!" Scott thought of Wanda's ability to control minds.
"Bingo! That makes sense! If Banner can have a good talk with Hulk, maybe it will be effective! Captain? What do you think?" Tony also agreed.
Captain America took out his cell phone, hesitated for a moment, and then called Wanda.
[Secure Storage Facility 10-C, deep within the helicarrier's restricted levels, remained dimly lit and undisturbed until Captain America approached its sealed entrance. With a quick glance to ensure he wasn't observed, he applied his enhanced strength to the heavy metal door. The lock mechanism groaned in protest before giving way with a metallic snap that echoed softly down the empty corridor.]
[Pausing once more to confirm no alarms had been triggered, Steve slipped inside and quietly closed the damaged door behind him. The warehouse interior loomed dark and cavernous, filled with stacked wooden crates and metal containers bearing SHIELD insignias. His tactical mind immediately registered potential cover positions and exit points – old habits from wartime operations that never truly faded.]
[With athletic grace, he leapt atop a stack of crates, using them as stepping stones to access a metal catwalk that encircled the upper level of the facility. His footsteps were purposefully light as he moved along the elevated walkway, eyes scanning the shadowy depths below for anything that might confirm the suspicions Tony had planted in his mind.]
[Meanwhile, deep beneath the earth's surface, a nondescript utility van navigated through a narrow service tunnel. The vehicle's headlights carved through the darkness, illuminating rough concrete walls slick with condensation. Inside the makeshift mobile laboratory, Dr. Erik Selvig worked with the focused intensity of a man possessed – which, in a very real sense, he was. His eyes still gleamed with the unnatural blue glow of Loki's mind control as he made final adjustments to his experimental apparatus.]
[With surgical precision, Selvig used specialized tongs to extract a small iridium sample weighing precisely 0.38 kilograms. The rare metal gleamed under the vehicle's interior lights as he carefully positioned it within the compact reactor assembly adjacent to the pulsing blue energy of the Tesseract. The moment the two components connected, the device hummed to life with an otherworldly resonance that filled the confined space.]
[Selvig's face, though still marked by the vacant expression of mental enslavement, broke into a genuine smile of scientific satisfaction. The reactor's blue glow intensified, casting eerie shadows across his features as energy patterns stabilized exactly as his calculations had predicted. Whatever Loki had planned, this crucial step had been successfully completed.]
[Back on the helicarrier, Agent Coulson walked alongside Thor through one of the vessel's many corridors, their conversation focused on matters of mutual concern. "As soon as Loki took Dr. Selvig, we moved Jane Foster," Coulson explained, his tone professional but warm. "We've got an excellent observatory in Tromsø. She was asked to consult there yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She'll be safe."]
[Thor's gaze lingered on the small digital photo of Jane displayed on a nearby monitor, his expression softening with evident affection. "Thank you," he replied, genuine gratitude in his voice for SHIELD's protection of the mortal woman who had changed his perspective so profoundly.]
["It's no accident, Loki taking Erik Selvig," Thor continued, shifting from gratitude to concern as they walked. "I dread what he plans for him once he's done. Erik is a good man." The Asgardian's usual confident demeanor was tempered with worry for his friend's safety.]
["He talks about you a lot," Coulson offered, hoping to provide some comfort. "You changed his life. You changed everything around here." The agent gestured broadly, encompassing not just the helicarrier but implicitly the entire paradigm shift that Earth had experienced since Thor's arrival.]
[Their conversation carried them past the laboratory where Stark and Banner worked, toward a quieter section of the vessel with large reinforced windows overlooking the cloud layer below. Thor's expression grew reflective as he gazed outward. "Things were simpler on Asgard. In my youth, we called this place Midgard. The realm of humans. We thought ourselves so superior, fought our battles like bilgesnipe."]
[Coulson's brow furrowed in confusion at the unfamiliar term. "Like what?" he questioned, having no frame of reference for Asgardian fauna.]
["Bilgesnipe," Thor repeated, assuming the creature was universal. His hands gestured animatedly as he described the beast: "You know, huge, scaly, big antlers." When Coulson's expression remained blank, Thor asked with genuine surprise, "You don't have those?"]
[Coulson shook his head with a slight smile. "Don't think so." His calm response masked the mental note he was undoubtedly making to update SHIELD's xenobiology database.]
[Thor's face darkened with remembered disgust. "They are repulsive. And they trample everything in their path." The description seemed momentarily to mirror his own reflections on his past behavior – destructive and heedless of consequences.]
[He moved closer to the window, gazing out at the vast expanse of clouds. "When I first came to Earth, Loki's rage followed me here, and your people paid the price. And now, again." His voice carried the weight of responsibility for his brother's actions.]
["In my youth," he continued, his tone tinged with regret, "I courted war."]
[Nick Fury's commanding voice interrupted Thor's moment of introspection as the SHIELD director approached from behind. "War hasn't started yet," he stated firmly, his leather coat swirling as he descended the short staircase to join them. "You think you can make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"]
[Thor turned to face Fury, his expression doubtful. "I do not know. Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves, it's vengeance. Upon me." The admission came with visible difficulty. "There's no pain would prise his need from him."]
[Fury's eye narrowed slightly, his skepticism evident. "A lot of guys think that... until the pain starts." The implicit threat hung in the air between them.]
[Thor glanced at him with a mixture of surprise and assessment, measuring the mortal man's resolve. "What are you asking me to do?" His question was pointed, testing Fury's intentions.]
["I'm asking, what are you prepared to do?" Fury countered, the seasoned intelligence director turning the question back on Thor with practiced skill.]
["Loki is a prisoner," Thor stated, as if reminding himself as much as Fury of this current reality.]
[Fury's expression darkened with suspicion. "Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?" The question encapsulated the unease that had been growing among the assembled heroes – the sense that despite their apparent victory in Stuttgart, Loki remained somehow in control of the situation.]
[Thor blinked, momentarily taken aback by Fury's perception. The doubt that had been nagging at the edges of his consciousness crystallized – his brother's surrender had been too easy, too convenient. Something more complex was unfolding, and Thor was beginning to fear they were all merely players in Loki's grander scheme.]
"As expected of SHIELD, they are really rigorous in their work! They actually arranged a place for Jane Foster right away without arousing her suspicion!"
Spider 2nd Gen Peter couldn't help but sigh at how powerful Coulson and his people were.
"These are all professionals. Don't doubt their IQ. They are smarter than most people!" After finishing his meal, George sat on the sofa and took a sip of tea with an unchanged expression.
"I never doubted it, but the previous Baron Strucker seemed to be a traitor to SHIELD. Obviously, they also have problems within the organization."
Spider 2nd Gen Peter shrugged and turned the topic back to Strucker. They didn't know about the civil war in S.H.I.E.L.D. yet.
"Every organization has similar people. It's not surprising!" Gwen didn't care. Although she had seen Captain America: Civil War, she was not from that era after all, and had never experienced the horror of Hydra, so she didn't care too much about Strucker, the Hydra, lurking in S.H.I.E.L.D.
What's more, his conspiracy has been destroyed by the Avengers, and even he himself was killed by Ultron.
"I'm curious about what the creature Thor mentioned looks like. It sounds like it's not easy to deal with." Gwen said and turned her attention back to the bilge snipe.
"I don't think it should be more difficult to deal with than Max or Marco, right?" 2nd Gen Spiderman shook his head.
"Marco? Oh! How can you kill a man made of sand with your fists?" Gwen didn't react when she heard Marco's name at first, and then she remembered who he was.
They immediately started to have a headache. If there really was someone like Marco appearing in their universe, how would they deal with it?
Not to mention Max the Electric Man. Although he has no superpowers now, who knows if someone will fall into the eel pond one day?