Chapter 42: The Tesseract

A/N: Tony gets a visit from Natasha now that Loki has stolen the Tesseract and is at large. But wait... then who went to get Bruce?

-x-X-x-

The first thing Natasha hears as she steps off of the elevator onto the top floor of Stark Tower, is the sound of a baby giggling. It brings a smile to her face with that smile only widening when she turns a corner to find Tony and Pepper as well as their one-month old daughter relaxing together on the couch. Pepper has her top off and is guiding her daughter's mouth back to her chest for further breastfeeding, but when they look up and see Natasha walking towards them, she just smiles, making no move to stop.

As little Morgan quiets down, suckling away at her mother's teat, it's Pepper who addresses Natasha's presence first.

"Nat! What brings you all the way to the top of the Tower at this time of night?"

Sighing, Natasha offers Pepper an honestly affectionate smile and nod… before walking over to Tony's side of the couch with tablet in hand.

"Unfortunately I'm afraid this is work related. Something has happened."

She doesn't hesitate to set the tablet down on the table in front of Tony, knowing better than to try to hand him anything after knowing the man for years. Tony reaches over and picks the tablet up, flipping the cover over and eyeing the contents of the screen for a moment before sighing and giving her a look.

"So then, Fury and Pierce's plan to keep me in the dark has finally blown up in their faces."

Natasha blinks. She supposes she really shouldn't be surprised… and yet part of her still is. Part of her is also a little angry, seeing how this situation had Barton compromised.

"You knew this was going to happen?"

She tries to keep any accusation out of her voice as much as possible, but it's not easy and judging by the look Tony gives her, she doesn't completely succeed.

Gesturing down at the tablet with his free hand, he shakes his head.

"If by 'this', you mean Loki showing up and mind controlling our people after Thor told us she was 'lost to the void'… no, Natasha. I didn't know that specifically was going to happen. However, I'm not an idiot. In fact, I'm quite smart. And you know full well why Fury and Pierce weren't going to get anything past me."

JARVIS, most likely. Natasha still didn't fully understand how Tony had managed to infiltrate HYDRA so successfully. Someone like Alexander Pierce should never have been so easily convinced of the Stark man's sincerity, and yet he'd managed to get so far up HYDRA's ass in just three days that he had SHIELD dancing to his tune and offering her up to him on a silver platter.

Still, she supposed she hadn't fully understood what it all meant until now. Of course Fury wouldn't be able to keep something like this from Tony. Not even with Pierce's blessing. Tony was playing both men for fools the entire time.

"I was pretty confident that this research into the Tesseract would only end in one way. In tears. Just didn't have any clue what would happen with it, or when Fury would be forced to call me in to clean up his mess. Seems we've reached that point though, haven't we?"

Natasha thins out her lips and nods. Ever since switching to Team Stark so soon after switching to Team SHIELD, Natasha had to admit… her respect for Nick Fury had diminished year over year. The man wasn't the dangerous and competent leader that Natasha thought him to be. Even if she took the incredibly unflattering comparison between Fury and Stark off the board, there was still knowing that Fury was being strung along by Pierce and HYDRA, had been for decades, and still hadn't figured it out for himself.

"The Iron Legion has been mobilized, of course. Agent Rumlow and his men are ready to move out at a moment's notice. But until we have a location, it doesn't matter what firepower we can bring to bear on Loki and… her turncoats. We need a way to track her down, so Fury made the call to have me bring you in."

That causes a broad smile to spread across Tony's face.

"Good to know he can still make good decisions sometimes, I suppose."

Sighing, Tony looks to Pepper.

"Get yourself and Morgan on the first Stark Jet to Malibu, alright Pep? Looking at everything, none of this should touch California so I want you to stay over on the West Coast until it's all taken care of."

Natasha suspects Pepper would have said no if it weren't for Morgan. After all, Tony's wife is just as strong and durable as Stark himself and Natasha now. Stronger than her actually, Natasha has come to believe. After taking the ES3 that Tony offered her a year back, Natasha had felt like she was on top of the world. She'd felt faster, stronger, and just plain better in every way. It hadn't been healing, it'd been a huge boost to her body, and she knew for a fact that there was no one she'd faced off against throughout her storied career as a spy who could have taken her down after that.

However… Tony and Pepper still had her beat in the bedroom. They'd literally gone at it for three days straight at one point, only for Natasha to realize that whatever Tony had given her… he saved the REALLY good stuff for himself and his wife. Not to mention she'd noticed how he was now capable of interfacing with technology without touching it.

She didn't mind though. He'd lived up to his end of the bargain either way and she'd never felt better.

As things currently stood, Pepper sighs but nods, keeping Morgan fastened to her chest as she leans over to give Tony a peck on the lips before standing up. She fixes Natasha with an intense gaze.

"You two take care of one another, alright?"

Natasha smiles and nods, even as Tony rises from the couch as well with a chuckle.

"You don't have to worry about us, Pepper. Loki won't know what hit her."

With that, Pepper leaves the room to get ready for a cross-country trip with Morgan. Natasha isn't sure taking a baby that young on a plane is safe… but not only is the plane going to be Stark Tech, the baby is Tony and Pepper's daughter… which means she's not a normal baby girl by any stretch of the imagination.

"You know Nat, this might be your opportunity."

Blinking, Natasha looks from where Pepper and Morgan have disappeared, back to Tony.

"Oh?"

Tony shrugs, giving her a crooked smile.

"We'll play it by ear of course, but when else are we going to get a better shot at killing you off? Loki invades Earth and you valiantly sacrifice yourself saving it. The perfect cover."

Natasha furrows her brow, pressing her lips tightly together.

"… I can't bow out too early. You might still need my help to defeat her. And besides, I still owe Barton one. If he can be saved, I have to try to get him back."

That gets a nod from Tony, even as he starts heading for the roof, where a helicopter will no doubt be waiting to take them to the Helicarrier.

"Sure, I'm not saying you jump off a building right here and now so I can blame it on Loki. I'm saying once we've kicked her ass for sure and everything is almost said and done… look for an opportunity to take a dive and I'll back you up. As for Barton, I've already got J working on methods for breaking Loki's mind control. We'll get him back. Alright?"

Natasha only hesitates for a moment before nodding resolutely. The thought of finally being out from under SHIELD's radar and being able to pursue her dream of motherhood… it fills her with a certain level of excitement.

"Alright."

As they reach the elevator, Tony gives her a sudden grin.

"Have to ask. If you're here to pick me up, who did Fury send to pick up Dr. Banner?"

Not even remotely surprised that Tony knows about that part of the plan as well already, Natasha dryly tells him, huffing in amusement as she endures his laughter all the way up to the roof.

-x-X-x-

Agent Phil Coulson was not a man prone to emotional outbursts. But as he approaches a small shack in Kolkata, India, he finds himself wanting to curse under his breath. To be fair, there wasn't a sane, rational human being on this planet that would want to be anywhere in the vicinity of a potential Hulk Rampage. Which made the former General Ross' strange obsession with sending his soldiers after Banner over and over again all the worse.

Still, Phil had one thing going for him that those poor unlucky souls did not. He wasn't here to pick a fight. Arriving at Bruce Banner's front door, well aware that he had dozens of SHIELD Agents as backup and that they wouldn't do a damn thing if the doctor actually transformed… Phil sighs, the most emotion he allows himself before lifting a hand and knocking quietly.

There's a moment of silence that pervades the area after his knock… and then some shuffling from inside. Finally, the door opens and Coulson finds himself face to face with the man himself. Dr. Banner looks at him blankly for a moment and then takes in the suit and tie before humming.

"SHIELD?"

That gets a raised brow from Phil, but ultimately he just smiles blandly and nods.

"You're well informed, Dr. Banner. Agent Phil Coulson."

He holds out a hand on instinct, only to regret the offer even a moment later. Unfortunately, it's not like he can take it back… especially when Bruce accepts the handshake, an easy grin on his face.

"Ah yes, Agent Coulson. You were mentioned specifically. Come in, come in."

Now Phil is beginning to feel alarmed. There's no way that Loki would have gotten here already, right? None of the agents who the Goddess had managed to compromise knew about Banner's current location. Not even Barton. He also didn't see a hint of blue in Banner's eyes, so… it was probably fine?

Stepping into the ramshackle house, Phil is gratified to see that Banner seems to be alone, just like all of SHIELD's preliminary scans of the area had said. Even still, that doesn't completely set the Agent at ease.

"I was mentioned, Dr. Banner? By whom, exactly?"

The other man has already moved over to the shack's kitchenette and is busy pouring himself a cup of coffee. He doesn't offer Phil any, but to be fair he wouldn't have accepted it anyways. Still, part of him feels on edge seeing a dangerous entity like Banner drinking a caffeinated beverage. Surely that can't be good for the outbursts, right?

"My Guardian Angel, of course."

At Phil's blank look, Bruce just chuckles.

"I don't have another name for him. He's been watching over me for a little while now. Got me out of Brazil before Ross could come down on my head. Helped me stay ahead of the General and his goons for a while. Set me up here in India once my trail had been wiped away. His last message mentioned SHIELD and a couple of potential names that might come looking for my help somewhere down the line."

Bruce tilts his head to the side, surprisingly at ease in a way that's completely contradictory to the psych profile that they have on him.

"Have to admit, hoped it would be 'Natasha Romanoff' instead of 'Phil Coulson'. He didn't give me faces to go with names, but Natasha… sounds pretty."

Phil's lips thin out. This was rapidly spiraling out of SHIELD's control.

"She is. Can you tell me anything else about your Guardian Angel, Dr. Banner? Anything else he might have said about SHIELD?"

Just how deep did this security leak go? Just how much was floating around out there in the ether?

"Let me think… how did he describe you guys to me? Oh yeah, I remember. He said SHIELD was like the over-excited puppy of spy agencies. So long as I let you guys keep a paw on my leg and kept myself in your line of sight, you wouldn't freak out and piss all over the carpet in an attempt to track me down again. Basically, it was better for me to let you keep tabs on me then to try to slip out from under you because you guys didn't really mean me any harm."

Stark. He knows immediately that that's who Banner's 'Guardian Angel' is. No one else would describe SHIELD in such a crass, humiliating manner. For a moment, Coulson considers keeping it a secret, because it's clear that Stark hasn't let Banner know who's been helping him for a reason. But honestly? Fuck Stark.

"Your Guardian Angel is Tony Stark."

Dr. Banner's eyes widen at that, his gaze flicking over to the side… to an innocuous Starkphone that Phil should have noticed earlier.

"What? How do you know that? I mean, he gave me a Starkphone, but there are literally hundreds of millions of those things on the planet at this point."

"Because Tony Stark works for the World Security Council, Dr. Banner. The organization that oversees and funds SHIELD."

Bruce seems to consider that for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"So wait… he's basically your boss?"

Phil tries not to let the frustration show on his face. They've gotten hopelessly off track here.

"No, Dr. Banner. That would be Director Fury, who sent me here to retrieve you because we're dealing with a foothold scenario."

Even if he's not military personnel, someone like Dr. Banner has read enough Sci-Fi to immediately understand what that means. Sputtering, he looks at Phil with wide eyes.

"We're being invaded by aliens?!"

Then, just as quickly, his expression shutters.

"… I can't help you fight them back, Agent Coulson. I don't… do that anymore."

Turn into the Hulk? He sounds so certain. What had Stark given Banner besides information about SHIELD? Unfortunately, such questions would have to wait for another time.

"It's not an invasion, Dr. Banner. It's an incursion. There's only one alien at the moment and her name is Loki. Her abilities lie in mental manipulation and stealth. She made off with some of our agents and is now in the wind. However, she stole something that gives off Gamma Radiation… your specialty."

Bruce's eyebrows raise at that.

"Wait, so you're not here for the Hulk? You're here…"

"For you, Dr. Banner. We don't need a Hulk. We need the world's leading scientist on Gamma Radiation to help us track down a mind controlling alien before she manages to make things worse than they already are."

For a long moment, the other man is silent. Finally, he gets a determined look in his eyes.

"Will Tony Stark be assisting with this?"

Phil allows himself a small smile at that. Still bland, but present, nonetheless.

"He will, Dr. Banner."

"I'll get my coat."

-x-X-x-

A/N: So Bruce seems like he's doing pretty good. Alas, he didn't take Tony's advice on trying to coexist with the Hulk but instead managed to develop a drug that mostly suppresses him... but never say never.

Meanwhile, Phil blows up Tony's spot by immediately figuring out the only person who would liken SHIELD to over-excited puppy spies. I feel like that moment was pretty realistic tbh, lmao.

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