I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 8

She steps out of the lab and sees Steve walking down the corridor, she follows behind him until he stops at a storage door. A door she doesn't even have clearance for. She watches as he forces it open to reveal the classified storage inside and he sneaks his way inside. She enters just behind him and while he's looking at all the shelving and boxes, she clears her throat. He quickly turns around in alarm but relaxes when he sees it's just her. "What do you think you're doing in here?" she questions as she places her hands on her hips with a smile. "Don't tell Stark I said this, but he has a point. Why does Shield want the tesseract? What for? I need answers" Steve explains and waits for her response, praying it'll be a good one.

After looking at him for a few seconds, she sighs in defeat. "I won't tell Stark as long as you don't tell him that I think he has a point too" she says and Steve smiles at her gratefully. "Deal" he states with a smile. "Come on then" she urges, gesturing to the storage surrounding them. Steve looks above and jumps up with ease before offering a hand down to Rachel. She jumps up and takes his hand before he pulls her up high enough for her to climb over the railing. Steve opens one box to reveal the uniform and weapons of Hydra agents. Rachel sees Steve's jaw clench in anger as he looks to the door. He looks at her before asking "Did you know about this?" and she's shocked that he'd even ask her that. "Of course I didn't. I don't even have clearance to be in here" she replies truthfully. He nods at her before picking up a weapon and saying "Let's go" with Rachel following behind him.

On their way to the lab Rachel hears Nat speak through her earpiece. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk, keep Banner in the lab. I'm on my way, send Thor as well" she states and Rachel looks at Steve concerned but he's too busy storming to the lab to notice. She doesn't say anything as she'll meet Nat and everyone in the lab either way.

They enter the lab as Tony asks Fury "What is Phase 2?". Before Fury has the chance to answer, Steve throws the weapon onto the desk. "Phase 2 is Shield uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me" Steve states in anger. "Rogers, we gathered everything relating to the tesseract. This does not mean that we're making-" Fury tries to defend as he glances at Rachel, suspecting her role in this. "I'm sorry Nick. What were you lying?" Tony interrupts and shows a plan for weaponry on the screen from a classified Phase 2 file. "I was wrong Director. The world hasn't changed a bit" Steve tells Fury as Thor and Nat enter the lab.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce questions Nat. "You want to think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor" she responds. "I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed" Bruce replies with a small laugh. "Loki has been manipulating you" Nat warns him. "And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce interrogates her. "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you" she quips. "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why Shield is using the tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction" he responds as he points to the weapon plan on the screen. Everyone looks at Fury, waiting for him to answer. "Because of him" he answers simply as he points at Thor. "Me?" Thor questions.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned" Fury elaborates. "My people want nothing but peace with your planet" Thor argues. "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, that can't be controlled" Fury quickly responds. "Like how you controlled the cube?" Steve quizzes unhappily. "Your work with the tesseract is what drew Loki to it and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war" Thor argues, seemingly frustrated by the accusation. "Higher form?" Steve questions while Rachel frowns from beside him. "You forced our hand, we had to come up with something" Fury defends. "A nuclear deterrent, cause that always calms everything right down" Tony adds. "Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark" Fury questions Tony.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep..." Steve joins in. "Hold on, how is this now about me?" Tony asks. "I'm sorry isn't everything" Steve retorts. "I thought humans were more evolved than this" Thor states, looking between the adult-children. "Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury questions him rhetorically as things get more heated. Everyone begins arguing with each other while Rachel watches them all yell at each other. Rachel tries getting Steve and Tony to stop but they don't listen to her and she can only listen to them.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos" Thor states. "That's his MO, isn't it? I mean what are we, a team? No we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb" Bruce questions. "You need to step away" Fury warns him. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asks as he places a hand on Steve's shoulder. "You know damn well why, back off" Steve retorts as he pushes Tony's hand off of his shoulder. "I'm starting to want you to make me" Tony challenges. "Yeah, big man in a suit of armour. Take that off what are you?" Steve questions him. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony quickly replies and Nat nods her head in agreement. "I know guys with none of that, worth ten of you. 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" Steve states to Tony, standing incredibly close while everyone watches. "I think I'd just cut the wire" Tony answers cockily. "Always a way out. You may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero" Steve warns Tony. "A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle" Tony argues. "Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds" Steve suggests confidently.