I Can't Help It - Steve Rogers

Chapter 9

"You people are so petty and tiny" Thor chuckles, interrupting Tony and Steve's bickering. "Yeah, this is a team" Bruce states. "Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr Banner back to his-" Fury starts ordering Nat. "Where? You rented my room" Bruce interrupts. "The cell was just in case-" Fury starts to defend. "In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, I've tried" Bruce states and everyone looks at him surprised and sympathetically. "I got low, 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 at risk. You wanna know my secret agent Romanoff, you wanna know how I stay calm" Bruce explains as he reaches over and picks up the tesseract. Rachel, Nat and Fury rest their hands on their guns, prepared to use them. "Doctor Banner, put down the sceptre" Steve calmly orders Bruce and Bruce looks down at his hands, seemingly confused.

Before they can proceed any further, a beeping sound can be heard from a monitor. "We got it" Tony states. "Sorry kids, I guess you don't get to see my party trick after all" Bruce apologises as he approaches the computer. "You located the tesseract?" Thor questions. "I can get there fastest" Tony states, as if he'll be going without any protests. "The tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it" Thor states, as if no one will argue with him. "You're not going alone" Steve states as he stops Tony from leaving. "You're gonna stop me?" Tony challenges. They start challenging each other again while everyone argues about what should be done with the tesseract. Rachel looks to the sceptre to see it glowing slightly before piecing things together and she makes eye contact with Bruce, who knows the tesseracts location. Before either of them can warn anyone, an explosion happens from below them and travel up, through the vent and to them.

Everyone is sent to the floor by the explosion while Bruce and Nat are sent through a window and down to a lower level. Rachel is sent backwards and into Steve as she covers her face, he quickly grabs her hips as they fall back and into a desk before hitting the floor, with Tony beside them. Steve and Rachel look up at Tony as he looks at them. "Put on the suit" Steve says as he stands. "Yep" Tony replies as he climbs to his feet as well. Steve lifts Rachel to her feet before the three of them rush out of the lab. "Are you ok?" Steve asks as they run through the facility. "I'm ok" Rachel replies, giving him a nod before they hear through their earpiece that engine 3 is down. Tony confirms that he'll fix the engine before turning to Rachel and Steve. "Engine 3, I'll meet you there" Tony tells them both and Steve nods before looking at Rachel. "Let's go" she says and leads Steve to engine 3.

Rachel tries unlocking the door but it doesn't open so she gestures for Steve to open the door. He quickly pushes it open and they walk through to see the destroyed engine and agents helping the injured. The agents help the injured through the door once Steve and Rachel have walked through. "Stark! Stark, we're here" Steve yells as he looks around at the destruction. "Good, let's see what we've got" Tony replies as he arrives in his Iron Man suit. He starts muttering to himself and Rachel and Steve only listen. "I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position" Tony tells Steve and Rachel and they both nod. Steve swings through the debris while Rachel climbs up a little before reaching the platform and climbing on as Steve arrives. They open the control panel and stare at it for a few seconds. "What's it look like in there?" Tony asks. "It seems to run on some form of electricity" Steve states dumbfoundedly. "Well you're not wrong" Tony replies. "Talk us through it Tony" Rachel suggests before they get started.

"Ok, the relays are intact. What's our next move?" Steve asks as Rachel pushes the control panel shut. "Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push" Tony explains as he reaches the rotors. "But if that thing gets up to speed you'll get shredded" Rachel states, wondering if Tony has a plan for that. "That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could-" Tony starts explaining and Rachel and Steve share a confused glance. "Speak English" Steve states to Tony. "See that red lever?" Tony asks and Steve and Rachel look around before spotting the red lever. "It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word" Tony orders as Steve prepares to jump across the platform and jumps across.

Rachel looks at the gap and knows there's no chance she'll be able to jump that. She looks up at him uneasily before he offers his hand. "Jump, I'll catch you" he tells her. She only stares back at him in disbelief. "I've got you" he states with confidence and she takes a few steps back, for a running start. She runs and jumps as far as she can, she doesn't reach the platform but Steve grabs her hand tightly. He pulls her up before she grabs his other arm. Her feet reach the platform and he lets go of her hand and holds her waist as she sighs in relief. "Thank you" she says to him with a smile. "You're welcome" he answers before they both move to stand beside the red lever, waiting for Tony's signal to pull it.