Covert Affair | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 7: Shrek?

As Banner and Stark moved off to work on tracking the Cube, Jenna found herself perched on the counter nearby, engrossed in a book. Banner scanned the scepter with a device, noting, "The Gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports on the Tesseract. But it's gonna take weeks to process."

Stark, ever the innovator, offered a solution. "If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around six hundred teraflops," he suggested, working on a screen.

Banner, perhaps feeling the weight of their task, joked, "All I packed was a toothbrush."

Stark chuckled, his enthusiasm undimmed. "You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. You too Zero. Top ten floors, all R and D.All the books you can read. You'd love it, it's a candy land."

Banner, however, seemed hesitant. "Thanks, but...last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem," he admitted, a shadow crossing his features.

Jenna's eyes widened in realization as Banner spoke about breaking Harlem. Memories flooded back, and she couldn't help but blurt out, "Wait, you were the guy who I thought was Shrek when I was 12 in harlem??"

As Jenna made her revelation, Bruce put his head in his hand, shaking it in embarrassment. Tony, catching on to the situation, couldn't contain his laughter. "8? That was 8 years ago? Wait, you're 20??? You are a child??" he exclaimed, his in shock evident in his tone. "I hit on a child, oh my god Pepper is going to kill me". Tony murmured to himself. "Oops" Jenna said knowing Fury is gonna be upset about this one.

Stark, ever the optimist, reassured him. "Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises," he said, before playfully zapping Banner in the side.

As Tony playfully zapped Banner in the side, a chorus of reactions ensued. Banner winced, exclaiming, "Ow!" while Steve interjected with a stern "Hey!" Tony's irreverent demeanor remained unchanged as he quipped, "Nothing?" in response to Steve's reproach.

Steve, visibly concerned, stepped forward, questioning Tony's cavalier attitude. "Are you nuts?" he asked incredulously, to which Tony retorted, "Jury's out!" His carefree demeanor seemed to rub Steve the wrong way, prompting him to express his disapproval. "Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc," Steve admonished, his tone stern.

However, Banner, ever the voice of reason, diffused the tension with his calm demeanor. "No, it's alright. I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things," he assured them, his words laced with a hint of amusement at Tony's antics.

Tony, undeterred by Steve's admonition, continued his banter, urging Banner to adopt a more confident stance. "You're tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut," he advised, his tone light but earnest.

Steve, growing increasingly exasperated, urged Tony to focus on the task at hand. "And you need to focus on the problem, Mister Stark," he chided, his patience wearing thin.

Tony, however, remained defiant, his mind already racing ahead with questions and suspicions about Fury's motives. "You think I'm not?" he retorted, his voice tinged with frustration. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now, why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

As the conversation shifted to Fury's potential secrets, Tony's suspicions took center stage. "He's a spy. Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets,"

Jenna's attention was suddenly drawn away from her book. She glanced up, her brow furrowing slightly as she processed the implications of Tony's words.

Tony, catching Jenna's gaze, seemed to realize her presence anew. "Oh, I forgot you work for Fury," he remarked, a touch of concern in his tone. Then, with a hint of pleading, he added, "You won't tell him, right? We are friends now. I invited you to my house for a sleepover and everything."