SILENCE. That’s all Agent Coulson could provide his hero, his idol, this man he never thought it possible that he’d meet. Steve Rogers sat across from Agent Coulson on a high-tech aircraft called the Quinjet. Even though the ride was smooth as silk, Coulson found himself more than a little bit uncomfortable. But the discomfort was mutual. Coulson was starstruck, in awe, blown away. And Steve wasn’t used to such adoration. During the war he wore a mask and rarely came face-to-face with the general public. But Coulson was sitting here, looking him in the eyes, or at least try-ing to.
Finally, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent brought himself to make some small talk, which evolved into a very lively conversation that he was loathe to end when the Quinjet landed on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier. The men stepped off the Quinjet on to the carrier, where they were greeted by Natasha and Bruce.
Bruce, like everyone else, was in particular awe of Steve Rogers—the famous Captain America—and took full advantage of the opportunity to speak to a living legend, one who technically wasn’t even living just a short time ago. Bruce was fascinated with the details of Steve’s cryonic suspension. Though Steve couldn’t give many details, Bruce found any and all that could be shared fascinating. All the while, Natasha kept to herself, typically brooding, preferring to keep to the shadows. But if anyone knew her well—which none present really did—it would be clear that something was not sitting well with her.
The gears on the carrier began to shift, and the entire ship started to rumble. The passengers were prepared for the ship to submerge—like a huge submarine—but instead the entire massive carrier lifted up into the air. Photo-variant panels on the underside of the Helicarrier reflected the sky, and cloaked the ship, rendering it completely invisible. The sound was roaring, but it suddenly cut off as a noise-cancelling device was activated just as Colonel Fury entered the area.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said. He turned to Banner who of all the heroes was looking the most uncomfortable. “As soon as the Tesseract is back in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands, you can go. I’m not going to keep you here.”
Bruce smiled uncomfortably, only half believing Fury.
“The cube is emitting gamma radiation, and no one knows about that better than you,” Fury said.
Coulson informed Banner that S.H.I.E.L.D. had access to any device connected to a satellite. That access would be made available to Banner. Bruce let Coulson know that he’d also need spectrometers. Fury quickly ordered a lab to be set up for Banner, and he supplied him not only with spectrometers, but an endless supply of other devices that could be used to track the Tesseract.
Before long, Bruce was working. In no time at all, a hot spot appeared in Stuttgart, Germany.
“Got it!” Banner shouted.
The group boarded the Quinjet and was on its way immediately. More forces were gathering. They’d need all the power they could assemble to fight this battle. Every second that the Tesseract was in the thief’s hands was another second during which the fate of the world hung in the balance.
The battle was about to begin.