Chapter 281: Chapter 281 Assemble

Midwest region. A S.H.I.E.L.D. secret base.

This facility was a recent construction, tucked away in a remote corner of the country. For a hundred kilometers in every direction, there was nothing but yellow sand and ancient, gnarled trees. Not a soul lived nearby; every piece of equipment and every scrap of food was flown in by transport planes.

Aside from the security and logistics staff, the base housed thousands of researchers whose entire purpose was to serve just one man.

A Quinjet touched down in the hangar. Natasha, clad in her tactical suit, stepped off the ramp with a smile playing on her lips. Normally, unless she was on a mission, the famous Black Widow never let her guard down like this.

It was strange; despite being one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most dangerous high-stakes bases, Natasha felt an unprecedented sense of relief here. The weight on her shoulders seemed to vanish. Perhaps it was because the master of this base was a man powerful enough to shield her from any storm.

“Where is Dr. Banner?”

After confirming the location, Natasha headed toward the lab alone.

Deep into the night, Bruce Banner was still in his white lab coat, glasses perched on his nose, staring intently at the progress of an experiment. Beside him, an assistant clutched a laptop, frantically recording data.

Minutes later, a Petri dish shattered. The experiment had failed. Again.

“…”

Banner sighed, removed his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He hadn’t slept in three days. After a brief pause, he looked up and said, “Let’s try one more time. This time, adjust the dosage to—”

He stopped mid-sentence. His assistants were all staring out the window with peculiar expressions. Banner followed their gaze and saw a captivating, smiling face watching him.

In an instant, a warmth flooded his chest, and an uncontrollable smile broke across his face.

“Dr. Banner, let’s call it a night. You should go get some rest.” The assistants were sharp; they knew exactly what was going on between Banner and Natasha. Making excuses about needing sleep, they quickly cleared out of the lab.

Natasha pushed the door open and walked in.

Banner’s smile widened as he set his glasses down. “What are you doing here?”

Natasha blinked her large eyes and said solemnly, “I have work for you.”

Banner’s smile stiffened for a fraction of a second before returning to its original state. “Oh…”

That thinly veiled disappointment was almost adorable. Natasha didn’t have the heart to tease him further. She took a few steps closer, looking him in the eye, and added playfully, “And I came to see you, too.”

Banner was overjoyed. His disappointment evaporated instantly, and he scratched his head, looking a bit flustered. “Right… well… you mentioned work?”

Work was a great way to break the awkward tension.

“Yeah. Take a look at this first.” Natasha handed over a stack of files.

Banner took them, sat back down at his desk, and put his glasses back on. Natasha sat opposite him, resting her chin in her hand, admiring the man as he worked.

After a quick scan, Banner’s expression turned dead serious. “The Tesseract stolen by Loki… what do you need from me?”

“Find him.”

“But I’m only good for the fighting part.”

Natasha shook her head slightly, her soft gaze suggesting otherwise. “The Tesseract constantly emits low levels of Gamma radiation. We can use that to track it. And there isn’t a man on Earth who understands Gamma radiation better than you.”

“I see.” Banner drifted into thought, clearly formulating a plan. “When do I leave?”

“Get a good night’s sleep. We head out tomorrow morning.”

“Where to?”

“A place that’s going to make your jaw drop.”

“Is that so? I’m looking forward to it.”

With the work talk over, Natasha took the initiative. “Come on. Let’s get some dinner.”

Banner stood up immediately. “Sure! You haven’t eaten yet?”

“I knew you hadn’t, so I waited for you.”

Truly the Black Widow—with just a few words, she had Banner blushing like a schoolboy experiencing his first crush. The two left the lab, walking shoulder-to-shoulder toward the base cafeteria.

*

Finding Banner and Steve was easy since they had fixed addresses, but Tony was a different story.

Ever since he’d been beaten by Jason, it seemed he had developed a psychological shadow. Wherever Jason appeared, Tony made sure to be as far away as possible. He wasn’t living in his Malibu mansion, and he wasn’t managing his trillion-dollar company. It was as if he had vanished into thin air, leaving the socialites and starlets of Hollywood feeling rather lonely.

In the past, he’d at least left an encrypted number for Fury to use in case of emergencies. But after their falling out, that number had been disconnected. However, Tony wasn’t a heartless man; he had left one other way to reach him. Or rather, in his prideful way, he’d left a door open.

The agent assigned to the task sat in an office and dialed Pepper’ private number—a number provided by Natasha.

“Hello!”

A crisp, pleasant voice answered. It clearly wasn’t Pepper. The agent wasn’t surprised. “I am S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 009527. I would like to speak with Miss Pepper Potts.”

“Sorry, wrong number. I don’t know who that is.”

“That’s fine. But please tell Miss Pepper: the situation on Earth is dire. We need Iron Man to save the world.”

Click. Beep… Beep…

The other end hung up without a word. The agent stayed by the phone, confident that Tony Stark would call back. Stark is a man who values relationships, Fury had said.

After a full hour, the landline finally rang.

“Hello!” The agent answered instantly.

“Who is this?”

That was the voice. No doubt about it. The agent cleared his throat and introduced himself carefully.

“What do you want?” Tony was a man of few words today.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. is facing a crisis and we need your help. We can’t talk over the phone. Let’s meet.”

“Fine. Houston, one hour. Don’t be late.”

The agent was stunned. “Mr. Stark, an hour is—”

The line went dead again. It was impossible to get to Houston in an hour. Fine, I’ll bet on it.

He grabbed his coat and sprinted to the helipad. A Quinjet took off immediately, screaming toward Houston at max velocity.

As it turned out, the agent’s calculations were correct. Even at top speed, the jet was still some distance from Houston as the hour mark approached. But suddenly, the onboard AI assistant blared an alarm—the flight system had been breached.

Before the agent could process what was happening, the hatch hissed open, and a red-and-gold suit of armor flew inside.

“Mr. Stark?” The agent gripped his handgun nervously, though he knew it was useless.

Tony retracted his faceplate, looking cold. “Give me the files.”

Relieved to see him in the flesh, the agent handed over the prepared data. The digital files were comprehensive: info on Loki and the Tesseract, as well as information on Banner, Black Widow, and Captain America. Fury, the usual stingy bastard, had finally decided to be generous.

After a cursory scan, Tony’s face grew grave. It looked like it was going to be a long night. He didn’t give an answer; he simply tucked the data away and flew out of the plane.

“The Director was right…” The agent muttered, turning the plane back toward base, feeling a massive weight lift off his chest.

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