Across the Universe

“Once on the ground we should stick together.” Steve shouted over the howl of the helicopter blades above, barely looking at his new partner and instead at the scenery below. In his mind he knew he had to find a way past the mental blockade that Tony had implanted in regards to Scarlett, but it was a far more difficult hurdle to overcome than it seemed. Steve wasn’t anything like Tony! In fact he was sure they couldn’t possibly be any more different than they were! The perverse things that Tony had said about her around the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices? He was sure for awhile that they couldn’t be true, that no woman with any shred of dignity would behave in such a manner. Upon meeting the mystery woman Steve wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t that Scarlett didn’t seem to respect herself it was that despite what Tony insisted she was like, she seemed incredibly dignified.

Even though he tried to ignore it, tried to put those thoughts from his mind he couldn’t help but hear the billionaire’s voice in the back of his thoughts taunting him with their sexual exploits and things Steve honestly never would’ve come up with on his own. Then Scarlett stood next to him confidently, perfectly okay with the things Tony claimed she’d done. She didn’t seem shameful in the least. Half of what Tony had said about her had been his physical description and the skills she’d had on the field. After seeing her in action, Steve had seen Tony was being honest about what she was capable of. Did that mean the other things he’d implied or had so vulgarly spoken about were true?

If Tony was comfortable talking about her in a public setting in such a manner then she must have known about it. Plus, with his reputation, she had to have known what she was getting into! Steve may have only been woken up from his cold slumber in the last year but he was still well aware of Tony Stark’s extracurricular proclivities. No self respecting woman could be in a long term relationship with that. Perhaps that was what bothered him the most. How could Scarlett, who seemed like an intelligent and very independent woman, put herself in such an unhealthy environment willingly?

As much as Steve wanted to say it didn’t sway his opinion of her it had and drastically. He was partially ashamed for that on top of everything else and it was coming out in his attitude! Captain America would give the woman the benefit of a doubt and yet he couldn’t seem to! They had gotten along perfectly well before; she had seemed very nice and capable the other day. But then there was the doubt and embarrassment clouding his thoughts. Maybe if they got used to each other it wouldn’t be so bad. Even before the mission he’d tried to convince Coulson to send him alone but Coulson wouldn’t have it.

There had been disappointment in the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent’s eyes. Steve couldn’t help the fact that he was uncomfortable. Despite popular belief, he was not perfect, he was just as much human as everyone else was, minus the super abilities, of course.

“We’d cover more ground if we split up.” Scarlett kept her focus on the task at hand. Somehow she’d managed to drown out the drama floating around in the back of her head by watching the scenery below. Though the throbbing in her shoulder had assisted with that along with the instructions the doctor had given her on the matter. It had given her something to focus on during the short ride out of state.

“Splitting up isn’t a good idea. We’re a stronger team together. For our first mission I recommend…” Steve began, rehearsing the words in his head before speaking them aloud.

“And exactly what do you suspect we’ll come across in Pennsylvania? Dunder Mifflin? Steelers fans?”

“Excuse me?” Confusion swept Steve’s face as he tried to discern whether or not she was insulting him.

“It was… never mind. Michael Scott would be disappointed.” Scarlett sighed heavily but ceased her arguments as the pilot signaled to them that it was time to disembark. Once on the ground Scarlett checked the device that Bruce had given her before they left. She didn’t see any signs of radiation flashing on the machine that she’d associated herself with on the helicopter. For a brief second she’d tried to explain it to Steve but his eyes had immediately glazed over and he lost interest. Either that or hadn’t been able to hear her. Perhaps it was just an off day for Captain America. It was an off day for her after all and apparently for Tony. Some days just needed a redo.

When the helicopter was close enough they disembarked and then ducked out of the way while it roared back into the air and out of sight. Scarlett couldn’t help but feel like it was a mistake to be out on the field. It was a mistake to have left home at all that day. Everything about that Saturday felt wrong. Scarlett checked the screen of the small Geiger counter again and furrowed her brow. There should’ve been something outside of the regular readings and yet she saw nothing.

“What are our coordinates?” Steve adjusted his shield on his arm and took in the surroundings of suburban Pennsylvania. It was a marvel how different things were. Every city he visited he was struck by just how much the world had changed in the last seventy years. Scarlett cocked an eyebrow and looked back to Steve who was seemingly waiting on her.

“Check yourself. I’m in the middle of something.” Scarlett smacked the side of the machine Bruce gave her but the readings didn’t change. Frustrated, Steve reached for his belt and removed the small electronic device he kept there in lieu of a phone. He fiddled around with the machine but drew in a frustrated sigh after only a few seconds. Noticing his irritation with technology from the corner of her vision Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Really?” She grabbed the machine from his hand and found that somehow Steve had found his way into the customization screen. In a way reminded her of every elderly person she’d ever seen in front of a computer in the history of computers.

“It’s a new thing. I broke my last phone the other day and so the powers that be thought they’d provide me with something more durable.” Steve frowned. He’d long since gotten over any embarrassment that came with his lack of understanding with technology. After waking up from his frozen sleep a year or so back there had been too many other things on his plate when it came to adjusting to life. Besides, everyday he saw people consumed by their phones and their music players that he didn’t have much of a desire to bond with the recent technological advancements. “Did I break it? Fury’s going to be mad if I broke another one.”

“No, you just changed a lot of benign settings.” Scarlett found her way back to the main screen and printed in plain letters on the very front was the time, the date, the temperature, buttons that provided brief radar of the surrounding area, and as expected, the coordinates of their location. “We’re a bit too far south.” She handed the machine back to Steve who took it graciously and looked over the screen once again then gave an approving nod. “If you don’t want the happy day-glow background then I’ll change it for you later.”

“It’s fine the way it is.” Steve hadn’t even noticed that the color had changed but then again he couldn’t really recall what color it had been in the first place. There was too much on his mind for it to matter. Gathering his bearings, Steve led them north in the fading light of the day. For a day that seemed to crawl slowly on for awhile there it sure had grown dark rather quickly. Scarlett watched Steve walk forward to get to the exact coordinates but didn’t follow along.

“You’re welcome.” She shouted after him and then reluctantly followed when he didn’t turn to acknowledge her. “There’s no sign of radiation. Tot even a little bit. Even the normal readings are off.” Scarlett looked down at the screen in her hand again. “Maybe the machines at S.H.I.E.L.D. were wrong about what they found.”

“I don’t think Agent Coulson would’ve sent us all this way if there was some kind of electronic error.”

“Some errors can be pretty convincing. After what happened in Manhattan they couldn’t risk there being something and not dispatching agents to investigate.” Scarlett placed the device back in her pocket when she didn’t get any further readings. “Still, it can’t hurt to take a look around. We can scour this town and the little metropolitan area they have going on there in the west.” She gestured toward some of the larger buildings a few blocks to the west. It appeared to be a little college town, if she had to guess. There were few people walking around where they had been let down by the helicopter but the area toward the west was busier and she could hear the sounds of cars and people going about their daily business. The occasional young adult strolled quietly along the sidewalk.

“We’re not splitting up if that’s what you’re going to suggest. Again.”

“We’d cover more ground that way. It doesn’t make sense for us to waste time like this.” Scarlett was trying not to snap at him but she was tired of being treated like an inferior. She wasn’t Steve’s lackey and she most certainly wasn’t going to roll over and play dead just because Captain America couldn’t figure out how to play with her.

“And if one of us was in distress the other wouldn’t be close enough to come to their aid.” Steve spoke resolutely. He was still treating her like a soldier. It was all he could to in order to keep his image of her without the prejudice of things Tony had said about her in the past corrupting his mind. With a glance at the machine in his hands he adjusted his direction a little west and toward a small series of stores.

“You mean to say that if I got into trouble you wouldn’t be there to save me. Look, Rogers, we don’t know each other very well but that is definitely not something you have to worry about.” What was it with these male super heroes? They all seemed to think it was their responsibility to take care of their female cohorts. She didn’t need anyone to take care of her and the gesture was becoming less and less sweet with time. The idea that she wasn’t capable of getting a job done simply because she was of the fairer sex was absolutely absurd. Captain America may have been super human in every stretch of the word but if she had to, Scarlett would find a way to take him down and she wouldn’t need some strong man to hold her hand while she did it.

“Damien, you are obviously distracted. Your head isn’t in the game today. It’s not a good idea for us to split up. It’s for your own good.”

“Excuse me?” Scarlett laughed wondering what on earth about her demeanor had made her appear distracted. If anything, Steve was the one who seemed distracted! She was using their mission as a distraction, not the other way around.

“If we split up and you slip up because you’re not focused how am I supposed to help you?”

“I am perfectly focused on the task at hand. It would sure be a hell of a lot simpler to focus if you would stop arguing every idea I had and dismissing it like a subordinate.”

“I have a feeling that we should check out the coordinates, it has nothing to do with inferiority.”

“We are here, Steve!” Scarlett stopped walking and stepped out into the street, holding her hands out on either side of her to display it to him. Again she pulled out the machine that Bruce had given her and checked it. “There’s nothing here! I can read that on the screen as well as you can! Do you see anything amiss, Rogers? Huh? There’s nothing to look at, no danger, no nothing. Even if there was danger, I wouldn’t be hiding behind you. We’re partners. I’m here to protect you as much as you’re here to protect me.”

“Our mission is…”

“Oh, stop it with the official talk. You are not my superior, you are not my babysitter, and if we can’t cooperate on this damn mission then we’re going to split up and meet back here after investigation. It’s easier than arguing with you every few seconds about what course of action we should take.” Scarlett shoved the machine back into her pockets and turned away from him.

“If you would get on your game and focus on the task at hand I wouldn’t have to babysit you!” Steve objected, surprised that she was arguing with his decisions. While he hadn’t been prepared to be her partner he wasn’t prepared to fight with her either. Weren’t women supposed to be less confrontational than this?

“You keep saying I’m distracted but the only reason I’m distracted is because you are treating me like a child!” Scarlett kicked at the rocks on the asphalt then walked back to the sidewalk to look back up at Steve who was far taller than she was. It wasn’t entirely Steve’s fault she was so frustrated. It was just that kind of day and Steve happened to be the straw that had broken the metaphorical camel’s back.

“Coulson briefed me on what happened.” Steve stumbled on his words but tried to find a way around being left on the wrong side of the argument. He wasn’t acting like her babysitter, was he? Trying not to let Tony’s words influence him was backfiring him in every way he could imagine. Attempts to remain official had come off cold and controlling.

“What? Last night, you mean?” Scarlett unzipped her jacket and pulled the collar down so that she could show Steve the gauze there and then narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, it sucked and it hurts. Yes, there is a lot of drama right now in my personal life but I am not letting it get to my head. In fact, this is how I de-stress. Or it was until you turned into Captain Controlling.” Steve mentally deflated at being called another terrible name.

“It’s better if we stick together.” Steve finally spoke, even though he wasn’t sure what else to say. “Protocol dictates…”

“Oh, official protocol now? Is that what you want to pull out of the hat then? What would you do if this was any other mission out on the field, hmm? If it wasn’t me that you were partnered with? We arrived on site to found nothing amiss, not even what was reported.” Scarlett nodded to the suburbs around them. “There are no strange readings, no pieces of buildings mysteriously having disappeared from view, nothing. So what do we do next in a thorough investigation? We look at a map, we set up a perimeter on paper then we comb that area until we’re sure nothing has been missed. If we do that without splitting up it is going to take hours. I don’t know about you but if I have to argue with you about every little detail of this mission for hours I’m going to eat my gun.”

“I don’t have a…”

“It’s a saying, Rogers!” Scarlett exhaled deeply and furrowed her brow. “Tell me I’m wrong, Steve.” Pinching the bridge of her nose again Scarlett made attempts to calm herself down. Yelling wasn’t going to fix anything but Scarlett’s bullshit-o-meter was full for the day and she couldn’t take anymore.

“That’s a terrible saying.”

“Is that really what you took from all that?”

“You want us to scout the perimeter? I don’t think we should start from the outside in. Yes, we’ll set up a perimeter but then we can branch outward from there. Together.” Steve placed his hands on his hips and looked around. He had hoped they would find at least something that would give them a clue as to what had caused the other anomalies to happen. Instead all he’d managed to do was drive his partner crazy. Scarlett leaned her head back and stifled an angry cry. It was like trying to argue with a two year old who couldn’t see reason or refused to.

“You are unbelievable.”

“Your machine may say that there’s nothing going on here but I don’t think we should give up so quickly.” Steve started down the sidewalk, making his way closer to the strip mall at the far end of the block.

“When did I say give up? Did I say we should? I don’t remember that being part of my idea at all. I said we should keep looking for anything out of the ordinary.”

“You took one look at that little doohickey and said we were done here and should begin exit procedures.” Steve gestured to the machine he held in his hands as an example and nearly dropped it but managed to catch it at the last moment.

“I don’t remember using those words either.”

“Your reliance on technology is just as terrible as the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D! Honestly, I don’t know how any of you would manage without it. In my day…”

“If you start going on about how you had to walk fifteen miles to school in the snow then I’m going to put in a request at S.H.I.E.L.D. to have you dismissed on account of senility.” Scarlett’s attempted joke went terribly wrong. She couldn’t help it, he just made it so damn easy.

“You’re just like him.” Steve looked disgusted and continued to the strip mall. It appeared that only one of the shops remained open which surprised Scarlett but she didn’t have much time to question it seeing as Steve wasn’t exactly allowing her a chance to be observant to anything other than his attitude.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Scarlett knew they weren’t going to get anything accomplished if they kept arguing the way they did. One of them was eventually going to have to roll over and comply with the other and she had the feeling that Steve would rather get into a physical altercation than listen to her ideas. If Scarlett had to take orders from Steve for the rest of the evening then she was going to have a serious talk with Phil Coulson when she got back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. She didn’t mind working with a partner, she didn’t even mind compromising but being treated like a child was where she drew the line.

“Look Miss Damien, I know you’re hooked to those machines like a robot but I have a feeling. Call it intuition if you must but I have a very strong feeling that there’s something we’re missing here.” Steve sounded like he was trying to be civil but at the same time he wasn’t listening to anything Scarlett had said. The entire mission had compounded out of control. For two people who had worked so well together the other day they certainly weren’t getting much accomplished now.

“Oh, intuition? Is that what you’re basing this on? And continuing to ignore the fact that I had suggested we continue our investigation about twelve times?” Scarlett scoffed.

“Yes, I have a very strong feeling.”

“I have a feeling too.” Scarlett spoke seriously enough that Steve turned to her in surprise. “I feel very strongly that you should get your head out of your ass before I leave you here to do this on your own.”

“Wow! Didn’t see that coming.” Steve rolled his eyes but was mildly embarrassed that she had spoken with such vulgarity and without a second thought. She wasn’t even ashamed that she’d spoken to him like that! “You really are just like him.”

“Like who? You keep comparing me vaguely to people and it’s getting irritating.”

“Stark! The attitude, the reliance on technology, the insistence that he’s always right about everything.”

“Hey!” Scarlett stopped near the first store with its light outs and pointed an accusing finger at Steve. “Tony isn’t even here, you don’t need to talk about him like that. And you clearly don’t know either one of us very well if you think that the way I’m acting has anything to do with him.”

“Clearly with as much time as you two spend together he’s rubbing off on you. You don’t even see the way you’re behaving!”

“The way I’m behaving? I was excited to work with you until you treated me like a parasite you had to deal with.” Scarlett let her jaw drop as she argued with him. Clearly he didn’t see that the way she was behaving was a direct result of the way he’d treated her! Captain Oblivious seemed to be a better name for the moment in regards to Captain America.

“He’s just like that. Even when he’s wrong he’s right. And that’s exactly how you’re behaving!” Steve furrowed his brow in frustration. How did he ever think he could work with her? He hadn’t though! That was why he had insisted several times to both Coulson and Maria Hill that this arrangement was not going to work out. He couldn’t un-see the images Tony had put in his mind. Working with Scarlett was like working with Tony and he flat out refused to do that. Hearing she had been looking forward to working with him struck a chord, but he couldn’t let it get to him. “He’s an egotistical, overbearing, self righteous…”

“Whoa,” Scarlett shouted. She may not have been exactly pleased with Tony at the current moment but if anyone was going to call him names it was going to be her! “Yes, Tony can be a real pain in the ass. I get it, more than most people but you wouldn’t know that because instead of talking to me about whatever stick has gotten up your ass you’ve gone ahead and made assumptions about me and I don’t even get a chance to defend myself!”

“I…”

“Yes, Tony’s a selfish piece of shit some days and he’s even a thuggish pig when you catch him in the wrong mood! But even in his worst moments he’s brilliant!” Scarlett continued on her rant, refusing to let Steve get a word in edgewise on the matter. If he was going to make accusations about Tony then he needed all the facts. “I know he has a reputation and I know he thinks highly of himself but you clearly don’t know him if you think that’s not a front for something else. He was so damn lonely for so long and couldn’t admit it. If you think he’s an ass now you should’ve seen him when I met him.”

“Right, because that’s how normal people act when they’re lonely.” If anyone knew about loneliness it was Steve Rogers, the man out of time. When he’d woken up for the first time after having lost consciousness many years ago he’d been terrified. Now that time had passed and he’d begun to adjust to his life in the modern age but there was one thing he couldn’t quite overcome: loneliness. His friends and family were all long since passed, so who was left but those at S.H.I.E.L.D? And even though he wasn’t at all fond of Tony Stark’s way of life there was one thing he agreed with him on. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn’t always be trusted. When it came down to it he was just a pawn being used for their ultimate goal. There were no friends for him at S.H.I.E.L.D.

“You don’t know him, Steve. You don’t know what it’s like to live in his head. You don’t even try.”

“And I most certainly don’t want to know.” Steve seemed disgusted at the thought of it. The last thing he wanted to know was what went on in Tony Stark’s twisted mind. It had to be horrible in there, at least from his point of view.

“Cool it, Rogers.” Scarlett narrowed her eyes dangerously at Captain America who stood his ground. “I love Tony. You are talking about the man that I love. How would you feel if I talked that way about someone you cared about?” At that, Steve didn’t respond. Scarlett had it all wrong. It wasn’t that he was trying to be insulting; it was just that he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around being her partner. There were things Tony had said about her, mental images Steve had been given that he couldn’t forget. Steve was an all around good guy, really he was, he was just not given the right information or a proper introduction to this woman and it seemed everything that came out of his mouth was wrong.

“All I’m asking is that you don’t talk about him like he’s such a terrible guy. You may not like him but I love him. Even when he’s being an ass, even when he’s at his worst, he is important to me! So even if you can’t stand him and he’s driven you absolutely crazy all I ask is you keep your mouth shut out of respect for me. And I’m supposed to be your partner but instead you’re treating me like I’m this weird tumor growing out of Tony’s side! I don’t need you to be nice to him but don’t insult him when he’s not around. Mutual respect is all I ask for.”

“How can I respect a woman who doesn’t respect herself?” Steve was flabbergasted that he was spoken to in such a way and had said it before he thought it through. It was again the things that Tony had bragged about around the office that were taking over. He didn’t even know if what he’d claimed they’d done was true, but it didn’t matter. No self respecting woman would let the man she supposedly loved go around talking about them like that! No matter who Tony Stark was, there was no respect in what they did.

“Are you kidding me?” Scarlett looked up at the sky and spoke to a deity she didn’t believe in with a heavy sigh. “What is with men today? What is it? Did I do something to deserve today, huh?” Steve was confused and turned his gaze up to the sky to try and find what who or what she was talking to.

“Have you heard the way he talks about you when you’re not around?”

“I’m sure it’s typical, Tony. He says things just to get to you because he knows it bothers you.”

“That in itself is absolutely appalling…”

“Can we please move on? You can’t keep judging me on my boyfriend otherwise we’re not going to get anything accomplished!” Scarlett was tired of arguing with Steve. Why did everyone want to argue with her today? The ice cream she’d once longed for was calling her name again. If Steve wasn’t going to take any action then she would. Before he could argue with her or try to defend his point of view, she pressed on the small earpiece that she’d been given at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. “Bennett?”

“Yes, Miss Damien?” The all too chipper voice of Jinx responded in her ear, far clearer than any commercial earpiece Scarlett had ever used before. Scarlett continued to be impressed with the technology that S.H.I.E.L.D. brought to the table.

“We arrived at the coordinates and there’s no sign of radiation on the device Bruce has given me.” Scarlett threw a sideways glance to Steve who was looking around the shops simply to find something else to look at. Their argument had given him a lot to think about. Was Tony really just saying obscene things to get a rise out of him? If that was the case his beef was still with Tony and not with Scarlett. But how could he look past what had been said even if it was false? He wished he could go back to a time where he hadn’t known who she was dating and had actually enjoyed working with her. This whole mission had become a complete disaster and not in the way he had expected it to be. He half wished that they had found something just so they could change topics.

“Let me take another look at those readings.” Jinx whispered and typed away at the computer. Perhaps there had been a computing error and they had been given the wrong coordinates to investigate. More likely it was a fluke.

“How do you know that these events are isolated to the tri-state area? It’s possible that these gamma spikes, as often as they seemed to coincide with the events, could be caused by something natural in the environment and we’re just now picking it up. You said that what made it stand apart from the usual Gamma readings was something foreign. It’s possible we’ve just made a new discovery and nothing more.”

“I thought we were going to scour the perimeter.” Steve sounded frustrated and walked up and down the strip mall, looking into the stores for suspicious behavior. The only place that remained open, a coffee shop, was practically dead. It seemed odd that the stores would close so early on a Saturday. It looked like there was some kind of event going on west of them in the town square. Perhaps the shops had closed down so that the owners and employees could attend said event. Scarlett waved her hand at him to shush him. After their arguing she was tired of taking orders. If S.H.I.E.L.D. told her to go around the perimeter then she would but if they told her to come back in then Steve could get over it.

“We’re not sure about that, Miss Damien.” Much to Scarlett’s surprise, Bruce Banner’s voice joined in on the conversation. “Miss Bennett here has been very helpful trying to narrow it down but there’s truly no way to tell where else these phenomena have taken place. There haven’t been any reports of strange events from what we can tell and the data that S.H.I.E.L.D. has provided from global satellites seems to say the same. It appears as if these events are localized to parts of the tri-state area though we have no idea why.”

“Rogers, come here.” Scarlett nodded to Steve who resisted rolling his eyes but walked over to where she stood. “Can you hear this?” Steve nodded, not wanting to interrupt the conversation that echoed in his earpiece.

“We were hoping that you would find something of note since we dispatched you so closely to the event. Unfortunately if you’re not finding anything there then we’re right back where we started.” Scarlett could practically hear Jinx pouting over the radio.

“It seems as though the radiation spike in some of these instances is very brief.” Bruce took over while Jinx typed away at the computer. “While it lasted much longer on other occasions, it might not be the case now. Unfortunately in the prior events the radiation disappeared so quickly we didn’t have a chance to study it. If you can package some samples of the dirt and flora in the area and bring them in to be analyzed we may be able to get a clearer picture of what happened. I may be able to provide you with very specific details on the exact area where this event occurred if I can just… Miss Bennett, could you help me with this?” Bruce spoke away from the radio, over to Jinx who was speaking on another line with S.H.I.E.L.D. superiors.

“Yes of course, Dr. Banner.” Jinx chirped happily, pleased that someone was referring to her in such a polite manner. “Miss Damien? Mr. Captain America, sir? Coulson says that you should collect samples as Dr. Banner instructs then return to Manhattan. Once you’re finished contact me again and I’ll have a helicopter come and meet you at your drop zone.”

“Alright.” Scarlett nodded her head and caught Steve’s gaze. He was no longer paying attention and she was honestly surprised he wasn’t objecting to the fact that she’d gone way over his head.

“Miss Damien, I am using your current position to hopefully get a better comparison to where the event took place.” When Scarlett found what Steve was staring at in such awe she nearly dropped the device that Bruce had given her in the first place. “It looks to be about a hundred yards west of you.”

“No need for specifics, Dr. Banner.” Scarlett cleared her throat and stared in disbelief at the lush green park across the way from the shopping center. At the far end of it, closer to the end of the block there was a soft glow hovering over the ground. It was closer to the epicenter of town than she had hoped any event would take place. What was even worse was that it seemed the few people remaining in that area of town had noticed it as well. “I think we found it.”