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[UNTIL WE REUNITE]

1.02 || i'm the encyclopaedia

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"We're about forty minutes out from home base, sir." The pilot says and Althea rolls her shoulders, glancing at Coulson when he moves. 

"So, this Dr Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve asks as Coulson steps over to him. 

"A lot of people were." Coulson responds. "You were the world's first superhero." 

"Yeah, you've got a lot of fans." Althea says, looking at Coulson pointedly.

"Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erksine's original formula." Coulson explains, making a point to ignore Althea and the redhead shakes her head a little with an amused smile as she tilts her head back.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve asks.

"Not so much. When he's not that thing, though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." There's a slight pause before Coulson speaks next. "He's like a smart person." Coulson clarifies.

"Wow, it's nice not being the one everyone has to explain stuff to anymore." Althea says.

"I gotta say, it's an honour to meet you officially. I've sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." Coulson says and Althea raises a brow, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh, that's not creepy." Althea remarks idly.

"I mean, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice." Coulson says as Steve gets up, walking towards the pilot. "You know, it's really just a huge honour to have you on board this,"

"I hope I'm the man for the job." Steve responds. 

"Oh, you are. Absolutely. We made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." Coulson says.

"The uniform?" Steve asks. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little old fashioned?" Steve asks.

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned." Coulson responds.

"What about you?" Steve asks turning around and Althea looks up at him.

"What about me?" Althea asks.

"What's your job?" He asks.

"Oh, I'm the encyclopaedia." She responds.

"Althea is not from Earth. She's from Asgard. The same place as the person who stole the Tesseract. She came here twenty years ago and was unable to return home." Coulson explains.

"Do you know him?" Steve asks and she frowns.

"I don't know you." Althea responds. "So, why would I tell you personal information about me? I've known Coulson for twenty years and he can count the thigs he knows about me prior to coming here on one hand." 

"She's a very private person." Coulson says and Steve nods.

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As the lands on the Helicarrier, Althea pushes herself up out of her seat, following Coulson and Steve down the ramp to where Natasha was waiting for them. "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers." Coulson introduces.

"Ma'am." Steve responds and Althea frowns, tilting her head as she mouths the word 'ma'am' at Natasha.

"Hi." She responds before looking over at Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace." Natasha says.

"See you there." Coulson says before walking off. 

"C- Phil!" Althea calls after him loudly, holding her hands out. "Can't just leave me here." She mutters and Natasha snorts briefly, looking over at her.

"Come on." She says and Althea sighs before walking with her and Steve. "I'm surprised they got you to come in." Natasha says.

"He's not just any Asgardian." Althea responds and Natasha frowns before glancing down at her hand briefly. 

"Oh, right." Natasha says and the redhead hums. "You know, it was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." Natasha starts, turning to Steve before he had the chance to ask what they were talking about. "I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha asks.

"Trading cards?" Steve asks.

"They're vintage, he's very proud. Right, Thea?" Natasha asks.

"Yeah. They were one of the first things he showed me when I met him." Althea responds, shaking her head a little as they make their way towards Banner. 

"Dr Banner." Steve says, approaching him to shake his hand.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming." Banner says. 

"Word is you can find the cube." Steve responds.

"Is that the only word on me?" Banner asks.

"Only word I care about." Steve responds and Althea sighs impatiently, rolling her shoulders.

"You okay?" Natasha asks.

"No. Not if they're right." Althea responds, looking over at her as Steve and Banner talk. 

"It'd be bad if they're right?" Natasha asks.

"Well, that'd mean he could come down here all along and never looked for me." Althea responds and Natasha nods. "I'll decide if I'm okay or not after we find him." She says and she nods.

"Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe." Natasha says to the two men.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asks as the two of them walk towards the edge.

"Really? They wanted me in a submerged, pressurised metal container?" Banner asks.

"I like him." Althea says.

"You would." Natasha responds and Althea shrugs as the Helicarrier starts to lift off.

"Oh, no. This is much worse." Banner says.

Althea walks ahead of Steve and Banner with Natasha onto the bridge, Althea moving to take a seat at the table as Banner and Steve look around, watching as Steve places something in Fury's hand as she idly messes with her wedding ring, pushing it around her finger. 

"Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury says, holding a hand out to Banner who hesitates for a moment before shaking it.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, how long am I staying?" He asks.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind." Fury responds.

"Where are you with that?" Banner asks and Fury gestures to the side at Coulson.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." Coulson responds.

"That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha remarks, glancing at everyone.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asks.

"How many are there?" Fury retorts.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Banner asks.

"Agent Romanoff, could you show Dr Banner to his laboratory, please?" Fury asks and the woman nods before walking over to him. 

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys." Natasha says.

Althea sighs, shifting slightly in her seat as she props her elbow up on the table, still messing with her ring. "I'm glad you decided to come." Fury says and she looks up at him. 

"Did I have a choice?" Althea asks.

"You know we don't have a way to force you in." Fury responds and she hums, nodding a little.

"Doesn't mean you wouldn't have tried." She responds and he nods. "If it is him, I'm not fighting him. I will only be a source of information. And I can guarantee, none of it will be personal because there's not a chance in hell I'm letting you get personal information out of me to use against him. Regardless of what he's done." Althea says.

"Wouldn't expect any different." Fury responds and she nods.

"We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match." Sitwell says and Althea looks over at him, getting up as Coulson walks over to him. "Wait, cross-match. Seventy-nine percent." He says.

The redhead rushes down the steps, walking over to the monitor as Coulson asks, "Location?" 

"Stuttgart, Germany. Twenty-eight, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." Sitwell responds and Althea stares at the picture on the monitor.

"Althea?" Coulson asks.

She hesitates for a moment before nodding a little. "That's him. That's Loki." The redhead says without looking away from the screen. 

"Captain, you're up." Fury says. 

"Ma'am, you coming?" Steve asks and she hesitates before nodding, walking back up to where Steve was stood. 

"Yeah, let's go. And don't call me ma'am. I'm not that old." Althea says, walking past him and he nods before following her. "And we need to grab Nat. She'll fly the jet." She says.

"You can't do it?" Steve asks.

"I'm not allowed. Not after I crashed three during training back in ninety-eight." Althea responds.

"Three?" Steve asks.

"You'd think they'd have learned after the first or the second. Evidently, three times really is the charm." Althea shrugs.

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