A/N:

Before I start the story, let me just clarify two things:

This is an Alternate Universe Fanfiction, but greatly resembles the Marvel 616 universe. 'The Big Bang Theory's' history remains the same, however.

Please ignore all references that 'The Big Bang Theory' has made to Marvel comics characters as being works of fiction.

"Would you give it a rest, Sheldon?" Leonard Hofstadter, a twenty-eight year old experimental physicist groaned as he stepped away from the buffet line. He regretted the fact that even among the hundreds of fellow employees, he could not find a less annoying person to be in front of.

"I am simply stating that if I were to get a superpower of my choice," Sheldon Cooper, a theoretical physicist, replied as he followed Leonard through the maze of tables. "It would be Quantum Control. Imagine," he continued as the two of them sat down at their usual table, which sat almost directly in the centre of the room. "It has all the powers, Leonard. Flight, by solidifying the air. I could make objects lighter with a thought. I could…"

"Make someone's head explode?" Leonard asked with a bored expression, as he tried to focus his attention on his mashed potatoes. Not an easy task when one was dealing with his roommate. Fortunately, a distraction arrived in the forms of Rajesh Koothrapalli and Howard Wolowitz. A duo which mirrored the matchup of Leonard and Sheldon perfectly. "Because that would prove to exceedingly useful right about now."

"As usual, Leonard, your imagination is as limited as your stature," Sheldon commented with a sigh as he picked at his food. He muttered something under his breath, but Leonard didn't care anymore. He wanted to change the subject so badly, he welcomed whatever the other two were about to bring to the table. Surely whatever they had to say would be far more interesting than Sheldon's constant droning.

"So guess what?" Howard smirked as he set his tray down on the table.

"Guess what?' Sheldon replied with a quizzical expression. "Your wording makes that statement utterly impossible. We have been given no indication whatsoever about what we are supposed to be guessing. Is it about Science? Politics? Did the President change our National Anthem to 'The Wheels on the Bus?' Did-?" The scientist would have continued his rant if Leonard didn't quietly raise his hand, telling his roommate to stop. The two of them clasped their hands together and turned towards their Jewish friend. Howard gave Sheldon a stern expression that might have killed him, had it been any harder.

"…so you know how Disney bought the rights to the 'Avengers' franchise?" Howard asked seriously. All three of them nodded knowingly. They remembered how much they loathed the idea of Mickey Mouse's corporation wrestling the film rights to the real-life Superhero team known as 'The Avengers' from Stark Industries. And from Tony Stark himself, who was one of the founding Avengers. "Well I just got some news that will blow your mind," Howard smirked.

"I highly doubt that," Sheldon quipped. He was ignored by the rest of them, however.

"What?" Raj asked as he leaned forward.

"Well," Howard replied as he leaned back in his chair, and pulled out his phone. "I've got a friend in the business. He told me about something a friend of his told him," Wolowitz continued as a smirk grew across his face. Leonard and Raj both leaned inwards intently, while Sheldon remained indifferent to the conversation. "Apparently, they're holding auditions for Captain Marvel downtown over the next few weeks."

"Dude!" Raj exclaimed excitedly, as he slapped his open palm against Leonard's shoulder. "You should tell Penny to audition for it!"

"I don't think that'll go over too well," Leonard replied sheepishly as he shook his head. "She already yelled at me when I suggested she audition for Star Wars."

"Plus you don't want thousands of men ogling your girlfriend, while she's wearing skin-tight leather," Howard quipped with a smirk. "I can't imagine how her boyfriend must feel," the Jewish scientist finished as he took a small bite of his mashed potatoes. Leonard nodded in agreement, as did Raj. Sheldon, on the other hand, seemed intent on changing the subject with a mere whim.

"I don't know how I feel about….." The rest of his sentence was drowned out with a collective groan from the rest of the group. None of them really wanted to hear what he had to say. And fortunately, a distraction arrived in the form of Eric Gablehauser. Gablehauser was the head of the entire Physics department of their institute. Which effectively made him Sheldon, Leonard and Raj's boss. Though, he had an extremely strained relationship with Sheldon, who was always on thin ice due to his personality. On more than one occasion he had threatened to fire Sheldon on the spot for insubordination.

"Dr. Cooper, Dr. Hofstadter, Dr. Kootherpali," Gablehauser said as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Mr. Wolowitz," he continued, nodding in Howard's direction and not-so-subtly reminding everyone of the fact that Howard did not have a doctorate. "I've got an important job for you, Dr. Hofstadter," the man continued as he shuffled his feet slightly. "A-"

"You require Leonard to tie your shoes?" Sheldon remarked under his breath, only letting Leonard hear him properly.

"-representative from Horizon Labs is coming in tomorrow," Gablehauser said, either unaware of what Sheldon had said, or indifferent towards it. "And we need someone to show him around. Make sure he doesn't get lost," Gablehauser added in as he paced around the table, and placed his hands on Leonard's shoulders. "I figured you'd be more than up to the task."

"I disagree," Sheldon replied with a slight shrug.

"Of course you do," Gablehauser snorted with a grin.

"Leonard is way to qualified to be baby-sitting a random stranger," the physicist pointed out absent-mindedly.

"Well I was going to appoint the job to Dr. Winkle," Gablehauser replied smugly as he clapped his hands together. "But she's refused to come into work until, and I quote, 'Doctor Nutcase is gone.'" He smiled simply before continuing with, "So unless you're volunteering to quit, the job falls on Dr. Hofstadter. End of story," he finished before walking off, humming a merry tune. Leonard wanted to say something, but thought better of it. He did not want to cross his boss, so soon after the man had an encounter with Sheldon Cooper. That would be an unwise career move on his part.

xxx

"I can't believe you kept this thing," Peter Parker, who was known to the world as the Amazing Spider-man quipped as he stepped into the rickety hunk of metal that was his girlfriend's personal plane. "I mean, didn't it almost fall apart last time?"

"Last time we were being shot at," Carol Danvers, known as Captain Marvel, replied with an innocent shrug as she pulled her door closed. "And dealing with a fifty-foot bank robber. And Iron-Man wannabe's," she continued as she pulled on a headset and flicked several switches. The engine began to roar to life as she went about her pre-flight checklist. "Skies look clear today, Peter."

"Well now that you've jinxed it…" the brown-haired superhero chuckled as he pulled on his own headset.

"I've flown fighter jets," Carol replied as she revved the engines, and started the propeller. "And a spaceship. So relax," she muttered as she wrapped her gloved hands around the controls, and began to move the entire plane forward, out of the garage it was parked inside. Within a few seconds, they were picking up speed down the runway, slowly lifting into the air. "Though I do have a question," she said idly as the plane rose up a few inches in the air. "You know that I could get you there a lot faster by just carrying you, right?"

"As much as I love the idea of being pressed against your sweaty, well-muscled goddess body," Peter said, with only the slightest shake in his voice as the plane continued to rise higher and higher into the clouds. "For a few hours on end. I doubt," he continued as he pointed to the back of the plane, were several of his belongings were packed tightly and secured with ropes. "That the lab would be very pleased with me being so careless with such high-value equipment," he said as a smirk grew across her lips, and he gripped the edge of his seat a little bit tighter. He knew that whenever Captain Marvel smiled at you, you were in big trouble. And since he didn't quite trust the integrity of the plane they were in, he had some very good reasons to be scared. Sure, he could easily form a parachute out of his webbing in order to stall his descent long enough for Carol to catch him. But the fact remained that he was not a fan of falling from such a great height. And she seemed to revel in that idea.

"Sweaty?" Carol snapped playfully, as they reached the clouds. "You say I'm sweaty?" She repeated with a slight chuckle, which made him all the more afraid.

"Well after that tussle with the Wrecking Crew this morning…" Peter replied with a shaky tone, fully aware of how precarious his situation was.

"I showered after that," Carol quipped as she relaxed her shoulders. "Remember? All that soap and water and…"

"I remember you attacking me while I tried to shower," Peter chuckled slightly, becoming slightly more at ease with his girlfriend's flying abilities.

"Oh, is that what happened?" Carol replied sarcastically, as she leaned the wheel slightly to the left, out of the way of a flock of birds heading in their direction. "See, I remember you enjoying it as much as I did. Especially when I went and…"

"Well that certainly was the highlight of my morning," he chuckled as he leaned his head back. "But you still jumped me when I was most vulnerable. Some might say you took advantage of me when I was at my weakest moment."

"I took advantage of you?" Carol laughed as she whipped her head to the side. "You enjoyed it too much for it to be considered 'taking advantage', Peter Parker. I think you enjoyed it more than I did," she finished with a chuckle. A laugh which he joined in slightly.

"Well I kinda figured it was payback for the whole thing last month with the ceiling and the webs…" he said smugly. As the words left his mouth, Carol jerked the plane to the side, into a tight barrel-roll. He stopped speaking, even as the vehicle straightened itself. "Do. Not. Do. That. Again." He said, as he tried to hold down his breakfast. Of course, his facial expression served only to increase her elation as she steadied the controls of the plane.

"Is little Petey afraid of a little plummet to his death?" Carol spurted merrily as she patted him on the shoulder. And when someone who bench-presses fifty tons on a regular basis slaps you, you feel it. Though he was used to it by now, having known the Captain for several years now. And had been on good terms with her for most of that time. "You think I wouldn't be able to save both you and the plane if I went into a plummeting nose-dive?" She continued as she ran a hand through her golden blonde hair.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you'd save the plane," he grinned as his stomach settled itself somewhat. "And that you'd arrive in Pasadena, California in time to tell them the good news." Together, they both shared a decent fit of laughter, even as the plane soared through the sky, making a beeline for California at an astonishing speed. It was several hours before the state even came into view. And another full half-hour before they could even begin their landing cycle. Plenty of time for the two Superheroes to share in a wonderful bout of back-and-forth banter on a variety of subjects. Most of which they had discussed before. And often in their own, private company. Though never inside the cockpit of a plane, he thought to himself as the wheels touched own on the tarmac.

xxx

"So you've got to show some pencil-necked, four-eyed, brown-noser around your lab?" Penny asked with a raised eyebrow as she set two glasses of wine down on the table. Leonard sat down as she continued, "with his shirt tucked into his pants, never played a real sport in his life?"

"Are you talking about the rep?" Leonard asked pointedly, "or me?"

"I….um," Penny stammered slightly, as her eyes shifted from side to side. "Here, have some wine!" she exclaimed in a vain attempt to distract him from what she had just said. "So, anything exciting happen in the world of science today?" she asked, keeping her tone preppy and distracting as she sat down across from him.

"Well Sheldon's convinced that his latest invention 'The Molecular De-stabilizer' is sure to get him the Nobel Prize," Leonard shrugged with some enthusiasm. If he gets the prize, the scientist thought he might shut up about it…..or not. Penny blinked twice, Prompting Leonard to elaborate, "It's a device that was inspired by something from comic book."

"Oh?" Penny asked, obviously doing her best to feign interest in what he had to say. "What does it do?"

"Well," Leonard replied, as he folded his hands together and tightened his lips into a straight line. "Like everything from the mind of Lex Luthor, its sole purpose is to destroy things. This time by creating a miniature black hole in a target." Leonard finished, thankful that Sheldon couldn't actually get the parts he needed for the device to work. Because if he did, then Leonard would be very tempted to turn the creation on its creator, and live a normal life.

"Lex Luthor," Penny said as she screwed up her face. "D.C. Bald head. Enemy of….Batman?"

"Close enough," Leonard replied with a smile, "two out of three. Superman," he continued, still just happy that his fiancé could get that far.

"Okay," Penny said as she set down her wine glass on the table and smiled. Though he had a feeling it was for a different reason than him. "Well, I've got some big news from my agent today," she said as her grin grew even larger than before. Which in turn, caused Leonard to grow even more interested in what she had to say. In his insecure mind, it meant one of two things. Either she had gotten a part in a legitimate production, in which case she might have to re-locate for a while, or she was offered an audition and would come back sullen, because it was really for a pornographic film.

"And….?" Leonard asked, almost afraid it would be the former, and she would be starring alongside some much more attractive male co-star. Much like she did in his worst nightmares. "What's the news?!" he said, perhaps a little too impatiently.

"Well, he got me a part in Captain Marvel!" She exclaimed, as all of his fears of her running away with some hunk melted for the time being. But the thought of horny guys like a pre-Bernadette Howard Wolowitz suddenly filled the dark parts of his mind. He ignored those feelings for now and simply hugged her tightly, proud that she had gotten a part in a movie, which was sure to be a lot better than her last attempt in filmmaking. Of course, he knew that wasn't much of a stretch, as her last movie had been Serial Ape-ist 2: Monkey See, Monkey Kill. But nonetheless, he hugged her tightly, expressing his pride as a thought crossed his mind, thanks to the conversation he had had with Wolowitz earlier that day. And he did see a minor hypocrisy in what she was doing.

"So," he said cautiously as they broke the hug. "That's great, really great!"

"And you sound disappointed," Penny replied as she lowered her chin slightly.

"What….?" Leonard quipped desperately, "No! No, I'm proud of you! This is great! It's just….you've never been one for Superhero movies in the past," he said as he grasped one of her hands, the one with their engagement ring on it. "So, are you sure? I'd hate for you to do a movie that you hate just for the prestige and-" She put a hand over his mouth, silencing him as she smiled warmly. The smile seemed to put some of his worries at ease.

"Sweetie," she said warmly, "It's not a comic-book movie. It's a bio-pic. Sort of," Penny continued in a matter-of-fact voice. "Based on real events. The kind of stuff people get awards for," his fiancé said as she returned his comforting grip. "This is a big career move for me, and I hope that I can count on your support. Can I?" she asked, with an expression that reminded him of one he would receive a hundredfold if he walked into a room full of puppies. It would have destroyed him to say no. Which he didn't. He grinned and continued his efforts to boost her mood, and express his elation at her success. After all, it wasn't every day that someone close to him got such a big chance in life. And he was determined to be with her every step of the way. And that he would convince Sheldon, Howard and Raj to do the same, no matter how well Penny actually did in the role.

"By the way," Leonard asked, "what role is it?"

"Hell if I know," Penny replied honestly. "He just said the words and I kinda screamed. Might have given that ol' geezer Stan a heart attack."

"Stan?" Leonard asked.

"Old guy who comes by every Thursday for lunch," Penny shrugged as she took a small sip of her wine. "I dunno. He was muttering some strange stuff as the E.M.T's wheeled him out. Telling them to 'face front'." Penny screwed up her face once more as she continued, "come to think of it, Mr. Lee's always been kind of strange," she said as the two of them finished the night off. As it grew later, Leonard bade her farewell, and told her that he'd wait and tell everyone the good news after she said it was okay.