Young Avengers: Best Four Out of Seven
As SHIELD gets a fix on run-away Tommy Sheperd (Speed), his former colleagues try to get him to their respective sides.
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Marvel. The rather weak plot as well as the characters invented to support it were invented by me. I'm not making any money out of this.
Author's Notes:This is currently AU. The members of the teams are from way back, when I thought this up. One is the group from Winter Kills, the other is the rest of the guys – registered – as I remember it from a Initiative comic, minus Tommy. But the line-up has been such a mess – who was on what team, that I decided to use the mess to help me tell the story. Wait for it.
This should be a 4 or 5 part story, according to my outline.
Please, point out inconsistencies, both within the text and how it relates to marvel canon, especially OOCness. Also, I'm not a native speaker, and both my grammar and writing could use some polishing, so point out my mistakes. I have no editor, so some very ugly things may fall trough the cracks. Be warned.
I read 'The Vision' entries from Wiki and the Marvel site, and I might be taking a few liberties with what he can do, but I believe a robot created from the armor of the future conqueror of all time - except 20-21st centuries – should have these things. Not sure about ages – sure Cassie is fairly younger than the others.
About Darien, GA: I just glanced at the wikipedia and checked some photos. Don't really know what I'm talking about.
Chapter 1
Sewers are rather cold places. No direct sun light and it's fair share of water make them uncomfortable – not to mention the smell. At the end of autumn, with the cold blowing into the city, it was dreary. But not all is bad. This temperature did make wonders for an android's thermal vision.
For instance, this specific android knew that one very large man sat inside the house he was targeting, and a few feet from him sat a small object that dispersed some heat. Beside that he knew two people – very likely a man and a woman – sat inside a van by the street corner. Two other – both very likely men – were hanging about the park that sat behind the specified house. All four were carrying sidearms. There were three other people and a dog walking down the street, separately. None of these had weapons. He relayed this to his companions.
"Is it her?" the male one whispered. Anxious.
"The only female walking down the street might be heading to the house. I will know in a moment." The machine responded, also whispered.
"Just so we're all clear on this: I find all this whispering very irritating." The female member of the trio complained, whispering.
"Can't be helped, Kate. You wanted us immaterial cause of the sewage–"
"And if we were surprised!"
"But mostly because of the sewer. Quit glaring, you know it's true." Eli responded, trying to keep the smirk from sounding in his voice. He believed he was successful. "And immaterial, it's harder to vocalize. That's all. Is it her, or not, Vision?" he changed the subject quickly.
"The female has entered the house trough the front door. I assume so." The Vision responded.
"So, let's get going. Vision, there's a wire in each room, and a single camera by the entryway, pointed at the corridor, with partial view of the kitchen and the stairs. The two guys out the back have a great view of the porch and a decent one of the kitchen. The ones in the car can see into the living room. Is that it?"
"There are also two phone taps."
Patriot breathed in slowly and let it out. "But that's not pertinent to the plan at hand, correct?"
"That is correct." The machine responded.
Hawk-eye reached out in the dark to Elijah's arm. "Eli, calm down. For all we know the curtains are drawn."
"No, Grandpa likes the sunlight." He said objectively, ignoring her touch.
"Well, calm down anyway." She spat and let go of his arm.
Eli looked in her direction, across The Vision, but remained quiet.
"So, now Vision is going to jam their bug in the basement, right?" Eli continued, in a lighter tone.
"Well, not exactly. He's also going to transmit a recording of the sound from the basement. Which should be nothing major unless some big sound comes from somewhere else and doesn't register–"
"So, now Vision is going to jam their bug in the basement, right?" Patriot repeated in an irritated tone.
"Ok, that does it! Vision, shine a little light down here!" Kate demanded, in a clearly more irritated tone than Eli's. The synthezoid complied promptly.
She turned around on Eli, still keeping a hold of The Vision, to remain immaterial in their present environment. She was pissed at his behavior and was going to let him know it. "Eli, I know you're nervous, but get your act together! Ok, so this is less than ideal, but it is better than mine, All right?! Plus, if you talk that way with your grandma, she's gonna let you have it, wires or no wires! And you did not come all the way out here to the freaking Bronx, trough shadows, dirty river water and sewage just to act all irritated around your grandparents, right? Am I right?"
Trough her tirade – whispered as it was – his eyes narrowed, Who the hell does she think she is? But as she got done, he let her oh, so irritating tone go, and just heard the words. And she was right. Especially about his grandmother. Woman could talk up a storm. He smirked at that.
As Kate saw the smile and a nod, she began talking more softly. "Listen, when I almost changed my mind about the letter, you kept my head on straight. I know you did that for my own good. We're in a bad situation and we're preoccupied about our families. We're bound to do something stupid. So we have to look out for each other. Right?"
He nodded again.
She smiled. "Good."
They stood in silence. "Are we ready to go? She is currently in the kitchen."
"Just a sec, Vision. You think my grandma knows about the bugs?" He asked, perplexed with the concept.
Kate smirked. "A woman like her, with her grandkid on the run from SHIELD, is not going to realize if someone has been trough her house? Bronx Science be damned, you are the fool of the Bradleys, Elijah. Let's go, Vision."
An uneventful trip trough concrete later, the three stood in the Bradleys' basement. Kate looked around, having never seen it before. It seemed organized – as far as basements go –, but dusty. There was that rubbery carpet on the stair steps and handrails on both sides. The door from the kitchen was open, but they were angled away from sight. "Did your grandmother ever have an accident on stairs?"
"No." Eli looked at her. "But her mother did. Bedridden to the day she died, a year later, I think. Why?"
"No reason. Just making conversation." She shrugged.
"Yeah, your version, anyway." He smirked at her. "Vision, go ahead."
The android looked up, confirmed her position in the kitchen – putting the groceries away in the cabinets – took the paper and floated up. Eli watched him go. Now we wait.
Far, but still within city limits, another couple of teens awaited a third one.
Teddy sat in the living room, eyes out window, head far away. Bless the Kaplans for their help. Since they come back to town on… leave – damned word – Teddy had stayed in the family's guest room, and they'd been very helpful to him, and this time away from the wretched boot camp – especially away form the Techno-geeks – made him value his decision more.
In his time with the underground resistance-
(Cap's Resistance)
-to the SHRA he found he actually missed the couple, not merely because the distress their absence caused on Billy, but for his time spent with them after his mother died. Ha, after she died, they helped him see her as his mother still, the woman who raised him and surely loved, and whatever duty she had to him, as time passed it had become the no more and no less than the duty of a mother to her children.
Of course, he could do without the other Kaplan kids.
Billy's younger brothers were a pain. No two ways about it. The youngest was three and by far too noisy and active, and the middle one was ten and Teddy had the distinct impression that he disapproved. Of course Billy didn't seem to notice, and Teddy couldn't find it in himself to bring it up. I feel like a character in one of those stories where only one person can see what the real villain is like. Except my nemesis is regular 10 year-old. Not even the fat guy from New Warriors had it this bad..
He tossed his head back and mumbled "You're thinking too much. She'll be here soon." A pause. "And you're talking to yourself." Acknowledged.
He looked around. Sighed. "Booored."
Stop it.
The doorbell.
Jumps up. "Thank you!"
He opens the door for Cassie, greeting her. She steps inside, "Hey, how have you been?"
"Same old. You?"
"Good. Blake's been weird, not sure how to deal with me now, but still overreacts at the appropriate moments. Mom is good about it tough."
He nodded. "Good."
"Where's Billy?"
"Still getting dressed. He takes too long."
"Now, I resent that comment." Billy called out, coming down the stairs, "I take just the right amount of time. Otherwise, how would I have come down to such a great set up? Hey, Cassie." He greeted and continued, "You, on the other hand just grab the first thing in front of you and thinks it's good enough. I'm living proof of that."
Teddy throws a disapproving glance back at Billy.
"What, it's just a little self-deprecating humor. Nothing to it." Billy defends. Teddy just shrugs.
Cassie watched this, but tough the words might have made her uncomfortable before, now she knew this was not really a thing. So she smiled it off. "Boys, you have guests, do it on your free time."
"Better things to do then." Billy quipped, smiling. "Come, let's go to the kitchen. I feel like snaking."
He threw some plates, glasses, bread, condiments, colds and a soft-drink on the counter, sat down and they started making sandwiches. The conversation went on. Movies, music, family, till it hit a dead spot and Teddy tough not actually his forte, tried to start it up again.
"How is training coming along, Cassie?"
"Good actually. And not only fighting or power-related. They've been teaching me to figure out how much mass a structure can take, where the columns likely are within a wall, how close I can be to something when growing, so I don't knock it down." She answered.
Billy hummed. "Good for you, me, my spells are actually at a 53 to 47 of working at all. Statistically significant as well." He sighed, "The only ones that are a sure thing are flying and lightings, my 'fixed spells'. I must be the only person in the world who regrets not playing RPG when younger…"
Cassie raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. But not likely the only sixteen year-old who tries to sound like he'd seen WWII." She smiled.
Billy looked at her for while, a serious expression on his face that slowly made her lose her smile. Then he looked out the window. "But I've seen a war." Another sigh, but this one was different from the others. It felt older.
Teddy reached out to him, but looked at Cassie, as if apologizing. Billy was snapped out of his mood – apparently, at least– by it.
"Come on, enough of that." He smiled and seemed mock-thoughtful "Ok, you know what, let's…"
And he came up with something that actually managed to make them feel like teenagers again, if only for a few hours.
Faith Shabazz, wife of Isaiah Bradley, was putting the groceries away when she noticed a sheet of paper on the floor. In big bold red letters it read:
DON'T REACT!
In black ink, to its left "Grandma," and to its right, "Come down to the basement. – Elijah".
Faith turned her back to the window, her eyes wetting already – It's him, it's him – and walked as calmly as she could to the basement door, -
(it's already open, did I leave it?)
-And looked down. He walked out of the shadows. There he was. Eli. Her Eli. After all this time. The tears started running down her cheeks. She grabbed hold of the handrails and was going to start walking down, when Eli gestured to the wall behind her. She stopped, looked and turned on the lights with a click. She did not see his hand gesture to the shadows.
She tried to walk as calmly as she could down the stairs, fighting the need to rush down, and hold him, make sure he was there, that she wasn't crazy, that this country hadn't finally made her mad with grief, but she did fight it, she walked down slowly, till she stepped out of the stairs, till she was within arms reach of him. Hands shaking, she mouthed "Bugs?"
Eli heard a self-satisfied "hum" to his right, but didn't care. He just said: "Taken care of, Grandma."
She rushed him, holding him to her, crying, imagining his pinched chin, trying to hold his own tears in, knowing, really knowing this was Eli, her grandson, he was fine, they hadn't gotten to him. She heard a feminine voice say something –
(if it's clear, V, could you go get the paper back?)
But didn't listen to a word she said. She was lost in the moment.
And so was Eli.
After a while, she stepped back, looked at him and said: "You're thinner, Eli."
Eli looked back, annoyed, when he heard a snicker. Kate had a big smile on her face. "Well, she is right, you know. Vision?"
"Mrs. Shabazz is correct. You have lost 1.8 kilograms since the beginning of summer."
Faith looked at the other two teenagers in her basement. She recognized Kate, and knew the other to be The Vision. She pulled Eli along with her as she moved towards the other two. She hugged Kate also, and felt Kate really hug her back. Poor girl. Faith pulled away, but kept the girl at arms reach and looked her over. She was thinner also, maybe more than Eli, and no self-respecting grandmother would like the tired air that seemed to radiate from her. Poor girl. "How have you been Kate?"
Kate smiled, her wet eyes threatening to spill over. "As good as I can be, Mrs. Shabazz."
"Oh, dear." Her heart went out to young lady. "Ok, well, would either one of you like to eat something? I'm sure I could—"
"Grandma, we didn't exactly come here to eat."
"Well—"
"Grandma, we can't go upstairs."
"Young man, cut me off again like that and so help me, it will be your last. Now are you saying that because of the two men out back?"
Faith had the pleasure of hearing her grandson exclamation of surprise. She couldn't help herself, she had to make him twist, just a little. "Well, now, two young white men with binoculars coming to the small park behind our house almost daily, for the last few months, since the Battle of Times Square. Do you think they're really bird-watching, Eli? Are you daft?"
Eli opened his mouth to argue the point but felt Kate slap him lightly on the back. "Take it like a man, Bradley. You set your self up for this." Her voice had a smile obvious to anyone who heard. He looked at The Vision to see a young android blissfully detached from the scene around him. No help there.
"Can we please, change the subject?" Both women smiled. He was so easy.
Eli continued, pretending not to understand their smiling "Grandma, could you go get grandpa?"
"Won't the men upstairs get suspicious?"
"Actually, I believe they won't" answered the Vision "Three days ago, your husband came down here and looked for something – making a fair amount of noise. If I repeat those sounds, and interject some of your voice over it, I believe the agent's boredom will complete the masquerade."
Faith raised her eyebrow and questioned the android "Have you been spying on us?"
"We have been planning this outing for the last three weeks, Mrs. Shabazz. We knew we would need recordings." He looked at the couple beside him "So, when I felt tired of being a – 'third wheel' is the expression, yes?" and awaited their response, but there was none. "Well, at such times I would come here and record the transmission from the SHIELD agents bugs."
Faith smiled at the young, couple, who were quite conspicuously blushing. "Really, Vision. Yes, I think that's the correct expression."
"Great, now even my favorite kitchen appliance is picking on me." Eli muttered, as he decided not to go on the defensive, and just wait for his grandma to ask him so he could set the record straight.
"Well, Elijah, I thought the coffee-maker was your favorite kitchen appliance. I'm touched."
Kate snickered. Faith smiled, and decided then and there, the next time they come along, the Vision gets a hug as well. Eli just rode the storm.
So, the Vision, who had set him up, tried to divert attention from Eli, because he was that kind of guy.
Faith would have none of that.
Now it actually sounded like a family reunion.
Tommy, on the other hand, was actually having fun.
No angsting, no superheroes things. No, he was back-packing.
When things got really out of hand – which, to Tommy was really early in this SHRA mess – he simply maxed out whatever he could max out, got a fake ID, dyed his hair blonde and got on the road. Tommy felt he was the only on the team that saw the writing on the walls, he knew where this was headed, and though Kate was fun and fine, and ruffling soldierboy's feathers over her was also fun, it wasn't enough to play a losing game.
So, he decided to head out to Florida, no superheroes, and no gigantic messes that would require the Initiative to cast someone there so early in the process. Beaches and small bikinis in no figured in his calculations.
So, for now his objective was to hit Florida and stay there while he could.
But not one to be deterred by plans, even his own, he was still having fun along the way. He had spent a good amount of time locked up in a science facility, being experimented on, and that developed a taste for natural landscapes and just about enjoying life. Right now, he was in Darien, GA. He spent sometime working at a diner, got some more money, saw the sights – the cheap ones at least – and was thinking about moving on.
It's a good thing Tommy doesn't care much about plans, cause his are about to go down the drain.
Tommy figured he wasn't the flashiest member of the team, he always wore a mask, good things are short-lived and nobody remembers yesterdays news. Who was going to recognize him?
Who was going to recognize one of the only set of identical twins in a superhero team, right?
Being a cynic minded fellow, Tommy should have known that wishful thinking is not really high on the thinking scale.
As he was walking back to his rented room on a empty road, already thinking about heading further down south he felt a sharp pain on his arm, and twisted around quickly. Quickly for him. He wiped about so fast, whatever was on his arm was tossed away and hit a tree. He saw it was a dart of some kind.
His hand flew to his arm, and tough the t-shirt sleeve was pierced, there was no blood on his arm.
Tommy bolted.
Got to get back to my room, get my things! He ran to the boarding house he was staying, thinking he could out run any ambush. These guys really had no chance to get him.
"Main, Nest, this is Park-01, he's going your way!"
Sgt. Harris started moving his group even as two answers rang out from his comm. "Acknowledged."
"The tranquilizer did nothing Lieutenant."
A grunt.
"It hit, Lieutenant!"
"Main, keep using the darts—"
"He's here!" Main-01 warned.
From the park to the main avenue of the city in what 10, 15 seconds. Only one word came to sgt. Harris. "Damn!"
TBC