When you do, you will change the world…
Don't own the Avengers or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.
"You've been asleep Capt…"
-Nick Fury, Captain America The First Avenger
Chapter 2—Do Something
Potts and Stark Towers
Steve nodded, "We need as many friends as we can get. If there are any more of those Chitauri or worlds aligned with them, we'll need more help. So…"
"I agree. We need to do something," Bruce acknowledged.
Tony pointed at Steve and Bruce, "Let's just suit up and go over and get that sphere."
Steve shook his head, "We've done that remember? We need a plan."
If Tony had glasses, you would have been able to tell he looked over the top of them. Tony gave that look to Pepper. It wasn't that new, it had been developed over time. He realized long ago that she could handle the details to manage anything. She got them out of so many messes; he could not even count any more. She needed to take care of this.
Pepper shrugged and smiled back at Tony, "Okay, let's see if we can defuse the situation first. I'll go with Maria and try to convince the Council not to fire the Sphere until we confirm their target is unfriendly. Jane, you and Selvig try to reestablish contact with Thor. You should be able to use the power from the Tower to spark the Selvig Bridge. You'll find it in storage on the seventh floor." She smiled, "I agreed with Tony, we couldn't let SHIELD take it, so we had it moved out here." Then she turned to Steve, "You and Tony will suit up. Bruce, please go with them. Go to the Sphere site and if I give the signal that the Council option failed…"
Steve smiled, "Turn off the lights, if needed." Tony and Bruce nodded in agreement.
Maria went over to Steve, "I should have asked earlier, how did your trip go?" She pointed to his heavy-duty motorcycle boots.
He smiled at the question and looked down at the boots. They were really comfortable and he had forgotten to take them off. "Well, after Thor left I went to my old neighborhood. Other than the buildings, there wasn't much there. I could not find any of the families from…well, back when I was a kid. My folks passed away while I was in Europe and I don't have any brothers or sisters. The one bright spot was finding Peggy Carter's grand-nice, Sue Carter. It was funny; she works for SHEILD as an analyst. She's really smart and works on the computer programs or something. Anyway, I got to meet her husband and kids. They are already in high school.
"So after that I decided to hide like Fury was trying to say we were doing. Actually, I was more of a tourist than anything. But it was fun. I spent most of my life in New York. We did not get out that much. Dad was always working. Anyway, I saw Niagara Falls and then swung south and west." He showed her the belt buckle from Sturgis. "And I'm sure Fury got a full description of what happened next."
Maria read the reports, "But you got hurt?"
"Yeah well," Steve started, "Doctor Erskine said I'd heal really fast. And it did. Not much of a scar either."
"Oh, okay. Well be careful, you don't have a metal suit like Ironman," she put her hand on his shoulder.
Happy with the attention, Steve shyly answered, "I will. You guys be careful too."
When Steve had finished changing and met Tony and Pepper back in the living room. Tony decided to test a new theory, "You and Agent Hill have something going?"
"What?" Steve looked from Tony to Pepper like a deer in the headlights, completely caught off guard, "Really?"
She smiled at him, "Maybe."
Steve was really surprised. He gave Pepper a blank stare.
Tony broke in, "Come on we need to get there."
Steve looked out the window of the apartment. There was a helicopter waiting for them with the Stark emblem on the side. Tony opened the door and Steve followed. Steve asked, "You sure this will work?"
"Yeah, it will be better than me using my suit to fly over there."
Bruce was waiting for them and heard that. He chuckled, "They'd likely spot that."
Tony went on, "Right and the landing area we'll go to is one of our labs. So, one of our helicopters landing there should not cause them to investigate."
Steve shrugged, hoping Tony was right.
Maria and Pepper went into the elevator. Pepper looked at Maria as they stood watching the change in the floor numbers. "Do you think we have a chance in changing their minds?"
"I think Jane may have a better chance at convincing Thor to take action, than anyone changing the Council's mind. Fury does sometimes, but only when something drastic has occurred."
"Well, let's hope that blowing away a friendly world isn't something the Council really wants to do. So, where are we headed?"
"We'll go over to the command center we established here in California. It's a secure location and we can contact Director Fury from there." Maria stepped out of the elevator first.
Happy was waiting for them, "I have the car out the side door. We still have the news corps out front."
Pepper nodded and motioned Maria to follow. They went at a fast pace to the side door. Outside there were still reporters and they were trying to out do each other with questions.
The first pushy one ran the microphone into Pepper's face, "Miss Potts, as the CEO of Stark Industries, is Stark Industries backing the Avengers? Is Mr. Stark going it alone or sticking with the Avengers?"
While Happy was pushing that microphone out of the way, the second reporter asked, "Miss Potts, where is Tony Stark and what does he have to say about The Mandarin?"
Another reporter called out, "There are reports that you were infected with the Extremist."
Pepper was happy that another shouted at the same time, "Miss Potts, what do you have to say about Senator Stern's request that the SHIELD Council step down and be replaced, or the US withdraw from SHIELD?"
The last reporter held some rolled up papers in his hand and asked, "Are you Pepper Potts?" Pepper turned and looked at him and nodded. "You are hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow at two o'clock in the afternoon."
Happy turned quickly, "I'll take that. And excuse us." He had the door of the car open for Pepper and Maria.
After Happy started down the street, he gave the papers to Pepper. She scanned them and smiled at Maria, "Well, maybe we can get something good out of Senator Stern. We'll use this as leverage to get the Council to listen."
In Transit to LOTS
In the Stark Industries helicopter Steve was looking at the map on the display, "From the Stark Lab we can approach the facility through this ravine. The power lines in the area appear to supply the facility. Might be just as easy to take those out and enter the facility. Then we can get to the…what did you call it?"
"LOTS, Light Of The Sphere," Tony looked at Steve in almost disbelief. "I thought all the military loved their acronyms?"
"Yeah, right. Sounds like we should get the Sphere or what ever that is… something like another Tesseract?" Bruce interjected.
"You really don't trust them, do you?" Tony looked at Bruce.
"I don't think you would either if they had been after you for years and every time they had a chance they would try to destroy you."
Tony laughed, "Well, there have been a few fathers after me too." He saw the look on Steve's face, "I'll explain later."
"No, you don't need advice from someone who is an adolescent. I'll explain when we get done with this," Bruce retorted. "Betty and I haven't given up."
Steve realized he had told him something personal and changed his focus back to the Sphere. "So, if they have a Sphere that is like a Tesseract, would it be safe for us to pick up or do we need some kind of tongs to pick it up?" He remembered Schmidt taking the cube in his hands and burning into a pillar of light.
Bruce offered, "They should have some handling equipment near it. We'll have to look for that and use it to get the Sphere out. Wait, do we get it out?"
Steve shook his head, "I don't know about you guys but right now, the fewer planet destroying weapons SHIELD has, the better. At least, with me."
"Your best idea yet. I'm in," Bruce responded.
"I agree, but don't count on either of us to pick it up. The big guy would have a problem with using tools." Tony held up his hand, "And with my suit on, I might have a problem with energy discharges."
The red light started blinking. Tony saw it and said, "Okay, we're at the drop off point."
Steve called out as they left the helicopter, "Remember, try not to kill them. They are working for SHIELD. Just knock out the power and get the Sphere."
Bruce acknowledged, "Right."
Back At Potts and Stark Towers
Jane and Selvig were on the penthouse patio of the Tower. Selvig called out, "Okay, that should power it up."
There was a static discharge noise and a faint beam of light showed above the Selvig Bridge. The equipment that Selvig put together under Loki's control created an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Tony now called it the Selvig Bridge. Jane was looking up at the light. It was a clear night and she did not have to worry whether clouds would cause any diffraction in the beam. She looked back down at the screen to see if there was any response to their messages.
In a second the helmeted head of Heimdall filled the screen, "Lady Jane, what do you wish?"
Selvig bent over to Jane and whispered, "That's Heimdall, he's their gate keeper."
Jane smiled. She had studied the Norse methodology book Selvig gave her and did a detailed study on the subject after that. She was now well verse in the old poems and only needed help connecting names to faces, "Great Heimdall, we are seeking Thor's help. I believe someone from Vanaheim is trying to contact our planet, but the connection is not going through. Some people here, are taking action to stop the signal and possibly destroy Vanaheim, based on the erroneous conclusion the signal is coming from the Chitauri or their allies. Could we speak with Thor?"
"I will summon him." Heimdall backed away and the screen showed the ornate walls of the palace.
Jane asked Selvig, "How long will this take?" He shrugged.
SHIELD Command Center
The screens had gone blank. Pepper was agitated and trying her best to cool down. She had spent over an hour going through every detail Jane and Selvig had given her about K-33 and that it was likely Vanaheim, a friendly world. And then to top it off, the Council was not at all fazed that Pepper was to go before Senator Stern and the Senate Armed Services Committee. She stood up, "Are they always like that?" She got out her phone, "We better tell Tony."
Maria shook her head. She was sure her headquarters was protected from signals getting out without authorization. She responded, "That won't work here."
Pepper smiled. She had worked with Tony on methods to get through SHIELD. She was fairly certain it would work. When she heard the connection go through, she said, "You're a go." She closed the phone. "Let's head back to the Tower and then we'll head to DC. I think we're done here."
Maria smiled and nodded her head.
LOTS Facility
Tony's helmet came into position, "That was Pepper. She said we are a go."
Bruce looked over the edge of the ravine and was met by automatic laser fire. He transformed immediately and went running off to the closest power line tower. He twisted at the last minute and his shoulder met the base of the tower. It toppled over in a screeching rumble. Several of the power lines snapped and sparked.
Tony saw the laser weapon power down and point at the ground. He was off in a second flying at the laser to make sure it wasn't usable with some backup power source. He held out his hand and blasted the laser. Landing next to Steve, they waited for Hulk to come to the back of the building. "Hey Big Guy, could you open the door there?" Tony pointed to a concrete wall. In a second the wall disappeared.
As Steve went into the building, he saw some guards coming their way. "They got goggles."
Tony yelled out, "Close your eyes." He fired off several flares. They scattered down the hall and effectively blinded the guards who were using night vision goggles. Tony ran against them and knocked them out. He scanned the area and pointed to a door. "The lab is in there. Go check through that door."
Steve rushed the door. In the center of the room a glowing sphere was resting on a pedestal. Steve looked around the room for prongs to pick it up. There were none. The ceiling had a rig with a pulley and chains that were dangling from it. With the power to the building off, there was no way to reposition the pulley and chains over the Sphere. He noticed a few boxes in the corner of the room. Next to them were a couple boxes with plastic foam inside. One of them looked to be big enough to work. He brought the box over the sphere and using his shield knocked the sphere into the box. He closed the lid and ran out of the room. Tony was still in the hall. Steve motioned with the box, "Got it. Let's go."
Tony looked at the box and the labels on its side, "You got a blender?"
Steve could see the sides of the box a little more clearly in the residual light of the flares. He shrugged, "Only thing I could find to hold the sphere."
There was a growl at the opening in the wall. Steve smiled, "He's right, let's get out fast."
Back At Stark Towers
Jane had been waiting patiently. She had just about memorized the carving on the palace wall. Thor finally came in to view, "Jane?"
"Finally. We have a problem," she began.
"Yes, Heimdall explained. Those of Vanaheim have been trying to contact you. We have tried to talk with them but have gotten no answer. While they are our allies now, my desire is to determine their intentions. We will be coming to Midgard to help you establish contact with them and help you with any problem they identify. My father agrees. I and my friends will be joining you."
Jane remembered the impact of the previous wormholes and wondered, "Ah, where do you expect to …land? If you come directly to this Tower, will it cause damage?"
"Heimdall assures me, it will not. But he does ask that you go into the building." Jane nodded. She and Selvig walked into the penthouse.
The Thor, the Warriors Three, and Sif stood before Heimdall. He transported them through a large wormhole. A light show along with thunder and lighting connected to the top of Stark Towers. In a flash, the group stood on the patio.
At the same time Pepper and Maria came out of the elevator and looked across the room. They saw Jane and Selvig looking at the five people on the patio. As the five came into the large room Pepper saw Jane embrace Thor.
After a welcoming kiss with Thor, Jane noticed Pepper and Maria. She began, "You know Thor. These are his friends, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. They are Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral."
Pepper transformed into her executive persona, "Welcome to Potts and Stark Towers. Thor, I am glad you could return. While I, and I am sure Jane, would be happy to have you here at anytime, please explain why you came." She pointed to the couches, "Please have a seat. Is there anything I could get you?" She pointed to the bar.
Volstagg stepped forward but Thor held up his hand, "Wait my friend. We need to establish the link."
Jane looked over at him, "How can we help? And what do you expect?"
Maria added, "Yes, again, why did you come?"
Thor began the explanation, "Long ago we battled the Vans. It lasted many, many years. Matched in abilities, the two sides tired of battle agreed to end the war. They traded hostages as a promise to keep peace between the two. My father, Odin, has continued relations with Vanaheim over the years. They have developed ships, which venture out into the heavens. They have long told us of the dangers lurking there and one of their more recent reports referred to the Chitauri. While we did not take the threat seriously, apparently Loki did. He allied himself with the Chitauri." Thor held up his hand before the question could be asked, "Loki is being held in prison by our father. He will not escape." Thor recognized the relief and continued, "Sif was able to trick the trickster and got him to reveal that he directed a Chitauri attack on a Vanaheim ship. It was made to look like we started the battle. As a result of the battle Vanaheim does not trust us. They will not reveal the topic of interest to us. You must contact them to determine the concern."
Pepper smiled, "And how are we to do that? Jane, can you get through to Vanaheim?"
They paused and watched the helicopter land next to the patio. Tony, now out of his suit, Steve carrying a box and Bruce, back to normal, exited the helicopter before it took off again.
Tony walked into the room. Bruce held the door for Steve. Steve went over and put the box on the bar. Tony looked over the room and at the new guests, "You know when I said we should hang out over at the Towers until our house is rebuilt, I really didn't expect everyone would be here." Smiling he looked at Maria, "Should I expect Fury, Romanoff and her boy toy any moment now?"
She smiled back, "No, they'll be joining us in the morning. Director Fury will be going with Pepper to the hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee."
Tony smiled, "Senator Stern." Pepper nodded.
Jane had gone over to the box, "Is this it?"
Steve answered, "Yes, be careful. It seems to be activated."
Thor laughed, "I knew you would obtain the Sphere. You did well." He gave Steve a bear hug and patted his back.
"Yes, well thank you. Now what do we do with it?" Steve asked as he backed away.
Jane had looked in the box by that point and had waved a spectrum analyzer over the box. "We can use it to activate a bridge with Vanaheim. It glows with a yellow spectrum that will likely match the Vanaheim probes."
Pepper stepped over to Jane and Thor, "Before we activate the bridge." She looked over at Tony who appeared to eagerly awaiting his Christmas present. She saw that the others were about the same. "Thor, can you explain what we should expect from Vanaheim. Why did you come?"
Thor looked at Pepper. His eyebrows were a bit furrowed. He had explained it to Jane, wasn't that good enough, "As you know those of Vanaheim have been trying to contact you. We talked with them but they have not offered their reasons. Before the battle here, Loki directed a Chitauri attack on a Vanaheim ship making it look like we started the battle. While they were our allies, our desire is to determine their intentions. We want to help you establish contact with them and help you with any problem they identify. My father agreed. We came."
Steve then chimed in, "Yes, well, how bad can this…whatever the people from Vanaheim have to say, just how bad can that be, that we need your friends to come and help?"
Sif smiled, "Let's just say that the last time the Vanaheim called for the help of our fathers was after they fought and lost on a world such as yours. It has taken a millennium for that planet to recover from the battle."
Thor added, "Yes, I would not wish that to happen to your world." He looked over at the box, "I believe the Sphere should allow you to contact the Vanaheim and open a path to them if necessary. We brought a similar device with us," he pointed to a satchel Volstagg was carrying. "However, Heimdall suggested that we not make contact from this location, but use the one where I first met Jane."
Sif was looking out the windows at the time and nodded her head, "Yes, if there is to be a battle, a flat plain would be better than dancing from tower to tower." Volstagg, Hogun and Fandral smiled in their agreement.
"Well, if there is going to be a battle, let's pick some place where we have an advantage," Steve began but was cut off.
"Oh like Rhodey said, let's take the high ground," Tony quipped.
"Yes, exactly," Steve responded.
Tony turned to the keyboard and mumbled, "Which reminds me. He was looking for some fun."
"Have you somewhere in mind?" Volstagg asked. "To gain the upper hand, we would need the high ground all the way around them. And have them placed, as if they were in the bottom of a bowl."
Tony was waiting but began to type again, "I know just the location."
Pepper had a flash back to the desert where Tony was once captured. She knew that was not settled. There were still battles between the factions in the area. She looked at him, "Tony?"
Tony saw her anguish and knew what she was thinking. He shook his head, "One of Dad's old testing grounds." He pointed to the large display, "It's not a complete bowl. More like an old boxed canyon. We could put the sphere here and wait for any problems around the rim of the canyon."
"Sounds like a plan." Steve turned to Maria, "Can we get one of your planes to take us?"
She nodded and held her hand to her ear, "This is Hill. I need transport to hostile area for ten."
Tony was talking at the same time. He called out, "Make that eleven. No wait, he can meet us there." He turned back to his display, "Yeah, Jarvis will let you in. Your suit has been modified a little. I finally got rid of that ridiculous Hammer tech. Jarvis will provide you the location. And I wouldn't suggest inviting any other friends. I think this one could get a little messy."
Pepper saw what he was doing, "Rhodey?" He nodded. "Say hi for me."
"Pepper says hi." He smiled at Pepper, "Hey back." Back to Rhodey, "Yeah, just meet us there. Right, noon tomorrow."
Steve looked at Tony, "A friend?"
"Yeah, you'll like him. And depending on what Natasha works out for you, you'll probably out rank him." Tony noticed the look from Steve, "He's a Colonel now. But with your time in service, you'd be what a Colonel three times over? You would be senior to him. And as the ambassador to an alien world, we'd have justification to make…"
Pepper heard that and smiled, "Yes," at Tony.
Tony kept typing for a second, leaving a note for Natasha.
Thor looked over to Tony and Steve, "So what is your plan?"
Steve smiled. He had been watching Volstagg for sometime. The bearded friend of Thor had been eating everything and anything he could get his hands on. All of the snacks at the bar were gone and most of the cabinets had been checked and left open. Steve pointed, "Your friend here, Volstagg, reminds me of one of my old team. He couldn't stop eating and had an unquenchable thirst. I recommend we stop by The Steak and Surf Market in Santa Monica. I passed it on the way here. We can do a little planning there." He looked over at Tony and shrugged, "It's also microbrewery. Found out about those a couple weeks ago."
Volstagg held his drink high, "Meat and brew, sounds like a plan! I like this one!"
The Next Day at an Undisclosed Location in Nevada
Steve looked over at Jane and Bruce. They were bent over a laptop while Selvig was moving a satellite disk across the sky. "How's it going? Have you got the signal?"
Bruce called out, "Almost. Just a touch to the left. Okay, got it."
Jane nodded, "Got a lock. Thor you can put the Sphere in the cradle." The equipment had been put together so that the Sphere's energy was focused through a feed horn and then bounced off the satellite dish. The beam was then pointed at the strongest incoming signal from the Vanaheim.
Steve waited until the Sphere was in the cradle, "Okay, Jane. You and Selvig need to head on up to the ridge. The three of us will wait here."
Bruce moved closer to the laptop, "Yeah, I got this."
Thor moved next to Jane, "Be careful."
She smiled at him and reached up to give him a kiss, "You be careful too." Thor gave her a hug and she got in the van with Selvig and headed away.
Tony and Rhodey were on opposite sides of the canyon ridge in their suits. Sif and the Warriors Three were also in position.
A/N Tip of the hat to phnxgrl and koolgirl1120 for the reviews.
Hope you enjoy. Continued reviews appreciated.
