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 3—Negotiations
An Undisclosed Location in Nevada
Jane and Selvig had joined Tony on the ridge overlooking the canyon. Rhodey, Natasha, Clint, Sif and the Warriors Three were also on the canyon ridge but stationed at intervals to cover the entire canyon and the exit. Steve, Thor and Bruce were on the canyon floor. Bruce was maintaining lock on the signal from Vanaheim and monitoring the power of the Sphere created beam. He had confirmed Jane and Selvig's calculation that the beam should direct the Selvig Bridge to fifty yards from their position. Now they were waiting.
Jane called out over their radio net, "It's building, should be another minute."
The tube generated and looked like a strong dust devil going up to the clouds and out of sight. Lightening followed. The light built to a bright yellow flash on the ground. As the area cleared, the figures of two individuals were present.
Steve stepped forward. Into his mic he said, "I got this." He walked forward as the two moved to him.
The taller of the two called out, "Are you of Midgard?"
Steve responded, "Yes, I'm Captain Steve Rogers of Earth. What you call Midgard."
"We will talk with you then, not him," the Vanaheim individual pointed at Thor. "What of the other?"
Steve turned and saw Bruce coming forward, "He is Doctor Bruce Banner, a friend and scientist of Earth. He helped establish the bridge for your travel. And you are?"
"I am Vyock of Vanaland, son of Njord," he said as he came into view and the dust moved off. He wore a breastplate with the symbol that looked like an Old Norse ship. He had a staff in his left hand and a sword hung by a belt at his right hand. He had sandy brown hair and could have easily been a brother of Thor.
Steve heard in his ear bud from Jane, "He is equivalent to Thor. Njord is the leader of their planet." Steve suspected that Thor and Vyock likely knew each other and wondered if they were friends or enemies.
Vyock then pointed to his companion, "This is Heida, daughter of Freyja." She also had a staff and sword at the hip. She wore a breastplate showing the nine planets and a dark green cape that matched her skirt. Her hair was auburn and tied in a bun.
Steve then heard from Selvig, "She would be his niece."
Steve nodded, "Welcome to Earth. We are happy to have you here."
Vyock interrupted him, "If you're happy, why are the rims of this place lined by warriors? And why is Thor, Son of Odin, here?"
Steve hardened a little in response, "Thor is our friend and comrade. Without him we would not have unlocked the key to the bridge between our planets. And the canyon's rim is manned because we really did not know what would come through the bridge. Our last visitors were the Chitauri. We had to be prepared. Now, I must ask you why did you come to our planet?"
"We know you were able to turn back the Chitauri. The ship that you destroyed was one of ours. A traitor from Asgard turned our men against us and seized a fleet of our ships. At least one of the ships was given to the Chitauri. We have not been able to determine whether it is more Chitauri or someone else controlling the other ships. But the ships are being used to raid our shipping and protectorates. Thousands of people are being killed. We came to ask for your help." Vyock waited for a reply.
Steve stood there for what seemed like hours. He tried to determine how the six of them, or seven with Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes or even with Sif and the Three, how eleven people could turn a fleet. He wondered whether Vyock was planning on blowing up the fleet. "What are you expecting us to do?"
"Capture the fleet and destroy those behind the destruction." Vyock was rather blunt. "This is to your advantage. The Chitauri now know the location of your planet. The fleet could easily come to rain their terror on you."
Heida finally spoke up, "We have not been able to come close to the ships. After they raid the planet, they use mechanical fortresses to guard their ports. They have continued to dock at these ports. We know people from those planets can board the ships and replenish them, but we cannot. We have sent others from Vanaheim, but they are known to the people of the planets and are discovered. All have been lost."
Natasha asked over the radio net, "Did Loki cause this? Where their people affected by Loki's staff?"
Thor heard what she said and thought that was certainly possible, "It is possible that my brother did this. And if he caused this, I certainly apologize for his actions."
Heida responded, "I appreciate your apology. But we must act. Everyday they are killing more. We need your help."
Steve saw a slight glimmer of hope in Heida. "I suggest we continue these discussions. We must learn more of the problem if there is to be any hope for this endeavor." To make sure Vyock and Heida understood he was going to ask for help, he raised his radio transmitter and spoke into it, "Tony, do we have a location near by we could use for planning?"
"Sure, Rhodey's guys have a hanger not too far away." Tony waved at Rhodey and he showed a big thumbs up.
Jane spoke up, "We'll need to collect all of our gear and the Sphere."
Steve turned around, "Right. Doctor Banner, can you start breaking down the equipment?" He turned back to Vyock and Heida, "We have a building we can use. We'll be ready to go in a few minutes."
Steps of the Capital, Washington D.C.
"Tony, what did you do?" Pepper had gotten out her cell phone and was walking down the stairs of the Capital building. She had just gotten out of the hearing with Senator Stern.
"I thought it was a good idea. You know more about the agents and what is happening than anyone else." Tony was helping put the equipment in a truck they were using.
"What do you mean, you thought it was a good idea? What about asking me?" Pepper stated rather bluntly.
"Okay, then I'll ask. The Bridge was used by Vanaheim to transport Vyock and Heida. They are the son and granddaughter of the Vanaheim leader. Loki stole one of the Vanaheim fleets. One ship from the fleet was used by the Chitauri to attack our planet. The other ships are being used to attack other planets and kill thousands of people. The two from Vanaheim asked for our help. Should we go?"
Pepper paused walking down the steps. "Tony, we can't let them kill all those people. Of course we'll help." She was happy with her answer, then thought, "But how can we help? Wait, you're going to some other planet?"
"Ah, don't know yet. Hang on we're boxing up the Sphere and heading to Rhodey's hanger. We'll let you know, bye."
Pepper was at least happy he said bye, but she still wasn't that happy. She looked over at Maria, "They must be going to the Air Reserve hanger by the canyon. Can you get us a ride there?"
"Certainly, we'll head to Reagan National and go from there." Maria got her phone to her ear.
Air Reserve Hanger in Nevada
Vyock and Heida started to reach for their weapons. Steve turned and saw the approaching Quintjet. He turned back to them, "No need, it's one of ours."
Tony chimed in, "Yes, that should be Pepper. Jarvis?"
Jarvis answered, "Yes sir, that is correct. Miss Potts and Agent Hill are on approach."
They landed and both exited the aircraft. Pepper was first into the warehouse. She went straight to the table. Steve, Tony and the others got up.
"Tony, was this a joke? What did you do?" Pepper launched into Tony. "You know what?" Then looking at Steve and the others, she looked ashamed that she had started on Tony, "Oh excuse me."
Steve went through the introductions. Steve looked at Maria, "Something else happen?" All the others watched for the answer.
"It's fine with me, but…" Maria motioned to Pepper, "The good Senator decided it would be a 'fabulous idea' for Pepper to be the new SHIELD Councilwoman."
"We walked into a hornet's nest. The US is demanding more control over the Council. And since the Chitauri attack took place on American soil, NATO support was readily available. The UK, France and Germany back the position. Germany was still bristling over Loki's attack and his power speech. And The Mandarin fiasco has drawn support from many quarters." Steve nodded his head in agreement over Pepper's explanation. Pepper went on, "The other countries backed the US or abstained. They forced the current Council to resign."
When Pepper paused, Maria continued, "My understanding was that she would be nominated and the vote would be scheduled for this afternoon."
Pepper switched her attention and moved over to Tony, "You know that this twelve percenter concept is going to have to change if you continue with this approach."
"I need you to do it. Please listen; I needed you to be a Councilwoman if not the lead Council member. Just like the CEO, I gave it a fair amount of thought. Ever since seeing you come out of…I was trying to figure out how we could make sure we did not get into such a complicated problem, then I realized it was you. You're the one who fixed the mess I made with the company. You got us to be the new alternate energy source and made a profit from it. Our shares are now up higher than they were when Obadiah was around."
Pepper got a little closer to him, "Tony?"
Tony looked at his watch, "Well, I guess early congratulations are in order. Jarvis?"
"Yes Miss Potts, the vote has been taken. You are a new Councilwoman."
The screen blinked and Nick Fury was on-line, "Miss Potts, I am to inform you that you are now the SHIELD or more formally World Security Council."
"I was elected to the Council?" asked Pepper.
"Yes, well, right now you are the Council. There are currently no other members. The other nominees were found less than acceptable. The nations offering them as candidates have withdrawn their names." Fury pointed to the printer, "You'll find the acceptance papers on the printer. Please sign and give them to Agent Romanoff. She'll notarize and fax them back and we'll distribute to the applicable agencies and nations."
Pepper nodded. She grimaced at the thought of this. CEO had been bad enough. She had told Tony once that she wanted out but agreed to help him get things back together. Now this would mean added pressure. But then, there could be an upside. She smiled at Tony as she reached for the papers.
After signing and giving the papers to Natasha, Pepper turned to the screen, "Nick, did you get the other paperwork as we discussed."
"Yes, it is the next set of papers being printed." Nick answered.
"So Jarvis, did you finalize the other set?" Pepper continued.
"Yes Miss Potts, everything is in order."
"Steve, did Natasha explain the contents of the new offer? We did get the DoD and Senate approval while in transit." Pepper pointed to the paperwork being printed out.
"Yes ma'am. I was very surprised." Steve's face lit up and then turned to Tony, "and thank you, I guess." Steve walked over to the printer.
"Well, Dad would have wanted it that way. You deserved it." Tony already had a drink in his hand raising it to congratulate Steve. He began an explanation for Vyock and Heida, "Captain Rogers is rather unique. He was with my father in our last great war. He has returned to duty and has been promoted. While we'll still call him Cap, he's a new general now, a rank befitting a warrior and ambassador to another world."
Pepper waited for Steve to finish signing and give the papers to Natasha, then she began, "Vyock and Heida, please pardon the inconvenience. I know the safe return of your fleet and the restoration of contact with your trading worlds and their safety is of prime importance. Steve, please give us a brief summary of your plans and the support you'll need."
Steve remembered back to when he use to brief Colonel Phillips before one of his missions. He remembered the times he had been told to keep it simple, the brief the plan, and the action. "Well simply, we will infiltrate the captured ships through one of the recently raided planets. Even if spotted, we do not think the locals will identify us as not being from Vanaheim." He noticed a questioning look from Maria and explained, "We considered going to another planet that had not yet been attacked and confronting the raiders once they attacked, but the risk was deemed to be too great. The attackers are not using any order to their attacks. Therefore the planet that we pick, may well be the last one attacked. Meanwhile in all those other attacks many lives would be lost." Maria nodded agreement.
"Vyock and Heida still maintain contact with the raided planets. We selected one where their landing site, their Vanabridge site, had not been destroyed and is near the operating base of the raiders." Steve looked at Pepper.
She was shaking her head, "Won't it be obvious that you have bridged to their planet? They'll know you are there."
Heida answered, "The bridge sites continue to be used between the connected planets. It is a common occurrence for people to use the bridges for trade and transport. There will be guards, but only a few."
"Yes, and we should be able to over whelm them," added Thor.
This time Pepper nodded her agreement.
Steve continued, "We will bridge to the site from here. We have a rough map of the area over here. The bridge site is here and the landing port is about ten miles away. There are two viable paths to the landing port. While either one is passable with our combined skills, the lower one through the valley will favor Dr. Banner's enhanced abilities."
Tony chuckled at that and it even drew a laugh from Bruce, who spoke up, "Hey, I thought we settled things, "I'm Bruce, he is Tony…" then he paused and looked at Pepper.
She jumped right on it, "Nothing has changed. I'm still Pepper. Please call me that. I know outside this group things will get more complicated, but I would appreciate it if you continued to call me Pepper." Looking at Tony, she smiled, "But for you, if you continue to do things without asking me…"
His eyes got bigger and he nodded, "Yes, I understand."
"You better." Pepper turned back to Steve, "Sorry, what happens after the valley."
Steve looked over at the map, "We move to these buildings here. They are like warehouses, but will likely be empty. We'll use a modified heat sensor on the Iron Man suit." Steve nodded to Tony. "Both Iron Man suits will be outfitted with heat sensors so we will get a visible reading at what is in the warehouses. We'll use that information to select the warehouse that is empty."
Tony then went on, "From the description of Vyock we'll burn through the lock with…" He saw the look in Pepper's eyes, "We got it. We'll use a laser with a little extra power from the suit."
Steve then went back to the map, "Vyock and Heida, we know the path and the way to capture the port, but how do we convince the people to join us?"
Natasha quipped, "Knock them over the head."
"What?"
"Well, I was able to knock Clint out while Loki's staff had affected him. That seemed to get rid of the affect. It was sort of a cognitive recalibration," Natasha shrugged and Clint rubbed the back of his head remembering the headache.
Steve looked at them, "Well, going around and knocking everyone out is going to take a lot of time. Is here any other way to do it? Maybe changing a setting on one of the old HYDRA weapons?"
Tony patted Steve on the shoulder, "Good, actually good. Vast improvement from it appears to be running on electricity." Tony went to Bruce, "What do you think? Would that be possible, I mean if we could interrupt the Thalamocortical oscillation…"
Bruce chuckled, "Right, it would have the same affect as Natasha's recalibration attempt with Clint. Well, if we can tune the weapons down to fire at a gamma frequency, it should work."
Steve smiled at them, "So does that mean it will work?"
Bruce nodded, "Well, theoretically if we change the frequency on the weapons, when you shoot someone affected by Loki's staff, it will knock them out. They should be okay and free of the staff's control when they wake up."
Tony went to Pepper, "So, can we get all of the HYDRA weapons from SHIELD?"
It happened that the screen on the monitor came alive at the same time with Nick Fury's face filling the screen, "Councilwoman, excuse me. We have a situation that will require your immediate attention."
Pepper asked, "Same as you briefed in the flight out?"
"Yes, but the dynamic has changed," Fury sounded just a bit concerned.
Pepper looked at the map and back at Fury, "The Avengers will need all of the HYDRA weapons. Please deliver them to this location." Then she looked at Tony, "Do you need me?"
"No, we can do this," Tony responded with a very serious look.
"How long will it take? I mean before you can go?" Pepper asked Steve and Tony together.
Steve started, "It would certainly give us an advantage if we can turn the people."
Vyock nodded in agreement, "If you can turn enough of our kin at the port, we will be able to add to your number."
"Okay," Tony was looking at the display of a HYDRA weapon specs, "Well, to recalibrate about twenty of the weapons and test them, at least two days." He looked over at Bruce who nodded in agreement.
"Steve, you have a go." Looking directly at Tony, "Get this done." Then to all of them, "Let me know if you need anything. We're going to need you back." Pepper turned to the screen and Fury came back on, "Nick, I'll take the call in the Quintjet. Jarvis, get my kit ready"
She approached Vyock and Heida, "Steve and the team will do our their best to return your fleet and free the people of those planets. We will provide any assistance we can. We are certainly honored that you called on us to help." Taking Thor hand she added, "And of course thank you for coming to our aid. We certainly hope the friendship between your worlds can be restored."
She went to Tony and gave him a quick kiss, "Get this done, we still have much to do."
Tony took her aside, "And where are you headed?"
"Tony, it's Westchester. And you know I have to help," Pepper looked straight into Tony's eyes.
Tony held her and gave her a kiss on the top of her head, "Yes, and you be safe too."
Pepper gave him a hug back. She then turned and waved to all, "Be safe and come back." Pepper walked out of the hanger with Maria in trail.
A/N Tip of the hat to phnxgrl, GetMoMoney-333 and kahless21 for the reviews.
Hope you enjoy. Continued reviews appreciated.
