Danny stared around the lab and sighed. He was stuck cleaning again. Even after just making it before curfew, his parents had been in such a bad mood about the destroyed lab, they left it to him to clean while they repaired the rest of the house. Danny was glad at least that his mum and dad believed his lie about a vengeful ghost escaping to come after the world's greatest ghost hunters, even though there hadn't been a ghost sighting since.

Jazz had been far more skeptical and had cornered him before he was able to make it to his bedroom to sleep, demanding the truth and averring her worries about Natasha Romanoff's questionable motives in town, which Danny had grumpily and tiredly replied with "You're crazy", sending her storming off to her own room in a huff.

Dumping the last of the lab's mess into a garbage bag, Danny made his way upstairs to the garage where his dad kept his building tools.

Walking down the front stoop, he heard a grating voice call out, "Dan-Dan!"

Danny briefly considered running his head through the closest brick wall.

When approached with the idea, his mum and dad hadn't been nearly as opposed to collaborating with Tony Stark as he'd originally thought they'd be, which was a relief to him and his secret identity. However, that meant that Danny had been stuck playing nice to the ever-mocking metal-man whenever his parents were around.

Apparently he was some super-rich, super-smart, highly-esteemed billionaire or something. Danny didn't care, as long as he didn't let the 'your-son-is-actually-a-ghost' secret out.

"What do you want, Tony?" Danny groaned, pausing in his steps to glare down at the shorter man.

Tony's grin was insufferable, "Just wanted to catch up with one of my favourite families. Oh, and also to check out your blueprints," he added as an afterthought.

Danny just rolled his eyes and continued on towards the garage, "You know where they're stored. And remember the rules, no keepsakes," he called over his shoulder, heading around the corner and out of Tony's sight.

Now, where did his dad keep the toolbox?

/ / /

Tony wandered through the house he had quite easily become acquainted with, turning to head towards the basement. It had been a week since he and Bruce had first met Danny, and he spent every moment he could afford childishly tormenting the boy.

Tony didn't mind Danny, he kept to himself mostly and was intensely focused when he put his mind to something – especially astrophysics, which Tony felt was a pleasant surprise. His sister, Jazmine, wasn't bad either, not as conservative in her opinions as her brother, but incredibly bright. Their parents were a strange couple though; despite their passion for ghosts, they had yet to capture one. With over twenty years of failure, Tony was amazed at their resolve, especially since they had apparently only seen their first ghost a little over two years ago, which ironically was their quite alive son.

Walking down the steps, Tony looked around the almost repaired lab. Danny was certainly multitalented, the lab seemed virtually brand-new after the devastation they had created. The ghost-kid had even plastered and painted over the cracks that had run up the staircase, where Danny had had to squeeze Bruce's green form through the narrow alcove.

A tall cabinet sat next to one of the metal work benches. Dragging a drawer open, he rummaged through until finding the desired blueprint. Grinning toothily in satisfaction, he glanced around the lab before folding it into a tight square and shoving it into his jacket pocket, yanking out a sheet of paper from a nearby notebook and scribbling on it, shoving it into the drawer and scuttling back up the stairs. He had a feeling that a certain Doctor Jane Foster and her team would take high interest in this particular machine. It was just too much to overlook.

/ / /

Vlad Masters was in a less than cheery moody. Running into Jack Fenton at the supermarket had not been on his mental to-do list (he only had to pick up a jar of pickles and a new bag of litter for Maddie – his cat, of course). Maddie (the human one) wasn't even there to bask in his glorious glow. Figuratively, of course. She didn't know about his ghost form or its glow and hopefully never would.

So, Vlad was now stuck in the middle of the cleaning products aisle with a blabbering Jack Fenton whom he presumed had never heard the saying, a quiet mind cureth all.

"You should come over and check it out sometime, Vladdie! It's totally neat-o!" Jack boomed with a goofy smile.

Vlad gave a grimace in return, "Of course, dear Jack, I would love to visit. After all, it has been too long since I've seen Maddie and the children. And not forgetting you of course, my most incognizant friend."

Jack blinked at the unfamiliar word before his smile broadened, "Well, Vladdie, how 'bout you come around and check it out now? You're not busy are you? I'm on my way to pick up Maddie from the hardware store if you want to come along?"

Vlad perked up, his sneer now holding a morsel of humility, "Why, yes. That is an excellent idea. Then we can all see this er… Ecto-Extractor you're so proud of."

"Great! But first, I've gotta grab some fudge!"

/ / /

Doctor Jane Foster sat in her makeshift lab in New Mexico, frowning at her computer screen. Building a containable wormhole was proving to be only a scientific dream built on false theories and too little sleep. She glanced over at the clock seated next to her monitor that blared in sickly red that it was nearly five o'clock. Time for a break. Leaning back in her leather chair, she pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She was frustrated. Her resolve to find Thor was slowly diminishing and uncertainty was settling in. Maybe he didn't want to see her? Maybe there was too big a rift for a god and a mortal to be together?

Thousands of questions had run through her head in the time since Thor had left. Over half a year ago, she had heard rumours that a league of warriors had saved New York City from an alien invasion while she had been on her sabbatical, but none of the footage from that day was clear enough to see if any of them had been her love.

Jane stood up, making her way to the coffee pot in the small kitchen at the back of the run-down building. Her now-permanent assistant, Darcy Lewis, had her feet propped up on her desk, oblivious to everything except her music player.

Picking up the pre-made coffee she found it stone cold and highly unappealing. Pouring the dated contents down the drain, she didn't hear the sound of the glass doors slowly creak open and Tony Stark enter the room.

Jane turned, however, when she heard a faint sound of appreciation come from her otherwise silent assistant.

Seeing the man dressed in a red and gold suit, Jane jumped in surprise, dropping her empty coffee mug that smashed as it hit the floor. Jane felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment, but didn't move to pick up the broken porcelain.

Eying the strangely familiar man carefully, she asked, her voice falsely brave, "Do I know you?"

"We haven't met, exactly. But I'm sure you know of me." The man replied. He had a lilt of pride in his voice.

Where had she seen this man before? He certainly looked familiar that's for sure, "Well then um… sir, what can I do for you?"

Darcy pulled out her headphones, pouting prettily, "And what can you do for me, too?"

He smirked in Darcy's direction who gained a whimsical expression, before landing his gaze on Jane, "I have a present for you, Miss Foster. A way for you to meet your little boy-toy on the other side of the rainbow."

"A way to meet Thor?" Jane stepped towards the stranger, her eyes intent on his face, "How?" she asked suspiciously.

"With this," held firmly in his hand he presented a folded page of blue paper.

Jane timidly took the sheet and slowly unfurled it. It was heavily creased, but still legible. They were plans for a large hexagonal frame of sorts.

"I don't understand. What am I supposed to do with this?" Jane asked.

"Don't you know what these are?" The man looked incredulously at her, "These plans open the possibility of inter-dimensional travel. A way to create a stable and self-sustainable portal to lead you anywhere you want to go. Including the walking shampoo commercial's home-planet, Isgar, or wherever he said. I wasn't really listening," waving his hand dismissively, the man continued, "And Stark Industries is behind you in its development one hundred percent of the way."

Stark Industries? So this is where she had seen him, plastering his face across every billboard promoting clean sustainable energy, "Why would you want to help me, Mr Stark? What do you gain out of this?" Jane's voice was rising in anticipation.

"Nothing much, just a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach… And my name co-founded on one of the largest technological breakthroughs of the century." Stark said quickly, before adding, "You might want to get started. I know from experience that gods aren't exactly the most patient."

Jane continued mimicking a confused goldfish, timidly reaching out to pluck the blue paper from the handsome billionaire's hand. The air next to her left ear shifted and she could feel Darcy leaning over her shoulder to read the plans, her breath rattling in excitement.

"This is so cool! Hey, Mr Stark, can I get a photo with you for Facebook?"

/ / /

Maddie could feel each individual hair on the back of her neck stand on end; Vlad had not stopped staring at her for the past half-hour since he had invaded her home. It was getting on her nerves. Jack seemed as oblivious as usual, however, so she chose not to act as she otherwise would have. Her husband could be very sensitive sometimes.

Standing up from the lounge she had perched herself delicately on, she stated, "I'm going to go make us some tea. Dear, why don't you and Vlad go down to the lab so you can show him what he came to see," a smile stretched painfully across her face as she glanced at the mooning Vlad Masters, then hurried out of the room into the sanctuary of the kitchen.

Making her way over to the closest bench-top, she leaned heavily against it and exhaled, covering her face with her hands in exhaustion.

"Hey, mum. What'cha doin'?"

Maddie jumped at the voice, whipping her head up to see her son sitting at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal. His face was brimming with curiosity. Maddie watched him fondly, he was so easy to read sometimes.

"Hiding," she admitted guiltily.

"Really? I wouldn't have taken you as the cowardly type," her son gave her a cheeky grin, and Maddie was once again taken aback by how her little boy had grown into such a handsome man in such a short time.

She recovered quickly, returning the smile, "I am when Vlad Masters is involved."

Danny's smile fell slightly, "Oh. Yeah. I can understand that."

Maddie laughed, "Well I banished them both to the lab so I could have a slight reprieve. They're checking out the Ecto-Extractor. It's your dad's favourite toy at the moment. He is so childish sometimes," Her voice was tinged with affection.

Danny poked his tongue out in mock disgust, "Please, mum. I don't even want to guess what you're thinking. You're too easy read sometimes."

Maddie blinked as her thoughts were unknowingly thrown back at her, "Yes, well. I think I'm pushing the amount of time I have free of playing hostess. If I leave your father alone for too long, he might do something stupid like invite Vlad to stay for the night."

Danny groaned in mutual disgust, "Yeah, dad would probably even offer my room to him."

/ / /

"Hey, Vladdie, wanna stay the night? You can have Danny's room if you want!" Jack boomed out unceremoniously.

Vlad was peering intently at the Ecto-Extractor with a keen interest. Turning he replied, "Why of course, Jack. That sounds like a splendid idea. I would love nothing more than to spend more time with you and your ever-so-enviable family."

"That's great! I'll tell Maddie to make extra meatloaf! That'll give us more time to chat!" Jack cheered, running up the stairs in excitement, leaving Vlad standing next to the Ecto-Extractor.

"Yes," Vlad murmured, as Jack left the lab, "More time is exactly what I need," He sneered, as he ran a hand across the shiny white panelling of the cylindrical machine. He had plans to make.