Chapter Ten
Medley
Nick Fury stared at his phone, eyebrow raised at the text from Tony. Invited to an Avengers only party? Since when does Tony want me or Natasha around? It's like pulling teeth to get Tony within a mile of anything S.H.I.E.L.D. related, normally.
So he's got some ulterior motive, that's a given. But I'll be damned if I'm not curious now. He thought for a moment, and decided to go, if only for the curiosity factor. If this is just some free publicity stunt, I'm going to kill him.
He relayed his change of plans to his second-in-command, and left.
~oOo~
Natasha looked over at Hawkeye where he sat on the roof, looking down twenty-four floors of balconies. Their target was in one of the rooms, it was just a matter of time before he poked their head out his door and was caught by her surveillance cameras, or went out on the balcony to be spotted by the marksman.
Her phone vibrated. She read the text from Tony, surprised as hell. Stark doesn't like me within ten blocks of him...what's his angle?
The phone buzzed again with a new text, this one from Hawkeye. Target acquired, we going to Stark's?
~oOo~
Steve flicked through channels, looking for documentaries to help fill the hole left by his long, cold sleep. Unfortunately, all that was on were the speculative pseudo-documentaries that tried to discredit God. He shook his head, and hit power.
His phone chirped, but he lost the text by hitting the wrong button. Five minutes later, the phone rang, only this time it was Pepper, apologizing for Tony's texting and telling him about Stark's impromptu party.
"Thanks, Ms. Potts. I was just wondering what to do with myself tonight."
"I'll send a car for you at six. See you later, Captain."
~oOo~
Bruce looked at the buzzing phone, the sound annoying him. Carefully setting the vial he was holding in a rack, he pushed away from his desk to see what Tony wanted now. Smiling at the invite, he looked around his hut located somewhere in the back end of the Amazon jungle region.
"Sorry Tony, can't make New York in three hours," he said aloud, voice creaky with disuse. Sliding out the keyboard, he texted, 'Location out of reach. Sorry.'
"Wonder what he's got up his sleeve," he asked the lizard crawling along his window frame.
It didn't seem to care.
~oOo~
"Too bad we can't contact Asgard," Pepper said after her call to Steve. "Thor seems the type to always be ready for a party."
"Nuh uh. No way is he getting near my daughter. Just look at mythology, those guys were always going after the nubile young girls. He can play with his hammer in Asgard until she's old and gray."
Heimdall smirked from his station on the Bifrost and sent a runner to Odin. These mortals could be so entertaining. The All-Father should be happy to be rid of that, as well, and it's unceasing call for its owner.
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My thanks to Zeika, who has signed on as my beta. Believe me, everything's betta with a beta.