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"Mr. Stark, Director Fury is on the line."
Tony sighed as Jarvis's voice rang throughout the lab. "Put him through," the man said reluctantly after doing a quick sweep to make sure that there was nothing out that he wasn't supposed to have.
"Stark, get the team together. There's been another attack."
Tony glanced at a computer screen out of the corner of his eye. "Where?" he asked.
"Lebanon."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "The country?"
"Lebanon, New Hampshire," Fury elaborated. "This person's moved states."
Tony sighed. "I'll get the team. We'll be there in two hours max."
"Make it sooner. No doubt Potter's team is already there." Fury looked disgusted just at the thought. As the line disconnected, Tony looked around his lab once more.
"Jarvis, was Lebanon anywhere on that tracking system I set up?" he asked, focusing on the computer screen which was displaying areas around the country that had experienced power outages or surges or any unusual activity regarding technology and electricity.
"Yes sir," Jarvis said and all but one flag on the screen faded. Tony regarded it with skepticism. "Anything that made it distinct from the others?"
"No sir, but it is the most recent detection of the batch. It only appeared within the past twenty minutes."
"Twenty minute response time," Tony muttered. "That's certainly something."
"You are referring to Potter and his team already being at the scene."
"Wake the others, Jarvis," Tony decided. "And get the plane ready."
"New Hampshire?" Steve asked as the plane started to take off twenty minutes later. "It's not Maine anymore?"
"They're branching out or maybe this sick bastard got tired of Maine," Tony suggested. "I mean, how exciting can Maine be? All it has is lobster."
The rest of the Avengers merely rolled their eyes or shook their heads at his comments.
"This person is moving, not staying in one place," Steve pointed out. "If they've crossed state lines, what's going to stop them from going international?"
"We will," Clint said firmly. "But it's going to be hard to track them unless we have an idea of where they're going and how they're moving from place to place. Somehow they're getting past the roadblocks local police have been setting up without being noticed."
"That's not really hard to do," Tony muttered under his breath. "Piece of cake."
"We've worked with less," Natasha reminded him, ignoring Stark's comments. "We'll figure this one out as well."
"Doesn't mean that I don't hope that these bastards would make things easy for once," Clint grumbled. "A sign would be nice from time to time, preferably with flashing neon lights."
Natasha smirked and Tony chuckled as he powered on the screen and computer system near the front of the plane.
"What's that?" Steve asked as Tony brought up a map of the United States with certain areas flagged. As they watched, a handful of flags appeared on the west coast.
"I did what Potter suggested and started monitoring the country for power surges and power outages. Lebanon appeared on this map shortly before Fury called, so it's a decent start but something's missing and I have a feeling that it's that thing that Fury, Potter, and Potter's team have been not willing to talk about. If I want to narrow these down further, I need to know what they're keeping from us, but none of the systems that I've tapped into seem to have any information about the subject. Legolas, you're up."
"Up? As in up in the air? Because that applies to everyone, not just me."
Stark glared at his teammate who gave him a flat look.
"I meant, you're next in the conversation. You and Thor have information that the rest of us don't and I don't want to deal with the Shakespeare-style speaking right now. Now, are you going to fill us in ever or do I need to let Red convince you."
Clint glanced over at Natasha, who was looking at him expectantly. Their eyes met and Clint held her gaze for a few seconds before he sighed.
"You're not going to like what I have to say," he warned. "And I won't be able to answer most of the questions I'll know you have. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it myself."
"An actual answer anytime would do. Anytime," Tony prodded.
"One word," Clint said. "Magic."
There was silence for a second or two before Tony started to chuckle, which turned into full out laughter. "Sure," he said between laughs. "Magic. I can't wait for the capes and cards and rabbits to come out."
Clint grimaced. If only it was that. "I'm sure there's a more scientific term that you could use but that's the term they use and that you'll hear the most," he said. "And as far as I've seen, there's been no rabbits and cards."
"But there's capes?"
"Magic?" Steve asked, voice filled with skepticism. "If that's even possible, what kind are we talking about? A genetic mutation? Or abilities that have been developed through experimental science?"
"From what I've seen, it's not focused on one set of abilities like telekinesis. Within thirty minutes, I saw a teapot sing, a coffee table turn into a pig, a book levitate and fly across the room, and a man turn his mouth into a bird's beak," Clint said, recalling the examples Potter and Lupin showed him.
"So it's pretty much useless then."
"Potter was able to transport himself from my house to the center of New York City in a matter of minutes," Clint added, giving a pointed look to Tony. "And from what we've been seeing, it's possible to kill entire families without a mark on their bodies."
In the resulting silence, the team of Avengers felt the plane begin its descent. The landing gears had just deployed when Tony was the one to break the silence. "And what do they call themselves?"
"Wizards and witches," Clint said.
"No, I mean their form of government. What's it called?"
"The American Congress of Magic," was his answer after a few seconds.
"Son of a bitch," Tony muttered to himself. "I really thought those letters were a poor attempt at a joke."
"Letters?" Steve questioned. "They've actually contacted you?"
"Apparently," Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders. "They've shown up from time to time, more often since I started redirecting my interests into other fields than weapons, usually with requests to develop electronics that can run off of magic. I thought the requests absurd at the time so I never gave them any thought before but now I'm looking forward to the next one I receive."
Natasha stretched and repositioned herself so she could whisper in Clint's ear without anyone else on the plane overhearing. "Kid in a candy shop. Is letting Stark learn about magic really a good idea? Remember Ultron."
"He was going to find out about it one way or another," Clint whispered back as he turned his neck from side to side in an attempt to crack it. "Let him be Potter's problem."
Natasha smirked. "Share Fury's opinion of the man?"
"No, but when possible, I let others handle things. We already do enough between fighting enemies and saving the world."
"Oi, Spy One and Spy Two, I would have thought that you were observant enough to notice that we've landed. Let's get a move on, since we're already behind schedule," Tony called as the plane doors opened.
"Behind who's schedule?" Natasha called after the man but she received no reply. As the two spies followed the rest of the Avengers off of the plane, everyone sighed when they realized they were in a field and a farmhouse with green smoke hanging over it was just down a dirt road.
"Figured I would save us some time," Tony stated when he noticed the others' looks. "It wasn't hard to figure out where to go."
When the group reached the farmhouse, they were greeted by three familiar faces.
"My friends, good morning!" Thor boomed from the porch. "And a good landing, my iron friend!"
"Let's just hope that whoever owns the farm thinks so as well when he finds most of his crops flattened," Clint read from Potter's lips. His companion Stensky replied but the archer wasn't able to read her response as most of her mouth was angled away from him. Whatever she said clouded the wizard's face with a stormy look and Potter disappeared inside the house.
"We've finished here," Stensky told the Avengers when they were within normal hearing range and she didn't have to yell as Thor did. "Harry and I will stay for a few more minutes to answer any questions you have but most of our team has already gone back."
"Quick work," Steve commented.
"There wasn't much that we haven't seen before this week. Do you have any questions right away or do you want to look at the scene first?"
"I trust the bodies weren't moved this time?" Natasha asked. The woman grimaced but nodded.
"Still in their beds," she said.
"We'll look at the scene first." Rogers entered the house with Natasha close behind him. Clint was about to follow when...
"Actually, I have some questions," Tony spoke up. "I'm assuming I talk to you since Potter is clearly British and therefore probably not a representative of the American Congress of...Magic was it?"
Stensky winced but forced a smile on her face and nodded. Her smile rapidly turned into a glower when a sound similar to the cracking of a whip rang through the air.
"Ass," she muttered before turning her attention back on Stark. "What do you need to speak with us about, Mr. Stark?"
"It's regarding some letters your department has sent me in the past couple of years," Tony said. Upon hearing that, Clint followed after his friends, not wanting to listen to the conversation anymore. He was quickly realizing that magic and talk about it was very good at creating headaches.
"Stensky's problem, not Potter's," he informed Natasha.
"Obviously, since Potter just took off," she replied. "Disappeared into thin air, and not metaphorically. Magic?"
Clint shrugged but nodded, not knowing of any other explanation.
"Magic," Steve muttered from where he was standing in the entrance to the kitchen, still looking at where Harry Potter had been before he apparated upon overhearing Tony's question. "Who would have thought?
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