Operation: Save the Worlds
Chapter 14
And So They Meet
Romanoff and Banner quickly left the infirmary, heading to meet Thor in the Director's office. Alyssa had dragged Nick into the Conference room, to have a "chat' with him. Tony went to find some alcohol, claiming he wasn't going to make it through the rest of the day without it, screw it if it was only seven AM. Clint and Steve volunteered to stay behind with Jamie until Annabelle was able to watch him.
Steve turned towards the archer, keeping his voice down low, so Jamie was unable to hear their conversation.
"What do you think about all of this? I mean the Santa and the others being real?" Steve looked toward his friend.
Clint kept his eyes on Jamie as he slept and shrugged, "It's hard to say as of now. Agent Endo seems so sure of herself. While her partner on the other hand doesn't believe a word she is saying," Clint let out a breathe, "Besides, she claims these Guardians can only be seen if you believe in them."
"I feel Agent Endo is not letting us in on everything she knows. What about that whole thing about not telling Jamie her name? I don't like it," the captain crossed his arms, Clint just let out a chuckle,
"She is a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. She will always know more than what she is letting on."
"Yeah I know, after spending a few years with you anf Natasha, I realized that much. Just so much seems off with Agent Endo and her partner I still don't know what to make of her partner, besides the fact he looks more out of date than I am. I don't even know their first names, or what their abilities are. How am I supposed to trust these two if they aren't telling us everything?"
Clint sighed, "Alyssa and Nick."
"Excuse me?"
"Agent Endo's first name is Alyssa and Clockwork's name in Nick. Alyssa has the power to shift shape, while Nick has the power to manipulate time," Steve gave Clint a funny look, Clint, in return only shrugged. "What? You asked. Even though it's wasn't something for me to tell you, it was worth it if you begin to trust them a bit more. I know it's hard, but those two are good at what they do. They are always one step ahead of everyone else."
Steve smirked, "Even you and Natasha?"
"Now I would say that."
"Excuse me? Agent Barton? Captain? do you know when I will be able to see my friends?" Jamie spoke up. The two turned towards the soldier, who was looking a lot better than he did the previous night.
"Who would that be?" Steve raised his eyebrow. Jamie just smiled, he looked like a ten year old.
"The Guardians of course!"
"Um Jamie, we aren't even sure if the Guardians are here," Clint rubbed the back of his neck.
"Don't worry. They are here," Jamie smiled.
"What makes you so sure they are here Jamie? Didn't you say something about them being from an alternate universe?" Steve carefully chose his words, making sure to not upset the boy in front of him. It was Jamie who chuckled.
"I know you all are having a hard time believing me, but believe me when I say, my friends won't let something as simple as a magic portal stop them from saving one of their own."
"Funny, your friends sound an awful like another group of heroes we know," Clint smiled.
Alyssa had basically dragged Nick back into the conference room by his ear. Fumes could be seen coming out of her ears.
"Ow! Lyssa, let go off me!" Nick demanded as they entered the deserted room. Fury had gone back to his office to greet the newly arrived Asgardian prince.
"Not until you explain yourself and your dick moves," Alyssa hissed.
"Now which ones would that be?" Nick smirked, his metal teeth reflecting the light in the room. Alyssa rolled her eyes, pushing her partner away from her.
"You know exactly what I am talking about! Why the hell didn't you back me up when I was explaining everything about the Guardian? We are supposed to be a team dammit!" Alyssa slammed her fist against the table. "So why didn't you back me up! That is what partners do!"
"Overreact much," Nick sighed before walking towards his partner. "Can you honestly look me in the eyes and say the Easter Bunny is real? And that they came from my home universe to rescue Jamie?" Alyssa turned, looking directly at her partner,
"I believe in the Guardians. My question is, why don't you? When I first mentioned the Guardians to you, you claimed you came from their universe. Explain that to me Nicholas."
Nick didn't answer.
"That really hurt Nick. You made a fool out of both of us! After everything we've been through you act like you can't trust me…" Alyssa trailed off.
"Oh really? I am the one that made a fool out of us? You are the one who keeps insisting that the Guardians are real! And how can I or the Avengers trust you when you won't even tell Jamie your name?" Nick shouted, no longer holding back his anger.
"You know why I have told Jamie my name? It's because he knows what happens. He has read all of the Avenger's comic books, and this right here, is one of the stories. He just doesn't realize it yet because he is still on several types of drugs. But when he hears my name and my abilities prematurely, he will remember everything, and compromise the mission."
"And how the fuck do you know all this?" Nick stepped closer to his partner, his eyes scanning her face to see if she was lying.
"Because once something is read in a book, it has to happen. And I have been read one hell of a book."
Excuse me, Agent's Endo and Clockwork. You are required to join the rest of the Avengers in conference room A, the final member of your time has arrived. Jarvis's voice filled the room. Nick looked at his partner,
"This conversation is not over."
Jack's feet touched the landing pad of what Thor described to be a 'flying fortress'. Frost immediately spread across the pad. Jack and Thor briefly explained the situation to the best of their abilities, leaving out the part where Loki and Pitch both cornered Jack back at the cabin.
Looking behind him Jack could see Thor landing beside him, Tooth soon followed. Sandy had created a golden sleigh for North, Bunny, and Anne to ride in, seeing that they couldn't fly since North left his sleigh at the Pole. Serena landed behind the other Guardians, her moonlit wings folding in behind her.
"So how is this going to work mate? Seeing as though none of your friends will believe in us?" Bunny folded his arms, looking at the demi-god.
"I have trust in my friends. It may take some convincing but I know they will possess the power to see you all. Then we can work on locating Loki and the Nightmare King," Thor boomed as several agents came from inside the fortress to greet the prince.
The first person Jack noticed was a women with extremely red hair, she looked familiar, so did the man next to her. He had brown hair and glasses, who looked a bit too jumpy. A perfect person to pull a prank on later, Jack smirked.
"Lady Natasha and Friend Bruce it is good to see you!" Thor boomed before grabbing the two into a hug,."It has been far too long!"
"That is has," Bruce, apparently, smiled. He tapped the Asgardian's back as a signal to let go. The women, Natasha, straightened out her outfit, before turning back to Thor,
"Although sending a message or something would be much appreciated next time you stop by, some of the recruits are a bit jumpy," Natasha gave a small smile, then going straight to business. "I am sure you are aware of your brothers recent behavior."
"Aye, that was one of the reasons I am here. He had escaped from Asgardian prison. I would have been here sooner, but fate wouldn't allow me to."
Natasha gave Thor a curious look before continuing, "I believe Asgard might want to work on their security a bit more, just to make sure this won't happen again. Loki was last seen around Malibu California when him and an ally of his attacked two of our agents." She beckoned the god to follow her. "Hopefully you can give insight to your brother's actions, and where he will attack next. But for now, Director Fury wants to see you." Thor nodded, and began to walk behind his two allies. He briefly turned towards the Guardians, signalling for them to follow.
Tony Stark has been called many things, among these are crazy and delusional, he never believed any of it until today. Tony was pretty sure either he was going crazy, or Thor was.
Tony had hacked all of S.H.I.E.L.D's security cameras to keep a better eye on the two newbies, he already didn't trust many S.H.I.E.L.D agents, so what was the harm in checking up on them? But when Thor arrived Tony's attention turned to the demi god, whenever Natasha or Bruce wasn't looking Thor would mumble something to himself. Too low for either Natasha or Bruce to pick up on.
Tony took a sip of his scotch and studied the scene before him. Thor, Natasha, and Bruce were all in Fury's office, and every now and again Thor would look over his shoulder behind him and mumble something.
"Jarvis," Tony taped the comm in his ear.
"Yes sir?"
"I assume you are still connected to S.H.I.E.L.D's network," Tony began to play with a pen someone left in the office that Tony over took as his. "I need you to scan Fury's office for any signs of life."
"Sir, my readings show no other signs of life besides the four occupants that are already in the room."
"Grrreat," Tony swirled in his chair. "Either I am going crazy or Thor has imaginary friends-" Tony perked up from his seat, "Wait imaginary. Like people only one person can only see?"
"By definition imaginary friends are a psychological and social phenomenon where-"
"Jarvis, shut up," Tony hushed the robotic voice. " I am thinking. Agent Endo said these Guardians are only visible if you believe in them. Like imaginary friends, so maybe Thor isn't just talking to himself. Jarvis, I need you to scan Fury's office."
"Sir, I-"
"Yes I know you already scanned it for lifeforms but I want you to scan for-"
"Sir, I-"
"Just do a scan!"
"Sir, what I was trying to say before you interrupted me. Thor and the others left Fury's office and are heading for conference room A, where Agents Endo and Clockwork are located," Tony swore he heard a bit of sass coming from his AI.
"Umm, very well. Keep up the good work, and um, continue to scan. Send any findings to me on my StarkPad," Tony downed the last of his scotch and headed out.
After filling up his scotch for the third time, Stark finally made it to conference room A. Tony had to pat himself on the back he definitely had perfect timing. A minute later and Agent Endo would have killed her partner.
"What the hell you mean you don't believe me Nicholas? They are right there!" Agent Endo basically shouted at her partner as Tony entered the room. Bruce and Steve looked almost helpless as the two younger agents yelled at each other. While Clint and Natasha looked amused.
"Lady Endo, do you mean to tell me you see my Guardian brothers and sisters?" Thor spoke up, finally understanding what the agents were yelling about.
"Yes, I do. It is my partner here who doesn't believe me. Calming I am seeing things," Agent Endo kept her eyes on her partner, as the venom covered words poured out of her mouth.
"This is good!" Thor smiled.
"Unfortunately, the rest of us don't see what you two are seeing, and would like some sort of explanation," Steve crossed his arms, looking at both Thor and Endo.
"Ah Good Captain! We are able to see the protector of childhood! But for you and our comrades to see them, you have to believe they are there!" Thor wrapped his arm around Steve's shoulders.
"I believe I have the answer to your questions, my good captain," Tony smiled, setting his StarkPad in the middle of the conference room table."Jarvis, how many people are in this room?"
"15 sir. Eight are accounted for, seven how ever, are only visible to Mister Thor and Agent Endo." The room grew quiet, Alyssa had a look of triumph on her face.
"Tony, how do we know-" Bruce began to question, before Tony interrupted him,
"Jarvis, scan the room again, and send the image to my tablet." Tony smiled as the file completed it's download and was sent to his StarkPad with a "ding". With a swipe of his finger, a 3-D hologram floated above the table. The picture seemed to be taken in the thermo reading mode, as everyones' bodies were a mix of different colors. But the thing that caught everyone's eye was the blue colors in shape of a boy behind Thor; the picture also showed six other beings around the blue boy.
"What the hell is this Tony?" Clint raised an eyebrow at the genius.
"If I had to guess, we are looking at the childhood myths Agent Endo was talking about," Tony smiled.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me," Natasha exclaimed. The others followed Natasha's line of vision. There was an audible gasp heard throughout the room as seven beings appeared behind Thor.
"Finally, the genius figures it out," all eyes turned to, what appears to be, the teenager sitting on a stick. Tony took note on how deathly white his skin and hair was. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Jack Frost, and we're the guardians."
"What the hell is this Tony?" Natasha growled as she pointed her gun at the beings that just appeared in the conference room. As Natasha took the safety off of her gun the guardians each armed themselves with either own weapons, thus causing Clockwork and Clint to draw their weapons.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Steve called out jumping in between the guardians and the armed agents. "But the weapons down!"
"Oi! That sheila drew her weapon out first," sneered Bunny, gripping his boomerangs.
"Sorry, I don't appreciate when people suddenly materialize in front of me, " Natasha cocked her head, refusing to lower her gun.
"Lady Natasha, please, I know the guardians personally. They mean no harm. Lower your weapon," Thor spoke soothingly, trying to calm his comrade.
"Then can someone explain we the just manifested in front of us?" Nick growled, putting his ray gun at Sandy.
"Here let me explain," Tooth held up her hands in peace, floating in front of the other guardians, immediately given off the air of royalty around her. " As just said we are the guardians. My name is Toothina, you might know me as the tooth fairy. As you might have realized, we are not of your world. A villain from our world has stumbled in your world, we believe he has found an ally in one of your enemies, Loki. We are sorry for startling you, you see we can only been seen if you believe in us. That is why Thor and your ally saw us when you could not. Jack already introduced himself; now, next to me is Nicholas St. North, Santa Claus, then it is Sandy, the sandman, Bunnymund, The easter bunny, Anne Marie, and Serena Nightingale. " The agents lowered their guns slightly, but still holding them tight.
"Okay. Natasha happy now? Put down the gun. It is a little creepy having you point a gun at Santa Clus. You too Barton, Clockwork. Knock it off," Tony glanced at the three agents, who all hesitantly holstered their guns back from wherever they held them.
"Just when you think you see everything…" Bruce mumbled to no one in particular.
"Now that is solve! We can begin looking for Pitch and Loki!" North boomed clapping his hands.
"I agree with you North! Now that everyone is here we can begin!"
"Woah, woah,woah! Since when is Santa Russian?" Tony exclaimed.
"Time and place Stark. We have bigger things to worry about," Clint rolled his eyes.
"Besides, what wrong with being Russian?" Natasha asked casually, rolling a knife between her fingers. Tony took a deep breathe, deciding he wasn't going to answer that.
"Oh my Moon, this is going to take forever," Serena mumble.
"Yeah, I really don't have time for this. We have to find Jamie and then find Pitch," Jack floated in the air arms behind his head.
"Hey excuse me, this is a no floating zone," Tony grabbed Jack's hood, pulling him to the ground.
"Ow! Is that any way to treat guest?" Jack smiled at the billionaire.
"Wait, son, did you say you were looking for someone named Jamie?" Steve helped Jack off of the ground.
"Yeah, he is my best friend. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Act like an adult one minute but then acts like a ten year old the next. Most likely in a military uniform. A friend of our back home said he was found by Captain America in the woods. Do you know him?"
"Well I hope so. Since I am Captain America," Steve smiled at the kid as he put two and two together, Jack's mouth hung in a "O" shape.
"You got to be kidding me Jack, you seriously didn't know? They are the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes?" Anne Marie snickered at her friend.
"Sorry! I was a bit distracted by the flying fortress and the fact we had guns pointed at us a few minutes ago."
"I swear Frostbite, you are one of the most unobservent sprites I know," Bunny grumbled.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up Cottontail. I will just pay a visit to your Warren when we get back."
"Um excuse me Jack? Would you like to go see Jamie? He is recovering from his injuries in our medical ward," Steve smiled at the teen.
"Wait, is he okay?" Jack looked at the ground, afraid to here the answer.
"Yeah, the medicine we gave him is working wonders. We just lift him a little bit ago," Clint stated.
"Is it alright if we come along? We want to make sure Jamie is okay?" Tooth hovered closer to Jack.
"Yeah why not, as long as we start figuring out how we are going to stop to psychopaths when we get back," Stark smiled, leading the way to the infirmary.
**Okay I think I am going to stop there. Sorry this was all over the board I wanted to give you all a longer chapter as a thank you for being patient with me! I know its been along time, but better late than never right?
But this might be a good time to mentions updates will take a bit longer on a count I got a job at the beginning of January and have had no time to write. (I actually did this instead of doing my essay due Friday that I haven't started OOPs!) But the good news was that I was struggling to figure out an non-awkward way for everyone to meet. You will not believe how many times I have edit this chapter, and it is still pretty awkward. So now that we are over that hump we will hopefully have smooth sailing from now on! Oh And the fact I recently got a laptop helps too! (BTW: I am not going to be giving North the same accent I did earlier in the story, just because I feel it is hard to read)
Oh speaking of might somewhere in the story everyone is broken into groups and I want to know what is your ideal guardian-avenger groups are!
Okay now answer time!
My Spirit is an Arctic Fox: I love stories like that! I am so happy this story is like that for you!
changeofheart505: *SCREAMS* THANK YOU KURA! I am glad you feel that way Sakura.
Zejo: Why thank you! I just tap into my inner smart ass, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist in order to write for Tony. ;)
DarkBlade: Oh don't' say that Hon! Without you we would have had this story at all! But thank you very much!
grizzlybear2000: Aww thanks sweetie!
Tigermike83: No snowball in the face this time, I am saving it for something even better *Evil laughter*
DarkDOLLYumi: Thanks honey! :*
Serena nightingale: Whoop whoop! Thanks Serena!
Lovely Lilly 16: Thanks hon! So do I! I think Jack would just propusly push Tony's buttons for the hell of it!
Jewel Becky: Oopsies?