FRIDAY

For the first time since her birth, FRIDAY found herself unable to learn about something she wished to. There had never been any mention of Ego stone in her previous dimension or the new dimension. Even Dr. Strange had not mentioned anything about it. This was a new variable in her plans, one which may prove all of them useless. She decided to wait until she could have more information. Fortunately for her Mordo was providing her with that. Nela asked the question FRIDAY wanted to.

"Could you tell us a little more about Nemesis? And what is a nexus dimension?"

"As I said, there is very little information about Nemesis. Its origin is covered in mystery. All we know is that long before the multiverse even existed, the entity Nemesis was present. At some stage of its development, it became tired of its existence and willed itself to shatter into different parts, each of which formed into an infinity stone. Each universe or dimension as you call it has its own six infinity stones. But the seventh stone or the Ego Stone exists only in some special dimensions."

Mordo took a deep breath before speaking again.

"These special dimensions are called the Nexus dimension. This is because the six infinity stones in these dimensions have the capability to absorb the power of infinity stones of any other non-nexus universe."

Mordo looked at her projection now.

"The Stephen Strange of FRIDAY's old dimension told that with the destruction of the infinity gems, the aspects were flowing out of that universe. These aspects were flowing in towards the infinity gems of this dimension. This process has been going for centuries. Every time an infinity stone is destroyed in any dimension in the entire multiverse, it's aspect flows to the corresponding gem of the nearest nexus dimension. I believe the stones of our dimension have enough power in them now, that if they are combined, they will be able to join with the Ego stone, thereby waking up Nemesis once again. And that's why all of the dimension travelers are here, to stop it from happening."

Boss interrupted him.

"There are so many questions I have. Who or what made the decision that they should travel between dimensions? Why should we stop an Ancient entity to wake up again? And even if we should, how would we? You said the gems are much more powerful now. Wouldn't they combine no matter how much we try? How can we..."

Mordo raised his hand, stopping boss in between.

"I will answer your every question, Stark. But you need to let me finish."

Boss pouted for a moment before nodding.

"It is believed that out of 6 stones, only three of them want to wake up the infinity again. These are the mind stone, the reality stone, and the power stone. The other three, that is the time stone, the space stone, and the soul stone are the ones opposed to it. Where this information came from, I have no idea. But this answer one of Stark's questions. No one knows what the entity Nemesis would be like. But what we do know is that the three stones that are responsible for most death and destruction throughout the multiverse, want to wake up an ancient entity more powerful than anything else, while the three stones, that is the soul stone, the time stone, and the space stone, that are linked with development and progress of life across the universe, want to stop it. So the conclusion that we should stop the stones from combining may not be wrong."

Mordo took a sip of water from his glass before speaking again.

" I believe it was the time stone of different dimensions that sent FRIDAY and her companions, Nela and Mr. Potts, and the Howletts here. Even with all their power, the stones cannot combine on their own. They need a common matter, a physical matter, which can join them together. We all now know about a weapon capable of that."

Dr. Banner's voice was full of fear and resignation.

"The Infinity Gauntlet."

"Yes, Dr. Banner. Thanos of this dimension has already started on the path towards it. And we have to stop him, in any way possible."

A tense silence spread in the room for a moment before broken by Mr. Howlett's reentry in the room.

"So we would have to fight."

FRIDAY knew it was not a question and so did others. Mr. Howlett spoke again.

"How strong is this Thanos?"

In response, FRIDAY displayed a fight scene from Mark L suit from her old universe. Once the screen went blank, Ms. Ross spoke up.

"He had four stones with him during the fight. So without the stones..."

FRIDAY interrupted her.

"No, Ms. Ross. Even without the stones, Thanos is a powerful fighter."

She displayed the recording from the final battle. The way Thanos threw Boss, Captain America, and Thor around was enough for them. Mr. Howlett spoke up after some time.

"20 years ago, I would have been a help to you, but not now."

He was silent for a few moments before speaking again.

"Someone would need to train Laura to fight."

He raised his hand to stop Boss and Boss lady from interrupting.

"I know she is a child, but with her powers, she is more capable and dangerous than the fighters of this earth, at least the one I have read about. When he comes, you would need every bit of help. And she would want to fight, no matter what you do."

By the end, Mr. Howlett had started gasping and coughing. FRIDAY observed the small amount of blood coming out from his nose. But before she could speak, the dimension traveler stumbled and fell over. Everyone in the room started moving immediately.

STEVE ROGER'S P.O.V.

As he waited for the Director to arrive in the conference room, his mind went over everything that had happened since he came out of ice.

During his training in the Army, he had learned a lot about people in the current time. Howard Stark's son had been someone he had an interest in. His first impression had been of a rich kid playing with things above his level. Then a SHIELD agent had approached him one night and everything had become more clear.

Tony Stark was responsible for everything he had suffered since waking up.

He was the one who had informed the Army about him when it had been SHIELD who had found him. Somehow the Army had not found him worthy of leading a team and instead made him go through worthless training. And even after that, he had not been given his own command. The SHIELD agent had explained to him that he was supposed to be given his own team in the SHIELD and he would have been the leader of The Avengers.

There was no doubt that it was Stark's work. That man had tried to confuse him by telling a fake amount as rent, and then showed his greatness by taking a small amount of money instead.

During the invasion, he had requested Stark to stop the airplanes, but he had not listened. Even Rhodes had asked him to shut up when he had told him how innocent people would suffer for it. Apparently, the Colonel had complained about it to his trainers, who had make him attend a full day class about the capabilities of aircraft and bombs.

Not that it mattered now. He was with SHIELD now, acting as a hero, protecting the innocent, just as Dr. Erskine wanted him to be. The Army wanted him to be a soldier, another man doing what they thought was right. Soon, he would be given the command of Avengers. He had already decided to keep Stark in a support role only. The actual fighting might become too much for him and he would become a liability on the battlefield.

He would prove all of them wrong soon.

PETER MAXIMOFF's P.O.V

As they walked towards their small apartment, he couldn't help but feel that what they were doing was wrong. While a large part of his mind wanted to take revenge against Stark for their Parent's murder, a small part always reasoned against it. Stark was not the one who fired that missile or targeted their home. And now they had joined with HYDRA, a criminal organization. He wondered what his parents would think about him.

But like always, his sister brought him out of his thoughts.

"Finally, we will have a chance to kill Stark. Make him pay for everything he has done to us. We will take away his money, his company, his home, and his daughters away, and only then will I allow him to die. He will face his end alone and broken, as he deserves to."

The small part of his mind was roaring inside him, refusing and denying her sister's statement, but the part which loved his sister crushed it easily. Whatever he thought about Stark, it didn't matter. He had to keep his sister happy.

For the next few months, they were given a lot of training and work from HYDRA. They were taught to manipulate people, to act like innocent, to use their age against someone, to fight dirty, and much more. They organized rallies to destabilize the country's government and provided resources to people he was sure were terrorists.

They had returned from such a drop when the guard told them they were invited to meet the higher up's. They were taken to meet a man named Wolfgang von Strucker. By the end of the meeting, his sister had agreed for them to Volunteer for an experimental program that may give them powers, superpowers.

The small part of his mind noticed that there was no mention of the risks for those involved in the incident, but once again its voice was crushed.

The next day they were given a room in the old fort. After some days they started receiving unmarked vials to drink. Now all they had to do was wait.

NICK FURY'S P.O.V

Walking out of the meeting room, he had to stop himself from cursing out loud. The WSC had reacted just as he expected. The video of Thor blaming them for the attack and the missile being launched from a SHIELD jet had spread too fast. Multiple governments were now looking into the organization. Not to mention the photos of Romanoff and Barton.

The council was right. SHIELD had to go dark for now. As he entered the conference room another problem came up. He had forgotten about the Captain. All the plans he had made for the man were now irrelevant. Captain America would be handed back to the Army now.

Taking a seat at the center he looked towards his one of the best agent duo.

"Romanoff, do you still have your job with Stark?"

The spy nodded.

"Can you get Barton a job with him?"

She nodded once again after a few moments.

"Do it. SHIELD will go dark for now until the public attention is off us. You both will no longer be associated with us, and every mention of you will be removed from our files. Stay with Stark, and prepare him if we need him in the future. The Avengers program is also suspended for now."

He turned to face rogers.

"Captain, you will return to army command for now..."

The man interrupted him and then proceeded to a long rant. It seemed the man had somehow found a way to blame everything in his new life on Stark. Well, he would have to think about it later, right now important things were waiting for him. He raised his hand to stop the man's rant. For a second, it looked like he would attack him, but then he sat back down.

"Captain, with SHIELD going dark for foreseeable future, we would not be able to send you on any mission. There would be a risk of gathering too much attention. So you are going back to the army. Whenever SHIELD is safe enough to operate normally again, you will work with us again."

He was interrupted again by the Captain, who had started coming out with impossible solutions to the problem. Well, it looked like it was going to be a long meeting.