FRIDAY

She was discussing a new type of cast with Nela and Morgan when a portal formed in the room. No one was shocked, as they had been waiting for it. FRIDAY had informed everyone about the Ancient One's request and ensured that the entire group was present during the dinner.

She watched as the Ancient One stepped out from the portal. The woman looked around the room before speaking.

"Thank you for listening to my request. Two more people would be joining us in a minute. One of them is a child with a troubled past and would react quickly to any danger, so I would request you all to not perform any such action."

Boss spoke before she could say anything.

"Is it safe to bring them here then? Morgan should.."

He was interrupted by the Ancient One.

"No, Morgan's presence would make sure that she does not perceive anything we do not want her to."

Everyone looked towards Boss and Boss lady, waiting for their approval. Boss looked towards her projection.

"Full non-lethal security mode, FRIDAY."

The formation was three Mark 4 suits in different corners of the room answered his command. The Ancient One gave a small smile before shaking her head.

"I don't think you would need them, and if you do, that they would stop them."

FRIDAY took over.

"They are not the only protection present here."

She looked at the people present around the table.

"You are right. I would be coming back in a few minutes. Please listen to me before you decide anything."

She left before anyone could say anything. Without any prompt, FRIDAY called for the nanite suits while moving Morgan to the chair closest to the door. Seeing it, the rest of the group started moving. Dr. Banner, Mordo, and boss moved towards Morgan, while Ms. Romanoff, Boss lady, Colonel Rhodes, and Mr. Barton moved towards the center. Nela and Virgil elected to sit next to Morgan.

A tense silence enveloped the room as everyone waited for the Ancient One and her guests to arrive.
As her internal timer hit 3 minutes the portal opened once again. This time accompanying the Ancient One were two people, an old man, and a young girl. The man had a black beard and light brown and gray hair while the girl had black hair. One thing both of them had in common was the tense expression and wariness in their eyes. Both of them had scanned the room after crossing through the portal, aligning their bodies to face Boss and Dr. Banner.

FRIDAY immediately started facial recognition for both of them as The Ancient One started speaking.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is James Howlett and his daughter Lauran Kinney Howlett..."

FRIDAY interrupted her before she could continue, projecting the information of a tv screen.

" As I can find, James Howlett, Son of Elizabeth Howlett and Thomas Logan, is an 80-year-old man, who lives with his 11-year-old granddaughter, Elaine Howlett in the Howlett estate near Toronto, Canada. His most recent photo quite differs from the man standing in front of us."

She ignored the surprised expression on man's face, focusing on the Ancient One's face instead. The woman smiled.

"You are right, FRIDAY. Logan and Laura are not from here, they both are dimension travelers like you and others."

FRIDAY would have spoken again, but the x-ray scans of the new arrivals got her attention. Her projection looked towards Boss and nodded. Boss took the lead.

"Please take a seat all of you."

Once all of them were seated FRIDAY spoke up again. "Mr. Howlett, May I know the reason why an unknown metal is coating both of your skeletons?"

The man shook for a second before looking towards the Ancient One, who gave a small nod. He lifted one of his hands and made a fist. Three slim metal rods pierced his skin from between his knuckles and grew to some length. Natasha had the thought that it looks like a Tiger Claw weapon but it was coming from under his skin.

The Ancient one started speaking once again "Mr. Howlett and his daughter are mutants. That is, they are normal human beings, but due to a mutant gene present in their DNA, they have developed some type of power. When the portal generated by tesseract was closed by Ms. Romanoff, I sensed their arrival. Whatever forced or sent them here from their dimension, was unable to complete the travel. The eye of Agamotto pulled them in, nearly destroying the New York sanctum in process. Logan has agreed to share his story with all of you."

She then nudged Logan, who was staring at the image of James Howlett of this universe. The man took a deep breath before speaking in a tired voice.

"I was born in 1832..."

As the man told his story, FRIDAY kept a lot of checks and processes going. In this dimension and her old dimension, James Howlett was born in 1932, a hundred years later than in the man's dimension.
After serving in the Korean war, Mr. Howlett had then returned to his hometown and set up a cigar business. Today his Cigars were quite famous in the North American continent, with the total value of the business at nearly 100 million dollars. When she heard about the cloning, she couldn't help but compare it to the plans SHIELD had for Hulk and Asgardians. There was very little difference. She knew that a lot of things were missing from Mr. Howlett's story, but she let it be for now.

"...impaled at that branch, I was sure I would die. It felt like Something grabbed hold of us and the next I knew, we were falling through something, until we fell on the ground. She was standing in front of us and took us inside a house. And the rest you all know."

He tried to say something, but nothing more came out. It was clear to everyone that he was tired and confused.

Boss lady spoke up after a few moments. "We will help you, Mr. Howlett. You need not to worry."

From her tone, FRIDAY knew that she won't listen to any objections.

MORDO

As Tony and Ms. Potts took Logan and Laura to the guest rooms, he approached the Ancient One.

"You said we will meet one more time."

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, I did."

She didn't need to say anymore. A wave of emotions rose inside him, with regret and sorrow covering everything else. Nothing came out of his mouth, as he tried to control himself. The Ancient One raised her hand and touched his cheek, removing the sole tear that has escaped his eyes. No matter how angry he was with her, she was the one who set him in this path, she was the one who showed him how to save his soul and now faced with the idea that they would never meet again his words and the hurt had dried up. It was now the deep ache of a healing bruise instead of the sharp pain of a burn.

"They need to know why they are here. Tell them."

He nodded.

"Goodbye, Mordo."

By the time he could reply, she had already vanished inside the portal.

"Goodbye, my teacher."

FRIDAY

Once Mr. Howlett and his daughter were settled in the guest rooms, the entire group except Nela, Morgan, and Virgil assembled in the hall once again. The young adults had decided to let the mature adults discuss the matter while they put Morgan in bed. And if it got them a little time to kiss goodnight that was a bonus.

Before anyone could say anything she noted Mr. Howlett moving towards the hall. She informed everyone just as Mr. Howlett stepped inside the room. He looked at everyone before starting to speak.

"There is something you all need to know. I am dying. I don't know how long I will live on. It may be a matter of days..."

FRIDAY interrupted him. "May I know the reason behind it, Mr. Howlett?"

The man hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

"I will tell you everything. But first promise me you will ensure Laura will have a good life."

Even as he was speaking, he stumbled in his place. Boss was next to him in a moment.

"I promise, Logan. Sit down, you don't look in good shape."

Mr. Howlett nodded before speaking.

"Thank you, Stark. The reason is that the metal which is coating my bones is poisoning my body from inside. My healing factor has kept it at bay for years, but old age and all the fights have taken there toll. My body is now fighting a losing match against the poisoning. The fight I was in just before arriving here, pushed it over the line. I have already lost some of my strength. I can't..."

This time the hesitation was emotional.

"I won't be around for her for too long, but she needs someone. We ferals can tip over into full animal if no one is there to ground us. And she is young, still learning what she is and what all this means. Young… She is just…"

He had a far off look and seems to be breathing hard.

This time Dr. banner spoke up. "Do not worry, Logan. Laura will always have someone for her."

"She will live a longer life…"

"From what I can tell due to the tests I have run on myself, I will live long past her extended life, Logan. So don't worry. In fact, most of us here due to one reason or another, are going to live long lives unless an overwhelming amount of force is used and in my case, that won't work to kill the Hulk."

Mr. Howlett turned to look everyone else before resting his eyes at boss, who spoke up.

"Bruce is correct. Laura will never be alone, as long as even one of us is alive."

The man gave a deep breath and then nodded his thanks. With careful movement, he stood up and headed back out into the hall looking like he was going to head back to the room his daughter was in. Both Tony and Pepper had offered him his own but in truth, he just wanted to cuddle with his cub, for as long as he had left.

Mordo was the one to speak first after Logan had left the room.

"There is something you all need to know. After FRIDAY, Nela, and Virgil told their stories, I suspected something major was the reason behind their dimension travel. The addition of the Howletts just adds more confirmation to what I suspected. I found out the reason a week ago and was waiting for the optimum time to tell you guys."

FRIDAY noted as Mr. Howlett had come to a stop in not far from the door and stood to listen but did not say anything.

Mordo waved his hands and the images of six infinity stones formed up. "As you all know by now, there are six infinity stones known across the universe with each containing the essence of time, soul, power, space, mind, and reality separately. What is not common knowledge is that there is one more infinity stone. It's not found in every dimension but those that are the nexus. A nexus dimension is a dimension whose fate affects a large part of the multiverse. "

He waved his hand once again. An image of something white started to form.

"An infinity stone that is said to contain the consciousness of Nemesis, a being whose origin is shrouded in mystery and one who is believed to be older than any other thing in the multiverse."

He then pointed towards the image of solid white stone.

"The 7th infinity stone or 'The Ego stone'."