A/N: Okay, did better than I thought I would and managed to get this chapter done in kind of an okay time. I don't know who many chapters this show down is going to take, we'll just barrel in and see how it goes. :D

One of my reviewers mentioned about Tony's suit being a Mach VII not a VIII – that was deliberate, he's got an upgrade which we'll go into later on. ;)

And I guess we'd better get into it. This is a warm up chapter and just to let you know, there will probably be a few cliff hangers coming up, because well, there is going to be a lot of action and I have to break chapters somewhere. LOL

I'll work on getting the next chapter to you as quickly as I can.

Thanks for reading as always. :D

Chapter Fifty- Eight

The face plate of the Iron Man suit slid back to reveal a puzzled looking Tony. "As emergencies go, this is kind of underwhelming," he noted.

All of the Avengers were standing at the opening of the vault at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The LANL was one of the few testing laboratories in the US which still housed a nuclear stockpile. The Avengers had all rushed to the testing laboratory after Fury had told them there was a threat identified with the nuclear weapons being detonated. The location of the laboratory was such that it was built on a volcanic field and several fault lines. Any detonation of nuclear weapons in that site would have a huge effect in causing earthquakes and underground magma flows to be activated all along the New Mexico and California area. The potential for disaster was huge and millions of lives would be at stake. That being said though, they'd met two confused looking security guards who had shown them to the vault when they arrived. The vault seemed completely intact and there was no sign of any kind of threat.

"Hey, Fury," called out Tony, "did you hear that, my whelmed is under. Where did you get this intel from anyway?"

"We intercepted some communications on Hammer's line about him setting up the LANL to blow," replied Fury. "We assumed he was making his move."

"If his move is nothing, then yeah, I guess that's true," said Tony laconically. "Nothing is happening here. Everything looks secure."

"I told you all that," said one of the security guards, a man who looked to be his late fifties who'd introduced himself as Ramirez. "This place has more security then-" He hesitated, obviously floundering. "Um, then a really secure place."

"Good analogy," said Tony dryly.

Natasha walked out from inside the vault, with Steve following behind her. "Are there only two of you here today?" she asked the man.

"It's Sunday," replied the other officer, a blonde man whose name tag read 'Boyd'. "No one works on a Sunday and besides, this place has a lot of security. I push a button and not even an ant can get in or out of that vault."

"They sound like famous last words," Bruce noted.

"Has there been anything out of the ordinary in the last couple of days?" asked Clint. "People you don't know coming through, any kinds of faults or malfunctions?"

"The vending machine in the break room went out two days ago and we got a guy in to fix it." said Ramirez a little sarcastically. "Is that what you mean?" He made an impatient sound. "Look, this place is secure. We take our jobs seriously here, we know what we're protecting."

Natasha spoke into her comlink. "Director Fury, what do you want us to do?"

"Stay where you are," said Fury curtly. "I'm getting the information checked."

"We're going to check in too," said Ramirez. "I think our bosses are going to have something to say about this. Just because the Avengers are now redundant with the Defenders doing their job, it doesn't mean you have to create trouble where there is none." With that little dig delivered, the two security guards left.

"This doesn't feel right," said Steve, looking around. "Something is off."

"Agreed," said Natasha without hesitation. "I don't like this."

"I don't like being kept waiting," said Tony impatiently. "Some of us have places they need to be."

Clint gave him a sideways look. "Made up with Pepper I see."

Tony couldn't help but feel a little smug. "Yes."

Steve shook his head. "Unbelievable. What did you say to her to get her to forgive you so quickly?"

"That's between me and her."

"Don't know, huh?"

"I've got a few ideas, but nothing concrete," agreed Tony easily. "I just tend to talk and eventually something sticks against the wall."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Never have the words 'dumb luck' ever been truer then what passes for your skill at relationships."

"Jealousy's a curse," said Tony, unbothered.

"So is stupidity," returned Steve.

Bruce was standing next to Steve and sent him a curious look. "Why do you smell like butter?"

Steve didn't meet his eye. "You're imagining it."

Clint leant over and sniffed him. "You do smell like butter," he confirmed. "What's up with that?"

Tony was already pretty sure he knew. "And he's got a graze on his chin," Tony noted. "You know what that means, don't you?"

Everyone looked at him blankly except for Steve, who was giving him an annoyed look.

Clint took a stab in the dark. "Captain America shaves with butter?" he hazarded a guess. Clint pursed his lips. "Is that a 1940's thing?"

"I don't shave with butter," said Steve shortly.

"Frostie the Blowman here has been to see Miss O'Brien," announced Tony with confidence. "Someone ask me how I know?"

Natasha shook her head. "Is there any point when you're going to tell us anyway?"

"It's because he's all bruised and buttered," finished off Tony triumphantly. "Get it, instead of bruised and battered, he's bruised and buttered." He looked around at them. "I made a joke."

"If you say so," said Bruce, looking unconvinced.

"You don't get an opinion until you get the other guy to come out and play," shot back Tony.

"I'm not letting the Hulk loose on a place filled with nuclear weapons," said Bruce flatly.

Tony made a frustrated noise. "Are we going to have this argument every time the Avengers get a call out? We need the Hulk."

"He wouldn't have laughed at your joke either," Bruce promised him.

Thor was looking confused. "I do not understand," he announced. "Does this butter smell make you more appealing to your maiden, Steve Rogers?"

Steve looked embarrassed. "Look, I fell down in some butter, it could happen to anyone, okay? Let's drop it."

Clint was looking at him with real interest now. "So many questions now."

"I'm going to check on the vending machine," said Steve tersely. "One of us should stay on point."

"Get me a Dr Pepper," Tony instructed him.

"You don't need the sugar," shot back Steve as he walked off to find the vending machine in the break room.

Tony shrugged. "Probably true."

Steve left the group as Fury was on the comlink again. "We've confirmed the transmissions and the threat was definitely real."

Natasha frowned. "Or meant to make us think it's real," she countered. "If they've discovered we were monitoring their communication traffics, Hammer could use that against us by feeding us false information."

"Our taps were untraceable," Clint pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," said Natasha. "Hammer knew we were going to do it, even if he couldn't detect it and he sent us on this wild goose chase for a reason."

"Misdirection," filled in Fury.

"It's what I'd do," said Natasha simply. "It keeps your opponent off balance."

"And distracted," added in Thor. "Tis a cunning battle plan."

"Come back to the heli-carrier," Fury ordered them. "We need to debrief."

"How do you debrief when nothing happened?" Tony argued but he left with the others as they headed back outside of the complex. Once out in the open, they found Steve hadn't joined them yet. "Hey, butter ball," said Tony into his comlink, "this thing is a bust and we're outta here. Where are you?"

"Che… ven… break…"

"Either Cap is talking in tongues or we're having comlink issues," noted Tony.

"How else would thy speak if not with thy tongue?" asked Thor seriously.

Tony jabbed an armoured finger at him. "If you keep needing my jokes explained, Rapunzel, I'm going to stop making them."

Clint gave Thor a deadly serious look. "You're our only hope, Thor, take this one for the team."

"Rapunzel?" repeated Thor in confusion.

Clint nodded approvingly. "Good man."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "I was happy in the slums of India, I really was."

"Martyrdom isn't a good colour on you, B," said Tony dismissively. "It makes your ears look lopsided."

Bruce sent him an unimpressed look. "Nothing about that statement makes sense or bears responding to."

"He says, responding to the statement," noted Tony laconically.

Natasha shook her head at them. "I'm going to check on Steve." She started to head back into the building.

"Want me to come with?" offered up Clint.

"And break up open mic night at Comedy Central?" she asked wryly. "I wouldn't want to disappoint the fans."

Thor scowled as Natasha headed back into the building. "All thy lips bring forth words which make no sense," he grumbled. "I am greatly displeased."

"Rapunzel is a woman in an Earth fairy tale with long golden hair and men have to climb up the hair to get to her because she's locked in a tower."

"You have likened me to a woman, Tony Stark." Thor's frown deepened. "I am even more displeased."

"You should hit something," said Tony helpfully. "That will make you feel better. Hit Bruce with your giant hammer, the Hulk can take it."

"I'm not turning into the Hulk," said Bruce impatiently. "So, you can be as annoying as you want, Tony. It's not going to happen."

"But the big guy hasn't been out in ages," Tony protested. "You've had him cooped up in that repressed rage thing you've got going on. He's probably looking to stretch his legs and go tinkle real bad about now." He made a sweeping hand gesture. "We're in the middle of the desert, what harm can he do?"

"We're standing in front of a nuclear facility," said Bruce in disbelief.

"You don't give the other guy enough credit," Tony argued. "He's more in control than you think. Do you know what your problem is?"

"I'm listening to an idiot?" offered up Bruce in annoyance.

"You're problem is you're so anal about micro-managing the Hulk, that you've never found out what he's truly capable of," shot back Tony.

"Oh, I know what he's capable of," grimaced Bruce, "that's the problem." His face hardened. "I almost killed Natasha when we first met."

"Yes, but you didn't," Tony argued.

"Because Thor got in the way," countered Bruce.

"You're never going to be able to get the Hulk under control if you don't practice," insisted Tony stubbornly. "Pretending he isn't there isn't going to solve anything. You have to deal with the Hulk and let him work out how to self-regulate."

"A lecture on Tony Stark about self-regulation," said Bruce sarcastically. "Talk about the blind leading the blind."

Tony was frustrated. Bruce's stubborn refusal to work with, rather than against, the Hulk had him wanting to punch the other man. "You know, I love that big, green bastard, and you're never going to have any kind of peace until you work out a way to do the same," said Tony unapologetically.

"That day will never come," said Bruce forcefully. "The Hulk has destroyed my life and threatens the life of everyone I care about."

"I'm right about this," said Tony, refusing to back down. "You'll see."

Bruce arched an eyebrow. "Like you were right about Pepper being pregnant by her gay body guard?" he asked sweetly.

"I was having an off day," said Tony casually.

"It's the same day," Bruce pointed out.

Fury's voice came over their comlinks. "Avengers, why aren't you on your way back to the heli-carrier?"

"We're waiting on Steve, sir," responded Clint. "We've got some comlink issues."

"Resolve them and get back here," said Fury tersely and hung up.

Tony's frustration level went up a notch. "I'm over this. I'm sick of dancing to Hammer's tune. I say we just go back to my original plan and kick the guy's ass."

"The longer this goes on, the more appealing that idea sounds," agreed Clint.

Tony sighed. He hated wasting time and he especially hated the thought Hammer was responsible. Even when the guy wasn't around, he was still annoying the hell out of him.

oooOOOOooo

Hammer hung up his phone, smiling at the message he'd just received and dialled a new number.

Jerry picked up immediately. "Hello."

"It's go time, Jerry."

Jerry made a nervous sound on the other end of the phone. "Okay."

"I hope you're ready to make history, Jerry," said Hammer happily.

"I'm ready for this to be over, sir," said Jerry, sounding terrified.

"Don't worry," Hammer reassured him. He caught his reflection in the back seat window of the limo he was sitting in and smoothed down his hair, preening a little. "I've covered every angle. This can't go wrong."

There was a brief pause. "I'm sure you're right, sir."

Hammer's smile widened. He knew he was right and by the end of today, the whole world was going to know it too.

oooOOOOooo

Natasha walked briskly down the laboratory hallways, intent on finding Steve. She'd memorised the floor plan before they'd even arrived. It was an old habit she had no intention of breaking because it was a useful tool. You never knew when you'd need to find your way around somewhere quickly. The sound of her boots echoed down the hallway as Natasha made her way to the break room. She passed several locked doors on the way and again, out of habit, checked each one. Natasha estimated she was about halfway to the break room when she tried the handle on what was labelled as a utility room. The door was locked, but she instantly noted a dark stain seeping out from underneath the doorway. She looked more closely and saw it was blood.

Natasha reacted without hesitation. She drew her gun and kicked in the door, the wood around the lock shattering with the force of her blow. The door swung open as a body slumped out on the floor at her feet. Natasha's jaw hardened as she recognised the dead body of the guard named Ramirez. Even as she felt for a pulse, Natasha knew there was no point, the man had been dead for some time. Her hand went to the comlink in her ear. "Avengers," she said urgently, "we have a situation here. Get in here, now." Natasha didn't even wait for a response. With her gun still drawn, she broke into a run, heading for the break room to find Steve, the need suddenly a lot more desperate now.

oooOOOOooo

Steve straightened up from where he'd been closely examining the vending machine. Everything looked in place to him. He spoke into his comlink. "Guys, I'm on my way back." Steve had gotten a garbled message from Tony earlier, but figured it wasn't important otherwise they would have come looking for him. He tapped the comlink in his ear. All this technology was great, but that was if it worked. Steve figured he'd get a replacement one when he was back on the heli-carrier. He turned around as he heard approaching footsteps. He nodded at the guards, Ramirez and Boyd, who were walking up to him. "I couldn't find anything, everything looks clear."

"Told you," said Boyd.

"You can't be too careful," noted Steve, unapologetic for his thoroughness.

"Captain America is right," agreed Ramirez. "You can't be too careful." He abruptly pulled out his gun and shot the unsuspecting Boyd in the head. The guard was dead before he hit the floor.

Steve tensed, shocked by Ramirez's sudden action. His muscles coiled, ready to jump on Boyd's killer but now the gun was trained on him. "Not so fast," he was cautioned by Ramirez.

"Who are you?" asked Steve tightly. "What do you want?"

"Two very good questions," noted Ramirez. His face seemed to dissolve in front of Steve's eyes and suddenly he was looking at the face of a woman with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes so pale it was startling. "You can call me, Ghost," she said simply. "And what I want, is what you want."

Steve's expression darkened as he glanced at the dead guard lying in a growing pool of his own blood. "I find that hard to believe."

Ghost just smiled. "My apologies, what I meant to say was, I want what you're going to want." She lifted her free hand up and spoke into the device strapped to her arm. "He's all clear, Jerry. You're good to go."

Steve went to make his move while Ghost's attention was momentarily divide but then a paralysing pain ripped through his head and he was dropping to his knees, trying to fight against it. Steve grabbed his head in his hands, eyes squeezed shut against the excruciating pain before everything went black and he knew nothing more…