Murky water dripped off of Aubrey's combat boots as she moved through what felt like sewers. But...fancier. Everything in this foreign city felt fancier than the U.S. Arches adorned every doorway as she followed the instructions on the paper in her hand. Dripping noises echoed softly as the smell of mold permeated through the air. It faded gradually as she began coming upon boxes of supplies and newly installed lights. They looked recent, cobwebs had been cleared away and the walls weren't as coated in moss. Voices floated through the maze of hallways as she stepped into a somewhat inhabited bunker. Technology sat on carts and desks sat throughout the hide-out. Maria Hill spotted Aubrey first. Her keen eyes flashed from Aubrey to two of the other figures in the room. Nick Fury, and Spiderman. Fury must've seen Hills nod in greeting because he turned. Spiderman followed suit, eyes widening when he spotted her. Aubrey could see questions running through his head but it seemed that he had learned to keep quiet when Fury was around.
"Ahh, Aubrey. I see you've finally decided to join us. The note was left hours ago."
"I was trying to figure out how to scramble this-" she lifted the hem of her sweatpants to show the blinking metal band that had become a constant worry. "-I also had to make sure that the guard wasn't going to try and trail me."
"We've covered your tracks and there are agents monitoring the guard. You're here because you were present today during the event-"
She nodded as he went on
"- You've met Agent Hill, that's Dimitri, and here, we have Mr. Beck" A red and green-clad figure emerged from behind one of the arches. Aubrey easily recognized his suit from earlier that day.
"Mysterio?" Peter Parker asked, voice rising in question as she paced up beside them.
"What?" the man shifted as his cape swayed back and forth. The suit he wore looked to be made of red, green, and gold metal-like substance. He had scruffy chocolate-colored hair and a matching beard that covered most of his face.
"Doesn't matter. It's just what my friends have been calling you." out of the corner of her eye, Aubrey watched Spidey. A nervous energy seemed to hover around him and it made her nervous.
"Well, you can call me Quentin.-" he paced forward, shaking both Aubrey and Peter's hands with a warm, firm grip. "-You handled yourself well out there today. I saw what you did with the tower...We could use someone like you in my world" Quentin's eyes trained on Spiderman as he spoke, only briefly flicking to Aubrey. A small warning bell went off in her head but she elected to ignore it. If Fury trusted him, then it was enough for her to begin trusting Mysterio too. What mostly stuck in her head was the wording he had used in my world.
"I'm sorry… Your world?" Aubrey cut in, suspicion rising.
"Mr. Beck is from Earth. Just not ours." Fury paced past them, hands clasped behind his back"
"This is Earth Dimension 616. I'm from Earth 833.-" Quentin opened his mouth to continue but Spidey cut him off.
"You're...you're saying there's a multiverse? I thought that was just theoretical.-" she frowned at his words, the word multiverse hadn't crossed her ears before. "-That changes how we understand the initial singularity. We're talking about an eternal inflation system. How does that even work with all the quantum-? It's insane!" Peter Parker cut himself off, turning to Aubrey before glancing at Fury and Hill, who were both staring in shock.
"Sorry...It's really cool" Spidey gave a self-conscious smile as Aubrey murmured to him, gently bumping his shoulder with her own.
"Don't ever apologize for your genius, kid" The words came out differently than she'd wanted them to...what she'd meant to say was "I can see why Tony wanted me to meet you...I see now why he thought of you as his son...why it hurt him so much when you dusted. You were his Bucky. I know now why he was so proud." A wave of grief washed over her and Aubrey felt her knees weaken slightly. She sucked the feeling back in, knowing that those words would have to be said later...when she could talk to Peter Parker alone.
Quentin nodded "She's right, don't apologize for being the smartest one in the room."
A moment of silence followed before Agent Hill took charge.
"Anyway-" she clicked a button on a control panel and a nearby thin table lit up, flashing a hologram of the universe.
Mysterio moved to one side of the table, saying "They were born in stable orbits within black holes.-" she assumed they meant the creature from that afternoon. "-Creatures formed from the primary elements; Air, water, fire, earth. The Science Division had a technical name. We just call them Elementals.-"
"Versions of them exist across our mythologies-" Hill cut in before Quentin continued.
"-Turns out the myths are real."
"Like Thor-" Spiderman clarified. "-Thor was a myth and now I study him in physics class."
"These myths are threats." Fury strode around the table, meeting each of their gazes.
"They first appeared on my earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them. All we did was delay the inevitable-"
There was that word again. The same one Thanos had an odd obsession with.
Inevitable.
"The Elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it." Hill began, only for Fury to finish her sentence.
"And you can thank Mr. Beck for destroying the other three. There's only one left: Fire."
Quentin shook his head, grief flashing in his eyes. "The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my Earth-." The red earth-shaped hologram began to crumble away and a seed of fear rooted itself in Aubrey's stomach. "- It's the one that took my family." he fingered a silver band on his left hand. Both Aubrey and Spiderman whispered
"I'm sorry."
Hill brushed past the comment "And it will be in Prague in approximately 48 hours."
"We have one mission: kill it. And you're coming with us." Fury's eye met Aubreys and she saw that he meant it.
"I'm sorry...did you say Prague?-" Peter stammered "- Mr. Fury, this all seems like bigtime, you know, huge superhero kind of stuff...And..I'm just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, sir. I...I think Ms. Eagle lady...Aubrey...Uhm is better equipped to help you...and maybe her friend can help too."
"Except I can't. I'm under arrest, just being here could put me in jail for a long time.-" Aubrey let the panic into her voice. It stemmed from both the looming threat and the idea that she could be arrested at any moment. "Bucky is under the same circumstances. I shouldn't even be here. I want to help, really, I do. But I don't think it's possible. "
"Please. You've both been to space" She felt the anger in Fury's voice
"I know, but that was an accident-" Spidey exclaimed "-there's gotta be someone else you can use….what about Thor?"
"Off-world"
"Okay.. Uhm… Doctor Strange"
"Unavailable"
"Captain Marvel"
"Don't invoke her name."
"Sir, look, I really want to help, I do. But if my aunt finds out I left my class trip, she'll kill me. And if I'm seen in Europe after the Washington Monument my class will figure out who I am..then...then the whole world will figure out who I am, and then I'm done."
Something had changed in Nick Fury's face as the next words left his mouth "Okay…..I understand."
"What?"
"Why don't you get back before your teachers miss you and become suspicious. Dimitri, take him back to the hotel, please."
"Thank you, Mr. Fury...and good luck" Spidey shot a glance at Aubrey, sympathy flashing in his eyes before he turned and shuffled out, exchanging goodbyes with Mysterio.
"And you-" he turned to her, fire shining in his eye. "-what law has stopped you in the past?"
The words had a deeper meaning in them and it made her stomach roil. She couldn't keep the bite out of her next words.
"You know I had no control over some of it. I can't afford to be put in jail, not now."
"If I may,-" Quentin interjected, "- I can understand what this means...I can see there's something, or someone, perhaps, that you want to go back to...but is not going to jail better than saving your earth? Even if you're put under arrest, surely there is some way we can get her out of it? Or maybe there's a way to make it seem like she's still here?" He glanced at Fury, who was watching them both intently.
"There might be something we can arrange." were his final words to her as he got up and began heading towards the door. "Hill, get a hold of Delta, it's time I call in that favor. And Eagle? Expect us to be in contact as soon as everything is arranged."
Aubrey inwardly sighed, wishing that the world could just exist peacefully for a year...or just a month. She hadn't yet been able to recover from the last fight, its nightmares still lingered on the edge of her consciousness.
"I guess I'll be seeing you in Prague" she growled, stalking out of the room, wondering how Nick Fury was going to wiggle her out of this one.
A/N* Updates will now take place on either Saturdays or Sundays. I expect that they will lean more towards Sundays.
Have a great week and leave a review if you liked this chapter!