Blackout

There are two kinds of summer storms: the ones you see coming, and the ones that strike like ninjas.

This was the former. The hot summer sun had beat down on the backs of the clouds all afternoon, turning them grey and frothing and angry. By nightfall, the wind picked up in earnest, and soon a thunderstorm was howling through Esopus.

The Avengers, of course, were safely cooped up indoors. It was late at night, and most of the senior members had already gone to bed—but the newbies, full of youthful energy and lacking wisdom in proportion, stayed up in the Common Room, telling ghost stories and eating snacks on the carpet.

Bucky wasn't exactly one of the newbies; more like the big brother of the group. Steve had sent him to tell the youngest three to go to bed, so he had, but instead of enforcing it he just sat on the couch and power-napped, arms over his chest, occasionally cracking an eye open to check on them.

Wanda leaned more heavily on Vision than normal, and her smile seemed a little more bright. Evidently, something was going on between the two youngest Avengers. Pietro didn't seem to happy about it—he watched his sister with eyes like a hawk—but Bucky just snorted to himself and dozed off again.

The window-rattling boom of thunder didn't even wake him. The lights going out, however, did.

Wanda squeaked in the sudden darkness. Pietro grunted and yelled at the ceiling, "Ay! What happened?!"

Bucky's eyes popped open, and he sat up.

The most visible thing in the darkness was Vision's blankly surprised face.

The Mind Stone gave off a soft, yellow glow, mostly illuminating Vision's face and shoulders, and not much else. But the android looked around the room, and as he smiled and shut his eyes to concentrate, the glow slowly grew into a stronger light.

Wanda's face lit up, both literally and metaphorically. "You can control it!"

Vision's smile broadened. "Yes, I've been working on that." He tapped the Stone with one finger, and the glow intensified just for a moment in response. "Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner plan to run further tests soon."

Bucky fumbled around the armrest and side table. "Where did I put the...?" He sighed roughly. "Great, left my phone in the room. Don' suppose any of you guys brought a light."

"No," said Wanda, before Pietro used super-speed to snatch the bag of sunflower seeds out of her hand.

"It is odd that the power should go out," said Vision, as Wanda and Pietro started to push each other, laugh, and argue in Sokovian. "Didn't Mr. Stark have our electrical lines installed underground?"

"Might've hit somethin' at the local substation." Bucky pressed into his knees, stood up, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Either that, or someone didn't put up a lightning rod correctly."

Wanda held Pietro floating in midair, head down and just out of reach of the floor. He yelped and flailed and kicked his legs, and she dropped him on his face with a THUMP.

"Oh!" said Vision.

Wanda looked, and Pietro pulled his face out of the carpet to look too.

"JARVIS and FRIDAY." Vision had been seated on the floor, but he stood up and began floating anxiously. "I...can't hear them anymore."

"Oh no," said Wanda, her voice soft with worry.

Vision seemed equally upset. "You don't think...?"

"Well, if the power's out, the wifi's out," Bucky said slowly, his hand on his chin. He was worried about the friendly voices in the ceiling too, but was trying to think this through. "They're probably still there, just...no way to connect to them."

"I suppose so." Vision dropped his heels back to the floor. "Still...what if the blackout did some damage?"

Bucky frowned. "Good point."

"They must live somewhere, yes?" Pietro sat on the carpet now, thumb to one nostril to stave off a bloody nose, so his voice sounded slightly nasal. "Some, ah..." He twirled a finger in the air. "I don't know how you say. Computer? Where they keep their brains?"

"Well...yes," Vision said slowly. "There is a physical central matrix where Mr. Stark stores their programming, but..." He hesitated and ducked his head. "I am supposed to keep it a secret."

Bucky grinned. Vizh really could be like a shy little kid sometimes. "Tony's not gonna be mad, Vizh. If he is, you can say it was my idea."

"We don't mean any harm, Vision." Wanda stood, took his arm in hers, and gave her sweetest smile. "We just want to know they're all right."

"If is so secret," Pietro muttered from the floor, "you think he keeps money there?"

Wanda pushed his head down, which made him yelp. "No harm!" she repeated. "At all!"

Vision chuckled. "All right, then. Follow me."

JARVIS and FRIDAY's processing units were stored far underground, in a room accessible by stairway through an otherwise unassuming door in Tony's lab that nonetheless had a heavy-duty combination lock.

Normally, none of this would be much trouble, but in the darkness of the blackout, they had a hard time even finding their way through the lab without tripping. By the yellow light of the Mind Stone, Vision entered the code—Bucky looked away and Pietro tried to peek, but Wanda slapped him—and they descended the staircase, picking their way forward slowly as Vision floated ahead with the light.

By the time they got to the bottom, they found they weren't alone.

"Wha' zhyuh—?" Tony Stark pulled his head out of a huge computer box, and the tiny flashlight out of his teeth, and demanded, "What are you doing down here?!"

"Sorry, sir." Vision floated through the door and touched down nearby. "We just wanted to ensure that JARVIS and FRIDAY were all right."

"Did'ja have to bring the posse with you?" Tony asked in a hiss. "I thought I told ya to keep your vibranium lips shut about this!"

"Relax, Stark," Bucky drawled and leaned against the doorway. "We're not gonna hurt'cha kids."

Tony stiffened, standing up all of his short height, and then slouched and grumbled, "They're not my kids."

"Yeah they are," Bucky smirked, at the same time Vision said, "We are, technically, in one manner of speaking."

Tony grumbled something more that Bucky didn't care to repeat, and shut the access port that he'd poked his head into. "Well, they're fine," he said. "That blackout cut power to their CPUs, but I got 'em running on battery until we get it back on. Should be good for a few hours."

Sure enough, the boxes beside which he stood—each one tall as a man, and just as long, and about shoulder to shoulder in width—were whirring quietly, and small lights blinked intermittently on a panel on one side.

"Okay," said Pietro with immense boredom, "so where is it you keep your money?"

Wanda slapped him.

"What?" asked Tony, with a wry smirk and a shrug. "Well, stocks, investments, shares in the Caribbean. What did you expect? A swimming pool of gold?"

Bucky snorted, but he was ignored as Tony and Pietro went on arguing.

Wanda pinched the narrow bridge of her nose. "I swear, they are like children."

Bucky chuckled. "Took ya this long ta figure that out?"

Vision, ignoring them all, floated forward and set his hand against one of the boxes.

Wanda stepped up to his side and set a hand on his shoulder, and Bucky followed them with his eyes. Vision seemed to be searching for a way to connect to the box—but finding none, he simply shut his eyes, and the Mind Stone pulsed with light.

A moment passed. Then another. Then, he visibly relaxed, and the corners of his lips crept upwards, and Wanda's smile returned.

Bucky smiled and strode to their side, arms still crossed over his chest. "You hear 'em?"

"Yes." Vision removed his hand and opened his eyes. "JARVIS synced his internal clock with mine. They lost about five minutes of memory, but are otherwise unharmed."

"Oh, good," sighed Wanda.

"Great news." Bucky grinned and elbowed Vision. "See, I told ya they'd be fine."

Vision chuckled. "Yes, you did."

He turned and looked over his shoulder. Pietro and Tony were still going at it.

Wanda set a hand on her hip, looking very disappointed. "I wish you were right about other things."

Bucky snickered. "Eh, Tony'll get over it."

A/N: What's this?! A wild plot has appeared! That's right, Everyday in Esopus now has an overarching story, and I've narrowed down the chapters to just fifteen! This particular anecdote takes place a little after If: Then: chapter four, Eve. We'll be running alongside that tale for a little bit longer, and you'll get to see another side of the story...

Where I live, tree limbs falling on power lines is almost a non-surprise if there's a big enough storm. It's a bit more of a concern if some of your buddies are literal computer programs. Thankfully, Tony plans ahead.

Reviews are flashlights! Tbc...