Chapter 138 - Noh-Varr

Nate was the first one to land back at the tower in New York, and when he came in, James, Billy, and Jan were all there waiting to see what the story was. He hadn't even gotten the armor to back off before James came over to help him, looking more like himself than he had since before he'd started working with Sinister.

"I don't know what you guys were up to? But I got to break a lot of stuff," he said with a grin.

"Kate and I were decorating a nursery, actually - she's going all out. Full designer mode with Jan's blessing. What'd you break?" Nate asked, unable to keep from matching his grin.

James smiled a little wider than Nate was used to seeing. "I put SHIELD on pause."

Nate grinned wider. "You know I'm gonna need that story."

"Tony said to," James said. "Which makes it that much better."

"Tony asked you to break SHIELD?" Jan repeated.

"He said to stop them from responding, so … they are all currently locked in hover. They can't access their computers, and I even have their music settings repeating the same song over and over."

"Nuh-uh." Jan clapped her hands together delightedly. "Which one?"

"You Can't Always Get What You Want." The look James was wearing was pure trouble. "Seemed fitting."

"Oh, Tony is going to be giggling about this for months," she laughed.

"That's my defense too. 'Tony said.'"

"Which is impressive, seeing as he's been trying to smooth things over with them after you and Kate publicly outed them for being cruel and callous over the whole Hydra thing," Jan pointed out.

"Yeah, I don't know what he's up to but he sounded pissed," James said. "I try to help when he's like that if I can."

"Wonder what's got his goatee," Nate muttered, smirking to himself.

James checked his phone. "We'll know pretty soon. He's inbound fast plus one."

"Right, he told me about that. Something about un-brainwashing a new find of his," Nate said.

"More than I got," James said, losing some of the smile, but not totally. Not when he knew SHIELD was still stuck on pause.

"Yeah, he didn't give me more than what I needed to do my job; sounds like it was the same with you. So you know he's stressed."

"Good thing we're both here to help," James said as he made sure Nate was safely out of the suit. "You gonna take up flying now, little brother?"

"Yeah, the surprise transport was fun. Kate was cackling when I left."

"First time out is the worst," James agreed. "Especially if you're not expecting it."

"But it's so fun for the rest of us," Jan teased.

The three of them waited on the landing pad for a few more minutes, until Tony came in, sticking tight to his new find. Nate and James shared a quick glance then took exactly two steps toward the new guy before Tony intervened.

"Nuh-uh, nope, you," he said pointing at James, "get back. You're not getting involved until we know whatever happened to this kid is neutralized."

"That's stupid," James started to say, but Tony cut him off.

"Not when you know what I know. Get out of here. Go to your lab and find new ways to torture Fury. I need your brother on this one."

"Huh. I'm never the favorite kid," Nate said, one eyebrow raised but already peeking at Tony's concerns. He wouldn't say it to James, but he had to agree with Tony's assessment: someone who could heal stuck in a prison with SHIELD trying to mold him… yeah. That was so many red flags all at once.

Not to mention that Natasha was concerned the kid was probably supposed to kidnap any of the younger heroes he came across; she'd told Tony as much.

"On one hand I really want to argue, but on the other …" James faded off, then waved one hand as he turned to leave. "Yeah, have fun. I've been holding back on screwing with Fury for too long."

Jan waited until James was gone before she turned toward Tony and whoever was in the other suit. "Okay, so… details, handsome. You're lacking in them today."

"Just want to make sure he's behind soundproofing first," Tony said softly.

"You're worried." Jan bit her lip. "I can put the screws in Phil if you need it," she offered half-heartedly, mostly to make him smile.

"I don't think we need to drag him into it if we can avoid it," Tony said. "Might be better to have someone that can keep an eye on things inside." He sighed, then looked toward the still-armor clad Kree, who hadn't made a move of his own yet, even though the armor systems told Tony he was fully conscious. "It looks bad."

"Okay, well, let's all get somewhere a little more secure, maybe?" Jan offered.

"That's the plan," Tony said, then looked over to Nate as the armor followed Tony with or without the Kree's assistance. "Wanna take a peek and see how bad it is?"

"Yeah, already doing a quick scan," Nate said, his eyes glowing. "Just making sure there's no traps to fall into. They absolutely knew going into his head that they were doing some telepathic manipulation, and I don't trust it until I do a sweep."

"Do what you need to, speak up if you want help," Tony said. "That armor's reinforced well enough to stop the Hulk from moving it. He's not going anywhere until we know he's safe. For everyone involved."

"Gotcha." Nate fell silent and didn't say anything until about five minutes past when they were in a locked-down area and Tony's security systems had done a few scans of their own. And then, he sighed and the glow faded. "Okay, so." He sat down, shaking his head. "Where he's from, the Supreme Intelligence is installed individually in their heads - very hands-on control. And SHIELD ripped that part open like uprooting a tree and tried to plant themselves there instead."

"That sounds … much worse than I'd imagined."

"It's pretty bad. And he's still got that gaping hole. They didn't finish the install." He gestured toward the stock-still Kree. "Which is why he isn't, you know, doing anything."

"Did you get SHIELD out?" Jan asked with a concerned frown.

"Oh, yeah, that part was easy. They hadn't quite figured out how to repurpose the Kree wiring, so to speak," Nate said.

"And your sister is dealing with making them forget that existed," Tony said.

"Great. I'd actually like her help with fixing this part when she's done." Nate held up both hands. "Look, I could probably fix this given enough time, don't get me wrong. But it would take a while to fix naturally, and he'd be vulnerable in the meantime."

"And it would be smoother if Rachel helped rather than Billy," Tony said with a nod. "You got it."

"Yeah, Billy doesn't need to use magic to restore minds; there's all sorts of magical rules about that." Nate shrugged when Jan looked his way. "What, you think me and my future brother-in-law don't get into drunken philosophical chats?"

"I am going to forget that you just admitted to drinking when you're barely old enough to vote," Jan replied.

Nate grinned outright. "Totally legal in Genosha."

"Oh, so you're doing loopholes. I see how it is."

"Yep. Not even a little bit sorry."

"Does your Dad know?" Jan asked with one eyebrow raised.

"So, um, Dad's had a lot on his plate since I turned eighteen and could drink in Geno-"

"Sounds like a no," Tony said. "Fifth Amendment."

"Probably smart here," Nate agreed. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, Rachel can bend a little reality to help here, but in the meantime, he's conscious. We can talk to him; he just doesn't have any, like, goals of his own so…"

"So it should be safe to take off the armor?" Tony asked. "Or is that asking too much?"

Nate nodded. "Yeah, it's safe. He doesn't have any orders; they didn't get that far."

WIth a nod, Tony ordered the armor to retract, and they got their first real look at the battered young man. He wasn't showing bruises or cuts, but the dried blood showed he'd been through it.

"Aww, he's a baby," Jan whispered to Tony. "You didn't tell me you were rescuing a teenager."

"That wasn't the plan when I left," Tony defended, then snapped his fingers. "Right. I need to give Tommy a reality check. Almost forgot." He took out his phone on the spot, and within a few minutes, he'd sent a file to Tommy, all while smirking to himself. "I told you it was a teenagers kind of day. This was a new one, that's all."

"Now I'm curious about the Tommy thing," Nate chuckled.

Tony smirked more crookedly, then projected exactly what he was doing and why.

Nate smirked. Seriously? Gonna throw my brother's teenage escapades under the bus like that?

He'd go along with it in a heartbeat to screw with Tommy right now.

Oh, anything to screw with Tommy. Absolutely.

Kid thinks he's being a lothario. I'm just pointing out that he's slow to start.

You know that could backfire, right?

It could. But … considering the cockiness level, I'm just firing a warning shot. I think he'll come around.

You're one of the few that do.

He just scared himself, Tony replied. Don't need to be a mind reader to see that.

And I am a mind reader, and I know he's still panicking. Billy's talking about getting married, and he's scared that means they're going to finally have to settle in Genosha and be the rulers they're supposed to be. He's scared of that responsibility - and as much as I'm mad at him, considering how many times Magneto told him he wasn't good enough for that, I don't blame him for being scared of that part, at least.

No ones asking him to step in right now, or even in the near future. He's freaking out six hundred steps ahead of himself.

He thinks that many steps ahead. You'd know; you're proud of that part of him, especially since you think he's a genius in the making.

He is. So is Billy. And they've been hampered down by Magneto until now.

Magneto always thought Billy was brilliant, but he wanted to direct it. Tommy's been told he's the useless twin for so long…

I just want to see the kid pick a direction. Any direction.

Yeah. Uncle Alex, believe it or not, has been talking to him. Something about having experience with a big brother with a big name.

Good. I'm glad to hear it. He needs the back up.

"If you're speaking telepathically, I can communicate in that manner as well," the Kree kid said quietly, watching the two of them.

Tony looked between Nate and the Kree. "You're running the mind games," he said.

Nate tipped his head and opened up the telepathic channel, though he almost immediately closed it again when the Kree stumbled back a step as soon as it happened.

The Kree rubbed his forehead, "For Plex's sake, that's too much discord."

Nate smirked. He's used to uniform minds, and you're multitasking and overthinking in there, and I'm still half thinking about Kate and her cute nesting instincts.

I can't turn off my brain, Tony said. It is what it is.

It wasn't a criticism, Nate said. Then, a second later, Rachel's incoming. She and America and Natasha just got in on the top floor. He turned toward the Kree, who was still rubbing his forehead. By Nate's measure, the kid probably could have handled it if he didn't have a brand-new hole in his head that was sucking up so much psychic energy.

"Don't be concerned," the Kree said. "Such disunity will fall to the wayside when the Kree rule this planet."

"Wasn't concerned for myself, thanks," Tony said.

"That's a step in the right direction," the Kree said, misunderstanding him entirely. "A communal mind is so much easier."

"Not for me," Tony said, shaking his head before he pointed toward the kid. "You tapped out of that, kiddo. What's your name, by the way? I'd like to have something to call you."

"Noh-Varr," he said, frowning as he studied Tony. "I don't know you."

"Tony Stark," he said as he offered his hand automatically. "Can you tell us how you got here?"

"My ship was shot down," Noh-Varr explained. "We were only in this reality for a second, but in that time, a man named Midas shot us down, and none of my crew survived." Tony could actually see as the kid got upset, angry and grieving but still standing and telling his story, seizing on Tony's request as an order.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tony said, even if he himself wasn't sure how much he meant it.

"I doubt it," Noh-Varr said simply. "This planet will be the capital of the Kree Empire soon enough; your people have declared war and shown me that they hold the Kree in contempt. Therefore, we are enemies." He paused. "That is what I told the warden, anyway."

"The warden - whoever that is - probably isn't much more than a drooling lump right now," Tony said. "He doesn't represent us."

"No, he answered to others." Noh-Varr drummed his fingers, trying to engage with Tony. Nate was skimming his mind and showed Tony the problem: As far as Noh-Varr was concerned, the planet had killed everyone he loved, treated him like a prisoner and a fugitive, and then tore his mind apart. And the kid didn't understand why he couldn't act on what he knew should have been the next step, which was to begin conquering.

Tony considered everything Nate had shared for a long moment, then did what he always did in situations like this. He tried to help. "Hey, Noh-Varr, are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired of whatever the day's given you? What can we do to help you?"

Noh frowned at him, blinking slowly. "I… could use some rest, yes," he said.

"Perfect. We've got a young lady that would like to talk to you for a moment then we'll find you somewhere comfortable to rest."

"I understand."

"What do you understand?" Tony asked without thinking. He just didn't like the tone, or the way he held himself just then. Something … they weren't on the same page yet.

"The orders - I understand the orders," Noh-Varr said, scrunching his nose up in return.

Tony shook his head quickly. "That - I'm not giving you orders, Noh. I'm trying to give you options."

"Ah."

Can't make decisions, Tony; that part of his mind's still broken.

Give him a minute - if I understand your sister's timeline.

Yeah, we'll just let him blue screen in the meantime, Nate chuckled in his mind's voice.

A few minutes later, Rachel showed up looking serious since she'd just dealt with a whole facility of scientists with entirely the wrong idea about how to treat living, breathing, independent people. Or aliens. Whatever. Even the Phoenix wasn't appreciative of the methods and had been more than happy to boost her as she tore through their minds. But that also meant she had a lot more information than Nate did. She spared a glance at Nate, but only momentarily as her focus was purely on Noh-Varr.

"So, how far did you get?" Rachel asked before she stood next to Nate with her hands on her hips.

Nate gestured toward Noh-Varr. "Made sure there weren't any traps, but honestly, doing this the normal way - if we don't want to hurt him - is going to take too long to close that hole."

Rachel nodded to herself. "Okay. Yeah, it looked like they weren't kind at all to Noh-Varr here," she said as she stepped forward to refocus Noh's attention. "Do you know who I am?"

Even though Noh-Varr wasn't able to make decisions, he had instinctively stepped back and taken up a defensive position. "Yes," he said, and a hiss hung on the s's of his words; he didn't sound in that moment like any Kree Tony had ever seen.

Nate, be ready to keep him still, Rachel warned. Psychic barrier around him would be perfect. "I understand you want to declare war on my planet. Are you sure?"

"That's what is required," Noh-Varr explained. "My ship was destroyed. It was an act of war."

"But is that what you want to do?" Rachel asked in a reasonable tone, though she had yet to blink.

Noh-Varr didn't look away from her. "I am… I was bred to serve the Empire. Tell me what to do."

Rachel hated how lost his mind felt, so she tried to approach him in a way she was sure he hadn't experienced yet in this world. "Noh, on this planet, in this galaxy, we tend to use individual free will over all else. It is cherished and needs to be protected. And for this planet, I am sort of watching for that." She offered him her hand just like Tony had, then smiled. "My name is Rachel. Welcome to Earth."

"I am Noh-Varr. I do not feel welcome," he said, the barest smirk at the corner of his mouth.

"We'll try to make up for the idiots that were mistreating you," Rachel said. "That's not really how most people do things here. You were just incredibly unlucky."

Noh-Varr tipped his head as he considered what she had to say. "Because you are individual," he reasoned slowly, "there are factions."

"That's right," she agreed. "And once we found out that one of those factions were doing horrible things to an unknown being, we went into action to stop them."

"Two factions," Noh-Varr corrected her. "The first shot me down; the second claimed authority to arrest a Kree emissary."

"Yes, well, I counted them as one as they had allied," Rachel said. "You saw the ships caught in mid air on your way here, yes? That was our group stopping them from even acting. Had we known about you sooner, we would have been there sooner."

"And your faction follows the Phoenix," Noh-Varr said, nodding. "I've seen other realities that worship you; I suppose you must still be early in your conquest to have only one faction of one planet at your command."

"No one worships the Phoenix here," Rachel said. "And I'm not out to conquer anything."

"That's a lie."

"It absolutely isn't," Rachel replied. "I am host, but I control how it manifests."

"I'm sure they all believed that at one point," Noh-Varr said. "But the Phoenix wants destruction; it wants to conquer."

Rachel smirked. "Actually, they didn't all believe that." She tapped her head and let a little fire show in her eyes. "I know what they thought."

Noh-Varr crossed his arms. "Yes, well. You didn't tell me what I can do to serve the Empire. Or… you, I suppose…"

"Can we just sit down and talk for a few minutes before you worry about your servitude?" Rachel asked in a mildly sassy tone. She'd tried to be reasonable and let him ease into it but that just wasn't going to happen without a little boost, much to the Phoenix's pleasure and Rachel's irritation.

"Yes, of course," Noh said, looking genuinely glad to be seated. He looked tired, and it showed in his posture.

Once both of them were seated, Rachel folded her hands over her knees, turned his way with a pleasant expression and slipped seamlessly into his mind as gently as she could. She knew he was raw, overly abused, and just … worn down. So there was no reason to make it any worse than it already was. And, she knew the Phoenix fire that was soon to follow was going to knock a few things around as they reshaped the missing parts of his mind.

But, with the Phoenix - it was easy to rebuild. She had to argue with the Phoenix on a few key points … she didn't want to change who he was, she just wanted to make sure that his mind was his own, that he wasn't going to be shoehorned into a hive mind again. It was very much like installing new hardware but keeping the basic program, just … upgrading a little bit. It was still going to be Noh's mind once she was done … but with a little more of an earthly touch. With the shiny new option of free will.

When she was done, it was obvious to Nate that Noh was coming around faster than Rachel was putting the fire away, though she was handling it incredibly well. Better than any time Nate had seen her struggle with it, anyhow. But even at that, the fire in her eyes and ghosting her hair were the last to fade.

You okay in there? Nate couldn't help but ask, because she was his sister and he couldn't help but be concerned no matter how good she was at dealing with the Phoenix.

Yeah, I'm fine, Rachel answered. It's a little harder when I bend reality.

Phoenix really wanted to play, huh?

That is the most I've let it do in a long time. It was enjoying the chance to stretch it's wings.

Probably excited by the worlds this guy's seen where it's a worshiped god, too.

Little bit of that, little bit of just getting to show off. Rachel smiled as she pulled her hair back. I keep telling it that if it feels like I'm neglecting it, it can always go bother someone else.

And it knows there's no one in the world like my big sister, Nate said, grinning crookedly.

You know it. Rachel smiled wider at him. Okay. I think our friend here is rebooting nicely. Give him a once over?

Sure thing. Nate's eyes glowed a bit brighter for a few minutes before he nodded at Rachel. I like the way you changed it. Give him a human brain without any of the Kree wiring, but leave all the experiences and personality in there. Pretty slick.

Lets hope he likes it too, Rachel replied, then turned toward Noh. "You must be exhausted," she said.

Noh-Varr nodded tightly, leaning on his arms with his eyes closed. "I thought you would kill me," he said quietly. "I thought you might end it."

"No," Rachel said with a frown. "You seem like a bright light."

He nodded once and straightened up. "There was… an offer of food?"

"Yep," Tony said, catching on quickly that things were moving forward. "If everyone is feeling peaceful, we can head over and see what's been ordered in, then you can pick out a bedroom if you're tired."

"There's no need to worry about peace," Noh-Varr promised. "I've yet to decide if your faction is an enemy to the Kree. You have the Phoenix, but not the hostility the other factions have, somehow."

"Let's start with food first," Nate said, gesturing for Tony to lead the way.

"Yes, thank you - I haven't given much at all to feed my healing," Noh-Varr said. "Anything organic will do; I don't have any restrictions."

"We'll do better than just organic," Tony said. "You do have tastebuds, don't you?"

"Yes, and I lived in this city for a few days before I was captured; the food is good," Noh-Varr agreed. "And the citizens pleasant to look at."

"It's New York. You get a mixed bag," Tony said dryly.

"In your group, I've yet to see any who are not aesthetically pleasing," Noh-Varr said, smirking as they headed down the hallway, though he did fall into line with Rachel to touch her arm lightly. "What did you do?" he asked in a hushed tone. "I can't find the Plex connection anywhere."

"I'm afraid that Plex was destroyed - the last people that were fiddling around in your mind finished off what little was left after the crash. I'm sorry. I just tried to make it heal a little faster so it didn't ache so keenly."

Noh-Varr nodded slowly. "I know my mind. It has been one with my people my whole life. Something… something changed with the Phoenix's touch."

Rachel nodded. "It's hard to explain with words, but, I can show you later if you'd like."

"I think you will have to, yes," Noh-Varr agreed.