Chapter 5: Natasha

Heathrow Airport. That was Plan B. Good old-fashioned air travel to London on Tony's private jet. The team – minus Clint and Sam, who were still in hospital – stepped into the airport terminal early the morning after Marvel arrived. Everything had gone like clockwork.

Unfortunately, they now had to go through customs, Natasha mused.

Fury had been reasonably confident he could get airport security to wave them through – and had called ahead with that in mind. Apparently he had a contact in airport security. Hopefully they would be able to clear the team. Otherwise things would get messy.

The que moved forward slowly and Natasha glanced around at the other people in the terminal. Even though the team was in civilian clothes, Steve's shield and Mjolnir were attracting a lot of attention. A few tourists were taking videos on their phones.

Finally Natasha reached the front of the line. She set her sports bag on the conveyor belt and waited for the row she was sure was about to begin. Sure enough, an alarm blared as it went through the scanner and the x-ray screen showed that the bag contained an assortment of guns, knives, taser sticks, and spy gear.

The customs official looked dumbfounded. "Excuse me, ma'am," he began, "you cannot possibly–"

Here we go.

Fury stepped forward. "Actually, she can," he said firmly. "They all can."

"I'm sorry, sir," the official said. "I can't allow this stuff through."

"Then I'd like you to have a word with whoever's in control here," Fury replied.

Like you don't know the guy in charge is in your pocket, Fury, Natasha thought.

The official hesitated, then gave a nod. "Just a moment." He hurried away while his partner kept an eye on the group. A couple of minutes later he returned. "You may go through," he said. He didn't look overly happy about it.

"That's what I thought," Fury said, waving Natasha through ahead of him.

The scanner went off, but Natasha ignored it. It did the same for Fury after her, then Steve and Marvel. It stayed quiet for the Maximoffs, and the official relaxed slightly – until Pietro did an ultra-fast loop around the room and went back through the scanner again.

The official's eyes almost fell out of his head as he watched Stark's compact Iron Man suitcase go through the x-ray, and he looked close to tears by the time Banner approached the scanner. "Last one," the doctor said, offering a sympathetic smile.

"I'm getting fired for this," the official replied gloomily.

"Don't worry," Banner said. "I haven't got anything dangerous on me."

Natasha smiled quietly as they moved to the arrivals lounge. She knew Fury would make sure the official didn't take any blame for letting them through. He had enough sway with the British government to work that. They'd simply needed to get the team in before the government cottoned on just in case there were problems.

From here on in, it was plain sailing. Hopefully.

Jane Foster was waiting for them in the lounge. She rose from her seat with a smile as the team trooped in. "Hi, guys! Welcome to England." She gave Thor a quick kiss before addressing the group. "Ah, I guess you're all in a bit of a hurry. The van's just outside."

She leant towards Thor and added in an undertone Natasha could just hear, "Also, people are giving us really weird looks."

Thor looked up and waved to a little boy a few feet away, who gaped at the Asgardian, awestruck.

Jane elbowed Thor in the ribs. "Show-off."

He chuckled.

It took a few minutes for the team to change into their combat outfits in the airport bathrooms. Then Natasha piled into Jane's rented eleven-seater van with the others. She sank back in her seat with a sigh. The seven-hour flight and sleepless night before were catching up on her.

At least they had made it to London.

But they were still worlds away from where they needed to be.