In the end, Cloud went with Stark without a fuss. What choice did he have? Even if he escaped, he wouldn't know where to go.

Could Gaia really just be… gone? No, that wasn't logical to assume. After all, when he last saw it, the planet was doing… well. Better than it had in a long while. Geostigma was on its way out, and the Sephiroth remnants were on their deathbed, barely able to pull the trigger that ripped a bullet through his body. There was no looming threat on the horizon, and even if there was, his friends were all more than capable of defending against most things without him.

Yet, knowing how the planet seemed to be a magnet for danger… it wasn't that crazy either.

They emerged out of the featureless cell and into a long, sterile, white hallway that managed to feel even more claustrophobic. His Mako was busy healing the bullet wound, so it was neglecting lesser injuries like the leg he'd landed on awkwardly. Steve offered to help him walk, so he allowed himself to lean on him as they made their way, mercifully, outside.

Outside was… a lot like Nibelheim, actually. A mountain encampment, surrounded by looming, snow-capped peaks. It was beautiful in the pale morning light, and the smell of wet plants and pine trees was drifting on the breeze. Living in Edge had its advantages, but clean mountain air? That was something else. Cloud didn't get to appreciate it long, though, as they boarded some kind of jet and lifted off immediately.

Where the outside had been all dark metal, the inside was as luxurious as any nobleman's estate. The floor was all cream carpets, the plush seats and couches were upholstered in what looked to be soft fawn-brown leather, and glossy wooden tables were placed strategically so as not to be in the way. A huge tv screen was mounted in the back, currently powered off.

"Take a load off, Glowstick," Stark chuckled, plopping into one of the armchairs and pulling a bottle of something out of a hidden alcove. "Ginger ale?" he offered.

Cloud settled into his own chair as Natasha ventured into another room at the back of the jet, saying that she would 'give the team a head's up' to their arrival.

"FRIDAY," Stark called, "take us to the tower."

"Will do, boss," an accented voice responded, followed by the sound of the engines kicking on. "Arrival in approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes."

Stark glanced at him, like he expected Cloud to be impressed. He must have thought Gaia was some backwoods planet of heathens or something. Well, actually, Cloud had no idea how they stacked up in the grand scheme of things. From his limited experience, this planet seemed sleeker, more refined, but not that much more advanced than something Cid would pilot back on Gaia. Cid would love to get a look at this stuff, but to Cloud, once you've seen one airship, you've seen 'em all. And ugh… did he hate airships.

Something was bothering him. Twice, these people had called him 'alien,' and they acted like that was normal. Jenova was the only alien to ever visit Gaia, and that was thousands of years ago. A corrupting influence, and a mother of monsters, that nearly wiped out a whole race of ancients single-handedly…

He suppressed a shudder. Suddenly, he understood their caution a little more.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Stark broke into his silent contemplation. "Not that I'm complaining. I talk enough for everyone combined, or so I've been told. It's just that I thought you'd be all full of questions. I mean," he gestured vaguely. "We've got nothing but time. Q and A is now open. Ding-ding."

All he really cared about was whether they could get him home or not, but if he had to spend any amount of time here, he would need to understand the workings of this planet. He wished Tifa was here. He wished anyone was here. He just wasn't good at this sort of thing.

"I guess… I don't know where to start."

Natasha returned with a large white box marked with a red cross.

"We'll start by changing your bandages," she announced, crouching in front of him and opening the white box to extract some bundled up gauze and a bottle of disinfectant. "The SHIELD medics tried to patch you up a bit, but it's hard with the forcefield in effect and they were too cautious to try anything without it."

"You don't… have to," he said, avoiding eye contact. "I… heal fast."

"How fast?"

"A few days."

"That's a few days for it to get infected," said Natasha, nodding in agreement with herself. "Now, come on. I've heard it all before. Just lift the shirt and get it over with."

Cloud really wished he had brought some healing materia with him instead of just elemental. He thought he could always just buy some later. Now he had to allow another person inside his personal space? Ugh.

Come on, Cloud, are you really afraid to take your shirt off in front of a girl?

Cloud felt his face heat up. That wasn't it! Something about this woman seemed dangerous. She had the same aura as Tifa, but sharper. Tifa wore her kindness like a badge of honor alongside her strength, but this Natasha held hers like a weapon of its own. He wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating her.

That's just the paranoia talking, buddy. Besides, you see that determined look in her eye? I don't think you have a say in the matter at all.

Internally, Tony was seething.

After all they'd been through—after all the drama, the secrets, the ousting of a certain Greek-mythology-based Neo-Nazi sect that took years of sustained, mutual effort—Fury was going right back to old habits. Restraints? Threats of bodily harm? Neglect of existing, potentially fatal injuries? (Yeah, he's sure the handful of Klenex those ingrates pressed into the gushing wound really saved the day!) Just because you're scared doesn't give you the right to treat people like animals.

Human rights violations = not good. He thought they'd all learned that lesson during the Sokovia Accords debacle, but apparently Fury skipped class that day. Tony didn't forget so easily, though. Not when he had seen the consequences for himself. He shouldn't have to show up like this, busting out his executive power to break people out of lockup.

It was no wonder Glowstick didn't trust them. He couldn't have looked more uncomfortable as Natasha carefully sterilized and wrapped the upper abdomen wound for him. Tasha was doing her best to act all calm and reassuring, but Tony could see how hard she was holding back a smirk at the pink hue slowly overtaking Cloud's face. It was hard to imagine he was as strong as Coulson and Cap made him out to be. He looked more like a kicked puppy, with the big blue eyes always downcast, the fluffy hair, the soft voice. He was young too, probably not that much older than Wanda.

Tony knew that he had protective instincts, even for things that didn't necessarily need to be protected, and they were absolutely in overdrive at that moment. He made a mental list of things that make you feel better after a shitty day, then eliminated the ones that were impossible on a jet 38,000 feet in the air. He settled on soup, since he knew he had some onboard, and went to go warm it up. It was at least 8 hours since he'd eaten, since he'd been unconscious in SHIELD custody for 7 of them and likely on a frozen mountain for 1 or 2 before that.

His hand twitched in annoyance. They didn't even feed him before going into interrogation mode. How was Earth ever supposed to build a good galactic reputation like this?

The planet, Gaia… he'd never heard Thor mention it, but maybe one of the Guardians knew of it? Of course, Gaia is a name from Greek mythology. An Earth goddess, in fact. That shoulder thingy of his was shaped like a wolf's head, too, and he spoke English. Clearly they weren't dealing with a completely alien world here. In fact, it seemed like it might have Earth influences (or Earth had Gaia influences? Interesting.) As long as they were talking about an actual planet and not 'another dimension' kind of situation, they would find it eventually.

Cloud seemed like the jet wasn't a shock to him either, yet he fought with a sword like some medieval knight? He'd seen it when three people had to load it into the cargo hold, and nearly laughed himself to death. It looked like a giant box-cutter! Talk about impractical.

"Those people, SHIELD…" Cloud began hesitantly. "So are you a part of them or not?"

"Not." Tony scoffed immediately.

"We try to help each other out, but clearly we disagree on methods," Steve added. "SHIELD can be… paranoid. They mean well, but they think every powerful person is a villain waiting-to-happen. The Avengers like to give people more credit than that."

"Avengers, huh? What are you avenging?"

"The name was my idea!" Tony chirped, setting the mug of soup on the table in front of Cloud. "We were fighting this nasty dude named Loki—and I guess he's not so nasty anymore, but he sure was when we fought him—and he was gonna wreck shit up with this alien army. I knew I had to buy us some time by monologuing or whatever, so I started in on my usual bullshit and I ended up with some pretty good material, if I can say so myself."

"Tony…" Steve sighed. "You're terrible at telling stories. Besides, Fury was already calling us the Avengers before you talked to Loki."

"Hm? No, it was definitely me and I dare you to prove otherwise."

"Narcissism ain't cute, sis," Natasha interrupted.

"Did Peter teach you that? I need to get you people off the internet or all of our conversations are gonna break down into memes and quotes from The Office masquerading as a personality. You just watch. I've seen it happen!"

Cloud quirked a blonde eyebrow. "So you weren't lyin' before, when you said you talk too much."

"Oh, you're cracking jokes now, Glowstick? Just eat your damn soup. Stop snickering, Romanoff, he doesn't even know what a meme is. OK, fine! Let's all team up on poor Tony! I came here, out of the goodness of my rusty, mechanical heart, to—! To…"

The jet rattled violently. Cloud groaned like he might be sick. Tony's empty bottle of ginger ale toppled to the floor.

"Um, hey, FRIDAY, what was that?"

"I don't know, Boss, but it's coming at us again!"

Wind filled the room and the side of the jet made a terrible screeching sound as it was ripped away by a pair of huge metal claws.