Ellie Bishop: Yeah, that part will go smoothly. Oh no kidding, Ross would fit right in with the Black Thorne.
Guest: I will.
Avengers Compound
Afternoon
As Bruce pulled his car up to the Compound, Peter looked out the window from the passenger seat, a strange feeling of wistfulness washing over him. He hadn't been here since declining Tony's offer to be an Avenger over two years ago. He didn't really count his arrival back on earth, since he'd barely been conscious and May had arrived after being called by Happy to bring him home a few hours after.
In many ways, leaving here after declining Tony's offer felt like a life time ago. Because it was, a dark voice that sounded eerily like Thanos said from the back of his mind. Trillions of them.
As Bruce turned off the car, he and Peter spotted a dark haired girl who didn't look much older than Peter sitting on a bench outside, eating a sandwich.
"Who's she?" Peter asked Bruce, who shrugged.
"Don't know. She might be one of those visitors Sam told me about," Bruce said.
Peter nodded, recalling Bruce mentioning them on the car ride over. It was a lot to take in, that magic and vampires were real. Peter could tell Bruce was having a hard time wrapping his head around it as well. But they'd both seen enough during the fight against Thanos that to deny that it could exist was stubborn and childish.
The girl looked up from her sandwich as they both got out of the car, beginning to make their way over to the door.
"Hey. The others are inside, working," she said by way of greeting.
"Why are you out here?" Bruce inquired confused.
"Dr. Pym yelled at me for almost dropping a piece of equipment," Dawn said truthfully.
Which hadn't been the part that scared her. It had taken Angel, Faith, Connor, Bucky and Sam to stop Willow from tearing the old man limb from limb. After that, Dawn had decided it would be best to leave this stage of the plan to the geniuses.
"I'm Dawn," Dawn introduced herself.
"Bruce Banner, but I'm guessing you already knew that," Bruce noted and she nodded.
"Hi. I'm Peter," Peter said with an awkward wave.
"Hi. Not to be rude but…what are you doing here?" Dawn asked, having never seen him on the news with the Avengers.
"I'm Spider-Man," Peter said honestly, seeing no point in hiding his identity.
"…get out!" Dawn exclaimed in a mix of disbelief and excitement.
With a slight grin, Peter used his web shooters to make a small web. The web caught her sandwich and he yanked, snatching it from her grasp and catching it in his hands. He took a bite and immediately spat it out in disgust.
"Ew, what is this?" Peter complained as he handed it back to her.
"Salami and peanut butter. Don't knock it 'til you try it," Dawn said defensively and paused. "Although I guess you did try it."
"Peter, I'm gonna head inside. You wanna swing by and help?" Bruce inquired.
"I think I'd be in the way right now. I'll be in later," Peter told him.
Bruce nodded before heading into the Compound, leaving Peter and Dawn alone.
"I can't believe you're Spider-Man. You're not much younger than me," Dawn said in disbelief.
"Hey, I'm seventeen," Peter snapped and she held up her hands.
"Okay, sorry," Dawn apologized. "So, are you an alien or something? Obviously you're not human."
"I'm as human as you. I got bit by a radioactive spider and got super powers," Peter said simply and she stared at him. "Yeah, I know. Sounds like something out of a comic."
"Could be worse. You could be energy that was mad ehuman and the people you call your family were given false memories of you," Dawn said darkly and Peter stared at her for a moment.
"Please tell me that didn't actually happen," Peter pleaded and she gave him a pointed look. "Really? That was you?"
"Yeah. And you thought you had problems," Dawn muttered.
"That must have been rough, realizing that…" Peter trailed.
"That my whole life was a lie?" Dawn said hollowly. "It wasn't easy. But my sister and mother made sure I knew they loved me no matter what. It didn't go back to the way it was before, but we were still a family."
"And you're trying to get that back," Peter realized.
"Just my sister. My mom…died a few years ago," Dawn said stiffly and Peter felt like a jerk.
"I'm sorry," Peter said and she shrugged.
"It's alright. You didn't know," Dawn said as he sat down on the bench next to her. "It was a few years ago, brain tumor. I still miss her."
"You never stop missing them," Peter said lowly as he thought of Uncle Ben.
Inside the Compound, Hank and Hope were overseeing the construction of the larger Quantum Tunnel.
"Bucky, take that and put it over there," Hope told him as she pointed over to the right.
"You're the boss," Bucky shrugged before picking up a large piece of equipment with his robotic arm.
Bucky put it over his shoulder with ease and walked over, putting it down at the designated spot as, nearby, Faith watched with interest.
"You're really strong," Faith noted and Bucky smirked.
"I know," he joked and Faith laughed.
"If you two are done, can we get back to work?" Hank asked annoyed.
"Five by five," Faith said with a shrug. "Just tell me what to do."
In the lab, Janet and Shuri were putting together an updated version of the Quantum Suit Hank had used to enter the Quantum Realm five months ago when Bruce walked in.
"How are the Quantum Suits coming?" Bruce asked.
"We've completed three so far. We still have several more to go," Shuri said her eyes not moving from her work.
"How can I help?" Bruce inquired.
"I actually need you on a different project Bruce," Sam said as he walked into the room.
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked confused.
"The stones. Even if we get into these other dimensions, it's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Sam pointed out. "Between all of us, you've spent the most time studying the energy signature of the stones. Is it possible you can build something that will trace the signature of an Infinity Stone?"
"The Stones, based off the study of the Tesseract and Loki's scepter mostly give off Gamma radiation. I think I can build you something to help track that," Bruce said after a moment.
Wolfram and Hart
Same time
Spike was in his office, doing paperwork when the door to his office opened. Spike looked up to see Hamilton close the door behind him.
"Do you mind? I have a business to run," Spike snapped.
"Come now Spike, we both know you didn't come to me to run a business. You wanted the power that came with working for the Senior Partners. And they have their first assignment for you," Hamilton said and Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Do tell," Spike said as he lowered the pen, leaning back in his chair.
"The Senior Partners agreed to give you Angel's position at Wolfram and Hart. That makes Angel a liability. He lied about a meeting in New York, so he's clearly working against us now. The Senior Partners have assembled a team to…deal with Angel and his team. They want you to take them to New York and take point on this mission," Hamilton said, watching Spike's expression carefully.
Spike fought very hard to keep his face blank. It looks like he and Angel had underestimated the Senior Partners. They were going to call his bluff sooner rather than later. He needed to call Angel. But first-
"I've wanted to kill Angel since before I had a soul. Give me a few hours, then have the team meet me at the plane," Spike told Hamilton with a sadistic grin.
Avengers Compound
Not long after
"Nice suit," Hope said as she saw Scott putting on a Quantum Suit.
"We need to do a test run before we send Willow through the Quantum Realm," Scott said by way of explanation. "We can't lose our best shot at this."
"Scott, we can have someone else do it," Hope told him.
"The rest of you are too important. I'm the most expendable," Scott dismissed.
"You're not expendable to me," Hope said pointedly as she gave him a significant look.
"Hope…" Scott railed off, a lump in his throat. "I'm sorry I-"
"Don't apologize. I can't imagine what it was like for you. But you are not expendable, not to me," Hope said as she walked over, taking his face in her hands. "Not to me."
Silently, Hope pulled him in and the two of them shared a kiss. Passing by, Angel paused as he saw the pair, taken back to his last kiss with Cordelia. Shaking the memory away, Angel turned and walked back the way he came. As he walked back down the hall, his phone rang. Pulling it out, he saw it was Spike and answered.
"We've got a problem," Spike said in answer.
"What happened now?" Angel almost groaned.
"The Senior Partners are calling our bluff. They've assembled a team to take you out, I'm supposed to head out to New York with a plane to lead them," Spike explained and Angel swore.
"Okay, what time do you leave?" Angel asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I bought us a few hours," Spike said and Angel nodded, a little relieved.
"Okay, we're building the tunnel now, planning on doing a test run when it's finished. Hopefully, we'll have it up and running by the time you get here. Don't panic just yet, act normal. And there's something else I need you to do Spike," Angel said and Spike scoffed.
"What else do I have to give?" Spike asked sarcastically.
"I'd do it myself but you're in LA and I'm not. It has to be you," Angel told him before explaining what needed to happen.
Shortly after, Faith and Bucky were sitting on the sidelines, taking a break from all the heavy lifting as Hank and Fred checked some of the mechanics.
"So how strong are you exactly?" Faith asked as she looked down at Bucky's robotic arm.
"Never really tried to see the limits to be honest. But strong enough," Bucky said as he smirked at her staring. "Why so interested?"
"Haven't had a guy that can match me since I got my Slayer powers. It's kind of a turn on," Faith said honestly and Bucky laughed.
"You are not like any girl I have ever met," Bucky said with a chuckle.
"What were the girls that you knew like?" Faith asked curiously.
"Mostly, really dull," Bucky said after a moment. "Shallow. So caught up in the dance and lights and music. Or maybe I just don't have many fond memories of that time. Didn't have anyone…except Steve."
"I know what you mean. For a long time, the only one who seemed to care about whether I lived or died was Angel," Faith said lowly and he smiled slightly.
"I guess in a way, he's your Steve," Bucky said.
"Guess so," Faith mused as the vampire in question entered the room.
"How far along are you on the Tunnel?" Angel asked and they all looked over at him.
"We're only about halfway done," Fred said, frowning as she saw the state of Angel. "What's wrong?"
"Spike called. We're running out of time," Angel said grimly.
Los Angeles
Later in the afternoon
Spike had done a lot of things he never thought he'd do over the last few months, but this might take the cake, the vampire thought as he sat down with a familiar face.
"You gotta be kidding me," Lindsey scoffed as he stared at Spike in disbelief. "Why would Angel ever trust me? Or would I ever trust him?"
"Hate to break it to you 'Doyle' but it's not about you two," Spike said, putting emphasis on the name Lindsey had first come to him under. "Honestly, you're so obsessed with Angel; sure you're not in love with him?"
"Watch it Spike," Lindsey almost growled.
"If things go as planned, we'll have successfully pulled one over on the Senior Partners," Spike said and Lindsey laughed.
"You can't beat 'em Spike," Lindsey told him. "And if Angel thinks he can, he's fooling himself."
"Maybe. But maybe this isn't about beating them," Spike said and Lindsey raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it's about showing the Senior Partners that they don't own us. That some things, some people, are beyond their control. And let's pretend for a second that we win this, that we all make it out alive. We burn this firm to the ground, someone needs to step in. For some reason, Angel thinks you're the lesser evil when it comes to running this place."
"The devil he knows, right? And you? You're okay giving up your fancy new chair?" Lindsey asked and Spike chuckled.
"You're so obsessed with Angel; you never really stopped to think that I might not be him. I'm not interested in power, never have been. I always put more faith in the people around me. I'd rather stand with Angel than the Senior Partners, because at least I know Angel and I want the same thing," Spike said and Lindsey stared at him for a long moment.
"Alright. Alright, I'm in," Lindsey said, taking Spike aback. "This is gonna be a circus. Win or lose, you and Angel are about to pick the biggest fight since mankind kicked the last demon out of this dimension. And that, you don't do without me. So, what's the plan Spike?"
This chapter was originally going to end with the Dimension Heist starting but I couldn't get the scene transition after the Spike/Lindsey scene not to feel choppy, so that will be next chapter. I do hope you guys enjoyed this one though.
Yes, Lindsey will be part of the Time Heist team. I think we all know where this going.