The next day, Laura was at the main SHIELD base in an undisclosed location.

She was in her small room where she had spent the night.

She was in her bathroom, frowning at her reflection in the mirror above the sink.

Not pleased with what she was wearing.

A blue SHIELD uniform.

After last night it was what SHIELD was able to give her since her suit was ruined.

She caressed the large bruise on her chest where Loki had Clint shot her beneath the SHIELD logo.

The bruise being fist sized and painful to the touch from where the bullet grazed her skin.

She also called Laura last night about Clint and reassured her that they were doing everything they can to find him.

"SHIELD is gonna kill me." she muttered.

She sighed but grabbed her Glock and placed it in the holster on her hip.

"Guess I can't hide in here forever." she groaned but walked out to meet Phil.

She walked down the hall and up the stairs to the control room where she saw him on the phone.

She stepped up next to him and raised an eyebrow. He smiled at her and raised a finger, telling her to wait a minute.

"We think so. I'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first, we need you to talk to the big guy." he answered about Clint's status and gave her an order.

After a pause she heard him say "No, I've got Stark. You get the big guy." he said and hanged up.

"Was that Natasha?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yes, we're pulling her out of the field." he replied.

"I bet she didn't like that." she said knowingly.

"No, she didn't But this is urgent." he stated.

"And the big guy meaning…" she asked and he nodded again.

"We have no choice. He's the leading expert in gamma radiation. How are you feeling?" he asked about her wound and she sighed.

"It still hurts like hell but could've been worse I guess." she muttered while nodding down at her prosthetics.

"I guess all that training you did with Natasha paid off." he smiled and she smiled back.

"Yeah it did!" she flexed her arm muscles dramatically underneath the long sleeves and he stared at her with amusement.

"Do you want a lift to the tower? And help me get Stark?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. Although I'm not looking forward to it." she mumbled.

"I'm sorry. It's all we had to offer." he indicated the uniform.

"I'm charging SHIELD for my ruined suit by the way. Those things aren't cheap. I'll add it to my tab." she said as they began to walk out.

"And why are these things so tight!"


Later that night, Laura was driving Phil in her black Porsche Panamera up Park Ave.

She was crawling in traffic, seeing brake lights ahead of her while the island shined in the darkness.

"Bring Da Ruckus" was blasting from the speakers.

She arched her head above the steering wheel, looking at a darkened tower behind Grand Central, towering over the MetLife building.

"What is it?" Phil asked in the passenger seat.

"Trying to get a good view of the unveiling…" she said while checking her Rolex but then Tony flew overhead in his suit.

Her eyes followed to the slanted glass ultra-modern tower lit up from the base to the spire and she smiled proudly.

STARK in blue lettered lighting lit on the balcony that towered over Manhattan as Tony landed on it.

"Look at that Phil! Two years of hard work has paid off. Stark HQ2! 100% powered by our reactor." she declared.

"It's an impressive compliment. Congratulations." he complimented.

"Thanks. Oh I've been meaning to ask how are things with you and cellist?" she asked while smiling.

"She moved back to Portland." he answered.

"So what long distance?" she asked with a frown.

"More or less." he replied.

"Well that's too bad. Now let's just get this over with…" she said as she pulled off Park and into the ramp that led to the underground parking garage underneath the tower.

She pulled out her badge from the cupholder and swiped it at the scanner.

That opened the gate for her and she drove down below.

The garage itself was reserved for her, Tony, Pepper, Rhodey and a few executives and she pulled into her space with her name reserved on the sign on the wall.

The two got out as she grabbed her bag from the backseat and pulled out her phone while strapping the bag to her shoulder.

Phil grabbed two files and he two made their way to the elevator while she made a call.


Far above on the same floor as the balcony, Tony was walking into the bar with Pepper when JARVIS spoke up.

"Sir, Ms. Watson is on the line." he announced.

"Put her threw J." he asked while reaching for his phone on the table and the call connected.

"Tony…" she greeted in the video chat while they were in the elevator.

"Watson. You weren't here for the big night and I must say your attendance has been slipping lately. I'm very, very, disappointed in you." he joked and Pepper smiled.

"I'm sorry who's the one who still puts in 60 hour weeks, has overseen the construction of the tower personally and has overseen the dramatic growth of your company and stock price the past few years?" she asked sarcastically.

"Uh... Pepper. Obviously." he joked and she rolled her eyes.

"Ha, ha." she quipped as they reached the 100th floor and the doors opened.

Tony and Pepper turned around towards them and eyed Laura.

"Laura, wow you look…" Pepper began but Tony interrupted her.

"No! I knew this day would come…" he began as he walked towards her and she crossed her arms.

"They took you from me! Watson! I know you're still in there! Please, if you're still left, speak to me! " he grabbed her shoulders and shook her dramatically.

She sighed and pinched her nose beneath her glasses.

"Are you done now?" she groaned.

"Not yet, agent." he joked while releasing her and she frowned.

"Mr. Stark." Phil nodded.

"Phil! Come in" Pepper greeted.

"Phil? Uh, his first name is Agent. And Agent…" Tony joked while pointing at Laura.

"I need a drink… or five of them." she grunted while walking over to the bar to pour herself a glass.

"Come on in, we're celebrating." Pepper offered.

"I can't stay." Phil replied.

"Which is why he can't stay." Tony denied with a fake smile as Pepper walked up to him.

"We need you to look this over. Soon as possible." Phil tried giving him one of the files.

"I don't like being handed things." Tony repeated.

"That's alright, cause I love to be handed things. So, let's trade." Pepper said and gave her glass of champagne to Phil, took the file from him, then took Tony's glass of champagne while passing the file over him in one move.

"Thank you." she smiled.

Laura smiled as well with a glass in her hand as she walked over to them and Tony frowned.

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday." Tony quipped while walking back to his desk.

"This isn't a consultation." Phil replied.

"Is this about The Avengers?" Pepper asked and Laura raised an eyebrow, surprised that she knew about it.

"Which I... I know nothing about." Pepper added quickly.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify." Tony stated.

"I did." Laura raised her hand proudly.

"Well that doesn't surprise me." Pepper said and they smiled at each other.

"Of course it isn't a surprise. Agent." Tony joked and she sighed.

"Yeah, apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others." he added while walking back towards his desk with the file.

"That I did know." Pepper joked.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore." Phil explained.

"Alright I've had like a really long day so I'm gonna head down." Laura told the group.

"This is for you." Phil handed her, her file.

"Great. Homework." she joked while taking his champagne glass.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Phil said and the two shook hands.

The pair walked back towards the elevator and she leaned into his ear.

"You must be excited about picking up a certain someone tomorrow…" she smiled amused at him.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." he smiled back.

"Well save a trip and bring the Quinjet here. I'll see you in the morning." she said.

After walking Phil out she took the elevator back up to her personal penthouse on the 99th floor.

They had reserved the top ten floors in the spire specifically for R&D.

It took up the entire floor with it being a mostly open concept layout.

The living, dining and kitchen were all in one gigantic space.

A hallway led from it which connected her bedroom, guest bedroom and office.

She even had her personal workshop, lab that took up half the floor on the floor below for some projects she began to work on in her spare time.

Floor to ceiling windows wrapped around it, giving panoramic night views of Manhattan and the New York lights that stretched out to the horizon.

The spire of the Chrysler Building taking up a good chunk of the view.

The lights automatically came on as she entered it and walked over to her kitchen.

She placed the file down on the granite island and sat on one of the stools.

She let her bag drop to the titled floor and unlocked the file on the screen and scrolled over so flick it open.

The holographics projected individual graphics of Captain America with the Howling Commandoes.

Thor and The Destroyer in New Mexico.

Hulk in Harlem.

Natasha and Clint in Budapest.

And lastly herself and Tony at the Expo.

A graphic of The Tesseract appeared and she downed her champagne.

She placed the glass down and picked up the graphic in her hand.

"What a mess." she sighed.

She hoped this would be cleaned up soon.

She had an very important appointment in two days.

With him...


The next morning, after changing into a much more comfortable pair of blue jeans, a shirt, and her favorite black leather jacket she was standing out on the balcony waiting for Phil.

It was a beautiful May day without a cloud in the sky.

She heard a roar of jet engines overhead and a Quinjet swopped in and landed on the platform.

The wings retracted and the ramp lowered in front of her.

She waited with her hands clasped in front of her as Phil walked up to her.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep." she nodded but she a blonde, heavily muscled man walk down the ramp behind her.

She raised an eyebrow as he walked a few steps around, looing amazed at everything around him.

"Steve Rogers, I presume?" she asked, getting his attention.

"Yes, ma'am." he nodded.

"Laura Watson. COO of Stark Industries. You can just call me Laura though. It's nice to meet you." she said while offering her hand which he shook.

"Steve Rogers. Sorry this is just… an impressive view." he said while still turning his head around at all of the buildings and she smiled.

"I'd take it New York has changed a bit for you hasn't it?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah but some things are still the same." he nodded at the Chrysler Building.

"If you think that's impressive I should give you a tour of the tower." she offered.

"I hate to interrupt but we're running late." Phil interrupted them.

"Right, well after you…" she gestured towards the jet.


Her and Phil followed him inside and the ramp retreated inside them.

They took off fast and the next thing they knew they were flying quickly over the ocean.

Phil gave Steve his file and he was summarizing what happened to Bruce Banner while standing.

Laura was sitting next to him, watching the video of Hulk in Harlem on the screen.

"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" he asked him.

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula." Phil explained as the two watched Hulk roar loudly and rip apart a Jeep.

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" he asked sarcastically.

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." Phil clarified but Steve gave him a confused look.

"He's a really smart person. He researches Back Holes. Really famous." Laura added and he nodded.

"So you're from Brooklyn right?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yes. And you are as well right?" he asked.

"I'm assuming you read my file?" she asked back.

"No, it's just your accent…" he said and she smiled widely.

"I still have my accent!" she exclaimed and he smiled faintly.

"Oh my God! I swear you're like the first person in years to even notice it. After living in California for twelve years I thought I'd sound like a valley girl by now." she joked.

"Valley Girl?" he asked confused.

"Oh… sorry. Basically really rich spoiled girls who talk like this. Who are only rich because of their dad's trust funds…" she joked in an exaggerated accent and both he and Phil smiled.

"Where in Brooklyn are you from?" she asked.

"Brooklyn Heights. And you?" he asked back.

"Park Slope. A few blocks from the park." she answered proudly, indicating Prospect Park.

"Huh, small world." he replied.

"Yeah well as I said. I've been living in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills the past twelve years but it's home you know?" she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, it's home." he agreed.

"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially." Phil said and he smiled briefly.

"I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." he said awkwardly but Steve got up.

He got out of the way as Steve walked towards the cockpit to watch the ocean fly by them quickly. Laura got up and joined them.

"I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board." he rambled.

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job." Steve said unsure.

"Oh, you are. Absolutely. Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input." Phil hinted.

"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?" he argued.

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned." Phil argued and he frowned.

Laura winced and caressed the bruise underneath her jacket.

"Can't be worse than normal SHIELD uniforms." Laura joked.

"I had no design input on those." Phil joked back.

She just shook her head but the jet swopped in and began to descend.


Laura looked through the window to see a massive SHIELD Helicarrier.

There were two runways on it dozens of Quinjets and a bridge overlooking it.

An agent guided them to land on the SHIELD logo where Nat was waiting for them.

She walked up to them as they disembarked the jet.

"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers." Phil introduced them.

"Ma'am?" he nodded.

"Hi. They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace." she told Phil who nodded and walked towards it.

"See you there Phil!" Laura exclaimed.

"How are you feeling?" Nat asked her.

"You'd think getting shot would get easier… but it really doesn't." she shrugged her shoulders.

"No. It doesn't." Nat agreed.

"Shot?" Steve frowned.

"Oh uh things got kinda crazy two nights ago during the whole mess you were just debriefed on… and well that wasn't the first time." she nodded down at her prosthetics around her jeans and he nodded in understanding.

"Third time by my count." Nat acknowledged.

"Hopefully the last. I don't understand why anyone would choose this with that as an occupational hazard." she mumbled.

"Many feel the call to serve their country." Steve argued.

"Yeah, well I keep on serving it against my better judgment." she crossed her arms but the three began to walk around.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Nat asked Steve.

"Trading cards?" he asked confused.

"They're vintage, he's very proud." she added but Laura spotted a man wondering around, looking lost.

"Dr. Banner!" she called out, getting his attention.

"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming." He offered a handshake which she stook.

"May I just say I am a big fan of your research. I've read each one of your thesis's like a hundred times." she beamed.

"Oh, uh thank you…" he said awkwardly. Steve and Bruce gave their introductions while agents around them were scrambling to their stations.

"Word is you can find the cube." Steve told him.

"Is that the only word on me?" he asked unsure.

"Only word I care about." Steve reassured him.

"Same here. Dr. Banner." Laura agreed and he nodded hesitantly.

"It must be strange for you, all of this." Bruce said to Steve, looking around the enormous helicarrier.

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar." Steve said, acknowledging the agents running in formation past the Quinjets.

"Laura, gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath." Nat warned.

Loud clanking sounds were heard from under the ocean and Laura smiled widely.

"Here we go…" she bounced on her heels excitedly.

The helicarrier began to rise slowly out of the ocean and Steve and Bruce gave her a confused look.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked her.

"Really? They wanted me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?" Bruce asked sarcastically.

"Quite the opposite, gentlemen." Laura said excitedly.

Bruce and Steve walked towards the edge of the deck but Laura stayed back next to Nat.

They looked down to see one of the four gigantic rotary bladed engines emerge from the water as it powered on.

"Oh, no. This is much worse." Bruce said sarcastically.

Agents were fastening Quinjets down while others were running inside.

The helicarrier rose thousands of feet into the air and into the clouds.


Laura was leading them down the hall and two doors opened up automatically ahead of her.

"Welcome to the bridge!" she announced while gesturing towards it.

Agent Maria Hill was leading the dozens of agents at their stations while Steve looked around in awe.

Bruce hid as far back as he could be, wishing he was out of sight.

Laura stepped up next to Phil at his control panel, getting his attention.

"Watson." he greeted.

"Fury." she nodded back.

"We're at lock, sir." Hill confirmed.

"Good. Let's vanish." he ordered.

The reflective panels on the outside of the ship were turned on, making the ship appear invisible in the sky.

Laura glanced to one of the monitors to see that were indeed on.

"And the panels are on! The U.S.S. Watson is on its maiden voyage." she declared.

"That's not the official name, Watson." Fury reminded her since she just kept on saying it as if it were true.

"Yeah, yeah…" she waved him off and walked back towards Steve and Bruce.

Steve walked up towards them and pulled out a wad of cash from his jacket pocket.

He gave Fury a $10 which he took smugly. Steve walked up to his control panel while Laura and Fury headed back towards Bruce.

"Doctor, thank you for coming." Fury offered a handshake which he took reluctantly.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" he asked him.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Fury answered.

"Where are you with that?" he asked and they looked back down to Phil on the level below.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us." he answered while crossing his arms.

"That's still not going to find it in time." Laura argued and Bruce nodded in agreement.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" he asked.

"How many are there?" Fury asked back.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Bruce asked.

"Ms. Watson would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Fury asked her.

"Certainly. This way Dr. You have the latest in all the Stark tech at your disposal…" she said while leading him out of the bridge and towards the state of the art lab.


After Laura showed Bruce around his lab, he got straight to work on his tracking algorithm.

Agents on the bridge were using it to track Loki's face around the world at their stations but it had been hours no without a result.

Darkness had fallen and Laura, Steve and Phil were on the bridge.

"So before all of this is over you gotta sign his trading cards. That's not an option." Laura told Steve while pointing at Phil.

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble. Phil asked hesitantly.

"No, no. It's fine." Steve reassured him. Phil nodded but looked back and forth from his idol.

"It's a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..." Phil rambled but an alert went off getting their attention.

"We got a hit. Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy-nine percent." Agent Jasper Sitwell announced.

"Where?" Laura asked quickly.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." Sitwell said while zooming in on him on his monitor, showing Loki in.

Laura narrowed her eyes at him, seeing that he was at the front entrance of a concert hall and seemed very relaxed about it.

"Captain. Watson. You're up." Fury announced.

"Suit up, Captain." Laura nodded to him and he nodded back.

She walked back to her room and opened up her closet.

Shuffling through some hangars she pulled out a uniform.

She changed and put on the black pants and jacket that weren't as tight fighting.

"Better than the uniforms at least."