Nick Fury was pissed.
He was exhausted, confused, and angry at the current shitshow that the Avengers are. Or were. Or whatever the hell it was that was going on. He needed answers, and he needed them now. Agent Maria Hill was at his side working with him to resolve the current situation. Since the 'Winter Soldier' debacle and the incident in Sokovia, things hadn't been the same. He'd almost been killed in broad daylight, had to fake his own death, and deal with SHIELD nearly being overtaken by Hydra. The organization was working to attain the status it'd once had at its peak. It was almost as if all the work he had done within the past eight years had gone to complete shit, within a matter of days, because Rogers hadn't trusted him enough to share secrets from his past.
The situation with the team had never looked this bad, and things were inevitably going to get worse. He'd been involved all over the world as a spy during the Cold War, and he knew more than anyone that shit could go bad in an instant. Ironically, back then all people had to worry about were two nuclear powers going at it and destroying the world. Now you had aliens coming from portals in the skies, norse gods, killer robots, and whatever the hell it was Stark and Banner had created with The Vision.
The Avengers were currently in rambles. Tony Stark was missing. No one had seen him in over 48 hours, and Colonel Rhodes, in his current state was paralyzed from the waist down. Vision had no luck finding him either, and even Pepper Potts, with the technological might of Stark Industries hadn't managed to locate him. She was understandably upset and worried. While he and Hill had been looking as soon as they heard he was gone, it was all to no avail. Ross didn't have any answers, and he'd probably just be another problem on top of the other shit Fury would have to deal with.
Agent Clint Barton, who was supposed to have been retired, had been broken out of the Raft prison, along with Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, and the thief who'd stolen Hank Pym's suit to help them, Scott Lang. They were, presumably freed by Steve Rogers, who was nowhere to be found, most likely with James Barnes. Romanov had jumped ship from helping Stark and signing the Sokovia accords to helping Rogers and Barnes escape, and was currently off the grid. The elusive King of Wakanda, had retreated to his homeland, which had still not been open to the world. Any chance of that happening was more than likely ruined after the death of his father. Nevermind the fact that nobody knew where Banner or Thor were, they hadn't been seen since the battle in Sokovia. The Avengers, as the world knew them, had fallen apart. The media was dubbing their conflict a 'Civil War'. International authorities were clamoring for justice, compensation for damages, and accountability. If Rogers believed in freedom and self-policing, he was doing a pretty shit job of showing it. Maybe they were always destined to fall apart. Maybe the tension between Stark and Rogers would have always fragmented the team at some point. Maybe the public was always going to grow weary of them and demand answers. Maybe it was all for nothing. For the first time in a very, very long time, Fury felt like he knew nothing, and he used to know everything. The world was on fire, and its saviors were the cause.
So, Fury set out to do what he did back in 2008. The world needed heroes. Not just any heroes, but a real, cohesive group of individuals who could work together, a team. If that's what the world needed, then that was exactly what he was going to build again. He decided that it was finally time to contact an old friend.
It had been exactly twenty years since Carol had last been on Earth. During that time, lots of things had happened. She happened to bump into a ragtag group of misfits who had helped the Nova Corps and called themselves the 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. While Carol had encountered many beings throughout her missions, these guys came onto her radar when Talos had told her that they had defeated Ronan, one of the accusers she had worked with during her days on the Starforce. Well, that was perfectly fine with her, it was one less galaxy to worry about, and truth be told, Carol could use the help.
She was growing weary.
Relocating the small vestiges of skrulls in small pockets of the universe where the Kree would not be able to find them was an endless mission. While Talos and Soren had told her countless times that they would manage, she was terrified of what could happen if she wasn't there to protect them. Ronan and some of the other accusers had been taken care of, but there were still other dangers out there. Yon-Rogg was probably still out there, and while Maria had been certain she had taken out Minn-Erva, Carol knew better. The Kree were notoriously resilient, and while she had been given the title of 'Protector of the Skies', Carol was always on the lookout for threats towards C-53 or Earth, her home. It would always take priority over other places.
She missed her family, Maria and Monica. She lamented how much of Monica's life she had missed. She missed her best friend, Fury, and she even missed Goose. Things had been pretty quiet in the skies lately. It had been almost 35 days since Fury's last page. She thought it was odd he hadn't paged since the supposed date passed, but she convinced herself he was fine, and made sure her pager was still set to the Moon's orbit around the Earth and what time it was in New York. She'd wait at least two more days, when it would be officially a week overdue, then, she would pay him a visit. Before Carol left, they came to an agreement that he would regularly page her every 30 days, to let her know that things were fine. So she modified it with two main settings: One normal setting would page her and let her know that he was okay. The other, which she hoped he rarely, if ever would have to use, would be for emergencies only, had a more urgent alert sound.
Her thoughts were interrupted precisely by the beep of her pager. It wasn't the usual fast beep to alert Fury sent her every month. It was a pattern she had last heard in Maria's kitchen after dinner, when she first gave Fury the pager. A slow tempoed beeping that Carol dreaded ever hearing all these years suddenly sounded like the loudest thing she'd ever heard. There was a faint ringing in her ears, but she gathered herself . She put her helmet on, set her coordinates to planet C-53, instantly went full binary and took off into the sky.
Fury was in trouble.
"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch!" Hank Pym shouted.
He was currently pacing back and forth in the living room of his San Francisco home. The major news networks and media from around the world were all over the breakup of Earth's mightiest heroes.
"Need I remind you, it was your idea to recruit an ex-con to wear your suit." Hope said, rolling her eyes with clear irritation in her voice.
Hank ignored her snark, and continued, "Look Hope, it's only a matter of time before they track down the suit and trace it back to us. We need a plan, and we need it now. Goddamned Starks and their egos!"
"Are you seriously blaming this on Tony Stark? He wanted accountability dad, and I guess I also need to remind you that Scott wasn't fighting for Stark, he was reportedly fighting for Captain America, Hope retorted.
"Look, I don't really care to get into a political argument right now, we're wasting time here." Hank replied, still pacing anxiously back and forth.
Sighing, Hope asked, " And how exactly do you plan to evade the FBI? Interpol? There's only so much shrinking and moving around we can do before they figure out where we're at. The suit is with Scott, and we'll be lucky if they didn't squeeze any info out of him."
"Don't you think I'm aware of that Hope? I'm trying to think here, and your sarcastic comments aren't helping us!" Hank shouted.
Immediately filled with regret, he took a seat next to her on their couch, "Look Hope…..I'm sorry, I'm trying to…" he sighed, putting his head in his hands, running them through his silver hair. " Ever since Scott came back from the quantum realm, I thought we had made progress." Lifting his head back up, he continued, " I can't help but think that with this thing...him getting involved in Avengers and all this mess, especially with legal trouble he's already had...he may have thrown away the one opportunity of getting Janet back."
Hope sat there listening, as the worker ants that surrounded them brought more sugar cubes for their tea, which had long gotten cold. She would have to bring it to a boil again. She wrapped a hand around her father's shoulder and they sank back into the couch. "Look dad, I know you're disappointed, and I am too. We've come too far and I'm sure we'll get mom back. And believe me, when I get my hands on that idiot-"
Their conversation was cut short by a rough, firm, series of knocks at the door. Hank immediately got up and walked quickly but very quietly towards the door, looking through the peephole. "Dad what the hell are you doing! What if it's the FBI? " Hope whispered.
"Do you really think the FBI would be polite enough to knock on the door to check that we're here instead of turning the whole place upside down?" He replied in hushed whispers.
Hope watched as her father looked through the peephole and saw his expression turn from a look of worry to a look of annoyance mixed with disgust. " Go away. We want nothing to do with you people!" He exclaimed.
"Open the damn door Hank!" said a voice from the other side of the door.
"NO!" shouted Hank back, defiantly.
"What are you gonna do, call the cops on us, they're already on your asses anyway you asshole!" the man shouted back.
"Dad what the hell is going on?"
"I'd rather be taken by the Feds right now, than talk to these clowns!" Hank exclaimed, almost intentionally so whoever was on the other side would hear him.
"That's quite alright Dr. Pym, we would like to speak with Miss Van Dyne." This time, a woman's voice spoke from the other side of the door.
"Ugh whatever" Hope said as she got up to open the door. Before her hand could reach the door handle, Hank intervened.
"Hope, I'm telling you, these people are bad news -"
"If they're not the Feds, how bad can they really be. Face it, we don't really have a lot of options right now, and as far as I can tell, no FBI agents have come storming down the door and breaking your windows. They might be able to help us."
"Hope-"
Interrupting him, she swung the door open, and took in the sight before her.
Two individuals. A tall dark skinned man, wearing a trench coat, some military boots and all black clothing, with an eyepatch over his left eye, scars surrounding it. The woman standing next to him, was wearing similar clothing. She was wearing a black leather jacket, with a grey turtleneck. Her hair wrapped in a tight, neat, bun. So neatly in fact, that it made Hope self-conscious about her own hair, which had grown much longer and gotten harder to maintain since she last cut it. She had let it flow freely, instead of her usual ponytail. The man spoke up first gesturing towards the woman next to him "Good evening, Miss Van Dyne, this is Agent Maria Hill and my name is Nick Fury. We're here to make you an offer, a proposition if you will, to work with us."
"Absolutely NOT!" Hank shouted from behind her.
"It's good to see you too Pym." Fury replied sarcastically.
"Dad stop!" Hope turned. She saw her father huff, and shake his head as he stormed upstairs.
"I'm so sorry about him, come inside please." She said.
They took a seat on the couch, casually moving aside from one of the bigger ants and stepping over the smaller ones, as if it had been the most normal thing in the world. "Can I get you guys anything?" she offered.
"No thank you, we have some important matters to discuss with you." Agent Hill said.
"Well what can I help you guys with?" Hope asked, looking at both of them.
Agent Hill continued, "I'm gonna put this very bluntly Miss Van Dyne, as it's obvious we don't necessarily have time for pleasantries. We happen to know it's only a matter of time before the FBI tracks down Lang's suit to you guys. We can help you stay low, and erase any charges they might have towards you both and resolve any legal issues you and your father may have. In return,we were hoping you might seriously consider an offer to work with us."
Hope took in what this woman said, the gravity of the situation suddenly sinking in. Who were these people, and how did they know about Scott? More importantly, how did they know about her and Hank? Erase any and all legal issues they had? And what about Scott? Was he included, or… No. Whatever had gone on between her and Scott had been effectively destroyed when he decided he wanted to go play with Captain America. But then, she thought about Cassie. The little girl had grown on her, and while she was Scott's daughter, Hope looked after her like one of her own. And making that little girl lose her dad all over again was not something Hope could live with, if she knew she hadn't made any attempt to stop it. She hoped she wouldn't regret this.
"Would Scott Lang be part of this...erasure?" Hope asked.
"Well, we figured it would only be you and your father, but sure we could include him." Hill replied nonchalantly.
"Just like that? You're telling me it'd be that easy?" Hope asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Well no, the offer is definitely more complicated with the inclusion of Mr. Lang." Fury added, " he is one of the few with an actual criminal record, and that stunt he pulled at the airport caused a lot of damage. But, he wasn't an official member of the Avengers, and didn't sign the Accords, so I'm sure we can work something out. While SHIELD may have had a great fall from grace, I can assure you Miss Van Dyne, that there's a lot of people willing to help me who work in the intelligence community and the government"
Hope had suspected that they were SHIELD agents by the disgust displayed by Hank, and how conspicuous their behavior was. Her suspicions now confirmed, she asked, "What exactly is this work offer? No offence, but if SHIELD wants some technological innovation or upgrades, why come to Pym Tech and not stay with Stark Industries?"
"We don't want your tech ma'am, we want you." Agent Hill stated, without hesitation.
"I- me?" Hope asked, utterly dumbfounded.
"Look we know you've already had a couple of rounds in that 'Wasp" suit of yours. Why not put it to good use? You want to help people don't you?" Fury asked.
He stood up, to look her in the eye. Not in a threatening manner or in an attempt to intimidate like the countless businessmen who had tried when she worked for Pym Tech, but with a genuine look of respect. "Look to be very clear with you ,I'm assembling a new team of individuals who the world can be reliant upon in times of need. And frankly, through your business transactions and the intel we've gathered about you, you seem like a reliable person. Now can I count on you? Or not?"
This was a joke, right? Hope thought. There's no way these people can be serious with what had just happened. How were they supposed to convince the public that superheroes were good again? Would she be able to work with others? Persuading slimy businessmen was one thing. But other heroes, with their egos and 'superpowers'? That was a situation Hope was unprepared for, even if she did want to help people. "As appealing as this all sounds…...how can I know that this "new" team that I'm supposed to be a part of, won't end up like that?" She nodded towards her television screen, where there had been endless replays of the battle in Leipzig. The footage had been replayed so many times, Hope was pretty sure she had the sequence of the whole fight ingrained in her memory.
Fury nodded, "This time, I'll have a person who I know and trust lead the team. I didn't have that luxury with Stark and Rogers. I've known them for twenty years now, And they're ex-military, I'm sure they'll have plenty of discipline."
"You think I'll get along with this... leader of yours? Who is he?" Hope asked. She was still a bit hesitant.
Nodding again, Fury held out his hand, "The world doesn't know who she is yet, but they will. And I'm sure you'll get along with her just fine. "
Already another woman on the team, and one who would be their leader? She certainly wasn't expecting that, but she was convinced. Slightly embarrassed about her assumption, shook his hand firmly. " Alright. You can count on me, sir."
"Just Fury is fine. In the meantime, Agent Hill and I still have a lot of things to do, but do expect a call from us very soon concerning Mr. Lang's situation. We're working very quickly." Fury checked his watch, " It's about a quarter to 8, expect your charges to be removed by midnight. We'll be in touch, Ms. Van Dyne."
"Please, just Hope." She smiled, "Let me walk you guys out."
As they made their way out of the door, Hope noticed that the afternoon had passed fairly quickly. Taking in the night sky, she noticed a bright shooting star, growing brighter and brighter. She noticed that it was ominously getting closer and closer to the Earth, and instantly realized that the blinding light was heading straight to her home.