AN and Disclaimer: I don't own 'em…..I'm just borrowing them for a bit.

Anyways, here ya'll go! It's not much, but for now it shall do! I have one more day of work then I am free for summer break! Ahhh the joys of being a school teacher…..so enjoy!


Chapter Ten:

Emma took a deep breath before she and Clint entered S.H.E.I.L.D. headquarters in lower Manhattan. It had already been a stressful morning having to say goodbye to a clingy Audrey. The closer they had gotten to the day that they had to both return to work, the clinger that Audrey had gotten. Emma couldn't blame her though. Audrey knew exactly what her father did and what her mother was going back to do. And they both made sure that Audrey would be able to get in touch with them if she needed to.

"Nervous?" Clint whispered as they walked through the crowded hallways.

"A bit. It's just been so long," she said glancing around at all the construction that was going on around them on the new headquarters.

"Look on the bright side. At least we're not having to stay here."

"That is always a plus," she said as they entered the makeshift communications hub where they found Nick Fury standing in the center of all the hustle and bustle of activity. As usual, he was issuing orders to anyone who was listening and even some to those who were not. It took him a few seconds to notice that they had reported for duty.

"Barton! Carter! With me!" he barked, turning on his heel and leaving his post at the top of the communications center. Emma and Clint quickly fell into step behind their commanding officer as he led them back outside to an awaiting black SUV. They both followed Fury's lead as he got into the SUV.

"Romanov is already waiting for you both at your new location as well as the others." Fury said as he drove through the streets of Manhattan.

"About that," Clint began.

"Don't worry, she's been reassigned partners. She is now helping Cap't get more acquainted with the modern era. Figured that a woman was much better at that then a man. Stark might just scare him."

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, where exactly are we going?" Emma asked, from the back seat. She had noticed that the busy streets of lower Manhattan had begun to turn into the area that had been decimated by the recent attacks on the city.

"Stark Tower. The new operations base of the Avengers."


The five remaining members of the Avengers sat on the couch in the living room of the penthouse of Stark Tower and stared at each other. It had been a few weeks since the events that brought them together as a "ticking time bomb" of a team.

"Why aren't they talking?" Emma whispered to Fury as they stood off in a corner away from the group.

"They really don't get along sometimes." Fury whispered back.

"Besides turning my baby of a tower into the super secret boy band slash groupie hangout, what's up with the new agent?" Stark finally asked.

Emma raised an eyebrow at being referred to as a "groupie" while Natasha glared daggers at Stark.

"This is Agent Carter. She's the newest addition to your team. Too much testosterone in the opinion of the council."

"What's your secret then?" Stark asked, continuing to dish out the questions. He already knew that Agent Carter didn't have any special powers that had been reported. He just wanted to know her answers.

Emma smiled and approached where Stark was sitting. "Stand up please."

"Is it going to hurt?" he asked as he did so.

In a split second, she had pressed her fingers into several of his joints and suddenly he felt his knees give way and he collapsed in a heap on the floor in the middle of the room. "Did it hurt?" she asked kneeling down.

"Nope, not at all," he said as he tried to pick himself up off the floor.

"Pressure points. Cool trick." Banner said.

"Now back to business," Fury said, as he handed everyone a data pad. "We've detected another reading similar to the Tesseract. It's faint, but it's steady."

"Where is it coming from?" Natasha asked.

"We believe the Bronx right now. But it's been all over the world in the past few days. And we believe that Advanced Idea Mechanics has something to do with it."

"A.I.M.?" Emma asked in confusion. "I thought that they were in the arms business, not the energy business."

"They are a terrorist organization that needs to be stopped. Plain and simple." Fury responded.

"So what do you want us to do about it?" Stark asked as he finally managed to get himself back into a chair. "Storm the castle and steal the prize?"

"Surveillance and recon for now. Use some of your business contacts to try to get in with some of their front organizations, Stark. Carter, Romanov, I trust that you two know how to use your assets to get in and get information?"

Emma and Natasha nodded.

"Banner, try and see if you can isolate and figure out if that gamma signature is the same or not. Any abnormality will be of help. Captain, you and Barton assist where needed. I know that this isn't a glorified mission, but this team is the most capable of bringing down A.I.M. and figuring out whatever the hell this gamma signature is."

Fury turned on his heel and left after that. For a few more minutes, everyone sat in silence. "So what now?" Banner asked.

"Living arrangements are a must to go over, along with all that I've put into this tower for the Avengers or will eventually add during the remodel." Stark said as he stood up, still a bit wobbly. "Agent Carter, you and Hawkeye will be 3 floors down. Captain, you and Natasha will be 2 floors down. Then Dr. Banner will be one floor down. On the fourth floor down is a gym/training area and the main area where we would meet and discuss our plans of attack - sorta like a common living area. But everyone has their own living quarters."

"I suggest we all get settled and acquainted with the new living arrangements before we plan anything against A.I.M.," Steve suggested.

Everyone agreed and for the time being went their separate ways.