Chapter 3- A New Approach
Nick Fury was waiting in the conference room for the Avengers to assemble. He had a plan, but he needed the Avengers help for it to work. Natasha and Clint were the first ones to enter the room. They had already been working on the helicarrier. They sat down next to each other and started talking idly.
"What are you doing tonight?" Nat asked her partner.
"I don't know. Probably going to chill and watch a movie. What are you going to do?" he inquired.
"I think I'll relax. Take a long bath. I could use some stress relief. It's been a long week." Steve walked in next and sat across from the pair.
"What are you talking about?" Steve asked.
"Plans for tonight. Do you have any?" Natasha asked.
"I have a date," he said proudly.
"Are you still dating Kate?" Natasha inquired.
"Yeah. It's getting pretty serious," Steve said.
"Have you had sex with her yet?" Barton asked.
"Clint!" Natasha exclaimed.
"What? I'm just curious!" He said, "Can't a man ask another man a question?"
Bruce shuffled into the room, looking tired. His hair was messed up and he looked like he hadn't changed his clothes since yesterday.
"Good morning, Banner," Natasha said, "Were you up all night?"
"Yeah," he stifled a yawn, "I was working on my paper."
"We're waiting on Tony and Thor," Steve said as Banner sat beside him.
Natasha tapped her fingernails against the tabletop, "I'm so shocked that Stark would be late to something." She said with an air of annoyance and sarcasm.
"I wonder where Thor is," Clint said, "He's usually pretty early."
"It is possible that he is still babysitting Loki for all his past screwups." Bruce reasoned.
The conversation branched off into several separate directions until the room practically shook with the vibrations of a deep, booming voice.
Thor, equipped with Mjölnir loudly entered the room with his booming voice greeting his fellow friends and avengers that he had not seen in quite some time.
Thor's news of Asgard and the topic of Loki, which was still a bit touchy, especially with Clint; sent the group into a connected conversation once again.
The meeting had been set for nine am and upon studying his watch, Steve realized it was almost ten a.m. now, just as Fury decided to begin the meeting without Stark, there was a commotion from the hallway. Black Sabbath's song Iron Man started playing over the PA system all over the carrier. Tony flew into the room in his newest suit he circled the entire space once then landed gracefully in the open space that was created between the two half circle tables.
"Stark, turn off the music now and act like the forty five year old man, that your lack of maturity makes it hard to believe you are." Fury wore a look that showed today was not the day to trifle with him.
Tony complied and took a seat between Thor and Banner, but not without a not so quiet muttering of how much he preferred his tower over the SHIELD base.
Fury took his place at his podium, standing at the head of all the avengers, and satisfied that he finally had their attention he began speaking.
"Well now that, everyone has graced us with their presence" He directed a hard look at Tony
" We can finally begin."
"So what's this about?" Natasha asked curiously.
"We have a new enemy threatening the world. An enemy whose goal is to destroy the whole world. You think New York was hard? That was child's play compared to this threat. And you six can't possibly handle it alone."
"That's cheerful," Banner said, "I take it you have a plan?"
"Operation Dinosaurs and Skim milk. We are recruiting people to help us fight. You guys will work alone or in pairs to train these recruits. Natasha and Clint are one team. You can teach shooting and archery. Steve, you've got hand to hand combat. Tony, Bruce, you've got science and technology as well as stealth. Thor, you've got any Asgard techniques you think would help. Or anything from any other realm."
"Who are we recruiting?" Tony asked, "Because I'll gladly take hot younger women and train them."
"We're recruiting your fans. We need fresh, young blood. Most of them are teenagers," Fury said, "They have greater abilities and quicker reflexes. That's what we need to fight this war."
"You want us to train kids?" Natasha was outraged, "The Red Room does that, not SHIELD! This makes us no better than them!" She stood up and stormed off. Clint hurried off after her.