...or why seasickness is for the sharks. This one goes out to all those who get motion sick, I feel you. Enjoy

On a cool and relatively cloudy Tuesday, our seven heroes waited calmly on a dock in Port Douglas for a boat to take them out to the Great Barrier Reef. The boat, called the SilverMaster, was advertised as being a 90 foot motor vessel with two levels, outside seating, and a working kitchen. Steve had read about the reef while putting together the tour, and figured, since it was the largest living thing visible from space, the group should check it out. And what better way than to spend a day snorkeling?

Now, granted, forcing the Avengers, while on a vacation, I might add, to wake up at 6:30 as to allow time for breakfast and the hour plus drive it took to get there in order to meet a boat at 8:30 for a day long adventure was not something Steve was looking forward to. Regardless, the heroes seemed excited for the trip, and because of the jet lag they had been up for hours anyways.

Two crew members walked down the dock and opened the boat up to passengers. After getting a photo taken by one of the staff, the Avengers waited in line to board.

"Seasickness pills, don't forget them!" A crew member was shouting. "We have 20 knot winds today, the surf is choppy. Better to prevent than to cure, I always say."

Clint said nothing but grabbed a fistful of the Dramamine and ginger pills and stuffed them in his bag before boarding. He then sat down in one of the first tables available.

"Come on, Clint, let's sit up top." Tony said, pointing up the stairs.

"The most stable part of the boat is the lower back, and that is where I intend to stay." Clint replied. Bruce nodded, realizing Clint's choice.

"Motion sickness, huh?" He asked.

"Wait, you get seasick?" Tony asked. "The master assassin has a weakness?"

Clint shrugged. "Can't help it. As the lady on the dock said, better to prevent than to cure."

"Take one of the Dramamine now, and look straight ahead." Bruce suggested. "Then take a ginger pill each hour. Hopefully it will be sunnier out in the ocean. Tony, let's just sit here." Tony pouted but took the backwards seat at the table.

Steve looked around the boat, taking in the surroundings. It may not have looked large from the outside, but the inside definitely made up the room. There were open sofas in the middle making a seating area, and the other seats all surrounded tables. A small kitchen area was to the right, now serving breakfast and hot drinks for pay, but would serve lunch to all at noon.

The skipper came over the loudspeaker and announced departure, saying they should reach the Agincourt reef system in about 2 hours.

It only took Clint 40 minutes to get sick.

"Just keep looking straight." Natasha told him, rubbing his back. "Take a ginger pill."

"If I even look at food I think I'll hurl." Clint said, groaning.

"Don't go in the bathroom, the enclosed space will make it worse." Bruce instructed. "Drink some water."

Clint waved it away and put his head down on the table. "How much longer?"

"We don't get back to Port Douglas until 4:30." Steve said. "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"When the boat stops he should be better." Natasha informed the group.

Clint managed to last the remainder of the ride out. The boat slowed to a stop, and a crew member passed out wetsuits.

"The water is about 24 Celsius, or 72 Fahrenheit for the Yanks, the shorties should be enough for you." The lead crew member explained. "All those diving please make your way to the rear of the boat, snorkelers, stay up here with me."

"Ooo, Steve, you never mentioned they had diving, too." Tony said. "I got my license back in the 80s, we should all get certified."

A crew member had overheard Tony's remark and approached them. "Well, there's not much I can do for you now, but at the next site I can put you in with the intro divers." He said. "Are any of you certified?"

"I am, but I'm not sure about the others." Tony said, pointing to his friends.

"Wonderful, we can get you all briefed and equipped before we leave, then you can go out."

"Go without me." Clint mumbled, tired of his sickness.

"A bit sick, are we? Once you get into the water, it all goes away, I promise. My name is Tim, I'm the lead divemaster on the boat. You don't feel a thing underwater."

It took Natasha the entire stop to convince Clint to come out of his shell, but he did, and the two of them sat at the top of the boat looking out at the snorkelers, trying to spot their friends.

"I think Tony's the one with the red snorkel." Clint said, pointing to a group of swimmers and chewing on an ice cube a crew member had given him to relieve his sickness.

"No no, they're all over there." Natasha said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Are you blind? They went off West, they're over there."

Suddenly, a glaringly loud horn sounded from right behind them, causing them to jump.

"That's the all aboard." The skipper said on the loudspeaker. "We'll be at our next destination in about 10 minutes. Will all the divers please report to the lower deck, thank you."

"I guess that's us." Natasha said and went inside. "You coming? The divemaster said it's better under the water."

Clint sighed. "Fine...ok, I'll try it."

"That's my big boy." Natasha teased, causing Clint to shove her with his shoulder on the way inside.

As the boat was pulling up to the second location, the seven Avengers were sitting in the back of the boat strapped to scuba equipment.

"Hello, I'm Carrie, I'll be your divemaster for this dive." Carrie standing, unfazed by the cold wind, in front of the bench of intro divers. She had just gone over what each thing did and how to use it properly. "Since we are all newbies to the sport, we won't be diving any deeper than 8 meters. But don't worry, it's enough to see everything. Alright, let's review. Your regulator is on your...?"

"Right side." The benchgoers replied monotonously.

"The BC inflator is on your...?"

"Left side."

"Wonderful. Remember, if someone flashes an 'ok' sign, you answer back. Thumbs up is not 'ok', it's 'go up'. Now, put your arms through your BCs and tighten the BC to your chest. Put your flippers on, then your mask. We'll help you stand up when you're ready."

Steve fumbled a bit with his BC, shooting looks at Tony, who had done his up with ease. Around came Tim, helping everyone to stand and form a line.

"We will giant stride of the back of the boat." He explained, nearing the edge. "It's about a meter's drop into the water, so not far. Make sure your mask is secure, your regulator is in your mouth, and your BC is slightly inflated. If you have a problem with weighting we'll fix it in the water. Hold your right hand over your face, securing your regulator and mask, hold your left hand across your chest, take a big step, and fall. It's easy. Who's first?"

Carrie jumped in first, gave the 'ok' sign, and kicked away from the boat. Tony was next, his entry was flawless. Natasha and Clint entered next, then Bruce. Thor was tugging at his wetsuit, they didn't have a big enough one to accommodate for his musculature. Loki had insisted on renting an underwater camera for the dive. At last, it was Steve's turn, he was bringing up the rear. Running through the checklist in his head, he fitted his regulator in his mouth, took a breath, and stepped off the boat.

As he hit the water, his mask flew back, filling his nose with water and blinding him. He thrashed around, but bobbed to the surface because of his BC.

"Mask a bit loose?" Carrie asked, swimming over to him. Steve gasped and tugged it off his face. "Just tighten it a bit...there." The mask fit a bit better now. Tim gave the 'ok' sign, and Steve repeated it.

"Ok, we're going down now, everyone go at their own pace." Carrie instructed. "If you won't sink, wave your hand sideways and I'll come help. If your ears or nose start to hurt, ascend a bit, clear your ears how I told you to, then try again. You will all make it down there, no rush, the reef isn't going anywhere."

"See ya suckers at the bottom!" Tony shouted, lifted up the BC inflator, and disappeared beneath the waves.

Steve pushed his regulator against his mouth for safety, and deflated his BC. The waves soon started to crash over his head, and he was under the water. Turning around, he gasped. Snorkeling had been a treat, but you were still far away, disconnected. Under the water, the reef was right in front of you, on all sides. As he reached the bottom, fish swam around him, and, was that a turtle? Carrie pointed at it and placed both hands on top of each other, the symbol for turtle. A large green sea turtle swam above them, heading towards shallower waters. Carrie flashed the 'ok', waited for a response, and took off swimming.

They were down there for 40 minutes. They saw two sharks, three turtles, schools of fish, and snapped 200 photos. Natasha got to hold a sea cucumber, Bruce got to touch a giant clam, and Tony held a starfish.

They came back to the boat for lunch and signed up for another dive at the third and final site. The day seemed to fly after that. When the time came to return to port, the Avengers were all napping on the couches, worn out from their adventure.

And Clint didn't complain about being sick the entire time.

Epilogue:

"That's a horrible picture of me." Natasha remarked. The Avengers were sitting in the lobby of their hotel viewing all of Loki's pictures.

"We all looked terrible, Nat." Clint said. "It looks like Loki got me mid sneeze."

"Did you see the one of me with the starfish?" Tony asked.

"One must not forget the small orange fish in the wavy coral." Thor pointed out.

"Heh, we found Nemo in Australia, how cute. We're watching that movie tonight, I'll have JARV stream it to the TV."

Loki hit the 'next' button on the camera, and a group photo showed up. After the first dive, Tim agreed to take a photo of the seven of them. They had goggle marks on their faces, snot on their noses, and Loki's and Thor's hair were a mess, but the smile they all had was what made Steve happy he made them take this trip.

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