Author's Note: So that happened. I own nothing.
5. Upgrades
The next morning found Piper in her lab tinkering with a few upgrades for some costumes. There was a knock at the door and she glanced up to see Ava peeking around the corner. She grinned and nodded.
"Come on in, perfect timing actually, I need you to test something for me." The door slid open and Ava stepped in holding two plates piled high with pancakes. Piper grinned at her.
"How did I survive mornings without you?" Ava laughed.
"I honestly don't know. Seriously from what Nat and Clint have told me you don't take good enough care of yourself." Piper rolled her eyes.
"You sound like Pepper." Ava grinned.
"Good that means I'm making sense." Piper stuck her tongue out at her friend and gestured her over. Ava set down the pancakes and stepped over to her. She raised an eyebrow as she spotted Nova's costume in her hands, minus the helmet.
"Ok so I have been working on some upgrades for everybody. Tap that piece there." She hesitated but tapped the golden circle. Several pieces of equipment spread out along the gold lines in the suit. A small faceplate popped out of the top. It didn't unfold far and Ava frowned.
"What is it?" Piper held the costume up.
"It's a self supplying respirator. Just for underwater use but I'm working on making it space worthy. It'll form a seal with his helmet." Piper tapped the same golden circle and the mechanics shrunk back down. Ava watched closely.
"How'd you manage to do that?" Piper grinned.
"Nano tech. Dad and I have been toying with it for a while. I've made one for everyone. Though everybody but Nova gets a full helmet." Ava nodded and took Sam's costume, replacing it with one of the plates of pancakes. Piper grinned and picked up the fork on the plate before digging in. They ate in silence for a while. Once Piper had finished her pancakes she got a look in her eyes, a look Ava recognized.
"Ok what did you find?" Piper jumped slightly and blinked at her friend, looking confused. "You have that look in your eye." Piper frowned.
"What look?" Ava snorted.
"That look like you have to handle every problem yourself. You don't, that's what got you in some shit three months ago." Piper's head tilted towards the floor. Then she nodded and pushed the now empty plate aside. She tapped a spot on her desk and a small compartment opened up. She pulled the SHEILD USB out of the compartment. She tapped it on the desk for a moment before she nodded to herself.
"Dad finally cracked the encryption on the USB. It's full of evidence against Oscorp. They were conducting human experiments. As far as I can tell not all of the subjects even knew what they were doing. It also mentions Cold Storage, which as far as I can tell is where the failed experiments get taken. And I don't know what to do. Harry's already been through too much and would have been all of five years old when the earliest recording of the experiments was taken. And it's not like we can bring Norman in on charges, cause he's still a giant green monster." Ava pulled her friend into a hug. Ava had become much more protective of the other girl after Piper had taken a bullet for her during the fall of SHEILD.
"I don't know what to do." Ava nodded.
"I think we need to keep doing what we've been doing. Look for Doc Oc and the Goblin. Work on a cure. We'll put Cold Storage on our list of stuff to find. We can't do everything at once. But we can do almost everything together." Piper nodded into her shoulder. "We'll tell the boys later today." Piper smiled at her.
"Thanks Ava." Ava grinned at her friend.
"Hey, that's what friends are for Piper." Piper nodded and Ava went back to her pancakes as Piper slipped the USB back into its hidden compartment and turned back to the costumes.
Sam flopped down onto the mat with a swear. Luke and Danny weren't far behind him. A laugh sounded above them and Natasha Romanov leaned over them.
"Had enough boys?" They all nodded, a laugh sounded from the doorway. They looked up and spotted Piper and Ava in the doorway holding folded costumes.
"I see you guys are doing the no power training. It doesn't get easier. Trust me." Piper said as she stepped in and held out a hand to Sam. He grudgingly took it. Things between the two of them had been tense since they stopped going out, well neither of them knew if the two dates they had been on could really qualify as dating or not. But none the less they still worked together. Piper had even arranged for Sam to fly back out to Nevada to see his mom and sister for two weeks at the start of the summer. She'd offered something similar to the others but they'd all turned her down, though none of them had said why. She didn't push. She helped Luke up as Ava pulled Danny to his feet, the two spending just enough time staring into each others eyes to make the others smile. She handed Luke his uniform.
"I've made a few modifications to the suits, hope nobody minds. Just basic stuff really. Bulletproofing, underwater capabilities so waterproofing, heaters for arctic missions. Developed a better communications system too." She said holding up a small box. She popped it open and tapped her finger against a tiny circle of electrics. She had Luke bend so she could reach his ear. She carefully inserted the tiny device into the hollow of his ear. It blinked for a second before it flashed and blended into his skin. The others blinked.
"That's not under his skin is it?" Sam asked squirming slightly. Piper shook her head.
"Nope, just the cloaking tech at work." She gestured Danny forwards and he let her place the device. Then she gestured to Sam. He shook his head.
"Nah. I'll let Ava go first." Piper shook her head.
"Ava already has hers. She got hers first." Sam sighed and stepped forwards, letting Piper put the com in his ear. She nodded and stepped back.
"Alright so the easiest way to turn it on and off is to tug on your earlobe, but it'll also activate to a few specific words. Our Superhero names, names of the villains that are in the Avengers database. When one activates the others do too." She demonstrated, pulling on her own earlobe. There was a faint click and her voice echoed slightly as it was transmitted through the coms. "They have a fifty mile range, but only cause they're so small. I'm working on improving that. Waterproof, shock resistant, and they shouldn't dislodge easily." The others nodded. A panel on the wall flashed and JARVIS spoke.
"Miss Parker, Doctor Connors is attempting to contact you." Piper nodded and stepped over to the panel. She clicked it on.
"Doc, what's up?" The doctor smiled and spoke.
"There's something I want to show you, come down to the Bio Chem lab!" She nodded and headed out of the room.