cut
The Bartender and the Spy stood in dead silence taking one another in. Haruven was the first to move by lowering his hands to his sides, deceivingly relaxed in his easy stance, and Fury followed by taking a step forward and looking around the empty Café with obvious disdain.
"So this is where you've decided to hide," Fury commented, making Ven raise an eyebrow.
"I prefer to call this my retirement hobby," he answered lightly, and Fury stopped in his tracks, turning to face Ven with lips tilted in a sneer.
"Look at yourself," he muttered disdainfully.
When Fury took a few steps towards Ven and stopped maybe two feet in front of him, Haruven's jaw shifted, teeth pressed tightly together, and the viridian jewels he had for eyes darkened with an unspoken warning.
They were almost the same height, although Ven's build was more on the lithe side while Fury was bulkier, but no one could ever say which one of them was more threatening in his deceptively easy stance at first glance.
If they would take a closer look though, they would immediately see that Haruven seemed almost at ease, subtly prepared for anything, while Fury stood tense in front of him, taking the bartender in with a displeased glare.
"That hair must be getting in the way constantly and you look like you've neglected your physical training as well," Fury spoke tightly.
"I've resigned from the Force, Fury," Ven answered, shoulders straightening. "I don't plan to fight anymore. I've done my fair share of public service, thankyouverymuch." A cold wind danced around Ven, ruffling his hair and clothes, and Fury's eyebrows narrowed.
"But you didn't give up your magic as it seems."
Ven tilted his head to the side, eyes cold and lips set in a firm, thin line. "My magic is a part of me, as you well know." Fury snorted and started to circle Ven. "What are you doing here, either way?"
Fury stopped in front of Ven again, gaze darting all over the lithe body dressed in form-fitting black clothes. "I was surprised to see that Tony Stark was investigating you. I wondered where he came in contact with you and imagine my surprise when I found out you were the owner of this…" Fury glanced around with a snort, "café." A blind man would see what Fury thought of Starborn Café. "I was even more intrigued when I found out the whole team came here and that Dr. Banner has become your regular customer."
"Why are you following them? Don't you trust your own team?" Ven asked and Fury frowned at him.
"I think you know their history…"
"They agreed to fight for you."
"They fought for themselves…"
"And yet they remained together even after their services were no longer needed!" Ven snapped and Fury's frown deepened. "You expect of them to follow your command and yet you don't trust them."
"You haven't changed a bit," Fury grumbled and Haruven barely suppressed the need to sneer at the man.
"Talk about a pot calling the kettle black," Haruven pressed out through his teeth. "You are still playing the mysterious super-spy, pretending to know everything and unnecessarily risking the mission because you keep information from your team, only giving them the bare necessities, which reminds me…" Ven took a step closer to Fury, hardly an inch away from the spy, their noses practically touching. "Do you still tell a different fraction of a story to each member of the team? If I remember correctly," Ven's voice dropped for an octave or so, "that was always a nasty quirk of yours since it left everyone guessing whether they could trust their teammates to watch their backs or not."
"If I remember correctly," Fury growled, good eye darkening with a silent warning, "my way of doing things saved this world."
"No." Ven bit out. "It was their will and their love towards this world that made them fight." He took a step back, feeling as though he would lose control if he remained close to Fury, but he was wrong. It wasn't enough. "I was there, Fury," he spoke in a low tone. "I saw their fight. Where were you at that time?"
Fury snorted and sneered. "Again with that? The commanding officer is supposed to be the one in control of things…"
"The Commanding Officer isn't supposed to be a mystery to his team!" Ven snapped, and the fires burning in the fireplaces seemed to grow stronger for a single second. "You expect of them to trust you and to fight when you tell them to. How do you think that will work if you come to them only when you need them? How do you think that will work when they don't trust you? You keep to the shadows and you hide behind an image of a tough spy, but all you are and what you always have been is a coward who is better at gathering intel than doing any real work."
In the next moment Fury was on Haruven with a hand wrapped tightly around the Wizard's neck, but the spy tensed up a breath later, glancing down at a hand pressed into his stomach, feeling sharp claws which replaced blunt nails even through his thick shirt, and the dark glare of Ven's darkened eyes all but challenged Fury to make a move.
"I guess I was wrong," Fury spoke lowly, staring deep in Haruven's cold eyes. "You can still be the murderer you once were." He let go of the Wizard and Haruven took a step back, claws turning into nails with a hardly audible *snict*.
"At least I was never a coward," Haruven answered, taking a deep breath through his nose to calm himself.
"You are the coward here, Haruven." Fury hissed. "The world still needs you and what are you doing? Serving fancy drinks to drunks, and homeless people, when you should be out there fighting for what is right!"
Ven snorted and straightened to his full height. "You don't have to be a fighter to save the world, Fury," he spoke calmly, apparently regaining his composure. "The world ends for someone every day, be it because they lost hope in life, because they lost someone they loved or for any other reason." The spy's frown grew darker while Haruven relaxed slightly and looked at one of the fireplaces, crossing lean arms over his chest. "I have fought for most of my life, Fury," he spoke in a quiet voice, and Fury found himself taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere. "I have seen and done things you can only dream of. You think your Avengers saved the world?" Ven looked at Fury, gaze full of something yet unnamed. "They saved it what - once?" he snorted. "You've read my file; I know you have. We've worked together once and you think that you have the right to march in here and lecture me on anything? Do you really think I've been sitting idly for the past 8 years? I've been keeping watch over a lot of things. I don't have to tell you that S.H.I.E.L.D. managed to attract my attention. All those weapons..." Ven tsked a few times and Fury tensed up.
Haruven's arms fell to his sides and he took a step towards Fury who straightened and squared his shoulders, jaw shifting as he clenched his teeth.
"Remember this, Fury," Haruven whispered. "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain. Scratch the surface of any hero and you'll find a monster lurking beneath."
Fury tensed up at the implication of Haruven's words, but the bartender paid him no heed.
"Now, I have never said this before, and honestly I never thought a day would come when I would have to say this to anyone who entered through that door, but I guess hoping for that was too much." Haruven's head tilted forward, eyes glaring at Fury from under messy bangs. "You're not welcome here. Turn around and leave. Next time you will find the door locked."
Fury swallowed audibly, clasping his hands behind his back, gaze darting over Haruven's body as though he was cutting him into his memory.
"You know where the door is, Fury," Haruven murmured in obvious dismissal before slowly turning his back on Fury, "don't let them hit you on your way out."
Fury hned and turned on his heel, marching towards the door only to stop with his hand hovering over the knob. "Just so you know," he looked at Haruven over a shoulder, finding the bartender's gaze following him through the reflection in the mirror behind the bar, "I've forwarded a few things to Stark. I have no doubt that by now they know everything. Do you think they'll see you in the same light now as they did before?"
Ven tilted his head back a little and looked at the mirror above him. The shadows were shifting almost furiously in it and Ven's lips tilted into a small smile before he bowed his head and shook it slowly. "Not everyone is as distrusting and judgmental as you are, Fury. They may see me differently, but I don't think they'll consider me an enemy and a threat."
"We'll see about that," Fury said, stepped out and slammed the door closed.
Ven turned around and looked at the door, whole body trembling when a warm wind danced around him and Urd wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leveling invisible lips with his right ear.
'I'm sorry, my sweet," she whispered lovingly. 'I should have kept him out.'
"No, my dear," he answered with a sigh, tilting his head to the side to rest his brow against her forehead. "He needed to hear that. I don't know if my words reached him or not, but someone had to tell him that. He is a good man and a good commanding officer but he needs to get his priorities straight.'
Urd giggled and kissed his cheek. With a shiver of power her transparent form became clear again for a moment and Ven smiled.
'You are too wise, my sweet; too wise and too good.'
Ven laughed dryly and shook his head. 'I only wish I had this wisdom 20 years ago.'
'Past is past, sweetness. Let it rest.'
Ven nodded and Urd's form disappeared when a whisper of chiming little bells announced someone coming.
'Will you be alright?'
'I'll be fine," he answered in his thoughts, and in that moment the door opened to allow a young woman in.
She looked around shyly and blushed when her eyes settled on Ven who gifted her with a welcoming smile. "H-hello, a-are you open?" she stuttered and Ven bowed at her.
"Always," he said, and her pretty eyes widened. "Welcome. Please take a seat."
cut
"Fury was seen in town," Natasha spoke from where she was leaning on the doorframe of the door leading into the lab. Tony and Bruce, who were checking something on the computers turned to look at her, and Steve and Clint, who were locked in a game of chess stopped and raised their heads.
"Do you think he knows we know he's following us?" Tony asked uncaringly.
Natasha shrugged and entered the lab. She walked over to the table in the middle and leaned back against it with her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't think so, otherwise he would have stationed his spies differently."
"Where was he seen?" Steve asked and stood up.
"Close to Starborn," Natasha muttered, her words making everyone frown.
"Do you think Sigurdsson is Fury's spy?" Clint asked, exchanging a glance with Steve.
"I don't think so," Bruce spoke up. "He was never prying for information."
Tony nodded slowly in reluctant agreement. "Still, how does he know our names and such?" he muttered.
"There was footage of our fight with Loki," Clint suggested. "Maybe he just made the connection. You publicly admitted you're Iron Man." He pointed at Tony. "He connected the dots."
"Could be." Steve agreed.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Bruce sighed and stood up. "I'll go and talk to him later."
"I think we should all go and talk to him," Tony hopped up and clapped his hands.
"He could feel threatened," Natasha warned.
"If you were him, would you really be threatened by a few humans?" Tony drawled. "With the exception of Bruce as the Hulk, I don't think any of us stand a chance against him. Even if only half of what was written in Sigurdsson's file is true, I don't think we'd manage to take him down even in an unfair fight."
"So, we all go?" Steve asked, glancing at each of his teammates respectively.
"We have to take into account that he might know we're coming," Tony said. "I dug around my information. I thought I found a few things too easily concerning the status of the files. I have a feeling Fury might have had his fingers in this. The only thing that comes to mind as to why he could have gone to see Sigurdsson is to warn him of us knowing the truth."
"Or he tried to recruit him." Steve countered.
"Not that I know Sigurdsson well, but considering everything I don't think that went well," Tony drawled.
"We'll find out tonight," Bruce said and turned to the screen again.
"What if we don't like what we'll find?" Steve asked and Bruce frowned ducking his head.
A moment later he looked up and straightened. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
cut
"Did they say anything about a storm coming on the news?!" Steve called out and looked at the sky. Ominous clouds gathered above the city and ever so often lightning would flash, sending a shiver of expectation down everyone's spines.
"Winter is coming, Stripes." Tony pulled his cloak tighter around himself. "We'll have blizzards soon enough. A small storm shouldn't be a problem."
"But there isn't supposed to be a storm tonight," Bruce said as they hurried down the street towards Starborn Café, the growing chill of the evening making them run.
"The TV guy is not a prophet, Green, now hurry it up! My reactor is freezing!" Tony snapped and they all but ran into Starborn Café making Ven look up from the glasses he was polishing in slight surprise.
'You didn't tell me they were coming,' he said to Urd over their mental link, drying his hands on a hand-towel before he rolled the sleeves of his tight black turtleneck down.
' I didn't know.' Urd answered, sounding just as surprised as Haruven felt.
"Good evening," he said while the Avengers took their cloaks off. The inside of the café, compared to outside, was practically scorching.
"Good evening, Ven. I'm sorry we rushed in like this. I hope you weren't about to close," Bruce apologized in everyone's name while they hung their coats on the hanger by the door.
"I never close, Bruce," Haruven assured his friend. "This Café is always open."
'They know.' Haruven tensed up at Urd's whispered warning. 'They know everything, but they aren't here as a threat.' Even though those words should have reassured him, and even though he knew the Avengers weren't there as enemies, Haruven still didn't relax.
Licking suddenly dry lips and doing his best to at least appear calm, Haruven offered the Avengers one of his usual smiles and steeled his stance.
"I'll pull the tables by the fire together," he offered and turned his back on them, "you must have frozen outside."
"Wouldn't it be easier with magic?" Tony spoke up and Haruven froze in his place.
The Avengers didn't miss the minute tensing of Haruven's shoulders or the way his hands fisted by his sides for a mere second. The moment was gone as soon as it appeared and Haruven turned around slowly, looking at them with glowing emerald eyes, sending a shiver down their spines.
"You're right." He flicked his wrist and within seconds three tables were joined in front of the fireplace with 6 armchairs arranging themselves around them. The Avengers openly gaped at that small display of magic. "It is easier this way." Haruven smirked and faced them fully, clasping his hands behind his back. "Now, why don't you take your seats? I'll prepare drinks for all of us." Their jaws snapped closed and they immediately rushed over to take their seats, while Haruven walked behind the bar, taking his time preparing their drinks if for no other reason than to buy himself time to regain his composure.
'Calm down, sweetness. I'm here for you. Relax. They won't be able to hurt you even if they wanted or tried to.' Urd whispered to him, her warmth spreading down his body.
'Even though I knew they would find out I was thrown off a bit. I never thought anyone would find out to be perfectly honest; except him, that is.'
'You've faced worse things, sweetness. Don't worry. You'll be fine.'
'I know. I don't know what's wrong with me,' he answered his invisible companion.
"Fury's visit has shaken you up. Your magic has also increased. You are bursting at the seams, my sweet. You must clam down.'
Ven swallowed and took a deep breath, finishing the drinks and taking a tray. 'I know,' he started placing the drinks on the tray, wincing when a spark of green electricity glimmered around his hand as he reached for Bruce's drink. He fisted his hand and closed his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath. 'I just can't help it."
'Use your magic, Haruven. You are upset and it is building up within your core.'
'In front of them?' he looked at the Avengers and found them murmuring amongst themselves, almost pointedly avoiding looking at him.
'They already know, Ven.' The bartender felt a spark of mischievousness, and his heartbeat stuttered, lips almost tilting into a smile. 'And you'll shock them some more.' Ven almost chuckled out loud.
'And you say I'm mischievous.' He did as she told him to, almost grinning when the Avengers jumped in their seats after their drinks appeared in front of them. He took his own drink in his hand and walked over to the table.
"Flaunting?" Bruce asked as Ven took a seat and laughed quietly, settling tensely in his seat.
"Relieving stress," Ven answered, eyes glimmering brightly for a moment, further shocking the Avengers.
"Your eyes…" Natasha murmured and tilted her head to the side. "They're glowing."
"They say eyes are windows to the soul." Haruven chuckled and shook his head, raising a hand to rub his eyes with his fingers before he sighed and relaxed in his seat, resting his hands on the armrests. "My magic is a part of me. It is who I am. There was a time when my magic would manifest on the outside when I was angry or stressed out." A smile full of nostalgia and melancholy tilted his lips. "You have no idea how many valuable things I broke in my headmaster's office on several occasions." Even though the situation was quite tense the Avengers couldn't help but laugh quietly. Seeing that Ven's eyes slowly returned to normal and he completely relaxed in his chair.
"So, do they change color?" Steve asked and Haruven shrugged his shoulders elegantly.
"I wouldn't know. I don't exactly look into a mirror every time my emotions get the better of me." Steve blushed and ducked his head when Ven threw him a small, sly look.
"Right..." Steve muttered sheepishly.
"But..." Ven stressed out and Steve looked at him again. "I have been told that my eyes turn black when I'm about to lose control. When I was still young I was prone to getting angry a lot. Many things were hidden from me and when I found out I was filled with anger." He closed his eyes and placed a trembling hand over his heart, fisting it loosely in his shirt, suppressing a visible shiver when two invisible hands settled on his shoulders.
"Ven?"
Haruven looked to his left and found Bruce looking at him with understanding and compassion, and the bartender gifted him with a small smile. "With time I have learned how to control myself. I found my balance."
Bruce's lips tilted up and he gave a gentle squeeze to Haruven's left hand. "Some of us accepted our powers right away," he spoke, glancing at Steve. "And some of us feared them." He bowed his head as though ashamed of his actions only to look up when Haruven hummed.
"It is not that I fear my power," he spoke, looking at something only he could see, "it's that I fear what I could do to the World with it." He shrugged and crossed lean legs under the table, gifting everyone with a calm smile. "So I keep it in check and face my feelings openly. I found that bottling anything up would only lead to it bursting at the inappropriate moment."
Bruce nodded. "That's why you spoke to me about balance."
Ven chuckled dryly and shook his head. "You think the Hulk is bad when he is angry?" he spoke in a low voice, eyes turning a darker shade of green. "I've seen Hulk fight. Trust me; he can't hold a candle to my anger."
"What, you turn big and green too?" Tony asked almost carelessly, but there was a wariness in his gaze which made Van laugh lightly as he looked at Tony. His eyes darkened to almost black and he tilted his head to the side a bit, bangs casting a shadow over his face giving him a mysterious, dangerous look that made the business man shiver involuntarily.
"No, Mr. Stark. I think the world would be much safer if I only turned into Hulk when angered. There is little that can stop me when I lose control. I'm not underestimating you, don't think that, but you alone would stand no chance against me. You can ask Fury. He will be more than glad to confirm that."
"Fury was here earlier today, wasn't he?" Natasha asked.
"Yes," Ven confirmed. "We've come to odds the time we worked together. It was just before I resigned from the Force. He believes…" he stopped and chuckled. "He believes that I should be out there fighting. Considering that many wizards still know about me and, not that I want to brag, but they are still somewhat afraid of me, I believe that I am more useful here than outside, fighting battles in which I would most likely bring more harm than good."
"And even if it is so, you say you were there when we fought." Clint said and Ven nodded, eyes filling with memories and a small shiver shook his body, surprising the Avengers.
"Yes, I was there," he admitted. "I was debating whether I should join your fight or not. In the end I was doing my best staying in the shadows and protecting the people from the rubble. I…" he stopped talking and his eyes darkened. He focused on his drink, stirring it a few times and watching the surface of the silvery liquid ripple. "To be perfectly honest, I didn't want to be found. I became so accustomed to this quiet existence that I didn't want to come out into the light again."
"Considering everything we've read about you, I can't actually blame you," Bruce said and Ven shot him a grateful smile.
"I was told you found out everything," Ven answered, glancing at each one of them separately.
"Well, not everything," Tony grumbled and Ven turned at him. "Your school years weren't listed in your files."
At that Ven laughed and shook his head. "I suppose that's because the Ministry of Magic doesn't want to look too bad."
"Why do you say so?" Clint asked.
"Well if you were leading a country and had not only the Auror and the Unspeakable Force at your disposal, but hundreds of highly trained people, would you want the public to know that three 11 year olds stopped Voldemort from coming back the first time he tried to? Would you want them to know that a 12 year old killed a Basilisk or that a 13 year old faced a Werewolf and survived while fighting off hundreds of soul-sucking creatures all on his own? I don't think so."
"When you put it that way..." Natasha muttered and Ven chuckled.
"Trust me; with the help of my closest friends I did a lot of things those in authority didn't dare or didn't want to do. By the time I was 15 people were prone to say that I either had a hero-complex the size of the Universe, I was very courageous or very, very stupid."
"What would you say?" Tony asked and Ven hummed and looked at the ceiling.
The bartender was quiet for a few long minutes before his lips tilted up and expression morphed into one of melancholic tenderness. "I would say a little bit of everything. I don't think I have to explain to you, Mr. Stark, what it means to have a name to live up to."
Tony nodded shortly and took a sip of his drink. He swallowed and relaxed in his chair, licking his lips which tilted up. "As good as last time," he muttered and Ven smiled.
"I'm glad you like it. That bottle was pretty difficult to acquire," he said and Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" he asked, glancing at the delicious drink.
"Yes." Haruven nodded, looking pointedly at the glass. "It doesn't taste like regular cognac, does it?"
Tony shook his head and gently tilted the glass to the side. "It's richer in taste, but not strong alcohol wise."
Ven hummed in agreement and stapled his fingers in front of his chest. "That is La Fontaine de La Pouyade Cognac, year 1862, if I am not mistaken."
Tony's eye bulged out and the others stared at Ven in shock. "This - you can't be serious!" Tony exclaimed in shock and Ven laughed.
"Well, if nothing else it pays off to carry several titles," Haruven drawled dryly.
"And you just waste it?!" Tony snapped and Ven laughed. Everyone felt a shiver run down their spines. His laugh was a soothing sound of velvet and it made them feel elated compared to the tenseness they carried with themselves on their way here.
"I don't think I waste it if drinking it makes my customers enjoy themselves," Ven said and Tony frowned, staring at the glass of cognac.
"It must have cost a fortune," he murmured and Ven shrugged.
"Money is not a problem to me, Mr. Stark. I will rather spend it so that I could make my customers happy than have it go to waste on my accounts."
"No wonder you don't charge," Bruce spoke. "Honestly, in your place I wouldn't know how."
Ven looked at Bruce with eyes full of tenderness, lips tilted up into a smallest and gentlest of smiles. "I didn't open this Café to make money, Bruce," he spoke in a quiet, tender tone. "Many times in my youth I just wanted to find a place where I could hide and be just a face among people. Someplace where I could drink a warm cup of tea and talk to someone who wouldn't judge me or gawk at me or anything. I wanted to open up such a place. I hope I managed to do that."
"So you went from a super secret agent to a humanitarian bartender," Clint summarized and Ven chuckled.
"In a way, yes."
"What did Fury want with you?" Natasha asked bluntly and Ven's expression fell slightly.
"He saw that you were investigating me and found out where I was hiding, I believe was the way he put it."
Tony snorted while Bruce rolled his eyes.
"Hiding. Right." Bruce muttered and Ven smiled gratefully.
"I guess he wanted to recruit me, although he chose a wrong way in approaching that subject. When I think about it I all but threw him out before he managed to get to that part; if he even wanted to."
"He doesn't know the meaning of retirement, does he?" Steve asked and Ven shook his head, laughing quietly.
"No, Mr. Rodgers. I don't believe he does."
"Steve. You may call me Steve," Captain America offered and Haruven tilted his head forward a bit in a small bow.
"And you may call me Haruven or Ven, whichever you prefer."
"What is this thing anyway?" Clint asked and pointed at his empty bottle of beer.
"That is Butterbeer." Haruven shifted in his seat a bit, lowering his right leg and crossing it with the other, resting most of his weight on his left forearm. "It is a Wizarding beer fit for children because of the very, very low percentage of alcohol. I thought you and Steve would like it considering the condition of your gallbladder and Steve's aversion to alcohol."
Clint raised an eyebrow at that. "How did you know?" he asked and Ven gifted him with a mysterious smile, eyes glimmering mischievously.
"I have my ways," He drawled.
"How do you call my drink?" Natasha asked.
"It's called Devil's Trap. It's ingredients, while strong in flavor separately, when mixed correctly should calm the mind and warm the body. I hope it works."
Natasha nodded, took a sip of her drink, relaxing against the backrest of her armchair, enjoying her Devil's Trap.
"What did you give Pepper?" Tony asked.
"Sweet mirage. Due to her condition I thought I'd prepare something that would satisfy her need for sweet things while stopping her diabetes from acting up," Haruven explained, leaving everyone in a state of confusion again, because only Tony knew that Pepper was suffering diabetes.
"You know a lot of things, Haruven." Steve said. "I hope that one day you will feel comfortable enough around us so that we can find out your secrets."
Ven laughed quietly and stapled his fingers in front of his chest again, winking at Steve teasingly. "A magician never reveals his secrets, my friend," he said and everyone rolled their eyes.
'Ven, something is going on outside.'
All laughter stopped when Ven suddenly tensed up, and straightened, left foot meeting the ground and hands fisting on the armrests.
"Ven?" Bruce questioned in obvious worry.
"Excuse me for a moment," Haruven muttered and the Avengers exchanged confused glances while the wizard stood up and hurried over to the front door.
When he opened it he was almost pushed back by a gust of strong, cold wind. He raised his hand to protect his face and looked up. The sky was flashing with lightning, the howling of the wind periodically broken by the sound of thunder clashing among clouds.
'Someone is opening the Bifröst!' Urd shouted over the wind and Ven's heart stopped and he ran out of the Café.
"Ven!" Bruce called after the bartender, jumping to his feet and running after Ven.
"Foolish?" Tony asked as they all hurried after Bruce and Haruven.
"Brave and foolish," Natasha added and they ran out on the street.
They looked around and found Ven in the middle of the main street looking at something in the sky. They ran over to him, pushing against the hurricane-like wind, the cold gusts beating against their bodies and pushing them back.
"Ven, you have to get back!" Bruce shouted but Ven apparently didn't hear him.
They looked up to see what he was looking at and found that the eye of this storm was above the Avengers Tower. With a clash of thunder a big ray of light hit the top of the tower and a huge wave of power pushed the Avengers back.
"Haruven!" they cried out and looked up only to gape at the sight of a see-through emerald shield in front of the wizard, unable to see the small, relieved smile tilting Ven's lips or hear the almost hysterical laugh which escaped Ven's parted lips.
"He's back."
cut
Who came to Earth?
Find out in the next installment: "Reunited"