Hey ya'll, sorry this chapter is so short, I got onto my computer today and something really weird had happened to the file I keep this story under, I don't even know how to explain it, between every letter there was a space, and between every word there was three spaces, it's been a pain in the ass trying to get everything looking normal again, and I'm STILL working on it. I just worked on this chapter so I would be able to post it. But, here it is, a little nod to HYDRA and HAMMER at the end, seeing as we haven't checked in with them in a couple chapters. I'm currently watching 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' which I love, and always puts me in a weird mood for a few days.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, I would hope most of you know that by now! ;)
The employees at the private airport were very accommodating. When I told them my name they instantly made themselves busy taking our bags, seeing if we needed anything and making sure we were comfortable while we waited for Felipe's friend to arrive. When he did, it was in the back of a nice town car. One of the employees walked over to me and led me over to him while Bruce continued his conversation with Erik on some of his early work in the Gamma field, though his eyes followed me; as if to make sure this friend wouldn't suddenly pull a gun on me and use me as leverage for Tony's brain or something... Not that I was scared of that happening or anything.
Felipe's friend was short for a man, about my height, maybe an inch or two taller, though on inspection of his clothes I noticed he wore boots with a small heel to them, making him look a little taller, kind of like Tom Cruise. Unlike Tom Cruise however he had short, perfectly styled sandy blonde hair, and blue eyes. He was slim and had a well fitted suit on which looked rather 70's with his boots, but I kept my mouth shut as he extended his hand and smiled at me. "You must be the famous Minnie Strong." he said as he shook my hand.
"You must be Anthony." I said as I shook his hand.
"Ant, please." he smiled. "It's great to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you."
"Well apparently not enough, or you'd have heard my name is Banner now." I said with a smile and he continued to smile.
"That's an odd name, Banner Strong." he said and I rolled my eyes with a small smile. "No, I know, your husband I presume?" he looked at Bruce and I nodded.
"That's right." I said. "So Ant huh? Dallas called you Tony."
"Dallas would call me Tony." he shrugged. "It doesn't really work for me, I prefer Ant, it's been my nickname since I was a kid, which isn't to say Tony doesn't work for some people, like- Well, like Tony Stark." he nodded at Tony, and then dropped his voice. "Is that really Tony Stark?" he questioned and I smiled gently.
"It sure is." I said softly, and then cleared my throat. "Look, Ant, about us being your passengers, it's not-"
"It's cool, Dallas explained everything. As far as the government is concerned, I've never heard of you. One of my assistants is taking the RV and dumping it on the side of the road, there will be a set of tire tracks leading away from the RV to look like you all hopped in a different car and took off, and there's about twelve and a half sworn statements from some people at a diner about two hours north of here stating that you guys had lunch there." he continued. "Now, let's get this party airborne."
"Twelve and a half?" I asked raising my eyebrow and he smiled.
"One of them is very small." he said simply.
"You know," Tony said walking over to us, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and looked at me. "I still say we should go to Dubai. We can go to the house there, and just chill out, come on, you know as well as I do, we all need a vacation."
"Dubai is nice this time of year." Ant nodded and I rolled my eyes.
"No Dubai? How about France? Venice? Anywhere you want to go Min, anywhere." he said as he squeezed my shoulder.
"I want to go home Tony," I said with a sigh. He seemed to understand that and nodded.
"Well Kiddo," he said comfortingly. "You're about to get that wish." with that he smiled gently and I smiled gratefully at him. We were led onto the plane, Ant making sure to introduce himself to everyone, and smiling very charmingly at Natasha, making Clint glare at him darkly. When we were in the air Kayla started complaining about her ears hurting so I gave her a piece of cinnamon gum, which was one of her favorite treats.
"Clint, Clint!" she ran over to him and pulled herself into his lap.
"Hey Kayla, what's up?" he asked with a smile.
"Will you watch the kitty movie with me now?" she asked and he sighed before looking at me. "You promised!" she pleaded and he rolled his eyes before he nodded.
"Alright, I'll watch the kitty movie with you." he sighed.
"You're a good man Legolas." Tony said as he clapped Clint on the shoulder. Kayla jumped off his lap and ran over to me.
"Mommy, Clint wants to watch the kitty movie with me!" she said and I nodded as I pulled my laptop out of its bag. I set it up on the small table in front of Clint and opened the video file. Kayla climbed into the chair between Clint and Thor and shoved her thumb into her mouth as the movie started.
"I need to talk to you." Tony said as he sat down next to me holding a file.
"What's that?"
"It's your file." he said as I took it. "I took it when I was at SHIELD headquarters, got a couple of good ones before they burned everything."
"Why take it?" Bruce asked as I handed it to him.
"Why do any of what I do?" he asked.
"Because he can." I answered, picking up a few pictures. "Wow this is creepy." I muttered. There were pictures of me at a press conference with Tony, him onstage, me standing to the side of the stage with Pepper, there was a picture of me on the phone, the wind whipping through my messed up looking French Twist, the only time it got messy like that was when Tony ruffled my hair, which he did often. There were also pictures of me with Bruce, one of the night we first kissed, I smiled as I looked at the picture of me in that dress. "I guess I did look good in that dress." I said and Bruce looked at me like I was crazy.
"Did you ever doubt it?" he asked and I smiled before I kissed him gently. "There's pictures of us in Nadine." he sighed.
"Yeah SHIELD watched you guys pretty closely, but that's not the point I'm trying to make right now." Tony said as he leaned over and pointed at a line on the page.
"Head caseworker: Agent Bluefox..." I muttered as I read it. "Who is Agent Bluefox?"
"AKA," Bruce continued to read. "Ida Strong."
"There's no- You've got to be-"
"Is that your-"
"MeeMaw." I breathed. I stood up and walked over to where Ant was taking to Steve. "Can I borrow your phone?" I asked and he pulled it from his inner pocket.
"Of course." he said and I took it. I dialed a number and held the phone to my ear and waited a few moments.
"Hello?"
"A- Agent Bluefox?" I asked timidly.
"Well that sounds like my favorite granddaughter."
"MeeMaw, you know you're not supposed to pick favorites, it's not fair to- Wait, what am I doing?" I asked and then sighed. "I can't believe this." I said and she chuckled.
"Oh honey, there's a whole lot more for you to find out when you get to Los Angeles." she said. "By the way, how is my favorite great granddaughter?"
"You're already calling her your favorite when you haven't even met her?" I asked with a small laugh. "God MeeMaw, it sounds like you know everything there is to know about me and what I've been up to."
"Of course I do, I control your file, and nothing gets added to it that I don't know about. I assume Anthony has given you a copy."
"I just started reading it." I told her.
"Good girl. Finish it, and I'll be there when you touch down, and we'll have a whole lot more to talk about." she informed me.
"MeeMaw, how did you get involved with this?" I asked and she smiled.
"I've been involved since I was younger than you sweetheart." she said before hanging up.
"Thanks Ant." I said and he nodded as he took the phone back.
"I couldn't find her file, though considering she practically invented SHIELD, I assume she could have destroyed her file years ago." Tony said with a shrug.
"I don't even know what to say right now." I sighed.
"What are you watching?" I heard Natasha ask, and Thor shush her. I turned and looked back at them.
"We're watching the kitty movie!" Kayla said and I rolled my eyes with a small smile.
"What are you up to?" Natasha asked walking over to Amanda.
"Reading." she said as she looked up at the obviously bored redheaded assassin. She pulled her feet off of the seat next to her and Natasha sighed as she sat down.
"Did I ever tell you about the time Clint and I were in Budapest?" she asked and Amanda slowly closed the book, looking at Black Widow with interest.
"Mr. Osborn," there was a knock on the door and the three people in the room, Norman, Leona and Dr. Fleischer looked up as the young man who had informed Norman of the Hulk's freak out that ended up being a diversion stood in the doorway.
"Ah, Agent Whatever," he said as he stood up. "Come in."
"Actually it's Agent Carlton- but Whatever's fine." the kid stumbled over his words nervously.
"Well, Whatever," Norman said looking at him. "What information have you brought us?"
"Erm, well, you asked me to look through the files of the people who offered up information regarding the cure, and to pick out a few of the more interesting cases, these were some of the most interesting cases I could find sir." he said as he handed over three files.
"Let's see, we've got a woman with superhuman resilience..." he said and shot the kid a look before dropping the file on the table. "We've got... The power of flight... Really Whatever, we're trying to break someone's soul, not help them elude us even more than they already are!"
"Like they could elude you even more?" Dr. Fleischer muttered and Norman shot him a dark look.
"Look at the last one Sir." Agent Carlton said and Norman tossed aside the second file before flipping open the third one. "Young girl from Mississippi with the ability to... Oh Whatever, this is perfect." Norman said with a grin before handing the folder to Leona. She looked it over, the twisted smile on her face growing deeper and deeper before she looked up.
"I want her." Leona said and Norman nodded.
"By all means darling. Take Dr. Failure, and go collect a blood sample."
"Excuse me?" Dr. Fleischer asked looking at Norman who looked at him darkly.
"Because of you, we lost one of our best assets. You have the chance to redeem yourself by ensuring his work does not go unfinished." Norman said simply, before he waved his hand at the two. "Go." he said as he made a 'Shoo' motion. Leona glared so darkly Agent Carlton nearly wet his pants before she grabbed the file and left. "Was there anything else?" Norman asked after a moment of silence from Agent Whatever.
"Uh, the Avengers sir, they were spotted in Northern Ohio eating lunch at a truck stop."
"Did we get a description on the car?"
"Yes sir, a long black van with tinted windows, much like the ones SHIELD uses." Agent Whatever continued.
"Agent Whatever, I want you to take a team, and go track them down." Norman said and Agent Whatever grinned.
"Me? Really?" he asked with a smile.
"I think you've got a good chance for moving up kid." Norman said before clapping the kid on the shoulder and looking at him dangerously. "Don't fuck it up."
"N-No Sir!" Agent Whatever said happily before he ran out of the room with a grin.
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