Hey ya'll, I was going to post this chapter right away, but then I decided I didn't like it, and I've rewritten it a few times. I like it now, and I think you guys will too. We're getting close to the stand off and everyone knows it! (P.S. Don't think HYDRA and HAMMER don't have a few more tricks up their sleeves, because they do.) Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter! I took my little sister to see the Avengers again. She cried when Coulson was killed, and cried out "Myeuh-muh!" when Thor found Mjölnir, which made me elbow her pretty hardly in the shoulder. Can't take kids anywhere these days, what is this, Mystery Science Theater 3000? Ah well...
Disclaimer: It's days like this I wish I owned Marvel... Well, I wish that pretty much every day. But I don't.
Dr. Fleischer stared at his notes in front of him, before reaching for the tissue box and taking two or three of them. He blew his nose very loudly, earning a semi disgusted look from one of the medical interns. He muttered in German under his voice and continued to work on the equation occasionally sniffling or coughing. He had a cold, and he felt miserable.
It was surprising to him, that someone who was so brilliant, and obviously important, could feel so low and miserable due to the common cold. He let out a sigh before he erased everything he had done in the past hour. It was all shit, he never got good work done when he was sick, and he knew it.
"Dr. Fleischer?" he looked up at the black haired intern who had been flitting around the lab for the past few weeks.
"Yes?" he asked her, the sound of his voice sounded a lot less smooth than he had hoped, and more congested. That was it, when he got home; he was working on a cure for the common cold.
"You asked me to tell you when it was 3:15." she said and he nodded, remembering that.
"Thank you Laura." he said, smiling at the intern who smiled back at him before holding out a Styrofoam cup.
"I thought you could use some tea on the way to your doctor's appointment." she said and he took it from her gratefully. "It's cinnamon clove." she said and he nodded as he slipped his lab coat off.
"Thank you again." he said as he sipped it. He finished getting his things and went to the elevator, preparing to leave for his doctor's appointment. His cold must have been worse than he thought because his head had started pounding.
He got to the parking lot where his car was and got into the driver's seat before reaching across to the glove compartment and taking out a bottle of aspirin he kept in there. He opened it and sighed to himself when he saw it was empty before tossing it back into the glove compartment. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot before he started to drive.
The headache was getting worse he noticed as he drove, he had to turn off the radio and took a drink from the cup of tea Laura had given him, but nothing seemed to help, the light was starting to hurt his eyes, he squinted, trying to keep his eyes on the road as the pain intensified, making it feel like his skull was splitting in half.
He groaned, shutting his eyes for a moment as he squeezed the bridge of his nose, then opened his eyes again. The moment however was all that was needed, as a large black SUV collided with the side of the car. His steering wheel airbag went off, thus making the headache a lot worse; he held his head, trying to rub his temples when his door opened.
"Let's go scumbag." a male voice said as they pulled the seatbelt off of him and yanked him out of the car. Opening his eyes he realized he was staring face to face with Clint Barton.
"Now I know I'm sick- You're dead!" Fleischer said, wincing at how loud his voice seemed as he stumbled along with Barton who was dragging him to the car.
"It just said casualties, not who or how many." Hawkeye said as he shoved Fleischer into the back seat of the SUV.
"This is the guy?" a male voice asked as the door slammed behind Dr. Fleischer. Hawkeye got into the front seat and the driver started to drive.
"That's him," a female voice said from the driver's seat. He opened his eyes, red hair- it had to be the Black Widow. He shut his eyes again; he was in so much pain right now. "He's probably got a bit of a headache. Our girl on the inside made sure of that."
"Laura works for you?" he groaned.
"Is that what she's calling herself these days?" Hawkeye asked with a chuckle and Black widow let out a small amused sound.
"Give me your hands." the agent that was in the back seat with him said as he grabbed Dr. Fleischer's hands, and a moment later they were bound with a thick rope that he couldn't pull off if he tried. The saving grace was when the dark hood was put over his head, effectively blocking all lights.
After the car ride to god knows where he was led to a building, down a hallway, around some more halls, and into a room where he was pushed, rather unceremoniously into a metal chair. The bag was removed from his head, and he found himself in a room with bright fluorescent lights. He groaned and tried to put his head down on the table in front of him, only to have someone walk into the room, slamming the door both open and closed.
He jumped both times the door closed and opened his eyes. Standing in front of him were two figures, one of whom he recognized not from ever meeting him, but from the news, from magazines, and tabloids, and the internet, standing on the right was Tony Stark himself, his arms crossed over his chest, and looking none too amused, while on the left, holding a file, and wearing a pair of leather gloves was someone he recognized from actually meeting said person.
"I see our work was successful." he managed to say through the splitting headache.
"I thought you said he'd be in too much pain to talk." Mrs. Banner said to Tony Stark who sighed.
"Guess we'll have to work on that in the next batch." Tony said nonchalantly. "Since you're talking and everything, maybe you can tell us a thing or two about this little party tomorrow night- unless of course you weren't invited..."
"Of course he was invited Tony." Mrs. Banner said. "If he wasn't, that'd be pretty embarrassing." she chuckled as she looked at Dr. Fleischer who looked at the two of them.
"That's true, seeing as he's the one who figured out how to turn people into Norman's own little slave army."
"That's funny, I heard Fury described them as uh, Personal Flying Monkeys." she shrugged as she sat on the end of the table.
"Oh yeah..." Tony grinned as he thought about that, then turned to Dr. Fleischer and grinned. "You met one of them earlier, Hawkeye. See, Loki had this scepter, when you put it against someone's chest, it would-"
"Tony, get on with it." a voice came over the intercom making Dr. Fleischer wince, and try to shrink away, into the wall.
"Oh look at that, he's still sensitive." Tony said and Mrs. Banner looked up from what she was reading, and nodded.
"So he is."
"So, tell me, Doc, you planning on telling us what we need to know?"
"Verpiss dich." Dr. Fleischer spat at Tony who looked at Mrs. Banner who was now looking at the doctor with interest.
"Did he just tell me to-"
"Yeah, he did." Minnie nodded, before standing up and kneeling down in front of the doctor. "Listen up, Versager." she said and he looked at her with hatred in his eyes. "You might want to consider changing your attitude, because that headache isn't going to go away on its own, not for a good eight to sixteen hours. Now, we've got the cure to it, and we've got a sound system wired to this room, ready to fill it full of the darkest, loudest black metal straight from Norway, and let me tell you, I'm a metal fan, and some of this stuff scares the crap out of me." she smiled. "Now you've got another choice-"
"This one's my favorite." Tony grinned and Mrs. Banner smiled at him before looking back at Hans.
"We're all really hoping you pick this one too, as you remember, a few years ago I was pregnant, you all found that out after you kidnapped me, and threatened to cut the baby out of me so that you could get your hands on the DNA of my- at the time- boyfriend. Well, we're married now, and as it turns out, he's still pretty pissed about that. He's asked me to give him some time alone with you. I've considered letting him have that time too. But I thought, why don't we give Dr. Fleischer a chance to cooperate. So you've got three choices. Get the cure, and cooperate; Get another dose, and have the worst headache you've ever felt while listening to Nordic black metal, and never sleep right for the rest of your life; or have a little alone time with my husband, who is both extremely pissed off, and dying to finally meet you. What'll it be?"
The door opened and Dr. Fleischer looked over Mrs. Banner's shoulder to see Bruce Banner leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. He raised his eyebrows and slipped his glasses off before sliding them into his front pocket, Mrs. Banner looked back at Hans who looked from her to Tony and then to Bruce again, and she sighed. "Looks like he's made his choice." she said as she stood up. "He's all yours hon." she said to Bruce who started to take his watch off.
"Ich werde zusammen, bitte, ich werde dir alles erzählen!" Dr. Fleischer said and Tony looked at Mrs. Banner who put her hand on her husband's shoulder. He stopped and looked back at her as she turned back to Dr. Fleischer who looked horrified.
"Good choice doc." she said, before looking at the other two. "He says he'll cooperate."
"Can we pretend for a minute that you don't know what he said?" Tony asked and she seemed to be weighing the option while sweat formed on Dr. Fleischer's brow before she shook her head.
"If he gives us any wrong information, I'll let you two have the first round." she said and Dr. Fleischer looked at her with fear and curiosity.
"The first round?" he asked.
"What, you thought we were the only two pissed at you?" Bruce asked as he grabbed Dr. Fleischer by the arm and hoisted him up.
I watched as Bruce and Tony hauled Dr. Fleischer out of the room, and I looked at Steve who had his fists clenched, and Thor who had his arms crossed over his chest, looking down, deep in thought, with an angered expression on his face. Logan was standing there as well, also looking none too happy, along with Clint, Natasha and Peter. "He doesn't deserve a choice." Natasha said and I looked at her before looking to everyone else.
"You all feel that way?" I asked and they nodded making me smile softly. "Because he tried to cut my baby out of me?" I asked and they nodded. "That's sweet guys, but, as much as we hate him- and trust me, there isn't anyone who hates him as much as I do- for now, he gets a choice. And as long as he continues to make the right choice, he will continue to be useful to us. The minute he isn't useful to us, that's the minute I make a choice. What to do with him." I smiled gently at that.
"But for the time being, Steve, Natasha, Logan," I nodded to the three of them. "Go along with Tony and get some information out of him, Clint, I want you to put out a bulletin to our people in Canada, tell them that Dr. Fleischer is cooperating and giving us tons of information." I smiled and Clint let out a small laugh before he walked over and gave me a quick one armed hug before he walked away. "Thor, you can come with me and Bruce to drop off the girls, and Peter, I want you to go to Stark Tower with Dallas, get pictures, do detective work, all that fun stuff, and report back here when you've got enough, okay?" I asked and he saluted before walking away.
"Your bravery amazes me." Thor said and I looked at him curiously. "You not only are brave enough to send off your children when you know battle is imminent, but you overcome your fear to get information from a man who scares you to your very core. On Asgard we have such a warrior, known as Balder the Brave, he is a friend. Songs and legends of him have been shared over time, though I feel, by the end of this, he shall be rivaled for his title." he said with a smile on his face. I looked at him for a moment before I threw my arms around him. He hugged me back with a chuckle before I let go, he reached out and wiped the tears that were falling down my cheeks and shook his head. "Do not cry Minnie, you have much more than Norman Osborn could possibly hope to have. Your friends will not let you down." he said and I let out a small laugh.
"Can I try something Thor?" I asked and he nodded as I took my gloves off. I hesitated before I lay a hand on his arm. "Do you feel anything?"
"I feel your hand upon my arm." he said as he looked at me. "But I do not feel the weakness many have said to feel upon your touch."
"That's good to know." I nodded. "Thank you Thor, for trusting me." I said as I slipped the gloved back on.
"Is everything okay?" Bruce asked when he came upstairs.
"It's fine." I smiled at him and he nodded before he wrapped his arm around my waist.
"The girls will be fine there." he said to me softly and I nodded.
"I know, it's the best place for them." I replied. After picking up the girls we drove to Xavier's school for gifted youngsters.
"Mrs. Banner," I smiled at the old man in his wheelchair who had come to greet us at the front of the school. Kayla was in my arms and clinging to my neck very tightly. "It's very good to meet you finally."
"It's nice to meet you too Professor." I said to him with a smile. "May I introduce Thor Odinson, my husband Bruce, and our daughter, Makayla Banner." Kayla gasped suddenly and I looked at her as she stared at Professor Xavier in shock.
"Hi, you must be Mrs. Banner, and Dr. Banner" a pretty red headed woman said as she came out of the mansion and shook my hand. "I'm Jean Grey, it's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too." I smiled at her as I shook her hand.
"Hi." Bruce shook her hand.
"It's good to see you Dr. Grey." Amanda smiled at her and Dr. Grey hugged her tightly.
"It's good to have you back." she said and then looked at Kayla who was staring at Professor Xavier. "This must be Makayla."
"Hm?" she looked up, and then smiled at Dr. Grey. "Hi." she said with a smile.
"If you want I'm prepared to show you all around." she said and I nodded.
"After your tour I'd like to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Banner." Professor Xavier said and Dr. Grey nodded. We walked around the school and the grounds, Dr. Grey telling us all about both while Amanda would wave or talk to some of her friends at times.
"This place is amazing." I said softly to Bruce who was holding my hand.
"Is there anything we should know about her allergies or anything?" Dr. Grey was asking with a pretty woman with darker skin and white hair came into the room.
"Hi, my name is Ororo Munroe, I just came to tell you their room is ready." she smiled at us.
"I asked Storm to put us in a room together." Amanda explained and Bruce wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a small squeeze.
"Thank you." I smiled at Ms. Munroe who smiled back at me and then looked at Kayla who was sitting on Thor's shoulders.
"Hi there, you must be Kayla. Amanda's told me all about you." she smiled.
"Did she tell you my name is My-Kayla Warrior of Midsgard?" she asked and Ororo laughed lightly.
"She might have mentioned it." she said and then looked at Thor, and then back at Kayla. "Who is this? Another warrior?"
"No, he's the pony I ride into war." she said and I laughed as Bruce chuckled and Amanda grinned.
"The small warrior's wish is my command." Thor said with a grin and Ororo smiled at him. "I am Thor." he offered her a hand and she shook it.
"She doesn't have any allergies we're aware of." I said to Dr. Grey who wrote it down. "She's mostly potty trained, but she does have accidents, I put some night time pull ups in her bag, uh, Amanda knows most of her quirks, and she is really, really great with her, so thank you for putting them in the same room, it'll be good for Kayla to be so close to her, um, sometimes she can't sleep at night, and she has a security blanket, but, um, what she can't sleep, she's a really big Elvis fan, so if she could just hear a song by him, it knocks her right out..." I felt myself starting to get choked up and I let out a deep breath as Bruce put his arm around my shoulders.
"I can sing the Elvis, it'll be fine." Amanda said and I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her. "Don't worry, everything will be fine." she said as she hugged me.
"She's extremely intelligent for her age, she takes after her mother," Bruce said and I smiled at him. "We gave you the contact information in case... Well, in case. The information we gave you is for Minnie's parents on the west coast. They're good people, and they love the girls."
"That brings me to another point," Dr. Grey said and looked at Amanda. "No offence sweetie."
"None taken, technically, I'm not a Banner, but my father isn't in the picture, you guys know that." she said with a shrug. "Worst comes to worst, I'm going with Kayla." she said and Dr. Grey nodded before looking at me.
"Your parents know that?"
"Yeah." I nodded and she nodded.
"Okay, that's everything." she said and then smiled. "Why don't I show the girls to their room and let you two go talk to the Professor?" she asked and I looked at Bruce who nodded. We went to the office that Dr. Grey had directed us to while Thor went with Kayla and Amanda to see their new room. Bruce raised a hand to knock on the door, but a voice called out from inside before he even had the chance.
"Come in." the voice of Professor Xavier was calm and collected, and gentle from the other side of the door. Bruce opened the door and we walked inside, closing the door behind us.
After our talk with Professor Xavier we went back to the main hallway where the girls and Thor were coming downstairs. "Mommy, how long are we going to stay here?" Kayla asked as Thor took her off of his shoulders.
"Just for a few days, okay baby?" I asked as I knelt down next to her.
"And then you'll come get me?"
"That's right sweetie," I said as I brushed her hair from her face. "Mommy and Daddy will both come to get you." I smiled at her.
"You're going to have fun here." Bruce said and he knelt down in front of her.
"Why aren't you staying too?"
"Because, we've got to do some work, and..." Bruce trailed off slightly before he pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "Because Mommy and Daddy have to go save the world." he said with a small smile making her eyes widen as she looked at him, and then to me.
"Really?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "But when the world is safe in a few days, we'll come back, and we'll get you okay?"
"Okay." she beamed and I laughed as she hugged me tightly. "I know you'll win." she said and kissed me. I smiled at her and she hugged Bruce tightly, and kissed him. "You're gonna get all big and green huh Daddy?"
"Yeah baby, I'm gonna get all big and green." he laughed.
"And you're gonna squish those guys huh?" she asked and he nodded.
"You bet I am."
"And Thor's gonna squish them, and Uncle Tony's gonna zap them, right?" she asked and I laughed.
"You've got it all figured out pretty girl." I said as Bruce and I both stood up. Bruce held her in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Draw us lots of pictures while you're here okay?" I asked and she nodded.
"Do you have to go now?" she whined and I felt tears filling my eyes.
"I'm afraid so." I said and she looked up at me and then smiled.
"Don't cry Mommy, you're going to win." she smiled and I smiled before hugging her again tightly.
"My-Kayla, Amanda, we shall come back for you in a few days time." Thor said to the two of them and they nodded as Bruce put Kayla down and hugged Amanda tightly.
"Stay safe, okay? And don't let Tony do anything stupid, and don't let Piotr do anything dangerous, and keep an eye on Mom, okay?" Amanda said into Bruce's shoulder as she hugged him.
"I promise." he said softly to her.
"I love you." she said to him as I fussed over Kayla.
"I love you too." he said softly. "And I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time about Piotr." she laughed and pulled away from him.
"God, now I know you're scared." she said and he rolled his eyes making her giggle. She walked over and hugged me and I hugged her back.
"We'll see you in a few days Sweetheart." I said and she nodded into my shoulder.
"You better." she said and I laughed. "You're the only mom I've ever had, you know?" she asked and I nodded before I gently kissed the top of her head. After Thor said good bye we went back to the car and left the school, I sat in the back seat while Thor and Bruce both sat in the front.
"Tony?" I asked when he answered his phone. "What did he give you?"
"More like what didn't he give us?" Tony asked with a small chuckle. "You'd be surprised how twitchy he gets when we let him think Bruce is right on the other side of a door. Oh, by the way? You're going to need a dress."
Hey ya'll, hope you enjoyed! I know I said Betty would be in this chapter, but I didn't like the way it was written before, like I said, so I rewrote it, and she just didn't fit with this chapter, so I had to cut her out. She'll be in the story soon enough, but it might not be until the end.
Anyways, don't forget to review!