Chapter 5: Forging Bonds
Tony and Hardings moved about, attempting to reconstruct the machine with the help of several assistants and other scientists that had been liberated from the compound. With the help of Stark's abundant resources they were already halfway to the end of their available schematics.
They had assembled it in a circular room inside of the recently reconstructed Stark Tower. Bright lighting surround them giving them a clear view of everything that occurred within. The metal skeleton of the machine sat in the very center, constantly growing as more work was completed. Tables filled with tech and tools were placed within easy reach of the workers. If Tony wasn't so desperate, he would have said that everything was going well. As it was, every minute that passed seemed like an eternity as he worked.
"Maybe it'll help if we reconfigure the flux vortex to lock onto the Tesseract's energy signature," suggested Hardings. "Since Gordon took it with him, whatever timeline they ended up in will have two of them. That should make things easier on us."
"That could work," replied Tony. "But if something similar happened in some other day and age we would find ourselves back at square one. I'd rather not take that risk when we have so little time."
She shrugged as a set of doors slid open to allow Toruun to pass through. Tony looked at her. "What did you find out?"
She looked at him with poorly concealed wonder and excitement. "A lot. But I'll let dad tell you."
A second later, the doors slid open once more and a giant walked walked through into the room. His head was the birthplace of a head of long, flowing gold hair and a massive beard. Kind blue eyes twinkled on a battle scarred face. Tony could never forget that face. Outside of the massive beard, Thor hadn't changed one bit. Even his clothes had remained, his hammer swinging at his side.
Toruun had never looked more like an Asgardian than when she stood beside her father. Blue cloth cover his legs and torso while golden armor incased her around her waist, wrists, legs, and torso. A golden winged helmet sat snugly on her head while a crimson cape swirled behind her. The handle of her sword peeked over her shoulder.
Tony stared in wonderment at his old friend. "Thor! What are you doing here?"
"My old friend," said the Asgardian King as he moved forward to trap his old friend in a bone crushing hug. "I heard that mischief was afoot and came to lend my aid."
"Thank you. What we really need is a power source. Do you have anything on par with the Tesseract?"
Thor turned serious. "I'm afraid that I have discovered yet more mischief. Behold, the Tesseract." With that, he reached into his cape and produced a small black wooden box. Flipping open the lid, they were suddenly illuminated by blue light radiating from a small cube.
Tony stared at it flabbergasted. "B-but that isn't possible! I know what I saw! Even the energy readings we discovered said that it was the real deal! There are two Tesseracts?"
"I do not know, old friend. I fear there is something sinister afoot. I have tasked Heimdall with scouring the nine realms for any sign of your wards but I fear it shall come to naught."
Hardings stepped forward. "Hey Stark, remember what we were talking about earlier? About there being two Tesseracts wherever they went? Maybe something like that happened with them. Maybe this isn't the first time those two have time traveled."
Tony considered the possibility. "I don't know. I don't really see what there is here worth coming back in time for, but we should consider the possibility. And I doubt that they could break into Asgard's vault in any era, present or in the future." He turned back to the hulking Asgarding. "Thank you for bring us this information. Thank you for your help."
Thor smiled. "Anything for you, old friend. Midgard needs the Avengers. If you seek aid, you need but ask. Besides-" he smirked and glanced at Toruun. "I can't just leave my future son to his fate, now can I?"
"DAD!" She yelled as she turned bright red.
000000
The Quinjet flew quietly through the air as the land passed by beneath them. It was different from the ship that James and Francis were accustomed to. The one they used was sleek and black. This one was more squat and square. Its red and white paint job was well done with the iconic Avengers' 'A'standing proudly on the wall outside.
Inside sat the boys, along with Steve, Clint, and Natasha. Tony had flown ahead since his armor was faster than the jet. The other Avengers had remained behind on standby. Clint and Natasha sat in the pilot seats while Steve leaned against the their chairs and regarded the boys near the back.
"They know more than they're telling," said the blonde quietly.
"What was your first clue?" Returned Hawkeye sarcastically.
"Simmer down boys," smirk Natasha. "Wether they are or not, it doesn't matter if they won't tell us. I could probably get the information out of them but I doubt you'd like my methods, Steve."
"Let's just try talking to them first," replied the super soldier. "If we can get them to trust us, maybe they'd be more willing to talk."
"What do you propose?"
Steve turned to face the boys. "Hey, Archer!" He called, causing Francis to look up. "Do you know how to fly a plane?" He nodded. "Good. Black Widow needs to stretch out before we get there. Take over for her." He turned back to his friends. "Find some common ground, try to relate to them." With that, he turned and walked into the back room.
As Francis stood, he glanced over at James and saw him staring at something in his lap with a sad smile. Glancing down at the redhead's lap, he felt a small smile creeping up on him. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before continuing on towards the pilots. Natasha handed him the headset and moved back. Getting down on the ground, she began her stretches, sending a glance towards James. As she noticed his actions, she frowned.
Moving silently, she stood and crept up behind him. Reaching over his shoulder, her hand flashed out and grasped a slip of paper before pulling back. "What do we have here?" She asked as she gazed down at it and James jumped to his feet.
"Give that back!" He said angrily. Natasha stared down at the paper and couldn't help but smile. It was a photograph of two people. The first was obviously James in civilian clothes. He wore a grey tee-shirt and jeans with a pair of running shoes. Sitting on top of his head was an old, worn down Dodger's hat with its bill lifted to reveal his smiling face. Leaning against him with her arms wrapped around him was a girl. She had long golden hair braided down her back and sparkling blue eyes. She wore a sky blue tank top, jeans with holes at the knees, and purple flip flops that hung lightly on her feet. The expression on her face told Natasha that the moment the picture was taken was one of the happiest in that girl's life, and she had a feeling that a kiss was just beyond the frozen time.
Slowly, she allowed the boy to pull the photo from her grasp. "Is that your girlfriend?" He blushed and looked away, but never the less nodded. "She's very pretty. What's her name?"
James hesitated before replying. "Toruun."
"Interesting name. What's she like?"
His expression turned wistful. "She's the most amazing person I've ever met. She's so kind and strong. Arrogantly proud, but that's because she has such a strong will. She's the most important thing to me in my life."
Natasha smiled at the sheer heartwarming corniness of his statement. "You must be very lucky. I'm sure your parents are proud."
He blinked and swung his gaze around to stare at her. Licking his lips, he spoke. "Well, I guess I wouldn't know. I-if you were my mom, would you be?"
She tilted her head, puzzled by the question. "If I was your mother? Definitely. You seem like the kind of kid I would boast about to my friends about every day." He turned away to try and hide the proud smile that was threatening to burst forth upon his face. Natasha smiled once again. "So where is she?" She gestured towards the photo.
His expression fell. "Home. I'll see her if- when I get back."
She chose not to comment on his statement. "You know, you remind me of someone. It's just something about you, you know a feeling. There's something about the way you look and move that just screams 'Steve'."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you." The pair turned around to face Steve as he smiled at them. "It isn't just the hair either. It's the way you both hold yourselves, it's like a wildcat. So relaxed and aloof, yet oh so dangerous. I don't feel like either one of you could harm anyone. You just have that harmless aura around you that makes me want to drop my guard. If I didn't know you, I probably would, up until the point you put a bullet in my head."
"Awww, how sweet!" Said Natasha with a smile. "Hey Steve, check out this picture! The kid here's got a girlfriend! She's way prettier than any of those girl that I was trying to hook you up with, and he did it solo. What does that say about you?"
"It says that I don't have time for a relationships and that I don't want the ones involved getting hurt. Not all of us can have a beautiful assassin girlfriend that just happens to be a coworker. We can't all be as lucky as Clint." The three of them froze, James glancing between the two of them as the full meaning of the words hit them all.
"Steve, are you... Jealous?" Asked the Black Widow in shock.
"I-uh, n-no! I-" Steve was saved from more potential embarrassment by laughter suddenly erupting loudly from the front. They all turned to see the two archers gasping for breath as Clint wiped away a small tear.
"Man, that is too funny!" Chuckled Clint. "I've heard of people making all sorts of explosives but one that tosses marinara sauce everywhere is a new one!"
"Yeah well, needless to say, Azari was not very happy with me after he tried to grab some late-night ice cream," said Francis as he continued his story.
"How are things going up here?" Asked Steve, extremely glad for the change of subject.
Clint turned to face him. "We'll be landing in roughly a minute. You guys just missed one Hell of a story. I love this kid! You need to hang around here more often, Franky my boy!"
"Be glad to." Francis consciously avoided James's eyes, knowing he was going to suffer later for revealing so much. At least he hadn't let it slip just who they were. Yet.
"The facility will be coming into view in three. Two. One." No sooner had Clint finished speaking did they pass a rise and found themselves gazing at one of Stark Enterprise's many branches around the world.
Or at least what was left of it.
Where a great building had once stood now sat a burning pile of rubble. Explosions still rocked the area, raining debris everywhere. People ran about, trying to evacuate before they lost all chance to escape. Iron Man was nowhere to be seen.
The group within the Quinjet stared in horror at the devastation. "I think we may have a problem," commented Clint.
End of Chapter