The Perfect One

by choejhulkp9

SHIELD. The Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division protects the world from a much weirder one. But they soon meet someone with a unique ability set that makes him a force of nature. One of Earth's mightiest heroes will turn into its last hope from total annihilation. You don't mess with Inhuman perfection.

10. Sensational and Uncanny

Here is chapter 10 of the Perfect One. Will goes with Dr. Banner to meet his cousin Jennifer Walters who will become a good friend and ally. She encounters a situation that makes her, and her cousin bond a lot closer. After that, Will's encounters a hidden group of people in the world with unique features like Inhumans but different. Enjoy!

Also, fun fact for those that need a more visual idea of what Will can do. Stephen and Robbie Amell did a movie for Netflix called Code 8. He's a sort of anti-hero/bad guy/protagonist telekinetic super in that movie and I can imagine is exactly how Will would act and behave in certain situations. Check it out. It's a fun popcorn flick and for those that need a sort of physical visual of Will Detmer in the Perfect One well there you go.

The Perfect One: One Sensational Situation and an Uncanny Encounter

January 2013: Triskelion SHIELD Headquarters, Washington DC

Inside one of the main mission hubs of the Triskelion, Will was meeting with some technicians, engineers, and analysts to discuss the AIM situation. After nearly three weeks of hard SHIELD work and missions to Europe, there were still a lot of AIM scientists in the wind. Enough that it made Fury and Hill nervous that they were still out there. Even though they had the entire AIM registry of people under their employment, the ones who weren't dead or in jail were at large and it was a sizeable part of the list. Clearly, the new leadership was being smart and went underground. There had been no trace of AIM since except for whispers and rumors but that was like chasing smoke. You didn't know where it would lead and so far, it was leading nowhere. They needed another approach which is what the meeting was about.

Joining the meeting was Natasha, Clint, and Captain Rogers. Considering the possible Extremis threat, it was a high-level case and was going to be handled by high level agents familiar with the enhanced and super. In walked Natasha and Clint in their SHIELD gear and Captain Rogers wearing his SHIELD Strike team suit. It was a dark blue and grey update to his old uniform with Kevlar-ballistic protection and matching helmet which was currently off at the moment.

"Nice suit, Cap but I think I miss the red and white." Will joked as the two smiled and shook hands. "Good to see you again, Cap."

"You too, Will. You look like you're doing well." Cap commented.

"Gifts of super soldier-dom. And I've been keeping busy. Shame it had to be situations like this for us to meet up again." Will said and Cap agreed. "But next time we meet up we should grab a beer and see how well your adjustment to the 21st century is going. I know Dr. Banners wouldn't mind tagging along."

"If you two are quite done with the date planning." Natasha interjected.

"Ah, what's the matter Nat. You can come to." Will told her. She gave him a death stare before it turned into a smile and hugged him. "Good to see you too, Nat."

"You should really shave the stubble on your face. I love you but it helps to keep a clean shaved faced." She quipped as Will rubbed the stubble he had on his jaw. He didn't have a heavy beard by any means but the stubble he usually kept on his face was kept clean and added to his charm.

"No, I think I'll keep it. I like it." Will replied as he hugged Clint. "Good to see you, Clint."

"You, too. It's been a while. Last time was that mission in Missouri." Clint commented as Will chuckled.

"Yeah, that was fun. Hopefully, another one comes up like that. But I didn't call you three to talk about old times or to catch up. That's just a fringe benefit. The reason I called you three here is to discuss AIM." Will led them over to the main touchscreen monitor that displayed all the information he and SHIELD had compiled on AIM's suspected movements since Killian's death. "It's been three weeks since Aldrich Killian's death and the official collapse of AIM. Now while the public has gone on thinking that everyone associated with the organization is arrested or dead, the truth is that the situation isn't resolved. There's still a lot of variables out in play."

"Can't imagine Director Fury is happy with that." Barton told him.

"And he's not. AIM is smart and they've gone to ground to plan their next move." He replied.

"How are you so sure they're planning their next move and aren't in hiding?" Steve wondered.

"Undercover work." Will tapped another part of the screen to bring up his Oliver Queen alias along with the contacts and information he's managed to gather on AIM scientists since Killian's death.

"While I'm proud of the work you put into your Oliver Queen alias, I always felt the name was weird." Nat commented which Will put in the back of his mind to get back to task.

"After the numerous raids SHIELD, Interpol and other agencies launched around the world to take down the remaining AIM sights led us with nothing, I decided to try another method that put me on AIM's tail in the first place. While I don't have anything definitive to act on now, I was able to meet and get whispers about a bunch of intermediators, arms dealers, smugglers, and traffickers who've been in contact with scientists and engineers from AIM. And we've managed to get the names of their two new heads." The screen showed old employee ID photos of a man and a woman. "Dr. George Tarleton and Dr. Monica Rappaccini are the new heads of AIM but from what I've gathered, Monica is clearly the leader of the two. The Scientist Supreme if you will."

"What do we know about them?" Clint asked.

"Enough that it makes me worry." Will enlarged the picture of slick-haired, glasses wearing man who honestly looked like the poster child for a meek scientist. "Dr. George Tarleton. Harvard and MIT graduate of advance robotics. Smart enough that I think he could even give Tony a run for his money only they're the complete opposite. From what I've gathered, Tarleton is smart and gifted but also has an issue with authority and power. He was rather colorful on his beliefs of Thor and of Aegis when we first showed up during the Battle of New York. Something along the lines of uncontrollable power taking away the light from humanity."

"He doesn't look very dangerous." Nat stated.

"And he's not in a fight but that's why he's a scientist. From what EDI was able to gather from AIM servers, a lot of what Tarleton was working on was advance robotic soldiers way more advance than the Hammer Drones. But out of the two, he's the one I'm least worried about." Will enlarged Monica's photo and brought up all the data on her. "She's the one that unnerves me. Monica Rappaccini holds various advance degrees from around the world in the field of genetics and bio-engineering."

"So, she's someone who could reproduce Extremis." Steve theorized.

"Reproduce or even perfect it given enough time. And on top of that, she's got a hunger for knowledge, an ego to match and no qualms with what lines need to be crossed. Absolutely zero conscience or moral safeguard." Will explained. "Believe it or not, she went to the same college as Dr. Banner did and even then, he said she was gifted but her lack of restraint made her dangerous."

"Which means if she's in charge than our jobs are going to get harder." Nat concluded.

"With AIM's collapse and SHIELD now chasing after them, she would have no qualms in selling AIM technology and science to the wrong people. I've notified the proper channels and everything, but we need to make them feel the pressure which is where we come in." Will swiped the screen, putting the pictures to the side to bring up a map of Europe with several points of interest highlighted. "These are new safehouses, labs, or allies we suspect might be in business with AIM scientists, but they won't stay operational for long if they keep moving. I've already got teams on route to the smaller locations while we tackle the one in Iceland."

"What's so special about this one?" Clint wondered.

"From the intelligence I've gathered and what EDI was able to hack, this one might be housing a huge underground lab AIM kept off the official records. It's isolated, remote, and satellite scans have picked up faint energy readings coming from the area so someone's home. This could be our chance to get some valuable intel and capture anyone we can. We leave in fifteen minutes. Quinjet, hangar bay 4." Will told them.

"Roger that." Steve replied as they left to get geared up. Will finished up with the engineers and analysts on other factors and variables for these missions before leaving. He returned to his room to get a large duffle bag before heading over to hangar 4 and getting into the Quinjet pilot seat to start pre-flight check. A few flipped switches and pushed buttons powered up the Quinjet's engines while prepping the helicopter blades just as Steve, Clint, and Natasha arrived with their gear. Clint hit the button by the ramp, closing it up before walking over and taking the co-pilot seat.

"Are we set?" Clint asked Will.

"Yeah. All systems are operational, and coordinates are locked in." Will replied.

"All right. Let's get out of here." Clint put his headpiece on. "SHIELD Tower 1, this is Quinjet 1125 in Hangar 4 requesting clearance to launch. Authorization Alpha-Detla-24."

"Authorization recognized. You are go for launch."

"Ok. Let's get out of here."

Iceland: AIM Secret Base

Will and Clint piloted the Quinjet out of the Triskelion. They followed the coordinates to Iceland and would take them about four hours. Halfway through the flight, Clint took over piloting the ship so Will could change into his Aegis gear. About ten minutes from arriving, Clint turned on the autopilot so Will could explain the last-minute details.

"Ok, we're closing in on the facility, but I use that term loosely. It's more of a fortress." Will brought up some STARK industries satellite images curtesy of Tony and Jarvis. Some were basic satellite images that detailed the surrounding area and others were hyperspectral images that managed to outline the AIM base built into a small mountain.

"Wow. Clearly you weren't kidding when you said this was important." Romanoff remarked.

"Yeah. Killian may have been an ego-maniac, but he was clever." Will added. "This place is buried into a mountain providing both cover and concealment along with motion sensors, cameras, drones, and turret emplacements set up along a mile-wide perimeter of the entrance. And that's just on the surface. Jarvis's scans were able to get a rough layout of the lower floors and they're designed to keep intruders from getting in. Missile launchers, lasers, turrets, and not to mention however many AIM henchmen are there."

"Starting to understand why you're having us handle this one." Steve told him.

"But there is still some good news." Will assured them.

"What good news?" Clint asked.

"All those counter measures are designed to stop a regular force of soldiers and SHIELD agents. Not a telekinetic inhuman who can compact a tank with a simple thought and three of the Avengers." Will declared with a smile. "It'll be fun. Between the four of us, we can handle anything AIM might have waiting for us. And I can cut loose with you guys here."

"You make this sound like a walk in the park." Natasha joked.

"Maybe a walk through Central Park but I'm sure we can handle it." Will told them. "I wouldn't be this cavalier if I didn't think we could handle this together. So, what's the plan of attack, Cap?"

"Keeping the element of surprise is going to be the key to this mission being successful. They'll put that base on lockdown the second they see something wrong and start getting rid of everything, so we need to maintain stealth for as long as possible, at least until we get into the base." Steve told them. "According to these scans, AIM will pick us up if we fly in, so we'll have to go in below radar and then we'll jump before we even hit the perimeter. Will, you'll fly us in under radar after that where Clint and Natasha can bypass their scanners and cameras."

"Easy targets." Clint remarked.

"Once we get to the entrance, that's when things will get loud. There's no way they won't see us coming at that point, so we'll ring the doorbell pretty loudly. Before we do that, Will, do you think you can flush out the landscape and destroy all the traps AIM has set up with their perimeter?" Steve asked and got a nod in response. "Do that before we head into the base. That way reinforcements can come in and secure the entrance. The four of us will then move in floor by floor and secure anything of importance."

Natasha tightened her gloves and activated her Widow's Bite which sparked with electricity. "Sounds like fun."

"ETA, six minutes." Will told them as they geared up.

Cap slipped on his helmet and put his shield on his back while Nat loaded her guns before securing them in her holsters. She then secured flash bombs, explosive pellets, smoke grenades, garrote wire, and ammo on her belt before hooking her batons onto her back and lastly making sure her Widow's Bite gauntlets were charged and ready to go. Clint sheathed a knife on his right ankle holster before locking an arrow cartridge on his left ankle. After that, he loaded his belt with a few extra goodies like explosive pellets and the sort along with another knife and some throwing stars before he secured his wristbow on his left wrist. It was essentially a mini crossbow on his wrist with a revolving wheel of small bolts he could fire and of course, being Clint, fire with pinpoint accuracy. He made sure it was ready before loading his quiver with all his specialized arrowheads and arrows. Tony made some adjustments, so it still maintained its slim profile while being worn and without hindering movement along with managing to hold a total of 50 arrows. Will made sure his Aegis suit was secure before putting on his pellet shoulder holsters and extended his right forearm blades to make sure they were working before they retracted. He strapped his flechettes around his ankles, put his Predator shurikens in their pocket before hooking the combi stick across his lower back. After that, he strapped his HK pistol on his thigh and then his quiver before collapsing his compound bow and putting it in his belt.

"While I'm proud you're taking on my love of archery, I can't help but feel like you're trying to steal my thing." Clint told Will.

"Come on, Clint. I'm good and learned from the best but you're still the ace sharpshooter. Besides, I thought imitation was the sincerest form of flattery." Will joked as EDI alerted him that they were closing in. "It's time."

"All right. Let's do this." Cap buckled his helmet and hit the ramp release button.

"EDI, pilot the Quinjet outside AIM's perimeter and wait for the signal to pick us up." Will told her.

"Understood." EDI replied, already taking over the Quinjet's autopilot.

"Ok…" Will pulled up his hood and his mask formed around his face. "…for those who've never flown through the air except in a plane, let me warn you now. It gets addicting but other than that, please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times. And please, no flash photography."

That earned a chuckle from Natasha as Cap counted them down from five. The second he hit one, they jumped out of the Quinjet and free-fell to the ground while EDI piloted the Quinjet away. The four Avengers kept quiet and composed as they were essentially skydiving without parachutes which would have made even regular SHIELD agents nervous. Will checked his HUD and the second they were below radar detection he slowed his and the others descent gradually, so the sudden force of stopping didn't knock anyone out or cause them to vomit. Once they were at the right altitude to avoid radar detection, Will flew through the air while levitating the others next to him.

They flew up high in the trees, avoiding all the landmines and tripwire sensors AIM had on the ground. They flew above a camera set up in a tree as Natasha threw a small electronic dart onto it, so it was fed on a loop. Clint took out a special electronic interference arrow and shot it at a tree about six meters to their left, so it fed those scanners and cameras on a loop. Will's HUD picked up another cluster of cameras coming up on their right, so he signaled Clint who took out another electronic interference arrow and fired it at another tree, making sure they were clear as they kept moving up. Natasha and Clint ran interference on all scanners, cameras, and motioned activated turrets that would have picked them up and since they were flying, they avoided all landmines and trip-mine sensors on the ground. After a few minutes of Will carefully flying and levitating the others, they arrived at the mountain entrance to the secret lab. Natasha placed another electronic dart on the cameras nearby as Will landed them by the door.

Will's HUD scanned the mountain side until he found the secret panel that allowed entrance into the lab. It had a palm scanner that also took a blood sample which was then followed by a retinal scan and then a number code needed to be put in. He activated his touchpad computer and synched it to the panel. "EDI, start uploading into their system. You'll be our eyes and ears in there and start copying all their data before they have a chance to delete it."

"I'll begin downloading everything to SHIELD's servers and backing it up to the Avengers Tower database. Dr. Banner is standing by at the tower should we encounter any data issues. At the moment, it would appear that the base is unaware of your presence here but the second you enter through the main entrance they will know." EDI told him.

"Then let's get in there." Cap nodded to Will.

"Roger that." Will cracked his neck and took a few steps back before taking a deep breath.

He held one hand toward the mountain with the other pointed at the surrounding forest. Both hands began glowing blue and the aura they generated was like a flickering fire. The psychic energy he was generating made some pebbles levitate off the ground, some of the trees shake and a small gust of wind picked up. He clenched the hand that was facing the forest and using telekinetic compression, all the surrounding terrain was flattened like someone took a steamroller the size of a football field and drove over the area. His power crushed trees, rocks, and destroyed every single turret, camera, sensor, scanner, and landmine which also caused small explosions all over the place for a mile.

With the hand facing the mountain, he twisted it and the entire 40-feet high, 5-foot thick, titanium-reinforced steel security door was forced open. It was split open down the middle and both broken halves of the security door swung inward to the base. What would have taken a lot of explosives or a Hulk, Will was able to do in a second.

"Remind me never to get on Will's bad side." Clint muttered to Natasha who agreed.

"Shall we?" Will gestured inside as Cap unhooked his shield from his back and led them in. The base's alarm went off as they jumped over the security turnstiles and raced down the hall. They turned the corner where 12 armed guards had arrived waiting for them. Will stepped in front as they opened fire, but their bullets stopped in mid-air, frozen by Will's telekinesis. The bullets then turned around and hit the guards who fired them, riddling them with holes like swiss cheese.

They continued their trek down the base, passing by some offices, storage closets and bathrooms as eight turrets began to deploy from the walls and ceilings. Firing .50 calibers rounds, the hailstorm of bullets was stopped by a blue telekinetic shield which was able to deflect them with ease. Cap threw his shield at the wall which ricocheted off and sliced through two turrets on the ceiling before it ricocheted again and sliced through another two. Clint pulled out four arrows and fired them all at once, disabling the remaining four turrets with ease. They continued their trek into the base until they came to a special elevator. Since EDI was in AIM's system, she was able to open it for them and take them down to the labs.

"EDI, how are we looking?" Will asked.

"I'm copying all the data from AIM's servers and SHIELD reinforcements shall be making landfall any second. But I feel I should warn you that the remainder of AIM's forces have set up countermeasures and defenses for your arrival in the lower levels. It is going to get a little more difficult." EDI told them.

"Thanks, EDI." Cap replied.

They waited another thirty seconds as the elevator took them down to the next floor and as soon as the doors open, Will created another shield and marched in. He was drawing all their fire from the guards and AIM agents. Many were using guns but some were dressed in weird hazmat/protection suits that honestly looked like smaller beekeeper outfits. They were wielding energy guns that fired bolts of plasma. Will's telekinetic shield was able to cover them as Cap and Natasha split to the left while he and Clint made their way to the right and took cover behind a pillar.

"Twenty hostiles scattered around armed with heavy weapons." Cap relayed to everyone as he and Nat pulled their heads back to avoid getting hit.

Clint pressed a button on his bow which made his quiver spin before an arrow was attached with a special arrowhead. He took it out and put it on his bowstring before peeking out and firing. It hit the far wall and exploded, killing two AIM guards, and knocked back several more.

"Looks like Tarleton decided to upgrade the guard's weapons with energy ones." Natasha peaked out behind cover and fired a few rounds from her pistol, hitting two guards in the head before throwing out a special explosive dart that sent some scattering away.

Will peaked out and saw about twenty more guards enter and they were armed with more energy rifles, some had special defensive light shields, others were carrying heavy weapons like mini-guns, rockets, or flamethrowers but what drew his attention was the loud metal clanking as a dozen human-size robots stepped into view. Their faces were like a creepy mix between a mannequin and a crash dummy as their bodies were sort of like the Hammer drones but much less bulky. The larger robots had heavier armor and were carrying heavy metal rods with electrode ends for melee attacks while the smaller ones didn't seem to have physical weapons but who knows what surprises they had in store.

"Looks like Tarleton was closer to a breakthrough in his robotics work then we thought. EDI, what are those things?" Will asked as Clint fired an arrow and Natasha fired a few bullets. The projectiles caused the robots to stagger but that's about it from that distance. The larger robot with the electrode rod aimed it at them and it fired a concentrated electrical blast which Will blocked by raising up the floor grates as makeshift cover.

"AIM model Synthoid robotic machine. Programed and designed for maximum efficiency in combat against enemy attackers. Each Synthoid is equipped with various armaments and are designed to be deadly weapons. They were activated shortly after your arrival. Current objective is to secure the base and annihilate all hostile forces, which at this moment is the four of you. I would advise caution when going up against the Synthoid. While not as advance or as powerful as Mr. Stark's Iron Man suit, they adapt to the scenario and are programmed to overwhelm their opponents." EDI told them.

"Good to know. Clint, stick with Cap and Natasha." Will told him and he nodded. "The robots are mine. I'll draw their fire and attention. Take out the others."

"Got it. On your move." Cap said.

"GO!"

Clint dove from the pillar, avoiding bullets and lasers as he managed to get behind another pillar. He peaked his head out and fired another explosive arrow, this time taking out one of the Synthoid robots. Will dove out from the other direction, activating his arm shield and throwing his Predator shuriken. It sliced through one of the guards as well as cutting off the legs of several of the Synthoids before it returned to his hand. Despite having their legs cut out from under them, the Synthoids used their hands and arms to prop themselves up.

Will slid on the ground, kicking one Synthoid in the head before rolling on the ground to avoid getting hit by an electrode rob. He unsheathed his forearm blades and sliced another Synthoid in half at the waist before doing a kip-up and crushing that Synthoid's head with his boot. One of the Synthoid charged at him as its hands morphed into sharp spear tips, it tried to stab him in the back only for Will to turn and block it with his shield. He then bashed it in the head, taking off part of the metal and circuitry before ripping its head off. He then hurled the Synthoid's body into the others, so they crashed on the ground together. Another Synthoid opened up his arms to reveal energy rifles but before it could fire, Will jumped over and turned it so it faced another Synthoid. Said Synthoid blasted the other model before Will impaled his forearm blades through its chest and ripped out its power core.

He quickly pulled his arm free and moved as the large Synthoid brought its electrode rob and smashed the destroyed Synthoid in an attempt to destroy the intruder but was too slow. Will took out one of his Vibranium orbs and threw it at the large Synthoid where it attached to its chest like putty. A second later, the Vibranium orb expanded and shot spikes through the large robot. It was riddled with holes and unable to function. Will flipped over another Synthoid before doing three backflips in a row to avoid the other robots and gaining some distance from them. When he landed on his feet, he swung his arms together and all the Synthoid's were pulled together. Their limbs with tangled and they struggled to get free but were too late. Will's fists glowed blue as he fired a telekinetic energy blast that hit the robots and blew them to pieces.

While Will handled the Synthoid's, Cap dove out from his cover and charged at the AIM henchmen shield first. The Vibranium shield blocked and deflected their bullets and energy bolts with ease before he shield bashed an AIM guard and sent him crashing into three of his friends. He push kicked another guard in the chest which sent him crashing into a wall before doing a leg sweep to knock down two more guards, and then did a butterfly spin. He threw his shield from the butterfly spin where it ricocheted off a wall and hit another guard in the head.

Two guards aimed their guns at Captain America only for Widow to surprise them from behind. Several quick strikes to their back and legs sent them to their knees where she took them down with a double takedown. She wrapped her legs around the neck of one guard while wrapping her arms around the neck of the other and took them to the ground where she finished them off with electric shocks from her Widow's Bite gauntlets. Widow quickly rolled on the ground and did a leg sweep, knocking another guard onto his face where she quickly shot him in the head before doing a somersault and flip into the air. She landed on the shoulders of another guard and took him down with a head-scissor takedown and snapped his neck with her legs.

An AIM agent aimed his pistol at Black Widow only for something to knock it out of his hand before an arrow struck him in the leg. He dropped to his knees and cradled his injured leg in pain when Hawkeye rushed over and took him out with a knee to the face. He blocked and parried one agent's knife with his bow before elbowing him in the stomach and throwing him to the ground over his hip. He took him out with a bow smack to the face before quickly firing an arrow to his side, hitting another guard in the chest. He took out a special arrow and fired it at a group of guards. The arrowhead split apart into four smaller projectiles which hit four guards and took them out with full body electric shocks. He spun down to a crouch and fired another arrow at the leg of a guard, sending him down quickly where Widow flipped through the air and landed on his stomach feet first.

She unhooked her batons and began attacking the guards in a flurry of strikes to their heads, arms, and torsos. Many tried to fight back but they didn't have a chance. Widow was grabbed from behind only to take out her attacker by kicking her right leg up and hitting him in the head. She then put him on his back with a leg sweep and did a spinning elbow drop to his chest before finishing him off with a strike to the nose. Before two guards could rush her, they were hit with taser disks and a star-spangled shield struck them across the face. Cap punched one guard in the face which sent him to the ground before kicking him in the stomach which sent him flying away. He parried and blocked a knife before throwing the guard over his hip and taking him out with a roundhouse kick to the head before landing a tornado kick that took out two more. One guard managed to grab a gun and aimed it at Cap only for Clint to hit him in the back with an arrow before rushing forward and grappled him to the ground where he smashed his head to the ground. Clint turned and fired a bolt from his wrist bow and staggered a guard who tried to attack Widow from behind so she could take him down with a head-scissor takedown.

One guard had managed to avoid the beatdown/massacre his allies experienced so he quickly took off a belt holding four grenades and pulled the pins. "Say goodbye, Avengers!"

Before he could throw the grenade belt, an arrow hit him in the leg which sent him to the ground. He cradled his injured leg and at the arrow that pierced through it when he saw the grenade belt fell right next to him, so he reached over to try and throw it when it went off in a large boom. A blue telekinetic shield covered Clint, Natasha, and Steve from the explosion. They looked behind them and saw Aegis there with his compound in one hand and his other hand glowing blue. He stopped the suicide grenadier, shielded them from the explosion, and judging by the broken robot parts scattered all over the ground, he handled the Synthoids as well.

He pressed a button on his bow's handle, so it retracted into itself and put it in his pocket. "Shall we continue?"

Clint picked up Cap's shield and tossed it to him. "Let's keep moving." Cap led them down the hallway all the guards and Synthoid's came from as it was likely where the main lab was. On the way, Cap tapped his earpiece to contact the incoming SHIELD team. "Cap to SHIELD teams. Be advised, AIM has developed robotic Synthoid soldiers. Be on high alert."

"Roger that, Captain. We're touching down now and securing the perimeter."

As they made their way down the hallway, more turrets deployed from the ceiling and walls and targeted the Avengers. Many were .50 caliber minigun turrets but some were rocket launchers and there were four laser turrets. Aegis quickly created a forcefield that blocked all the incoming projectiles. You'd think that blocking the impact and kinetic energy of hundreds of .50 caliber bullets, rockets, and beams of energy would be incredible difficult, but Will was standing there and able to keep the forcefield up with no physical signs of exhaustion at all.

"You really don't feel anything stopping those things?" Clint wondered as Will looked back at him.

"Not really. I've gotten really good with my powers. Stopping these…think the same mental exertion in solving a tricky crossword." He explained before unleashing a psionic explosion that tore through the hallway like a bomb went off. The walls were torn apart while the ceiling cracked apart and every single turret was destroyed. "That is like solving a super intense puzzle."

"Show off." Black Widow muttered as they kept following the hall which turned left and led to a huge vault-like door.

"EDI, can you get us in?" Cap asked.

"This will take a while. The encryption surrounding this door is proving extremely difficult. AIM is keeping many of its secured projects behind this door along with the last of their security. These projects are valuable to their organization." EDI told him.

"I got it." Will held up his right hand and the groaning sound of metal bending could be heard. "How's does the battering ram surprise sound?"

Cap, Clint, and Natasha smirked before getting into position. Clint grabbed the arrow cartridge from his ankle holster and unfolded the arrows before putting them on his bow, Natasha pulled out several flashbang and explosive pellets with a pistol in her other hand while Cap held his shield out in front of him. "On your go." He told Will.

"This'll be fun." Will tightened his right hand and the hinges and lock of the vault door snapped off.

The three dozen guards waiting inside the vault had their assault rifles and grenade launchers trained on the door. They heard the metallic snaps of the door hinges and locks before the door was pulled down. Before any of them could fire a shot, 12 arrows came through the opening and took down 12 guards. Several pellets were thrown through that erupted in bright flashes of light and sound while the others just exploded, taking out a few guards along with some well-placed bullets before Cap flew through the opening shield first. He bashed into the guards like a battering ram and send four of them flying into their friends.

The ones who weren't hit aimed their guns at him only for Cap to turn and kneel with his shield held up as Aegis jumped through the opening with blue telekinetic energy pulsing around his fist. The second his fist made contact; a loud sound was heard like an iron church bell was rung along with a flash of light and then a shockwave that knocked the rest of the guards back like they were hit by a car.

Clint and Natasha walked in to see the guards were taken care of with that one move. "Impressive." Natasha commented when she saw one reach for his pistol, so Clint shot him with an arrow.

"Well, all that's done and done. Wonder what they were guarding." Clint said as Will moved the guards together and stripped them of their weapons before using a steal beam from the door to keep them tied together.

"A lot of stuff." Cap told him. The vault they were in was easily over five hundred feet wide and less a vault and more like the Tony's lab he had back in his Malibu Mansion. It had two levels with labs and secured vaults for their projects. They had new prototype tanks and weapon designs projected on touch screens in one room, another had new experiment energy pulse generator, another room contained gamma radiation energy cores for some kind of experiment, and another had what looked like a version of Tony's Arc reactor technology.

"Jesus Christ AIM is up to a lot." Will muttered as they moved around the room. He moved to a nearby console and plugged a USB clone box into a slot in a computer. "EDI, make sure you're copying everything."

"I'm making triple copies of everything and archiving the rather sensitive experiments they were commencing. Mr. Stark won't be happy they were working on a modification to his ARC reactor technology." EDI said.

"Maybe don't tell him yet." Natasha muttered and Will nodded. After what happened with his last therapy session with Tony, he didn't need another sit down. You couldn't pay him enough to be Tony's therapist. Natasha walked over to one room and saw it was holding a robot that was partially built. It looked like one of the Synthoid's from before but was much larger, more elegant and humanoid except for the fact that the head didn't have a face. It was just blank. It was project Adaptoid. "EDI, what's Project Adaptoid?"

"Project Adaptoid is the evolution to Dr. Tarleton's Synthoid project. Composed of highly specialized metal and nanotech technology, the Adaptoid is a super soldier like robot capable of adapting to various stimuli and environment situations like heat and cold. Along with being adaptable, the Adaptoid nanotech allows it for various long-range and close-range offensive and defensive maneuvers. Dr. Tarleton designed the project as Killian's answer to the Extremis failure by creating robot super soldiers that could eventually mimic the powers of super and enhanced individuals. But the project is still in its alpha-phase. A working model likely won't be possible for a while." EDI explained.

"Still, a robotic super soldier able to adapt and mimic powers…bad people would pay a lot of money for that." Cap said as he looked at Project Gamma. "EDI, what's project Gamma?"

"Project Gamma is AIM's attempt to weaponize gamma radiations mutational side effects in humans. They were trying to replicate the scenario and genetic circumstances that allowed Dr. Banner to survive the gamma radiation exposure that created the Hulk. So far, the tests have not been successful on human subjects, but they have found small success in animals." EDI said.

"This stuff is dangerous." Clint stated.

"Fury's right to be worried about AIM. They're more dangerous than ever." Cap tapped his earpiece. "Cap to all SHIELD teams. All threats are neutralized. Move in to secure."

"Roger that. We're moving in."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd be more comfortable seeing all the crap in this room destroyed." Will said as they looked at him.

"I'm sure Fury's gonna want this stuff catalogued and brought to base." Natasha reminded him.

"I can give him EDI's data. Seeing as how the World Security Council wanted an Extremis sample during the whole Mandarin thing, I'm afraid of what they'd do with all this. And this is my mission." Will told them. "Besides, Gamma radiation isn't the most stable. We can make it look like an accident."

Cap looked at the room and had to agree with Will. Sure, they might have hand over the data to SHIELD, but destroying the prototypes and physical samples would delay any plans in building these things. "Do it."

"Music to my ears." Will levitated the guards with him as they left the vault but not before Clint fired a time explosive arrow at the gamma radiation cores. They kept moving down the hall to head back to the elevator when they heard a loud boom and the base shook a bit. A huge torrent of fire swept through the halls from the vault, but Will put up a forcefield that protected them as they got into the elevator and went up. Suffice to say that when the rest of the SHIELD team went down there, the entire level was destroyed.

Will handed off the guards to some SHIELD agents for transport when he noticed one camera inside the hallway was still functional and actually turned to look at him. So, he took out his pistol and shot the camera. Despite EDI's best work, the cameras inside the base transmitted their live feed to another base in Europe. At said base was Dr. Rappaccini and she saw everything. She could care less about Captain America, Black Widow or Hawkeye. What got her attention was Aegis, the Avenger's telekinetic super soldier. Seeing his effectiveness, his powers, and his untapped potential was impressive. He took down all of Tarleton's Synthoids and ripped through the base's defenses like it was nothing. It was no wonder the Avengers and SHIELD were affective as they were.

If she could get her hands on him or someone with powers, then the possibilities were endless. Looks like it was time to shift AIM's attention.

Line Break xxxxx

February 2013: Atlantic City, New Jersey

Will was back at his family house in Atlantic City with some rare free time in-between missions. SHIELD's effort in taking down the AIM secret bases had some wins, but it wasn't without its troubles. While four members of the Avengers were able to take down the super important and secret base in Iceland, the other bases were more complicated. While they didn't have anything earth-shattering or that they didn't already know they were still well guarded. Some agents were loss in the taking of those bases and many were injured but AIM was feeling the pressure. While they managed to get some important data on their plans and weapons, the downside was that they were working extra hard to stay hidden. Aside from some darknet chatter, they didn't have a lot to go on, so the undercover work of some agents was going be crucial in finding AIM. And considering what they were working on, it was likely that this wounded dog would bite back hard.

But Will managed to find some free time with everything going on so he called Crystal and invited her down to earth for a date. Considering that he likely wouldn't know when he would have free time again and probably wouldn't have it on Valentine's day, so he had to improvise. He invited her down for a date night and she was happy to do so.

He got dressed up in a nice dress shirt, sport's jacket, and dress pants while he waited for Crystal to arrive. He went to the kitchen to get a drink of water and prepare Goose's dinner which was going to be tuna salad. Goose developed a real love for tuna. After putting a nice amount of tuna salad in a large bowl, Goose jumped onto the counter to eat.

"Enjoy, buddy. Keep the house safe and I'll bring you back a doggie bag. Sorry, Flerken bag." He scratched him on the head and then under the chin which Goose was happy about if the purrs were any indication.

He heard some whooshing outside and walked to the backyard to see Lockjaw arrive with Crystal wearing a nice and beautiful blue dress the went down to her knees. She had a puffy winter jacket on since it was the winter and while they didn't experience the season changes on Attilan, he told her to bring her jacket he bought her.

"Hey…" Will walked out and she leapt into his arms. He spun her around a bit before giving her a kiss. "Glad you could come down."

"My pleasure. Any chance to come down to earth and eat food is a win for me. Plus, I'm starting to love it here in the Winter but there's no snow." Crystal pointed out.

"Yeah, we've had a light snow fall this year. Maybe soon." Will said as Lockjaw walked over with a happy smile. Will pet the huge dog on the head and judging by the tongue wagging and his stomping foot, he was happy. "Good to see you too, Lockjaw. You can head inside. I've got some treats waiting for you."

Lockjaw barked before he teleported inside the house where he began eating the large pile of food that was waiting. "How are you? We keep in touch, but I can't help but worry. The seers keeping showing you when you're on missions." Crystal told him.

"I've been busy. New threats, new enemies, and new assignments. Considering I do such a good job for SHIELD, I get dealt with more work which means I don't have as much free time as I use to. And since I'm a level Seven agent and a Special Operations, Tactics, and Defense Specialist I get called in to deal with the hard stuff that would take teams to do." Will explained. "Which is why I relish moments like this. Anyway, enough about me. How are things in Attilan?"

"They're ok. They appreciate the food you send back with me and the new plant seeds are very good. After you introduced meat and coffee to Medusa, she's been hoping for more." Crystal told him as they walked inside.

"Maybe it's time we do something about that. We could send up some hatcheries, so you'll have chicken and eggs for everyone. I imagine having chicken and eggs would be amazing given you guys only eat fruits and vegetables. The hatcheries wouldn't take up too much space and the chickens would be a lot easier to take care of instead of cows and pigs. Tell Blackbolt and Medusa and let me know what they think." Will told her and she nodded. "But enough chicken talk. We've got dinner reservations at that Italian place you like."

"Yes. I've been crazing some pasta." Crystal said as they walked out the front door. "Bye Lockjaw."

"Keep a watch on the place, Goose. We'll be back later!" Will shouted as the two went on a very nice and romantic dinner. Followed up by some dessert and then heading back to his house where the two cuddled up underneath a blanket and relaxed by a firepit.

March 2013: Attilan

Inside the Inhuman domed city of Attilan on the moon, things were a little special today as they had a visitor from their earth-born brother Aegis. Granted, the people of the city didn't know that except for the Royal Family and the guards but it was still a special day. Will managed another day of free time so he had Crystal and Lockjaw take him to Attilan because he wanted to help. Along with him was over two thousand dollars' worth of food, most of it bought wholesale along with several chicken hatcheries.

King Black Bolt, Queen Medusa, Karnack, Gorgon, Triton, Crystal and many of the Inhuman science guild, agricultural guild, and security guards watched as Will used his powers to build the enclosed hatcheries on several of the empty rooftops throughout the city. Dressed in his Aegis gear but minus the hood and mask, he used his powers to do in minutes what would take workers the entire day. They watched as he telekinetically moved the fake grass into place before building up the fencing with simple thought and then came the incubator house and chicken coops. Everyone watched with anticipation as this was huge for Attilan. They would now have a steady stream of meat and eggs.

"There. Done." Will announced, looking at the built hatchery/chicken feeding area that was about 150 square feet. And he built over twenty of them throughout the city. "Remember that this is different then growing vegetables. These are living things so you'll have to learn to take care of them, but the books should help. Memorize them cover to cover. And one more thing, remember the difference between the males and females."

"We'll get right on that." One of the worker's from the agricultural core replied. It was now going to have to be renamed the agricultural/hatchery core. Everyone walked over to get a closer look at the eggs in the incubators and at the small chicks already walking around the feed lot.

"How long before we can eat them?" Gorgon wondered, holding a small chick in his large hand. Crystal was worried so she took the chick from his grasp and pet it on the head.

"It's still gonna be a while. If you want to eat eggs, then that's a different story but chickens take at least four months to grow to a suitable age to eat but I'd wait six to eight. The more you let grow, the more can lay more eggs. Patience is going to be key here." Will told him. "But this is just the first step. Now that you have hatcheries, I'm thinking I can set up a hydroponic fish farm as well for variety. And that could help with your farming as well."

Black Bolt smiled and signaled them all to follow him inside the royal palace to the throne room so they could speak in private. Karnack signaled the guards to leave them alone and they did. Black Bolt signed at Will and Medusa translated.

"The thanks and gratitude for what you have done cannot be overstated. You have given our people a new breath of life and for that, I am forever grateful." Medusa said.

"I'm more than happy to help, King Black Bolt. I'm just doing what's right for my people." Will told him.

"Your people?" Maximus asked before scoffing.

"Peace, Maximus." Black Bolt signed and Medusa translated.

"It's ok, Black Bolt." Will assured him.

"You claim to be one of us, yet you reside on earth while the rest of us remain here on Attilan. You come when it's convenient to you." Maximus told him.

"I won't deny that the situation is difficult, but I am as much a human of earth as I am Inhuman. Considering that our ancestors are human then it means something. And if I had stayed here on Attilan then I don't think I would have been able to help you as I could now. I've been able to send Crystal back here with foods and supplies from earth that helps everyone in this city." Will stated.

"He's right. His efforts today alone have improved our resources." Karnack added.

"I know that I wasn't born into this side of our culture like you all but considering the situation then I'd say it's the best scenario we have. No one besides I know that Attilan even exists or that there are even any other Inhumans. The only thing my director knows is that there is a portion of the population on earth that has the marker for the Inhuman gene but none of them know it and none of them have gone through Terrigenisis." Will said.

"But where do we know where you allegiance's lie. When we go to earth and take back our rightful home, who will you side with?" Maximus asked as Black Bolt began signing.

"As I told you before brother, we have no plans to go to earth. Thanks to Will's efforts, Attilan is improving and I will not start a war." Medusa said.

"And it's a war that you might not even win. After the Battle of New York and the Chituari Invasion, the world is preparing for the next attack and they won't hesitate to throw everything they have at you, the Avengers included. I swore to protect people from all threats, so I say again that invading earth is not the right choice." Will told them and everyone except for Maximus could agree with that. Maximus sneered in anger and left the room in a huff. "I know the situation isn't ideal but I'm working everything I can. I have a friend that might be able to figure out a way for your to stay on earth. Despite what Maximus said, coming to Earth alone has its issues. Finding enough space for everyone would be hard enough but I'm working on it. Hopefully, I'll have something that could work."

"We'll hope for the day. In the meantime, we'll continue here." Medusa said, signing what Black Bolt replied.

"And I'll have Crystal keep sending food and supplies." Will replied and everyone nodded. Among the massive amount of food that Will brought was enough meat that could be frozen for months. They were happy.

Line Break xxxxx

March 2013: Avengers Tower, New York City

A red and black 1970 Harley Davidson Titan V-Rod motorcycle made its way through the streets of Manhattan. Riding said motorcycle was Will with his jacket zipped up and Goose riding shotgun in a little front basket. Goose has some small goggles over his eyes and a scarf around his neck. It was rather amusing.

Will drove towards Avenger's Tower and when he got to the perimeter, he saw the private security team of STARK Industries set up to keep people from getting in. They kept paparazzi and groups of cosplay girls and fans back while verifying the employees who actually worked in the tower. Will drove up towards the perimeter as the guards motioned him to stop so he took out his phone and brought up the Avenger Tower's clearance code. Once the guard scanned it, he signaled the guards at the perimeter and let Will pass. Will drove his motorcycle into the Tower's parking garage before taking the private elevator up to the Avenger designated floors.

The second the elevator doors opened up, Goose jumped out of Will's arms and rushed over to the couch where Pepper was sitting. She was reading some corporate emails with a cup of coffee and donut on the table, but the second Goose jumped into her lap, that went away. "Good to see you again, Goose." Pepper pet him along the back and scratched his chin, making Goose purr like the cat he looked like. She turned around and saw Will walk in with his motorcycle helmet. "Hey, Will."

"Hey, Pepper. Sorry about Goose. I didn't know you'd be here."

"It's fine. I needed a break and Goose is never a bother. Isn't that right?" Pepper held him close and Goose nuzzled into her chest.

"I hear Pepper relaxing and enjoying herself with company that isn't me." They heard as Tony walked down the stairs with a tablet in his hand. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Tony. Enjoying your new abode? It's a step down from Malibu but Manhattan has its perks." Will said.

"That is does. And I have to admit, looking out at the city from up here is nice." Tony said as he walked to the glass and looked out at the Manhattan skyline. "But the Baxter Building over there is annoying to see."

"Cute. Any new leads on the AIM data we got you from their base in Iceland? It's been nearly a month since the last whisper of AIM, and we've got nothing." Will pointed out.

"No, sorry kid. AIM's gone silent. Jarvis and I have combed through every single gigabyte of data you and EDI collected and we've got nothing on where they could be now. I've tasked STARK Industries satellites to trace similar energy signatures from the base but nothing solid to go on." Tony replied.

"Damn. Same at SHIELD. Fury's not happy that AIM's gone dark and we weren't able to capture someone with useful intel. The World Security Council is breathing down his neck which means he's breathing down mine." Will commented.

"That's what you get when you work for the big scary spy agency but it's also why you come to me because you know I can deliver." Tony said with a smile.

"Please don't say that again. It just sounds wrong coming from your mouth." Pepper pointed out and Will agreed.

"Anyway. I wasn't able to get anything definitive from the data, but we did manage to flag one series of transactions for components and information." Tony walked over to a wall monitor. "Jarvis, bring it up."

"I flagged a computer log of transaction data at the AIM base. It's a detailed chain of shipping manifests for the supplies needed for many of the projects at the base and likely for Killian's Extremis project as well. At first glance, the computer log was well hidden but after enough digging we were able to find it. It's how Aldrich Killian was able to get the supplies he needed without raising any flags from the US government or SHIELD." Jarvis explained.

"It was good too. The log shows transactions with some really big shipping companies, technology firms, and pretty much all my competitors but they were designed to look completely legit. No red flags whatsoever so it's why Interpol or SHIELD never picked it up." Tony added.

"It would take a lot of money and serious power in the right groups to make that possible. Any connection?" Will wondered.

"Not at first but through enough digging and hacking we managed to find one." EDI said, joining the conversation. "While the companies for the shipping, technology firms, and handlers of all the equipment seem unconnected, by tracking the money to various offshore bank accounts all coming from various banks both domestic and international it proves otherwise. All bank accounts were under the ownership of Sir Gordon Phillips. A wealthy London financier and while his work and money are legitimate, SHIELD has long suspected him of being the head of the Hellfire Club."

"The Hellfire Club? Sounds like a bad strip club." Tony commented.

"I heard that!" Pepper shouted.

"The Hellfire Club is an old organization that's supposed to be comprised of the wealthiest and most influential members of society. No one knows when it started but it started gaining traction during the fifties and sixties when the Cold War was amping up. Its members were using their influence to gain more wealth and influence and essentially trying to turn the tide of the Cold War for their benefits. If you believe the rumors, they've been behind assassinations and plots that have led to wars and geopolitical change that they've benefited from. When SHIELD was first founded, they were a primary concern but officially, the group's been ruled a rumor. No one's ever been able to prove their existent." Will explained. "If the rumors are true, the Hellfire Club had their hands in political factions as well as government agencies so they could indirectly control any investigations into their group."

"So, your best bet in finding AIM is a wealthy old London guy who may or may not work for a secret society of rich people I wasn't invited to join. That's a dead end if I've ever seen it." Tony told him.

"Or it could have given me my next lead. I stopped believing in coincidences in this line of work pretty early on." Will pointed out. "Thanks, Jarvis. EDI, get everything you can on this Ser Gordon Phillips. Where he works, where's he going and who he's meeting with."

"Of course." EDI replied.

"That takes care of that. Is Dr. Banner in?" Will asked.

"Yeah, he's in his lab. Another therapy session?" Tony wondered.

"Yup." Will walked down the hall and took the stairs up to the third floor. "Goose, play nice until I get back."

"Don't worry, he will." Pepper assured him, playing with him like he was a regular old house cat and he was more than happy with it.

Will walked over to Dr. Banner's lab and could see he was in his element. Tony had outfitted the lab with everything and anything a scientist like Bruce could want for his experiments and tests. With him staying at Avenger's Tower, he helped Tony in developing the tech and equipment for the team along with working the modifications to the Extremis serum which is what he was working on at the moment.

[Knock-Knock]

Dr. Banner looked up from his workstation and saw Will standing at the door before he walked in. "Hey, Will. Good to see you again."

"You too, Dr. Banner." Will shook his hand before giving him a hug. "How are things?"

"Things are good. Tony's been keeping me busy and I'm still working on the Extremis serum. I've managed to prevent the glowing red veins and work the serum to boost the regeneration abilities, but the explosive instability is still an issue. I've managed to run some samples and your blood along with Steve's have mitigated the effects but not enough that I'm comfortable with." Bruce explained.

"Unless your comfortable with it then we don't move forward. That's what we agreed on and we're gonna stick to that." Will said and Dr. Banner nodded. "Ready for your next session?"

"Sort of. It's starting to feel like my annual dentist visit." Dr. Banner joked as they sat down across from one another.

"Well, if you behave yourself, I'll get you a lollipop after." Will quipped.

Dr. Banner chuckled before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Will did the same but when he opened them, his eyes were glowing blue indicating he established a mental link and was mind walking into Bruce's subconscious. It was part of Will's plan to help bridge the gap between the Hulk and Bruce and get them on the same page, if not at least more comfortable with one another.

Will and Bruce appeared inside of Bruce's subconscious. What used to be the destroyed wasteland of rubble and water that the Hulk called home had turned into an wide open plain filled with lush green grass, large trees to provide shade from the bright sun, and a large waterfall that bled into a lake near a large cave.

While any normal person wouldn't be able to control their subconscious like this, Will wasn't normal so the rules didn't really apply to him. He was able to morph the Hulk's part of the subconscious into a more pleasing and hospitable area to call home. The Hulk liked to be left alone but doing so in this place was much better.

"Where is he?" Bruce wondered when they heard a large splash of water.

"There." Will pointed to the lake where the Hulk was floating around on his back like a person on vacation.

"Hard to believe he can be so calm." Bruce commented.

"Shouldn't that be I? He is technically a part of you." Will pointed out as they walked over. "Hey, Hulk!"

Hulk looked up and saw his visitors. "Glowing man!" Hulk leapt out of the water and pulled Will into a massive bear hug, laughing as he did it. "Hulk missed Glowing man!"

"Good to see you too, Hulk." Will smiled and pat him on his large back, arms, and head. While that bear hug would have strenuous or painful, they were doing a mind walk so there wasn't really a body for him to hurt. "I hope you like your new home."

"Hulk is happy! Hulk have pool to swim in, but Hulk is bored! Hulk wants to fight!" Hulk smashed his fists together, eager for a fight.

"All you had to do was ask." Will snapped his fingers and changed the surrounding area to resemble that of a war-torn battlefield of an old city that looked like it was ripped out of Devil May Cry. Several demons began to dig themselves out of the ground and were ready to fight. Some were human sized while others were about the same size of the hulk and then there were four that were much bigger. They resembled the demons from the Doom videogame franchise. "Enjoy yourself."

The Hulk sneered before cracking his neck and then smashing his fists together. "HULK…SMASH!"

He slammed his hands together and sent out a massive thunderclap that sent a dozen of the human shaped demons flying away like homerun baseballs and staggered the large ones. Hulk then leapt over sixty feet into the air before diving straight down elbow first. The second his massive elbow drop hit the ground, it created a huge shockwave that blew past Will and Bruce but again, this wasn't real, and they were fine as it blew past them and ruffled their clothes.

The demons began to swarm Hulk, but he bashed, punched, kicked, slammed, and threw them all over the place. With it being Dr. Banner's subconscious, the Hulk was able to let loose and Will was able to keep Bruce calm, so he didn't accidently transform. Four human sized demons bum rushed the Hulk from behind and jumped on his back. One demon bit him on the shoulder so Hulk grabbed the demon's head and slammed it into the dirt before he jumped onto the ground back first. The three demons went squish but then one of the big ones rushed over and brought its giant foot down. Hulk managed to catch it and struggled a bit to push back. Will did his job in making those large demons a challenge, but the Hulk moved one hand to grab the large boney part of the ankle and used it for leverage to slam the demon onto his back. Hulk jumped into the air and landed on the demon feet first, putting it in a ten-foot-deep impact crater.

A Hulk-sized demon landed a punch to his gut before Hulk grabbed its arm and began spinning around like a top, knocking the other demons away. Hulk then jumped and slammed the demon into another before ripping its head out.

"HULK NOT SCARED OF DEMONS! HULK AFRAID OF NO ONE!" Hulk super punched one massive demon and sent him flying into the atmosphere before slamming his fists into the ground. His impact created a deep fissure in the ground that sent many of the demons falling down before he ripped up two chunks of the ground and threw them like softballs at a flying demon. That's when a column of fire arose from the fissure and out crawled a massive three-headed demon dog. "HULK SMASH DEMON DOG!"

The three-headed demon dog snarled and chomped its jaws before charging at the green-skinned Avenger. Hulk met that charge in kind and when he got close, he jumped and grabbed onto the middle head where he immediately began punching it. Cerberus reared around as its two other hands reached around to tried to get Hulk off with one of them managing to bite his arm and throw him into the air. Hulk just twisted his body and punched Cerberus in the right head while the other two tried to eat him.

Will and Bruce just watched the fight like spectators would watch an MMA fight or wrestling match. Cerberus managed to chomp onto Hulk's leg and wrestle him around before Hulk ripped its jaws open to pull his leg free before lifting the large demon dog into the air and slamming it on the ground. Hulk then punched it in the middle face and knocked it away.

"Why Cerberus?" Bruce wondered.

"I introduced Crystal to Disney animated films, and we watched Hercules. Guess he was still in my head, but I think it worked. Hulk looks like he's having fun." Will commented.

"He does. I'm surprised that you're able to create all this and Hulk is able to fight with no issues. You really are powerful." Bruce told him.

"Thanks. It's strenuous and I have to put most of my focus into keeping up the mind walk scenario and mental barriers, so Hulk's anger doesn't bleed out. It's why I set up this therapy session in a control environment when I'm not preoccupied with anything else." Will explained. "But if it helps you and Hulk get onto even ground then I'm all for it."

"Do you think you could calm him down if he went into a rage?" Bruce asked. Will looked at him and he could understand where the question came from. Even though Bruce and Hulk were on better terms and Hulk was a friend, he had to be prepared for a worse case scenario. It's why he worked with Tony on creating Project Veronica. Will liked to dub it the Hulkbuster.

"That's a god question. And an honest answer? Maybe." Will told him.

"That's better then anyone and I've ever been able to do." Bruce commented.

"Don't worry, Dr. Banner. Who knows, maybe after enough therapy sessions you and the Hulk will merge." Will said.

"My brain in the Hulk's body. That would be something." Bruce replied.

"So, have you gone to see Dr. Brant yet?" Will wondered only to see Bruce clear his throat and refocus on the Hulk. "You haven't. Didn't I tell you to go see her months ago?"

"I've been busy." Bruce told him.

"Yeah, and I'm Cleopatra. What about your cousin, Jennifer?" He asked and got the same reaction. "Wow, ok. You know what, I have off tomorrow. We're going to LA and you're going to talk to her in person."

"No, Will. Come on. You're busy and I'm busy and it's fine. I talk to Jenn all the time." Bruce pointed out.

"Yeah, and I call my cousin, aunt, and uncles all the time, but I also go see them as well. We're going. And if you think you can guilt your way out or trick me, let me remind you that I know what you're thinking before you do." Will said when he heard a loud and concussive thud before Cerberus was thrown over their heads and carved out an impact trench. "Looks like he's done."

Hulk jumped over their heads and smashed the demon dog one last time before letting out a loud roar. "HULK IS BEST THERE IS!"

"He's happy. That's good." Will commented. He and Bruce continued the little therapy session which was just getting Bruce and Hulk on better terms and closing the very thin bond they had. If their bond were made stronger then things with the Hulk would get better.

Line Break xxxxx

March 2013: Los Angeles, California

Will and Bruce's plane arrived at LAX from JFK and with Tony's hookup, they managed to get first-class seats. Tony wanted to send them on his private jet but Will sort of put the brakes on that since they could fly normal like everyone else. Tony got his way by giving them first-class seats. They walked out of the terminal with their bags as the Air Marshal handed Will a special lock case that held his pistols. Will, being a SHIELD agent was able to take his guns on the plane, but they had to be locked in a case for the flight.

Will and Bruce walked to baggage claim where there was a mob of people waiting for their luggage and an army of cars, taxis and buses waiting for their fares, but they had someone already waiting there. Waiting in the baggage claim was woman wearing a white t-shirt, blue sport's jacket, blue jeans, and heels. She was around 5ft4, wearing glasses and had her black hair tied up in a ponytail. Will didn't recognize her, but Bruce did. He waved his arm and the second she saw him, she smiled. (1)

"Bruce!" Jennifer rushed over and hugged him, and he hugged back. Will watched the little interaction as both cousins were happy to see one another in the flesh again after years apart. "I missed you. I'm so glad you came to visit. It's been way to long, Cousin."

"Yeah, it has. I'm just glad I've got a pushy friend." Bruce said as Will walked over.

"I think the word you're looking for is helpful." Will pointed out. "It's nice to meet you, Jennifer. I'm Will Detmer, friend of your cousin and the one who helped bring him here. Bruce talks a lot about you."

"I hope all good things." Jennifer said, shaking his hand.

"Yes, yes. All good. Are your parents here?" Bruce wondered, a little concerned if they would show up.

"No, mom and dad are busy on a cruise, but they send their love. Their attitudes changed really quick once you were cleared of all charges and saved New York. Nicely done by the way. And green was always your color." Jennifer told him as she tried to help him with his bags, but she had some trouble as they were heavy. "I got it. Hang on…crap."

Before she accidently fell on her ass, Will took the bags with ease. "I got it. Thanks though, Jennifer." Will said when he noticed that some people recognized Dr. Banner and began taking photos. "How about we get out of here before we attract a crowd?"

"Good idea. My car's in the parking lot." Jennifer led them out of LAX through the mass of people and they took a shuttle to the parking lot where her 2012 Toyota Corolla managed to fit their bags and them as well. "So, want me to drop you off at your hotel first so you guys can get settled?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could get something to eat. It's around lunch time and I've been craving In-N-Out since we landed." Will suggested.

"That sounds pretty good." Bruce added.

"In-N-Out it is." Jennifer replied, driving them out of the airport and into the mass of car traffic that awaited them unaware that a black sedan was following them.

After a little traffic in getting out of LAX, Jennifer took them to the nearest In-N-Out burger. The parking lot was busy, so Jennifer parked, and she and Bruce went inside first to place their order. Will stayed by the car and took his guns from the lock case. He loaded his HK pistol and tucked it behind his jeans, making sure his shirt and jacket were covering it before putting his spare ammo magazines in his pocket and then putting his spare Glock 17 into his ankle holster.

As he walked to join Bruce and Jennifer, a black sedan drove into the parking lot. After waiting a few minutes for their order, they sat outside and enjoyed their meal. Will had three burgers, two orders of French Fries and two large sodas. It drew some odd looks from Jennifer, but it was sort of a trade off for being a super soldier. He expended more calories than normal people.

"Wow. I'm amazed you're not dying right now." Jennifer commented, seeing Will finish his third burger, fries, and soda and seemed to be just fine.

"I've seen him eat before. You get used to it." Bruce told her.

"I have a fast metabolism and burn a lot of calories." Will stated. "And it's been a while since I've had In-N-Out so that hit the spot. Thanks again for the stopping here."

"It's no problem. I'm just glad you got Bruce to come visit. So, do you work with my cousin?" Jennifer wondered, sipping her soda.

"Yeah. I work security." Will replied, fibbing a bit but technically true as well. "Bruce gets to work in his new lab and do what he does best without worry from the military of anyone else. Working for STARK Industries has its perks which includes an army of lawyers. Bruce told me you're a lawyer too, right?"

"Yeah, I'm an associate at the Maslany Law Firm. It's small but the work is more meaningful then if I stayed at the Hawkins & Anderson firm." Jennifer told him.

"Wow, Hawkins and Anderson is one of the biggest law firms in LA. It takes a lot to work for them." Will commented.

"Jenn is really good. Graduated top of her class at the UCLA School of law and was a member of the Order of Coif." Bruce explained.

"The National Merit society of top legal scholars? Very impressive." Will was extremely impressed at her skills. Jennifer blushed a bit at the praise as she sipped her soda. "So, what made you leave Hawkins & Anderson?"

"I wanted to make an actual difference with the law instead of helping corporate kings and clients that pay for a not-guilty. The Maslany Law Firm is smaller, but we handle cases for a lot of people that can't afford top-notch legal defense." Jennifer explained. Some would call her ignorant or idealistic, but Jennifer just believed in using the law in what it was created for and to do what's right. She believed everyone had the right to a proper defense and no one deserved to be victimized by less ethical corporations, groups, or high-powered attorneys. Given what General Ross did to her cousin, you can understand how that helped solidified her beliefs.

Will smiled and looked over at Bruce who had a smirk on his face. "It's nice to know that wanting to do the right thing and helping people is a family trait." Will commented.

"That's Jenn. Always empathetic and ready to help others." Bruce said. "I'm glad I was able to visit. I hope I'm not interrupting any serious cases you have on your plate."

"It's fine, Bruce. I had some vacation time saved up and I've got coworkers who can handle my workload. Nothing too serious. Just bringing up charges and cases against a bunch of low-life hitmen and mob enforcers. Some really weird ones too with weird nicknames. Killer Shrike and Unicorn if you can believe it." Jennifer chuckled and so did Bruce while Will went stoic.

"Simon Maddicks and Milos Masaryk." Will muttered which made Jennifer look at him.

"How do you know they're real names?" She wondered.

"Jennifer, how far are you in your investigation for your case?" He asked.

"Uh, pretty far. These are some really bad people. Kidnapping, extortion, and dozens of murders and that's just what the police suspect them on. I've been digging into their accounts to try and backtrack who they work for." She replied.

"Who else is lead on this case?" Will asked.

"Will, everything ok?" Bruce wondered.

"Jennifer, who else?" Will asked again.

"Just one of the head partners, uh…Bruno Aldrich. It's just him and I leading this case." Jennifer replied when Will's danger sense began to tingle. His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of gun clicks and several cars closing in.

"We need to go now." Will stood up and grabbed his jacket when he saw four men get out of a black sedan with suspicious bumps in their jackets before slipping on white masks with white eyes and a single slit for the mouth. "We need to go!"

"Bruce, what's going on?" Jennifer asked as Bruce grabbed his cousin and Will led them through the outside eating area to the parking lot. The masked men began to draw some attention from the bystanders who began taking pictures with their phones. The masked men walked through the parking lot towards Will, Bruce, and Jennifer who managed to make it by some cars.

Will saw them the masked men heading towards them so he pulled out his SHIELD badge and his HK pistol from behind his back and aimed it at them. "SHIELD! STOP RIGHT THERE AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"

He ordered as some bystanders shouted in fright and backed away as quickly as possible. Bruce and Jennifer were behind Will who kept his gun trained on the men who exchanged looks with one another. "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

One of the men just reached into his jacket and pulled out a Glock 19 but before he could fire a shot, Will shot him in the leg. The other three gunmen pulled out their guns which were just other Glock pistols and fired back. Will pulled Bruce and Jennifer into cover behind some parked cars while the bystanders screamed in fright and scrambled for cover or ran away. One of the gunmen rushed over to help the guy who got shot in the leg and tried to pull him behind a car only for Will to peak out from the car and shoot him three times in the back, killing him. He then shot the injured gunmen in the chest four times while the remaining two scrambled behind cover.

"Bruce, Jennifer stay down!" Will told them, shooting at the gunmen who were taking cover behind a car as they fired back. He reloaded his gun and took out his phone, pressing the emergency services button. "Reporting a 10-71 shooting at In-N-Out burger on Dorando Drive! Federal agent engaged with multiple armed suspects! Civilians in danger! Requesting LAPD immediate armed response and backup! Alert EMT's and paramedics!"

"Roger that. Squad cars are responding." The police dispatcher replied.

"Keep your heads down!" Will told Bruce and Jennifer as he fired two shots from his gun, nearly missing one of the gunmen who ducked behind the car. He saw the other gunmen blindly shoot from the car, hitting an innocent male bystander in the back. "Bruce, stay calm and don't get out from behind this car!"

Will fired four bullets, keeping the gunmen pinned when two sedans swerved into the parking lot and eight men wearing the same white masks appeared, carrying HK G36 and Steryr AUG A3 assault rifles. They opened fire at the car where Will, Bruce, and Jennifer were hiding behind and riddled it with bullets.

"Keep moving!" Will force opened the door of another car so Bruce and Jennifer could move to new cover safely. He stood up and fired two bullets at one of the gunmen, hitting him in the chest but they just caused him to stagger which meant he was wearing body armor so he aimed up and shot him in the neck. After taking one of them down, he vaulted over the car and force opened the next car's passenger door. "Keep moving!"

Two police cruisers arrived on the scene and the officers got out and ordered the gunmen to stand down only to get shot at. They fired back but their assailants were deterred at all. One of the cruisers was riddled with bullets and an officer got hit in the arm.

"We have an officer down! Requesting immediate backup!" An officer shouting into his radio.

Will staggered one gunman with four bullets before shooting him in the foot and then the head. He fired two more bullets before his gun clicked so he ejected the empty clip and loaded his last magazine. Just then a large armored Lenco Bearcat personnel carrier arrived and a squad of geared up LA SWAT got out and began laying down suppressive fire on the gunmen. Their squad leader, the oldest among them radioed to headquarters. "This is 20-David to command. Eight armed suspects with machine guns, three civilians. One injured officer, two civilians down. Requesting additional backup and airship. Luca, Tan, cover fire! Chris, Deacon flank left! Hondo, you're with me!"

"Covering!" Luca and Tan shot at the assailants, providing cover fire while Deacon and Chris moved left to support the uniformed officers while Hondo and Buck moved right towards Will, Bruce, and Jennifer. Tan shot one of the gunmen in the chest four times but it just staggered him.

"Suspects are wearing heavy body armor! Head and leg shots!" Tan shouted, hitting the gunmen in the leg before managing a headshot.

Deacon and Chris checked on the injured officer and they were lucky the bullet just hit his shoulder and didn't nick a major artery. "30-David to command, one officer down! Requesting paramedic on the scene!"

Buck and Hondo managed to move over to Will, Bruce, and Jennifer. "SHIELD!" Will raised his badge so they knew he was on their side.

"Sergeant Buck Spivey, LAPD SWAT. What's the situation?!" Buck asked as Hondo covered them with suppressive fire.

"Eight armed gunmen. Assorted assault rifles and body armor. They opened fire in a crowd of civilians for their target." Will pointed to Jennifer who was staying low on the ground. "We need to get to better cover."

"Right. Luca, Tan, Chris, Deacon, suppressive cover fire and flash bangs. Hondo, we're moving to Black Betty." Buck told him.

"Roger that." Hondo replied.

"Bruce, Jennifer. Stay on my ass. We're moving." He told them and they nodded. He peaked out behind cover and saw one gunmen signal to the others and they nodded. They began backing up to the sedans as four of them pulled out softball sized shaped explosive charges. "Grenade!"

"Take cover!" Buck shouted as the explosive were thrown with two landing on the ground and two landing on the cars.

Will pushed Buck and Hondo back before grabbing Bruce and Jennifer and jumping out of the way just as the charges went off. The explosions knocked the SWAT team and officers down, destroyed the windows of all the cars and set off their alarms and blew up the two cars along with two more that were close.

With the SWAT members knocked down by the explosion, the gunmen got into the black sedans and drove away. Will groaned in pain as he was lying face first in the pavement. He managed to pull Bruce and Jennifer out of the fatal range of the explosion but the concussive force still hurt. He looked up and saw the SWAT team getting back to their feet so he did the same and saw their assailants were gone minus the dead ones. He managed to get back to his feet and except for a small headache and some cuts, he was fine.

"Bruce?!" Will shouted and saw Bruce laying on his back with some rubble on his face along with cuts and bruises. "Bruce! Bruce, are you ok?"

He shook him a bit and luckily Bruce regained consciousness. "Will…"

"Yeah, it's me. You ok?" Will asked, checking him over and didn't see anything too severe.

"I'm all right." Bruce managed to sit up and so did the SWAT team.

"Call out. Anyone hurt?!" Buck shouted.

"We're ok here, Buck." Deacon told him when Bruce noticed they were one short.

"Jenn? JENN?!" He shouted only to see her stumble forward a bit.

"I'm here…I'm ok…" She muttered but Will saw the cut on her head that was bleeding along with the blood splotch on her stomach that getting bigger. "I…I don't feel so good…"

Will rushed over and caught her before she collapsed and placed her on the ground. "Jennifer, Jennifer stay with me." Will told her. "We need a medic!"

"20-David to command. Need paramedics at my location. Female civilian with stomach wound." Buck called it in.

"Roger that, 20-David. ETA ten minutes."

"We don't have ten minutes!" Buck shouted as Will and Bruce looked her over.

Bruce lifted her shift and saw the blood was coming out from her side from a piece of shrapnel that hit her. "She's bleeding too much. The shrapnel must have nicked her aorta." Bruce said.

"We need a med kit!" Will shouted and Luca ran into Black Betty to grab one. "Bruce, can you help her?"

"If I can close the artery, I might be able to give her enough time until the paramedics get here but she's losing a lot of blood. We might not have enough time and she's running out of blood quickly. Doesn't help that she has a rare blood type. AB Negative." Bruce said as Will put pressure on the wound. "Wait, Will your universal donor. O negative."

"Bruce, I can't. My blood's Inhuman now. If I give her a blood transfusion then it could kill her." Will told him. "Bruce, you have to do it."

"I can't." Bruce told him back just as Luca arrived with a trauma kit.

"Bruce, you have the same blood type. I checked at the Tower." Will told him. "I have enough medical training to close the artery. I know the odds but you're the best chance she has."

Bruce looked at Jennifer and he realized she was right. "Ok."

Will opened up the med kit and while it wasn't everything he could have wanted, it had just enough for what they needed to do. Bruce tied off his arm and used the needle and tube to draw his blood before injecting it into Jennifer's arm. Will used some sterile gauze pads to clean the area before using the knife to cut open the wound a bit and then used some forceps to find the artery and close it. What the SWAT team didn't know was that Will was actually using his powers, using his telekinetic sense to detect the damage and his telekinesis to close up what he couldn't with the forceps. That and Bruce's blood transfusion was enough to keep her stable just as the ambulance arrived and they quickly left for the hospital.

Jennifer was taken into the emergency room where the doctors began working as fast as they could to help her. Bruce and Will stuck around in the waiting area until they were told of her condition. Will put a call into SHIELD and managed to get a friend who was going to come by to watch over Jennifer and Bruce. She would be there soon.

Will wiped his hands with some sanitary wipes while Bruce was sitting down in a chair. His knee was jittering and his hands were shaking with worry when Will saw the nurse who took Jennifer into the emergency room return. "Bruce."

Bruce looked and immediately stood up as the nurse walked over to them. "How is she? How's Jennifer?"

"She has a pretty nasty concussion and her aorta artery was nicked but we managed to patch that up along with the internal bleeding and collapsed lung. She's out of surgery and she's stable. You kept her stable until we could get to her." The nurse told them, filling Will and Bruce with a huge sense of relief. "She's still under and we're keeping her steady with morphine for the pain but you can go visit her now."

"Thank you, Doctor." Bruce shook her hand and breathed a huge sigh of relief as Will pat him on the back. That's when he saw his friend arrive. She was a SHIELD agent, roughly in her late twenties like Natasha and was in as good of shape being slightly taller at 5ft7. This was SHIELD Agent Jessica Drew. (2)

"Jessica, thanks for coming on short notice." Will shook her hand.

"No problem. I owed you for Indonesia and I said anytime anywhere. Only glad I got transferred to the SHIELD section for Los Angeles." Jessica told him as Will motioned Bruce over.

"Bruce, this is Jessica Drew. She's a SHIELD agent with the Los Angeles Sector of SHIELD. She's a covert operations specialist and one of the best. She'll be watching over you and Jennifer until I get back. Don't worry. She's got plenty of skills to keep you safe." Will assured him.

"What about you?" Bruce wondered.

"I'm gonna track down the hit squad that came after Jennifer. I promise you that they won't get away with this." Will assured him and Bruce nodded. "Let me know if something comes us. I'll be here as soon as possible if something happens."

"Don't worry, Will. I got it." She assured him.

Will nodded and left the hospital when Bruce remembered what he said. "Wait, why were those men after Jennifer?!"

"Because of the group she's going after." Will replied, leaving the hospital, and hitching a ride to the LAPD SWAT headquarters.

Line Break xxxxx

At the LAPD SWAT headquarters, the members of 20-David Squad just finished getting looked after by their medic and aside from some cuts and bruises they would be fine. Sgt. Buck Spivey 20-David, Sgt. Daniel Hondo Harrelson 26-David, Sgt. David Deacon Kay 30-David, Officer Dominic Luca 22-David, Officer Christina Chris Alonso 24-David, and Officer Victor Tan 25-David. Captain Jessica Cortez came over to check on them after hearing about the heavy shootout they had with armed suspects that ended with large explosives.

"I just got off the phone with the hospital. The officer's gonna pull through. Glad to see you're all ok. When we got the call about the shootout, we didn't know it would escalate that fast." Captain Cortez stated.

"You couldn't have known that would have happened, Captain. We handled it as best we could." Hondo told her.

"All my years in SWAT, I've only seen precision squad movement and firepower like that in high-paid hit squads." Buck commented. "This wasn't a random drive-by, it was an assassination with backup."

"Yeah, backup with high powered assault rifles and explosives for an escape strategy. Who the hell did we pick a fight with?" Tan asked.

"We've got someone who can answer that." Commander Robert Hicks told them, walking in with Will at his side.

"You were with the two other civilians." Chris said. "How's Jennifer?"

"She just out of surgery. She'll pull through and I've got an agent watching over her. Thanks for the backup when you arrived but the job's not done." Will told them.

"Everyone, this is SHIELD Agent Will Detmer. He's one of SHIELD's best and brightest and gonna be running point with us on the operation. Agent, this is Captain Cortez, and 20-David squad. Sgt Buck is team leader, Sgt Harrelson and Kay, and Officers Luca, Tan, and Alonso." Commander Hicks introduced.

"You look a little young to be a federal agent." Luca commented.

"Gifted youth recruited straight out of college. I'm young but I've got a ton of experience." Will assured them.

"He does. I've managed to read over some of his operations here in the states. We've got him to thank for the lack of Juarez and Baha Diablo cocaine flooding the streets. He's the one who took down the Cartel leader in El Paso last year." Commander Hicks explained.

"And if any of you heard about the cannibal family takedown in Texas, that was me on my time off." Will added, seeing he was getting impressed looks from everyone. "Take down the bad guys even on my off time and save a lot of people."

"Amen to that." Hondo replied.

"Glad to have you with us." Buck shook his hand and Will shook back.

"Glad to be here. LAPD's SWAT has earned its reputation and we're gonna need it for today." Will said as Commander Hicks led them to the command ops center. Will took out his phone which connected to the SWAT system so he could show them the files he got from SHIELD. "You're right that this seemed like an assassination attempt and it was. Jennifer Walters was the target and the reason she's being targeted is because she's building a case on two people in particular. Simon Maddicks and Milos Masaryk, two of the deadliest killers for hire and current hired killers for the Maggia crime syndicate."

Will brought up the images and information on Maddicks and Masaryk including their mug shots, known data, suspected crimes, and codenames of Unicorn and Killer Shrike. "You're right that this is only starting." Captain Cortez commented.

"For those who are unaware, the Maggia is an international crime syndicate originating in Italy years ago during World War 2 and flourished under Mussolini's rule. After the war, they began expanding through Europe and into the Americas. Years ago, they used to control most of the country's loansharking, illegal gambling, narcotics trade, protection rackets and prostitution. Even the cartels gave them a wide berth." Will explained.

"Anyone who picked a fight with the Maggia ended up dead and in gruesome ways. They terrorized people and police. They felt they were untouchable." Hondo stated.

"Too bad for the Maggia that their free ride ended. Other organizations began to rise up and with the added pressure of the FBI, DEA and other federal agencies they were crippled to a fraction of what they were." Deacon added.

"What helped is that the Maggia aren't a monolithic organization. It's just comprised of different families all of whom are independent from one another. The families don't interfere with one another, but they won't cooperate much less coordinate when they were taken down leaving just the strongest families left in a few majors cities throughout the country. The Nefaria family leads the LA faction of the Maggia under the leadership of so-called Italian nobleman Count Luchino Nefaria." Will brought up another image of an Italian gentleman looking like the dictionary definition of entitled and snobby. Next to him was his daughter Giuletta Nefaria aka Whitney Frost. Some of the pictures included the family openly out and about in high society with industrial and political leaders.

"Pretty pompous for a guy who leads a crime syndicate. He's sure not afraid to be photographed." Tan commented.

"He does love the camera." Luca added.

"Nefaria's got an ego to match his attitude but it's for a reason. He's smart and even though his family runs the Maggia, he's managed to put himself two steps away from anything. No one's ever been able to successfully connect him to any Maggia activities because those witnesses or brave souls end up killed. Two guesses as to who the police and agencies suspect are behind those killings." Will told them.

"Maddicks and Masaryk." Chris answered.

"That's right. Jennifer was working on building a case to take them down, but she's been digging into their accounts and building up solid cases on both of them. Possibly, even digging up leads on their Maggia ties that could turn them into two walking Rico cases." Will explained.

"Which would explain why they sent the hit squad after her. If she has the evidence to push that case, then it could bring down Nefaria's whole organization." Commander Hicks stated.

"But after their failed attack at the In-N-Out they'll be scrambling to cover their tracks." Captain Cortez added.

"Which is why we're gonna take them down before Maddicks and Masaryk have a chance to escape." Will brought up satellite and street camera footage of the Maggia controlled dock/shipping yard where there was a lot of activity. "We take them down, capture all players and intel and put the hurt on the Maggia but we have to move out now."

"Right. 20-David, gear up and meet at Black Betty." Buck told his team.

"I'll call Mumford and have him meet you there as well." Captain Cortez told him.

"And I've got some SHIELD backup that's gonna meet us there to help secure the area and I've put a call into the Coast Guard. They'll make sure their ships don't leave the harbor." Will said.

"LAPD will help secure the area, but SWAT will be leading the charge. Airship will be there for overwatch. Good luck." Commander Hicks said as they let to get geared up.

"Today's gonna be a lot of fun." Will commented.

20-David squad got geared up in their SWAT gear and weapons. Kevlar body armor, helmets and all the tactical gear they needed including extra ammo along with suppressive weapons and gear they were putting in Black Betty. They gave Will a Kevlar vest, helmet and similar set up including a Heckler & Koch HK416 Assault rifle with EOTech red dot sight, RIS foregrip, AN/PEQ-2 IR designator, & Crane stock chambered in 5.56x45mm. Most of the team used the same rifle but Luca and Chris were using Heckler & Koch MP5A3 submachine guns with a railed handguard, RIS foregrip, and M68 Aimpoint red dot scope chambered in 9x19mm.

They got into Black Betty and drove to the Maggia Dock with 50-David Squad and 40-David squad joining them in another Armored vehicle and a squad of police cars and an air ship. The SHIELD assault teams would meet them there at the docking yard. Will checked his rifle and after making sure everything was set, he loaded a magazine and tapped the side as it chambered a round.

"All right, everyone! This is gonna be a tough one. The Maggia are known for their loyalty and have pledged their lives for the organization. They won't go down without a fight so watch your backs and stick together." Buck told everyone. "Coastguard and SHIELD will cover the waterfront so they can't escape, and we'll be kicking in the front gate. We move in squads, watch your sectors, and stay liquid. Agent, any words of advice?"

"Just for everyone to keep on your toes. If we manage this, then we've got a solid chance in taking down the Maggia if not crippling their operations here in LA. That means our jobs get easier and we help a lot of people. But as much as I want to get these guys, I want to make sure we're all alive to celebrate after. Drinks are on me after this." Will told them.

"We'll hold you to that." Hondo said. "Five minutes out."

"20-David to command, we are five minutes out from the docking yards." Buck reported.

"Roger that, 20-David. We've got eyes and ears and an airship in route. Satellite images show a lot of movement. Looks like they know you're coming. Anticipate resistance." Commander Hicks radioed in.

"Roger that command." Buck replied.

Luca and Tan who were up front in the driver's seat saw the docking yard closing in along with various members of the Maggia scrambling to get into position before they opened fire at the SWAT vehicles.

"They definitely know we're here now!" Luca shouted.

"20-David to command. We're taking fire!" Buck reported in as Will opened up the roof hatch and pushed up the gunner position cover plate.

"Luca, keep driving and break through that gate!" Will shouted, aiming his rifle and firing eight rounds. Two rounds for four of the gunners by the main gate who went down quickly before he fired several more rounds, taking down their backup.

"Hang on!" Luca sped up and Black Betty rammed through the gate followed by 50-David squad's armored vehicle and then 40-David squad's vehicle followed by the Police sedans and cruisers. The police airship arrived on the scene as the SWAT teams and police officers got out and began laying down cover fire against the Maggia enforcers who fired back while other Maggia men and women ran for cover or headed to the ship.

"Deacon, Chris, Tan, Luca flank left. Hondo, with me flank right. Move!" Buck shouted as they moved in formation, keeping a tight grouping, and firing at the enforcers who were taken down one by one. Will moved with Buck and Hondo, backing them up before aiming up at the rooftop and taking down a sniper who tried to surprise them.

Will reloaded his gun when he saw a Maggia enforcer step out with a rocket launcher. "RPG!" Will shouted, tackling Hondo and Buck out of the way. Deacon managed to hit the enforcer in the arm, so he missed and blew up a cargo loader.

"Thanks." Buck said as Will helped him and Hondo up.

"Don't mention it. On me." Will said, leading them into the yard.

"20-David to command. We're moving into the docking yard." Buck reported.

"Roger that. SHIELD forces have engaged the enemy and are pushing them back to the harbor." Commander Hicks informed him.

Will led Buck and Hondo past some cargo container stacks towards the harbor where they were attacked from the side. One Maggia guard grabbed Will's gun but he managed to pull it free before gun-butting him in the nose and swept out one of his legs, then kneeing him in the face. Buck and Hondo were attacked as well but they managed to fend off their attackers. Buck headbutted his attacker and push kicked him into a cargo container. He managed to block and disarm his attackers knife before elbowing him in the gut and then throwing him to the ground where he quickly put him on his front and grabbed his hands. Hondo grabbed and locked his attacker's knife arm before disarming him. His attacker grabbed Hondo and slammed him on the ground, but Hondo managed to move his legs and put his attacker in an arm bar. Will was grabbed from behind and put in a rear naked choke, but Will kicked his feet up and used the moment to hurl him to the ground. Will got on top of him and knocked him out with a right cross when he saw three Maggia men come into view with guns and had a clear line of sight on Hondo and Buck, so he pulled out his HK pistol and shot them down quickly.

Hondo and Buck saw Will take down three Maggia guards and save them both. "Nice shot." Hondo told him.

"Thanks. You guys ok?" Will asked as they quickly secured their attackers.

"We're good. Let's move." Buck said as they pressed forward.

By now, the Maggia were falling back to the ship for their escape plan. While the ship was an old cargo freighter and likely not the best bet for an escape route, it wasn't designed for that. The ship was actually a huge fortress for the Maggia. It was reinforced and the cargo containers were designed as vault-like storage units for their contraband and weapons with a modified twin-engine Chinook helicopter for quick escapes. And that's where many of the Maggia members were heading while the guards were grabbing heavy weapons for a defensive position.

"Command to 20-David. Satellite scans show a twin-engine helicopter on the deck of the ship and a lot of body signatures heading there. They're trying to rabbit." Commander Hicks told him.

"Roger that. We need to move before they leave." Buck said as they kept moving towards the ship, taking down a few more Maggia guards.

"I got a plan for that." Will pressed his radio. "Agent Detmer to SHIELD sniper two, do you have a visual on the helicopter?"

Said sniper was set up about 400 yards away on the roof of a building in an overwatch position for the shipping yard. "SHIELD sniper two, I have a visual."

"Use EMP round. Disable that thing and keep it from taking off." Will ordered.

"Roger that." The sniper loaded a glowing blue sniper bullet into his Remington 700 sniper rifle before adjusting his scope for a clean shot. Lining up a clean line of sight on the body of the helicopter near the front rotor. One smooth exhale and a trigger squeeze sent the glowing blue electronic bullet through the air and managed to hit the helicopter and stuck there via magnetic pulse. The bullet then split open to reveal an electronic interface system and magnetic hooks which sent an electrical pulse through the helicopter, frying its system which would prevent it from taking off. "Helicopter disabled."

"Nice shot. Thin out the members on the ship. We're moving in." Will replied, taking down four more guards with precision shots as he, Hondo, and Buck closed in on the ship and reunited with Deacon, Tan, Chris, and Luca. 40-David and 50-David squad met up with them along with the SHIELD assault teams while the uniformed officers restrained the Maggia workers and guards who surrendered.

"How many more guys they have up there?" Deacon wondered, taking aim along with everyone else from behind cover.

"Enough to drag this out." Hondo replied.

"What's the plan, boss?" Chris asked Buck.

"I'm thinking. We could head up the ramp with shields but that just piles us up together for easy targets." Buck replied when he saw Will checking his phone.

"Don't worry, Sgt Buck. Air support is here." Will told him and the sound of helicopter rotors closed in. Four SHIELD Quinjets moved into the area and hovered around the ship with their miniguns deployed and set on the people on the ship. Will tapped a button on his phone so he could broadcast his voice from the Quinjets. "Attention all personnel! This is SHIELD! Stand down! You are surrounded and outgunned! Lay down your weapons or you will be subject to lethal action! This is your only warning!"

There was a bit of a standoff and many thought that the final nail would drop, and they'd be stuck in a massive firefight when the pilots saw the people lay down their guns and raise their hands. "Command to all teams, they're standing down." Commander Hicks informed him.

The SWAT and SHIELD teams moved onto the ship and secured everyone including the weapons. They found containers filled with illegal weapons, stolen paintings, diamonds, drugs, cars, people but what they found below was a bigger win. Apparently, the Maggia didn't believe in digital trails for their activities so they kept hardcopy records of everything from every account. It made them harder to take down in this day and age since there wasn't anything hack and intercept, but it also meant that once you get them then its done. Some of the papers and records were destroyed but they managed to salvage enough to get info on their international bank accounts, money orders, transaction reports, and the companies and people they did business with. It was a huge win for SHIELD, the police, the Feds, and would take down Nefaria's whole operation.

Will walked on the deck of the ship, seeing the lines of Maggia members sitting down with their hands tied up when Buck signaled him over. "What is it?"

"We managed to get the phones of everyone here and we think we identified the high-ranking captains and lieutenants." Buck motioned to the group of ten tied up by a cargo container under guard from uniformed officers.

"We were collecting their phones when this recent chain of messages popped up." Hondo handed him one and the texts were to a blocked number.

It read: Under attack. Take care of the loose end and then get Unicorn and Shrike out of here. We'll keep the cops and SHIELD occupied.

"They knew we were coming." Will stated.

"They wanted to keep us stuck here while Maddicks and Masaryk made their escape." Deacon said.

"Which makes some sense. We put most of the LAPD on this attack and they can get out without much interference." Luca stated.

"But the loose end…" Will thought for a moment when he realized what that meant. If it involved Maddicks and Masaryk, then it had to involve Jennifer. "Jennifer. They're going after her. I need that Quinjet! Get me to UCLA Medical Center! SWAT, stay here and keep this stuff secure! Any of them try anything, throw them overboard!"

Will quickly got into a Quinjet which took off for the hospital. He took out his phone and called Jessica. "Jessica! It's me! The Maggia are sending a hit squad to the hospital to finish the job on Jennifer! They're gonna kill her before they skip town! I'm on my way!"

"Speed that up! They're already here!" he heard along with gunshots.

"Shit! Double time it!" Will shouted to the pilot.

At the hospital…

Two black sedans parked outside the hospital and eight men walked in, not stopping at the reception desk and heading into the elevator where they quickly donned their white Maggia masks and readied their guns which ranged from pistols to submachine guns.

Jessica, who was standing outside the hallway while Bruce went to the bathroom saw the elevator open and the men walk out. She saw their masks and their weapons and knew they were here for Jennifer. "Everyone get out!" Jessica shouted as she took out her gun and shot one of the assassins. The other seven opened fire, causing the nurses and doctors to scramble away with some of them getting hit. Jessica fired the rest of her magazine, killing two more assassins before reloading. That's when her phone rang and saw it was Will.

"Jessica! It's me! The Maggia are sending a hit squad to the hospital to finish the job on Jennifer! They're gonna kill her before they skip town! I'm on my way!"

"Speed that up! They're already here!" She fired a few shots from behind cover, killing the fourth assassin. When they saw four of their own get killed, the leader pulled out a flashbang and chucked it down the hall where it went off. After that, they moved forward thinking that it concussed the agent defending their target, but they were wrong.

Jessica blindsided one assassin, pushing him against a friend and into the wall with strength that they couldn't fight before she shot the other two assassins quickly, sending them to the ground. Jessica quickly grabbed one assassin's arm and threw him to the ground before parrying the other and punching him in the gut, then breaking his wrist and slamming his head through the wall and into a room. She was grabbed from behind but kicked up her leg and hit him in the face before pushing him back and taking him down with a head scissor takedown before her hand began to spark with green energy and knocked him out with a bio-electric shock. She wasn't just a regular SHIELD agent.

She had to tangle with the last three assassins and with her focus elsewhere, two male nurses walked into Jennifer's room. They removed their hair nets and masks as they weren't nurses but actually Simon Maddicks and Milos Masaryk. They were here to clean up loose ends before they flee the country. Seemed only fitting that they get to take out the lawyer who was trying to take them down. Maddicks pulled out a syringe and filled it with a lethal amount of morphine while Masaryk quickly restrained Jennifer. She woke up and tried to fight but there wasn't anything she could do.

"Sorry, sweetie. But your story ends here." Maddicks stabbed the syringe into her arm and pumped her full of drugs. The EKG monitor began to beep rapidly before slowing down a bit but then picked back up like someone gave her a shot of adrenaline. Jennifer began shaking as her eyes turned green along with her veins. Her muscles began to enlarge and soon enough she began growing taller and more muscular to the point where she began to rip through her hospital gown. "What the hell is going on?!"

"You boys messed with the wrong girl!" She grabbed both of them by the shirt and held them up like they weighed nothing before throwing one through the wall where he crashed through another room and into the bathroom while throwing the other one out the window.

Will's Quinjet parked down in the hospital parking lot and he rushed to the entrance when he heard the sound of glass breaking and saw someone crash onto a parked car. Their body was broken, injured but he would survive. "Maddicks?" He was confused and saw a police officer. "Check to make sure he's alive and restrain him."

The officer nodded as Will continued into the hospital. Suffice to say that he wasn't expecting to see Maddicks thrown out a window and honestly was worried if Dr. Banner went Hulk in the hospital, so he rushed upstairs to Jennifer's floor. There he saw the dead Maggia assassins along with the two restrained ones that Jessica took down. The hallway was destroyed and looked like a warzone or a Hulk had torn through it, but he saw Dr. Banner walk into view. That's when he heard some loud footsteps and out from one of the rooms walked a 6ft7 Amazonian proportioned, green-skinned woman with flowing dark green hair and a torn-up hospital gown covering her modesty. He was confused as to where the female Hulk appeared but then saw her face and recognized her.

"Jennifer?" Will asked, getting her to look at him and it was her.

"Jenn, is that you?" Bruce asked, walking over to her so he could see if she was all right. He didn't expect her to turn into a Hulk.

"Bruce?" Jennifer muttered when she looked at her hands and saw they were green. She saw a broken mirror and managed to get a good look at her reflection, and she was large, strong, and green. "What happened to me?"

Will walked over and saw a destroyed room with a hole in the wall that led to the bathroom and saw Masaryk slumped against a urinal, bleeding from the head and unconscious. "You kicked ass, that's what happened." Will told her. "Masaryk and Maddicks were coming after you but they got more then what they bargained for."

"Way to go, She-Hulk." Jessica congratulated her.

Jennifer looked at her hands and was beginning to freak out which Will and Bruce picked up. "Jennifer, calm down." Bruce walked up to his cousin who had shot up and towered over him. "It's ok. Believe me, I know what you're going through but it's gonna be ok."

"He's right. Considering you can still talk and know who we are, you're still you." Will assured her. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out. I promise."

"Ok…ok…" Jennifer calmed down a bit, taking a deep breath and to their amazement her skin turned back to its normal color and she shrunk back to her normal size. "Oh, thank god."

"Well, this trip just got interesting." Will commented.

Line Break xxxxx

March 2013: SHIELD Base Los Angeles, California

The whole Maggia take down was a huge win for SHIELD, the LAPD, and the FBI who were going to help push charges even though they didn't do any of the heavy lifting. The files and hard copy stuff they got from the Maggia ship was a gold mine that allowed them to cripple most of their organization and leaders, but it wasn't perfect. The files that were burned kept them from taking the Maggia down completely including some of its leaders and Count Nefaria as they had nothing with a solid connection to him and no one was ratting him out for a better deal. Still, it was a win and they did manage to get some intel on the other Maggia families out there. SHIELD was on their radar so try as they might, they weren't going to come out of this unscathed. LAPD and SWAT were appraised for their actions which was good for the police commissioner and the mayor for politics, but the officers got some praise and several boxes of quality scotch and whiskey curtesy of Will. He did say he'd pay for drinks.

Maddicks and Masaryk were arrested, and their long list of charges was also going to include the attempted murder of Jennifer Walters. They were going to jail for along time…after they got out of the hospital and could walk again. Speaking of Jennifer, given her sudden green change Will had to conduct an Index evaluation. Given that he along with Bruce and Steve went through this, it was standard protocol and Will was a designated Level-7 agent authorized to handle Index evaluations which helped put Jennifer and Bruce at ease.

At SHIELD's secret LA base, Jennifer was in a medical room for her evaluation and threat analyst. It was standard procedure for enhanced and super individuals. Jessica had to go through it as well so she knew how nerve wracking it could be. Jessica's mother died of a rare genetic lung condition and it was something that she inherited only it affected her at a younger age. Her father moved heaven and earth to try and save her, which he did but it ended up working too well. Whatever he did gave her powers including superhuman physiology with superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, flexibility, and durability along with a regenerative healing factor, self-propelled glide, and bio-electrical energy control. She was one of SHIELD's rare index evaluations that turned into a SHIELD agent like Will. She became a skilled martial artist and trained spy taking on the codename Spider-Woman. Knowing what Jennifer was going through, she walked into the room to help put Jennifer at ease.

"How are you doing?" Jessica wondered as one of the doctors attached a node to Jennifer's forehead. Jennifer was wearing long athletic shorts and t-shirt and was feeling a little uncomfortable with the clothes since they were a little tight. That along with the whole secret SHIELD test was making her nervous.

"Beyond nervous." Jennifer told her.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one who felt that during an Index evaluation. I went through something similar when SHIELD found me." Jessica raised her hands and they sparked with the same green energy from before. "I was twelve and had a rare lung disease that killed my mother. My dad moved heaven and earth to make sure I would make it. Helped that he was a geneticist, but his treatments weren't exactly…FDA approved."

"I'm sorry." Jennifer said.

"I was beyond scared and thought I was going to die. But…he wouldn't let that happen. He made a promise to my mom to keep me alive and said that I would bury him and not the other way around. Ten years later…I did what he asked." Jessica replied, putting her hand in her pocket. "I know how scary this can be…how it feels like you're a stranger inside your own body but we're here to help. You've got nothing to worry about. Your cousin is in the observation room and you have nothing to worry about with Will. He's one of SHIELD's best. You're in good hands."

That helped to put Jennifer at east a bit. "Thank you."

Jessica smiled before leaving the room with the doctors and entering the observation room where Will and Bruce were waiting. "Thank you for putting Jennifer at ease." Bruce told her.

"You're welcome, Dr. Banner." Jessica replied.

"You've got a real talent for the welcome wagon thing, Jessica. Excellent bedside manner." Will praised her.

"Helps that your bedside manner sucks." Jessica joked.

"My bedside manner is amazing." Will told her before focusing back on the task. The nodes were feeding Jennifer's bio-electric readings and the blood test from the lab came back. "Well, Jennifer's fine now. She's completely healed from her wound."

"Can I see her charts?" Bruce asked and Will pointed to a spare tablet which he took. Bruce checked and he was right. "Her white blood cell count is a little high but you're right. She's doing great.

"Considering how there's no scar or damage from her surgery, it looks like her body has some regenerative capabilities hence the white cell increase. Everything else is good which brings us to the gamma concentration in her blood stream." Will put the tablet down and shifted everything to the observation room window which was also a smart screen. "Her gamma radiation concentration is much lower than yours, Bruce but higher than a normal human."

"I'm just surprised it didn't make her sick. My blood's radiation levels should even give you and Steve some issues for a little bit." Bruce pointed out.

"Could be the genetic component to all this? You and Jennifer do share the same rare blood type and some genetic markers. See." Will brought over another window that showed her DNA chain and then compared it to Bruce's. They both had the same radiation mutation and some matching alleles. "Could be what allowed Jennifer to survive the blood transfusion."

"That makes some sense and her genetic structure doesn't show any residual genetic radiation decay which is good." Bruce commented. "What's the chance that her transformation was a onetime thing?"

"In my line of work? Zero." Will said before activating the intercom and making the observation room glass transparent so Jennifer could see them. It wasn't protocol but he was leading the evaluation so screw it. "Hey, Jennifer? How are you feeling?"

"Antsy. What do my tests say?" She asked only for Will and Bruce to leave the observation room and walk into the medical room to talk to her face to face. "Any chance this is just a dream?"

Bruce walked over and hugged Jennifer, comforting her as he was the only other person who knew what she was going through. "I'm sorry, Jenn. This is all my fault." Bruce told her.

"Bruce, it's not your fault. Your blood saved her life. If anything, blame the Maggia." Will told her.

"I don't blame you, Bruce." Jennifer assured him. "I could never blame you, cousin."

Will smiled at the sweetness of their familial bond which would likely only get stronger. "Jennifer, we've run a bunch of tests and as far as we can tell, you're all healed up from your injuries and there aren't any adverse effects from your transformation but there are some changes you need to be made aware of. Your blood is showing similar conditions like Bruce's, meaning gamma radiation. In any other circumstance with someone else, Bruce's blood would cause radiation sickness but not for you. You're completely fine."

"Why do I feel a but coming?" Jennifer pointed out.

"While my blood didn't kill you, it had a similar mutational side effect the gamma radiation did to me." Bruce explained. "We're not sure how but given we share the same blood type and share some DNA, it's likely how your body was able to survive the radiation."

"The mutation isn't as severe as Bruce's given your gamma exposure came from his blood but it's likely what caused you to transform into uh…She-Hulk as Jessica put it. But you were still in control and able to transform back which puts you above Bruce." Will pointed out.

"Like always." Jennifer joked a bit. It was nice to see that her personality was still there. "So, is there a cure?"

"I'll leave that up to Bruce. He's the gamma and bio-medical specialist but at the moment…I don't think so." Will told her.

"But that doesn't mean this is permanent, Jennifer. I won't stop working until I fix this." Bruce promised.

"No offense, cousin. You're the smartest person I know but if you haven't been able to fix your green problem are you sure you can fix mine?" Jennifer pointed out.

"Your situation is a little different from Bruce's and if there's anyone who can figure this out it's him. And with him at the Tower now then he'll have plenty of equipment and help to solve this." Will told her. "In the meantime, we need to know what exactly you can do if you're up for it."

"Do I have to worry about ripping through these?" Jennifer referred to her clothes.

"No. They're made up a special polymer material that stretches. Bruce wear's a more advance version created by Tony." Will told her as Bruce opened up his shirt to show the purple and black skintight athletic kind of wear he had under. "I suggested that to Tony so if Bruce has an episode, we don't need to worry about him having a trouser malfunction. You'll be fine."

Jennifer took a deep breath to calm herself down before she managed a nod. "Ok…how do I do that?"

"If your anything like your cousin then your transformation is likely tied to your emotions so think angry thoughts and get your adrenaline up." Will suggested.

"Yeah, I'm not really an angry person." Jennifer told him as Bruce walked over to a nearby gurney and picked up a medical syringe of adrenaline. "That could work."

He inserted the needle and pumped a little of the adrenaline into her system to get her heartrate pumping. The EKG picked up the spike and after a familiar sense of Déjà vu for Bruce, Jennifer's eyes turned green as well as her veins. This time Will, Bruce, and Jessica had a front row seat to her transformation. Her muscles and body began to grow, and she got taller.

"Oooh…yeah…I'm feeling that…." Jennifer muttered, feeling a sense of euphoric strength and confidence flow through her body like never before. She quickly grew to her new height of 6ft7, her hair grew out a bit and she was physically bigger and stronger than before.

"Jenn…how do you feel?" Bruce wondered.

"I feel really good." Jennifer assured him with a smile. She grabbed the gurney with one hand and lifted it over her hand like it was nothing. "Oh, I feel really good. Is this what it's like you transform?"

"Sort of but my situation is a little different." Bruce pointed out.

Will signaled to Jessica who pressed a few buttons on a tablet and the floor opened up so a large podium of silver metallic metal could rise up from the ground. "Let's test your strength. This is refined Osmium. One of the densest and heaviest metals on the planet besides Adamantium but that's in short supply so this should work. At this amount and concentration of Osmium around two tons, there's only a few things that can crack this. Thor's Hammer, Adamantium, and the Hulk. Let's see what She-Hulk can do. Try to lift it."

Jennifer nodded and took a deep breath before she grabbed the chunk of refined metal with both arms and despite a little staggering at first, she pushed through it and managed to life the metal off the platform. She held it but there wasn't any sign of physical strain nor was there any sign of internal compromise or genetic degradation. "Wow…" Jessica muttered.

"Ok, you can put the metal down." Will told her and she did before pulling her fist back and punching the Osmium, making a fist sized crack and indent. "Well, that answers that question too."

"Jennifer, you feeling any fatigue?" Bruce asked.

"No, I'm feeling really good." Jennifer assured him.

Will walked back to the observation room to double-check the results and Jennifer or She-Hulk was completely fine. No signs of genetic degradation and she was strong. Not sure if she was strong as the Hulk but that was something they couldn't test here at the facility.

"She's strong and seems to be in control." Jessica said and Will nodded. "I wonder how strong?"

"We can't test that here. I'm putting in that she spends some time at the Retreat. She'll be able to test her powers there without anyone else being in danger. I imagine Bruce will go with her." Will replied.

"I'll go too." Jessica told him and that earned a surprised look. "I know what she's going through, and I wish I had someone like me to help through the transition. Besides, some time off at the retreat? Yes, please."

"By all means." Will replied, logging in Jennifer's data as well as the marker for her file. She was logged under new Index evaluation. Codename: She-Hulk.

It was catchy. At least he thought so. Granted his previous designation was Omega and he got his new one from an ancient Greek legend so maybe he wasn't the best judge.

Las Vegas, Nevada Bellagio Hotel and Casino…A week later

At the lovely and expensive Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Sin City, a long stretch limo drove up to the front of the hotel followed by two black sedans were several men in black suits walked out. The Bellagio valet walked over to open the limo when one of the men in black suits ushered him away so he could do it himself and out walked Count Nefaria. With his fancy cane and pressed Italian three-piece suit, he was the dictionary definition of entitled and smug. He and his men were in Las Vegas for business but for fun as well and this was their first stop on fun. Nefaria adjusted his tie a bit as he walked up the stairs to the hotel when Will walked out in his regular clothes.

"Count Nefaria as I live and breathe." Will stated, getting Nefaria and his men's attention. "I can't believe it. You even look smugger and more entitled then I thought possible."

"Can I help you?" Nefaria wondered.

"No, just here to pay you a visit. I'm sure you know by now, but I was the SHIELD agent who led that attack on your LA base of operations and took down most of your organization. A lot of your men are in jail and likely not getting out anytime soon." Will told him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Agent. I'm a legitimate businessman." Nefaria assured him.

"Oh, well then you won't have to worry about the scores of financial information and other little tidbits that are currently being reported on by every media outlet in the country. Sure, you're not in trouble but the people and groups you worked with for profit and protection…well, let's just say that they're going to be busy and not very welcoming to the man who put them in the spotlight with such bad PR. Some might even want payback." Will pointed out.

"Are you threatening me, agent?" Nefaria asked as Will walked up to him. Two of Nefaria's bodyguards tried to stop him but Nefaria motioned them to stand down.

"No, but I'm making you a promise. You may have been able to walk away clean for now, but I promise you that SHIELD has you on their radar now. And every single moment of my free time, I'm gonna work and I'm not gonna stop until you're behind bars or in the ground where you belong." Will warned him with a dead serious sneer on his face.

"You might want to be careful there, agent. I'm pretty sure there are still libel laws in this country. And you wouldn't want to tangle with someone out of your depth." Nefaria warned him.

"Oh, please. Please, you tell me when and where and I will be there. Because it's you who has no idea who you're dealing with. You've ruined so many lives and made them feel helpless and scared. I hope you remember that feeling when I throw your ass in a cell and everyone else who is working for you." Will warned him before walking away, leaving Nefaria to glare at him as he left. "Oh, and one more thing for you to worry about. The other Maggia families will have heard about your misfortunes. Something tells me that they'll capitalize on it. Who knows…maybe I won't have to do a thing."

Will left with a smirk on his face while Nefaria just stewed in anger as he and his men entered the hotel. Suffice to say that his mood and trip was ruined.

Line Break xxxxx

April 2013: Manhattan, New York

Parked a few blocks away from the Langham Hotel on Fifth avenue in his Chevrolet Chevelle SS, Will was doing some recon on Sir Gordon Phillips. He arrived in New York for some kind of meeting and booked the top two floors of the Langham hotel. EDI hacked into the hotel's system and Phillips bought out the top two floors and the names that were scheduled to arrive were a whose who of the rich and powerful. Some Saudi oil barons, a couple of Swiss Bankers, the head of a Japanese Tech company, the eldest son of the French Prime Minister, the CEO of a Hong Kong shipping company, and even one of the Senators from New York.

Normally, a wealthy financier being in New York at the same time as a lot of other people might not be that big of a red flag but considering SHIELD suspected him being head of the Hellfire Club then it was enough for him and it was less suspicion and now a solid lead. After Jarvis and Tony managed to uncover the lead on Phillips and sticking with the rumors that it was possible that the Hellfire Club had contacts that could make them aware if SHIELD were looking into them, he left the snooping to EDI and Jarvis. They managed to find an encrypted phone line and email chain with other people of financial and political importance, many of whom were at the hotel. And going back in his logs did show some very well hidden correspondence with some of the AIM people they had captured. It was looking like the Hellfire Club was around and kicking which is why he was in New York. Phillips made a last minute trip to Manhattan which meant something was up and he was going to find out what.

He didn't even tell Fury yet since he wasn't sure what he'd find but once he had something then he'd let him know. But he did have some help from someone he trusted and that was Natasha. She was the best spy in SHIELD so this would be like riding a bike for her. At the moment, Natasha was working on something while he kept watch over the feed in front of the hotel that captured all the guests.

He sensed Natasha coming so he telekinetically opened the door which allowed her to get in the passenger seat. "Have I told you how creepy it is when you do that?" Natasha asked.

"Many times. What's our best bet in?" He asked as Natasha held up hotel uniforms.

"Service entrance. The security for the hotel is top notch but there have been some personal adjustments made to the top two floors when the place was renovated years ago. Five bucks who paid for the renovation."

"Phillips." Will answered.

"The top two floors have specialized key card readers and only authorized employees are allowed up there. They even escort the cleaning staff and bad news for us, there's only ten of those key cards and each one of them is DNA coded." Natasha explained. "The service entrance stops on the floor below which is as close as we can get."

"That should be fine. I'll be able to sense what's going on there or I can astral project in." Will suggested when he saw a limo show up and out walked three identical women in matching clothes. Short blonde hair wearing white button-up long, black skirts with black tights and long black boots. (4)

"Three triplets. Wonder how that must have been growing up." Will commented as video feed captured their faces and ran facial recognition. It got a match to a registered room on the top two floors. "Esme, Phoebe, and Sophie Stepford Cuckoo."

"Funny name." Natasha commented when she saw their faces and names were flagged by SHIELD which quickly brought up a file on the three sisters but their last name was Frost.

"Looks like the sisters aren't who they say they are. Think they're here for the Hellfire club meeting?" Will wondered when he saw the girls standing in line, waiting as the next limo arrived and out walked and man and two women in some fancy and expensive wear.

The man was wearing a nice black two piece suit with a white paisley ascot and a purple flower pinned on his chest trying to bring back the Victorian style of dress. Whoever he was, he exuded power and confidence. The dark-haired woman was wearing a form-fitting black dress with a sort of corset like appearance for the torso with a red jeweled chocker and long black high-heeled boots. She had the perfect mix of powerful and menacing. The other woman was blonde, wearing a white strapless corset-like long sleeve high-low business top that was part business kind of wear but showed off a fair among of cleavage, neck, and shoulder so also part party wear. She wore white form-fitting business pants and high heels with a white neck scarf. (5)

"Who do we have here?" Natasha wondered as facial recognition matched them to people in the hotel under the names of Edward Buckman, Paris Seville, and Cordelia Evans. The info on those people was sketchy but the weird part was that their real identities were locked under level-8 clearance restriction at SHIELD. But he did get a match for the blonde woman as Emma Frost, CEO of Frost international.

"Emma Frost. CEO of Frost International. A Fortune 500 company created by her father Winston Frost, the second richest man in Massachusetts. Specializes in transportation and electronics. The FBI opened some cases on her because of how well her company was doing despite projected markets and business analytics. Like she was manipulating business deals and the markets somehow in her favor but the case never went anywhere and they couldn't prove anything. No mention of any siblings though." Will replied when he noticed something in the camera feed. Emma and the three triplets looked right at the camera and smiled before their eyes glowed and the feed went dead. "What the hell?"

"Did we get cut off?" Natasha wondered as he checked the feed.

"It's not a feed issue. The camera's dead." Will told her. "I got a funny feeling about that group that showed up."

"What do you want to do?" Natasha asked and he thought it over.

"We might not get another shot at getting intel on the Hellfire Club. We move in and out quickly." Will told her and Natasha agreed. They got changed into their hotel uniforms with Will dressed as a male bellhop and Natasha as a maid before heading to the hotel.

They walked in through the hotel's cargo area and saw a lot of the hotel employees busy at work. With their uniforms they blended right in and made their way to the service elevator taking it up to floor 58. Floors 60 and 61 were the reserved floors. They got out and acted normal, making their way to an empty room where Will used his powers to unlock the door from the inside.

"Wow, fancy. Usually, I prefer dinner before I let my dates take me someplace like this. I'm not easy, Will." Natasha told him, earning a weird look from him.

"You know I think of you like an older sister, right? You just made this weird." Will told her earning a chuckle from Natasha. "We should be good here."

"All right." Natasha pulled out a high-tech SHIELD parabolic listening device the size of a smartphone. She attached it to the ceiling and it was able to pick up the faintest of vocal vibrations from a range of a hundred yards and clear it up so it sounded like you were right next to it. Plus, it could even detect vocal vibrations through walls and floors. Natasha checked the feed and cleaned it up a bit before she began to pick up chatter. "I got them. Penthouse on the top floor. There's a lot of them."

"Right, I'm on it. Watch my body." Will told her before he slumped down against the bed. He astral projected out and floated all the way up to the penthouse with no one able to see or hear him. There he watched as Phillips and everyone else sat around a large conference table.

"We managed to consolidate power in Georgia, despite the political turmoil and talks of civil war. The Russian Prime minister sends his thanks, of course, for eliminating the threat and for the political surge needed for his career." One member said. "But there is some distressing news. Our associates report that the situation in Latveria hasn't improved. The country is on its last leg and the current ruler is an idiot."

"No surprise there with the Fortunov family. They are as idiotic as they are brazen for war and control." Another member quipped.

"But there are rumors of a new contender earning much ire from the ruling king. A young Victor von Doom."

"Interesting. Have our associates keep at it and inform me of their progress." Phillips ordered and the member nodded. "Now, onto the current business for why this meeting was called. With AIM's retreat after SHIELD's numerous attacks and the constant pressure, it would appear that we'll have to delay our timetable in accepting the unique benefits Killian's agreement offered us."

"How long of a delay?" A member asked.

"Unclear at the time but Dr. Rappaccini informs me that AIM is still dedicated in delivering what was promised. All individual requests, of course, for our own war chest building. With the rise of the Avengers and SHIELD, protecting our own interests is paramount." Phillips said and everyone agreed.

"Natasha, are you getting this?" Will asked, telepathically. "Natasha?"

The man who walked into the hotel with the two women and triplets cleared his throat for attention. "Not to question Dr. Rappaccini's efforts but are you sure that her products are what we really need at this moment? We've all seen the footage from the base attack in Iceland and Tarleton's robots are…sorely lacking."

"And you have a better suggestion, Sebastian?" Phillip asked, his tone showing a clear distaste for the man.

"Any suggestion is a better one. Your plans only work for the world before the battle that nearly ripped this city apart and the group of individuals whose tower looms over all of us. Robots, technology, working with a group whose sole contribution was a fake terrorist and a failed genetic experiment that turned people into human bombs." Sebastian relayed and it made some sense. "These plans come from a human mind that will see us caught by SHIELD and exposure our organization. SHIELD was able to take everything from the base in Iceland and probably has enough information on you Phillips to start a case."

"That's not possible and I would know, Sebastian. It's what our money and political influence gets us. Power and the force for change." Phillips reminded him.

"Power? You speak of power but have no concept of the word." Sebastian told him as Phillips stood up.

"I will not be talked back to by you of all people, Sebastian. Without your gifts, you would be nothing. Everyone in your little entourage would be nothing." Phillips said. "You think I'm afraid of what you and these women can do? Well, I'm not."

"Then you're a fool." Sebastian remarked.

"But I was the one elected Lord Imperial because I respect our traditions and you don't." Phillips stated. "Now, let us move on. To help in Dr. Rappaccini's end of the bargain, she requested some unique test subjects for the Adaptoid project. Subjects similar in power to Aegis of the Avengers. Perhaps we should considering shopping at the Vault."

"The Vault? The SHIELD prison. What the hell are you planning?" Will dived into Phillip's mind without him knowing and got a rough idea of his plan. They were planning a breakout of the Vault SHIELD prison and absconding with some prisoners. Two showed up in his head: one was a white haired man in a red and purple suit codename Nitro and the other was a huge stature of a man that could give Hulk a run for his money in a brown armored suit with a weird dome like helmet. Phillips was planning it to happen soon but before Will could dive any further, he began getting a high pitched screeching/ringing in his head that forced him out.

Will staggered in his astral form as he never felt psychic interference like that before…or ever. The screeching pain came back again, like nails on a chalkboard but ten times worse and he felt the psychic energy coming from Emma Frost and the triplets. They were looking right at him while no one else did and their eyes were glowing white.

"Didn't anyone tell you? Snooping isn't nice."

"Neither is eavesdropping."

"Naughty boys need to be punished."

The triplets said telepathically before they attacked his mind which felt like someone took a hot iron to his brain. But he wasn't about to give up without a fight. He powered through as best he could and his eyes glowed blue, creating a mental shield that stopped their attack to their shock.

"Stay the hell out of my head!"

He unleashed his own telepathic mind attack on them as the Frost triplets fought back as hard as they could. With three against one, you'd think they had the advantage but the sweat dripping down their faces and their sudden lack of confidence didn't seem to indicate so. Emma, sensing what was going on helped and it was becoming a true psychic struggle that even made her concentrate before the psychic buildup became too much. The psychic buildup in the astral plane created a psychic explosion that knocked Will back to his body, knocked out the triplets while sending Emma back into her chair with a huge headache.

"Emma, what's wrong?" Selene asked, never seeing her hurt like this before.

"There's another psychic here." Emma replied, looking at the triplets who were down for the count and whose sudden collapse made everyone confused. "A very strong psychic."

Will's astral form shot back into his body and he sat up in the bed with a gasp of air and a throbbing headache. "Dammit!" He rubbed his forehead when he saw Natasha collapsed on the floor. "Nat!"

He knelt down and saw she was breathing, just unconscious. A quick mental scan indicated she was fine but someone put her to sleep telepathically like he had done to so many people. It had to be those four telepaths upstairs. Whoever they were, they were powerful. He never faced any kind of telepaths before because he thought he was the only one on the Index. Knowing that they knew they were here and they couldn't stick around, he grabbed the audio bug from the ceiling and woke up Natasha.

"Natasha, wake up!" He shocked her awake, telepathically and it did. She was confused, a little apprehensive and had a headache.

"What happened?" She wondered.

"Telepathic attack. Long story and I'll explain later. We need to go now." Will helped her up and they quickly left the hotel as fast as they could. They left the hotel and made their way to his car before driving away to the New York SHIELD base.

"Will, what happened?" Natasha asked, nursing her headache.

"Things just got really complicated. We need to talk to Fury." Will told her, driving there as fast as he could.

At the hotel security room, Emma, Sebastian, and Selene checked the internal cameras to find an image of their trespasser while the triplets kept the security chief under. After a little searching, they did manage to get an image of him leaving the hotel with a red-haired woman.

"That's him." Emma assured Sebastian who looked at the image with intrigue. "He was a powerful psychic. I've never felt that kind of power and resistance before."

"Powerful enough that he was able to face the triplets and you is nothing to dismiss. Who is he?" Selene wondered.

"A SHIELD agent. Looks like the humans are craftier than I thought." Sebastian stated. Inside his brain, the gears were turning and he quickly thought up a brilliant plan "Emma, stick closely to Phillips. I believe I have found something to turn the tides in our favor."

Line Break xxxxx

Manhattan SHIELD Base

Will and Natasha returned to the SHIELD base and after Natasha got looked after by some medics, Will made an immediate request to talk to Fury about what happened. Unfortunately, Fury was at a meeting in Geneva with the UN and wouldn't be back for a few days. Hill was around and the second he said Hellfire Club, she had him wait in a secured conference room which was starting to become a common occurrence.

He waited a few minutes until Hill walked in after making sure the room was secured and no one could eavesdrop, she activated the monitor on the wall and opened up an encrypted communications line to Director Fury.

"Agent Detmer, do you mind explaining why I received a call from Hill that Agent Romanoff was rushed to the medics after an unscheduled and unauthorized mission in Manhattan regarding the Hellfire club?" Fury asked and his tone showed some clear disappointment, annoyance, and frustration.

"I'll make no excuse for my actions sir but I did what I thought was best at the time given what I knew. EDI and Jarvis managed to find a deep hidden transaction chain that led to Gordon Phillips, the suspected head of the Hellfire Club according to SHIELD intel. Normally, I would reported this but given how SHIELD suspects that the Hellfire club has inside information in important circles and AIM's recent break, I felt that keeping the investigation private until I had confirmation was the best course of action. Natasha knew what she signed up for and I checked her to make sure there's no residual psychic damage." Will explained.

"And did you confirm your suspicions?" Fury asked.

"I did, sir." Will took out the listening device and played back the audio of Phillips and his group talking and him mentioning AIM. He pretty much incriminated himself. "But that's not what concerns me at the moment. Phillips has a breakout planned at the Vault and it's soon. It's for AIM. Dr. Rappaccini needs test subjects for her Adaptoids and I saw two people in particular. One codenamed Nitro and another man in brown armor with a domed helmet on his head."

Fury and Hill instantly shared looks of concern when Will mentioned those two people. "Hill, I want the Vault secured and locked down until further notice and put triple security on Hunter and Marko. They will not escape." Fury ordered.

"Already on it, sir." Hill replied. "Anything else that can help us prepare?"

"No. Before I could dig any deeper, I was pulled out of Phillips' mind by telepathic triplets and their ringleader, Emma Frost." Will told him and saw Fury and Hill perk up at that name. "I thought I was the only telepath on the Index, sir so what is going on?"

"You're partially correct. You're the only telepath on the gifted Index. There is another one restricted to Level-8 agents and higher. A mutant Index." Fury explained.

"Mutant Index? Wait, you mean all that ranting and raving by those conspiracy theorists we have under surveillance is true?" Will asked.

"The existence of mutants has never been made official and SHIELD has kept it that way. To the rest of the world, they don't know any better and mutants aren't known except for those that actually encounter them. And that's where we come in. We keep the world from knowing information that they're not ready for. We protect the world from a much stranger one hidden in the shadows. Only high-level agents are made aware of their existence." Fury explained.

"SHIELD has worked to keep mutants contained and out of the spotlight to avoid the mass panic and domino affect it would have. It's been difficult, especially since the battle of New York but we've had help in that regard." Hill added.

"If the Hellfire Club is going after the Vault then my worse fears are coming true. It's partially why I've pushed you so hard in your training, Agent Detmer. You're my deterrent against the Hellfire Club and other mutants who have ill intentions." Fury admitted.

"Would have been nice to know a little sooner so I knew what I was walking into, sir." Will pointed out.

"I needed to know you were ready before you continued on. Guess, we'll see. There's someone who can help you in regards to the Hellfire Club." Fury nodded to Hill who handed Will a business card with an address in Westchester County in Upstate New York. "Go there and he'll have the information you need. Tell him I sent you. Work quickly, Agent Detmer."

"Yes, sir." Will left the room in a hurry as Fury gave Hill one last order.

"Hill, prepare to engage Purge protocol on the Vault. If Detmer is too late then we can at least stop Nitro from leaving." Fury ordered.

"Yes, sir." Hill replied and with that he signed off.

Will walked through the base and saw Natasha getting out of the med bay. "Hey, Natasha. How are you feeling?"

"Little bit of a headache but other than that I'm fine. You sure there's nothing else going on in here?" Natasha pointed to her brain.

"No, you're clean. Sorry about dragging you into this. If I had known what we were walking into I wouldn't have had you risk your life." Will told her.

"It's the job, Will. I'm fine. Did you talk with Fury?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's sending me upstate to talk to a Professor Charles Xavier. Said he could help with the case and stopping the Hellfire Club from what they have planned." He said and she nodded.

"Good luck." Natasha wished him as he left. "And Will, one more thing. When you see Logan…tell him I said hi."

Will was confused at that request before heading to his car. He made sure his Aegis gear was in the trunk before making the drive all the way to Westchester. His world was about to get weirder.

Westchester, New York

Will stopped his Chevrolet Chevelle at the main gate of the address that Fury gave him. The location was pretty isolated with one road leading in to a large metal gate with a X symbol and a high concrete wall that likely surrounded the entire grounds of whatever this place was along with cameras. He got out of the car and went to the main gate where he saw the plaque for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center Westchester New York.

Will pressed the intercom and waited for a response which he got from a female voice. "Hello?"

"Yeah, hi. I'm here to see Professor Charles Xavier." Will said.

"I'm afraid he's busy with a class at the moment. Can I ask what this is about?"

"Uh, Nick Fury sent me."

There was a bit of a pause before he heard a buzz and the gate opened up. "Please follow the road to the main building. You'll find a parking spot for your car there."

"Thank you." Will replied. He got in his car and followed the road on the grounds which was large. Over a thousand acres, this private school was like a small college campus. He got a good look at the grounds which had large open fields, surrounding woods, and even its own lake with an attached boathouse. He closed in on his destination which was a large three story Neoclassical mansion with similar style adjoining buildings as well that included courtyards, a basketball court, a garden with a gazebo and a horse barn and garage. It was honestly the dream place to go to school.

Will drove his car up to the mansion and found an empty spot to park. He got out of the car and looked around at the mansion and the ground, impressed at the place and wondered how much it cost. He saw some students, roughly around middle school to early high school age walking around and hanging out. Some looked at him and his car in confusion, not recognizing him and wondering what he was here for. He adjusted his shirt and jacket, making sure his gun was properly tucked behind his back before heading inside. The interior of the mansion was incredible and looked like the abode of someone with classic tastes but it was a school as he saw dozens of students walking around with books and such.

There was an African America woman maybe a few years older than him ushering the students to their classes or on their way. She had white hair cut to about her shoulders wearing boots, black pants, a white t-shirt, and a grey cardigan. (6)

"Don't be tardy, now. And walk, don't run. We can't keep replacing the busts every time you break them." She said when she saw Will standing there in the foyer. Once the students were all gone, she walked over. "You must be the agent."

"Will Detmer, SHIELD." Will showed her his badge.

"Ororo Monroe. I'm one of the teachers here. Follow me, the Professor's waiting for you." Ororo led him through the mansion.

They arrived in the east wing where a class was being held in a study. There were about fifteen kids sitting around in a circle with their teacher in the middle reading from a book. He was bald, about in his sixties wearing a blue suit with a red tie and in a motorized wheelchair with the X symbol on the wheel. (7)

"To break forth bloodily, then the past must be obliterated and a new start made. Let us now start fresh without remembrance, rather then live forward and backward at the same time. Now, what do you think that the author meant when he wrote all that?" He asked his students when he saw Ororo and his guest. "That's going to be your assignment for tomorrow. That'll be all."

The students gathered their books and bags and got up to leave so it was just the Professor, Ororo, and Will. "I think the author was saying to live in the future of what you want then you need to forget the past so a new start can be made. You can't move completely forward if you're stuck in the past." Will stated.

"A fair assessment. Spoken like one who has gone through his share of philosophy classes in college. I'm Charles Xavier." Charles held his hand out and Will shook his hand.

"Will Detmer, SHIELD. Sorry for interrupting Professor but Fury sent me here. He said you could help me." Will told him.

"Yes, well I imagine if Fury sent you then it must be important. Then again, dealing with a mutant threat involving Marko, Fury will want to keep it contained and I agree." Charles said when they were joined by a few more people.

There was a large man, standing at a imposing 6ft7 and built like a linebacker. He was wearing black pants and a black and red t-shirt that accentuated his muscular form. Next to him was man around Will's size wearing a nice fancy brown suit and blue tie but the unique part of him was that he had a pair of large, feathered wings extending from his back. Then there was a woman wearing black pants a beige shirt and jacket. The last one to enter was a blue-furred man who looked like a cross between a simian Great Age and a big cat like a tiger but he was wearing khakis, a long grey sweater with a white lab coat and a pair of glasses on his face. (8)

"Ah, excellent. They're here. Will allow me to introduce some of the teachers here at the institute. This is Piotr Rasputin also called Colossus. Next to him is Warren Worthington the Third also called Angel. Ms. Tessa Anders also called Sage and last but certainly not least, my old friend Dr. Hank McCoy also called Beast." Professor Xavier introduced them.

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Will said, shaking all their hands.

"You won't offend if you find my appearance a little jarring. Trust me, you wouldn't be the only one." Dr. McCoy told him.

"I've dealt with the Hulk or more than one occasion, Dr. McCoy. Not to mention some pretty odd things. Don't worry. I doubt there would be anything here that would be able to jar me." Will assured him.

"Eh, give it a few hours." Warren joked.

"So, what brings you to the institute?" Piotr asked, allowing Will to hear his Russian accent.

"Nick Fury sent me to meet with the Professor. He said he could help me with a case I'm working on." Will told them. "I've recently been informed of the existence of mutants and encountered four telepaths in my investigation. That was jarring enough but it involved a planned breakout at a SHIELD facility regarding two prisoners. When I told Fury about the telepaths, he sent me here. He said the Professor would be able to help me."

"Who were the telepaths?" Ororo asked.

"Emma Frost and her weird triplets." Will answered causing the Professor and the others to exchange some looks. "I take it you know them."

"We're familiar with Emma." Hank replied.

"I imagine she was with some people." Charles said and the second Will thought it he was able to pick it up in his head which Will felt. "Sebastian Shaw and Selene."

"I didn't even know they're names." Will pointed out.

"But I know their faces. Warren, Piotr, please continue with your classes. Hank, Sage head downstairs and start looking for any signs of mutant activity near the Colorado Rocky Mountains." Charles told them and they quickly set out for their tasks. "Ororo, where is Logan?"

"He's in the Danger Room with the team." Storm answered.

"Join them. I'll be there momentarily." Charles said and she nodded. Once she was gone, Charles escorted Will through the mansion. "I know this is quite a shock but you're handling it quite well."

'Like I said before, it takes a lot to actually surprise me.' Will said telepathically which the Professor picked up.

'Doing this job for as long as you have and with what you've probably seen I can only imagine. You have an excellent grasp on your abilities but you're not a mutant.' Charles replied back.

'No, I'm not. My origin story is a little complicated. It involves aliens and a mutational element. It's a long story.' Will told him. 'Professor, who is Sebastian Shaw and what does he have to do with the Hellfire Club.'

'I wish I had some clear answers for you but I'm afraid I'm not able to answer that. Sebastian Shaw and Selene are mutants, ones that are very gifted and powerful but as to their purpose in the Hellfire Club I can't say. But it is a means to an end for them. And knowing Shaw, it involves mutant liberation under his leadership.' Charles told him.

'That doesn't tract with the current leadership. Shaw isn't that well-liked and I'm not even sure they know he is a mutant. I didn't even know about mutants until today. I didn't think there were out people out there with abilities.' Will said as they walked through the mansion towards the south wing.

'There are. Mutation is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years but every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.' Professor Xavier told him as Will looked around at the kids going to school, playing, and enjoying themselves in a safe environment. 'Anonymity is a mutant's first defense against the world's hostility. As I'm sure you've seen and experienced since Manhattan, mankind has a rather hostile reaction to anything different.'

'I had a professor in my college ethics class who told us something our first day. There is no need for unnecessary suffering in the world yet it happens at the hand of humanity. Human emotions are a gift from our animal ancestors. Cruelty is a gift humanity has given itself and keeps on giving.' Will said.

'An unfortunate truth but they say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. That is what I have done. To the public, we're merely a school for gifted youngsters. Storm, Colossus, Angel, Sage, and Beast were some of my first students. I protected them, taught them to control their powers, and in time, teach others to do the same. The students are mostly runaways. Frightened, alone. Some with gifts so extreme that they've become a danger to themselves and those around them. Yet here they are around others their own age. Being accepted, not feared.' Xavier explained as Will looked into one class being taught by Colossus.

'What happens to them?' Will asked.

'Well, that's up to them. Rejoin the world as educated young men and women or stay on to teach others to become what the children have affectionately called X-men.' Xavier answered with pride. 'But the school is merely a public face. The lower levels, however, are an entirely different matter.'

Charles led Will to the end of a hallway and pressed an indent in the beam which opened up a high-tech elevator they took down to the lower levels. It was like a clean-space for a lab with blue/reflective tiled floors and walls and various doors with the X-symbol. Professor Xavier led Will into the hangar below the school and he saw an aircraft that looked like a modified Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane nicknamed Blackbird.

'The first step in understanding one's power is learning the extent of it. Only then can we start the process in helping them control it. That's what the lower levels of the grounds are for. A safe place for my students to use their powers so we can help train them. There are mutants out there with incredible powers, Will. Ms. Frost is only one of them and many of them don't share our respect for mankind. If no one is equipped to oppose them then humanity's days are over.' Charles explained, leading him to one door. They entered some kind of observation room and from the sounds of it, it's purpose was to observe some kind of battle. 'This is one method of training that my students have affectionally called, the Danger Room.'

The room was massive with multiple floors so there was plenty of room to move around which the students needed as it was fulfilling its name of Danger Room. Gun turrets, flame throwers, claw machines, and drones were accompanied by mechanical dangers like collapsing or pressing walls and pitfall traps.

"I've got to get Tony to make one of these in the Tower." Will commented, seeing the training session in progress. There was a team of mutants, younger than he was but they were handling themselves pretty well.

He saw a guy firing red energy blasts from his eyes while the red-haired girl next to him seemed to be telekinetic. He saw a blue skinned guy with a tail teleporting around the room in puffs of smoke while a girl phased through walls and traps. She raced over to another girl with a white streak in her hair and phased her through a solid wall while another girl seemed to be able to shoot fireworks from her hands. Another guy unleashed a sonic scream that shattered some traps and let him glide through the air while the last girl generated energy around her body that allowed her to barrel through or blasts things. They were wearing black and yellow uniforms each modified and customized to the mutant wearing them. (9)

"These students were among the first to join my school after Hank and the others. They've gone off to colleges nearby but return from time to time to be something akin to mentors to the younger students here. Maybe even future teachers or X-men." Charles told him. "But first and foremost, they train to master their powers instead of their powers controlling them."

"It's impressive, Professor and noble." Will admitted.

"As noble as my goals are, I believe it is you and the Avengers who deserve the praise for what you did when the Chitauri invaded." Charles said.

"We don't do this for praise or adulation. Well, maybe Tony but he knows why we do what we do." Will replied. "How did you end up meeting Director Fury anyway?"

"It was in the 90s when mutants began to appear more frequently. When I first started this school and began training my students to help others, I was approached by Fury before he was made director. He had an experience that showed him the wonders of people with great abilities and while there are mutants who share my beliefs, there are other who have less than benevolent aspirations." Charles answered.

"An experience with Erik and Mystique will do that to you." Will heard and in walked an intimidating man in an orange and brown combat uniform with a menacing looking horned helmet. He removed the helmet to show he was still menacing looking with a similar hairstyle to his helmet and he had a certain gruffness to him. (10) "Who's the kid?"

"Logan, this is Will Detmer with SHIELD. Will, allow me to introduce you to Logan. He's this schools resident Danger room expert and trainer. Codename Wolverine." Charles introduced the two.

"Fury sent you, huh? How's old eye patch? Still as grouchy as ever?" Logan asked, taking out a cigar and lighting it.

"It's his default mode but yeah. He sent me here for help." Will said, looking Logan up and down. "So, your Logan? Natasha says hi."

"Hmmm…" Logan's only response was a growl while taking a puff from his cigar.

"He encountered Ms. Romanoff during an encounter with some ill-intentioned mutants. I believe that Ms. Romanoff managed to outwit and outsmart Logan like few can." Charles explained and Logan's dour expression seemed to indicate it was embarrassing and he wasn't happy with it.

"Sounds like Natasha." Will commented.

"What brings you here? What does Fury want?" Logan asked.

"It involves Ms. Frost." Charles told him and Logan groaned. "When Fury approached me years ago, he admired my belief in mutants trying to help mankind but also understood that others didn't share our view or beliefs and would use their powers for wrong. So, he helped us keep the more dangerous and ill-intentioned mutants contained and captured those that used their powers to hurt others. Many of whom are secured in SHIELD facilities and two of which are at the Vault."

Hank then walked into the room. "Charles, Sage and I haven't found anything yet. No reports of any issues at the Vault."

"Keep looking, Hank. We'll be joining you shortly." Charles told him. Hank left and in walked the students from the Danger Room session. "Well done, today all of you. Excellent training session all around."

"Don't get too cocky though. You could have handled yourselves better today. Looks like I'll have to up the training for next session." Logan added and many of them groaned.

"Ugh, my sides already hurt from him saying that." A girl said when she saw Will. "Oh, hunk alert."

"Real smooth, Kitty." The girl with the white streak in her hair commented. She had a southern accent.

That's when Will recognized two of the mutants there as Jean and Scott from his cousin's college and they recognized him. "Will, what are you doing here?" Jean wondered.

"Hey, Jean. Hey, Scott. Nice Danger Room session." Will told them. "Bet you weren't expecting to see me here, huh? Life's full of surprises."

"What are you doing here? Are you a new student?" Scott wondered.

"Ha." Logan couldn't hold himself back from laughing.

"No, I'm here for work." Will replied.

"Mr. Detmer is a friend though so don't worry. Will, you already know Jean and Scott. Meet Kurt Wagner, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jubilation Lee, Sean Cassidy and Ellie Phimister." Charles introduced them.

"Hello all, and thanks for the compliment, Kitty." Will winked, causing her to blush and Kurt to chuckle.

"Rest up and recover, everyone. We'll talk later." Charles led Will and Logan out of the observation room and down the hall to meet with Hank and Tessa.

"So, you know the new guy?" Rogue asked Jean and Scott.

"Yeah, we go to school with his cousin. He said he was a government contractor." Jean answered.

"Oh, maybe he's with SHIELD?" Kurt suggested, giddy at the thought in meeting an actual SHIELD agent. He had a German accent.

"Oh, please. There's no way that guy is a spy." Sean told him.

"I don't know. He's certainly hot enough to be a spy. I'd fall for him." Kitty said, watching him leave and enjoying the view.

"You'd fall for anyone, Kitty." Jubilee joked. "Wonder what he came here for. It must be important if Logan doesn't stick around for his usual Post-Danger Room debrief where he critiques everything we did wrong."

"I don't know about the rest of you but I'm curious to find out." Kurt teleported away in a puff of smoke to do some snooping.

Will, Logan, and Charles entered a high-tech surveillance lab with a huge bank of monitors and computer terminals that helped run all the lower floors but also seemed to be tied in to police reports and alert systems all around the country.

"I'm sorry, Charles but I haven't found anything. Things seem to be quiet at the Vault." Hank told him.

"You're tied into the SHIELD database?" Will wondered, walking over to check for himself.

"No exactly. We're monitoring all nearby satellite feeds, police reports, energy grids, alert systems, and surveillance cameras around the area. If something was going on, we'd know but so far nothing. Sage has made some calculations though." Hank said.

"By my rough estimate taking into consideration all the enhancements and modifications SHIELD has made to the Vault complex along with the probability of Sebastian Shaw actually showing himself, I count a less then 42% likelihood that they actually continue with the plan and are successful." Sage stated.

Will was a little confused where she came up with all that data so Logan helped him. "Sage's brain works similar to a supercomputer but much faster. She can predict, memorize, recall, and analyze anything."

"Ah." Will understood now. "Who were the prisoners in the Vault they were after?"

"Sage, would you bring up their data?" Charles asked and she did. The first file was on Robert Hunter codename Nitro. "Robert Hunter was an electrical engineer who was recently laid off when his powers manifest at a relatively late age. When they did, he began using them for destructive purposes like stealing from banks or hurting anyone who got in his way. My X-men and SHIELD were able to stop him and he was put in suspended animation inside the Vault."

"Nitro's ability allows him to expel a tremendous amount of explosive energy from his body. A typical full body explosion has the same amount of force as 250lbs of TNT but it's possible for him to exceed that with enough time and manipulation." Hank explained.

"Guy's a walking bomb that can get through metal detectors and bypass any normal countermeasure. I now know why AIM wants him." Will said earning looks from Charles, Logan, Hank, and Sage. "What about the other one?"

Sage brought up a new file on an enhanced mutant named Cain Marko codename Juggernaut. "Cain Marko, my half-brother. Our upbringing was tumultuous at best. Cain's father was not a pleasant man and neglected him in favor of me growing up. His failed relationship with his father and his resentment of me fueled his anger. But after he became empowered that anger became destructive and dangerous. He had to be locked away. I had no choice." Charles admitted with a heavy heart.

"What's an enhanced mutant signature?" Will asked.

"He possessed an X-gen at birth but it was dormant most of his life, so he awakened it through unnatural means. He's become invulnerable. A walking Juggernaut that I imagine would even give the Hulk trouble." Charles answered.

"He's under stasis with a specialize cellular paralysis biofluid that is capable of keeping him under. When he gets moving, there's nothing that can stop him." Hank added.

"Fun. So, a walking bomb and a literally unstoppable object. How'd you take down Marko the first time?" Will wondered.

"While his body is invulnerable his mind is a different matter." Charles told him. "Still, I can't imagine that the risk of breaking Marko out would appeal to anyone."

"None of this is making any sense, Charles. We need more information." Logan told him. "And unfortunately, as powerful as you are you can't see into the future."

Hearing Logan say that gave Will an idea. "He can't…but maybe I can."

That earned him a confused look from Sage. "You can see the future?"

"Sort of. It's foresight. It's happen to me three times and I've actually seen events happen before they occur. Maybe I can use it again to find out more information on how Sebastian and the Hellfire club plan to break out the mutants?" He suggested. "One slight issue with this plan, though…I can't really control it."

"If you can't control it then what makes you think it'll work now?" Logan asked.

"Well, I haven't had another telepath to help me before so there's that." Will pointed out. "It's worth of shot."

Charles agreed and Beast began scanning Will's mind for information and a method to trigger another foresight. Will was sitting in a chair as Hank was scanning his brain and it was impressive. It was as powerful as Charles and that was no small feat.

"Will, the last times these visions occurred what happened exactly?" Hank asked, looking over the data he was getting from the scanner.

"Well, the first time it happened I was hit with some powerful hallucinogenic mushroom vapor to find a particular mushroom to help my friend from a poison scratch." Will replied, noticing the odd looks he was getting from everyone. "Long story. The second time was before the Battle of New York. I was sleeping on a Quinjet and that's when I saw the Chitauri army ready for their assault. The third time I interfaced with Loki's scepter and it put me in a coma. I mind walked through a lot of people when that happened after I got the visions."

"Hmmm… interesting." Hank took that data and after a few moments to calculate, he had a solid theory. "Ok, I think that your visions occur when your hypothalamus is stimulated with the already enhanced chemicals in your brain creating a sort of dream-like vision state that allows you to foresee future events. Granted, this is a theory but the scans do show that your hypothalamus is uniquely receptive more so than a typical telepath. Even Charles isn't as receptive as yours. There have been some studies into the hypothalamus that suggest is properly stimulated has given certain people a sort of foresight and déjà vu like condition but it's never been proven."

"So, if your right then this could allow Will to see the future." Logan put it into layman's terms.

"Yes, in theory." Hank pulled out an old helmet from a cabinet that read Cerebro alpha-prototype and began making some modifications to it. "By adding in an electromagnetic wavelength trigger to stimulate your hypothalamus, it'll simulate the conditions needed along with that of REM sleep which will allow the rest of your brain to remain active and allow you some measure of control in your dream/precognition. It'll also allow you to tell us what you see and help us guide you."

"You sure about this?" Will wondered as he looked over the helmet. "Sage, what are the odds?"

"Honestly, 52% that this works but that's taking into consideration my limited knowledge of your mental abilities." Sage told him.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Will. There's no shame in backing out." Charles told him.

"I'd like to believe you, Professor but if this has the chance to work and I don't do it because I'm afraid then I risk Nitro and Juggernaut getting out. And I won't let them kill any people when I could have stopped it." Will replied, taking a deep breath. Everyone admired his dedication in the sight of potential brain injury.

"You're tough, kid. I admire that." Logan told him.

"Remember that if I start screaming." Will said, putting the helmet on his head and taking a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Ok, deep breath. I'm turning it on…now." Hank turned on the helmet just as Will closed his eyes. The helmet's began stimulating Will's hypothalamus and soon enough he began seeing flashing images of events appear all around him like he's seen before on the island and before the Chitauri invasion.

"Whoa…I think it's working." Will told them and everyone was on the edge of their seat with anticipation.

"Ok, Will remember to remain calm. What do you see?" Charles asked.

"It's hard to explain. It's different events. Different events in time." Will replied, seeing events from Tony's time in the cave to Cap in World War 2 up to the Battle of New York and even some events that didn't happen yet.

"Ok, focus on the Vault and the Hellfire club." Charles instructed him.

"Right…" Will did and the excess visions disappeared until he saw the Hellfire club at the Langham Hotel. It's what he saw that started everything. "I see the head of the Hellfire Club, Gordon Phillips. He's the one I mind walked into to get the intel on their plans."

"Good. Focus on him." Charles told him.

He did and his vision began to change to see Phillips in his office making some calls to a number before it again shifted to him meeting with someone from the Essex corporation. "He's meeting with someone. Someone from the Essex Corporation. They're striking a deal."

"What deal?" Logan asked.

"In exchange for funds and his help…Phillips gets a team of mutants to attack the Vault and break Juggernaut and Nitro out." Will replied when the vision changed and he began to see the team of mutants gathered together before they attacked the base and killed the SHIELD agents guarding it. They broke Nitro and Juggernaut out and escaped with Juggernaut heading east to New York and Nitro heading to Denver where at 9:28pm he went off and blew a hole in the city. After that, his vision cut out. "GAH!"

Will removed the helmet and gasped for air as Hank helped steady him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute." Will rubbed his forehead and took several deep breaths. That was unlike anything he had ever been through and felt like coming out of a hangover. "I'm ok. And the mutants break Juggernaut and Nitro out. Juggernaut heads east and Nitro heads to Denver and blows a hole in the city at 9:28pm tonight."

"It's 5:14pm right now which means we have time to stop that. Who attacked the Vault?" Charles asked.

Will lifted up a pen and a pad of paper and used his powers to sketch out accurate drawings of the mutants. Most of them they didn't recognize except for two. One was a pale skinned brute of a man in red armor with his blonde hair tied up in a ponytail with two long cables coming out of his arms while the other a large feral like man with long hair, animal-like eyes, sharp claws and teeth and a tattered brown trench coat with a fur like collar over a poorly kept armor.

"I was hoping not to see those two again." Logan growled at their photos, knowing exactly who they were. "You sure know how to set us up with trouble, Charles."

"Trouble that we're gonna prevent from happening." Will stated, standing up. "I need to get to Colorado.

"Hank, prep the Blackbird for flight." Charles said and Hank nodded. "Logan assemble a team. If mutants are going to try a prison break then mutants will stop them."

Line Break xxxxx

Will went back to his car and grabbed the duffle bag with his gear before heading back to the lower floors to change. He informed Fury of the attack and that he was on his way to handle it. Fury was working up a response team as well but they wouldn't get there soon enough. He did put the Vault on high alert but considering it was a mutant team coming after them, Aegis was going to be his best bet.

But lucky for Will is that he was going to have some backup. Charles and Logan met in the Blackbird hangar with Hank getting the jet ready for takeoff. Joining Logan on the mission to help secure the vault and prevent the breakout was going to Hank, of course along with Colossus and Storm of the old guard. Coming with them were some of the younger X-men including Scott, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee. Codenames Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue, and Jubilee. Warren, Sean, and Ellie would keep the kids upstairs under control and Sage and Charles would keep in contact with them in the mansion.

They all gathered at the Blackbird and Kurt was giddy with excitement. "Oh, man. I can't believe it. We're working with SHIELD. Oh, do you think we'll get to meet the Avengers?" He asked.

"Maybe we'll get to meet Thor? Oh, what I wouldn't give to get a hug from him." Kitty smiled in delight.

"I doubt that, little one." Colossus pat her on the head.

"Can the excitement, Elf. This is serious. If this mutant team breaks out Juggernaut and Nitro then a lot of people are gonna die and we can't let that happen." Logan told everyone, getting them to shut up and focus.

"Logan is right. From what we gathered it is going to be a team of eight mutants attempting to break into the Vault. These aren't people who just discovered their powers, they appear to be well versed in how to use their gifts so be careful and follow Logan's lead." Charles told them all and they nodded.

"Failing that, we listen to the Agent. He's dealt with these kinds of situations before." Logan added.

"Uh, not to offend him but is it really safe for him to come along?" Rogue asked.

"Don't worry, I can handle myself." Will announced, walking into the hangar in his Aegis with his hood and mask down and his quiver attacked to his back.

"Oh my god, it's Aegis." Kitty whispered. "I knew he was special. He is so hot, he had to be special."

"He heard you the first time, Kitty." Rogue said.

"Like the rest of you I have my own secrets and as much as talking this out would be beneficial time is of the essence. We need to move now." Will told them and they nodded.

"He's right. Let's move, X-men." Logan put on his helmet and they all boarded the Blackbird. Hank and Ororo got into the pilot chairs while everyone else strapped themselves in. Hank pressed a few buttons and the engines powered up while Ororo hit a switch on the side which activated the hover jets. Beast then pulled a lever and the hangar door over the basketball court retracted which allowed the Blackbird to hover up into the air and when it was a sufficient distance in the air above the mansion, she took off full speed for Colorado.

Will adjusted his gloves when he noticed Logan looked a little tense. "You ok, Logan?"

"I'm fine." Logan shot back.

"Don't mind him. Logan's a nervous flyer." Ororo explained.

"Ah." Will nodded and looked back at the others when he noticed Scott and Jean looked at him. "Yeah, didn't know you met an Avenger a few months ago, huh?"

"Yeah, you just seem so…so normal." Jean commented.

"Thank you?" Will was a little confused which earned some chuckles. "Besides, in this day and age, normal is gonna start to have new meanings."

"You don't seem that shocked by any of this." Rogue pointed out.

"I've been doing this for three years and have seen a lot. Like I said to the Professor, nothing really surprises me anymore much less a school for mutants. If Fury vouches for the Professor then it's good enough for me." Will assured everyone.

"Does this mean we're official Avengers now?" Kurt wondered earning a chuckle from Beast, Storm, and Will.

"I'm not in control of the enrollment process, Kurt. We'll see how you do in the field." Will told him before looking at Scott. "So, Scott does Alex know about you being at the institute? You being an X-man?"

"You know Scott's older brother?" Jean wondered.

"Yeah, we went to NYU together. We're close friends. He mentioned a brother who went to a fancy boarding school but that's all he really told us." Will said.

"Yeah, Alex can't really say much. He's totally supportive and everything but we've kept it a secret for a reason." Scott replied and Will understood that. "Does he know about you?"

"Sort of. I was the one who saved his ass when our vacation in Thailand went to hell and that was even before I was official." Will answered.

"Alex was different when he got back but he never said what happened." Scott said.

"He signed an NDA. His parents know but a lot happened that trip. It has a way of changing people. I would know but he's fine." Will assured him.

"Does Kim know who you are?" Jean wondered.

"Maybe. She knows what I do but as for if she knows who I really am…that's up for debate. I ended up helping her in Paris when a trip went south." Will told her.

"You seem to help a lot of people." Logan pointed out.

"It's what I do best." Will replied. "Hank, how much longer till we get there?"

"We'll get there in two hours." Hank answered.

"Hopefully, that's soon enough." Will muttered.

Two hours later…

The Vault-SHIELD containment facility, Colorado Rocky Mountain, Colorado

The Vault was one of SHIELD's most secure containment facilities next to the Cube and the Fridge. What made the Vault such a good prison was that it was literally built into one of highest Rocky Mountain cliff faces/peaks that stretched across the state of Colorado. SHIELD reinforced the granite mountain face with Carbondium/Titanium/Tungsten/Vibranium alloy that makes its doors, gates, and walls extremely difficult to get through for even elite special ops groups or demolition teams. On top of that were the sensors, turrets, traps, and guards set up there so the only people who could get through all that would be enhanced or mutant.

The only entrances into the Vault were a large gate at the base of the mountain hidden in a large cave or a hangar door for Quinjets. Near the main gate in the cave, cameras and sensors monitored everything and there were disguised SHIELD agents set up in a wooden cabin. It looks like a hunter's cabin or a cabin retreat but it was actually set up for the SHIELD agents guarding the place. They were dressed in regular clothing with sweaters for the wind and cold weather and were set up like people at a cabin for the weekend. Some were reading books, one guy was watching TV while a few were playing cards. One guy went to the kitchen to get some coffee when he heard a tree branch fall outside. He pulled out a gun from his back and walked out of the cabin, looking around for anything out of the ordinary when he saw the broken branch on the ground. It was a large and didn't break off but more was ripped off. Before the agent could signal his team, he heard a loud thud and was grabbed from behind and his neck was snapped by a large feral man with sharp claws. The mutant feral beast Sabretooth.

The other agents heard the thud and quickly pulled out their guns with two rushing outside only to get blown away by a fierce gust of wind and knocked into some trees by the mutant known as Riptide. One agent rushed over to hit the alarm when he was grabbed by a long retractable tendril-like metal coil and yanked outside the cabin where he was electrocuted to death. The remaining agents were subdued and knocked out by psionic waves of energy that disrupted their nervous system and induced an extreme feeling of vertigo. The female mutant wearing the green outfit was playfully named Vertigo.

They were joined by their compatriots. A woman with purple hair codenamed Arclight, an enormous beast of a man codenamed Blockbuster, a red-haired assassin with metal rods on his back codenamed Harpoon, and a balaclava mask wearing government agent assassin armed with guns codenamed Maverick. (11)

"Let's move." Maverick told them as Blockbuster picked up one of the agents to help get past the DNA scanner. One of the agents that Riptide blew away was still alive and quickly took out his phone and hit the emergency alert button just as Harpoon killed him by aiming one of his metal spears and shooting a bolt of bio-energy through his heart. The emergency alert was sent in time to SHIELD and to Will who got it thanks to EDI.

With the X-men…

Will checked his forearm computer and got the alert. "Ah, shit!"

"What is it?" Logan asked.

"I got an emergency alert at the Vault. They're already there." Will told everyone. "Beast, how much longer?"

"We're ten minutes out." Hank told him.

"Good enough for me to head there now and try to slow them down. Logan, the second you guys land just keep them from breaking Juggernaut and Nitro out. I already informed SHIELD so they know you're coming." Will undid his seat straps and stood up. "Beast, open the ramp!"

Beast pulled a lever which activated the ramp. Will walked over, not showing any signs of fear as he got to the edge. "What are you doing?" Ororo asked.

"My job. I'll see you guys there! WOO!"

He jumped out of the Blackbird and pulled up his hood, activating his mask before flying around the side of the plane. Hank, Ororo, and Logan saw him flying alongside the Blackbird before he glowed blue and flew past them, showing an incredible amount of power and speed.

"He is so cool!" Kurt fanboyed out.

The Vault

With the alert signaled, the Vault was put on lockdown so no one in or out. The mutant heard the alarms and saw DNA scanners weren't working so Blockbuster put the agent down and shielded the others when turrets deployed from the walls and opened fire at them. Blockbuster's mutation affected him physically which is why he's so big and Hulk-size. He was super strong with super stamina and superhuman durability and resistance to injuries. The bullets bounced off his body, not breaking the skin but they weren't annoying. They stung a bit sort of like a regular human getting hit by a nerf dart.

The only one who didn't need cover was Maverick since his mutation allowed him to absorb the kinetic energy generated by impacts without harm so falls, projectiles, energy blasts or being hit, he was fine. Harpoon aimed his spear at one of the turrets and blasted it with a bio-energy blast while Arclight slammed her hands together to unleash a shockwave that destroyed the rest.

Harpoon then charged his spear with energy and used it to cut out a hole in the gate. Omega Red used his coils to open their new way in and Blockbuster was in first, taking the fire from the SHIELD agents who had to keep the intruders from entering any further into the base. With Blockbuster being a human shield, Vertigo disabled the twenty guards with ease before Riptide sent out a whirlwind that knocked them away.

They moved down the hall until they came to fork in the path that led left and right. Two squads of agents came down from both hallways so Arclight sent a shockwave down the left and Sabretooth went down the right one. Arclight's shockwave knocked them back or into the walls of the hall while Sabretooth went for the feral approach and took them down with his claws and super strength. Broken necks, agents thrown into walls and claw slashes to their chests or faces and they were done for. Sabretooth kept moving down the hall with Omega Red following him. Riptide and Maverick went with them while the others were going to go down the left hallway.

Before any one of them could head down the hall, they were slammed into the wall. Blockbuster got up with no issue when an arrow hit him in back and broke against his skin. He turned and saw Aegis standing there with a bow in his hand. "You are trespassing on SHIELD property! You are under arrest! This is your only warning! Stand down!"

"Sure thing…let me do that." Blockbuster raised his hands up only to rip out a chunk of the wall and throw it at him.

Aegis ducked and fired another arrow right at Blockbuster's face that exploded and knocked him down the hallway. "Guess you're big and dumb."

Arclight got up and slammed her fist into the ground, sending out seismic shockwaves that Aegis flipped over and fired a flashbang arrow that concussed her before punching her in the face and then throwing her into another wall. Harpoon powered up his spear fired an energy blast that missed as Aegis dove to the side and fired two arrows at him. Harpoon blasted them to pieces before Vertigo got up and let out a psionic energy wave that began to affect him.

"Will, I'm detecting a psionic wave that is causing a nervous system imbalance." EDI informed him.

"Yeah, I'm feeling that too." He quickly fired another arrow only for Blockbuster to barrel through and shoulder check him down the hall. Aegis skid across the ground in pain as the Vertigo wave was nauseating but he managed to take out a shoulder pellet and toss it at them, causing it to explode in a flash of light. Vertigo shielded her eyes as Arclight got back to her feet and prepared to fire another shockwave when she was hit by a red energy blast and knocked back. Another blast hit Blockbuster and sent him staggering back.

Nightcrawler teleported next to Aegis and helped him back to his feet where he quickly fired an explosive arrow at Vertigo which knocked her back and into Harpoon.

"Looks like you needed help, Kid." Logan remarked.

"Funny. They split up. Four went down the other hallway." Aegis told him.

"Creed. He's mine." Logan charged down the other hallway in a hurry.

"I hate it when he does that." Storm said.

"Beast, Storm, Nightcrawler with me. We're following Wolverine. Colossus, Cyclops, take them down and don't let them get to the containment cells. Jubilee, cover!" Aegis shouted.

Jubilee fired a flurry of fireworks that made the four mutants cover their eyes which gave Aegis, Beast, Storm, and Nightcrawler the chance to slip past them. Aegis punched Harpoon as he ran past him down the right hallway leaving Cyclops, Colossus, Marvel Girl, Shadowcat, Rogue, and Jubilee to handle the others.

Blockbuster charged at the X-men and was about to run over Rogue when Colossus turned his skin into metal and punched him into a wall. "That is rather rude, my friend. I guess I will have to teach you some manners." Colossus told him as he threw out another punch that Blockbuster caught and retaliated with his own to the metal man's face. Blockbuster didn't show any sign of fatigue or injury from punching Colossus and punched him three more times before Colossus grabbed his arm and kneed him in the gut. Blockbuster then shoulder tackled Colossus down the hall and pushed him back.

Vertigo unleashed another psionic wave that made everyone stagger before Jean knocked her back with her telekinesis. Jean handled Vertigo while Arclight blasted another shockwave at the ceiling that caused parts of it to come down. Shadowcat raced over and grabbed Rogue and Jubilee, phasing them through so they didn't get hurt and they quickly moved out of the way of more shockwave blasts. Cyclops was facing against Harpoon who fired energy blasts that were met by his red optic blasts.

Sabretooth and Omega Red continued down their hallway, taking down any SHIELD agents that got in their way in rather brutal fashions. Omega Red used his coils to rip through another security as Sabretooth leapt through the door and kept moving despite the turrets and defenses in place. Sabretooth leapt in the air at a turret as it hit him with heavy caliber bullets before he ripped it in half and threw it at another turret. Omega Red ripped through turrets with his tendrils and then Riptide came in and blasted the rest with his whirlwinds.

Sabretooth continued down the hall when he stopped as his nose picked up a familiar scent. "Logan…"

"Wolverine is here. Excellent." Omega Red smiled in anticipation.

"What are you two doing? We need to keep moving." Maverick told them only for Sabretooth to grab him by the throat and lift him up. Maverick in response pulled out his Desert Eagle pistol and aimed it at his head. "Do it. I dare you."

"Hey, take it easy." Riptide told him. After a tense standoff, Sabretooth just let Maverick go. All he cared about now was dealing with Wolverine.

Wolverine followed Sabretooth's scent through the base, seeing his trail of destruction just made him angrier. The second he jumped through a destroyed security door he was tackled from behind and throw into a wall where something quickly snagged his leg and hurled him into the ceiling. Wolverine hit the ground face first as a metal tendril wrapped around his body and lifted him up before letting out an electric shock.

Wolverine continued to struggle making Omega Red chuckle. "Please…struggle. It'll make your death all the sweeter."

He let out another shock and then hurled Wolverine into another wall when something sliced through Omega Red's coils and cut him free. Wolverine landed and punched Omega Red into the wall as Sabretooth lunged for him only to get thrown into the ceiling. Wolverine looked and saw Aegis, Beast, Storm, and Nightcrawler arrive. It was Aegis's throwing star that cut through Red's coils.

"What took you so long?" Logan asked.

"Next time don't run off by yourself." Storm told him as Omega Red got back up and unleashed his tendrils at the X-men. Nightcrawler teleported them out of the way as Beast leapt through the air and grabbed Red by the shoulders before throwing him to the ground where Storm's eyes turned white and she hit him with a lightning bolt.

Sabretooth got up and lunged at Aegis and Nightcrawler only for Wolverine to tackle him mid-air. "GO! STOP CAIN FROM BREAKING OUT! WE'VE GOT THIS!"

"Kurt, let's go!" Aegis led him further into the base as Sabretooth kicked Wolverine off him and flipped back to his feet.

"This has been a long time coming, runt." Sabretooth growled as he flexed his claws. "Any last words?"

"Yeah, two. [Snikt-Snikt]" Wolverine unsheathed his claws and charged. "RAHH!"

Nightcrawler and Aegis continued into the base down another hallway when monitors, computers, chairs, and other things began flying at them. Aegis created a shield from the sudden attacking furniture and the sounds of the bellowing winds. It was Riptide using his powers to essentially create a tornado to keep them from continuing on. "Nightcrawler, can you get me to him?!"

"I can!" Nightcrawler grabbed him by the shoulder and they teleported above Riptide.

"Say cheese!" Aegis fell through the air and took him down with a vicious right cross to the face and that likely knocked out some teeth. He then threw up Riptide to the ceiling and bend metal beams and the concrete around him as a makeshift restraint.

"That was awesome!" Nightcrawler shouted in glee when Aegis's danger sense went off.

"Look out!" he pulled Nightcrawler out of the way and froze the bullets that were inches away from killing him. The bullets were fired by Maverick who kept firing so Aegis sent the bullets back but when they made contact, they just fell to the ground and he was fine. "That's a new one."

Maverick kept on firing at Aegis who stopped the bullets in mid-air while Nightcrawler teleported to him and kicked him in the face. But like with the bullets, it didn't do anything and Nightcrawler teleported out of the way of getting shot. Nightcrawler kept teleporting and hitting Maverick but it didn't affect him so Aegis just put him to sleep telepathically.

"Thanks." Kurt told him when they heard a rumble and the base's alarms went off.

Alert, Alert. Subject 616's containment unit is ruptured. Repeat, containment unit failing.

"Oh, that's not good." Aegis said and he was right. Maverick had disabled Marko's containment cell that housed him in the cellular paralysis fluid and kept Aegis and Nightcrawler distracted so he had a moment to get back to full power.

The large vault security door for Cain's cell was punched through and out walked the large mammoth of a man in his thick armor and dome helmet, the Juggernaut. "Guess who got free?!" Juggernaut shouted.

"Oh, that's really not good." Nightcrawler panicked as Aegis threw several flashbang and smoke pellets at Juggernaut shrouding him in a thick cloud of smoke.

"Kurt, head back to the others! I'll ty and slow him down! GO!" Aegis told him and Nightcrawler teleported away just as the smoke dissipated to show an unamused Juggernaut.

"I'm gonna rip you in half and then wipe my feet on your head." Juggernaut threatened as he charged while Aegis began glowing blue.

"This is gonna hurt." Aegis said.

Line Break xxxxx

Wolverine stabbed Sabretooth in the gut before throwing him into the wall where he lunged and sank his claws into his shoulders. Sabretooth punched Wolverine in the face and kicked him back as Beast and Storm fought against Omega Red. With the others, Cyclops blasted Harpoon into the wall with a powerful blast and then fired a continuous beam that knocked him unconscious while Jean threw Vertigo into the roof, knocking her out. Shadowcat phased Blockbuster's body halfway through the ground which allowed Colossus to wail on him and knocked him out. Jubilee distracted Arclight and Rogue was able to drain her.

Things were going well until they all felt the base shake like an earthquake went off and knew what it meant. "Oh, crap. That's not good." Wolverine muttered when the wall exploded and Aegis was thrown through. He hit the ground with a thud and his blue aura disappeared as the Juggernaut stepped through the broken wall.

"Oh boy. More of my brother's little pets. Fun." Juggernaut punched his palm before charging straight at them.

Wolverine quickly grabbed Sabretooth and threw him at Juggernaut who just backhanded him into a wall. Juggernaut threw out a punch that missed as Wolverine sliced him with his claws but even his Adamantium claws only nicks his skin and didn't do enough damage. Juggernaut backhanded Wolverine into the ceiling and then punched him when he fell so he smashed into a wall.

Storm conjured up hurricane force winds against the Juggernaut who shielded his face and kept moving. Beast rushed over to help Wolverine while Omega Red made a dash for the hallway only to get blasted in the face by Cyclops. The impact sent him into Juggernaut who just grabbed him and tossed him aside. Cyclops fired a continuous optic beam at Juggernaut along with Jubilee who fired her fireworks and Rogue, who still had Arclight's powers, sent out shockwaves. Juggernaut just walked forward, undeterred by any of this until Jean used her telekinesis to lift him in the air.

Beast pulled Wolverine out of the wall as Nightcrawler teleported next to him. "Elf, get the latches on his helmet!"

"Right!" Nightcrawler teleported on top of Juggernaut's head and unlatched one of four latches on his helmet. He quickly teleported away as Juggernaut tried to grab him before reappearing and undoing the second latch but this time Juggernaut managed to backhand him away.

"He's—he's too heavy." Jean struggled to keep holding him until she couldn't so it anymore and he dropped to the ground.

Shadowcat had phased herself and Rogue underneath him so she could drain him but the second they were tangible Juggernaut knocked them back.

"Is that all my brother's got?! I'm disappointed!" Juggernaut charged forward, pushing through Storm's wind, Cyclops' optic blasts and Jubilee's sparks when a blue energy beam actually had enough force to knock him on his back.

Everyone looked and saw Aegis was back on his feet and glowing blue. And if his aura was any indication, he wasn't happy. He stepped in front of everyone as the Juggernaut got back onto his feet so Aegis raised his arm and fired another telekinetic energy beam. Juggernaut raised his arm to block it and pushed through it. "You think your fancy powers can stop me?! Nothing can stop me! I'M RAW POWER!"

"Oh, yeah! Well, you want raw power?! Then take it raw!" Aegis raised both his arms and fired the most powerful telekinetic energy blast he could muster and it actually sent the Juggernaut flying back. Aegis's telekinetic energy made the base shake just the Juggernaut did and it was display of the sheer raw power he had.

The X-men watched in stunned silence as they saw Aegis go toe-to-toe with Juggernaut and actually push him back. Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, and Beast were especially shocked as they didn't think it was possible to stop the Juggernaut with power alone. He was likely the strongest telekinetic they've ever seen and if his telepathy powers grew just as strong then he could be as strong as the Professor if not more so.

Despite Aegis's powerful attack, Juggernaut managed to find his footing and get back to his feet where he began pushing back against the energy beam. "Logan…any time now!" Aegis groaned as he was pushing himself as hard as he ever has.

"The helmet! You need to get rid of the helmet!" Logan told him.

"Got it!" Aegis adjusted his aim and his telekinetic energy blast ripped Juggernaut's helmet off his head.

Once Cain felt his helmet was gone, he began panicking. "NO!"

"Nighty-night!" Aegis began a telepathic assault on Cain's mind to put him down. Cain charged, struggling to stay up right as he tried to kill the Avenger before he could put him to sleep. Unfortunately, just as he got in range he went down and back to sleep.

"I can't believe it." Beast muttered in amazement.

"He did it." Storm said.

"Whoa…" Rogue and Kitty said as they all looked at Aegis who was breathing heavily.

"Dude…that…was…awesome!" Nightcrawler gave him a bro-hug but Aegis recoiled in pain. "Oh, sorry."

"Please, don't do that. I think he broke a rib…or a few…" He grabbed his side as he looked down at the Juggernaut, Sabretooth and Omega Red. "What about Nitro?"

"Oh, no." Kitty muttered.

Vertigo managed to get back up and raced down the hall to free Nitro while everyone else was dealing with Juggernaut. It took some time but she managed to find him in his containment cell, suspended in the same paralysis liquid that kept Juggernaut under. Before she could do anything, her face was slammed into the glass of his cell and she fell back before she was picked up and slammed into the ceiling and then fell down with a thud.

Nightcrawler had teleported Aegis to Nitro's cell and he took her down quickly. "Nicely done." Nightcrawler applauded.

"Just glad this is over." Aegis tapped his mask which was frizting a bit and then touched his ear. "Aegis to Fury, the Vault is secure. Nitro and Juggernaut are secure."

"Roger that. We're sending in containment teams. Good work." Fury told him.

"And Phillips?"

"With your intel we found enough evidence to go after him. He's done." Fury replied. "Good work, Aegis. Good work."

Sure, it was good work but why did he have a pit in the back of his stomach. The SHIELD teams soon arrived to help secure the Vault, survey the damage, tend to the wounded and dead and help resecure Juggernaut in a new cell with the cellular paralysis fluid. Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Vertigo, Riptide, Maverick, Omega Red, and Sabretooth were restrained and being detained. They would then be shipped to different SHIELD detainment facilities while the Vault was being repaired to hundred percent.

Aegis and the X-men regrouped outside the cave entrance to let the SHIELD teams do their work but they did help a bit. The agents thanked them for the help as well as Aegis but he wasn't feeling great. Logan walked over to Aegis who still had his mask up with his hand holding his side.

"You all right, kid?" Logan wondered.

"Logan, you ever get that feeling that you've been used as someone else's guinea pig to achieve their own ends?" He asked and Logan nodded. "Well, I'm feeling that right now."

"Relax, kid. Take the win. They're few and far between." Logan told him.

Will wanted to do that but he couldn't help it. He felt like he had just been used as a pawn in someone else's chess move.

Hellfire Secret Headquarters: New York City

Sebastian Shaw watched the news with a smile as SHIELD and the Federal police took Gordon Phillips into custody for various financial crimes, blackmail, extortion, and aiding and abetting acts of murder, domestic terrorism, and breaking into federal facilities. The media had a field day and all of Phillips accounts were frozen and being looking into which included the other members of the Hellfire club. They were under a microscope now and in hiding. Those that weren't, well…the local ones were meeting with Selene.

Hearing the sounds of chocking, Sebastian turned his chair and saw Selene psionically draining the lifeforce of one of the Hellfire club's members who they found as an obstacle.

"Your mind may be small and childish but is delicious." Selene kissed him on the cheek as she finished her feeding and the former member was now a dried husk.

Emma walked in and saw the dried up human husk and Sebastian watching the news. "It would appear your gambit paid off, Sebastian. I'm impressed." Emma said as he got up and walked over to a large round table. "How did you know it would work?"

"As you explained, the agent was here for Phillips and saw him as the bigger threat. A little mind control to make Phillips do what we wanted and the pieces fell into place." Sebastian said as they were joined by a few more members who took seats at the table. "SHIELD has their win and think the situation is over?"

"But what if they don't? Xavier was helping SHIELD." Emma told him.

"Let Xavier do what he wants. He can't stop us and with Phillips gone, we can move forward in the right direction." Selene said, taking her seat next to Sebastian.

"Well said, Selene." Sebastian gave her a kiss on the cheek before standing up to address the people present. "Thank you all for coming today. If you are here then your patience and faith in me has paid off. The human members of the Hellfire club will be in jail or dead, leaving us in control. We've been stymied by their leadership but no longer as the pawns have been discarded and we rule the chessboard.

Everyone smiled as Sebastian looked at everyone with a sense of pride and fulfillment taking on his new role as the Black King. "Welcome to the Inner Circle."

End of Chapter 10

1). Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk. Since she's been confirmed, I figured it'd be easier to make it connect.

2). Jessica Drew AKA Spider-woman. Portrayed by Olivia Wilde.

3). Simon Maddicks and Milos Masaryk are Killer Shrike and Unicorn, respectively. This is them pre-super suit. No face claims yet.

4). The Frost sisters from Marvel's the Gifted played by Skyler Samuels.

5). Sebastian Shaw, Selene, and Emma Frost. Sebastian Shaw played by a young Bryan Cranston. Selene played by Eva Green. Emma Frost played by Yvonne Strahovski. The Black King, Black Queen, and White Queen respectively. I checked up some fan casting online and these were some top results and it sort of fits. What do you guys think?

6). Ororo Monroe AKA Storm played by Halle Berry. Think her X2: X-men United appearance.

7). Charles Xavier AKA Professor X played by Patrick Stewart.

8). Piotr Rasputin AKA Colossus as played by Stefan Kapicic. The same actor who brought him to life in Deadpool. Warren Worthington the third AKA Angel as played by Alex Pettyfer. Tessa AKA Sage as played by Hayley Lovitt like in the Gifted. Dr. Hank McCoy AKA Beast as played by Kelsey Grammer like from X-men 3: The Last Stand and the Marvels Post Credit Scene.

9). Scott Summers AKA Cyclops as played by Tye Sheridan. Jean Grey AKA Marvel Girl as played by Sophie Turner. Kurt Wagner AKA Nightcrawler as played by Kodi Smit-McPhee. Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat as played by Millie Bobby Brown. Anna Marie AKA Rogue as played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Jubilation Lee AKA Jubilee as played by Lana Condor. Sean Cassidy AKA Banshee as played by Caleb Landry Jones. Ellie Phimister AKA Negasonic Teenage Warhead as played by Brianna Hildebrand.

10). Logan AKA Wolverine as played by Hugh Jackman. The man who spent the better part of two decades as the man with Adamantium claws. Think his build from 2013's the Wolverine.

11). What will come to be known as the Marauders soon enough. Arclight, Blockbuster, Harpoon, Riptide, Vertigo, Omega Red, Maverick, and Sabretooth.

I hoped you guys liked the chapter. A lot happened here and it's helped set up more plot stuff and future conflicts and people. AIM is still around and up to no good, the Maggia will be concerns, and with mutants, who knows what is gonna happen. Next time, Will's work gets him another promotion where he's able to meet with another agency and finally meet someone his mother knew. Wonder how that will go. After that, a look into an O-8-4 leads him to an old friend and a new team. Until next time.

I really hoped you guys liked this chapter. A lot has happened. Sorry it took so long but considering everything that happened well, it took longer then expected. AIM is going to be a continue threat rather then a one-off thing like in the MCU. And they'll be helping other villainous organizations, groups, and people. He's helped the Inhumans of Attilan and helped Dr. Banner along with getting to meet his cousin and she's now a She-Hulk. She'll be showing up as the story goes on along with the X-men. Plus, there was a little cameo from the SWAT team from the CBS show, SWAT. And we have another SHIELD agent/gifted hero Jessica Drew AKA Spider-woman. She'll be popping in and out of future chapters. We've met the Hellfire club which has been turned into the Inner Circle. And the X-men are here.

In this story, I've taken inspiration for the X-men from the cartoon X-men evolution since it was one of my favorites. It was a great X-men show with a unique concept of younger X-men in a world that wasn't aware of mutants until the incident with the Sentinels. That's sort of what happened here. In this world, mutants aren't known to the world at the moment because SHIELD and Professor Xavier have done their job to keep the world from a much stranger one. Sure, some people might suspect something but they don't know they're mutants. Professor Xavier helps the mutants with their powers and SHIELD contains the deadly ones like Juggernaut and Nitro. And the knowledge of mutants is restricted to high-level personnel like Fury, Natasha, Clint, and now Will since he got involved.

For the team, Colossus, Beast, Storm, Wolverine, Sage, and Angel take on the roles of teachers. Sort of like Storm, Beast, and Wolverine from the cartoon. They were the older members of the team with a long experience with Charles. Then there's the ones a little younger then Will who were his next batch of students and know their powers the best while the other students continue their education and continue to control them. They're mentors to the younger students but not complete experts and teachers like the older ones. Hoped you guys like it.

We've also got face claims for all the new important characters so I hope you like who I chose.

The Blue Wolf will be my next update in March. I originally was gonna update it in February but I wanted to focus on this story.

William Alexander Detmer/Birthname: William Alexander Danvers

Born: September 8th, 1988-Currently 24

Moniker= Aegis (means something under protection from a benevolent source/Shield of Zeus and Athena)

Primagen Enhanced Inhuman

SHIELD Status: Level 7 Agent / Special Operations, Tactics and Defense Specialist (SOTD) Serial number: NE616IN

Member of the Avengers

Appearance: Stephen Amell from Arrow, Season 1 build.

Aegis Combat gear: Earth X's Dark Arrow Vibranium jacket and pants with retractable full-face mask colored Black and Blue. Eye covers in mask are colored blue as well. Improved design resists more damage and certain atmospheric pressures.

Shoulder strap pellet holders. Combat gloves and forearm guards with weapons and equipment.

SHIELD gear: Combat boots, black combat pants, with form fitting dark blue long sleeve athletic shirt. SHIELD Tactical combat vest.

Shoulder strap pellet holders. Combat gloves and forearm guards with weapons and equipment.

Casual Outfit: dark blue or black sneakers, jeans, blue or black t-shirt and either a zip-up hoodie, jacket, or button up over.

Weapons:

Signature Guns:

Modified Heckler & Koch P30L handgun with custom grip and compensator or suppressor attachment. Spare firearm Glock 17.

Modified Knight's Armament SR-25 Sniper rifle with modified scope, bipod, and suppressor.

Modified M249 Mk46 Light Machine gun with a modified barrel, magazine insertion well. Equipped with adjustable buttstock, 100-round magazine drum, deployable bipod, red dot sight, flashlight, and laser sight attachment.

Modified TDI/KRISS Vector-.45 ACP with modified barrel, stock, grip, extended magazine, red-dot sight, flashlight, laser sight, and silencer attachment.

Modified Remington 879 MSC Masterkey 12-gauge compact shotgun.

Custom collapsible Oneida Kestrel Compound Bow and quiver of special arrows.

Others:

Right forearm guard wrist mounted retractable Vibranium/alloy blades.

Left forearm guard wrist mounted small retractable Vibranium Shield & touchpad computer.

10 dark blue flechettes/throwing arrows wrapped around his ankles.

2 Vibranium orbs that Will is able to manipulate.

Natural Language Modified Artificial Intelligence program EDI.

Predator Combi stick/spear

2 Predator Shuriken

4 Laser net devices

Predator knife

Personal Vehicles: Red and Black 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, Red and Black 1970 Harley Davidson Titan V-Rod motorcycle,

Notable talents: Genius level intellect potential, self-defense military training from Harold Detmer, knowledge, and training in 15 types of martial arts, gun knowledge and expert marksman trained by Clint Barton, espionage and spy skills trained by Natasha Romanoff, SHIELD tactics and medical training from Coulson and SHIELD trainers, well-crafted knowledge and understanding of psychology, knowledge, and experience with engineering both mechanical and electrical, fluent in dozens of languages.

Personality: Kind, caring, composed, attentive, intelligent, and driven. Can be a bit of a smartass.

When insulted, angered, or in a serious situation, focused and relentless. Considered dangerous and unforgiving in these types of situations.

Uses powers sparingly in the field unless absolutely needs to.

Pairing: Will x Skye/Daisy Johnson x Crystal

Powers:

Rakyat Tatau: Mystical tattoo that enhances speed, strength, stamina, intelligence, instincts, healing speed ad metabolic function to absolute human peak potential. (Captain America Level Super Soldier)

Telekinesis, the ability to impact objects through the direct influence of mental power or other non-physical means

Power Level=Advanced: level 4 out of 5

Binding-to keep an object/being from moving

Levitation-to lift an object

Orbital Field-to makes objects and energy orbit around user

Telekinetic Shield-to create a shield of telekinetic energy around user or others/strength of shield depends on mental strength and focus of user

Psionic Speed-to augment user's physical speed

Psionic Strength-to augment user's physical strength

Telekinetic Bullet Projection-projecting telekinetic energy as bullets

Telekinetic Choking-to strangle someone with telekinesis

Telekinetic Grip-To grasp an object firmly in place

Telekinetic Maneuver-to alter an object's directional course

Telekinetic Pull & Push-to pull or push objects away from user

Molecular Manipulation-to manipulate matter at molecular level. Can accelerate, slow down and adjust spacing of molecules.

Limited in use. i.e., manipulating Vibranium orbs and reshaping them

Telekinetic Aura/Sense-To sense one's surroundings with telekinesis

Telekinetic Compression-to crush or compact an object

Telekinetic Blast-to emit telekinetic energy as a blast of blue energy

Telekinetic Destruction-to make an object explode into dust

Telekinetic Flight-using telekinesis to fly

Psionic Explosion-to create/discharge psychic energy across a wide range

Telepathy, mentally receive or transmit information

Power Level=Advanced: level 4 out of 5

Psionic Blasts-ability to produce Psionic force bolts or blasts which can do telepathic damage

Mind Reading-ability to read the thoughts of others

Memory Reading-the ability to read the target's memories

Psychic Communication-the ability to secretly converse with others

Telepathic Speaking-to speak aloud using the mind

Telepathic Projection-to project images or memories into the physical plane

Download-the ability to process/download information of another person (If used in a violent or angry mood, can harm the victim)

Knowledge Replication-the ability to replicate learned knowledge and skills

Knowledge Projection-the ability to project knowledge to another

Rapid brain activity-the ability to process and understand information at incredible rates

Mental Inducement-The ability to put the targets mind into the wanted state

Mental Hallucination-the ability to cause mental hallucinations

Mind Link-the ability to develop a permanent mental bond with any person

Mind Walking/Melding-to enter another's consciousness

Precognition awareness-six sense awareness of imminent danger

Telepathic Prediction-the ability to know a person's moves by reading their brain waves

Astral Projection-to separate one's mind from their body and explore physical plane

Cannot use telekinesis in this state. If separated from body too long, very dangerous.

Telepathic Surgery-the ability to perform neuropsychic surgery, healing and/or damaging the mind

Memory/Mental Manipulation-the ability to manipulate a target's memories and mind

Clairvoyance-the ability to gain direct visual information through non-physical means

Triggered only by serious events

Foresight-the ability to foresee possible future events and observe what may happen

Needs Cerebral helmet to trigger

Disclaimer: I don't own Agents of SHIELD or any Marvel Properties, they belong to their respective owners, I'm just a fan.