AN: Dubble chap, this week I'm having trouble with my net right now, so it may be a couple of weeks before I update again. Also, on my other two stories, I've not forgotten, but I've hit a bit of a wall when trying to work on the Sorry about that. Please enjoy.
Reaching out of the door Alex grabbed the cube and pulled it out of the cradle, just as the cube left the cradle an alarm began blaring, soldiers ran into the lab guns at the ready as the few scientists ran for cover but it was all for nothing as the door closed once the cube was in the house.
Alex turned from the door to find a gun pointed at him and Colson's face blank, "Yeah that's not going to be any help, this, " he held up the tesseract, "is a danger to the world hell even the universe if people get their hands on it so I'm putting it out of mortal reach.
After he spoke, Alex reached for the door again and opened it to be near Heimdall, "This needs to join the time stone; I'll have the others soon," he said, passing the cube to the large man who nodded and took the tesseract.
"Lord Odin has spoken of your intentions; please bring the other's to me. The guards nearly fell to the call of the time stone," Heimdall said as he took the cube.
Alex nodded, " Okay it shouldn't take much longer to get them, inform lady Friga that I will be leaving Loki in the care of the spymaster of Midgard soon,"
Heimdall nodded, "I shall, should I need, I shall open the Bifrost; lord Odin will be in Odin's sleep for a time; Thor's actions have strained him. Be well in your quest, Princess Loki."
All this time, Colson kept his gun out, but the view from the open door caused him to drop it to his side; Loki gently led him to a seat.
"We'll be going after the aether soon; I just need to take these two to Midgard before I can go for it," Alex told him and received a nod, and Heimdall stepped back.
Closing the door for a few seconds, then opening it to the place where he picked up Colson, "Remember the stuff for Fury," Alex told Colson, who was looking lost.
Loki picked up the briefcases and helped Colson stand a playful smile on her lips as she led him out of the house. "I will speak with the spymaster and inform him of the follies of the stone," she said before closing the door.
Alex looked at Sam and then at Kira, "Alright, let's see about that gooey stone, then the soul stone, " he said before opening the door to the chamber where the aether was kept.
The Chamber was dark other than a red glow faintly coming from between two pillars, one on top of another as if they were holding the aether in place by pressing the fluidic stone.
Alex nodded as he saw tendrils extending from the gap in the pillars, "The convergence is soon and the stone knows it," he said as he stepped into the chamber and watched as the stone cowered away from his presence.
Sam watched, ready to help in case the stone tried something, but saw it pulling in on itself; as he got closer, "It seems to be afraid of you," she told him as he reached the pillars and reached into the gap and grabbed the now solid stone.
"Yeah, it knows it can't affect me; we'll go for the soul stone now; I'm not sure how it will act when I take it to Heimdall," Alex stated as he pulled the stone out of the gap and returned to the house.
Sam closed the door while he set the stone on the coffee table; it now looked like a ruby, "You know, if these things weren't so dangerous, they would make such interesting pieces to study, but over time, they'll corrupt people," he said as his fingertips left the stone.
"Are you getting anything from them with your powers?" Sam asked
"Not much, just some things to help in ways to understand the laws of the universe, but it only works here in this universe, nothing useful for the others we may go to later, " he answered while going back to the door and opening it to the place where the soul stone was.
Johan Schmidt stood over the precipice overlooking the platform that held the stone so similar to the one that sent him here so many years ago, he had seen many beings who wanted the power of the stone to come and be consumed by it.
Now a new person who looked human came from a door in the air, he knew that eventually, he would have this one just as he had Tesseract it was just a matter of time, slowly he stepped out of the place he stood to join the man who was looking down to where the stone would appear.
"You come seeking the stone?" Schmidt asked in a soft voice knowing this was the best way to approach the people who came looking for the stone.
Alex nodded as he looked over the edge of the precipice, " Yes, I am here for the stone, " he answered, then turned to face the fallen Nazi, " I'm just trying to think of the best way to get it to appear. "
"It is a sad thing but one must sacrifice someone they deeply cherish to obtain it," Schmidt said with a sad tone as he joined Alex.
Alex watched him from the corner of his eye and nodded, " I've heard that in my travels, the others were much easier to retrieve than this one, " he said while he saw that he simply needed to walk over the edge and float down to the platform and ask for it.
"In my eternal vigil over the stone, I've seen many come for it only to fall to the stone power," Schmidt stood by and watched and waited to see what the man would do to get the stone.
Alex nodded, " Yeah that's probably been a burden, waiting for someone to come here only to die in their efforts to get the stone."
"It truly has been a burden," Schmidt said while looking sadly over the edge until he felt light and floaty until he realized he had been pushed over and was now falling, Alex flew out of reach and followed Schmidt down.
"You know I think you should have leaped a long time ago, well now that stone you want so much will devour you just like it been doing to everyone you tricked into killing here," he said then stopped and floated a few dozen feet above the ground as Schmidt continued to fall and impact the ground shock and fear on his face as the life left his eyes.
As Schmidt died, the stone formed over his corpse; reaching out, Alex took the stone that seemed to be overjoyed to be rid of the man who had corrupted the ritual to call it forth.
"Well, it's time to join the others," he told the stone, giving a brief glow before dimming.
Returning to the door Alex stepped back into the house, "I'm sure he never saw that coming, " Sam pointed out as he closed the door.
Alex shrugged, "Yeah that's probably true, and now the stones will be in a safe place until their true purpose is needed," he told them as he reopened the door near Heimdall.
"I've got the other two, but I think it best to open the Bifrost to where you are sending them before I bring them out so the dark elves will not feel the aether before it beyond their grasp, " he told the gatekeeper, who simply nodded then opened the Bifrost.
"Quickly or the black hole will latch onto the bridge and keep it open, " Heimdall warned as he set his sword in the control for opening the bridge.
Alex watched as the bridge opened, then ran out of the house with both stones in his hand. He threw them into the multi-colored path and watched as the stones were carried away, and then the bridge closed.
"Now all that is left is for Lord Odin to retrieve the stone from the NovaCorp, "Sam said while picking up Karen, who was looking ready to run to the edge of the Bifrost platform.
"Yes, the others are already in the black hole; only the power stone remains, " Heimdall said as he stepped back after pulling his sword from the platform.
"We've still a few errands to run before we leave; keep an eye on Loki; while she is in no danger, the man she is speaking with is a bit paranoid but does want the best for the people of Midgard. " Alex informed the guardian.
Heimdall nodded, " I shall, " he answered before retaking his position.
Alex and the others returned to the house closing the door, " Let's watch some TV Nebula is going to be waking soon I want to see what she will want to do in the future, " Alex said taking a seat on the couch and took Karen from Sam who went to the kitchen to get some drinks for the four of them as the TV moved back to its proper position.
Kira sat in a chair, "Are we going to be going to the next world soon?" she asked while picking up the remote and selecting a cartoon for them to watch to distract Karen.
Alex nodded "Yeah after we take care of Nebula, we will move on, I'm thinking we go ahead to the Stargate universe and see where we go from there, we'll be making a few quick stops to get a few samples of a few people who I want to clone and send to Atlantis and get it fixed up, we'll not be leaving the house for this though,"
"How many are you planning?" Sam asked as she returned with the drinks, tea for the adults, and juice for Karen.
Alex took his drink and sipped it, "Before we go the spaceport, I planned on a few dozen, but I think I can send a few hundred to work on Atlantis and possibly have them slowly work on cleaning out the Wraith."
"Can you make that many people won't they be too closely related to and have inbred children?" Sam asked as she sat.
"No, I can alter each to be different enough that it would take a while to produce inbred children but I plan on dropping them off twenty years before the SGC wants to send the team to Atlantis," Alex stated while looking at the TV and frowned as the cartoon seemed to be overly silly.
Sam nodded, " Will you make them loyal to you?"
she asked after a few seconds of thought.
Alex shook his head, "No, just have them rebuild the city and build up the population a bit; there is one planet they'll be welcome to live on if they want to move the city from Lanteia," he told them as he tried to remember the little bit he knew from Stargate Atlantis.
Kira sat forward, "Will you be making them like Kryptonians?" she asked while picking up her drink and then taking a sip.
Alex looked to Sam, then shrugged, "I don't know if the technology will work for them. I can do a test and see, but I'll make a pair in case they can't use it."
"And if they can use the technology?" Kira asked.
"Then I will think about giving them the powers, but if I do, then what's to stop the later generations from becoming tyrants in reality? Even with the basic Kryptonian power set, they will be almost unstoppable."
Kira sat back wide-eyed as she thought about how in the past, the Kryptonian people had concurred a few galaxies for a few thousand years before becoming xenophobic centuries before the distraction of Krypton, and that was before they learned how prolonged exposure to a yellow star would empower them.
Alex nodded as he saw the look on her face as she thought, "Yeah I see you remember the time the Kryptonian people weren't the best in the beginning,"
Sam looked confused, " What are you talking about?" she asked.
Alex then told her the history he knew from the comics and other media he had seen before his changes.
"Yeah, let's go with the normal Alterans and no powers beyond what they have naturally; we don't need more people with powers to be out there when we are working on cleaning up the mess," she told them as she shifted Karen in her lap to change to another less goofy kind of cartoon.
Kira nodded, then focused on Alex once again, "I'm sure you can find something else to do; how about using the Martian template to aid them?
I'm not completely up to date on them, but what I do know is that, for the most part, they are a peaceful people; growing up psychically linked to their population had them unable to understand deception and unable to lie even to other races."
Alex nodded, " That's an idea. I'll consider it, but if I do, then I'll have to find a planet similar to Mars in the three known galaxies," he answered before standing and walking to the door leading to the basement and medical room when his Omni tool beeped a warning that Nebula was waking.
"Once we get Nebula on her way we'll see what will happen when we get there," he said as he took the stairs down.
As he entered the medical room, he saw Nebula's eyes moving under her eyelids. Then she sat up with a gasp; she looked around in fear. Her last memories were of the army of Thanos being destroyed. Then everything went black as she was thrown into the escape pod.
"Ah, you're awake, that's good. Can you tell me how you are feeling?" Alex asked as he took a tablet from the foot of the med bed she lay on.
Her eyes snapped to him, "Who are you? And what did you do to me?" she asked.
"I'm Alex, and I saved you after destroying the armies of that madman who was looking to kill off half the universe's people. Also, I've had you returned to a purely biological lifeform and removed the programming the scientists had put into your computer parts."
Slowly, Nebula looked over her arms and then felt her face and scalp, not feeling the familiar machine parts; instead, she felt something she hadn't felt since childhood; bringing her hand back to her face, she saw long red locks of hair between her fingers.
"And what are you going to do with me?" she asked while still feeling her hair, then she realized that she no longer heard the voice of Thanos in the back of her mind whispering to her to loathe her adopted sister and to follow the orders.
"Well, that's up to you. I can drop you off on any planet you want, or I can take you to your sister, and you two can go from there." He said while reading the readout on her medical situation.
"I..I think I want to see Gamora and see if we can be true sisters," she said in a small voice.
Alex nodded, then gestured to a door across the room, "There is a device there that will scan you and fabric clothing; if you want armor, that's fine, but it won't make weapons," he told her before setting the tablet back in its place then leaving the room.
Alex stood outside the door listening to Nebula moving around for a few minutes until she opened the door to find him, she was now wearing what looked like padded leather clothes and a trenchcoat made to look like scales.
"Take me to my sister," she said as she saw him.
"Alright let's go see what she is doing," he said with a grin, "Oh yeah she is with the group that killed Ronan and the leader of the group is a human from Terra, he is a bit of an idiot but a good man," he told her as he led her up to the main floor of the house.
"Yeah I know about them but Thanos pulled me away from the battle before they killed Ronan, I barely got away from the Dark Aster before it was destroyed," she told him as she followed him.
Sam stood when they reached the living room, shifting Karen to her hip she smiled, "It's good to see the true you," Sam said while looking over Nebula.
Kira was shocked to see the changes in her as the last time she saw her returned to biological life.
"Yes thank you for fixing what was done to me," Nebula repeated eyeing Kira as a fleeting image of her flashed through her mind.
"I'm sorry but I had to knock you out and get you safely out of the fight, Alex said you were being made to fight for that man and he wanted you to have a choice, " Kira said while blushing and dropping her head.
Nebula nodded slowly, "It's fine I've felt the connection he had in the cybernetic implants was removed and now I can try to get to know my sister outside fighting." she said while looking around the room trying to find a ship to take her to find Gamora.
Alex stepped to the door and focused on The Guardians of the Galaxy only to find them still on Xandar getting ready to leave, "Come on, it looks like they are ready to get going, " he told Nebula as he opened the door onto the landing pad the Milano was parked.
Nebula looked at the door her eyes growing wide as watched the people moving around on the other side, she then turned to Sam who was looking like she was trying to not laugh, "It's real, go on before you lose the chance to talk to your sister, " Sam said while stepping behind her and pushing her to the door.
Alex had stepped out and intersected the Guardian's mainly Gamora, when he approached her he called out, "Gamora I need to speak with you for a moment,"
While Gamora turned to see who called out to her, Peter drew his element guns and pointed them at him; Gamora shook her head and pushed Peter out of the way as he tried to stand between herself and Alex.
"What do you want, " she asked, ignoring her companions other than Groot, who was in a pot she carried.
"I am Groot?" Groot asked.
Alex shrugged, "I'm just here to deliver a message and someone who wants to talk to you," he told her before looking at Groot, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea; you're going to need a better fertilizer to grow up faster," he told the little plant creature.
"You understand him?" Gamora asked shocked as she only knew Rocket was able to understand the little guy.
Alex nodded, " Yeah, there's a way to learn, but you'll need to speak with the Asgard; they may teach you All Speak," he told her, then turned to look at the door where Nebula was watching, with shock on her face.
Gamora followed his eyes with her own and nearly dropped Groot, "Nebula?" she asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, that's who wants to talk to you, and the message is, Thanos is no longer a problem for you and yours," he said while walking back to the door pulling Nebula out of the house, and leading her to Gamora.
Alex watched as the two looked each other up and down before falling into a hug nearly crushing Groot, "Take your time and try not to judge each other over the past, and remember that you both were in the presence of a master manipulator who had a powerful object that could and did change how you thought and acted," Alex gently told them before closing the door.
Sam looked at him with a soft smile, "You are going to leave a long line of changes that will make some people looking to repay you and some of them may never see you again." she said while looking over his shoulder to the two hugging women.
Alex nodded, " Yeah, I know, but I'm not going to be able to help everyone out there. The Omni verses are infinite, and my actions will make changes, sure, but they won't make all that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things."
So where to next?" Kira asked as she joined them in looking out the window.
"Back to Earth for a quick stop to speak with the Black Widow; I'm going to give her an offer on something that was taken from her in her youth," Alex told them as he reached for the door again, this time willing it to find Natasha Romanov.
Outside the window, the world shifted from the bustling city of Xandar's capital to that of a farm yard with a man and two women sitting on a picnic table watching a young girl playing with a younger boy who was learning to walk.
Alex nodded as he saw the MCU version of Hawkeye and his wife with the Black Widow at the home Furry had set up for them to hide the fact that Clint Barton had a family.
"The redhead is who we're here for, but we must be careful about talking to her," he told them as he opened the communication function of his Omni tool and searched for a landline or cell phone near the three adults.
"Daddy, can I play with them?" Karen asked pointing toward the children outside the window.
"We'll see, " he said as he found a cell phone on Natasha's person, making sure that he would be able to call the phone he had the door move to the edge of the property and then made the call.
'Hello?' came from his Omni tool after a few seconds.
"Yes am I speaking to Natasha Romanov?" he asked.
'Yes, that's me; how did you get my work number?' she asked, suspicion in her voice.
"There's not much I can't find if I look for it., I wish to speak privately with you about an offer for your future, " Alex told her as he opened the door onto the driveway leading up to the farmhouse.
'I'm sorry but I like my current job and am not looking for a new one, ' the Widow said while trying to trace the caller.
"Ahh this isn't a job offer it's an offer to return to you that was taken from you during your graduation,"
There was a gasping on the other end of the call then the sound of running on gravel, looking to the house he saw Natasha and Clint running around the house, while Clint tried to keep up with her Natasha having been enhanced outpaced him, as she ran she drew her batons from pockets on her legs.
Alex closed the call and waited for her to close the distance; behind her, he saw Clint stop and draw his bow and notch an arrow that he shot over her shoulder; the arrow flew at his arm only to be plucked out of the air and then dropped to the ground followed by five more arrows.
There was no room for more as Natasha lept at Alex, electricity arcing over the batons; one baton was aimed at his head and the other at his chest; he smiled as they struck him, only to shatter from the force of the blows.
Acting quickly, he captured her arms, only to have to tilt his head to the side to avoid the kick she threw, then looked down. He smiled as she tried to use her other leg to sweep his feet out from under him, only to hear the cracking of her shinbone.
"Violent much?" he asked while letting her go to jump away in time for three arrows to be caught and added to the six already on the ground.
"Why are you here?" Natasha asked as she regained her footing and shook her fractured leg.
Alex caught more arrows, "I told you I'm here to return to you what was taken when you graduated," he said dropping them.
"And what was taken from me?" she asked trying to distract him enough for Clint to hit him with a shot.
"What makes all women whole and able to make the future bright," he said looking at her abdomen with a frown even as he caught more arrows, "he'll run out of arrows soon," he answered while x-raying her and saw that the RedRoom had done a nasty job in removing her womb.
"Yeah, that's not likely; he will eventually get you," she snapped at him; she felt that the fracture was going to take a few more minutes to heal enough for her to return to the fight.
"Uh yeah, that's not the problem. You attacked before I could talk to you, but I'll tell you this: I am strong enough to make the Hulk look like a toddler, so you're just wasting your time."
Natasha scoffed at this point, "Nothing is that strong, " she said while watching him catch and drop more and more arrows.
Alex chuckled softly, "Yeah that's not true, this universe is big, and the people of Earth have never been beyond the moon so don't think you have seen it all, " he told her as he reached out for the next set of arrows only for them to be caught by small hands.
"This is fun, Daddy. Can you make him go faster?" Karen asked while looking at the arrows in her hands.
"No, he is a good guy who wouldn't hurt a child."
"But I'm strong and fast." Karen pouted even as she flew to catch another arrow that Clint shot low to avoid her.
Alex laughed at her enthusiasm; while he was distracted, Natasha moved back in to attack with the taser gloves, only to be stopped by a finger to her forehead.
"You need to calm down," Sam said while pushing Natasha to the ground with her finger.
With the still fractured leg, she couldn't stop herself from falling, so she rolled back before springing back to her feet, ready to fight, only to find that Clint was in the grip of another woman, and the one that pushed her back was dropping all of her hidden weapons on the pile of arrows.
"Can you shoot faster so I can chase them," the little girl was asking Clint, who was struggling to get free as he, too, was stripped of weapons.
"Well that could have gone better, but we did drop in on a couple of spies and assassins after all," Alex stated while trying not to laugh at Clint's expression as Karen asked him to shoot arrows at her.
"Well, if you had just kept on the call and set up a meeting instead of popping out near the house, I'm sure things would have been a bit more civil, " Sam pointed out as she stepped to his side.
Alex shrugged, "Yeah, but this way was funny, and I did get to see Hawkeye and the Black Widow in action, sort of, so no biggie."
Sam shook her head then reached out and pulled Karen into her arms to stop her from pestering Clint about shooting more arrows.
Kira watched the two silently for a second before looking at Clint, "You going to behave?" she asked after he stopped struggling.
"Yeah," Clint grumbled after a few seconds of thought and feeling the vice-like grip on his arms.
Alex nodded, then looked over to Natasha, "So what's your answer? Do you want what was taken back?"
Natasha, still on guard, watched as the woman let Clint go and then stepped away from him without acting like she was going to fight, "There's no getting that back."
Sam shook her head, "No there's no way on Earth to get it back, but we can restore it with little to no trouble," she felt pity for the woman who had her choice and ability to have children ripped out.
"And the price?" Natasha asked suspiciously.
"Nothing past ensuring you do the best you can to be a good mother," Alex said with a shrug.
Clint finally figured out what they were talking about and slumped to the ground, these people were offering his best friend the one thing she wanted more than anything else and acted like it was not a big deal by the way they spoke.
"Why?" Natasha asked, her voice coming out in a whisper; there was hidden pain in her voice as her hands went to her abdomen.
"You've got a little red in your ledger and although you have done some good work in the last few years, you have to give back something to balance that red so what better way than to bring life to the world," she said using Natasha's excuse for keeping most people away to get through to her.
Alex watched them talk; as he watched, he also noticed that Clint's wife and children were hiding at the corner of the house; he also saw a pistol in the woman's hand; the little girl was holding the boy back from running out to the group.
"Hey, Clint, go tell your family everything is fine, and we'll be moving on as soon as we're done," he told the archer while pointing to the corner of the house where they were hiding.
Clint looked up quickly and then to the house where he saw his family; slowly climbing to his feet, he looked at Natasha and then the others, "Hurt her, and I'll kill you, " he growled before walking away to join his wife and children.
"So your answer?" Sam asked while tightening her grip on Karen to keep her from following Clint.
Natasha Romanov stood there, her eyes seeing nothing as her hands stayed on her abdomen; after a few minutes, she looked at the group, her eyes still vacant, and she nodded.
Alex looked at Sam, "Go ahead," he told her as he reached for Karen to free up Sam's hands.
Passing Karen to him, she approached Natasha slowly to place her hands on her shoulders as they began to glow, "This will feel weird, " she told the assassin as the glow spread over Natasha and then sank into her skin; after a moment, Sam stepped back to rejoin her group.
Natasha felt her skin tingling and then itch before the feeling spread into her body, then she felt her inner body moving as her womb and ovaries grew back.
"Now Natasha Romanov, you are whole. Be warned that any child you have will inherit the changes done to you," Sam told her as she fell to the ground, actual tears falling from her eyes.
Alex nodded then looked over to the house where Clint was talking to his wife, whistling to get their attention he pointed to Natasha, Clint came running after a few more words with his wife, "She'll need to eat a large meal soon then rest," Alex stated as Clint came to a stop beside Natasha.
"What's wrong with her?" Clint asked as he knelt to check on her.
"Shock probably, she'll most likely need some time off from work to get used to the hormones that will be running through her system as well, "Sam said while looking at Alex and nodding letting him know she was able to copy the watered-down version of the supersoldier formula the red room used on Natasha, as well as fix the flaws it had.
Alex smiled, then tilted his head, "Clint, you will most likely be called to Puente Antiguo in a few days; something will be happening there; I recommend telling Colson and Furry that they keep their people out of the way if a fight breaks out and the hammer starts giving off discharges energy."
Kira went back into the house, and after a few minutes, she returned with a small box, kneeling in front of Natasha, she pushed the box into her hands and whispered to the woman for a few seconds, then rejoined Alex and Sam.
Alex cocked his head in her direction, "Do I want to know?" he asked while eyeing the box.
"No it's a woman thing," Kira answered.
Alex shrugged then looked back to Clint and Natasha, "Get her to the house and let your wife know she'll probably help a good deal with calming her down, " he said while gesturing to the others to return to the house.
Once inside and the door was closed, they watched as Clint lifted Natasha and took her to his wife, who opened the door and ushered him inside.
"Now all that is left is to choose to either go find a Stargate reality or another world to get a piece of technology, " he said while sitting down and picking up his drink from the coffee table and drank.
"Let's go to a Stargate reality, we've all the time we want to go find technology to help them with later," Sam told him as she joined him on the couch.
"I'm not sure about any place to go, so I'll leave it up to you two," Kira said, stepping into the kitchen to see about getting a sandwich.
Alex shrugged, "Alright let's go find some Alterans to clone then populate Atlantis, then go intercept a couple of troublemakers so they don't freeze to death," he said
