Bruce Banner was not a medical doctor. In fact, he hated practicing medicine. He wanted to research, study, do research in a lab where the most stressful thing he had to deal with was a chemical reaction. He missed his lab more than he missed his home.
But Bruce Banner was on the run. Hiding from General Thaddeus Ross, hiding from SHIELD, the American government, and the people of New York. So, he was in India, treating patients dying of fever, knowing he was safe with his irradiated blood.
Bruce was rinsing his hands in the house of a family whose father was sick, when he heard the matriarch exclaim in Hindi. When he glanced over, and young girl was standing there, a few bills of money in her hand. She turned her begging eyes to Bruce and explained in rapid Hindi that Bruce's rudimentary understanding couldn't hope to catch. He understood the word doctor, father, and fever.
"Please," she begged in English.
Bruce's bleeding heart couldn't stand to see a child so scared, so he agreed to follow her, only once pausing to avoid catching the attention of soldiers driving past in a Humvee. The girl led him into a house on the outskirts of town, where she ran through the house, and out the window with her money. There was no one else in the house.
"Should've got paid up front, Banner," Bruce said, wondering what he allowed himself to walk into.
"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle," a beautiful redhead said, stepping out of a shadow. She wore a modern black dress, under a traditional Indian shawl. So that was what he walked into.
"Avoiding stress isn't the secret," Bruce admitted.
"Then what is it, yoga?" Bruce was officially nervous as he realized how well this trap had been laid.
"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart," Bruce said, rather than answer her inane question. Yoga was definitely not the way to keep the Hulk contained. Hate yoga. Hulk grumbled at the thought. Bruce hushed him as gently as he could. This was a conversation too delicate for his ham-fisted ways. "I assume the whole place is surrounded."
"It is," Natasha admitted. Bruce was surprised by her honesty. "But they won't come in unless I need them."
"And your actress buddy? Is she a spy too? They start that young?"
"I did," Natasha admitted again. "Much younger than her. She, however, was just paid to bring you here. Nothing nefarious."
"And who are you?"
"Natasha Romanoff."
"Are you here to kill me, Miss Romanoff?" Bruce asked. Can try. Will lose. "Because that's not going to work out for everyone.
"No, of course not," Natasha said, gently stepping forward. She held out a business card, Stark Industries. "I'm here on behalf of SHIELD."
"And how'd they find me?" Bruce asked, looking intently at the business card before accepting it. Margaret Stark would like to invite you home. It said on the back. Natasha winked at him as he slid the card into a pocket. There was more going on here than Bruce initially assumed.
"SHIELD never lost you, Doctor Banner," Natasha said. "We've kept our distance, even kept some interested parties off your back."
"Why?"
"Nick Fury seems to trust you," Natasha said, smiling slightly. Fury thought Banner had a lid on the Hulk. Thought that Banner could control him just enough to help if necessary. "But now we need you to come in."
"What if I say no?" To either offer, was left unsaid.
"Then I'll try to persuade you," Natasha said, exaggeratedly batting her eyelashes. It caused Bruce to grin against his will, amused despite himself.
"And what if the other guy says no?"
"You've been more than a year without an incident," Natasha said, knowing this from what SHIELD's files said. The last sighting of the Hulk was Harlem. "And I don't think you want to break that streak."
Bruce sighed heavily and absently touched the crib that was still in the house. He said wistfully, "I don't every time get what I want."
"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe," Natasha said, switching to business mode as she pulled out her Starkphone and opened the file she'd been sent on the Tesseract.
"Well, those I actively try to avoid," Bruce chuckled, moving away from the crib.
"This is the tesseract," Natasha said, sitting down at the table, showing him the image of the blue glowing cube. "It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet."
"What does Fury want me to do, swallow it?" Bruce asked incredulously as he pulled on his glasses to look at the cube. Natasha couldn't quite keep her snort to herself at the thought of timid Bruce Banner swallowing a cube of massive energy.
"We need you to find it, it's been taken," Natasha said plainly. Bruce had to give her props, for a spy she was being very honest and plain with what she wanted from him. He had to admit he was curious about this Margaret Stark, and why she was inviting him to her home in such a bizarre way. "It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. You are the world's expert on gamma radiation, whether you like it or not. If there was someone else, I'd be there instead."
"So, Fury isn't after the monster," Bruce stated. Not monster.
"Not that he's told me," Natasha replied.
"And he tells you everything?"
"He does not," Natasha said, revealing that while SHIELD kept secrets, Natasha knew more about the Stark Industries offer. Bruce was almost enjoying their double talk – what he could decipher from it, anyway. "Talk to him. We need you on this one."
"He wants to put me in a cage," Bruce suggested, just to see her reaction.
"Possible, but doubtful," Natasha offered.
Bruce feigned rage, slamming his hands down on the table between them shouting, "stop lying to me!" Natasha didn't move, going preternaturally still, until Bruce gave a gentle smile. "Sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do."
"Stand down, we're good here," Natasha said into whatever comms she had on. "Well, Doctor Banner?"
He looked at the business card again, flipping it over to read the message. Home, huh?
"Maybe it's time I go back home," Banner said, grinning at Natasha. She smiled in return.
The Avengers
"This is out of line, Director," Gideon Malick said to Nick Fury in a World Security Council meeting. "You're dealing with forces you can't control."
"You ever been in a war, councilman? In a firefight?" Nick Fury demanded, even though he knew. "Did you feel an overabundance of control?"
"You're saying this, Asgard is declaring war on our planet?"
"Not Asgard," Fury corrected, doing his best to suppress his irritation that he had to do it this way, rather than just getting Malick's approval on his own. "Loki."
"He can't be working alone. What about the other one?" Councilwoman Hawley asked. "His brother."
"Our intelligence says Thor is not hostile. But he's world's away," Fury explained. "We can't depend on him to help either. It's up to us."
"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase two," Malick said. He'd been gunning for phase two for two years now, ever since Stark's daughter made her first public appearance. "It was designed specifically for this."
"Phase two isn't' ready. Our enemy is," Nick said with all the patience he could muster. "We need a response team."
"The Avengers Initiative was shut down," Malick retorted. Fury tried not to roll his eye.
"This isn't about the Avengers."
"We've seen the list," Gideon cut back in. "You're running the world's greatest covert security network, and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks."
"I'm not leaving anything to anyone," Fury said. "We need a response team."
"These people may be isolated, unbalanced even. But I believe with the right push, they can be exactly what we need."
"You believe?" Hawley cut back in.
"War isn't won by sentiment, Director," Gideon said.
"No. It's won by Soldiers," Fury said.
The Avengers
Whiteouts were the worst. No visibility, even ten feet in front of you. If you carried a light, you were the only one that could see. But the headlights coming at him – those he could make out as they got closer. He just hoped they could see him so he didn't get run over.
"Are you the guys from Washington?" he asked as the rest got out of the car. There were two men in front of him.
"You get many other visitors out here?" The first one asked.
"How long you been on site?" The second one asked, moving right to business. Good. It was colder than it had any right to be.
"Since this morning," He replied. And that was long enough for him. "A Russian oil team called it in about eighteen hours ago.
"How come nobody spotted it before?" The second man asked.
"It's really not that surprising," He said, rolling his eyes, not that they could tell. "This landscape's changing all the time. You got any idea what this thing is exactly?"
"I dunno, it's probably a weather balloon," the first man suggested. That was the usual line given. No matter what it was, it would be called a weather balloon.
"I don't think so," he said, shaking his head. This was no weather balloon, this was… something else. It looked like it came from the future. Or space. And the sheer size of the things was mind boggling. "You know, we don't even have the equipment for a job like this."
"How long before we can start craning it out?" The first man said.
"I don't think you quite understand," he said, laughing slightly. "You guys are gonna need one hell of a crane."
They were finally close enough to see the outline of the aircraft, sticking out of the snow like a beached whale. It took a Stark Industries laser to dig down into the belly of the beast, giving them a hole to drop through.
"Base, we're in," a man said. The design of the ship was unusual. The beams holding everything together seemed almost organic, some parts curving like ribs, others straight. It was a wide-open space, mostly untouched by time and weather.
The first man down wandered toward the lone chair in the center, in front of the windows. This was obviously the captain's chair. He found a pile of ice with something under it and wiped away some of the debris blocking his view. Holy shit.
"Lieutenant!"
"What is it?" He looked at what his light was showing. "My God. Base, get me a line to the Colonel."
"It's three AM, sir," base replied back through the radio.
"I don't care what time it is," the lieutenant said. "This one's waited long enough."
Under the ice was a red, white and blue circle. It almost looked like a shield.
Line Break
"We'll have the band play something slow. I'd hate to step on your toes," Steve said as he slammed the plane into the ice. His head hit the console, stunning him for a moment, before everything went fuzzy. He had just enough time to get himself on the ground, pulling the shield over his head to protect it from any falling debris. It was cold. So cold that his mind was running slow, like it had before the serum. And then he didn't know anything anymore. Stephen Rogers fell asleep as the water rushed in.
There was a radio playing when he woke up.
"Curve ball, high and outside for ball one," the announcer was saying. Baseball. Steve's favorite sport. He opened his eyes. "So the Dodgers are tied, four to four. And the crowd well knows that with one swing of his bat, this fellow's capable of making it a brand-new game again. Just an absolutely gorgeous day here at Ebbets Field. The Phillies have managed to tie it up at four four. But the Dodgers have three men on."
Steve looked around the room and saw what looked like a typical hospital ward – he'd been in enough in his life to know. But something was wrong. This game, he knew this game, didn't he?
"Pearson beaned Reiser in Philadelphia last month," The announcer was saying as Steve sat up. He was wearing an SSR shirt, but something was off, what was wrong? Steve couldn't hear outside of his room. He couldn't smell the horrible smell of hospital sterility. With his enhanced senses, he should be able to hear the entire hospital ward. "Wouldn't the youngster like a hit here to return the favor? Pete leans in. Here's the pitch. Swung on. A line to the right. And it gets past Rizzo. Three runs will score. Reiser heads to third. Durocher's going to wave him in. Here comes the relay, but they won't get him."
Steve was looking at the radio when the door opened. The radio was a newer model than he was used to. Something was wrong, but what was it?
A woman walked in with a warm smile. Her hair was hanging down around her shoulders. There was something wrong. Her silhouette was wrong. He knew his mother would slap him for daring to comment on a woman's figure, but something was wrong, and it wasn't just her hair.
"Good morning," she greeted, closing the door, then checking her watch. "Or should I say afternoon?"
"Where am I?" Steve asked, rather than greeting the woman. The window behind him was open, but there was no sound. There was no scent of the city. It was wrong. And he couldn't focus, why couldn't he focus?
"You're in a recovery room in New York City," she said.
Steve's attention was again pulled to the radio as the announcer said, "the Dodgers take the lead eight to four, oh Dodgers! Everyone is on their feet. What a game we have here today, folks. What a game, indeed."
Steve knew this baseball game. He went with Bucky. They hopped the turnstiles and had hotdogs during the third inning! Steve watched the fourth inning alone, as Bucky went to go talk with a dame and her friend.
"Where am I really?" Steve demanded.
"I'm afraid I don't understand," the woman said.
"The game. It's from May, 1941. I know, 'cause I was there." Steve stood up as the woman lost her smile. "Now I'm going to ask you again. Where am I?"
He heard a click and knew the woman had pressed a button, even if he didn't see her move.
"Captain Rogers…"
"Who are you?" Steve demanded. Two men in tactical gear came into the room through the door, but Steve threw them out through the wall. The wall gave way into a larger room. He wasn't in a hospital. He was on a set! Like Hollywood!
"Captain Rogers, wait!" the woman shouted after him. Steve found the first set of doors and exploded through them. "All agents, code thirteen! I repeat, all agents, code thirteen!"
The people in the hallway all turned to face him. Steve knocked two men over in his mad-dash for the stairs. He jumped down two floors before finally finding the exit. He burst out the front doors, and almost got ran over by a taxi as he ran into New York city. He followed the cars, easily keeping pace as he tried to lose the agents that were inevitably still following him. Steve guessed he was in New York based on the number of people, but this wasn't the Times Square he remembered, there were even more people, flashing lights, signs that moved like the television. He had to stop, his breath starting to come in pants like when he had an asthma attack. Steve tensed up as black cars pulled up next to him, men and women in black tactical gear pouring out of them.
"At ease, soldier," Someone shouted, someone with authority. Steve turned to see a black man wearing an eye-patch and a long leather jacket. Steve didn't move as he approached. No weapons were drawn, but they were quickly surrounded by the other agents. "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but we thought it best to break it to you slowly."
"Break what?" Steve wanted to know. It wasn't the only thing he wanted to know. He wanted to know where Peggy and Howard were. Where was Colonel Phillips? Where was he? Was this really the New York City he knew?
"You've been asleep, Cap," the man with the eyepatch said. "For almost seventy years."
Steve heard the words, but didn't understand them, until he did. The war was over. If seventy years had passed, Peggy, Colonel Phillips, all his friends, they were likely gone. Everyone he knew was gone.
"I just… I had a date," Steve said wistfully.
Line Break
Fury had taken care of Steve. SHIELD had paid for him to have an apartment in Brooklyn, gave him files on some prominent figures in modern society, including Howard's son, Tony, who enjoyed the lavish life, and recently ended the weapons program that Howard had started. They gave him some information on things that had happened while he was asleep. They won the war. They stopped communism from spreading in Vietnam and had finally given blacks equal rights. Finally given African American's equal rights – Steve knew the language had changed and needed to make sure he got it right. He didn't want to accidentally offend someone.
Steve mostly spent his days reading the files and going to the gym, working over a punching bag to get out his frustrations about the end of the war. Peggy had moved on, gotten married, settled down and raised her brother's children.
That evening, he was working through his last days awake in the forties as he worked over a sandbag. Or, more accurately, worked through a sandbag. Steve sighed heavily as the bag thumped to the floor. He hung up a new one and started again.
"Trouble sleeping?" Fury called.
"I slept for seventy years, sir," Steve said. "I think I've had my fill."
"Then you should be out, celebrating," Nick replied. "Seeing the world."
"When I went under, the world was at war," Steve said as he unwrapped his hands. "I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say how much we lost."
Discovering those numbers had been life altering for Steve. He couldn't comprehend how that many people could've died in a war.
"We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently," Nick admitted, holding a file in his hands.
"You here with a mission, sir?" Steve asked, starting on his other hand.
"I am."
"Trying to get me back in the world?" Steve asked.
"Trying to save it," Nick said dramatically, showing him a photo of the tesseract. Steve wanted to roll his eyes.
"Hydra's secret weapon."
"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean," Nick explained. "He thought, we thought that the tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."
"Who took it from you?" Steve asked.
"He's called Loki. He's not from around here," Nick said evasively. He enjoyed having an agent that would just do the job and not ask a lot of questions. "There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."
"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me," Steve said.
"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Nick said as Steve picked up a punching bag to take home with him. "There's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at your apartment. Is there anything you can tell us about the tesseract, that we ought to know now?"
"Yeah, you should've left it in the ocean."
The Avengers
"The waterproofing is doing very well," Tony said, breathing a sigh of relief. The suit could only go underwater for ten minutes, before he would run out of breathable air. The Iron Man suit was the only one that had been upgraded for underwater. "Placing the reactor core now."
Once all three rings were glowing, Tony turned, and directed the suit upwards, breaking the surface of the water right near a ferry boat. Iron Man waved at the tourists and sightseers before pushing more power to the repulsors to bring him back to the tower.
"Good to go on this end. The rest is up to you," Tony said. James and Grey worked in tandem to shut the tower down, not glancing around as everything went dark, then started back up. Grey imagined she could hear the dial up tone and started snickering quietly to herself.
"You disconnected the transmission lines?" Pepper verified. "Are we off the grid?"
"Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy," Tony confirmed.
"Well, assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works," Grey put in, slowly turning a dial.
"I assume," James said, adjusting another gauge. "Peps, light her up."
Just as Tony was flying up third street, he could see the tower lights come on from the ground up. He watched his name light up on the tower, no longer a name synonymous with destruction and weapons, but a name starting to mean family and forward thinking.
"How's it look?" Pepper asked, wishing she'd gone with him in her suit.
"Like Christmas, but with more… us."
"We've gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign," Pepper said. "I'll reach out to Jayne and Christine with these numbers, have them publish something. You and Grey have to finish your paper on the mini-reactor, get that submitted this month, Tony, I mean it. I want it on my desk by June first."
"Pepper, you're killing me. The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment?" Tony reminded her as he landed on the helipad and the bots started dismantling the suit.
"Get in here and I will," Pepper said.
"Ew mom, don't flirt with him in front of me," Grey said, pretending to gag to make James laugh.
"Sir, Miss Stark, Agent Coulson of SHIELD is on the line," Jarvis said. Grey's stomach turned, and the entire family went still. "Is it time?"
"I'm not in," Tony said as the bots took off his helmet. "I'm actually out."
"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting," Jarvis said. Tony was out of the suit to his waist. He could see in the penthouse common area that James had left the room, and Pepper was pulling on her flight pants, her shorts tossed haphazardly over the back of the couch.
"Levels are holding steady," Pepper reported, as she adjusted her shirt. Grey grabbed the shorts and threw them down the hall toward their bedrooms. Chenin chased after it, yelling loudly. "I think, anyway."
"Of course they are," Tony said, checking the numbers for himself as he wrapped his arms around Pepper from behind. As she was a little taller than him, he simply rested his jaw on the side of her arm. "I was directly involved. Which brings me to the question; how does it feel to be a genius?"
"Well, ha, I really wouldn't know, now would I?" Pepper asked. There were several geniuses in the family. Tony and Grey, James was a genius when it came to weapons and hand to hand. Natasha was a genius when it came to manipulating men, and Christine and Jayne were geniuses in their own ways. Pepper only felt like a genius in the boardroom.
"What do you mean? All this came from you," Tony said, giving her due credit for all the work she put into the tower. All the different codes necessary to have it be a residential space and a business space, and a lab space? Saving the company from the Stark men. He turned her around so they could face each other.
"No, all this came from that," Pepper said quietly, tapping the reactor. "Or her."
"Give yourself some credit, please," Tony said. Grey had her back to her parents, and was mouthing the words along with them as they talked. "Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself, I dunno, twelve percent of the credit."
"Twelve percent, of my baby!" Pepper pretended to rage. James came back in the room, fully changed, with Pepper's flight shirt, and Grey's flight outfit. "Twelve percent?"
"An argument can be made for fifteen!" Tony said. "And I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And I'm sorry, the security snafu? That was on you."
Pepper laughed and crossed the room to pour the sparkling apple juice that was sitting out waiting for them. Grey had opened it a few minutes ago, doing it so smoothly it didn't pop.
"I'm going to pay for that percentages comment in some subtle way, later, aren't I?" Tony asked, accepting his glass. James and Grey joined them, sitting on the couch – the only real piece of furniture in the living room. The apartments were furnished and finished, the rest of the penthouse? Still needed some love. There was a floor between the offices and the penthouse that was completely empty of anything.
"I'm not gonna be that subtle," Pepper teased.
"Again with the flirting in front of your only child, tone it down or get a room, jeez."
"Sir, the telephone. I'm afraid my protocols are being rewritten." Of course, Jarvis' protocols weren't actually being rewritten, they were just allowing SHIELD to pretend like they were. Tony and Grey had had enough of SHIELD poking their noses where they didn't belong. Tony picked up his phone.
"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message," Tony said. Behind the phone, where Phil couldn't see her, Pepper started giggling, pressing a hand to her mouth to smother any noise.
"This is urgent."
"Then leave it urgently," Tony said, just as the elevator opened, revealing Phil Coulson with an irritated expression.
"Doctor Stark," Phil said, noticing the champagne flutes, and Grey and James' relaxed demeanor. Both were wearing sweatpants and hoodies. Grey's hair was in a pile on the top of her head.
"Phil! Come in," Pepper greeted, getting to her feet.
"Phil?" Tony questioned. Again, Grey turned her head so only James could see her saying Tony's words along with him.
"His first name is Agent," Tony said.
"I can't stay," Phil said, as Tony and Pepper approached.
"We're celebrating," Pepper explained.
"Which is why he can't stay," Tony said with a fake smile. Phil presented a tablet.
"We need you to look this over as soon as possible," Phil said without preamble. Tony made a face.
"I don't like being handed things," Tony said, making no move to take the tablet.
"That's fine, because I love to be handed things," Pepper said, accepting it from Phil, handing over her flute of juice. "So, let's trade."
In turn, Pepper took Tony's flute and shoved the tablet into his hands. Phil smothered his amusement with practice.
"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," Tony said. "It's nine pm, on a Wednesday."
"This isn't a consultation."
"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asked, drawing Phil's attention away from Tony. James stood and took the tablet from Tony, the two men walking over to the workstation to see what SHIELD needed. Grey crossed the room to stand by Pepper, absently taking her drink from Phil, and replacing it with a water for the Agent. He nodded his thanks and took a sip.
"Mrs Stark, a word please?" Pepper made her excuses and crossed the room to stand by Tony. "You know, I thought we were having a moment?"
"I was having twelve percent of a moment," Pepper said, smiling at her husband. "And you know this is serious, Grey's been warning us about this for weeks."
"Phil, has it occurred to SHIELD that Loki's acting under duress?" Grey asked while her parents chatted.
"And what reason would you have to believe that?" Phil asked, understanding it wasn't worth it to ask Grey how she knew all the various things she knew.
"Well for one, he was beaten to hell when he confronted Fury in the silo. Second, despite his orders to Barton to remove Fury from the equation, Barton shot him in his bulletproof vest. Despite the fight with Maria, Barton and his few men didn't kill anyone except the helicopter pilot. The portal's destruction was due to the space stone not having a stable power generator," Grey explained, ticking the reasons off on her fingers. "Not anything Loki himself did. You haven't seen all the things I have."
"We really need to sit you down for an intake interview," Phil said, looking at Grey.
"Oh, no, I refuse to be on your index. Not when people can just hack it like that," Grey said, shaking her head. "I really don't need more people trying to use my visions for their own gain."
"I don't even know if I believe you," Phil said. "But we can use you."
"Don't care," Grey said. "I'm already doing everything I can for what I've seen. I'm so many steps ahead of you, right now, Phil, you don't even know where I am."
"And where are you?"
"Still sorting through the ashes in Bahrain," Grey said with a soft look. "Still cleaning up the mess at the Playground. Oh! While I'm thinking about it, trust Melinda. Even when you don't want to, trust her. She's always got your back, Phil."
"Alright Phil, I'll walk you out," Pepper said after whispering Tony's incentive to behave in his ear. James' face told Grey all she didn't need to know about the quiet conversation. "So, tell me about your cellist!"
"Well, she moved back to Portland," Phil said.
"What? Boo!" The elevator closed behind them, leaving Tony alone with his work, and Grey and James in the room shaking their heads.
The Avengers
"We're about forty minutes out from homebase, sir," the pilot said to Coulson. Phil crossed the quinjet to stand next to Steve, who was looking at a tablet with a confused glare.
"So, this Dr Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Steve asked.
"A lot of people were," Phil explained, reaching up to balance himself on the roof. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."
"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve asked, watching the footage of his first transformation.
"Not so much," Phil agreed. "When he's not that thing though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking. He's a genius."
Steve might not have known who Stephen Hawking was, but he knew geniuses. Howard had been one, and he'd practically needed a babysitter to make sure he didn't poke at the wrong thing.
"I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially." Steve gave a slightly uncomfortable half smile. He was thrilled to meet someone who appreciated what he'd done, but he still believed that the legend of Captain America had been inflated in the seventy years or so he'd been under the ice. "I've sort of met you. I mean, I watched you, while you were sleeping. I mean, I uh, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really just a huge honor to have you on board."
"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve said, wondering how exactly he was going to beat an alien that wanted to be a God.
The Avengers
"Agent Romanoff," Phil greeted, as he and Steve disembarked the quinjet onto the Helicarrier.
"Ma'am," Steve greeted, ever respectful to women. It helped that he'd read the file on her and knew just how accomplished of an agent she was.
"Hi," she returned, turning to face Coulson. "They need you on the bridge, face time."
"See you there," Phil said, essentially handing the Captain over to the Spy.
"There was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," Natasha said. Phil had called her and Clint the moment they were cleared to know. Of course, as usual, Grey already knew. "I thought Coulson was going to swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards, yet?"
"Trading cards?" Steve asked, surprised. He saw a man he recognized as Dr Banner and led himself and Natasha over to him.
"They're vintage, he's very proud," Natasha said.
"Dr Banner," Steve called out as they approached, not wanting to spook the man moer than he already seemed.
"Oh, yeah, hi!" Bruce greeted in an awed tone. "They told me you'd be coming."
"Word is you can find the cube," Steve said.
"Is, uh, that the only word on me?" Bruce asked.
"Only word I care about," Steve assured. Steve didn't care what the man's abilities were if he didn't want to use them. That was his business, not Steve's. Bruce seemed to relax a little at that.
"Must be strange for you, all this," Bruce said. Steve glanced around at the air craft carrier teaming with agents running around with purpose. Several agents were securing the quinjets to the surface.
"Well, this is actually kinda familiar," Steve said, his voice laced with nostalgia. SHIELD formed out of the SSR, so Steve felt as close to home as he expected to get. Things hadn't changed that much.
"Gentlemen, we may want to step inside," Natasha said, a ghost of a smile on her face. "It's gonna be a little hard to breathe, in a moment."
The Helicarrier started trembling as the engines in the water roared. Steve flinched back at the loud noise on his sensitive ears.
"Is this a submarine?"
"Really?" Bruce asked. "They want me in a submerged, pressurized metal container?"
When the men looked at Natasha, she simply winked, before glancing over the railing. They weren't sinking, the engines were pushing enough power out to generate lift, and the Helicarrier was slowly starting to fly. Steve and Bruce leaned over the side as the turbine engines began liftoff.
"Oh, no, this is much worse," Bruce said. Natasha led them to the bridge, where Maria and Nick were calling out orders.
"Director, we've hit lock," Maria said as they reached cruising altitude.
"Let's vanish," Nick said, a grin on his face. Steve looked around as the exterior became invisible. He sighed and pulled out his wallet. He owed Fury ten bucks.
The Avengers
Four things happened across the world at once.
In Germany, Loki used his Seidr to change his armor into a suit, matching the fashion of the time, as he infiltrated a museum's fundraising gala. He would get the doctor's eye to unlock his office for Barton. Then he would return to work on the tesseract.
Clint started taking out guards in Germany. His bow was a silent weapon – part of the reason he was always so drawn to it. The guards were dead on the ground before they understood what was happening.
Somewhere over the Atlantic, Steve was looking at his new suit. It was different from the one he originally designed, less armor, different shades of the red, white, and blue, slightly more streamlined. But his shield was still there, still the same paint. Still the scuff mark on the inside from Bucky trying to learn how to throw it, on a down day they had between missions.
In New York, people on the ground got to watch the Iron Family take flight from their tower, the five suits streaking east as fast as they could go. The Iron Family was going to work. A few people even took to the internet, searching to see if there was anything on twitter.
Line Break
People in jewels and finery were running from the museum, fleeing from the man with the cane. They ran into the street, mixing with German citizens and sightseers alike as the man magically changed his armor, from a fine tuxedo to green and gold armor with horns reaching to the sky. German police attempted to intervene, but the man blaster him with his cane-turned-scepter.
"Kneel before me," Loki said, his allspeak ensuring he was understood by everyone. The crowd ignored him, looking for escape. It became futile as Loki after Loki appeared, surrounding them. "I said, kneel!"
On shaky legs, they knelt, some crying, some holding hands with the people near them for support.
"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." A man in the crowd remained upright, unwilling to kneel before a madman.
"Not to men like you."
"There are no men like me," Loki said.
"There are always men like you," he said sadly. He remembered the day the soldiers came. The day he was taken on a train, away from his home. He remembered starving. He remembered the abuse. He remembered the pain of a needle carving a number into his arm. He would not kneel.
"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example." Loki raised the scepter, and aimed, his eyes empty and blue. He fired, sending a blast of energy to the man who so bravely stood against him.
A ball of red, white, and blue blocked the blast, landing in front of the man just in time to send the blast of energy back to Loki. Loki flipped backward, landing on the street with a clatter. Captain America stood up, fury at once again seeing this type of behavior in the streets of Germany.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing," Steve said. He stood tall and forced himself to stay in the present. His memories of the past were pressing on him with the similarities, but he forced them away.
"The soldier. A man out of time," Loki said, standing back up and shaking himself off.
"I'm not the one who's out of time," Steve said as Natasha leveled the quinjet behind him, aiming the weapons on board at Loki.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," Natasha ordered through the speakers.
Too fast, Loki sent a blast at the quinjet, forcing Natasha to focus on her flying, instead of aiming. Steve threw the shield at Loki, trying to take him out, and hoping the four standing guard didn't get involved. They exchanged blows, Loki barely seeming winded. Steve threw the shield again, but Loki knocked it away, forcing Steve to get back in his personal space. Loki knocked him to the ground and put the end of the scepter against his helmet.
"Kneel."
"Not today," Steve said, shoving with his legs to flip up, kicking the scepter away, and landing a kick.
"This guy's all over the place," Natasha said, unable to find a shot that didn't also take out Captain America or a civilian. Shoot to Thrill blasted through her speakers, and Natasha relaxed a fraction in her seat.
"Agent Romanoff, did you miss us?" Tony asked as the Iron Family flew in. With Iron Man in the lead, flanked by the girls, who were then followed along by War Machine, and the newly fabricated Iron Guardian. Iron Man blasted Loki backward, and landing. The remaining four landed behind him, standing fast between Loki and the civilians. "Make your move, Reindeer Games."
Loki knew a threat when he saw one, and the Iron Family was a threat he couldn't face alone. He left the scepter on the ground and raised his hands in surrender, his Seidr sending his armor away, leaving him in his casual wear.
"Good move," Iron Peacemaker said as she stomped forward to grab Loki and the scepter.
"Mister Stark," Steve greeted, returning from getting his shield.
"Captain."
"Guardian, check on the cops and get that car flipped back. War Machine, get this scepter contained. Rescue, anyone need medical?" Peacemaker asked, her HUD flipping up.
"Nope, all clear on the ground," Rescue said, snapping her HUD up as well. She moved to bracket Loki's other side. "Widow, you plan on landing and letting us in?"
"There's a helipad on the top of the next building, I'll meet you there, Rescue," Natasha said, already steering the quinjet away.
"Come on, kid," Grey said, tugging Loki along. "Let's get you up on the jet so we can head home. I need some coffee."
"I am a God," Loki said, puffing up like a cat.
"You're an alien. Technically, you're a frost giant, so you ain't shit," Grey said, looking at him sternly. "Now hold still, we haven't perfected this yet."
Grey and Pepper both grabbed and arm and started their boot thrusters. With only one arm each to steer and keep balanced, it was a shaky flight, ten stories up. Loki tried not to look down.
"You were late," Natasha said, waiting for them on the ramp of the quinjet.
"Rogers had it," Grey said, with her best innocent look on her face. "No, my bad, I had to go to the bathroom before we left."
"Of course you did," Natasha laughed, holding out the cuffs. "We designed these from Thor's last visit. You think he's coming this time?"
"Oh, for sure," Grey said, nodding. "We're actually picking him up on the way back to base. Guardian and War Machine will fly alongside with Rescue. Dad and I will fly with you and Rogers. Just in case this one gets any ideas."
"How's he doing?"
"Nervous. Probably staying in his suit, it'll be alright," Pepper said, nodding slightly. Iron Guardian chose that moment to land on the roof, stomping over. His suit was menacing in the same dark matte gray as War Machine's. His suit didn't have the bells and whistles of Rhodey's, mainly being for flight, and was sleek and form fitting.
"I'm fine," James spat in Russian.
"Hey, it's fine, Sugar," Grey said gently, reaching out to catch his hand in her free one. Loki stood there, feeling awkward and out of place, even under the power of the scepter. "I told you. Whatever you want to do."
"I'm not a coward," James said forcefully.
"No one said you were," Grey said levelly. "It's no small thing. And this timing is shit."
"I should've gone last week." Guardian stepped forward, like he was going to say something else, but stopped when Iron Man and War Machine flew up with Steve. He looked slightly green at the method of travel.
The Avengers
With the trio of suits flying alongside the quinjet, it was an easy trip back to the Helicarrier, even if Thor seemed confused as they all landed.
"Lady Rescue informed me that my brother had sent away the Tesseract, there are plans to retrieve it, yes?" Thor asked Iron Man as soon as they were all on the landing deck of the Helicarrier.
"Yeah, big guy," Tony said, snapping his HUD up. Guardian and Peacemaker took Loki to a holding cell, Natasha leading the way, whispering secrets to Guardian in Russian. "We need to know his plans so we can stop him, then you can take him home, if that's what he wants."
"Loki must face Asgardian justice for his crimes," Thor said. "Especially for the crimes he has committed against Midgard."
"EH." Tony made a buzzer sound and looked sternly at Thor. "False. Loki will face Midgardian justice for the crimes he has committed here on Earth. My daughter has already started setting it up, he has a lawyer, and Margaret will get him a court date."
"Loki cannot face Midgardian Justice, you have no cell capable of holding him," Thor said, confused by these Midgardians and their suits of technology. Rescue approached, having been whispering with another SHIELD agent.
"We don't expect him to serve jail time," Rescue said, her entire helmet retracting, allowing her red hair to flow over her shoulders. "Margaret has reason to believe he's not acting on his own."
"You believe he has help," Thor restated. "Aye. He commands an army called-"
"The Chitauri, yeah, we know," Tony said, shaking his head. "That wasn't what she meant. Come on, let's get to the bridge, we can discuss things there, once I'm out of this suit."
Line Break
"In case it's unclear, you try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass," Nick said as he pushed a button. The floor under the cage slid back, exposing the thirty-thousand-foot drop.
"Nick, enough," Grey said as she re-entered the room, this time without her Peacemaker suit. She wore her flight suit, all black with dark pink designs on her chest and back. The back looked almost like wings. "He'll stay in his cell until such time that I take him out, understood?"
"I don't answer to you, Stark," Fury said, glaring at her with his one good eye.
"No, but Loki already has a court date with the UN, I've already secured it for Monday. Therefore, he's legally considered my prisoner, not yours."
Loki watched the two argue behind a wall of glass and a wall of blue. The blue was afraid of the woman and all her knowledge and all her words. When she spoke, it surged, covering him, filling his mouth and nose until he couldn't breathe, leaving him gasping while it spoke, taunting them all, goading them into battle. Fight me, fight me, strike me down and let me fill you up. Loki could hear its wish. Take each person on this ship as its own. Loki was already lost, even as the woman fought for him.
"I don't remember asking you a Goddamned thing, Fury," the woman was saying as Loki pulled his attention back to the fight. "But I sure as shit told you to go keep an eye out for Barton's quinjet so he doesn't blow up engine one. Now beat it."
Fury left, a mutinous expression on his face. Grey sighed and shook her head, the braids keeping her hair out of her face swaying with the movement.
Line Break
"So, what's his play?" Steve asked.
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, or any world known. He means to lead them against your people," Thor said.
"He does have the Chitauri, but he is being controlled," Jim said, walking in, wearing his flight suit, which had his rank clearly labelled. Steve jumped to his feet and snapped to a salute. Tony and Pepper, just behind him, exchanged amused looks as Jim saluted back, then shook Steve's hand. "Good to meet you, Rogers. Glad to have you for this fight."
"What do you mean he's being controlled?" Thor demanded, looking ready for a fight.
"Look at the footage from the silo," Tony said, strutting fully into the room, Pepper at his side on his arm – both wore just their flight suits. Grey had designed this iteration of their flight suits, insisting they needed something special. The shirt started black at the shoulders, and slowly shifted into the color of their suits. Pepper's suit was black, bleeding into Persian Blue at the waist, before going back to black at the pants. Gold filigree decorated her chest, showing where the reactor would go. The boots she wore had no heel, simply black and gold combat boots. "You can see clearly that Loki had been beat to hell before he came to earth. He might be the one that's here, but he's not the one that decided to do this."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki, that guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell the crazy on him," Bruce said flippantly. Pepper raised an eyebrow at him, and he winced at how callous his words sounded with the context.
"Have care how you speak, Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother," Thor said forcefully.
"Then you should be the one defending him, not me," Pepper said, settling in the chair Tony pulled out for her. "He's your brother, protect him – that's what family does."
"That's what our family does, dearest," Tony said, crossing the room to stand at Fury's station. He tapped the screens a few times, disguising his motions so he could hide a button hack on the back. Jarvis and Bambi would have a field day with total access to SHIELD's servers. "How does Fury do this?"
"He turns," Maria said smartly. She read Natasha's report on the Stark Family and knew something else was up with them. Natasha didn't go into details, not even when pressed, but Maria knew enough to know when someone was trying to be sneaky. Maria understood that Natasha trusted the Starks, and that meant that Maria was going to give them the benefit of the doubt – once.
"Well, that sounds exhausting." Tony turned back to face the rest of the group. "For the portal, the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy, high density something to kick start the cube."
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Last night. The packet? Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony asked, glancing around. Clearly, he was the only one who had been expected to come prepared.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked. There wasn't much he could contribute to the conversation, but he understood that the cube needed power to function.
"He's got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break the Coulomb barrier," Bruce said, and just like that, Steve was lost again. He tried not to let his disappointment show – how was he supposed to lead a team if he couldn't understand what they were doing?
"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony suggested.
"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet," Bruce put in, shaking his head.
"Finally, someone who speaks English," Tony said, crossing the room with his hand outstretched.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked Pepper, with a bewildered expression on his face. Pepper just smiled gently at him while the two scientists shook hands.
"It's good to meet you, Dr Banner," Tony said brightly. "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lost control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."
"Thanks," Bruce said softly, accepting the compliments for what they were. Tony was thrilled to have another scientist of his caliber in the room, he didn't care about the Hulk. Tony also wasn't scared of the Hulk – something even Bruce himself hadn't managed yet.
"Dr Banner is only here to track the cube," Fury said as he reentered the room, Grey on his heels. "I was hoping you might join him."
"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."
"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube," Nick said. Grey rolled her eyes behind his back and pulled her phone out. She typed out a message and sent it, Bambi chirped to let her know they were already on it. "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."
"Monkeys? I do not understand," Thor said, not getting the reference to the movie.
"I do!" Steve said, surprised and proud that he understood a movie reference, even this far into the future. "I understood that reference."
"Shall we play, doctor?" Tony asked of Bruce, gesturing to the hallway that would lead them to the lab. The men left, leaving Pepper and Grey, with Jim, Steve, and Thor.
"Some official introductions, then, since I can see they're in order," Grey said as she flopped into an open chair. She kicked her boots up onto the table and flicked her hair out of her eyes. Her flight suit was the same as Pepper's, just pink where the other woman's was blue. The boots were different – Grey wore bubblegum pink doc martens instead.
"My name is Margaret, please call me Grey, I prefer it," Grey said, nodding to Steve and Thor. "This is Pepper, my mom, and Iron Guardian is piloted by James – he's doing a security check on the perimeter."
"He doesn't trust SHIELD's security?" Steve asked, something condescending in his tone. Grey wondered if he'd still be that rude if he knew who he was bad mouthing.
"James doesn't fuck around when it comes to Grey's security," Pepper said fondly. "A photographer got too close to her at a press event once, and James threw him across the street."
"Lady Margaret has a fierce protector," Thor said brightly. "I would be honored to fight alongside her companion."
"Please, Thor, call me Grey. My Aunt's name is honorable, but not quite modern enough for me," Grey said, reaching up to place her hand on his arm. May was right. Thor was dreamy, especially in person. His storm gray eyes were such a difference to the bright blue of Chris Hemsworth. And while Chris was an incredibly good-looking man – Thor was gorgeous. God of fertility was right.
"Aye. Lady Grey it is," Thor said.
"You don't like the name Margaret?" Steve asked.
"Well, dad named me after Aunt Peggy, but when I was fifteen, I asked if I could go by something less feminine, dad's the best and supported me immediately," Grey said, shrugging like it was something she took for granted.
"You knew Peggy?" Steve asked, surprised.
"Of course," Grey said, turning to face him. Her back pulled, and she dropped her feet to the ground with a wince. "She's dad's Godmother. She's still around, after all this we can take you out to visit her – I think she'd like it."
"I'd appreciate that," Steve said, slightly subdued. Grey smiled at him, a small, genuine smile that spoke of knowing of his type of pain. He was surprised by the look in her eyes but nodded at her.
Line Break
Just as Grey and Steve walked into the lab, Tony poked Bruce with something sharp and sparky.
"Ow!" Bruce exclaimed, grinning at Tony. The engineer had been teasing him. Teasing! Him! As if he wasn't a dangerous beast about to explode. As if he hadn't nearly levelled Harlem. If Tony hadn't been happily married, Bruce would've kissed him on the mouth for such open acceptance.
"Hey, are you nuts?" Steve demanded.
"It's okay, Steve," Grey said, her hand surprisingly firm on his shoulder. "Bruce has a better lid on it than we think. Hulk knows when there's a real threat."
"You speak of him like he's a person," Bruce said a little surprised. Hulk person!
"Of course I do," Grey said. "Because he is. Dad, we came to check in. How's it going?"
"Still waiting on all the variables," Tony said, looking at a monitor, where something looked like it was loading. "Something's bugging me."
"You think Fury is hiding something?"
"He's a spy, Captain, he's the spy," Tony said with a shrug. "His secrets have secrets."
"Loki's jab about the cube," Grey said, prompting the conversation. "A warm light for all mankind."
"I think it was meant for you all," Bruce said, gesturing between Grey and Tony.
"Stark Tower? That big ugly… building in New York?" Steve said, faltering in the face of the glare on Grey's face. She and Pepper worked hard designing that. She wasn't about to let someone from the forties call it names.
"It's powered by the arc reactor. It's a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"
"It's just the prototype," Tony said. "We're kind of the only name in clean energy right now."
"So why didn't SHIELD bring you in on the tesseract project? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"
"Not competing with us," Grey said smartly.
"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files."
"I'm sorry, did you just say that-"
"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, we'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide." Tony pulled out a bag of dried berries and offered them out. Bruce and Grey each took some. Steve declined with a sour expression.
"Yet you're confused about why they don't want you around?"
"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible," Tony said. He was poking and prodding at Steve to see what he was made of, similar to how he'd addressed James when he first got comfortable with the family. Similar to how he had been with Bruce not moments ago.
"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Steve said adamantly. "This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We have our orders; we should follow them."
"Following's not really my style," Father and daughter said together.
"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve asked, looking Tony up and down.
"Of the people in this room, which one is; A, wearing a spangly outfit, and B, not of use?"
"Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?" Grey asked, turning earnest eyes up to the soldier.
"Just make sure they find the cube," Steve said to her. He turned on his heel and left to find his own answers.
"That's the guy pops never shut up about?" Grey asked, turning to her dad. "Yikes."
"Jarvis has about an hour left, why don't you go find your mom, kiddo. Take a nap, eat something. Go make sure she hasn't already recruited anyone else," Tony teased, pushing Grey out of the lab.
"Have fun with your science, boys," Grey said, pressing a kiss to her dad's cheek, before holding her hand out for a fist bump from Bruce. He hesitated but tapped his fist to hers. She rewarded him with a beaming smile. Only Tony noticed Grey leave with the scepter.
Line Break
"There's not many people that can sneak up on me," Loki said, turning as he finally noticed the other heartbeat in the room. He turned on his heel, expecting it to be the red-haired woman Barton had told him about. It was not. It was Grey, standing there, holding his scepter. Before Loki could say anything else, before he could think anything else, she tapped it against his chest. Loki crumbled like a puppet with his strings cut.
Line Break
"What are you doing, Stark?" Fury demanded as he came into the lab. Tony, however, was unphased and turned it back on him.
"Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you."
"You're supposed to be locating the tesseract."
"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now," Bruce explained, not liking Fury's tone when talking to Tony. "When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."
"And then you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," Tony popped a piece of dried fruit in his mouth. "What's phase two?"
"Phase two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons," Steve said, thunking the weapon on the table that used to hold the scepter. "Sorry, Stark, the computer was moving a little slow."
"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the tesseract," Fury explained, waving his hand as if to brush away the argument. "This doesn't mean we're-"
"I'm sorry, Nick, what were you lying?" Tony asked, spinning a monitor around to show the blueprints for said weapon.
"I was wrong, director, the world hasn't changed a bit," Steve said, wishing he was petty enough to ask for his ten dollars back. Bucky would've. Fury's eyes trailed from the monitor to where the scepter should've been. It was missing.
"Where's the scepter?"
"It's here," Grey said, holding it in her hand. Thor and Natasha stood behind her, and behind them was Loki and Iron Guardian. "I used it to break the control over Loki, as soon as he gets here, I'll do the same to Barton. Speaking of this lab is about to explode, I suggest everyone clear out. Bruce, if you'd like to come with me?"
"If this lab is about to blow up, perhaps I should, yes," Bruce said, crossing the room to stand next to Grey. "Agent Romanoff, show me the way? Oh, hello."
"Why's he out of his cell?" Nick demanded as he noticed Loki. Natasha led Bruce out of the room, intent on bringing him to the other side of the ship. Thor stood protectively in front of his brother.
"Because he was being controlled, and he's under my custody," Grey said fiercely. "He's free of the scepter's influence and has agreed to help us fight against the Chitauri."
"Can't he stop the invasion?" Steve asked.
"I don't know where Selvig is going," Loki said helplessly. "So, no."
"The good news is that I know where Selvig is going," Grey said. "He'll be at Stark Tower."
"So, let's go," Steve said, leading the charge down the hall. Everyone fell into step behind him. Fury was the only one left standing in the lab when it exploded. Steve fell as the room behind him exploded. Everyone in the hallway found themselves jostled and knocked around. "Right. You did say that was going to happen. How do you know all this?"
"She can see the future," Iron Guardian said, hauling Steve to his feet. If Steve recognized the voice, he didn't show it. "Tony, Jim said he'll meet you at the engine, for repairs, go. Steve, Thor, there are going to be people heading for the bridge, go head them off. Remember, non-lethal."
"A hard knock to the head will remove the scepter's influence on humans," Grey called out as the boys all took off running, following their orders without question. "How are you, sugar?"
"Wishing I had a marshmallow," James said, snapping his HUD up to wink at Grey. Behind her, the lab was on fire. SHIELD agents were heading toward them with fire extinguishers. "I'm okay. Glad he's not being antagonistic."
"Me too," Grey said quietly. They moved out of the way and let the others work to put out the fire. "Hey, you'd tell me, if you weren't okay?"
James felt himself melt at the worried expression on Grey's face. She cared so much about him that she was willing to have one less fighter on the field if it made him feel better.
"I will always tell you everything," James said, cupping her cheek with his gauntlet. She leaned against it, pressing a kiss to the repulsor on his palm. "See you soon."
James snapped down his HUD and left, heading to the engines to see if Tony or Jim needed help. They had an engine to repair, then aliens to fight, and a city to protect. Grey said that the battle had lasted about an hour with six people. James wondered how well it would go with eleven.