The Thunder

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA!?" Clint yelled over the deafening noise the car he was in was making as he aimed two explosive arrows at the wheels of his pursuers. Taking a deep breath, he released the rope and the arrows streaked through the air, slicing through it, bursting the two left wheels of their enemy’s buggy.

"I HAVE TO SAVE EMMA!" Fitz answered from the passenger seat, which seemed to be his response for everything. Natasha swerved to avoid hitting a group of tourists in the middle of the square they were passing through in that moment and Clint swore, grabbing onto the edge of the car's roof.

“CAREFUL DOWN THERE!”

"YOU WANT TO DRIVE?" Without allowing him to respond, the Widow dropped the wheel, which Fitz quickly grabbed with a scream of terror. Had she gone nuts!? Barton's hands grasped the steering wheel above his as he stepped over the gear lever. Gunshots began to be heard.

"IS SHE ALWAYS LIKE THAT?" Fitz yelled in a panic, clutching with all his might the briefcase that he had on his lap. It contained the parchment that would hopefully take them to Emma. Clint laughed.

"NO," the archer replied, a fond look in his eyes. "SOMETIMES SHE'S WORSE."

As if to confirm it, another burst of bullets came. Natasha's legs disappeared from inside the car and Leo heard fighting noises outside. Apparently no one was following them in any kind of vehicle, but there was a stowaway on board. One, two, three bullets passed through the car roof just a few inches away from his head and looking up he could see a red flash, followed by a choking noise, a loud bang against the upholstery and a thud of something falling to the asphalt and bouncing on it as Clint accelerated and, as quickly as the deafening noise had started, there was silence.

Hawkeye slowed slightly and glanced at the rear of the vehicle through the rearview mirror. Fitz couldn't help a sigh of relief as he saw Natasha's feminine figure slide back through the car's skylight. He felt how his body went like clay, melting against the dusty leather seat.

"Everything okay, Nat?" Clint asked in a more normal tone of voice. Now without the noise they could be heard perfectly.

The Widow gave him a lopsided smile as she winked at Fitz, who shrank further in his seat as he felt himself turn red all the way to his ears. Now he fully understood why Romanoff was so good at her job.

"Doubt offends, Clint."

Clint chuckled, entering an alley with the car and stopping for them to continue the journey on foot, but not before directing a glance at Leo.

"Do you have what you were looking for?" Fitz nodded, opening the black briefcase he had never put down and showing both agents — it would be too weird to refer to them as work mates, even knowing that was what they were — the scroll in his hands.

Natasha tilted her head to the side and her gaze hardened.

"Nat?" Clint asked. This didn't look good.

"Fitz, do you know what it says?" Natasha inquired, a calculating look as she glanced at the young prodigy. Maybe she was getting soft — blame Steve for that — but she didn't want to be the one to break the news to him.

"I, uh, I don't speak Hebrew?" He said after taking a look at the word written in it. Natasha nodded solemnly. "But," he continued, "I have a theory. Emma is alive. I know. We just don't know where she is. The monolith must have the capacity to warp space-time, as if it were a black hole that serves as a bridge to another point in the universe. I spoke with Dr. Banner and he said he didn't want to get my hopes up but I don't see it as impossible either and- "

"Leo," Natasha cut in sharply. Fitz looked at her after stopping short. Of all the things he could and couldn't have expected from working with two of the most experienced spies in S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avengers, it  had never occurred to her that the Black Widow would call him by his first name. "Studies that Coulson has carried out show that the monolith is solid."

"Yes, but- ".

"It's true," Clint chimed in. "They even tested Tony's microscopic-level detection program for the accident at the Complex."

Fitz frowned.

"What accident?"

"One related to Pym Technologies."

"The word on it... it is read Maveth," Natasha interrupted. “It is Hebrew, as you guessed. Its literal translation is Death by punishment. I'm sorry, Fitz."

The edges of his vision blurred and the scientist felt like a slab on his chest, impending his breathing. He shook his head, yanking the car door open.

"You're wrong," he answered in a sharp voice. Natasha and Clint exchanged a worried look. "You are all wrong."

August, 2015

The Bus

If back in the day someone had asked Sam Wilson if he would ever take his wings back, Sam would have sent them to hell. The memory of Riley dying like that, falling into the void without him being able to do anything to stop it was too vivid and too fresh to consider it.

Of course, back then he wouldn't have expected to end up being friends with Captain America. From his position next to Agent Johnson, he glanced at Steve, who was speaking with Agent May. They had been tracking for weeks the possible relationship between a criminal organization called the Hand and HYDRA. The information Coulson's people had gathered suggested that they were linked through Baron Strucker, who would have obtained his contacts in the Hand from Whitehall.

The influence HYDRA had had since its formation was incredible. Schmidt had a lot to thank the Hand for, even if he didn't know it, as HYDRA apparently wouldn't exist right now if it weren't for them. After the end of World War II, the Nazi organization had come to nothing, largely thanks to Steve's sacrifice, but a few members of the elite of the Hand, motivated by ideological conditions, specifically ultra-nationalism, had conspired to overthrow the liberal Japanese government, assassinate the prime minister and install a new militaristic government.

Later, Whitehall first and Strucker after him, had diverted control of that faction from the Hand, snatching it from the Japanese leaders and keeping it, slowly redirecting it towards the imposition of the new world order dreamed of by people like Brock Rumlow.

The investigation had led them to Vienna, following the path of a very particular type of heroine known as the Steel Serpent; then to Milan; and finally under the trail of a city called K’un-Lun that none of them knew about. They had only managed to determine that it was somewhere in China, but never the exact point. 

That both the Hand and this K’un-Lun were in Asia couldn't be a mere coincidence. One of the names that had resonated the most as a potential central leader of the Hand nowadays was Alexandra Reid, one of the biggest influences in New York. This was getting better and better.

"Do you have any contact in the city who might know something about it?" Agent Johnson inquired - Daisy, or Quake, as Mack had called her.

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Any contact? We aren't drug dealers, you know ”.

Quake snorted.

"I mean some of the vigilantes that are milling around the city." At Sam's perplexed look, this time it was her who was shocked. "Daredevil? Cage, in Harlem? Detective Jessica Jones, maybe?"

"The only vigilante I know is the Flea Man," Sam replied. Daisy made a strange face and Steve came over chuckling.

"Ant-Man," the supersoldier corrected softly. "Scott is a good man, Sam. "

"A good man who tried to sneak into the Avengers Compound," Falcon noted.

"And who beat you up," added the Captain, dropping down next to him. Agent Jhonson snorted as she tried to hold back her laughter when Sam hit him on the arm, outraged, whispering a hurt "Dude!". 

Natasha wasn't supposed to tell Steve! Dammit! He had barely been an official Avenger for two months! Couldn't they give him a breath?

"Stupid Tic-Tac," Sam growled. The other Avenger and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent laughed aloud, while May turned to look at them impassively. Falcon greeted her uncomfortably with a raised hand and she just rolled her eyes before turning on her heel, going to sit at the front of the jet.

Two months of being an Avenger, only two months… God, how he needed a vacation...

"So a man dressed as a devil who beats robbers and gangsters and who is currently going around fighting with an ex military madman that uses machine guns has told you not to trust the word of the representatives of the United States Government," agent Coulson summarized looking at Tony over his papers. Stark snorted, nervously crossing his right leg over his left, drumming the fingers of his right hand on the armrest of the chair he was sitting on.

"Yes, as I have indicated the previous 99 times that you asked me," the millionaire replied. "I'm starting to think that you don't take my word for, agent Agent."

"Director," Phil corrected absently with a half smile on his lips.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. The point is,” he said, leaning forward, uncrossing his legs and resting his elbows on Agent Coulson's mahogany table, “we have, on the one hand, HYDRA; on the other, to the Government; on a third close position, the girl from Sokovia and ah-ah-ah ", he shook his index finger side to side, preventing Coulson from interrupting him. "Don't even try to deny it, because I know for a fact that you keep trying to track her down - I could have helped you, but where would the fun be in that, right? And, as I was saying, we finally have the warning from the masked vigilante”. Tony pointed his index finger at Phil and looked at him seriously. “Listen to me, Mr. Director, because this is important. I have reviewed the list of sites indicated by our friend with horns and in all of them there is or has been suspicious activity related to unexplained phenomena ”.

Stark made a triumphant gesture with both hands, raising them in his front, waiting for Phil to join the dots.

"Related to enhanced individuals".

This time, Tony waved his hand, making a kind of mocking bow at the display of knowledge from his chat partner. Coulson sighed. Conversations with the philanthropist weren't something he had particularly missed. It's funny, one can get to feel a vacuum for silly things that used to freak you out, but once you feel them again, once yoy have them back, they can very well continue to irritate you just like the first time or more.

"Inhumans?"

Tony shrugged, fiddling with the screen of his cell phone.

"Mutants, mutated, Asgardians, enhanced, what do I know?"

Phil frowned.

“I'm going to need you to give me a list of all the locations, events, and evidence that support your theory, Tony. If we want- ”. A beep interrupted Coulson's speech, who raised an eyebrow as a map with everything required appeared on his screen. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he watched Tony put the phone away with a smug look on his face. The aforementioned pointed at the screen smugly.

"Is it okay for me to start this out with New Orleans, Director?"

End of August, 2015

Avengers Complex

Office of Colonel James Rhodes, also known as War Machine

"Colonel Rhodes."

James Rhodes glanced at the two men who had just entered the room, nodding to each of them.

"General Ross. General Talbot ”.

"Rest, soldier," Ross indicated, to which Rhodey nodded, taking a seat across from them both.

"How are you feeling, Colonel?" Talbot asked politely.

“Good, all good over here. How is your family?"

"Perfectly." Glenn Talbot cleared his throat. "How does it feel to be an Avenger?"

An awkward silence made its appearance in the room. No matter how many subtle twists and turns they gave, the three of them knew what for and why they had come together. Taking a deep breath, Ross clasped both hands, then rested them on the table.

“Let's get to the point, Rhodes. We want to know if Mr. Stark has relayed our last meeting to his… team ”.

Rhodey shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the way he had said that last word. And he didn't like the answer he had to give either.

"No, sir. There have been some inconveniences in the recent weeks ”.

Ross pursed his lips, causing his vigorous mustache to move dangerously as Rhodey followed it with his eyes. He knew for a fact that the gesture was a good reflection of the General's humor.

"And may I ask what it is about?"

Well, for starters the Avengers Captain America and Falcon are on a mission with Agents May and Johnson of S.H.I.E.L.D. that has led them to Asia as they tried tracking HYDRA.

Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, and Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, are with Agent Fitz somewhere in Morocco looking for a lost piece of some kind of map that could lead them to the unknown whereabouts of Agent Jemma Simmons.

Stark and Coulson are tracking non-human activity, Tony in particular focused on searching for the loopholes behind the draft plan that Ross and Talbot had discussed with him alongside a diverse group of political leaders after the tip-off from the masked vigilante from Hell's Kitchen.

Banner had been helping S.H.I.E.L.D. in their laboratories, tracking down the woman who had helped them in Sokovia and trying to create with Agent Morse a system that would allow them to identify the inhumans, whose numbers were rising like foam after the incident with the fish oil capsules.

Wanda, Pietro and Vision were still training, along with a new member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and from the team led by Agent Johnson, the Secret Warriors, the inhuman Elena Rodriguez, aka Slingshot, or as Mack had nicknamed her, Yo-Yo.

"I'm sorry, sir, but even I don't know." Rhodey hoped his lie had been convincing enough, because he wasn't sure at all about it. Talbot and Ross exchanged a look before speaking again.

Talbot cleared his throat loudly, licking his lips before opening his mouth to talk.

"We firmly believe in the need for a regularization of individuals with powers."

Rhodey blinked once in surprise, then narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Will you try to put someone like Thor under house arrest if they refuse?" he inquired raising his eyebrows. General Ross pursed his lips.

"A nuclear bomb is not put under house arrest," conceded the older man. "It's watched over to let it drop when appropriate."

"We have been talking about this for some time at the highest levels of Government and the Military Forces and Corps," added Talbot. “And I'm sure someone like you, who has seen the casualties that a… gifted… can inflict,” Rhodes shuddered involuntarily and Talbot raised both hands on the table, palms up. "See? We just want to make sure things don't get out of hand. Talk to Mr. Stark, Colonel. We have to refine the more bureaucratic aspects and talk to Phil Coulson, but we both know it's for the best. "

With this, they both rose from the table and with a final salute they left the office, leaving a Rhodey divided by what was coming.

End of August, 2015

Manhattan, New York

Wanda listened quietly, all of her attention focussed on the news that played in the television, while sat in one of the multiple couches of the Stark Tower -Avengers Tower -whatever.

“ …recent sightings throughout New York City of masked figures have set off alarms among the city's Security Forces after finding an old acquaintance of the police, a serial rapist on the loose, hanging from a streetlight with his feet frozen and held by what the young people who first arrived at the scene described as… spiderwebs? "

"Wanda, what-?" Pietro began to say after entering the living room -leaving a blur behind him- and finding his sister looking at the screen with such interest.

"Shhh," she chided, pointing her finger at the television and gesturing for him to be quiet. As the reporter kept talking, Yo-Yo walked through the door drying off with a towel and chatting animatedly with Vision, right on her heels, until the words died on her lips when she saw the images.

“… Lieutenant Olivia Benson, from the Special Victims Unit, has assured severely that there's nothing to worry about, since they are only concerned citizens who try to help, highlighting that the criminals left at the disposal of various districts have not suffered any harm, something that conflicts with the opinions of other companions of the corp and of the already deceased Captain Stacy, dead in strange circumstances while on duty”.

A photo of a policeman in a shirt and tie appeared on the screen. He was in his early forties, an affable smile on his face and blonde hair with gray streaks slicked back.

" However, public opinion supports Lieutenant Benson's statements after one of the masked individuals," a figure in a black and white suit and blue flats appeared on screen then, in an extremely grainy image, with an old lady on one arm and swinging on some kind of rope with the other, “saved a Queens neighborhood woman from being run over in the middle of a violent robbery.

>> In Harlem, the vigilante known as Luke Cage,” a file image of a dark-skinned man in a tight brown t-shirt then appeared on screen, replacing the previous one, “wasn't needed this time around to save a local business from a shooting thanks to the appearance of a block of ice that trapped the bullets. Witnesses swear that those responsible, members of a local drug cartel, were reduced with ropes attached to red arrows -which at first raised suspicions of the possible participation of Avenger Clint Barton, information that has been denied by a recently reformed S.H.I.E.L.D.- as well as that they were immediately swallowed by holes that appeared out of nowhere, the aggressors appearing later inside a nearby commissary. Images have been released of what appears to be a dark-skinned young man in a white and blue suit, whose face is almost completely covered by a white visor, as well as the shadow of an arch in a window of a nearby building and what seems to be some kind of cape billowing behind, a few feet off the roof.

>> Finally, we have a report from the territory of the so-called Hell's Kitchen Devil, where two hooded figures have been sighted -while the complexion of one of them has made it clear that it was a man, we do not have any data on his companion however”. Once again, a still image took over the screen. In it, the first subject was seen, tall and broad-shouldered, with a black mask and a hood on his head, while the second looked at the camera -at least, their face was turned, although they couldn't be seen under the mask and the hood- with outstretched hands and a glow coming off their hands that prevented the image from taking sharpness.

>> These images were taken by a security camera moments before being destroyed. Apparently, both decided to clean up the mess left by Frank Castle, known by the public as the Punisher, and Daredevil in one of their encounters, eliminating a weapons warehouse that neither the ex-military man nor the Hell's Kitchen watchman were able to locate, and remove the occupants of the adjacent building, engulfed in flames after an accidental explosion. 

>> The question we all now ask ourselves is, who are these masked persons? Are they friends or foes? Can we trust them? And most importantly, are they the heroes that this city, plagued by violent vigilantes and dangerous superheroes, really needs?

A dense silence covered the room after the journalist's last question before returning the connection to the main presenter, who continued to speak in the background.

"Moving on to our next topic, the hero slash investigator Jessica Jones has- ".

"Well, it seems like we have some competition," Yo-Yo pointed out with a half smile jokingly. However, Wanda's gaze was still lost in the distance and the Hispanic woman began to worry. "¿Parcita? Miss Maximoff?"

"Wanda?" Vision asked in her robotic voice in a worried cadence.

"I think," the young witch murmured in a whisper, "that we have found the girl from Sokovia."

At that very moment, you were watching the exact same television reports from the old couch that your friends and yourself had dragged into the gym that Peter had found -through the ceiling, all things said- in his early days as Spider-Man. Although it had been remodeled and you had changed almost everything, that sofa was where you, Peter, Quentin and Gwen had spent weeks in, sharing pizza and chicken wings, covered in paint and grime hair to toe after a hard day, so you weren't in for getting rid of the old thing.

James's right arm went around your shoulders, giving you a strong side-hug.

"Don't make that face, dolli." The low tones of his voice passed over you, caressing you with its cadence, known and reassuring after so many years, and almost instinctively you sought refuge by dropping your head in his own shoulder while he secured his iron grip.

"We've all been taped," you complained in a whisper and James's eyes became a little softer.

"And you don't think it was about damn time?" At his question you sighed, and he raised both dark eyebrows, touching his hairline. He wore his hair, dark brown and long to the chin, gathered in a bun based on his nape. "Sooner or later, it was going to happen."

"I know," you replied sulkily. “But too much is happening at once and the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. ... well, they smell something. That Natasha is like a dog with a bone. "

James nodded, raising his other hand absently to his jaw, gently scratching his stubble, a couple of days old and that he hadn't shaved yet. His metal arm gleamed in the fluorescent light.

"Not to mention Steve," he pointed out. Pulling away from him, you smacked him across the chest, and his eyes widened comically at your outburst. "What?"

"Are you hinting that it's my fault?"

"Wait, what? No!" he protested at your expression, although his immediately turned mischievous. "Although, of course, now that you're so close to Stevie maybe you could use that seductive tactics you were teached to find out if -Ouch, OU! Sorry! Stop, I'm sorry!" he pleaded between fits of laughter as you gave him a shock after a shock, your cheeks red as a tomato. Finally, you got up from the couch and practically ran out of the room as a very funny James Buchanan Barnes snorted, trying to catch his breath. "Good thing you didn't even like him enough to be friends...".

"I heard you!"

James chuckled, running a hand over his face and sighing as he saw a full-color image of the Avengers on television, staring specifically at Steve with a pang of melancholy straight to his heart.

"Hey, punk," he shook his head from side to side, smiling sadly. "Miss ya. You wouldn't imagine what has happened this last month...".