The Think Tank

The Triskelion was eerily quiet despite the situation at hand. Fury knew that informing everyone woud have been a bad idea, not only would it make the operation all the more chaotic but his agents’ loyalty would easily falter the moment they returned to their families.

He could only trust a select few that already had experience with these matters, able to keep a secret and act natural in the meantime, like Stark and Wilson, strolling around the structure searching for someone.

“Are you sure she can help?” Sam asked, his paranoia leaking out despite his attempt to stay calm.

“Sure, she’s a smart girl, not to mention she always thinks outside the box.” Tony replied, seeming a lot more serene than the previous day.

So, Sam challenged what he just said by pointing out: “And maybe the reason she thinks outside the box is because no one taught her how to think in it. Maybe she isn’t up to it, maybe–”

“Sam?”

Stunned by the sudden interruption, he wondered: “...yeah?”

“Trust us the same way we once trusted you.”

Sam soon understood what he was referring to and, in ways that perhaps not even Tony expected, it made him feel better. This wasn’t the first time they had to save the world from certain destruction.

There was that time that Gah Lak Tus threatened the Earth and with less geniuses on their side they stopped him. It was all thanks to Vision and the trust that Sam showed her… god, he still missed her.

“Still…” Falcon couldn’t help but say: “...it would be nice if we had some more people on the project… even Richards and Doom.”

Iron Man turned around and replied: “If all these years of fighting taught me anything, it’s that people show who they really are in the direst situations. If they refuse to put their differences aside with the world on the line, they’re no good at all.”

They halted when they finally saw their “target” outside the entrance and to their dismay it seemed she was kept outside by a phone call.

Slowly, they crept out of the reception area, at a respectable distance but still not far enough away not to hear what the brunette was saying.

“No, I don’t know either but it must be something important.”

She was wearing a black dress and a red jacket which, Tony remarked, she seemed to wear quite often. The sun wasn’t anywhere near as strong as it was around Coulson’s base so waiting wasn’t an issue.

“You know that I would never come here unless it was something of vital importance… That's right, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that’s tracking my phone, I said that.”

They were too far away to hear the person on the other side speaking but they could hear her laugh then and there. Sam whispered: “Is she always like this?”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” she asked, making the other two flinch for a second before she kept talking on the phone: “Well, maybe don’t break all their bones.”

Tony whispered back: “It’s a thing with all Spider people, you know? Even Jess.”

Jess seemed to answer to the other person on the phone saying: “Aww, that’s sweet! Trouble, right?... No?... He’s fighting a girl isn’t he…?”

Tony and Sam just looked at each other, a little confused.

“Well, I really have to go now. Shellhead and Birdbrain have been staring at me for a while.”

Jess finally turned around with the fakest smile one could imagine on her face. Tony just waved at her like a doofus and Sam made an equally awkward smile.

“...yes… I know you hate that…” then she closed her eyes and truly smiled before answering: “I love you, too.”

As she ended the phone call, she grinned and made a weird noise while Tony gave two thumbs up and a gloating smile.

“Look at Donna Giovanna over here! Seems my tips helped.” he said.

She promptly answered: “Fuck no. As soon as you gave me advice, I immediately deleted it. It was so trash.”

Sam intervened by saying: “That’s what happens when you choose a wingman without wings. Now, can we get to business?”

Suddenly turning serious and moving closer, Jessica said: “I wanna start off by saying that even if S.H.I.E.L.D. really comes back, I don’t want to be a part of it.”

To which Sam just replied: “No worries, we didn’t call you for that.”

“Sure. I don’t wanna hear any technicalities, no secret black ops teams. No Avengers. It’s not about my image it’s about principles–”

“No, we’re serious! It’s not like that!” he promptly told the young woman.

“...Ok, now I’m at a loss. What did you call me for?”

Tony made a mocking Uncle Sam impression and said: “We want you to be part of our Think Tank!”

She was left completely speechless for a second, then she moved his index out of the way and remarked: “Ok, very funny dude. I didn’t even go to college.”

“I know.” he nonchalantly replied.

“I didn’t even finish high school!”

“Ok? You know who else didn’t finish high school…? Einstein. And I bet that you kept studying on your own, just like him.”

All three crossed their arms and the two men eagerly waited for a response. “Alright, so maybe I did. What of it? I can’t help you.”

Jess knew he was serious when Tony took off his sunglasses and admitted: “Girl, we need all the help we can get. The world’s about to break and I don’t mean that as a cute joke.”

The three walked back inside in silent understanding, the two guys leading the kid to a part of the building she never saw before.

On the way down inside an elevator, she wondered: “If the danger is so big and you even called me, who else did you call?”

Sam said: “Everyone. Literally everyone.”

Once the doors opened she found a room filled with people. The fact that she personally knew only a handful of them and that Dr. Storm seemed so on edge was perhaps the proof of how bad their chances were.

—------------------------------------------------------

A year after the fight that ruined everything, the roof of the Baxter was still missing and one of the people that saw the destruction that day with his own eyes was standing atop one of the firm steel bars.

Johnny remembered the encounter with the Beyonder but knowing he couldn’t help, he didn’t think about it and instead had his eyes on the city that persistently stayed in his heart. For a year, though, he was considering just letting it go.

He didn’t even consider it after travelling around the world and seeing many other great cities.

When his only home was destroyed he thought that maybe there were still reasons worth staying.

But then the world wasn’t satisfied with taking his dad, his home and his stability. It had to go and take his friend, too.

He took a leap off the skyscraper and after a flip he flamed on and kept flying downwards, until he reached a reasonable height between the smaller buildings.

He once flew the same path with someone dear to him swinging by his side. Sometimes they would race to Queens and back, on the way they would call each other names and indirectly made fun of the people they were really pissed at.

They felt free around each other, they could speak about what they wanted and they each felt that the other was the only sane person in a crazy world. He gave him a home, a safe space and hope.

Then they took him away.

Johnny didn’t age a day physically since then but he felt more than old, he felt expired. He flew around just as quickly and everyone cheered but there was no point. He shined just as bright as before but his smile was anything but bright.

There wasn’t any reason to stay in New York, it was just a filthy land of memories mixed with desires that would never be fulfilled.

And so, being used to staying on the side while the “fantastic” geniuses would work he just wondered what his purpose was until he heard a man shouting loudly and flew towards the sound.

There, he found much more than a man and the one that shouted wasn’t even close to normal. He had a mask with whiskers and tusks and a brown suit that made him look like a… a walrus, of all things.

The walrus guy was intent on hitting a girl in front of him but before Johnny could intervene the attack just passed through her. Hence, even from a distance he recognised that it was the one and only honorable lady that left him behind to form Utopia.

Another symbol of his lack of purpose and she was so uninterested that she was speaking on the phone. “I just don’t understand why you had to go there.” she said to an unknown speaker.

Behind her another girl in white was vaulting over high speed boomerangs and the douche throwing them screamed: “How are you this fast?!”

As if the projectiles weren’t even a bother, the blondie replied calmly: “Geez. I don’t actually know. Hey Ty, why am I this quick?”

Johnny figured that Ty must have been the one that appeared out of nowhere with a guy in a motorcycle outfit in his grip, who said: “Let’s see, now… maybe it’s the constant exercise?”

“Yeah but exercising is one thing and dodging bullets is another. I don’t remember having super speed… or do I?” While saying that she threw a dagger of light directly at her enemy even though she was only looking at Ty.

“Now, how am I supposed to know that? Just be glad, I guess.”

Kitty laughed because of something that was said on the phone but the walrus thought he was the butt of the joke and went on the offensive again. By that point she was tired of that charade and just hit him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

“Oh, that?” she asked on the phone, “That’s just the walrus man keeling over… I can try, no promises.”

Not too far away from her there was Spider-Man, evidently, toying with some woman in a purple and green winged armor. As he was webbing her up one step at a time, he was tormenting her ears singing: “Well, I’ll be– I’ll be so lonely, baby. I’ll be so lonely. I’ll be so lonely… I could die!”

“The worst part is Miles. When you’re not around to keep him in line, he just sings Elvis!... No… Heartbreak Hotel…”

To Johnny’s surprise, and not anyone else’s, there was a small explosion and a man in red and blue overalls ragdolled helplessly to the floor. A girl with a white coat over her pink suit smirked: “Try running without the ground under your feet.”

“Well, that’s just plain weird.” Kitty remarked, though not to the aforementioned cartoonish scene, then she added: “I hate doing this without you! I need some kind of ‘lancer’ to counter balance me or else everyone starts looking at me like I’m Superman!... I guess what I’m trying to say is that you make me feel more normal and… I miss you and I love you…”

Her smile was so sweet that Johnny could have gotten a toothache. Then it disappeared when the sixth misfit stopped hiding and ruined the moment with a desperate shout.

The guy seemed middle aged but he dyed his hair silver and wore black glasses just to look cooler. Everyone knew him, it seemed that whenever they had nothing to do they would take a turn at beating him up and they were all sick.

Their boredom was nothing compared to his exasperation, built up throughout the course of two years of humiliation. The Shocker exclaimed: “This isn’t happening again! Not again!”

He raised his arms towards the team but everyone seemed completely calm. The only one not amused was Kitty, who was more so mad at him for ruining the mood.

Johnny knew it wasn’t needed but he figured that helping out wouldn’t hurt anyone. He pointed his left arm at Shocker and his gauntlets started fuming and sparkling without ever being hit by fire.

When Johnny finally landed it took the other kids by surprise, since they never noticed him and those that knew him would expect him to make a scene. Far from it, he was quiet.

Once Spider-Man understood what was happening, he jumped a few feet in the air towards the newcomer and excitedly asked: “How did you do that, dude?! You shoot microwaves?!”

Johnny finally lowered his arm and, smirking a little, he replied: “I don’t know if I can do that, lil’ bro. When I want something to heat up, it just does.”

Spidey fixed his posture and emanated: “Powers don’t just work, man! There’s always an explanation. Imagine the things you could do if you knew your potential.”

“If only there were a school that taught me all that!” he sarcastically replied, leaving one of Spidey’s team members a little mixed up.

He was intending to leave when a female voice he was unfamiliar with stopped him. “Hold on! What are you up to now?”

Everyone seemed just as perplexed as Johnny when he answered: “Not much, I’ll admit.”

So the girl that he would come to know as Bombshell went on: “Why don’t you join us? The others will deny that but we’re kind of a young heroes club.”

Half the heroes waited excitedly for an answer and the other half, including Johnny, didn’t seem sold on the idea. After a day of sulking over his lack of things to do, Johnny wondered why he was so reluctant to accept the offer.

He realised then and there that it was because he already had a purpose.

“Thanks but I can’t. We take turns babysitting my niece at the Baxter and my turn’s about to come up.”

Johnny didn’t realise it but, while flying away, he was truly smiling.

Dagger watched him fly away from ground level and warmly exclaimed: “That’s so sweet.”

Cloak seemed taken aback by the comment, he floated over to Kitty and asked: “You know anyone who needs a babysitter?...”

She was left unimpressed.

—---------------------------------------------------------

Everyone was already hard at work beneath the Triskellion. Tony was happy to see that Jessica adapted quickly and was already sharing ideas with Sam. Unfortunately he needed him for something else.

He walked over to their desk and unexpectedly said: “Hey, kid! Next to T’Challa there’s this girl, Riri. She’s kind of my pupil, if you will, and I was thinking you could work together, learn from each other and… whatever prodigies your age do.”

Jess took a second to return to her surroundings then it took her another second to understand what Tony really wanted and answered: “Yeah, sure. I’d love to meet your new Iron Lass.”

Tony promptly uttered: “She’s not– It’s complicated.” He realised she was joking but deep down he liked the idea.

Sam just looked at him, patiently waiting for whatever crazy request he had.

“I kind of need your help for something…”

“I figured that much.”

Tony looked around worriedly, he gulped down his courage and explained: “I know that now that the multiverse is crumbling, we should be thinking about our own universe… but there’s a piece of us out there and if we’re gonna save him, we must do it now.”

A moment of hesitation passed, wondering what hope there was of succeeding but Sam replied: “...I’m in.”