New Recruits
Earth. There’s no planet like it anywhere else in the Universe. I’ve traveled there so many times that I’ve lost count. It’s the Avengers’ homeworld. Many of my friends are from there as well. You can not talk about how the Avengers changed the Galaxy without mentioning what happened on Earth while the others were away. For Tony Stark and Clint Barton were left to defend the planet themselves.
-An excerpt from The Fight for Justice, by Luke Skywalker
“Okay…can someone please explain again what the fuck happened to my friends?!”
Tony Stark was having the mother of all migraines. When Damage Control called him to examine Ultron’s mysterious machine, he didn’t expect to arrive learning that the entire Goddamn team had been sent to a galaxy far, far away.
Clint wasn’t doing much better. His posture was relaxed, but the look in his eyes showed he was about to kill someone.
“The Stone in Vision’s head somehow turned on this Bifrost and sent them to the Galaxy logged in it,” Selvig explained tiredly.
“Yes, but where specifically ?!”
“I don’t know. All I can tell you is that they’re on any of the billions of planets there.”
Tony released a very heavy sigh. “Alright. Gather everything you have and bring it to the Compound. It’s our only chance at bringing them home.”
“Stark, we don’t have authorization-”
“The President owes me for saving his life. We’ll get authorization.” Tony walked up to Clint. “I don’t think we’re gonna be able to retire now.”
Clint nodded. “Yeah. I figured. But you know we’re just two people. We can’t protect the World alone.”
“Call Fury. Tell him to meet us at HQ. See if we can put a list together.”
“Let me call Laura first. She and the kids need to know that their godmother’s missing.”
“What the fuck did you do now, Stark?”
Fury, Hill, Clint and Tony all sat at the kitchen table of the Compound.
“As hard as it is to believe, it wasn’t my fault this time.”
The two Avengers explained the situation to their guests. Safe to say, Fury nearly flipped over the table.
Nick abruptly rose from his seat and paced the room before sitting down again.
“This is bad.”
“We know,” Clint responded. “Which is why we need to recruit new members. Do you have any suggestions?”
Fury and Hill shared a glance.
“We’ve kept an ear out for any enhanced individuals.” Maria placed a tablet on the table and projected a hologram for all to see. “The other night there was an incident at Pym Technologies. The entire building was destroyed, and several objects at a house elsewhere in the city were enlarged. Including a toy train and a living ant. Hank Pym and his daughter Hope Van Dyne were at the scene.”
“Birdbrain 2 fought a guy who could shrink and grow the other day. He said his name was Scott. You think Hank’s found a replacement?” Tony asked.
“It seems likely,” Fury spoke up. “We also learned that representatives from AIM and HYDRA were there to buy shrinking tech from Darren Cross. It looks like this new Ant-Man stopped it.”
Tony stilled. “AIM?”
“Yes, but they’re now in custody,” Maria quickly stated.
Tony relaxed. Then he grinned widely. “I want him on the team.”
Hill smirked back at him. “Here’s Pym’s address. You’ll probably find this Scott there.”
“Perfect. So there’s Ant-Man. Who else do you have?”
“This one might be a little controversial,” Fury said.
Clint raised a brow. “Who is it?”
Maria swiped her hand across the tablet, and the hologram changed to a very familiar assassin.
Clint and Tony’s eyes widened.
“Bucky Barnes? The Winter Soldier? Listen Fury, Cap and Birdbrain 2 have been looking for him for over a year and have found nothing. What makes you think we could find him,” Stark inquired.
The archer gave him a flat look. “You seriously think we don’t know what you’re capable of with a phone?”
“Okay, fair enough Katniss. But are we sure he won't be a security risk?”
“You fix that brain of his, and he’ll be a perfect Avenger,” Fury answered.
Tony shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do. Anyone else?”
Fury pulled a small device from his coat pocket. Tony groaned in disgust upon seeing it.
“Is that a beeper ?”
“Yes. And It’s our only way of communicating with a hero who’s currently in Space.”
Tony and Clint were silent.
“…And who is this?” Hawkeye asked.
“You wouldn’t believe it until you see her,” Hill answered cryptically.
Deciding to ignore the fact that there’d been another hero they hadn’t known about all this time, Stark clasped his hand together and rubbed them with enthusiasm. “Okay, now it’s my turn.” He whipped out his phone and showed a hologram of his proposed candidate.
Tony played some videos and everyone’s eyes widened.
“He has potential. But we don’t know much about him,” Fury stated.
“Then I’ll meet him. And learn more.”
“You already know who he is, don’t you?” Clint chuckled out.
Tony smirked. “You betcha. But I’ll wait a little bit. Wanna see what else he can do on the streets.”
San Francisco
Scott drove his brown van with his new girlfriend Hope and his daughter Cassie. They’d gone out together so his two favorite girls could meet each other.
And it went perfectly.
Cassie absolutely loved Hoped! And Hope was already so smitten with her.
So here they were. Driving Cassie home to her mom and stepdad, listening to Elton John.
“ So goodbyyyyyyye yellow brick rooooooooad! ” Scott and Cassie sang while Hope laughed at the two’s enthusiasm. “ Where the dogs of society howl! You can’t plant me in your penthouse! I’m going back to my plow! Back to the howling old owl in the woods! Hunting the horny back toad! Take it home Peanut!”
“ Oh, I’ve finally decided my future liiiiiiiiiies, Beyooooond the yellow brick rooooooooad! Aaaaahahahahaaaaah, ahaaaahahahaaaaaaaaah! ” Cassie finished.
Scott and Hope smiled at her fondly.
Then he turned to Hope. “So, which version do you like better, Elton John or Sara Bareilles’?”
Hope just laughed. Once she calmed down, “I think I like Sara Bareilles’ more.”
“Oh, Sara Bareilles’ is amazing! But there’s nothing like the original.”
When they finally arrived Cassie gave her father a big hug and then surprised hope with one. She was very quick to return it though.
“Bye Daddy! Bye Hope!” the little girl called as they drove away.
“Bye Cassie!” They called back.
Scott then honked the car horn, releasing a familiar sound which made Cassie laugh. Hope just rolled her eyes.
“So?”
“I-I can see why you love her so much.”
“That’s good! Because if your answer was anything bad then I would break up with you,” Scott said jokingly.
“I would not blame you if you did,” Hope laughed out.
“Seriously though, I’m really glad that you both like each other. I don’t know what I’d do if you didn’t,” Scott earnestly said.
“Don’t worry about it.”
She took his hand and laced their fingers once they reached a red light. They stared into each other’s eyes while they had the time. They leaned forward to close the distance between their lips.
Ring!
Hope groaned loudly before picking up her phone. “It’s Dad.” She answered, “Hie Dad.”
“I need you and Scott over her now .”
Hope frowned deeply. “What happened?”
“You’ll find out when you get here,” Hank responded cryptically.
They practically sprinted to the door when they arrived at the Pym household.
Hope unlocked it with her key and they ran to the kitchen. Ants covered the floor, moving around the two humans’ every step.
“Hank, what’s going-” They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Clint Barton, Hawkeye , sitting down with the former Ant-Man. “On…”
“Mr. Lang. Ms. Van Dyne,” the Avenger greeted with a smirk.
“L-look i-if this is a-about when I broke into the Compound and stole that piece of technology, I-I didn’t-I-I’m not a bad guy! W-we needed it to stop a very bad guy from selling something very dangerous to some terrorists!”
“Oh, I know.”
“Y-you do?”
“That’s why I’m here. Now let’s make this quick. I have to get home to my wife and kids. We have a new baby and he needs a lot of attention.”
“Oh, tell me about it! It was really rough at first when my daughter was born,” Scott said sitting down. “It never gets easier, but at least-”
“-they’re not screaming and crying anymore,” Clint finished. The Avenger smiled. He liked him already. Sure, he probably was being biased because he was another dad, but he didn’t care. “So Scott, where do you see yourself in five years?”
Scott was thrown off by the question. “Uh…well, my friends and I are starting a security company. So hopefully we get that off the ground. My daughter will be thirteen by then, so I’ll be raising a teenager…”
“How about joining the Avengers?”
Hank’s eyes widened. Hope’s jaw dropped. Scott froze in his seat.
“… What ?!”
“The World just keeps getting dangerous. And we need more members for the team.”
“I-I don’t know what to say…”
“How about yes?”
“No,” Hank said.
“Oh, come on Hank! It’s the Avengers ! Just think of what we could do! How many people we could help!”
Hank sighed.
Lang turned to his girlfriend. “Hope, what do you think?”
Hope said nothing.
The ants then crawled onto the table, carrying tea cup, packets, water, and sugar cubes.
While this was normal for those associated with Pym, it completely surprised the Avenger. He watched them make tea for the four of them in stunned silence.
Hope stared at the cup before her. Her brow was furrowed in thought.
“Only if I can join too.”
“Hope!” Hank shouted.
“Can you shrink too/You have a suit?” Clint and Scott asked at the same time.
“No,” Hank lied.
“Yes. We finished it the other day.”
“What’s it like?” Scott asked with clear enthusiasm.
“It has wings.”
“ Wings !”
“And blasters,” Van Dyne said with a smug grin.
Scott frowned before smiling again. “Bet your dad didn’t have that tech available for me…”
“No, I did.”
Scott whirled on Pym. “What…?”
“If you’re capable, then you can join too,” Clint said.
“ No! ” Hank stressed out.
“Dad! They could help us with it .”
Hank paused. “We don’t need their help with that .”
“But it would make it faster.”
Scott looked at them back and forth. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll explain later,” Hope responded while she stared at her father.
Hank looked down then released a heavy sigh. “Fine. But I want you out the moment things backfire.”
“Deal,” they both responded.
Ant-Man looked at Clint. “So when do we start?”
“Immediately.”
That caught them all off guard.
“Huh?”
“The team’s gone missing. Stark and I are the only ones left.”
Their eyes widened.
“What happened?” Hope questioned.
“They got lost in Space."
Bucharest
Bucky Barnes entered his apartment building with his head hung low. Just as he did every day to keep his face out of sight.
He walked up the stairs and reached his floor while checking any reflective objects for anyone who might be following him.
Nothing.
And just when he thought he’d have another day without any surprises, he opened his door to see Tony Stark sitting in his chair.
Bucky raised his metal arm in front of his chest.
“I wasn’t in control. I never wanted to kill anyone.”
“I know. And I’m not here to bring you in.”
Bucky had spent years as HYDRA’s slave. In that time, he’d learned to tell when people were lying.
And Stark wasn’t lying.
“Then why are you here?”
Why does he have to look so much like his parents?
“Cap’s gone missing.”
Bucky’s heart stopped.
August 10, Queens
Peter Parker walked out of the elevator onto his apartment floor. He was carrying a few pizzas for his birthday party.
Though he wasn’t sure it could be called a party since there were only four people.
Pulling out his keyes and unlocking the door, he entered his home.
“Hey, May!”
“Pete! You got the pizzas?”
“Yep. Oh! There’s this crazy car parked outside…”
The rest of his sentence died the moment he saw who was sitting on the couch with May.
Ned was there, cause he was his best friend. But he wasn’t sitting at the table, and why would he be surprised to see him at the party.
Michelle was there too.
That wasn’t the surprise but it definitely was a surprise for three reasons.
One, the fact that he even invited her was a surprise on its own. It was a spur of the moment decision that he still couldn’t understand why he did it. They weren’t really friends. They just sat together at lunch.
Two, she said yes!
And three, she actually came!
But the real surprise was that the one and only Tony freaking Stark was in his apartment!
“Hellow, Mr. Parker,” Stark said in his characteristic upbeat manner.
Do not freak out. Do not freak out. This is your childhood hero. Do not blow this!
“Um…what…what are you doing…hey, I’m-I’m-I’m Peter,” the teen breathed out with some words being a higher pitch than others.
I’m freaking out.
Ned was beaming brightly. No doubt he was extremely excited. Michelle pulled out her sketchbook and began to draw.
Great. Now she’s drawing me in crisis.
“Tony,” a smile plastered on his face. Whether or not he was enjoying the kid’s reaction or it was something else, he couldn’t tell.
“What are you-what are you-what are you doing here?”
“It’s about time we met. You’ve been getting my emails, right?” Tony asked while May mouthed something that meant either ‘Can you believe it’ or ‘What the fuck’.
“Right?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Regarding the…”
“You didn’t tell me about the grant,” May cut in.
“Me neither,” Ned added.
“About the grant,” Peter played along.
“The September Foundation,” Stark specified.
“Right.”
“Remember when you applied?”
No.
“Yeah…”
“I approved.” May’s hand gesture was screaming ‘When did this happen’. “So now, we’re in business. Figured the best time to tell you would be on your birthday. Happy birthday, by the way. ”
“You didn’t tell me anything. What’s up with that? Are you keeping secrets from me now?”
Yes.
“Well I know how much you love surprises. So I thought I’d let you know…with…”
You can’t lie for shit, Parker , Michelle thought to herself.
“Anyway, what did I apply for?”
“That’s what I’m here to hash out.”
“Okay. Hash-hash out.”
“It’s so hard for me to believe she’s someone’s aunt,” Tony said out of nowhere.
May laughed. “We come in all shapes and sizes, you know.”
Ned’s eyes widened. Michelle snorted. Peter looked between the two.
Please tell me they’re not flirting?
“This walnut date loaf is exceptional-”
“Let me just stop you there,” Parker cut in.
“Yeah?”
“Is this grant like got money involved~,or whatever? No?”
“Yeah~.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s pretty well funded.”
“Wow.”
“Look who you’re talking to.” He turned to May. “Can I have five minutes with him?”
“Sure.”
Peter and Tony walked into his room, with Ned whisper shouting “Iron Man” on the way.
Once the two were alone, Peter dropped the act.
“I definitely did not apply for your grant-”
“Nuh uh!” Tony interrupted, raising a finger. “Me first.”
“Okay.”
“Quick question of the rhetorical variety…” He pulled out his phone and played a hologram of a video with a guy trying to break into a car. Then a red and blue grabbed figure swung by and pulled the car thief away with some sort of rope. “That’s you , right?”
“Um, no. What do-what do you mean?”
“Yeah.” Stark played another video. This time a car was speeding towards the side of a bus before the same figure caught it with his bare hands. “Look at you go. How ! Nice catch! Three thousand pounds, forty miles an hour. It’s not easy.” He put down his phone. “Got mad skills.”
“That’s-that’s all on YouTube though! Right?!” Peter rushed out. “I mean that’s where you found that. Because that’s all fake! It’s all done on a computer!”
“Mm hm,” Tony pretended to be listening while he looked at the ceiling to see an access door to the attic. He picked up a broom.
“It’s like that video…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you mean like those UFOs over Phoenix?”
“Exactly!”
Tony pushed the door up and a red and blue suit fell out.
“What have we here?”
Peter grabbed it and hid it behind his laundry.
“Uh…that’s a…” The kid exhaled.
“So? You’re the Spiderling. Crime-Fighting Spider. You’re Spider-Boy?”
Peter’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “I’m Spider-Man.”
“Not in that onesie, you’re not,” the Avenger pointed out.
“It’s not a onesie .”
Parker walked past him and sat on his bed.
“Believe this, I was actually having a really birthday, you know, Mr. Stark.” Tony pulled the suit out from the laundry. “I didn’t miss my train. I managed to get New York pizzas without a hassle.
“Who else knows? Anybody?” Tony asked seriously.
Peter shook his head. “Nobody.”
“Not even your unusually attractive aunt?”
He sat down, inspecting the suit.
“ No ! No, no, no! Nonono! If she knew, she’d freak out . And when she freaks out, I freak out…”
“You know what I think is cool? This webbing.”
Stark threw one of the web cartridges, which the teen caught without even looking. “Tensile strength is off the charts . Who manufactured that?”
“I did.” He casually threw the cartridge into his laundry.
“Climbing the walls. How’re you doing that? Adhesive gloves?”
“It’s a-a long story. I was uh-”
“Good lordy!” Iron Man exclaimed, trying to look through the lenses. “Can you even see in these?!”
“Yes! Yes, I can-I can see in those!”
Peter pulled the suit out of his grasp.
“I can see in those,” he stressed. “It’s just that when whatever happened happened, it’s like my senses have been dialed to eleven. There’s-there’s way too much input. So they-they just kind of help me focus.”
“You’re in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic. Top to bottom,” he said, waving his hand around to make his point. Hundred point restoration. That’s why I’m here.” The two sat across from each other. “Why are you doing this?” Peter just silently stared at him. “I gotta know. What’s your MO? What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?”
The fidgeted with his fingers. “Because I’ve been me my whole life. And I’ve had these powers for a few weeks.”
“Mm hm.”
“I read books, I build computers…and-and yeah, I would love to play football. But I couldn’t then, so I shouldn’t now.”
“Sure. Cause you’re different.”
“Exactly. But I can’t tell anybody that, so I’m not.” Peter looked away for a moment. “Look, when you can do the things I can…but you don’t…” Tony leaned closer. “And then the bad things happen…they happen cause of you.”
The Avenger starred in thought, before nodding. “So, you wanna look out for the little guy, you wanna do your part, make the world a better place, all that, right?”
“Yeah! Yeah, yeah. Just looking out for the little guy. Is what it is.”
Tony stood up and walked towards him. “I’m gonna sit here, so you move the leg.” Peter moved over and Tony sat down with a sigh. He placed a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “You got a passport?”
“A pa-no. I don’t-I don’t even have a driver’s license.”
“We’ll need to get you one if you’re gonna go on international missions.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “International-”
“Oh, I just remembered! I have a room for you at the Compound.”
“...What?”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “You mean to tell me you can invent that webbing, but you can’t put two and two together? You’re gonna be an Avenger!”
Parker froze.
Tony smirked at the reaction.
The teen eventually came to his senses. “Mr.-Mr. Stark! I can’t-I can’t be an Avenger !”
“Now, why not?”
“I have…homework coming up. In a few days.”
Stark rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that.”
“I’m-I’m being serious! I can’t just drop out of school! Especially right before the new year starts!”
Tony walked towards the door. “Slightly a little dangerous. Don’t know what we’ll face until the others get back. Might wanna tell Aunt Hottie what we’re talking about-”
As he was reaching for the doorknob, Tony was cut off by a wed sticking his hand to it. He turned to see Peter with his arm stretched out, and his fingers on a web shooter.
The teen pointed at the billionaire sternly. “Don’t tell Aunt May.”
Tony nodded. “Alright, Spider-Man.” Peter nodded back at the unspoken agreement.. “Get me outta this.”
“Sorry! Sorry! I’ll get the…” He moved to his desk.
“”Good. And when you’re done, I wanna tell you about the benefits you and Aunt Hottie will get.”
One Week Later
“You wanna explain to me why there’s been a fourteen year old boy living here for the past week?” Clint asked the armored Avenger. Tony stood in front of a mirror tying his tie. “And why are you wearing a suit? Aren’t we supposed to be in our uniforms?”
Stark gave him a bland look. “It’s after six. What am I, a farmer?”
Barton raised a brow.
Tony winced. “Right. Sorry.”
“You can make it up to me by answering the question.”
“He’s my personal intern. Instead of going to school this year, he’s getting a top of the line science education from me. And I will be paying his Aunt's bills for the foreseeable future.”
“Is that the truth or the cover story?”
“Yes.”
Clint sighed, banging his head on the wall. “I should be at home with my family.”
“Don’t worry Robin Hood. The sooner we find the team, the sooner you can go back to Little House on the Prairie.” The archer snorted. Tony looked in the mirror with satisfaction. “Alright. Avengers Assemble.”
The two walked into the hangar, where they were met by Fury and Hill.
“They here?” Fury asked.
“Let’s see. Scott! Hope!” Clint called out.
What looked to be a winged insect flew in carrying another one. Once they were close enough to the group, they suddenly grew, revealing themselves to be costumed humans.
Their masks retracted to reveal the faces of Scott Land and Hope Van Dyne.
“High! I’m Scott!” he announced with a broad smile.
“And I’m Hope,” she said more professionally. But they could see the excitement in her eyes.
A dark figure with a metal arm that shined in the light emerged from the shadows.
“Sergeant Barnes. Welcome aboard,” Fury said.
The Winter Soldier nodded.
Tony looked him in the eye. “Don’t worry, Barnes. I’ll have that programming out of your head before you know it.”
Barnes saw once again that he wasn’t lying.
I need to tell him. I have to tell him.
“Well, these are your guys. Here’s mine.” Tony put his hands to his mouth and called out “Underoos!”
A familiar red and blue figure jumped down from the ceiling and landed on the floor with ease. Spider-Man now stood before them in his brand new suit. Courtesy of Tony Stark.
He removed his mask, showing his face. “Hey, everyone! I’m Spider-Man!”
The group stared at the vigilante.
“How…how old are you?” Clint asked.
“I’m old enough.”
“What’s your name?” Scott asked, still caught off guard by his youthful face.
“Peter-Peter Parker.”
Fury raised a brow. Maria pinched the bridge of her nose. Scott and Hope shared a look. Clint sighed deeply, shaking his head.
“ Tony …”
“Oh, come on, guys! He’s not gonna be on the front lines! He’ll be on civilian evac! It’s nothing more than what he’s already been doing.”
“…Fine, just…” Clint looked at Fury and Maria. “When’s your girl gonna get here?”
Maria smirked. “Look out the window.”
They looked to see a bright light zooming through the sky right in their direction.
“Should-Should we maybe move?!” Spider-Man panicked
“Relax, Parker,” Fury said with a smirk. “You might wanna open that window though.”
“FRIDAY…”
“On it, Boss.”
The large window opened just before the light flew in. Then it stopped just above them. The brightness soon lessened, revealing a young woman with long blonde hair and a blue and red suit.
“Hi. I-I’m…Peter Parker…” The teen was absolutely floored.
The newcomer smirked. “Hi, Peter Parker. I’m Carol Danvers.”
Tony sat in the Compound’s living room. His face was buried in his hands.
“You alright, Stark?”
He turned to see Bucky standing on the other end of the room.
“Sure. It’s not like I just found out Fury’s had a fucking deus ex machina this entire time. And never once bothered to call her to help us fight Loki, or Ultron, or any other threat I’ve had to deal with.”
Bucky grimaced. “Yeah…I don’t know what the fuck he was thinking.”
“That goddamn pirate.”
Bucky snorted. He sat down in the seat across from Tony. He wasn’t planning on leaving before he told him what he did.
“I swear, I’m gonna need a lot more therapy after that. I don’t know what my psychiatrist will say when she hears about this.”
“Could you give me her number? I’m pretty sure I need it.”
Tony chuckled bitterly. “Yeah. You definitely do.”
He stopped when he saw the look the former assassin was now giving him. A metaphorical cloud had been placed over the room.
“Stark…I-I have something important to tell you,” Bucky’s voice croaked out.
“Thank you, Happy.” Pepper stepped out of the car to see Tony standing a few feet away.
“Tony, what’s going on, now. You called me in the middle of the night, and told me to get here ASAP. What happened this ti-”
She was cut off by her lover suddenly wrapping his arms around her. He was shaking and sobbing.
“Pep!” His voice sounded so broken. “I found out…I found out…I…I’ll explain later. Right now…I just need you to be with me. Okay?”
Pepper returned the embrace and buried his head in the crook of her neck. She began to stroke his head.
The feeling of her nails against his scalp was soothing.
“You can tell me once we get to bed. Then we can cuddle together for the rest of the night. Sound good?” she poke gently into his ear.
Tony nodded into her neck. “It does.” He moved his head so he could face her. His eyes wear red and puffy. “I love you so much.”
Pepper cupped his face. “I love you too.”
It had been three weeks since that night. No one else on the team knew about the conversation between Bucky and Tony. All they knew was that the two didn’t say more than a few words to each other when they were together. There wasn’t any malice in Tony’s words. Instead he sounded tired. Like he’d been trained of his life force.
For Bucky, it was like all the warmth had left his body. This confused their teammates immensely, but they decided to stay out of it.
Pepper was also now staying at the Compound full time. She and Tony were closer than they were before. Whatever freetime the two of them had, they spent with each other.
The rest of the team had adjusted well to their new situation, and were making full use of it.
Scott and Hope were often in the hangar, working on an unnamed project. All they could say was that it had something to do with her mom.
Peter was often in the lab with Tony. He promised the teen that he’d teach him about science, and he did not disappoint. They worked on a variety of things, including but not limited to improving the team’s gear.
They also worked on finding solutions for Barnes’ brainwashing. Tony seemed a lot more driven than he previously had been.
The one change that the team universally agreed that was weird, was definitely the sudden kinship between Peter and Carol. No one could explain it. The moment Peter learned that her knowledge of Earth ended at the 80’s, he made it his personal mission to educate her on all the pop culture she’s missed. They often had movie nights together and he’d play songs that she’d never heard while they were training in the gym.
At this moment, Peter and Carol were in the kitchen getting breakfast for themselves ready.
The teen was mixing pancake batter as he told the human-kree hybrid about the other Avengers.
“So let me see if I’ve gotten it all correct. Natasha is a spy who can kick ass without any enhancements. Dr. Banner is a scientist who turns into a giant rage monster when he gets angry. Tony flies around in a metal suit. Thor is a literal god. Clint shoots a bow and arrow. Sam has metal wings. Captain America is alive. Wanda can read minds and move objects. Pietro is the fastest man alive. Vision is a sentient robot. And Rhodey is a pilot who also flies in a metal suit. Have I got that right?”
“Pretty much. Yeah,” Peter said while putting the whisk in the sink.
“Great. Now what exactly makes Clint intimidating, again?”
The two shared a laugh at that. “In all fairness, he can’t miss. Like, he can launch anything at whatever, and he will not miss.”
“But why doesn’t he use a gun?”
“I don’t know. Maybe his trick arrows can’t be done as bullets. Or something,” Peter shrugged.
“And the first bad guy they fought together was Thor’s brother?”
“Loki. Yeah. There’s a lot of drama there that I really don’t know.”
“And their most recent one was basically Skynet?”
“Pretty much.”
“Yeesh. I’ve already seen one killer robot movie. And I gotta say, it really doesn’t need a sequel.”
Parker’s jaw dropped. “Wha…how dare you! Terminator 2 is one of the best sequels of all time!”
“Really?”
“Okay. I know what we’re watching next.”
Carol snickered.
Peter rolled his eyes.
“Hey, Pete. Can I ask you something personal?”
“Sure.”
“You got someone special back home?”
Peter shifted his feet. “Uh…no.”
“Really? Why not? I’d figured that girls would be all over a great guy like you.”
The vigilante blushed. “You’re being too nice to me.”
“Or maybe the girls around you aren’t being nice enough.” She stated firmly. “Pete, if you want my advice, there are a lot of girls out there who just want a sweet guy who’ll treat them with respect. You just gotta be calm and not mess up. Alright?”
“I-I’ll try.”
“Great. Now hand me that pan so we can cook these.”
Peter grinned and handed her the frying pan. She held it with one hand and began to heat it up with her powers. He poured the batter on the pan, and in a few seconds there was a beautifully brown pancake.
“Have I told you how cool that is?”
“Yes. Like fifty times,” Carol answered with a laugh.
By the end of it, they had about a hundred pancakes. The two had already begun to dig in when the rest of the team entered the room.
“Oh, man. I can’t remember when the last time I had pancakes was,” Bucky gushed.
“Same here, James,” the Captain said with a stuffed mouth. “Feel free to dig in.”
The centurion did sat down and did so. He let He released a moan of satisfaction upon tasting the food.
“God, I missed this!”
Carol smiled bitterly.
Bucky and Carol had an interesting dynamic to say the least. Being the only ones on the team who spent a good portion of their lives brainwashed, they understood each other better than most.
The others sat down and began eating as well.
“What’s the progress on finding the others?” Hope asked Stark.
He sighed in response. “We still only know the general location. They were sent to a galaxy much larger than our’s. And there are billions of planets. But that’s not the real problem.”
“The real problem is getting there and bringing them home,” Scott continued. “Even if we do find them, we can’t travel there.”
“What about that thing Ultron built? Can’t we make another?” Bucky inquired.
Tony grimaced. “We can. But we can’t power it. Ultron used all the Tesseract energy left on the planet.”
“And we don’t have a substitute, do we?” Peter stated more than asked.
“Not even an Arc Reactor is gonna cut it.”
The group frowned deeply.
“How far is this galaxy?” Danvers asked. “Maybe I can fly there and relay a message?”
“300,000 lightyears.”
She groaned. “My top speed is 17,000 miles per hour.”
The situation looked more and more hopeless.
“So that's it? It’s over?! We can’t do anything ?!” Bucky questioned.
“Hell, no,” Tony answered. “I’m not giving up.”
“Neither am I.”
“Good.” Stark looked around the table. “Any other ideas?”
The team stared at their food. A long period of silence followed.
At least until their youngest member perked up with a broad smile and wide eyes.
“I’ve got it!”
They winced at how loud he was.
“Kid, you seriously have to tone it down,” Tony complained.
Peter frowned. “I’m not a kid.”
“If you want me to not call you a kid, then you better stop acting like one.”
The teen shook off his annoyance. He looked to his teammates. “Okay. So Ultron’s machine was based on the Bifrost, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And Thor travels by Bifrost, right?”
“…Yes.”
“So why don’t we just give Thor a call? Can’t his friend Hiemdal also see the entire Universe? So couldn’t he find the others?”
Bucky and Carol blinked. Scott and Clint stared at the teen in disbelief. Hope’s jaw dropped.
Tony slapped his face. “Why didn’t I think of that?!”
Peter smirked. “Still think I’m a kid?”
“Oh, for sure.” Parker’s smirk faltered. “But you're definitely a smart one.”
“How do we call Thor?” Hope asked.
Clint and Tony shared a glance before answering at the same time. “Jane Foster.”
The relative peace the team had been experiencing was cut short. It was only a matter of time before another threat came up.
“We’ve found Brock Rumlow,” Tony announced to the team.
“Where?” Bucky growled.
“A freighter carrying Ultron weapons from Sokovia is leaving Gibraltar. Our intel says Rumlow and other mercenaries will intercept it as soon as it’s in international waters.”
“He’ll know we're coming,” Clint stated.
“He won’t expect all of us,” the Wasp said, pointing to her and Scott.
“So we still have the element of surprise. Let’s use it,” Danvers declared.
Tony looked at his team and smirked. “Let’s kick some ass.”
Atlantic Ocean, International Waters
The freighter sails across the dark waves in the night.
Brock Rumlow steps over the bleeding corpses of the DODC guards, and walks towards one of the shipping containers. He broke the lock with one punch from his armored fist, and opened the door to find several destroyed Ultron Sentries.
“They’re all like this. And there are two hundred containers.”
“Perfect. These are easily worth a couple million each.” Crossbones stated.
“We have full control of the ship, sir,” another mercenary announced.
“Good. Change course for Madripoor!” Rumlow ordered.
The Avengers Quinjet flew thousands of feet above the vessel. The back door opened, revealing the six heroes.
“Alright. I don’t want Damage Control giving me an earful afterward, so this needs to be a stealth mission. Understand?” Iron Man asked the group. They all nodded. “I’m talking about you Danvers.”
Carol shrugged. “I can pull my punches.”
Tony nodded. “Kid, I want you in the engine room to cut off the power and stop this boat. Tomb Raider, take the bridge. They arrived here on choppers, so they have air support. Spaceface and I will take them out. You two love bugs handle the goons. Manchurian Candidate, Rumlow’s all yours.”
The Avengers nodded.
Iron Man’s face plate closed.
“Avengers Assemble!”