The Armorer

I grabbed a couple of screwdrivers, an adjustable wrench, my coat and flashlight, then turned toward the men. "Are you coming?" I asked, and they got up and joined me without another word. We trekked up to the SNL, where the door was permanently open, thanks to the invaders. I went in, Cap and Thor squeezed through, and I led the way down the stairs and over to the generator, where I flipped up the cover. The blue and white glow bathed our faces, and I looked over at Thor, who frowned.

"This is of the Tesseract," he confirmed glumly. I looked over the housing again, just to be sure I wasn't missing anything. It was a really remarkable material; there was no special containment beyond the lining of the housing.

"Hold this," I instructed, handing Thor the flashlight and pulling out a screwdriver.

"Why do you need that?" Cap asked, puzzled. "I thought you'd just..." and he made hand gestures up by his head.

"I might be able to work the screws out, but it would take hours and give me a headache," I said, trying to control the exasperation. I waved the screwdriver at him. "This is faster and easier."

"But won't that stuff go 'boom'?" he asked nervously. " In New York it did."

I shook my head. "I don't know about that, but here it's just sitting around. It's not generating power for anything, even." I set the screwdriver and in short order had the cover off. After that, it was a question of a few bolts and a couple more screws attaching a fine mesh screen for no reason I could divine, and then the power source was accessible. It just sat there, glowing. I stepped back.

Thor looked nervous for the first time and poked the bottle at the power source. It retreated a little. I suppressed the laughter but had a smile on my face as he pursued the power source around with the bottle, much like you do if you're trying to corral a wasp. Then he nudged it with the stopper and eventually coaxed it into the bottle, putting the stopper in fast. The power source didn't spike or show any signs of agitation throughout the process. In triumph, he stepped back and I quickly restored the bolts and screws, then lowered the cover. We made our way back upstairs and back to my house without encountering anyone. I sighed as I unlocked the door and walked into the security of my home. Finally, all the secrets in that lab were swept away. Let the past stay in the past.

Thinking about what I had in the pantry, I made a lasagne for dinner. It was the only thing I had in quantities large enough for two superheroes, even if there wasn't enough time to make the sauce from scratch. My guests were complimentary, polishing off everything, including a mountain of salad, the rolls and the chocolate pudding I made for dessert. Cleanup was pretty easy.

I was kind of surprised that they didn't poof back to Asgard after dinner, but they followed me into the living room and sat down as I built a fire, adding a pine log rich in sap for the snap and sparks. When I took my favorite chair by the fire, Thor asked about my ability to manipulate matter and I gave him a Cliff Notes version, pleased that Cap had respected my confidence. "I wish I had known of this ability of yours earlier," he said, an edge to his tone I didn't quite like.

"You had your chance," I said, shrugging. "And apparently you made a promise to return me to Earth permanently, so I expect you to honor that," I added briskly. Thor sat back, a frown on his face.

"That's true, everybody heard you promise," Cap reminded his comrade, and Thor sighed.

"Fine." Now that that matter was out of the way, I relaxed a bit. In contrast, Cap fidgeted. I braced myself.

"I have a big favor to ask," he blurted out. "Another one," he amended. I tilted my head, and he continued. "After catching up with the news, I need to meet with the other Avengers. See if we can't mend some bridges. I was wondering if we could have the meeting here," he said tentatively.

I groaned to myself. The Avengers had the bad habit of smashing things up when they disagreed, and I loved my house. It also meant that Tony Stark would probably be here, and I'd rather beat him up than look at him again. There was also public perception and governmental approval to think of. I really liked living here and the Avengers weren't universally popular. I didn't want people to track them here.

"How did you get here?" I asked abruptly. "Because Bifrost travel is pretty visible."

"Heimdall put us down a good five miles away," Cap reassured me. "And it was at noon, when the light is strongest, so it wouldn't be as visible."

"How long do you think this would take?" I asked finally.

"If it lasts past ten minutes, probably a day or two."

I thought about it a bit more, then sighed. "If you promise that everybody will arrive discreetly and not damage anything. I'll go stay in a hotel."

Thor nodded. "We will remember that we owe our host for her hospitality."

Cap produced a flip phone, the kind now universally recognized as a burner phone, and tossed it to Thor. "Maybe he'll take your call," he said. He stood and went outside, and I had to show Thor how to use it. There was only number in the directory. I stared at the fire as Thor had to leave a message asking Tony Stark to call him at that number. Cap returned with his shield. He grinned as I held out my hands and gave it to me. It looked perfect, to regular vision as well as when I dialed it down. I gave it back a little reluctantly.

"Have you used it at all?" I asked, and he nodded, resting it against the sofa as he sat back down.

"It has performed in glorious battle," Thor declaimed. It was a little theatrical, but he pulled it off.

"It looks perfect," I said with satisfaction.

"How did you--" Thor was cut off by the ringing of the phone. Cap and I were quiet as he poked the on button and had a chat with Stark. He answered questions about where he and Cap had been, asked about Stark, then brought up the reason for the call. He listened a bit and handed the phone to Cap, who took it with about as much enthusiasm as you would a dead rat. He explained the purpose of the meeting and my conditions, then hung up.

"It's on," he said with minimal enthusiasm. "He'll call back to let us know when they can be here." The call came about fifteen minutes later. People would be showing up tomorrow afternoon. I raised my eyebrows. That was quick.

The next morning, I drove to Salzburg and loaded up on groceries, then did some housecleaning. Thor and Cap protested, saying it looked great, but it wasn't nice to not prepare for visitors. I packed a bag after lunch and was on my way to the SUV when a nondescript black Ford pulled up. The passenger side door opened and Natasha Romanov, the notorious Black Widow assassin, exited. She wasn't as tall as I'd expected. She walked up to me and shook my hand.

"Place is all yours," I said. "A word of warning, though--there's only one bathroom. And if I were you, if you're going to be here overnight, I'd claim the master bedroom first. Cap and Thor already have the guestrooms, and I changed the sheets." She smiled.

"Good to know. Thank you for allowing us to meet here. Have we met before?" she asked, her eyes studying my face.

"Once, several years ago," I said briefly. She'd been Stark's PA the day he fired me. "You have an excellent memory for faces." She turned slightly and introduced me to Hawkeye, who also shook my hand and thanked me. They went up to the house and I drove back to Salzburg.

The next morning, I was getting ready to get breakfast and maybe do some more shopping for cold-weather clothes, there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find two unsmiling men in dark suits who showed me their credentials.