Chapter Text
Rhodey was waiting when the three of them arrived at the tower. Steve smiled at him when he noticed. He let his eyes wander towards the others that were standing at attention next to the Colonel. The faces that were looking at him with awe were unfamiliar to him.
“Steve.” Rhodey called out with a smile. “Good to see you.” When he came closer Rhodey readily embraced him. “How are the others doing? Are they here too?” he asked as he looked around their surroundings.
Steve shook his head. “No I’m the only one who came back. The others are looking into Hydra movement in Brazil.”
“There’s still movement there? I thought you took care of the cell there last year?” Rhodey frowned. Steve mirrored the expression.
“It looks like a new leader took control and brought back their presence there.”
“Uh Colonel? The dying man on his back?” Everyone around them could hear the sarcasm dripping from Spiderman’s words.
“Yes! Kurt, can you take him to the med right away?” Rhodey asked and Steve glanced to his side as he saw a blue teen walk towards him.
“Captain America sir. If you don’t mind?” The teen had a heavy accent and shyly held his hands up towards him.
Steve stared at him for an awkward second before realizing why the teen held out his hands. “Oh you want me to hand him over. You sure? He’s pretty heavy. I can just take him you know?” Steve directed his last question towards Rhodey with a nod.
“Kurt can take him faster. Just hand him over Steve.” Rhodey replied with a slight hint of smugness.
Steve did as he was told. The teen, Kurt, grunted with the new weight in his arms. “You ok? I can take…” Before Steve could even finish his sentence the teen and the vigilante vanished in a puff of blue smoke. “Teleportation?” he asked Rhodey who now had a full smirk bloomed on his face.
“Cool huh? Steve let me introduce the X-men” As Rhodey spoke, Steve watched the other 2 teen stepping forward. “Scott and Jean. This is Captain America, Steve Rogers.”
The two teens looked at him with wide eyes. Steve could see that they were fidgeting. He tried to give his best calming smile and brought forth his hand for a shake. “Hi. You can call me Steve.” The boy nervously took his hand and shook first.
“My name is Scott sir.” as Scott let go of his hands the girl stepped forward.
“Hello. I’m Jean.”
“What the heck? You guys weren’t this nervous when you met me or the others?” Rhodey stated loudly when he noticed the teens still fidgeting. “What makes him so special?” Steve laughed as Rhodey huffed and puffed his chest out in annoyance.
“Well… He was one of the first mutant heroes…” Scott answered him with a slight hitch in his voice.
Steve was taken aback. He never thought of himself as a mutant. “Mutant?”
Jean turned her gaze towards him. Without speaking, Steve heard her in his head.
“Yes. You may not be a natural born, but your genes were mutated. So Mutant.” Steve could hear her slight disappointment loud and clear even though her mouth didn’t move.
He projected back at her. “Are you disappointed that I never thought of myself as a mutant? I’m not denying that I am one. It’s just something I never thought of.” He offered her a smile. the teen’s frown faltered a little. He continued out loud this time. “Mutants or not, we are all humans. There are way too many threats out there to quibble with ourselves with the notion that we are different from each other. With gifts we should use it, no matter how big or small, for the betterment of others. That’s what it means to be a Hero.”
“You are going to get along perfectly with the Professor.” Steve quickly turned around once more as Tony walked leisurely towards the group. “Both of you are a match made in heaven really. I mean, the two of you as leaders, I believe you can finally achieve true utopia.”
“Play nice Tones.” Rhodey chided when Tony stopped next to him. The X-Men frowned at the scientist as Spiderman took his place by Tony’s side.
“What? I am. I mean the two of them are going to get rid of all the ‘ism’! What racism? Sexism unheard of! Xenophobia, is there such a thing? World peace everyone!” Steve laughed as Tony gave him a two finger salute.
“Tony. How have you been?” He asked as he held out his hands. He didn’t miss the slight hesitation as Tony stared at his hands for a second before taking it.
“Good. Could be better. But you… smells like you could use a bath. Not a word from you before. I mean phew! You’re stinking up this place. It never smelled this bad and we have teenagers running out here!”
The super soldier winced. He did not notice until Tony mentioned it. He stared down, saw his hoodie and pants were soaked with what he could only assume was sewage from Midland Circle. “Ah… Sorry. I didn’t notice.”
“Well notice or not, go straight towards your room. No touching anything. FRIDAY! Disinfect everything!” As Tony made dramatic arm movements to emphasize his statement Steve could not help but laugh.
It really was good to be back.
XXX
Hank stared at the screens over and over again. There must be a way. He and Hope set up time markers in the Quantum Realm in hope that it’ll be triggered as Scott no doubt will try to pass through the realm once more. But the Quantum fluctuated consistently and was highly unpredictable. He went through multiple equations to find a more stable method to travel but so far everything he tried seemed to fail.
The old scientist’s irritation stirred once more upon FRIDAYS announcement of Rogers’s arrival. He scowled as he watched Stark quickly get up from his work station to greet the man. Hank stayed silent as the younger scientist gave him a small grin as he took notice of him and left the room.
Steve Rogers was a hindrance. A gigantic one at that. “FRIDAY if you see Rogers do anything behind our back notify me right away.” Hank ordered quietly as he stared at the screens that were now showing the greeting exchange that was happening outside of the tower.
“Of course Dr.” FRIDAY replied and Hank smiled as he heard the small tint of what he could only assume to be irritation. “I won’t let him hurt Boss this time round.” And this time Hank laughed outright.
“Good girl.”
As soon as Hank returned to his seat the screens blinked as the time markers triggered for the first time... “FRIDAY activate Extremis in sector 598!” Hank ordered as he watched the Quantum flux as something foreign passed through it. “Is it him?” Hank nervously asked. There was a slight hesitation before FRIDAY answered.
“Dr. the DNA marker does not match. It seems to be another foreign object that triggered the makers.”
“Another…? Is it a living organism?” feeling of dread consumed him as he asked. There were so many things going on already… Did the universe really want to give them more problems? FRIDAY hesitated once more before she answered.
“Sorry Dr. it is inconclusive.” Hank groaned in irritation
“What’s inconclusive?” without glancing at Stark, he answered.
“There’s been a hit on one of the markers we set up. But it’s inconclusive if it’s a living organism or not.” The older grumbled as he massaged his temples. Stark sat besides him and observed the data FRIDAY had placed upon the screens.
“Well… something triggered it alright. FRIDAY isolate the object’s movement. Is it disturbing the quantum particles?” Tony asked as he called up Extremis’s feed
“The foreign object seems to disturb all the particles around it.” FRIDAY answered.
“That truly rules out Scott… Is its movement natural?” he asked once more.
“It is highly unnatural.” the AI replied and both scientists heard her solemn tone clearly.
“Damn. DId the object try to exit through any opening to our world?” more dread filled both of them as FRIDAY hesitated once more before answering.
“The object disappeared right after the trigger. There is 89% chance of the object passing beyond the quantum. It is inconclusive if it passed through Earth 1”
Tony groaned loudly as Hank angrily slammed his fist onto the lab table.
“Just great. I told you Rogers was trouble!” Hank growled as he furiously typed away on his computer.
“Hank please, this object has nothing to do with Steve.” Tony spoke with a hint of laughter to ease the older man’s ire.
“I know!” Hank yelled back. “He is bad luck! Every time he’s around something happens!”
Without giving up, Tony smiled brightly. “The great scientist Hank Pym being superstitious? No! My ears must deceive me!”
“Shut up.” Hank grumbled once more.
“Hank. It’ll be alright. We can do it. We’ll figure it out.” Even as he felt his irritation rise even more Hank bit his tongue. The older man decided to ignore the other as he briskly turned back to his work.
Tony sighed as he too turned back to the data in front of him. He just hoped that whatever the object was, it didn’t enter Earth 1... But when did his wish ever come true?
XXX
When Peter bounced into the command room, Hope and Vision were already talking about the Midland Circle Explosion.
“Dragon bones?” Hope asked credulously.
“That is what I have concluded. It seems a group of people have been trying to excavate the bones secretly. C4 had been planted by the New York vigilantes. One of whom has been bought here. Others have escaped the explosion without being noticed by the police presence.” Peter watched as Vision showed what he could assume was a security feed from some corner shop. Although it was grainy, the video clip showed what appeared to be 5 people running out from the explosion site.
Peter glanced up as Hope took her phone out and called someone. “Hey. Midland circle. Yes. Possible code 9. Yes. We’ll leave it up to you.” the woman rolled her eyes as she hung up her phone. She turned toward Vision once more. “Strange is going to take care of it.”
The teenager’s ears perked up at the name of the Doctor he had met about 2 years ago. He remembered hearing something about the arrogant doctor becoming some type of wizard?
“Don’t just stand there. Go in.” Peter jumped up in shock when Colonel Rhodes pushed him in from the behind. “So Midland Circle is magic so we are not handling it right? Great one less thing to worry about. Magneto just sent out a challenge letter. He’s going to attack the UN today.” As the Colonel spoke, Peter observed Hope’s face redden with anger. Their eyes briefly connected before Hope looked away. Peter knew Hope had been itching to track the mutant leader down after his ‘incident’.
The teen felt a strong tingle throughout his body. He could still vividly remember what had happened. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. But he had been training day and night for this. This time he won’t be caught off guard. But before he even got to open his mouth Hope glared and cut him off.
“No. You are not going. We will take care of it.”
“But we’ve been training! Tony and I already made my suit entirely out of organic extremis! Magneto won’t have any hold on me this time!” Peter loudly argued. He looked at all the adults in the room begging with his eyes.
“No means no. We will take care of it.”
Peter opened his mouth to argue but this time Vision spoke.
“Peter. Let us handle this.” It was rare to hear any type of emotion in the android’s voice, but this time the ‘worry’ had been loud and clear.
“Then what about the X-men? You promised Professor X that you’ll allow them to join in any mission that has to do with the Brotherhood. I’m more ready than any of them combined. You know that! You don’t have to baby me! Let me join!” Even as he spoke Peter knew that he wouldn’t get through any of them. And he knew Tony would only agree with the others’ decision. It was a losing battle. “Please. There are going to be even harder battles. You guys can’t always be there to protect me. Let me join” He desperately pleaded once more.
“FRIDAY tell the X-men to get prepared. Peter, go join them.” The teen sharply turned to look at the colonel behind him.
“Rhodey!”
“Hope. He’s an Avenger. He’s right. We can’t baby him, we’ve been preparing him for this.” Rhodey calmly stated even as Hope bristled with fury. “Why are you just standing there? Go!” Rhodey commanded once more.
The teen didn’t need to be told once more. He rushed out with a smile. Even as the doors behind him closed, he could still hear Hope and the colonel loudly arguing. This time he was prepared. No matter what he will take down Magneto!
XXX
“So Tones… What are we doing here?” Scott asked in bewilderment as he turned to look at the bright colorful disco lights that were visible even outside the club. He watched as people in line eagerly pushed the person in front of them to get inside even a little quicker . “And wait… are you even old enough to be here?” he asked once more.
Tony turned to look at him with a puzzled face. “What universe are you from? Of course I am. The legal drinking age is 13.” The teen genius frowned as Scott’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Come on. Stop being weird. I don’t want to be any longer than we have to.”
Scott quickly rushed after Tony as the teen headed straight towards the door without waiting in line. As the duo got closer to the front, the bouncer hurried towards them.
“Mr. Stark! How are you today? I see you brought a friend! Please come this way. Is there any specific room you require? If you let me know what drinks you want I’ll call it in so that it can be ready by the time you get inside. Let us know right away of anything you might need. We will be there in seconds!” Scott blinked as the bouncer spoke faster than Louis. And that was quite a feat. Tones just waved his hands as the three of them stepped inside the mass club hall. A waiter was waiting for them inside. He quickly took them away from the loud center of the club to a more secluded place where Scott could only assume to be the VIP area. He barely held back a gasp when the waiter opened a door for them to go in. The gigantic room held it’s own bar and dj. Just by the looks one could tell how expensive everything inside must be. But the thing that stood out the most were the monitors that decorated an entire wall inside the room.
“What the…!”
“If there is anything you need, please don’t hesitate to let me know!” the waiter that led them to the room quickly disappeared out the door.
“...So what are we doing here?” The older of the two asked once more and sat timidly on the comfy couch.
Without responding, Tony headed straight towards the monitors. As soon as the teen stood in front of them, all the screen lit up brightly. Scott watched with wide eyes as many different feeds of what he assumed were security cameras displayed on them. “What the…?”
“Stop repeating yourself. You sound stupid.” Tony admonished while he busily typed away. The older man huffed in annoyance and looked around at the expensive bottles of spirits. He began reaching for one before stopping when Tony spoke once again. “You drink. You pay.”
“What the heck do you want me to do? You won’t even tell me why we are here! “ Scott wailed and flopped down the couch.
“This is what we are here for.” the monitors all blinked and synchronized to show one face in all of them. It was the face of a young woman. Through the feed, it was obvious that she was trying hard to not be seen by anyone. Her scrunched up shoulders and the scarf made it very difficult to see most of her face.
“Who is she?” Scott asked and walked towards Tones.
“This is Shuri of Wakanda.” The young teen explained.
“Shuri of Wakanda? Princess Shuri?”
“Yup. After Wakanda’s fall she and the queen disappeared. Thankfully Hellfire Club has the best face recognition system in the world.”
“Hellfire Club… Why does that sound so familiar?” Scott mumbled as Tony went on.
“Shuri was last seen in New York City 2 days ago. If we are lucky maybe we’ll be able to contact her. She is our best chance of getting T’Challa’s DNA.” Tony finally smiled as he transferred the data towards his phone. “Come on, let’s get out of here. It's no good to get involved with them.” He shoved his phone in his pocket and rushed the two of them out the door.
But before the two of them even touched the door, they opened revealing a man and a woman with the most sinister smile Scott has ever seen, and he saw his share of those smiles.
“Mr. Stark. It truly is a pleasure to serve you at our humble club.” Tony stiffened besides Scott as the man blocking the doorway gave a mocking bow. “Why, may I ask, were you looking for a fugitive?”
“Shit.” Tony cursed quietly so that only Scott could hear him. “Mr. Shaw, aren’t you supposed to be in London, for the WPC?” The teen stood taller and he smiled, but Scott could still tell he was tense as Tony’s shoulder shook slightly.
The man's smile became even larger and the woman took a step forward as Tones took one back. Scott quickly stepped in front and held out his hands.
“Whoa lady stay where you are.” Scott stated firmly but the woman kept coming forward. Tony hastily grabbed his shirt.
“Scott now!” Scott knew exactly what his friend was talking about as he willed his body and hopefully Tony’s to shrink with his. He felt excitement rush through his veins. He took hold of Tony’s hands and began running towards the open doors. He could see the two surprised faces and smirked as they made their way across the floor unnoticed.
But his excitement was short lived as a foot blocked their path. He maneuvered away but the foot followed them. Before he could do anything else, a glass jar enclosed them from above.
“Shit! Shit! That’s Doom!” Tony cursed as the two of them watched the newcomer lean down towards them.
Doom already made an imposing figure. But as small as they were he was frightening.
“There’s no way out without fighting! Stay close behind me Tony!” Scott ordered but before he could turn their body back to its normal size, Doom spoke.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you Scott Lang. This jar is made out of Vibranium you see. And believe me when I say the human body is no match for Vibranium. Be good and answer my questions and I might let you go peacefully. Tony Stark, did you figure out a way to travel through the Quantum?”
and now it was Scotts turn to curse… “Well shit…”
XXX