Heroes Assemble!

Hold On Tight

Sterns' mind was strong but hitting him when he was still regaining consciousness was enough for Harry to batter his way in, through the man's defences and to take a firm control of him.

"Get up!" Harry commanded and Sterns complied, standing there slack jawed and with his eyes glassed over.

"Tony, move out of the way," Harry ordered.

"Harry? I don't think giving the bad guy access to the computer is a good idea," Tony countered even as he took half a step backwards.

"It is if we want to stop this," Harry retorted. "I've got him under a spell. He'll only do exactly what I tell him to do, nothing else."

Harry noted the stares directed at him by both Steve and Tony as well as the way that Thor simply nodded in understanding or agreement. Movement in the doorway had Harry glancing that way to see Bobbi standing there.

Suddenly, the rumbling under their feet stopped.

"The second ICBM's in place. It's getting ready to launch," Tony stated.

"Stop the launch of any more ICBMs," Harry ordered Sterns.

Harry felt the scientist's mind focus on the task and he grimaced as he exerted his will, ensuring that he didn't lose his 'grip' on Sterns. The man's fingers began to move albeit nowhere near as fast as Tony's had been mere moments before.

A loud roar told everyone that the ICBM's engines had ignited and their heads followed the sound as it rose through the Base.

"We have a second bird in the air!" Hill reported.

Half a minute later, Sterns' fingers stilled.

"Will any more ICBMs launch?" Harry asked urgently.

"No," Sterns replied in a flat voice.

"Good. Now, destroy the two that have already been launched," Harry said.

"I cannot," Sterns reported.

The Avengers in the room stared at each other.

"Why not?" Harry demanded.

"They were programmed to not receive any radio transmissions once they had been launched," Stern replied.

"Where are they headed? What's their targets?" Steve demanded.

Harry was forced to push a little extra magic into the spell to ensure that Sterns answered.

"New York City. Washington D.C.," Sterns replied.

"What's their payload? How much damage can they do?" Tony asked.

"Each ICBM is equipped with thirty-five cruise missiles with a high-yield 'Phase Two' battery mounted behind modified repular technology. The missiles will launch five kilometres from their target. I have calculated that an area in excess of seventy-five square kilometres will be decimated in the explosion," Stern replied, still in that dead, clinical tone.

"He's created a sup-ed up Jericho missile," Tony breathed, taking a couple of staggering steps backwards.

"That's big enough to wipe the island of Manhattan off of the map," Steve near-growled.

"And then some," Bobbi added.

"Can we stop the weapons?" Thor asked.

"Not from here," Tony replied, "you heard him. We'd have to physically catch them and try to redirect them on the fly. And, to be honest, I don't know if we can."

"Tony, get in your suit," Harry ordered.

Dropping the imperius, Harry flicked his wand at Sterns, dropping him back into unconsciousness. A pair of pens caught his eye and he summoned them to himself with his off-hand. A quick tap of his wand to each pen turned them into porkeys.