Phantom | S. Rogers

-𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘-

october twelfth, 2015
avengers compound,
upstate new york

"Hey, Stevie." Brooke called as she walked into his office. "Look what came in the mail today."

Steve looked up as Brooke handed him Hailie's new birth certificate and Wanda's guardianship papers. "Well, doll, looks like we're officially parents."

"Look! Say hi to Auntie Nat!" Laura said as Natasha watched the video.

"Fat."

"One of our tech boys flagged this. Splashed down in the Banda Sea." Fury informed as he walked over to Natasha and showed her the tablet. "Could be the Quinjet, but with Tony and Brooke's stealth tech, we still can't track the damn thing."

"Right."

"Probably jumped out and swam to Fiji. He'll send a postcard." Fury said before he turned to walk away.

"Wish you were here. You sent me to recruit him way back when." Natasha recalled as Fury turned around. "Did you know then what was gonna happen?"

"You never know." Fury admitted with a small shrug. "You hope for the best, then make do with what you get. I got a great team."

"Nothing lasts forever."

"Trouble, Ms. Romanoff." Fury said as he pointed at her. "No matter who wins or loses, trouble still comes around."

"The rules have changed." Steve said as he, Brooke, Tony, and Thor walked down the corridor.

"We're dealing with something new." Brooke agreed with a nod.

"The Vision is artificial intelligence." Steve decided, Tony nodding in agreement.

"—a machine."

"So it doesn't count?" Steve asked, making the siblings shake their heads.

"No, it's not like a person lifting the hammer." Tony said, Thor humorously glancing at him.

"Right!" Steve agreed as he pointed to Tony. "Different rules for us!"

"Nice guy. Artificial."

"Thank you!"

"He can wield the hammer; he can keep the Mind Stone." Thor said, stopping to glance at the three. "It's safe with the Vision. These days, safe is in short supply."

"But if you put the hammer in an elevator—" Steve started as he looked at the ground.

"—it would still go up." Brooke finished as she looked at him.

"Elevator's not worthy." Steve said as he shook his head.

"I'm gonna miss these little talks of ours." Thor said, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Not if you don't leave."

"I have no choice." Thor said with a small sigh. "The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. It's not a coincidence." Thor predicted before he led the group outside. "Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. Once all these pieces are in position—"

"—triple Yahtzee?" Tony suggested as he looked at the god.

"You think you can find out what's coming?" Brooke asked as she looked at Thor.

"I do." Thor said with a nod, giving Brooke a side hug before hitting Tony on the chest. "Besides you two, there's nothing that can't be explained!"

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance." Tony said, looking at Brooke and Steve after Thor used the Bifrost to leave. "I'm gonna miss him though; and you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."

"I will miss you, Tony." Steve said, making Tony look at him.

"Yeah?"

"I'll only miss you when there's a bug I need killed and Steve's not home." Brooke said with a small shrug, making Tony send her a bored look.

"You're hilarious. Well, it's time for me to tap out." Tony said as his car pulled up. "Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book: build Pete and Pepper a farm and hope nobody blows it up."

"—the simple life."

"Well, life moves pretty fast out in the big city." Tony said, nodding to the compound behind him. "Three years and you two already have two kids."

"Mmhmm."

"Well, two years and three hundred and sixty four days." Tony reminded as he looked at his sister, who rolled her eyes. "Can't forget the breakup."

"Go home before I send you back broken." Brooke said as she pointed at the car, making Tony chuckle as he got in.

"I love you, too!"

"You wanna keep staring at the wall or do you wanna go to work?" Steve asked after he and Brooke found Natasha, making the redhead turn around. "It's a pretty interesting wall."

"I thought Tony was still doing the overprotective big brother act." Natasha said with a small smirk as she walked over to the two. "How do we look?"

"Well, we're not the 27 Yankees." Steve said as Natasha looked at the tablet.

"We got some hitters."

"They're good." Steve agreed with a small shrug. "They're not a team."

"Let's beat em into shape." Brooke said before the three walked into the training room, where Sam, Wanda, Rhodey, Vision, and Darlene were.

"Avengers—!"

The Avengers will return in Captain America: Civil War.