The quinjet settled into the outfield of what looked to be an old baseball field. Judging by its unkept appearance – long grass and even small bushes beginning to grow in the middle of the diamond, they assumed that no one would be using it or even accidentally stumble into the cloaked quinjet if they left it here. The only downside was how far they were from their target.
"Well, the good news is that three of us can fly and Fleetfoot here can run rings around everyone," Tony commented.
"And what about me?" Jennifer asked, her arms crossed.
"You'll make do," Tony shrugged. "Especially with the phone call that I made."
"What phone call?" Jennifer asked suspiciously.
"You do remember that we're trying to keep a low profile here, right?" Pietro asked.
The appearance of a car pulling into the carpark behind the fence had the team turning to stare out the front window. The tension only increased when said car was seen to be an L.A. Sheriff's car.
"Dad?" Jennifer whispered. And then, as then her face burst into a massive grin as the sheriff exited the car. "Dad!"
Instantly, she bolted for the rear of the quinjet, slapped the button to lower the ramp and was out before the ramp had even touched the ground.
Tony gave a single, satisfied nod followed by a smug look in Pietro's direction before heading for the armour against one wall.
Sneaky, he'd named it. The Mark XV armour. He'd known that rebuilding all of his armours and repopulating his Hall of Armours was a good idea. Sneaky may not be his most powerful armour, but it was the only one with the retroreflective panels built onto it to allow it to disappear into the background. And it wasn't as though Sneaky didn't have some weapons – just in case, mind you – but Tony knew that firing even one of them would negate Sneaky's stealth.
Stepping into the armour, Tony fired it up although, for now, he left the retroreflective panels inactive.
"You know, Miss Danvers, if you're going to stay on Earth and be a part of this team, we're going to have to do something with that uniform of yours," Tony commented.
"It's 'Captain'," Carol retorted before looking down at her black and green Kree uniform with the gold starburst on her chest. "And what's wrong with my uniform."
"Well, for one, it's Kree and those guys don't have the best reputation around here, especially with the Inhumans," Tony replied. "And second, black with that green? Really? Whoever came up with that colour choice really needs to have their eyes checked."
Tony smiled, seeing the thoughtful frown on her face.
"Maybe," she allowed. "But I like my uniform."
"As much as it pains me to say, Stark is right," Thor joined the conversation. "Your Kree uniform does give the wrong impression."
"If it's that big a deal, then just change the colours," Pietro stated over his shoulder as he exited the quinjet.
Tony looked at Carol. "Well?"
"I'll consider it, assuming that I get to pick the colours," she replied.
"And what if your colour coordination is off?" Tony called after her as she descended the ramp. "You have been living with aliens for years."
"I'm a woman, my colour coordination is never wrong," she retorted.
"She has you there, Stark," Thor grinned, slapping him on the back.
ooo00ooo
"This is the place," Sheriff William Walters stated, nodding at the construction site across the road.
Jennifer eyed it speculatively. From here, she could see down two sides and both contained high fences, even higher than one would normally see on a construction site. In addition to the fences themselves, large banners covered everything, proclaiming that this was the site of a future Gibborim school and that the Pride were the major sponsors. Other signs declared that the work was being carried out by Wilder Constructions.
From the street, there was absolutely no way that one could see inside the area. On top of that, a pair of security guards sat in a booth beside the only entrance.
"This security seems a little over the top," Pietro commented from the backseat.
"Has it always been like this, Dad?" Jennifer asked.
"Yep," William replied. "From what my buddies on the force have told me, that fencing went up even before the first clod of dirt was turned."
"Tony, what's the view from up top?" Jennifer asked.
"If they're building a school, they're doing a really poor job of it," Tony replied over the comms. "There's a lot of machinery, but not much actual building work. And the kids were right, the main focus is a massive hole in the ground."
"How deep is this hole?" Thor asked.
"Friday's sensors have it measured at three hundred and nine metres."
William whistled. "Straight down? What in the world would have them digging that deep?"
"Sorry, Dad, the less you know, the better," Jennifer apologised. "Just know that this is serious."
"Well, I got that, Baby," William smiled. "Why else would you and your friends be here. I know what the world's view is on you and the Avengers. The Accords may be defunct, but there's a lot of people still wary of you lot."
"What's the plan?" Carol asked.
"We need to get down there and without them realising that we're doing so," Tony stated.
"Stark, you and Pietro need to take out any guards or workers in there so that we can operate freely," Thor stated.
"How many are we looking at?" Pietro asked.
"Sending the details to your pad now," Tony replied.
Jennifer twisted in her seat so that she could see the pad that Pietro was holding. At his tap, an image appeared showing the entire construction site with figures highlighted in red.
"Fourteen. Huh, thought there'd be more," Pietro commented. "When do you want to do this?"
"I'm already on my way while you're sitting around talking about it," Tony replied.
A fierce breeze followed by the car door swinging about by itself indicated that Quicksilver had raced off to do his part.
"Da-mn!" William said, drawing out the word. "I can see why he's here. Or not, actually. What's your role, Jenn?"
Jennifer grimaced. "Back up. I get to sit out here and let the others deal with it. I only go in if something goes wrong."
"Great!" William beamed, throwing his arm around his daughter. "That gives you and me some time to catch up."
Absently, Jennifer nodded, her eyes never leaving the pad in her hands and the rapidly disappearing red figures on it. Within two minutes, there wasn't a single conscious security guard or worker in there and the ones outside were none the wiser.
ooo00ooo
"All clear!" Tony called, allowing Sneaky to become visible.
A streak appeared in front of him, resolving itself into Pietro sliding on the dirt and coming to a stop. A pair of figures shooting across the sky caught Tony's attention and he watched as Thor and Carol appeared, landing simultaneously beside him.
"You have done a thorough check, yes?" Thor asked, adjusting Stormbreaker in his hand.
"Double checked, even. Everyone's gone night-night," Tony replied sarcastically.
With a nod, Thor led them across to the great hole in the ground. It was massive, five metres in diameter and perfectly vertical. None on them, even with either tech or enhanced vision, could see very far down it.
"Is it still drilling down there?" Pietro asked.
Tony shifted across to the control panel and looked over the settings.
"Actually, no," he replied, surprised at what he was seeing.
"That could mean that they've reached the ship," Carol stated.
"And you'd be right," Tony replied after another moment's examination of the controls. "This thing had a set depth to drill down to. It reached it about twenty minutes ago."
"If they've reached the right depth, then what's the odds that this Jonah guy knows?" Pietro asked.
"I would say that that was a certainty," a new voice replied.
The four spun around and Tony activated his hand repulsors, ready for a fight. The guy was immaculately dressed in a suit that Tony identified as being top-of-the-line and tailor-made. He appeared bemused by the fact that they were there and certainly wasn't acting as though they were any kind of threat.
"I'm assuming that I have you to thank for everyone here being unconscious?" the man asked.
"It's always nice to be thanked for one's work," Tony replied. "I'm guessing that you're Jonah?'
"You've heard of me," he smiled. "Of course, I know who you are. Well, most of you. Iron Man, Quicksilver, Thor and you. Who might you be, I wonder?"
Carol remained silent even as Jonah continued to walk towards them.
"Your uniform appears Kree but clearly, you are not Kree," Jonah mused.
"See, told ya," Tony muttered sotto voce.
"No matter," Jonah continued, "if you're with these others, then you can suffer the same fate as them. I believe that the authorities will be very interested in the Avengers interfering in the affairs of normal, hard-working people."
His hand moved from his pocket, a phone clearly visible in it. At least for a second. And then his hand was still shaped as though it was holding the phone, even though, clearly, that was no longer the case.
"I don't think you'll be needing this," Quicksilver stated before casually tossing the mobile down the shaft.
"Well, that wasn't very nice," Jonah frowned.
"We know your plan, Majesdanian," Thor stated. "Give it up now."
Jonah's face appeared shocked.
"You know who I am?" he asked, before his face changed, appearing a combination of contemplative and angry. "Of course. Those kids. They went to you, did they? Knew that I should have killed them when I had the chance."
"Wrong move, Sparkles," Tony replied. "Threatening kids? And when one of them is your own daughter? Not smart."
Jonah's skin instantly began glowing the same rainbow colours as Karolina and Tony noted that he wasn't the only one of his team ready to fight. Thor had Stormbreaker up, his legs braced; Carol's hands had begun to glow; Pietro had disappeared, obviously running to make himself unpredictable; and Tony himself was ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Do you truly think that you can beat me?" Jonah smirked.
Before Tony could respond, Rainbow-Bright had fired his light bursts, sweeping his hands outwards from Thor and Carol in an attempt to catch not just Tony, but also Pietro in his blasts.
Activating his boots, Tony soared above the danger and fired back, sending twin repulsor blasts at the Majesdanian. Unfortunately, he also dodged, causing both Tony and Carol to miss.
"His energy appears to be some kind of photon burst," Friday stated. "Identical to those created by Karolina."
Tony glanced at his HUD, examining the data that Friday had put there. There was enough danger there from those bursts that meant that Sneaky could be seriously damaged if he was hit. Unfortunately, that was the downside of the less-powerful suit.
Unexpectedly, Jonah grunted, his back arching forward and his latest burst at Thor going well off-target. Taking advantage of Quicksilver's hit on the alien, Tony switched on the retroreflective panels and darted up and over the alien.
Unfortunately, Jonah had the same thought, rising quickly into the air and away from Quicksilver. Being cloaked meant that Jonah had no way of being able to see Iron Man and consequently, his shoulder slammed into Tony's left leg. Instantly, the entire leg sputtered, sparks shooting out of its joints and the boot repulsor fritzing on and off.
Tony twisted himself and fired point blank, catching the alien in the gut and propelling him away.
With his flight now incredibly erratic due to only having the one working boot, Tony was temporarily forced out of the fight as he had to use his hand repulsors in order to land safely.
Jonah may have taken to the air, negating Pietro's attacks and inadvertently taken Iron Man out of the fight, but there were still two of the most powerful Avengers left for him to deal with.
Carol, her entire being glowing a brilliant gold, rose to face him, even as Thor threw Stormbreaker at the Majesdanian. Drops of dark red blood rained to the dirt below from the glancing blow that Jonah received, a blow that had resulted in a deep cut on his left bicep.
That didn't stop Jonah from firing on Carol.
Twin beams of rainbow light shot towards the Kree Captain who instantly fired her own golden burst from her own hands. The two sets of energy collided between them, producing such a great ball of light that Tony was forced to shield his eyes from it, despite the in-build light-dampening tech in his helmet.
When next he peaked out through his fingers, it was to see that Carol's beams were pushing Jonah's back. And with each metre that she 'won' their light battle, the speed that her beams raced towards the Majesdanian increased.
A primal cry of rage permeated the air as Jonah obviously poured everything that he could into the contest. It was all in vain, though, as Carol's beams slammed into Jonah, sending him spinning wildly through the air to crash hard into the roof of a building. Tony watched as he crashed through the roof, his inner glow dimming to nothing even as he fell before his unconscious body hit the ground.
"He's alive but out cold!" Quicksilver reported, materialising over the downed alien.
As Thor strode towards him, he paused and grabbed up some thick cable to take with him. Tony was certain that, by the time the Asgardian was done, Jonah wouldn't be able to move, even if he had been conscious.
ooo00ooo
Carol flew straight down towards the centre of the Earth, which was, when one thought about it, a rather disconcerting feeling. Even though she knew that she was flying under her own power and could control her speed or even, if she wanted, simply flip about and shoot straight back up, flying down like this felt remarkedly like falling.
Still, she was a Kree Captain, a former member of the Starforce Taskforce and she'd be damned if she was going to show any fear or retreat from any assignment. The fact that Thor was flying ahead of her helped somewhat. The only downside to this configuration was that it was near impossible to see what lay ahead with him in the way.
Finally, the Asgardian slowed, his legs folding in as he flipped about. Mirroring his actions, Carol landed in a crouch beside him.
Lighting up her hands, she shone them downwards so that they could get a better look at what they were standing on.
"This does not look like part of a vessel," Thor stated.
"No, it doesn't," Carol agreed. "If I had to guess, I'd say that we're standing on the drill that made the shaft to get down here."
Thor nodded and brandished Stormbreaker. Understanding his meaning, she immediately rose back into the air, flying ten metres up the shaft before hovering there, watching.
As soon as she was at a safe distance, Thor brought Stormbreaker high before slamming it down on the metal of the drill. On the first blow, huge cracks appeared, spiderwebbing out from the impact. The second blow cracked the drill in two. The third blow shattered the metal.
By the time that Carol had landed once again, Thor was already digging his way through the metal shards to find what lay below.
"That looks more like it," Thor stated as they uncovered a blue-grey metal.
"My turn, I think," Carol said.
This time, it was Thor who rose high out of the way. Stepping across so that her back was against one wall of the shaft, Carol braced her legs, gathered her energy into her hands and fired. Instantly, the brilliant golden energy slammed into the metal, melting and disintegrating what was left of the drill before burning through the hull of the alien ship.
The very air within the shaft had been quite cool when they'd first landed down there but now, under Carol's photons, the air quickly heated up, getting hotter and hotter until she could feel sweat dripping from her brow, under her arms and down her back. With the way that the temperature was continuing to grow, she knew that no ordinary human would have been able to survive.
Finally, when she was wondering how much longer even she could last, she felt her beams cut their way through. Quickly, she pulled back and peered at what she'd created.
There was now a hole just over a metre wide in the hull, its edges still glowing red-hot with the heat that she'd used.
"Well done," Thor said, landing on the opposite side of the hole. "Shall we?"
In answer, Carol simply stepped forward and dropped down, landing in a crouch.
As Thor landed beside her, soft white lights flickered on up and down the corridor that they stood in.
"Let's find those weapons," Carol said. "I'll take right."
"Left," Thor agreed, indicating his own direction.
Carol walked slowly, her boots echoing with every step. At each doorway, she paused and looked in and her confusion grew. There were six rooms along this corridor and not one showed any sign of this being some kind of warship. No, every single room was a simple room – bunk beds against one wall, twin desks and cupboard and a small bathroom.
At the end of the corridor, she had a choice. Sticking with her original decision, she picked right again, only to have the new, shorter corridor, instantly turn left. At her approach, the two doors slid open and a new room, this one much, much larger than any that she'd seen in the ship before, lit up.
This time, she nodded. The bridge. Here, she knew, she'd find answers.
Slowly, she moved from console to console, until she found the one that she wanted. Sliding into the seat, she began tapping away. Thankfully, it didn't take long to find the option to change the language into one which she could read.
"Now, let's find your ordinance," she murmured.
She took her time, making sure that she didn't miss anything. Directory after directory, and sub-directory after sub-directory were searched. In the end, all she could do was sit back and stare at the screen.
The sound of boots on the metal decking had Carol look up to find Thor standing in the doorway.
"Nothing," she stated. "There's nothing on this ship that anyone could use to take over a city, let alone a planet. If I had to guess, I'd say that this is nothing more than a simple scientific exploration ship."
"I agree," Thor nodded. "I've searched the rest of the ship. There are no heavy weapons on board at all. Even the hand-held guns are nothing more than a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent might find in their armoury."
"The question then becomes, why the subterfuge? What was Jonah trying to accomplish by digging this ship up?" Carol asked.
"What about the ship's log? That may give us a clue," Thor suggested.
Carol nodded and leant forward, her fingers dancing across the console until she found it. Selecting the final entry, she clicked it and felt Thor leaning over her to see the screen as well.
The image that appeared on the screen was clearly Jonah, looking exactly like he currently was today. From what little they could see past him, it was clear that he was recording from the bridge, possibly even the same console that Carol was currently sitting at.
"This is an emergency transmission to any Majesdanian vessel within range. My name is Jann'lah and I am the commander of the Majesdanian science vessel Cosmos. I am currently experiencing severe engine trouble. My interstellar drive is nonoperational and my sub-light engines are failing.
"There is no way that I can return home. There is a primitive world within range that can sustain life. It is my intention to set down there and await rescue. I am attaching coordinates to this transmission.
"Please, any Majesdanian vessel or any other vessel who receives this transmission, please respond. I need urgent help! I repeat, My name is Jann'lah of the Majesdanian science vess-"
"I think that that explains matters," Carol nodded.
Thor gave her a quizzical look.
"My guess is that Jonah, or rather, Jann'lah was trying to retrieve his vessel in the hopes that the technology of Earth today could be used to repair his vessel so that he could go home," Carol stated.
"You believe that he played a ruse on the members of the Pride and the Gibborim?" Thor asked.
Carol nodded. "Undoubtedly. There's no way that this vessel could deliver what he was promising."
"How long do you believe that he's been here on Earth?" Thor asked.
"What's the life-span of a Majesdanian?"
"I do not know," Thor replied thoughtfully. "Certainly, far longer than a human's."
"Exactly," Carol replied. "Alright, let's see what we can do about this ship not falling into the wrong hands."
ooo00ooo
A great rumbling below their feet promptly followed by a cloud of dust billowing out of the shaft had Tony and Pietro rushing towards it.
"Thor! Carol! Do you copy?" Tony called.
Instead of a response over the comms, two blurry figures emerging from within the dust cloud answered his question.
"You know it's only polite to respond when people are panicking about you?" Tony snapped as the two landed in front of Tony and Pietro.
"What was that?" Pietro asked, pointing at the cloud that was still hovering around, blanketing the area and making the whole area darker than it was only two minutes before.
"We blew up the ship," Carol replied simply.
"You did what?" Tony exploded. "I thought that we decided that that was likely to set off a chain of earthquakes that would rocket up and down the seaboard?"
"That vessel was a Majesdanian science vessel with a lot more advanced equipment on board it than what you have," Carol replied. "We analysed the exact explosive force that would be created by self-destructing the ship and then used computer models to simulate what repercussions that would have."
"I'm guessing by the fact that the ground isn't shaking that we're good?" Tony asked.
"Yes. There'll be some minor quakes, but nothing above a magnitude three."
Tony nodded. "Most of those won't even be felt. Good job, although, next time, save off the destroying the alien tech until I've had a chance to take it apart and analyse it, huh?"
"If we did that, Stark, the job would never be completed," Thor laughed.
"Guys, are we expecting company?" Pietro asked as three black SUV's filed into the construction site.
"Actually, yes," Tony replied.
It was only when the first door opened that they were able to note the logo on it: S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Gentlemen," Tony said, walking towards them, his arms wide. "Glad you could make it; and so quickly, too."
"I understand that you have someone for us to collect?" the lead Agent asked, seemingly ignoring Tony's greeting.
"Fine, be that way," Tony huffed. "Over here."
The team of Agents were led into the small building and instantly, their eyes focussed on the man bound head to foot on the ground.
"Anything we should know about him?" the Agent asked.
"He's Majesdanian," Tony replied. "That means that he's not from around here. How long he's been on Earth is anyone's guess."
"And also, what he's been doing while he's been here," the Agent nodded, catching on immediately. "We'll let you know what we find out. Powers?"
"Flight, some durability and he can shoot beams from his hands," Tony replied.
"Keep him in a dark room, away from any sunlight," Carol instructed. "He gets his powers from solar radiation; deprive him of that and you shouldn't have any problems."
"Understood," the Agent nodded and gestured to two of his men who promptly grabbed Jonah – one under his arms, the other his legs – and hauled him away towards the nearest vehicle.
"Is there anything else we should know about?" the Agent asked.
"Tell Coulson that I'll send him a full report in a day or two," Tony replied.
Seeing the man grimace, Tony smirked: his reputation preceded him, always a nice feeling.
"Right, well, we better all get out of here before someone notices us," the Agent said. "You Avengers aren't the only ones who were affected by the Accords. And even if they're not in effect any more, a lot of people are still wary of our presence."
"Agreed. And thanks," Tony said.
Then, with a nod to the rest of his team, he, Carol and Thor took to the sky while below, Pietro disappeared in a blur.
ooo00ooo
As he moved forward, he saw her reach out and flick the toggle to activate the channel. Instantly, a screen flared to life with a familiar visage.
"Carol," Harry greeted. "What's your mission status?"
Tony blinked. It wasn't like Gandalf to ignore the niceties and dive straight into a conversation – probably something to do with his British respectability or some such rubbish.
"The mission was a complete success," Carol replied. "S.H.I.E.L.D. have the suspects in custody and we're on our way home. ETA four hours, eleven minutes."
"Good," Harry nodded, although the frown on his face told a different story. "Is Tony there?"
Taking half a step forward, Tony leant closer so that he could be seen by the wizard.
"Harry? Something wrong?" he asked.
Gandalf's frown morphed into a strange smirk.
"Depends on your definition," he said. "Portus Ivory Tower."
Tony only had time to blink at the familiar phrasing of the last two words before he felt something like a hook grab him behind his navel and yank!
"Oh shiii...!" was all he was able to get out before the quinjet dissolved into a flash of blue.
Seconds later, Tony was flung out, spinning across the lounge room of Avengers Tower to land on the couch. Or, more precisely, in Lavender's lap on the couch. A glance was enough to tell him that the room was filled with Avengers, however there was only one that he was interested in.
"What the hell, Potter!" Tony growled, having rolled to his feet.
"Sorry, Tony, but it was the fastest way," the wizard replied not looking or sounding sorry in the slightest.
"We'll deal with the fact that you have an override code for our portkeys later!" Tony stated, advancing on him, although finding that he had to turn almost side on to get past Roger's outstretched hand. "Right now, you've got about two seconds to explain what is so important that you had to bring me here by portkey without asking before the armour that I ordered Friday to send me gets up from the Hall and I blast you out that window!"
The unexpected sound of a woman wailing in obvious pain reached his ears and Tony froze.
"Pepper?" he asked everyone and no one.
"Tony. Pepper's in labour," Steve told him gently.
"Pepper's in labour?" Tony repeated, the unexpectedness of the statement taking its time to process in his brain. "But she's not due for another ten days!"
"Babies aren't born on a schedule," an amused-sounding Nat stated.
"Why not? They should be," Tony protested.
"Tony!" Harry's near-shout broke through his haze and snapped his head around. "Your wife's in labour and your first child is wanting to be born. Get in there, man!"
"Right. Pepper. Baby," Tony nodded even as he began racing across the room to where he could hear Pepper screaming in pain.
"About damn time, Stark!" Pepper half-yelled, half-panted at him the instant that he stuck his head through the door. "Get in here and hold my hand. And if you make one, just one snarky comment, then you can expect to be sleeping on the couch for the next decade!"
There was only one correct answer to that as far as Tony could see.
"Yes, dear," he said meekly even as he took her hand with both of his.
And promptly winced as Pepper's clamped onto his hand and squeezed.
Some three hours later, Tony was staring in amazement, adoration, pride – really a whole host of emotions that were almost too much to comprehend – at the baby girl that was having her first feed with Pepper.
"Look what we made," he breathed.
"Better than a suit of armour, huh?" Pepper asked without looking up, her eyes fixed on the tiny face just as his were.
"Better than anything. She's amazing. You're amazing," he said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head before reaching in to gently rub the back of one finger across his little girl's cheek. "Hello, there, Morgan Maria Stark. I'm your dad."