A/N – I know, it's been far too long since I've posted. I can only apologise and claim that 200k+ words in 9 months, add in real life and my muse went on holiday. However, a writer's retreat managed to jumpstart things again and with NaNoWriMo coming up next month, I am good to go again.
ooo00ooo
The sight that appeared out the front of the quinjet was completely expected – at least to Tony. He'd kept a careful eye on Virginia Island and the floating, flying landmass that hovered above it for four solid weeks, courtesy of Friday and the Stark satellite that he'd 'parked' in geosynchronous orbit above this part of the planet.
"Tony? What have you done?" a worried sounding Capsicle asked from directly behind the pilot's chair.
"What does it look like?" he shot back.
"It looks like you took a page out of Ultron's book," Nat replied, the frown that was most likely on her face evident in her voice.
"You made the island fly?" Daisy asked. "How'd you do it?"
"You'd need a vibranium core to achieve magnetic cohesion, the same as Ultron did with Sokovia," Bruce stated.
"Got it in one," Tony beamed.
"Where'd you get the vibranium?" Harry asked. "Apart from Steve's shield, there isn't enough outside of Wakanda for you to make a core that big."
"The vibranium core that Ultron used. You found it, didn't you?" Bruce asked. "You went to space, found it and brought it back!"
"You and I really need to collaborate on more projects, Banner," Tony replied. "It's always nice talking to someone with a brain."
"What's your plan, here, Tony?" Steve asked.
Tony looked back at Steve and at the group clustered around him.
"I thought that it'd be obvious. A brand-new, albeit relatively tiny, country with no ties to any nation," Tony replied.
"To what end?" Nat asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Look. We all know where things stand at the moment. The Accords tied our hands pretty comprehensively. The bad guys got to do their thing and we couldn't do anything to stop them. And how many countries banned us from even visiting? Yes, the Accords have now been rescinded. But what happens when the world has another brain aneurism? We need our own place, a place for people like us to be free to be who we are. That is our start."
"But we've already got Black Island," Daisy pointed out.
"An island hidden under magical hocus-pocus where ordinary people can't see us," Tony retorted, waving away her point. "And don't say that we're 'welcome in Wakanda'. Kitty-Cat may be working towards opening the country to the rest of the world but our presence has the potential to make his job even harder. With that, we can be seen. Seen as people, ordinary people. Well, mostly ordinary. At least, people who just want to go about life."
"So, it's a PR stunt," Nat summarised.
"No!" Tony replied, wrinkling his nose. "Well, yes, in some ways, I suppose it is. But that's not its main purpose. We can be flying around the world without worrying about borders and stepping on people's toes."
"How high?" Steve asked, his eyes sliding past Tony, making him turn as well to look out the quinjet's front viewscreen at the floating island in front of them.
"Two thousand metres," Tony replied.
Currently, though, the floating landmass was exactly where it was a month ago – its lowest point a mere twenty metres above the highest remaining point of the island. Every test on the engines and superstructure had come back clean and clear.
It was the main bowl of the island that had needed modification, or more precisely, had undergone the modifications that had been planned for it over the past month. The water reclamation plant had been completed. A farming area for crops and animals had been established. And a small town had been built, or at least started being built. There was even a Town Hall and a bowling alley in the works, not to mention a couple dozen small houses that Tony was planning on getting Sparrowhawk to use his voodoo on to make them Tardis-like.
"Why are we here today, Tony?" Harry asked. "Were you just wanting to show off your floating island?"
"Nothing so pedestrian," Tony replied. "Nope, it's undergone all the tests and passed with, dare I say, flying colours. Today, it gets launched properly. Up, up and away, so to speak."
"What's it called, this island of yours?" Daisy asked.
"The island's called Virginia Island. The floating landmass, though, that gets a different name," Tony replied. "And it's one that I don't even know."
"How could you not know?" Nat asked sceptically.
"Because I haven't told him yet," Pepper replied from the back of the quinjet where she was currently nursing the newest member of the family.
"Yep, Pep there gets the honour of naming it," Tony beamed.
Standing, he pushed his way past the others and over to a small locker where he'd stashed the very thing that the occasion called for. Triumphantly, he turned, holding up the bottle of champagne.
"Champagne? Are we going to toast it as it sails into the sky?" Bruce asked.
Tony gave him a nonplussed look.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's for Pepper to smash against the side of the floating island as it makes it's triumphant ascension." Seeing the looks of incredulousness on the faces in front of him, Tony huffed. "Come on, guys, its tradition!"
"For launching boats," Steve stated.
"And how's Pepper supposed to get out there to do that anyway?" Harry asked. "Do you expect her to lean out the back of the quinjet or were you expecting her to fly behind me on my broom?"
"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Tony blinked. "Doesn't matter, though. I've got a better way."
Reaching under one of the seats, he pulled out a purple and silver case, flourished it for a moment before spinning and striding towards Pepper.
"Is that ...?" Pepper breathed, her eyes darting back and forth between the case and his face.
"Yep. Your very own suit. Figured that it was time. Need to keep this little one's mother safe, don't we? Want to try it on?"
Instantly, Pepper was on her feet, trading Morgan for the purple and silver case. Tony couldn't help but look down at the small bundle of baby in his arms and smile. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever expected to be a father and now that he was, he couldn't imagine not being one.
When he next glanced up, it was to see that Pepper had already 'kicked' the case, opening it and was reaching down with her fists, placing them in the right spots. Servos whirred and whizzed as she stood, the armour slotting into place around her body.
As expected, it was a perfect fit, but then, how could it not be when he'd had Friday take her measurements? Tony found himself nodding – the purple with silver highlights looked amazing on her. Finally, the silver helmet snapped closed even as the triangular arc reactor and the eye pieces in the helmet glowed to life.
"Damn, girl, you look good," Daisy whistled.
"I do, don't I?" Pepper replied. "Where's that bottle?"
Tony shifted Morgan to one arm so that he could hold out the champagne for her. Taking it, she nodded and marched to the rear ramp. As soon as it was lowered, Pepper dove out, her repulsors firing as she took off across the sky.
From inside the quinjet, the group watched as Pepper flew right up against the flying island, before coming to a hover equidistant between three of the massive reactor engines. Once again, Tony shifted Morgan, this time so that she could see her mum out the window.
"You know that she's too young to see that distance, don't you?" Nat asked.
"Morgan's a Stark," Tony countered. "And Starks are always advanced for their age."
"I'm assuming that you can all hear me?" Pepper's voice sounded over the internal speakers.
"We can hear every word you say, Honey," Tony replied.
"In that case, it is my pleasure to name this flying hunk of rock, Aeros City!"
With that, Pepper swung the bottle hard against the packed rock, smashing it and setting off a round of cheers inside the quinjet that Tony quickly shushed, his thoughts now completely on the closing eyes of his daughter.
ooo00ooo
"Good evening and welcome to another addition of WHiH News. I'm Christine Everhart and these are the top news stories for the day."
More out of habit than anything else, Melissa Morbeck glanced up at the screen mounted in the top corner of her office. The smaller image beside the blonde woman's head caught her attention though and thus, she paused her typing, giving the reporter her whole attention.
"Our top news story today comes straight from something out of science fiction and is enough to give the people in Sokovia nightmares. Tony Stark has today launched what he calls a culmination of years of technology and innovation coming together to take mankind to new heights.
"And no one can dispute his claims," Christine continued. "What you are seeing is not a computer generation. These images are real, taken from a WHiH news helicopter."
Melissa stared at the image that now filled the screen. A large piece of land was flying through the sky. Dozens of blue circles around its base could only be arc reactors acting as its engines. And then the helicopter flew higher, up and over the edge of this flying monstrosity to show, not only acres of green land but also the blue of a lake, the black of an airfield and clustered together, enough buildings to make a small town proud.
And then the image shifted to show a different woman, another that Melissa recognised: the Avengers' Press Secretary, Lavender Brown.
"Aeros City, while small, will be its own sovereign nation," Brown was saying. "It will have its own government and laws and will be a place for people to be free to be themselves, regardless of genetics."
The image then switched back to Everhart.
"While little is known about Aeros City, it can easily be deduced that Stark will be allowing mutants, mutates and Inhumans free reign to live there and to use their powers and abilities however and whenever they wish. With the abolishment of the Sokovia Accords, this does not break any international or United Nations imposed laws.
"That, however, does not mean that everyone in the world is happy about this new 'nation'. The last time the world saw anything like this was over the skies of Sokovia when the artificial intelligence known as Ultron – incidentally another of Stark's creations – threatened not only the people of Sokovia, but also the world.
"WHiH will keep you updated on Aeros City and how it progresses.
"In related news," Everhart continued, "the superheroes of New York City have taken the abolishment of the Sokovia Accords straight to heart and then to the streets. Police and law enforcement are already seeing a reduction of instances of violent crime within the City. This is not unexpected with not only the Avengers' normal Patrol back every night keeping a watch on the city but also members of the new Defenders group each working to keep their parts of the City free of crime as well.
Movement at Melissa's side caused her to glance down and to accept the cup of coffee that her newest servant – this one a chimpanzee – gave her. Taking a careful sip, she smiled. Yes, her implants that controlled all manner of animals were definitely showing massive benefits.
"Finally," Everhart continued, "in International News, the island nation of Tuvalu is once more back in the hands of its rightful owners after a fierce but short battle between the X-men and a group calling themselves the Brotherhood of Mutants led by this man, Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto.
"The members of the Brotherhood that were captured are reportedly already on route to the Raft where they will be held pending trial. A United Nations peace-keeping and humanitarian force have already arrived at Tuvalu and are assessing damage to the island nation before the population will be transferred from their temporary home in Australia back to their rightful homes on the island."
That was more than enough depressing news for Melissa, so, with a sharp jab at the remote on her desk, she switched the television off.
With the Avengers and their allies back at it, she knew that anyone who broke the law was now in serious trouble. The 'big bads' would be – and already were being – rounded up and put in jail. That would free up the regular police to check into the smaller crimes that they'd mostly been letting go.
Melissa had no misconceptions on where she sat on the spectrum. Practicing experimental surgery and modification on animals was almost nothing compared to the Industrial Espionage charges that could already be brought against her. And really, she was only just getting started.
Her menagerie of animals was growing, almost by the day. And with birds, rodents and now a variety of monkeys doing her bidding, getting into businesses and stealing technology, money and enough information to keep blackmailing individuals and companies for years, was becoming easier and easier.
One glance up into the sky of New York City or just the skyline, was enough to tell her that this wasn't the best place for her to be. No, it was time to relocate to a safer locale.
Turning back to her computer, Melissa closed down the file that she was working on and opened a general search engine. A nice, large piece of property, somewhere out of the way and isolated might just be in order.
Utah, perhaps. Or maybe Montana. Somewhere boring, at least. There she could build the facilities that she needed with the funds already at her disposal and then she could truly begin making the world the way she wanted. All with the help of her little helpers.
ooo00ooo
Once again, Harry was met at the door to the Sanctum Sanctorum by Wong. This time, though, he was led up the grand staircase directly in front of the entrance and then to the right. The room that he was led into was, for the most part, empty. But it wasn't the relics that filled the walls or that stood on plinths in the corner that had his attention, no, that honour went to the man standing in the middle of the room.
"Doctor Strange," Harry greeted.
"Mister Potter," Strange replied. "I'm guessing you're here to learn some of the magic that the wizards have deemed 'unimportant and irrelevant'?"
"Most wizards, maybe, but I'm not like all wizards," Harry replied.
"No, I can see that," Strange replied. "What particularly is it that you'd like to learn?"
Harry had considered this question a lot before coming here. He knew that the Masters of the Mystic Arts had followed a branch of magic that other magic-wielders had never considered. Thus, there was a lot that he wanted to know, to understand. Easily, the best place to start, he'd figured, was with the basics.
"You sorcerers don't use wands," Harry stated, a fact that both Strange and Wong nodded in agreement with. "I was wondering how you channel your magic? Is it purely wandless or do you use an aid?"
"For most part, what we do is summon our magic to ourselves," Strange replied, his hands moving is precise and complex patterns in front of him. "We then use our knowledge of ... spells, I guess you would say although for myself, I consider them to be programs or commands, to shape the magic into doing what we need it to do. In this way we can create shields or conjure weapons, change reality or substances into what we need it to be. We create magic."
While he'd been speaking, Strange had demonstrated his magic, creating a visible golden shield that appeared to be made up of geometric patterns and symbols rather than a simple, solid-looking shield such as a protego spell would make. He'd then moved on to creating a length of golden magic that stretched between his hands, becoming longer or shorter as needed before being able to be used as a whip.
When Strange had finished speaking, he allowed the magic to dissipate and Harry looked up from the Sorcerer's hands to his face and amused, raised eyebrow.
"So, wandless then," Harry summarised. "Not too dissimilar to what I can do, albeit on a much more advanced level."
To demonstrate, Harry cast a wandless protego before dispelling it and summoning one of the relics off of the wall.
"The Shackles of Tarzarone are not toys," Wong admonished, quickly stepping forward to take the Shackles from him and return them to their place of honour.
"The big difference I'm seeing is that your hand movements are ... actually, they almost remind me of runes, as though you're drawing runes in the air to create your spells," Harry mused.
"Runes?" Strange repeated. "Heard of them, never studied them. You're saying that there are magical runes?"
"Oh, most definitely," Harry grinned, "not that I've really studied them either. I've got a friend, though, who could recite a number of different rune systems and tell you how to put them together to do more complex magic than probably either of us could do. But what about larger magics, can you do those wandlessly as well?"
"No, for some magic, even Sorcerers need help," Strange replied.
He pulled a small metallic object from his belt and passed it across to Harry.
"It's called a Sling Ring," Strange explained. "It slips over the fingers of one hand to help focus and enhance your magic."
"What sort of magic can you do with it?" Harry asked, passing it back.
In answer, Strange moved around to stand beside Harry. Both his hands came up, the one with the Sling Ring on it remaining unmoving out in front of him while the other drew continuous clockwise circles in the air. At once, golden magic appeared from Strange's hand as it circled. The golden lines kept spinning until an image appeared in front of them encased by bands of gold.
Harry couldn't help himself but to take a step forward, peering intently inside.
"Is that ...?" he asked.
"The Golden Gate Bridge," Strange replied. "Our Sling Rings can help create portals to get from one place to another."
"And you just step through? There's no discomfort? No feelings as though you're being thrown around at the mercy of your magic?" Harry asked easily.
"Of course not; it's as easy as stepping through a doorway, from one room to the next," Strange replied giving him a decidedly weird look. "I'm guessing your methods of transport aren't as nice?"
Harry couldn't help himself but to snort.
"Apart from flying on a broom, nothing about wizard travel is particularly 'nice'," he said. "Apparition, which is limited to a few hundred kilometres, depending on the power of the wizard, feels like you're being forced through a straw. Portkeys which can transport you tens of thousands of kilometres, feel like a giant hook grabs you behind your navel and yanks you along. And then there's the Floo system. That's using magical fireplaces to move around. I'm sure that you don't need me to tell you what that'd be like."
"No, you do not," Strange smiled. "I've got to say, Mister Potter, you're not selling wizards as being better than sorcerer's very well."
"I wasn't aware that I had to," Harry replied. "Both methods are valid and I'm sure that there are some things that we do that are better than what you can do."
"Maybe," Wong said and Harry couldn't tell whether he was joking or not with how deadpanned the single word was said.
"Do you think that I could have a try of the Sling Ring?" Harry asked.
"Here you go, knock yourself out," Strange replied, taking it off and handing it over.
Eagerly, Harry slipped the Ring onto the fingers of his right hand the way that he'd seen Strange do it. And then he copied his hand movements.
At first, nothing happened. He wasn't feeling anything. No response, no magic at all. After half a dozen circles with his hand, he stopped. Just doing the actions was clearly wrong. But then, it would be too if anyone picked up a wand and waved it around. No, there was more to magic than that. He knew that.
Feeling like he should be kicking himself, Harry once more held his hands in the right positions and started again.
This time, he dug deep within himself, connected with his magic in the same way that he would were he doing wandless magic or apparition or even changing into his sparrowhawk form. And then he pushed.
At once, he had results. Golden sparks began erupting from his hand as he circled it in front of him. Seeing the results, he concentrated even harder, this time on not just his magic but on what, on where he was aiming for.
And then the golden lines began almost pouring from his hands. Two circles later, and an image appeared, almost snapping into place before him.
"Master?" an aged, croaky voice asked.
"Hi, Kreacher," Harry replied.
"What can Kreacher be seeing Master in? This is not normal magic," the aged house elf said, shuffling forward.
"I'm just learning something new," Harry told him. "Carry on, I'll come visit in a week or so."
"Yes, Master," Kreacher replied, bowing low.
And then Harry let the magic go and the portal collapsed.
"What was that?" Strange asked, nodding to where the portal had been.
"That was a house elf," Harry replied. "His name's Kreacher and he looks after my house in London."
"I must say, I'm impressed," Strange stated. "You picked that up much faster than I did."
"If I understand correctly, you came to magic late, which gives me an edge there," Harry smiled. "So, is it just the Ring that you can use to enhance your magic?"
"Not even close," Wong stated.
"Wong's right. There are plenty of Relics that are imbued with magic that our bodies are incapable of wielding," Strange said.
"Like your cloak?" Harry asked.
He'd noticed that it seemed to move even when there was no breeze.
"Yes. The Cloak of Levitation is one such Relic of Power. We Sorcerers need to wait until a Relic chooses us, though before we can wield its true powers," Strange explained.
"Is that amulet another?" Harry asked, having noted the unusual necklace the Sorcerer always seemed to wear.
"The Eye of Agamoto is rather special," Strange said.
"Special? In what way?" Harry asked.
Harry watched Strange touch the Amulet before he held his hands, crossed, in a very precise way in front of it before moving them apart.
The mechanism on the front on the Amulet moved about by itself, twisted and opened like an iris revealing a gem of intense green that shone, illuminating the area around it.
"What is that?" Harry asked, his gaze riveted on the Eye.
"The Time Stone," Wong replied, causing Harry's head to whip about to stare at him.
"The what?"
"The Time Stone," Wong repeated, this time more slowly, a frown on his face. "You have heard of it?"
"Possibly," Harry hedged. "Infinity Stone?"
At Wong's nod, Harry knew what he had to do.
"Can I bring some people here?" he asked. "I suspect that there's a story here about that Stone that some others need to hear."
"Who?" Doctor Strange asked suspiciously.
"Thor and Carol Danvers."
Strange and Wong shared a glance.
"Why them?" Strange asked.
"Because they know of someone who'd been looking for the Infinity Stones and if he knew that it was here ..."
"The universe would be in danger," Strange finished for him. "Invite them."
ooo00ooo
Contacting Carol and Thor through the watches that Tony had given them all had the two joining Harry at the Sanctum Sanctorum within half an hour.
"The Seidhr says that you have an Infinity Stone," Thor stated, staring at Doctor Strange seated across from him.
"I do."
"And you think it wise to wear it in public?" Thor asked.
"I think it wise to keep it safe," Strange countered.
"And there is no safer place than with the Sorcerer Supreme," Wong added.
"Mister Potter mentioned that you know of someone who has been searching for the Infinity Stones?" Strange prompted.
"We do," Thor replied. "Thanos."
"The fact that you have one here is quite surprising," Carol added. "We've not only been tracking Thanos but also the Stones themselves."
"Thanos? Who's that?" Strange asked.
"Thanos is from Titan and he is quite mad," Thor replied. "He sees it as his mission to save the universe from itself."
"And how does he intend to do that?' Strange asked.
"By wiping out half of all life in existence," Carol replied grimly.
"A feat that he could only accomplish with the combined power of all six Stones," Wong stated.
"Indeed," Thor nodded.
"Thor," Harry interjected. "If the Time Stone is here, that means that there's another that is connected to Earth."
"You're right. I had not considered that," Thor nodded.
"There's more of them here on Earth?" Doctor Strange asked. "I thought that they were scattered throughout the universe?"
"That was my understanding as well," Wong answered him.
"That may once have been true," Thor said.
"But somehow, they've all managed to either find their way back here or to, at the very least, find a connection to Earth," Carol added.
"Explain that," Strange demanded.
"You have the Time Stone and I would assume that you know that Vision has the Mind Stone," Thor replied. "What Carol and I have also discovered is that three of the other Stones have either been on Midgard or have touched a human. The Ether, also known as the Reality Stone, came to Midgard with the Dark Elves."
"I remember that," Strange interjected. "London, right? Had that huge spaceship in Greenwich."
"That's the one," Harry replied. "Luckily, Thor and I were on hand to stop them."
"Indeed," Thor acknowledged with a nod of his head to Harry. "The Tesseract had been on Earth for many years and was what by brother Loki was sent to Midgard to find and retrieve for Thanos. This led to what is now known as the Battle of New York."
"The Tesseract or the Space Stone as it is also known, was then placed elsewhere for safe keeping," Carol said. " As was the Ether."
"And finally, the Power Stone," Thor continued. "Currently, it is being safe guarded by the Nova Corps, one of the most powerful military organisations in the galaxy."
"You trust them?" Wong asked.
"I do," Thor replied. "However, before it was passed into their keeping, it was kept from one of Thanos' lackeys by a half-human by the name of Peter Quill."
"That is only five Stones," Wong stated. "What of the Sixth? The Soul Stone?"
"Is there a chance that it's on Earth as well?" Strange asked.
"I have heard nothing of it and we could find no records or mention of it amongst any known world," Thor replied.
"What do we know of the Soul Stone?" Carol asked.
"It has been in existence since the beginnings of the universe," Wong replied. "Each Stone controls and maintains a part of what holds the universe together. The Soul Stone influences all lives that live or have ever lived."
"And is obviously about the same size as all the other Stones," Carol added, indicating the Time Stone that hung in the Eye of Agamoto around Doctor Strange's neck.
But while the other three continued discussing the Stones, Harry zoned out, phrases that he'd just heard reverberating through his head.
"...find their way back here..."
"...on Earth as well..."
"...influences all lives that live or have ever live..."
"...same size..."
"No," Harry whispered, aghast at the connections that his thoughts were making. "Merlin, please, no."