Chapter 52: The Many Strengths of Darcy LewisNotes:Sup! So since several of you been asking, it's looking like the next project I'm going to be posting is going to be a GoT/AoS crossover. Like I've spent the last few days mocking up some chapters, creating an insanely detailed breakdown of Northern politics..... That said I still have a ton of work to do before it's ready to start posting so I'm going to post just a short series of oneshots of what happens in the Happy Accident's world post series end. Cause this one doesn't need a sequel and frankly I don't have a clue what the plot would be. So my future schedule would be Oneshot collection, GoT/AoS fic that's probably going to get called Old Gods or something like that.
Chapter TextDarcy stared smugly as Hill read her proposal. "Thoughts?"
"I hate Starks." Hill finally said. She opened her bottom drawer and pulled a bottle of scotch out and filled her empty water glass. "When I find grey hair tonight it's your fault."
Darcy looked pointedly at the bags under the other woman's eyes that were too dark for even makeup to help. "You sleep?"
"Unneeded." Hill leaned back in her seat. "You do realize that once this is done it can't be undone? This is a new manner of war."
Darcy leaned against the wall. "It's a problem that apparently runs in the family. Howard revolutionized war, made us filthy rich off it and as far as i know never lost a wink of sleep. Which is horrifying. Dad...he's a wreck because of it. The amount of death we can bring about, for better or worse. But this would make it a far fairer fight if aliens want to wage war on our planet."
"This will be the new nuke. That can't be controlled." Hill cautioned, the woman looked genuinely afraid of the written out proposal before her.
And...that was fair. "Well portalling energy weapons into enemy spaceships, isn't exactly a logical jump in warfare." Darcy wiped the sweat off her hands on her jeans. "I want a legal agreement that makes portalling technology illegal to be held by anyone but SI, in trust, only to be used with approval of the UN World Security Council."
"That won't keep it out of a world arms race for long. A few years at best." Hill's eyes had sharpened though, clearly putting together a plan in her head.
Darcy winced. "Yeah, but if Janey, Erik and I can make them, then well it makes sense we can find a way to prevent them."
"You want to use the time to make a safety lock." Hill frowned. "It might work, but Darcy these things can't be predicted."
Darcy felt like laughing, not that it was funny. "The fact I'm about to sue a small army of people and companies for calling me an evil slut certainly would have worked as a wake up call that I can't control or predict everything. But tell me we have another option for destroying multiple enemy vessels in orbit without this? A reliable and realistic one."
"We both know I can't say that." Hill pulled out her tablet and started making notations. I'll have Legal contact you. How soon can you and Astro lab have everything ready for this?"
Darcy ran a hand through her hair. "With holo calling so I can work with Princess Shuri on the Vision project….four days?"
"If I assigned you more people to help?" Hill asked.
She shook her head. "Not a good idea considering how much this tech getting out would be horrific."
"I'm going on a vacation after this." Hill pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fucking Starks."
Darcy grabbed the caffeinated beverage out of Bucky's hand. "Marry me."
"That'd break my contract." He deadpanned.
She patted his shoulder while chugging her drink. Espresso, it was pure espresso with sugar in it. She crumpled the cup and chucked it at the trash. It did not go in. Darcy didn't blink. "In my mind that made it in."
"You're one of a kind Doll." The slightest bit of his Brooklyn accent crept in as he stared at her the faintest of amused expressions on his face.
Darcy beamed, it was good to see bits and pieces of who he used to be peek out. "Well I'm off to go create new super weapons that are going to change the course of military strategy. Then bug my siblings into media fluff to keep people from panicking too much and then finally holo-call a princess with my dad to separate a physical aspect of reality from an Android, who is also kind of my step-brother."
"No more caffeine for two hours." Bucky replied.
"Damn, already immune to the chaos." Her eyes narrowed. "I trained you too well."
Bucky opened his mouth and then sighed. "Super weapons doll?"
"Huh, well I already made them. My arch reactor stuff. When they exploded before I fixed them they were kinda terrifyingly powerful with drastically less radiation than a nuke. So most of the boom for none of the ecological disaster. Yay!" She gave jazz hands.
He swallowed. "That's not military strategy game changing on its own. It's just a new cheaper bomb."
"It is if we portal them into alien spaceships. So you know, being able to bomb anywhere in all of the mathematically calculatable universe in seconds from uh...this room." Darcy did jazz hands again. Fuck it, jazz hands worked and were worth doing more than once.
Bucky stilled completely. He didn't even breathe. "Holy Shit Doll."
Darcy let her head drop on Tony's shoulder. "I tried, I really tried."
"Downsides of brilliance in times of chaos." He replied absently while re-reading his notes on the making of Vision.
She groaned miserably. "I'm anti-weapons development. All about the peace and love Poprocks."
"Spawn you made an environmentally friendly nuke and are planning to make it technologically and legally cockblocked before it can get out of hand. And you did it on accident while working on clean energy." He patted her head. "Your hippie, hug the puppies street cred remains."
Darcy snorted, but didn't lift her head off his shoulder. "You ever invent weapons on accident?"
"It's a rite of passage when you've got brains like us. Though you know who can make the most innocuous things weapons of mass destruction? Romanoff. I can never look at a spoon in the same way again." He paused. "Spawn, you got any brilliant ideas that will mean we're not showing up to group project day with the Princess without anything useful?"
She considered hitting her head against a board. "No. And I'm useful with the hardware. I'm not the software expert in this family."
"You can hack into the pentagon." Tony waved off.
Darcy looked up. "Come on, our group project where we're the lazy ones who aren't carrying our own weight is calling us."
////
Peter's cheeks felt hot as he shuffled slightly. "So Ned and MJ kinda know everything now."
"You can tell people if you want to." She squeezed his hand. "They're your friends." Daisy seemed to consider something. "Does this mean they're panicking and going to show up?"
Peter scratched behind his ear. "I've been texting them so I don't think so?"
"But MJ marches to the beat of her own drum." Daisy finished for him, but she was clearly amused. It was funny, she'd seemed...oddly delighted by things since she'd gotten back. Not that she'd been back for long.
He dropped down next to her on the couch and folded his legs under him. "Are you...are you ok?"
"Yes?" Daisy looked at him before signing and poking at her black eye. "Bruises heal."
Peter shook his head. "No that's not...that's not it." He looked at her, his brow furrowing. "You left and came back. But you...there's no doubt this time. Like it was just you and the team in the future. And now it's like...I don't know."
"Oh." She leaned back slightly as she processed that. Daisy took a deep breath and stayed quiet as she organized her thoughts. Finally she began to reply. "SHIELD gave me a family. A home, people who believed in me. I love my team. And I know they love me, and we all believed and were willing to do anything, even die for the cause. For each other. But it wasn't...Coulson's...he's my dad."
Daisy swallowed before continuing. "But I will always come after SHIELD to him. He cares, he hates it, but he will always pick SHIELD over his own wants or those of the people he loves. And May...I'm her rookie, one of her charges. She's always been there, always will be. But I'm not her first, or even her second priority in a situation. It's the same for everyone. And that was fine. It was fine until I came here, and you gave me a second family."
"I didn't do…" He started.
She cut him off. "You did." Daisy stared him in the eye. Refusing to let him look away. "And I chose you and this family months ago. I haven't lost my SHIELD team, but when we were there, in the future, in space, all they could think about was getting home and saving the world. But all I could think about was coming home. I wanted to be here."
Peter's throat felt thick as he looked at his sister. "We wanted you back. It was terrible without you here. I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants."
"That never goes away." If her face wasn't so soft he'd have considered her expression a smirk. "And you did amazing."
His cheeks heated at the compliment. "I'm glad you're back. Everything feels like it's seconds from going wrong constantly without you there."
"Short of an alien invasion I don't think anyone is going to let me fight anything more dangerous than a popcorn maker for a few weeks." Daisy used her powers to nudge him ever so slightly. "I think it's still going to be the Spiderman adventures alone for a bit longer."
Peter's eyes lit up. "Well just because you can't fight anyone till your stitches come out, doesn't mean I can't beat your butt at Mortal Kombat."
"You're on." She reached forward and fluffed his hair.
"Darcy wants us to put our masks on?" Peter looked at Daisy in some horror. "I thought we agreed no more videos?"
Daisy shrugged. "I mean it can't hurt to do as instructed till she gets here?" She grinned. "And we agreed you don't make anymore videos."
"You're just saying that because I'm winning." Peter still hopped to his feet to go find their masks. "Don't get up!" He glared. "You're supposed to be resting!"
They both glanced up as Wanda came out of the bedroom. Daisy smiled. "Finish your recorded speech?"
"I did, hopefully it meets the requirements." Wanda had one of her massive textbooks tucked under one arm.
Peter bit back a smile as Wanda slid between Daisy and the arm of the couch. He could see how they both softened around each other, the shift of focus. So he politely didn't say anything as Wanda began to trail her fingers through Daisy's hair as she opened up a text book. Or when Daisy leaned into the touch, unspeakingly offering her back to her girlfriend. It was kinda cute...totally gross if they forgot he was there, but usually kinda nice.
"Why are you both wearing your masks?" Wanda looked between them, though her eyes flickered with red light and amusement as her eyes caught Peter's.
He flushed, shit she'd picked some of his thoughts up then. "Darcy said to."
"Ah, well I suppose we should expect my brother then." She lightly kissed Daisy before focusing back on her book.
His nose wrinkled, did his sisters have to be dating? "Do you want in for a round?" He offered the controller out.
Wanda shook her head. "I have to have this chapter read by tomorrow morning."
Daisy shot him a look. "Come on, I want to get a lethality on you."
"You're far too excited to rip my heart out." Peter grinned though, he was totally better at this game.
////
Darcy paused and leaned against the wall as she watched the sight before her. Despite her presence surely being noticed, no one reacted to her. She was glad of it. Smiling, she just took a minute to rest and watch. It filled her with a soft satisfaction at seeing her siblings happy and at peace.
Peter was perched on the kitchen counter, mask rucked up to his nose as he licked batter off of a spoon, a large bowl of some baking adventure in his lap. He looked perfectly happy. It was hilarious seeing him in a nerd t-shirt, jeans, ratty tennis shoes, and his spidermask. Also for some reason he'd put on his spider gloves. But his head was bobbing to the music as he happily cleaned the bowl.
But it wasn't Peter who drew her attention. Nor was it the red light curled around a spoon that was stirring something on the stove. The lights also lit up the sink as the dishes were being washed by actual legit magic. It was some Harry Potter shit. No what drew her eye was her sister. In the center of the kitchen were Wanda and Daisy. They were laughing as they spun around, dancing to a playlist on someone's phone. It was so painfully clear they were happy and in love.
Daisy was leading them, she really was good at dancing thanks to Agent May loathing being undercover. Sure Daisy had an awful black eye, had bandages on the back of her neck, stitches on one cheek. But she looked radiant all the same as she spun them around, her eyes focused on Wanda as Wanda threw her head back laughing brightly.
Well, no question of who was dating who. Or whether or not they were in love. Darcy's lips twitched as she watched. Well, she'd chosen the right evening to do a video, even if for all the masks being on, they clearly didn't know they were on camera already. Speaking of, Darcy waited till the song came to a close, Wanda and Daisy ending up laughing while hanging onto each other. "Sup! I said put on masks but I don't remember saying you should have one of your weird cooking dates."
"You're just jealous." Daisy looked over. "And what the fuck, you said put on masks like two hours ago?"
Darcy shrugged unrepentantly. "Astro lab science waits for no woman."
"Uh...why do you have your phone on?" Peter asked, slowly lowering the spoon from his mouth.
She grinned. "Because I'm filming you idiots."
"Hey, way harsh." Daisy stepped away from Wanda to pull bowls out of one of the cupboards. "Does this mean you don't want an ice cream brownie sundae? Cause ambush PR means no ice cream brownie sundae."
Wanda levitated another bowl out. "Should I be expecting anyone else?"
"The Buckaroo, Birdman and your idiot brother should be along. The Buckaroo switched me to decaf coffee without warning me. It's a grave betrayal so I've tasked him with hunting down the others." Darcy kicked the door shut behind her. "And I'm saving us all from more witchy pouting from assumptions of you riding a patriotic disco stick."
Daisy's face twisted up while Peter made a dying sound. "Really? Do you have to be disgusting?"
"No, but it amuses me. Also you have a Cap bobble head on your desk. If anyone finds out incorrect assumptions will be made." Darcy set her phone on the kitchen island with care. "Besides, your girlfriend was going to kill you if you kept snickering over her irritation at the polls over which Avenger you were dating."
Daisy shrugged. "It is pretty funny."
"What I want to know is why I'm not even on the list of options." Wanda grumbled while pulling out silverware.
Peter shrugged. "I don't know. I nearly got murdered in the suburbs by a guy in a metal bird suit, got saved and then suddenly everyone thought I was dating my sister. It doesn't make sense." Peter added before sticking the chocolate brownie mixing spoon into his mouth.
"It's cause you're both huggers." Darcy ticked off fingers as she went through points. "Quake is an overprotective mother hen. You cling cause everything out of her mouth is full of angst and near death misses. And it was kind of the most hysterical method of keeping your identity secret. Perils of having a civilian life that'd be fucked if your name got out. Do you enjoy not having to do classes online? Cause online college is an option." To be fair, Peter was going to be taking college classes in the afternoon starting next year.
He pouted. "You made a photo album of Spiderquake art."
"It's my duty as the plucky comedic relief and tech support character of your guys's epic superhero story." Darcy grabbed a mug out of the cupboard. "Is that homemade hot chocolate?"
Daisy laughed as she pulled ice cream out of the freezer. "Of course it is. Only way to have hot chocolate."
"Excuse me, you thought two packets of chocolate mix was the only way to do it. You called my stove version 'bizarre amount of effort for bitter weirdness'." Wanda shot a look at Darcy. "Ladle is in the second drawer to your right."
Daisy pressed a quick kiss to Wanda's cheek. "You were right, as always. And you actually put more than a sprinkle of sugar in it now."
"Americans." Wanda rolled her eyes, but she was clearly fond as she said it. Leaning into Daisy ever so slightly she brushed a light kiss against Daisy's lips.
Peter looked at Darcy. "I don't get it." He was clearly baffled and clearly considering fleeing if their sister and her girlfriend were going to start kissing properly.
"See no my question is did this hot chocolate event occur on one of your cooking dates, which thank you. Quake set my kitchen on fire twice before you two got together. Or did hot chocolate event just happen?"
Daisy snagged a floating mug and served herself hot chocolate. "Middle of the night nightmare cure. And what are you doing? Shouldn't you be doing something for PR before you pass out?"
"I am, you'd be surprised at how little of this I'm gonna need to cut." Darcy groaned as she took a sip of her hot chocolate. "If I'd just stuck you two on the couch and asked the top ten questions you'd have gone all stiff."
Wanda paused from where she was cutting the tray of brownies. "If this is the PR part why on earth are you dragging all the available Avengers in the tower to my apartment?"
"Monopoly and charades night, duh." Darcy beamed over the edge of her cup.
Peter's head snapped up. "You're my partner!"
"You don't want to be teamed up with Sam?" Darcy teased.
He dumped the bowl into the sink. "We're already going to lose to them." He gestured at Daisy and Wanda.
She nodded. "Fair, it'll be hilarious to watch Pietro and Buckaroo attempt to keep up." Darcy hummed. "We'll give them Sam and make it a team of three. Make it more fair."
"Legit evil sabotage." Daisy laughed while scooping ice cream on top of brownies in the various bowls. "What did the boyfriend do?"
Darcy tossed her hair over one shoulder. "Nothing."
"Your relationship baffles me." Daisy passed a bowl to Wanda without looking.
Darcy lowered her mug. "That reminds me, next month, the Maria Stark fundraiser, it's a masquerade and you're my date. Pietro's got work that night."
"Sure...is this so no one thinks you're cheating?" Daisy asked.
She shook her head. "Fringe benefit. You just are the best dancer after Natasha. And Spiderling you've got chocolate on your chin."
"Huh...shoot." Peter wiped at his chin before pulling his mask back down.
Daisy reached out and messed up Peter's mask. As he grumbled she sent a quake at him knocking him off the counter.
Yelping, Peter vanished over the side, his feet the last part visible before there was a thud. His voice came from the otherside. "I'll remember that!"
Wanda's red light zapped Daisy's arm. "No rough housing in the kitchen."
"Sorry." Daisy grinned at her girlfriend with absolutely no remorse. In fact she looked completely smug.
Darcy laughed at Wanda rolling her eyes as Peter's head peeked back up over the counter. This was what a night with everyone should feel like.
There was a crashing as a box of Lucky Charms fell out of a cupboard and into the tray of brownies. Everyone froze. Wanda turned slowly towards Daisy. "Really?"
"Hey, I haven't even been back for a week. Totes not mine." She was holding her hands up, but it was clear she thought this was hilarious.
"Pietro." Wanda's eyes narrowed.
Darcy snickered into her hot chocolate. "Well guess I'll be single sooner than expected."
Chapter 53: I Will Spit In Your CoffeeChapter TextSam swore as the draw four wild card was slapped on the top of the deck by a viciously unrepentant Pietro. "Fuck, betrayal cuts deep man."
"Every man for himself." Pietro replied without missing a beat. "Draw four."
He grumbled as he drew the cards. "How is the assassin the only one who feels guilt?" Sam set down a blue two.
"Thor knows, but he's still beating our asses." Darcy muttered playing a 'skip turn'.
Bucky looked far too pleased with himself. "Card games are easy."
"I know you're cheating somehow." Sam glared at the brainwashed cyborg.
Daisy's eyes were bright as she played fruit ninja on her phone while leaning against Wanda. She'd taken the ban for cheating in good humor. "He played cards in WWII France. Man's clearly a card shark."
"Was Uno even a game back then?" Peter asked, his white eye slots blinking in confusion as he played his card.
Bucky's face didn't change. "If I told you I'd have to kill you."
"Ha! You did watch the spy movies I left at your mancave!" Darcy crowed in victory. Which was the truth if the slightest upward twitch of his lips were to go by.
Sam stared at the man. "Are any of them accurate at all?"
"No." He shook his head. "Well mostly."
Daisy looked up from her phone. "Ok you know the thing where you spread out and brace yourself using your hands and feet in the top of the elevator so the bad guys don't see you? Totally thought that would work."
"It didn't work?" Peter sounded actually disappointed by that.
She shook her head. "Nope, totally thought it would. Wasn't terrible, I beat the alien assholes up anyways. But they looked up surprisingly quickly."
"Craziest thing that's worked for you stealth assholes." Sam mulishly slapped a green four on Bucky's blue one.
Bucky paused. "Dropped a flower pot on a crime boss."
"So you can do stealth missions. No grenade launchers in the middle of the highway, reaching your metal arm through the windshield and ripping the steering wheel out of a moving car." Sam wasn't bitter at all.
Bucky just stared at him like he was being unreasonable.
Daisy piped up. "I faked having a suicide bomb and back talked the Hydra asshole who had a gun on me. Told him to walk into traffic, traitorous asshole. It was kinda awesome, only had a hulk toy in that backpack I strapped to my chest. But everyone was freaking out. I think one of the Hydra office octofascists actually peed himself."
"How do you always have more bullshit stories? How!?" Darcy stared at her sister in outrage.
Daisy looked confused as she looked around. "What? It wasn't like I was that trained back then. I couldn't control a room of Hydra bastards by myself."
"It's not that surprising?" Bucky asked, looking confused at the shock several of them were showing.
"No." Sam looked between Daisy and Bucky. "We're not doing some weird angst off."
Daisy snorted. "Please, it wouldn't be a contest." She held up her hands. "I concede. Did you forget who tracked down like half the digital evidence for the trial?"
"Thank god." Sam may be her therapist, but he was not prepared for her to use her various horrifying experiences like that. Her weaponized humor could have had that going very poorly. Well poorly for everyone else's sanity, and for her ability to sleep if she dregged up old ghosts for a game. "But seriously, how are you cheating Barnes? I know you are!"
Darcy played a draw two card with a cackle of victory. She grinned. "Well I can tell you that arm isn't holding him back. I spent weeks on that thing."
"Isn't your specialty engines and astrological equipment?" Sam couldn't help but ask.
She shrugged. "Well yes, but that arm is based on earlier designs. I just used uber nice materials, and streamlined the design. Sacrificed some of the strength, but honestly that's probably for the best."
"The lawyers were pleased the arm isn't a weapon." Bucky said bluntly. "They were worried I'd still be using my old arm."
Sam stared at the man. "Imagine that." The sarcasm was impossible to miss.
"UNO!" Peter shouted with unbridled glee. "Take that!"
"God damn it!"
////
Darcy looked over the work the Wakandian princess had done the night before. "What system are you using so you can realign the neurons?"
"My own, though realigning them from polymorphic to collectively, took six hours. Even now I'm unsure of what removing the Infinity stone would do to Vision. The readings I'm getting from it are impossible according to the laws of energy." Shuri swiped over to the readings she'd been getting. "Even now that I've disconnected it, it is still communicating with his neural pathways."
Darcy stared at the numbers. "Gonna be honest, my jam is so far from this neuro-robot surgery it's not even funny. But wow. I mean is there no cohesive element to the stone?"
"None that I can detect. Which means whatever is keeping it together is possibly unmeasurable." Shuri grinned, it was all excited impishness. "At least not with what I have right now. In a few years, who knows."
Darcy pulled up the numbers on her batteries. "So theoretically if I was going to turn these into energy bombs?"
"Very toasty aliens!" Shuri's eyes lit up. "Why haven't you removed the -"
Darcy thumbed through social media as she waited for FRIDAY to finish synthesizing the new Quake suit. "So Wakanda's force field tech is legit the coolest thing I've ever seen. Next level shit."
"It really is, using vibranium to create an electrically charged magnetic field is inspired." Tony looked like he was just resisting demanding the blueprints.
She hummed. "Drool worthy. We must befriend the Princess. She's like you, brilliant in multiple fields. I'd kill to get to do a project with her after this whole end of the world thing. Get on that Poprocks. Sponsor a Wakandian thingamabob. Bribe her with SI tech. I need her as a friend."
"Or you could just invite yourself to their secret science city." Tony was squinting through magnifying lenses as he carefully adjusted the tiny pieces of his newest suit. "Other than fangirling over a different genius, which I'm hurt Spawn, did you need something?"
Darcy arched a brow as she stared at him. "Checking up on you. Which, when was the last time you showered?"
"Some of us have more important things than game night." His frown deepened as he kept...actually he might be trying to get something unstuck from a seam in the gauntlet.
She rolled her eyes. "Please, preventing mass panic. Civilians don't need to be freaking out about a nebulous 'soon' for when an alien invasion is going to get here. Also Wanda was going to fry Steve if the media settled on him as who was dating Daisy."
"What?" Tony actually looked up. He snorted at whatever he saw on her face. "It had nothing to do with trying to make your sister happy, publically leaving a heavier link between her and the Avengers and some displaced guilt over how miserable a certain Witch has been for the last three months?"
Darcy shrugged. "Ow, but fair." She waved a hand. "It's also practical and the media is eating that shit up this morning. I'm only like 60% clear on the reasoning but everyone seems pretty enamoured with them."
"Survival, like insects mimicking their predators out of self defence." Tony paused. "Should I be concerned my daughters are terrifying?"
Darcy stared at him, bemused. "Well we are yours. A certain level of natural fear is to be expected."
"Huh." He leaned back looking at her. "So Pepper and I have been talking about maybe having another little teacup person. Maybe name it after her eccentric uncle Morgan. Is that a type of thing that I should talk to you kids about first?"
She noticed the jittery nerves he was trying to hide, probably thought he had hidden. "And Pepper is interested in helping create a new Stark?"
"I think I'm convincing her." He was smug. "I had this dream, it was so real."
Darcy felt a rush of affection for her father. "Yeah? Well you'll want to tell Daisy and Peter before there's a bump. Actually before conception ideally, Daisy can feel heartbeats and will fuck with you if she realizes what's up before you tell her."
"She'd totally give a speech about how glad she was I'd never think of replacing you all." Tony bit back laughter. "Get the Kid to tear up to really hone in on maximum guilt."
Darcy nodded. "Totally. Probably get you sympathy gifts for Pepper 'cheating' on you."
"Sounds about right." Tony straightened, his back popping. "So what actually brings you to my lair?"
Darcy thrust a health shake at him. "Nutrition and demand you take a nap. We can't have the leader of the Avengers passing out. Pacing is important."
"Fine, where is the Kid? I'd expect you to have brought him. His puppy eyes are lethal. Give him a couple years and he'll be drowning in ladies."
Darcy laughed outright. "Please he's got the opposite of charm. Kid's a mess of social anxiety. Also gross. And he's on a field trip to MOMA. Or will be going on one. It's super early."
"I get how I'm responsible for you, and Daisy's such a mess it's obvious she's a Stark. Hell you've both got the charm. But the Kid is...he does his homework and does not skip school." Tony's face was amused as he took the health shake and sipped at it.
Darcy grinned. "Peter's definitely a mystery of genetics. His mom must have been some lady."
////
Amanda had felt like she was having an existential crisis since she'd woken up to the two new videos that morning. The video of a truly hilarious game of Uno, a Monopoly board being fed down a garbage disposal after some wild cheating and the honestly adorable game of charades had been great. Cute, adorable, humanizing. She'd have normally watched it a dozen times, maybe made some gifs, joined the twitter threads of other fangirls squealing about the various superheroes in it. Generally a good time. A great distraction from her shitty apartment she shared with four roommates, her course load, adult bills and chores, and her aching feet from working two jobs. Superhero drama got her through her days.
However the second video….or rather the first video. Whatever, the one of Quake and Scarlet Witch making brownie sundaes had been…..yeah she'd recognized them. She may have considered smothering herself out of sheer horror. Dear god her friend and work wife was fucking Scarlet Witch! And had been listening to her blather on and fangirl about Quake...her actual girlfriend. Kidnapped in the Middle East? That apparently was code for alien abduction.
Every step was like walking through molasses as she remembered in vivid detail the ridiculous things she'd said. Amanda screeched to a stop, the people walking behind her swearing as they dodged walking into her. She heard none of it. The adorable teenager who stopped by to say hi to Wanda….the one who was the little brother of her girlfriend…. Holyshit. That was Spiderman. He was a baby!
Amanda wished a hole would open up and swallow her. She'd said he would be hot hadn't she? Just thinking about it made her feel gross. No wonder Quake...Daisy, her name was Daisy, was actually murderous when it came to protecting him. He was a high school freshman!
Actually….Quake badass and James Bond with superpowers was named Daisy...like the pretty dainty flower. And Wanda...social justice nerd, who totally wanted to settle down with 2.5 kids and a picket fence was an Avenger. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Amanda started laughing hysterically.
Amanda grabbed Wanda's arm and hauled her into the storage room. "You're a fucking Avenger bitch?! What the fuck!"
"Oh." Wanda's head tilted to one side. And oh that slightly spaced out yet still focused look was probably mind reading. Fuck.
She raised her eyebrows. "Yes 'Oh'! And are you reading my mind?!"
"Your mind is rather shouting, but I'm not, more reading your emotions." Wanda stared at her with the oddest expression. "You're not as upset as I was expecting?"
"Not upset!?! I'm having a panic attack you asshole! You're a fucking Avenger and you didn't think to mention that? That it might be relevant information!? I've been making a fool of myself and you didn't think to let me know? What the hell!? I should be hyperventilating! I am hyperventilating in my soul! You're my friend! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WARN A BITCH!" Amanda babbled at her friend...who was an Avenger. Jesus christ what the fuck?
Wanda lunged forward and hugged her so tightly it half drove the air out of her. "I think of you as a friend too."
"Uh…" Amanda awkwardly hugged back. What was happening? "Of course we're friends. Though how I ended up friends with an Avenger I don't fucking know. I have so many questions!"
Wanda laughed as she pulled back, wiping quickly at her eyes. "Right, sorry. I just was worried you'd take it badly."
"You let me talk about who I shipped your girlfriend with!" Amanda blanched in horror at just thinking about it. "You let me talk about who I shipped her with in front of her! Oh god she has to hate me."
Wanda laughed, her eyes bright. "Daisy likes you. She thinks you're a fun person and was encouraging you to do so because she thinks it's funny to watch me twitch."
"Excuse me?" Amanda blinked at the thought her making a fool of herself hadn't made her personal hero hate her.
Wanda sighed. "Daisy is sarcastic and enjoys making people feel left footed in conversation. She also will undercut people to make them feel stupid or look incompetent. There's a difference. If she's just teasing it means she likes you. If she actually dislikes you it's...not hard to tell."
"That's not as comforting as I think you think it is." Amanda was relaxing though. Her personal hero didn't hate her. "Wait does that mean I was calling your friend a slut when I was being awful about Darcy Stark?"
Wanda's lips twitched. "Yes, but Darcy can take care of herself and was quite clear she didn't want me giving people nightmares for speaking badly of her. If she'd really wanted to make the rumors stop she could have. And you didn't really have enough information to not make terrible assumptions. Although generally it's actually weirdly fun to hear what normal people think of everything." She set her hands on Amanda's shoulders. "Breathe, you're ok. It's not that big of a deal."
"You're an Avenger!" Amanda closed her eyes and did take a big breath. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
Wanda sighed. "Maybe? I honestly was expecting you to figure it out when I ditched you with my books and then showed up on an alien spaceship fifteen minutes later."
"You don't expect your batista friend to be a superhero!" Amanda stared at her. "But...your disguise is a ponytail? That...shouldn't have worked. How does that work?"
She shrugged. "Honestly I have no idea. Daisy and Natasha talked about the fake tattoo drawing attention away from my face and the lack of red helping but...I have my accent, my name. I don't know. You're the first person to notice."
"That's...ridiculous." Amanda found herself saying.
Wanda nodded sagely. "It really is."
"We're going to get in so much trouble if we don't get out there." Amanda narrowed her eyes. "I still have some questions?"
Wanda smiled. "Yeah I can answer some questions while we work."
Amanda wiped down the baked goods case. "Ok so how did you two really meet?"
"She and her brother broke into my apartment to stage an intervention after Lagos." Wanda rolled her eyes. "I was then given a slushie and pizza while Darcy laid out a media plan and why it was important."
She laughed knowing her friend hated junk food. "Seriously?"
"They're ridiculous. The three of them are attached at the hip." Wanda's face did this adorable thing, it was all soft and full of affection. "I don't know what would have happened to me without them. It was like...this breath of fresh air. I was allowed to be myself. And Daisy is powerful enough that it was safe to use our abilities to train together. It was...they offered friendship. I think it was kind of inevitable I fell in love with her."
Amanda sighed, she'd realized having seen them the day before and in the video of them dancing in the kitchen. "You two are the disgustingly adorable and soft type of couple aren't you?"
"So I've been told." Wanda just looked amused. "But I think the type of romantic hijinks my brate and Darcy get up to must be exhausting. Shouldn't you feel safe and content with the person you are with?"
Amanda sighed. "So romantic...so jealous. This is a you thing and not a queer thing right?"
"I think it's a common sense thing. But who knows." Wanda brushed a stray curl out of her face.
Amanda frowned. "If Wakanda thinks they could help Barnes with his mental blocks and shit why doesn't he let them help?"
"He's not desperate enough to allow them into his head." Wanda sipped at her drink as they both leaned against the back counter. It was the usual lull, a few people were at tables, but no one was really paying them any attention. And they wouldn't unless they wanted more. In another hour business would pick up. For now though they had the chance to take it easy.
Amanda nodded slowly as she considered that. "And there is the trial still. I guess that makes sense." Her head tilted. "So ok, does this mean we can actually have study breaks in your apartment and not the public library now? Cause I need snackage while I study and my apartment is a cesspit and that librarian hates me."
"Yes, but I think you're going to have to finish the shift on your own." Wanda started untying her apron.
She frowned. "Wait, what? Why?"
"There's screaming people in the streets." Wanda set her apron down and undid her ponytail.
Amanda's head snapped forward. She stared at the panicked people running past the glass front of the building. "Fuck." She stepped forward grabbing the baseball bat out from under the counter. "ATTENTION CUSTOMERS! You may take refuge in the store room! BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T BREAK THE SNACK MACHINE BACK THERE OR I'LL SPIT IN YOUR COFFEE!"
"I'm glad you befriended me." Wanda smiled, her eyes amused. And then she was striding past panicked coffee customers and out into the street. Then instead of running with everyone else she took off at a jog towards whatever was sending screaming people past their window.
Amanda groaned. "Does anyone know what we're dealing with?"
"Uh…" One of their regulars Katie held up her cellphone. "Twitter says a giant space ship that looks kinda like a metal donut….is Wanda going to be ok? Why did she just run towards the danger?"
She kind of felt like laughing at that. "Wanda will be fine. Now help me get the curtains down. I don't want to have to clean up broken glass." So her kinda maybe best friend was an Avenger off to go Avenging. It was New York and aliens were real. Weirder things were happening.
Chapter 54: And It BeginsNotes:Sup! I watched Infinity War again for you guys. I was reminded of how much I hate it with every fiber of my being. Its bad guys. But in this chapter unfortunately there is a lot of dialogue from said movie, or at least in mirror of that film even if the further you get the less closely it follows the movie. Fear not, this is the only chapter in this whole damn fic where I actually use proper dialogue from the movie. I hate doing that. But in this case needed.
Chapter TextTony jogged lightly besides Pepper. "So I've been thinking, we should get married. I mean we're talking kid. Seems like the thing to do."
"Oh we should, should we?" Pepper did that thing that was a head nod and shake at the same time she did when fond and exasperated. It was one of his favorite looks on her face. "Is this a proposal?"
He bounced slightly as they stepped to the side off the path in the park. "It could be? Think about it, us, brilliant baby we make, its older siblings babysit."
"Hmm...sounds nice." Pepper raised a brow. "Already making reservations?"
Tony sensed the trap there, thank god for having daughters who were happy to inform him when he was about to stick his foot in it. "Of course not, I hear planning weddings is a thing brides like to do."
"Oh is it?" Pepper sighed. "Tony are you sure this isn't some getting your affairs in order in case Thanos wins?" She tapped at the arch reactor attached to his chest. "If you really wanted the future you say you do you wouldn't be wearing this 100% of the time. You wouldn't be making new suits all day long."
He used his arms as he talked. "It's for us, protection for if something happens. And you've met the spawn."
"And I love you for how involved you are with your kids." Pepper laid a hand on his shoulder.
He loved this woman, and leaving her alone with Darcy would have her agreeing to marry him. Probably. Either way he was winning. Tony pulled her to him, kissing her reverently. She was his person after all.
Tony was not happy at the sound of something right next to them. He turned, gently pushing Pepper a step behind him, as literal golden portal opened up and a fucking wizard stepped out.
The wizard spoke like he should be taken seriously. "Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me."
"I'm sorry, you giving tickets or something. Cause I already have a witch. Not interested in making that a matched set."
Weird wizard man didn't even have the decency to look insulted, put out or even affected. "We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake."
"The fate of the universe is always at stake." Tony waved off. He paused. "And who's 'we'?"
There was movement on the other side of the portal. And then Bruce shuffled out. "Hey, Tony."
"Bruce." Tony glanced at Pepper. Clearly they'd both noticed the man looked like shit.
Bruce's voice was weaker than he remembered it as he spoke. "Pepper."
"Hi?" Pepper was trying to communicate something to Tony. It was good she didn't have heels on or she'd have stepped on his toes with them.
Tony took a step forward, partially out of concern and partially out of self preservation. "You ok?"
Bruce stepped forward, straight into him. Tony froze as he was hugged. They were not hugging friends, this wasn't something they did. But he wasn't an idiot. He knew how bad it had to be for Bruce to be this traumatized. Because that's what this was, trauma. "Uh...ok buddy." He patted his friend's back. Fuck.
Tony waved at the magic light show. "Right, we know about the Infinity Stones. Asgardians were informative. Also we have one. We have a whole plan involving them. Are you saying you've just had the Time one this whole time? Cause that would have been nice to know."
"I'm its protector." Wizard Strange looked like he was confused. "You are taking this surprisingly well? Do you understand who Thanos is?"
Tony felt smug as he raised a brow. "Asgardians in my tower. Did you miss the Spidervid, that broadcast to the planet that we're going to be invaded? The Mind Stone is hiding in a multinational military trap designed to turn aliens into mincemeat. It's the biggest news story other than Scarletquake. Do you not get reception to any news channel? Is it against your magic religion?"
"We get the news just fine." The other wizard, Wong, replied.
Tony stared at him. "Really, not talking to you crazier wizard. Did you rescue him from the mountains?" Actually not a mention of the stereotypical asian monk of magic martial arts or whatever. Growth. Or healthy fear of his daughters. He liked to think both.
"Tony!" Bruce interrupted. "We don't have time for this. He has the Power and Space Stones. That makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six Stones, Tony…"
"He can destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of." Strange finished.
Tony leaned against a cauldron thing. "Two things. One, did you just say "hitherto undreamt of"? And two why don't you just bop off to Russia where the army and half the Avengers are and make our trap for the Mad Titan twice as tempting?"
"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Strange glared pointedly at where Tony was leaning against a cauldron.
He glanced at the cauldron. "Is that what this is?" Tony shook himself out of it. "The point is we're already getting ready for Thanos. An update to the timeline of when to expect him would be nice. So why don't you skedaddle to go further bait the trap. You can protect your magic rock while freezing your magic fingers off. A bunch of angry Russians, Americans, Canadians, Wakandians, French, Chinese and a half dozen other nationalities all united by their agreed on distrust of Romanoff. And they can unleash that angst in the form of bullets at the aliens."
"Tony, guns won't stop him." Bruce looked genuinely distraught.
Tony awkwardly patted his friend on the shoulder. "Half the Avengers are there. The rest of us are one science portal away from joining in. Not to mention the actually terrifying bombs." He looked at the wizards. "So go, fly away on your broomsticks or whatever. Join the team, just do it before you bring the alien invasion to New York instead of bumfuck nowhere Siberia."
"The army can't stop him. Asgard couldn't stop him. Thor, Loki, Hulk, all of them couldn't stop him." Bruce's arms moved with his conviction and helplessness. "We need more than the army."
Tony paused as he noticed the wizard's hair moving. "Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair would you?"
Eyes moving to the fluttering lock of hair, Strange's demeanor shifted ever so slightly. "Not at the moment, no."
They all looked up through the giant hole blown in the ceiling. Tony felt like he'd swallowed a rock as he saw the debris flying in the sky above the hole. It was like a magnetic updraft was being created. Ignoring everyone else, Tony made his way straight out the door. As he reached the street he took in the chaos.
Civilians running and screaming, traffic was a snarled mess of horns, abandoned vehicles and minor accidents creating a gridlock that would take days to fix. An unnatural wind blowing down the street. A woman nearly crashed into him as she fell to the ground. Tony automatically helped the woman to her feet. "You okay?"
She didn't answer just booking it the moment her feet were back under her. Not that he could blame her.
Tony slid his sunglasses onto his face. "FRIDAY, what am I looking at?"
-Not sure, I'm working on it.-
Tony glanced over his shoulder at Strange. "Hey! You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket Doc!"
"I might want to use it." Strange replied, magical thingamabobs lighting up around his arms. If Tony's daughter wasn't dating a witch he might have said more about it. It was still tempting.
Turning the corner at the intersection Tony could see the huge circular ship floating just over the street. He winced, oh that had a recipe of bad all over it. Especially if his kids decided to punch it. The hum of alien mechanics holding the ship aloft filled the street. It looked like that timetable of 'soon' just became 'now'. "FRIDAY, evac anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders."
-Will do.-
Strange moved, his arms doing something nonsensical and then a great gust of orange tinted magic swept upwards, calming the wind from the ship.
Tony gave the man an amused look. He didn't particularly have time to say much though as a beam of light hit the street...well, here came the evil aliens.
////
Bruce was having an objectively terrible day. Possibly the worst of his entire life, it was right up there with the first few weeks as Hulk. He swallowed, his mouth dry as the alien disciples of Thanos beamed onto the street. The wheedling madness of the outspoken disciple was audible in its voice. "Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to-"
Tony, because of course he did, interrupted the psychopathic alien. "I'm sorry, Earth is closed today! You better pack it up and get outta here."
If the alien had a human nose he'd have been looking down it at them. He actually ignored Tony, looking at Dr Strange pointedly. His hands clasped before him. "Stonekeeper...Does this chattering animal speak for you?"
"Certainly not. I speak for myself. But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Magic lit up around Dr Strange's arms. It should have been comforting to hear these two powerful men standing strong in the face of the Children of Thanos. Having seen the devastation the Children brought it wasn't comforting to Bruce.
"It means get lost Squidward!" Tony was clearly irritated at being ignored.
The Child of Thanos's eyes seemed to stare into the distance. "He exhausts me."
The large, hulking Child of Thanos, in sleek armor with a lethal looking hammer spoke. It was inhuman and Bruce hadn't the faintest idea what it meant.
"Bring me the Stone." The articulate Child commanded.
Bruce twitched as that awful hammer dropped to the ground and the hulking alien began to move forward.
"Banner, you want a piece?" Tony's voice was tight with tension.
He felt a shiver of terror seeing the Children who had ripped the fleet apart. "No, not really. But when do I ever get what I want?" Bruce ignored whatever Tony said next, just focusing on forcing out the Hulk. Usually there was a thin membrane, barely keeping the rage and ever fighting presence just waiting to break through. It was just giving in, stopping the fight to hold control and letting the inevitable happen.
This time though...nothing happened. The Hulk felt like a cold bur of indigestion curled in on itself. Bruce fought and dragged, desperately trying to pull it out, he felt it, and then it snapped back into him, leaving him painfully vulnerable and not green.
"Been a while. Good to have you, buddy." Tony called.
Bruce panted. "I just...I need to concentrate here for one second." He didn't care that he was talking to himself. He needed the Hulk before whatever that awful creature coming for them got there. "Come on, come on, man."
"Where's your guy?" Tony had the slightest tension of 'hurry up' in his voice.
Bruce would have run his hands through his hair in sheer frustration if he hadn't been so terrified. "I don't know! We've sorta been having a thing."
"There's no time for a thing or my daughter is going to break doctor's orders to come punch it. I will get yelled at if she tears her stitches." Tony actually sounded alarmed under his bravado.
"I know there's no time!" Bruce's face scrunched up and his head snapped to Tony. "Daughter?!"
"It's been a minute since we caught up." Tony's voice changed pitch. "That's the thing right there! Let's go, catch up later."
Bruce really tried to force Hulk out of the dark corner he was curled up in. Nothing happened.
"Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards." Tony muttered at him.
Bruce felt shame curling inside of him. "Tony, I'm sorry." He felt at a loss of words. "Either I can't or he won't…"
"It's okay. I'll just have to handle it." Tony glanced at Wong. "Keep an eye on him. Thank you."
Wong gave the slightest of nods. "I have him."
Bruce swore, and then watched...well Tony'd been busy. Holy shit. And then it was chaos till Dr Strange was turning to him. "Dr Banner, if your green friend won't be joining us…" And then dumped him through a portal, Bruce's back hitting the soft ground of a park. Bruce blinked at the change in location. He was not used to that.
He could still hear the sounds of the fight. And just over the tops of the buildings he could see the light from magic, and the occasional Ironsuit blast. Bruce scrambled to his feet. He was barely up when Tony came flying through an apartment building. And skidding to a halt in a furrow made by the force of the suit. It was the tree he slammed into that actually stopped him.
"Tony, are you ok?" Bruce rushed to his friend. He couldn't lose another. "How we doing? Good? Bad?" Please let it be good, he couldn't survive more of his friends dying in front of him.
Tony's voice came out mechanical through the suit, the sarcasm was still audible regardless. "Really, really good. Do you plan on helping out?"
"I'm trying. He won't come out." Bruce felt like pulling his hair out. How did people without Hulks survive these things without heart attacks from the stress?
And then the massive hammer wielding Child of Thanos was there and it was chaos again.
Bruce wondered if he could bruise if Hulk didn't come out? He didn't wonder for long as he ducked out of the way of an energy beam. His chest ached like he had some cracked ribs from where Tony had tossed him.
He began to slap himself. "Come on Hulk! What are you doing to me?" Bruce winced from the pain, it'd been so long since he'd been able to feel normal pain without Hulk coming out. "Come out! Come out! Come out!"
Hulk roared, poking out ever so slightly. "Noooooooo!"
Bruce collapsed back into the wreckage that had been a tree. Huh….so that's where the tree had gotten to. He stared at the sky. "What do you mean 'no'!?"
Tony was knocked into the ground hard. The creature raised its hammer for another hit. One that would almost certainly do real damage to the suit and the man inside. Bruce felt his throat closing in panic. And then the hammer stopped abruptly.
A figure in a red and blue suit stood between Ironman and the alien. He was holding the hammer, had physically caught it like it was nothing. "Hey guys. What's up Poprocks?"
"Shouldn't you be on your field trip to MoMA? Your aunt is going to kill me?" Tony replied as he righted himself.
The suited stranger's large white eyes looked at the alien. "What's this guy's problem?" His question trailed off into a yelp as he was snagged and then chucked to the side by the Child of Thanos.
Then the air itself shook and a figure in a black suit came crashing down on top of the Child of Thanos with a Boom! The ground cratered beneath them. The Child's chest physically caved in. It's innards leaking out like paste as the newest arrival pulled their fist out of its chest. The figure was clearly a woman now that she was standing and not a descending blur of furry. "What's the situation?"
"DON'T PUNCH THE SPACESHIP!" Tony flew over, his mask snapping up. "Are you ok to fight? Did you pull any stitches?"
The woman raised a brow. "I'm fine. What's the situation Poprocks?"
Tony's face twitched, but he straightened. "Toothpaste there is from space." He gestured to the very, very dead Child of Thanos. "He came here to steal a necklace with an Infinity Stone in it from a wizard." Tony pointed at the ship. "If you quake the spaceship it will explode and take half the neighborhood."
Bruce opened and shut his mouth as he mouthed the word 'Poprocks'. He also was horrified by the idea of someone with enough power to be able to take down the entire space ship with a single punch...as well as the fact she'd just crushed a Child of Thanos like a bug. Sure there was the element of surprise. But still…
"Got it, Wanda and Pietro were headed for the magic." The woman in black turned towards the street that had just lit up bright red. "I think they're good." She turned back to Tony. "What's the plan?"
Tony's entire helmet folded away from his head. "We need a locating signal on that ship. Your sister can run a test with her clean energy nuke replacements once it's out of orbit."
"Got it!" The guy in the spider? suit, leapt up, shot actual spider webbing and then went flying off towards the ship.
Tony huffed. "Children."
"So second Infinity Stone on earth?" The woman dragged the conversation back on point.
He gave a sharp nod. "Apparently earth has wizards with time powers. A wizard we are going to bundle up and send straight to Russia as soon as that spaceship is gone."
"Right." The woman glanced at the street that was very much no longer lit with bright red light. "Shall we?"
Tony smirked, but waived her towards Bruce. "Offspring this is Bruce, Avenger, part time mean green rage machine. Though apparently he's having performance issues today. Bruce, this is my daughter Quake."
"You have a daughter?" Bruce's voice was rather strangled. His brain had quite frankly stalled out around the time the creature he was terrified of was stomped into paste by a person in a Spidersuit and this Quake.
Quake's grin was eerily familiar. "Nice to meet you. Have to say that's too bad about the performance issues. I was looking forward to meeting the Hulk."
"Uh…" Bruce was actually unsure if that would be safe or not….His eyes flickered to the crater and then back to Quake. "You're Tony's daughter?"
She laughed, but nodded. "Yup, old man here had some condom fails in his lifetime. So it's not just me. The kid who was just here is Spiderman and he's Tony's as well as our older sister who is in the tower."
Tony looked positively smug as his helmet reformed over his head. "I've got the best kids naturally."
"Naturally." Quake replied dryly. "Come on, I believe we have a wizard to gift wrap for Russia and a spaceship to send back home."
"I...I wasn't gone that long?" Bruce stumbled along as they started walking back towards the street where it'd all started. "Did you know before?"
Tony's suit propulsores turned on, causing him to hover slightly. His apparent daughter easily hooking her arm around his shoulders to hang on. "I didn't know I had spawn when you left. But you know me, should have assumed." He grabbed Bruce by the back of the jacket like a misbehaving kitten and flew them all over to the scene of what looked like a fight that had ended as decisively as theirs.
Standing there with her arms crossed was Wanda from Sokovia. She was apparently arguing with Dr Strange. Eating popsicles that had come from somewhere, was Pietro and Wong. Apparently they were ok with watching said argument. At the feet of the wizard and witch was the decapitated body of the magical Child of Thanos.
Bruce was boggled, he knew he'd be having nightmares about that particular Child of Thanos for the rest of his life. But there he was. Dead. Very, very dead. "What is happening?"
"You get used to it." Quake offered unhelpfully before unhooking her arm from around Tony's shoulders and dropping to the ground. She loped across the street to Wanda and kissed her cheek. "So you're the wizard? Did you not get the news everyone was preparing for Thanos? Cause magical support other than Wanda here would have been nice to know about."
Dr Strange raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so I've been informed. I wasn't aware there was a mailing list."
"I hear we have cookies." Quake grinned, ignoring the way Wanda was fondly rolling her eyes. "So magic Infinity Stone. Why's it on earth?"
Dr Strange sighed. "Because we're the protectors of this reality and have been entrusted with its care."
Tony cut in as he landed, letting Bruce drop to the ground as well. His face mask slid up. He looked pointedly at where the spaceship was flying away, the Spiderperson perched on top of a nearby roof. "Thoughts on aggressive defence?"
"Well, when you ask nicely." Dr Strange replied dryly.
Tony grinned. "Excellent, so thoughts on our new timetable?"
////
Darcy felt slightly like cackling. She high fived Bucky, she'd trained him well. "Let's hope this at least gives Thanos a very bad day."
"I'm sure a spaceship blowing up when it lands will be a net negative." Jane replied from where she was inputting new data as they tracked the course the ship was moving with their new instruments. "We're going to need deep space relay stations."
Darcy frowned. "That's so going to take some inter-galaxy political negotiation." She groaned. "Have we lost it yet?"
"It just made a jump." Jane frowned as she switched machines. "And I think the jump just set off your bomb."
Darcy grabbed the screen and dragged it towards her. "Fuck, you're right. So shitty portals upset the stasis of the arch-bombs. Less of a bad day than planned, oh well. He still lost a ship."
"And two assets." Bucky pointed out, because he was the best.
Darcy nodded sagely. "Yeah, I'm real glad Daisy's my sister and Wanda's not a bad guy cause uh...supes scary."
Bucky opened his mouth, likely to point out some depressing method of neutralizing either or both of them. He wisely closed it. But his expression said his thoughts had been murder and he'd realized the mistake mentioning that would be.
Darcy patted him on the shoulder in acknowledgment of him not saying anything. "Did we get any readings on what they're using for their portals?"
"Same as the Chronicoms." Jane's voice was full of disgust as she went off on a tangent of how unsafe and horrifying their portal technology was.