28 Chapter 28

My Quinjet had been heavily modified. I'd spent a few hours as Jury Rigg working on the internals of it, the engines, the tech, even turning the rotors into repulsor engines like on the Insight Helicarriers. I'd also added the Omnitrix logo on the side because brand recognition was important. Then I'd Upgraded it (pun totally intended), giving it the black sheen with green circuitry I gave all my creations once Upgrade did his work.

My Quinjet could fly in space or under the ocean for a limited amount of time, allowing me to go to the moon for at least a couple of days if need be. It had anti-gravity, force fields, laser guns, repulsor beams, AI functionality so I could bring X along with me wherever I fought, extra arc reactors in case the power source I'd created broke down, the quantum communications all of us Avengers had, and security so it could only be activated with an Omnitrix user or Avenger's authorization. I also included stealth tech, optical cloaking, thermal heatsinks, and sonic mufflers to make it quiet. I hadn't been able to do everything I wanted with it, since there are limits to how much you can stuff in such a small space, but it was good practice for later. It even had a fridge in the back for snacks. It was sweet as hell.

And Hawkeye and Bobbi were backseat flying.

"Let up on the throttle," Clint said as I flew us back. "You need to take some time to really learn how to fly her, you won't always be flying from point A to point B, so we should practice your maneuvers for combat."

"Well, don't go that slowly," Bobbi said, the blonde leaning over my seat. "You'll need to move pretty quick to dodge attacks."

"Dodge?" I asked, guiding the Quinjet in between two buildings. "You realize the only weapons that can take down my baby exist in space, right?"

"Don't get cocky," Hawkeye said. "And try going under the bridge over there."

With an annoyed sigh, I dove towards the street, pulling about twenty feet over it and going under the bridge.

"You two realize he's driving us home, right?" Sam asked from the back.

"Just keep drinking your beer," Clint said easily. Sam sipped at it, having gotten the drink from Creel, apparently.

I grunted at that and turned the handle so I went towards a nearby river. I guided the ship to go underwater, and turned on the lights. Some fishes swam away as we passed. With another turn, I lifted into the air, then hit the throttle. Soon, we were at the very ends of speeds that could be considered Mach.

"Look, you two clearly want a turn flying the Defiant, so-"

"Oh come on," Clint said, sounding very put out as I rose up. "We're not-"

"No, I wanted to try," Bobbi said hurriedly, rushing into the seat.

"Bobbi!" Clint said, pretending to sound shocked, though the grin on his face made it clear he was in agreement.

I walked into the back, where Sam and Rhodey were kicking back. Hartley, Creel, Bucky, Steve, Natasha, and Bruce were there as well, Bruce walking up as I joined Rhodey and Sam.

"It was a good mission, right?" I asked. "I mean, less crazy then my first Avengers mission."

"Less than mine too," Bruce admitted, smiling.

"Hey, my first Avenger's mission was yours," Sam said. "But I liked that one better. Less press."

"Ah come on, Fearless Leader," Rhodey said with a grin. "The press loves you."

"Yeah, right up until the next giant explosion," Sam leaned back in his chair. "But yeah, felt good to fight HYDRA."

"I'm just wondering how they're circumnavigating X and Jarvis," Bruce said. "They've both been hunting HYDRA, but Whitehall is the first big fish we've been able to find."

"...Sterns," I said. Rhodey and Bruce looked at me, Sam sipping his beer. "You read the files we were given right? He's the Hulk of brains, y'know. I think he's been helping HYDRA fight off Jarvis and X."

Bruce frowned. "You really think he's helping HYDRA? I mean, he was... eccentric, really eccentric, but he never struck me as evil."

"And Emil Blonsky was a war hero," Rhodey reminded Bruce.

Bruce looked away at that, looking visibly ashamed.

"Hey, it's not your fault, Bruce," I said. "For all we know, Sterns is under duress. And Blonsky was unstable before he got injected with your blood."

"..." Bruce turned and walked away.

Saddened by Bruce's lack of a response, I turned to a nearby computer screen on the wall and tapped it, accessing the quantum comms. "Hey Tony, we're on our way back."

Tony showed up on the screen. "What, is Steve driving like an old man again, what's taking you guys so long?"

"I'm not even talking to you!" Steve protested from the back.

"No, I was flying," I said, rolling my eyes. "You get it set up?"

"Mostly," Tony said, becoming serious again. "Fitz and I have done most of it, but Jury Rigg isn't so great with precision. Also, why does this thing keep randomly giving everyone that stays around it too long a random dye job?"

I winced. "Um, that should wear off in a day or so."

"I hope so!" Happy walked into view, glaring at me, and I choked back a laugh. He had bright blue hair now, which looked ridiculous. Mostly because it glowed. "Is this radioactive?" he asked concerned.

"Happy, we already tested it, you're fine," Tony said dismissively.

"I have a date tonight!" Happy complained.

"You have a date? And didn't come to me about it!?" Tony said, acting as if the news was some great betrayal.

"I can probably make something-" I began to say.

"No!" Happy pointed at me. "The next time I trust something you make, it'll be too soon! I still think Pepper shouldn't even use that armor you made her."

I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, I'll land the Quinjet at headquarters and Bruce and I will work on the final designs before we start making them."

"This'll be fun!" Tony said, grinning. "Be good to update everyone's wardrobe."

I looked down at my costume and nodded. As cool as it was, I needed an upgrade. Uh, no pun intended this time.

Days before, January 15th, 2014

It was only a couple minutes more before we got to the newly named Avengers Tower. Hovering over the tower was an Insight Helicarrier, renamed Enterprise. And yes, I'd been the one to suggest the name. It made for quite a sight, a massive helicarrier floating over the city of New York. Even with its optical cloak on its bottom, people could still see the shimmer if they looked long enough. I brought the Defiant in towards the Enterprise.

"Nice and gentle," Clint said, calm as a cucumber. I brought my baby towards the flight deck, letting up on the throttle, lowering Defiant until she touched down. There was a shake as she settled, then I turned her off, clicking some buttons real fast. "Nice job. You learn quick."

"Yeah, well, my relationship with Defiant is closer than most," I said with a grin, rising out of my seat.

"That just sounds wrong," Clint groaned, laughing.

Everyone began to get off and when the doors opened I saw that the other vehicles from the raid hadn't caught up just yet. "X, any issues with the transport of Whitehall and his people?"

"No sir, everyone will be arriving on schedule, barring the soldiers and personnel marked to be given to the US military."

"Thanks, X," I said warmly. "How went your movie watching, buddy?"

"You were correct, Chopping Mall was hilarious and very goofy. There was no logic to the film, but I still enjoyed it," X confessed. "I will be playing the video games you mentioned once I am finished with the movies."

"Kinda jealous of how quick you are," I said with a grin.

"We all have our advantages in life," X said, and I could almost hear the grin in his voice. At some point, X had developed a sense of humor. Tony was so damn proud when he found out.

We went through the Enterprise's main door, which slid up as we walked with a classic 'hiss', and all of us walked together to the research lab at the bottom of the ship. It took a lot of engineers to turn that glass bubble on the bottom into a metal one, with a few windows left, but most importantly several floors of research and development. Important for the future missions it would be undertaking.

Everyone split up to go various directions throughout the helicarrier, leaving me and Bruce on our own to go visit Tony. We entered the labs, where Fitz-Simmons were working with Skye. I couldn't see Tony, but I could see the machine I'd created with the group resting in the center of the room.

It was a large rectangular machine, as tall as Fitz was and as long as a Diamondhead would have been lying down. The center of it was clear, and Fitz was messing with one of the side panels. Simmons was typing at a tablet as she roamed around the room, while Skye was at a computer. When we walked in, the three looked up at us, and all smiled beautifully. Seriously, why is everyone in this universe so photogenic except me?

"How'd the mission go?" Skye asked as Bruce and I walked in.

"Bad guys arrested or dead," I said, walking over to her to look at her screen.

"Well, that's good," Simmons said, blinking at my bluntness. "Um, Doctor Banner, did you have to-"

"No, no I um," Bruce rubbed his hands nervously. "I didn't have to. Where's Tony?"

"Right here," Tony said from somewhere in the room. I looked around briefly, confused. Skye tapped my shoulder with a cough and pointed at the machine. When I looked at it uncomprehending for a second, she pointed at the bottom of the machine, where a pair of legs were poking out from under it wearing blue jeans and sneakers.

"Ah," I looked at Skye, who grinned. "Okay, how's the programming going, Skye?"

"Considering I'm dealing with alien tech?" she asked. "Pretty good, I think. I'm still trying to figure out why it keeps changing everyone's hair color."

"Oh, yes!" Simmons suddenly spun to look at me, her eyes bright. "How does that work? Somehow it's been literally changing peoples DNA to give them hairstyles that simply aren't possible for humans, and I've been trying to discover the process by which it does it."

"Hell if I know," I admitted. "I'm only smart as the alien I turn into. You want to ask me about video games and movies, I'm in, you want to learn how to do a squat, hell yes, but I know nothing about how or why this stuff works."

Skye scoffed, pushing me away from her computer playfully. "Why are you even asking about the programming then?"

"Because I'm a curious guy," I answered, letting her push me away. "Fitz, we good?"

"Hm?" Fitz looked up at me, confused, before nodding. "Oh, yes I've been going over everything with Mr. Stark, and it should be working perfectly. As long as Skye can program them correctly, the catoms will be able to interact perfectly with each other."

"Well," Tony pulled himself out from under the machine. "Okay, kid here's what we got."

The billionaire walked around the machine. "Claytronics, making tiny nanomachines that can change shape and meld to turn into different objects with different functions. I was playing around with the concept for a while," Tony waved at the machine. "But with all of us, I think we can go next level with it. Jarvis, X, Skye, and I have been working at the programming, and Fitz and I having been working with Jury Rigg to make this thing work. We hit a snag though, trying to discover a power source that would be able to get mass produced. I can't just hand every guy I know an Arc Reactor."

"So what did you do?" I asked.

"I used the Quantum comms for inspiration," Tony grinned. "Seriously kid, that red gremlin of yours is magic."

"Well, not magic," Fitz replied, striding over to me as he opened a panel and pointed inside of it. I leaned in to see two arc reactors hooked up to a center device. "But using quantum entanglement, we've developed a way for the catoms to store a massive amount of energy, without any energy lost or wasted during charge or discharge," Fitz grinned. "It's really been a huge breakthrough! We might have solved so many issues with power, I mean, the sky's the limit from here!"

"Calm down, Ross," Tony said, sounding amused.

"What about the items themselves?" Bruce asked. "Did you figure out how to make all the bells and whistles work in them?"

"Oh yes, one hundred percent," Simmons said, walking towards us. "We just need a blueprint, and the Claytronics Object Creator will do its work. Well, as long as it stops changing everyone's hair color... Um, Fitz?" Simmons said, holding back giggle.

I looked over at him only to have to hold back a laugh. Tony grinned, and Bruce hid his own smile as Skye laughed.

"Hm?" Fitz looked around at us before his face fell. "Oh come on!" He rushed over to a window and stared at his reflection. His usual brown locks had turned into a magnificent red that shifted into blue at the roots, the colors flickering so that it looked like his hair was on fire. "How!?"

"Fascinating," Simmons and Bruce said in unison. I sighed, tapping the Omnitrix.

"Upgrade!"

"I'll see what I can do to make it work," I said, merging the Claytronics Object Creator.

Jury Rigg really loved playing games man.

It was about noon or so when we'd taken down Whitehall, and when the work on the Claytronics Object Creator was finished it was around seven PM. Jarvis and X would work on the programming while the rest of us went to get something to eat. I went to the cafeteria and got a tray of food, eating quickly before heading over to the locker room to get changed for training.

The room set up for training had once been decorated with a very blatant HYDRA symbol on one wall, tentacles and all. Which... I mean, how had no one noticed? Now it had been replaced with the BRIDGE logo. Half the room was covered in mats, with some boxing bags and other martial arts tools set up. The other half was set up with weights and machines for lifting.

I walked into the room in green shorts and a black t-shirt. Thankfully there were a bunch of extra t-shirts and other clothes from SHIELD, so I had a wardrobe again. Natasha was waiting for me when I got there, Steve bench-pressing at the other side as Sam ran on a treadmill, all of them wearing workout gear.

Natasha smiled when I entered, the red-headed superhero dressed in a black tank-top and red shorts. "You ready?"

"To get my ass kicked by one of the best assassins in the world?" I asked. Natasha gave me a slow smirk, striding barefoot across the mat to grab some handwraps and toss them to me. As I put them on, she did the same.

"Actually, it's not just me," Natasha said.

A loud bang came from behind me. I turned to see Steve rising from the bench press, where about five hundred pounds had been set up. Apparently, it was a light day. Sam hopped off the treadmill, and the two of them came over to join us.

"What, you guys are in on this?"

Sam grinned. "Hey man, I'm here to get my ass kicked too."

"Yes, the former soldier is in trouble," I grunted, Sam chuckling. I put on my handwraps and punched my fists together. "Okay then. Let's do this."

"Ow, ow, ow," I grunted two hours later as Steve held an ice pack to my eye. He'd given me a hell of a right hook, and now I was sitting on a wooden bench as Natasha and Sam continued training.

"Sorry about that," Steve said, wincing.

"Well I did get in a fight with a super-soldier," I said, watching Sam and Natasha spar while Steve helped me out. "I should have expected a few wounds. Just gonna be glad nothing is broken."

"Still, I should have been more careful," Steve sat down on the bench next to me.

"I'll be all right," I said simply, breathing heavily.

Steve and Natasha had been pushing Sam and me hard. We were technically the most 'normal' in our group, being normal humans without our equipment. Sam was a trained soldier of course, but I was just a normal weightlifter, and neither of us had been trained to rip people in half with a lollipop the way most of the other Avengers had been. So they'd switched us between weightlifting and sparring, teaching us as quickly as possible while forcing us to keep moving. Crossfit had just become a thing in my world, but Steve and Natasha had mastered it in this one. The workout that forced you to lift weights and move quickly all at once, in other words, the workout made for superheroics. Good lord, I was not a fan, and I was damn sore at this point.

Sam was bouncing on his heels now, facing Natasha with a bit of nervousness in his eyes. Natasha was eyeing with a pleased look in her eyes.

"...Funny," I said suddenly. "This is how I started with you guys. Me, Sam, Natasha, and you."

Steve blinked at that, then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it was... Thank you, again," when I looked at him, he smiled. "For everything. I've got Buck back. Everything else was worth it from there."

I patted his shoulder, wincing at my sore muscles but finishing the move. "Of course. What are friends for, right?"

Steve smiled at that, then rose from the bench. "Okay, ready to go again?"

I groaned, but put away the ice pack and rose up, raising my hands in front of my face. "Okay. Let's do it."

Steve stepped forward, hands raised as well. Seconds later, a lightning-quick fist landed in my stomach, and I was waving a fist vaguely in Steve's direction while struggling to breathe as he showed me how to fight in the simplest ways possible.

Later that night, I had dinner in the cafeteria. I was sitting at a table in the back when two people came over to sit across from me, and one next to me. I looked up at them, my forkful of spaghetti halfway to my mouth. Bobbi and Hartley sat across from me. When I looked beside me, it was Mack, the tall and black engineer of the Iliad with enough muscles to give Creel and Steve a run for their money.

"Don't let us stop you," Bobbi said, noting how I'd stopped.

"I'm not," I put my spaghetti in my mouth and chewed, swallowing after a bit. "I was just seeing who'd joined me."

Hartley chuckled. "Well, we wanted to get to know you, since we're all Avengers and all."

"Not me," Mack said, raising a Philly cheese-steak up in his hands. "I'm sticking with the Iliad. Y'all can stay here on the crazy house."

"Doesn't the Iliad have an alien artifact housed in its belly?" I asked.

Mack froze, then shrugged. "It's locked up."

"Yay," I twirled a finger. "As one of the people who is supposed to be studying that thing one day, I'm happy to hear it."

"Yeah, you've got a lot on your plate, don't you?" Bobbi asked. "Creating tools for everyone, Avenging, and I heard you were planning on going on patrol with Iron Man tomorrow? Seriously, you're kinda everywhere."

"That's the benefit and the curse of the Omnitrix," I said around a mouthful of noodles and sauce. "All the power, and all the responsibility to go with it."

"Sounds stressful," Mack noted.

"Nah, you see the things he can do with that thing?" Hartley asked, staring at the Omnitrix. "Probably worth it."

"What, that doesn't freak you out?" Mack asked. "Changing your DNA every five seconds, turning into giant monsters?" He shuddered. "No thanks."

"Hell, I'd love to try," Bobbi said, grinning.

"Not happening," I swallowed my food. "This is the only thing that makes me special around here. I'm leaving it on forever."

"Aw, it's cute you're so possessive of it," Hartley patted me on the cheek, chuckling when I brushed her off.

"Anyways," I said quickly. "What did you guys think of your first Avengers mission?"

Bobbi and Hartley shared a look.

"...It was weird," Bobbi finally said thoughtfully. "I thought it would be a lot like being an agent, but having that much superpowered support made it kind of... relaxed? Like I didn't have to worry as much about getting hurt."

"Kind of ruined the fun for me," Hartley noted, flicking the steak knife in her hand at a high speed. "I mean, I like a good fight, but knowing the bad guys have no chance kind of ruined it."

"Well, just wait," I grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Mack asked.

I looked up to see them all looking at me. I thought for a moment before sighing. "Okay, so... we only got Whitehall due to General Hale telling us about him. Before that, someone was keeping him secret, despite two AI and the entire world looking for HYDRA."

"Maybe your AI malfunctioned?" Mack asked. He was apparently not a fan of AI programs.

"No chance," I shook my head. "X and Jarvis worked their asses off to find HYDRA, and someone is actively fighting them off. Sterns is out there helping HYDRA, which means it must be him. And if Sterns is helping HYDRA, he's had three days to begin experimenting in earnest."

"What can HYDRA do in three days?" Bobbi asked.

"Less than we can do in one," I said. "But they don't have our morals. Sterns was able to make Abomination with a few external factors and normal human intelligence. I shudder to think what he's capable of now. We know HYDRA has the Chitauri armor and weapons, and Garrett is still out there with his Centipede soldiers. We're in an arms race now, and I worry what HYDRA is going to do to try and win it. We'll have the new armor and weapons done by tomorrow, and I guarantee it'll be better than anything even Sterns can make... But I'm still worried."

"...By the way, what happened to your eye?" Mack asked.

I touched my new black eye and sighed. "Never get into a fight with Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon."

Mack scoffed. "You kidding? My mom didn't raise a fool..."

January 16th, 2014

Early in the morning, Pepper and I were waiting in Tony's room for the two people we'd invited. In the meantime, Pepper was helping me with something I'd never expected to need help with. We sat across from each other at a table, me wearing my usual costume while the Claytronics Object Creator was set up.

"So the woman's shelter you sent money to is going to be expanding now," Pepper said, handing me a piece of paper. "The scholarship fund X set up is already getting requests, so Stark Industries will be helping with that, as well as the schools you requested we support. However, there is a problem with the work you wanted to be done in Hell's Kitchen."

"What?" I asked, looking at the redhead. "What's going on with that? Edgar didn't get the money?"

"Edgar's mother is being brought to the states, with the help of our legal team," Pepper said. "But your purchase of that property in Hell's Kitchen is being fought by a company called Union Allied."

"My old employers?" I asked confused.

Pepper nodded, looking worried. "We'll look into it. In the meantime, we'll have our people work on the other stuff you wanted, the investments and such. But there are two other things. The messages you wanted to be sent to this," Pepper flipped through the papers. "Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Jessica has responded."

"Really? I thought she would-"

"She said 'Eff you, and the horse you rode in on'," Pepper sounded amused. "Keep in mind, she didn't actually say 'Eff'."

"Now that sounds like what I expected," I said with a wince. "And Luke?"

"Not interested," Pepper shook her head. "What were you hoping for? Why did you want us to reach out to them?"

"...X pointed out some people, I looked into them. Some people are important, Pepper. Important to varying degrees. But some people have potential. And those two are-"

"Ms. Potts, Mr. Schahed," Jarvis interrupted. "Your 6 am has arrived."

Pepper smiled. "Thank you Jarvis, send them in," She looked at me. "Are you sure you want to hire them? We already have good-"

"Not a chance," I grinned.

The door opened, and we rose up. Two men walked into the room, both wearing suits. They were very different, for a number of reasons. One was overweight, the other was skinny and fit. One had long hair, the other had short hair and some stubble. And the skinny one was carrying a cane and wearing shades.

As the shorter one lead his clearly blind friend over, I stood up and walked around the table. I tried to remember how Wildmutt would see the world and used that experience to watch how the blind man strode in, moving to intercept the pair.

"Good morning, guys," I said, holding a hand out. "I'm Mahmoud Schahed, an Avenger."

"Oh, I know," the overweight took my hand, grinning. "Foggy Nelson, good to meet you, man."

I grinned, then remembered one of the bits of advice about how to interact with blind people, one of which was to introduce everyone in a group. Granted, he already knew she was there, but... "This is Pepper Potts, by the way."

I shook finished shaking Foggy's hand, then looked at the blind man. "And you're Matt Murdock, right?"

"Yes, I am," He held his out in front of his, about a foot to my left, and I moved around to take it. "Good to meet you."

"Likewise."

Man, my life is so freaking awesome sometimes.