Chapter 89: Negotiation preparation

Chapter 89: Negotiation preparation

Ema dressed me down for a full five minutes before she eventually was calm enough to notice Natasha hiding off to the side. When she spotted her she stopped, looking more than a bit embarrassed.

While I didn't hadn't regretted leaving her on Earth when I left, her argument of "if you ever do that again I will tie you to a chair and never let you leave the warehouse again" was pretty compelling. Eventually, I promised not to leave her behind like that ever again. When she was eventually satisfied that I was telling the truth, we discussed what Natasha and I had been up to the last two days.

When that was done Natasha asked us to drop her off in DC. Apparently, she had a few days worth of debriefing to get done, and now was as good an opportunity as any. I agreed and traveled her down to one of my DC landing pads, the one Shield already knew about.

"Thank you, for coming with me," I said as I let go of her hand.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

"I had fun, surprisingly," She said with a small smile. "Don't push Ema away, even if you think it's for her own good. You need grounding when you get into crafting."

"Yeah I think you might be right," I agreed with an embarrassed look. "Hey Listen would you like to hang out more often? Maybe Go on a date?"

Natasha's face shifted through several expressions quickly, almost too fast to notice. I did recognize surprise and happiness though.

"A date huh? And where would you take me?" She asked, leaning forward slightly. "It's going to be hard to beat a different star system."

"That's a fair point," I said with a chuckle. "But the company is the important part, right?"

"That's true. Alright Carson," she said, adding my name quietly. "A date sounds nice, as long as it's not too boring."

I could tell that she was teasing, but I nodded anyway.

"Do you really think either of us is capable of boring at this point?" I asked, getting a shrug in response. "I'm going to be busy for a bit with Thor and Asgard, but when I get back?"

"Sounds perfect, assuming I'm done with the debrief by then," She said, shaking her head. "Alright Maker, I have a call to make, Shield will send an escort I'm sure. You should leave before they ask you to come in."

"Alright, wouldn't want to be rude and say no," I smirked, going to step back so I could travel back to the warehouse when she stopped me.

Silently she put her hand on my chest, stood up straight, and stretched just enough so she could kiss my cheek.

"Don't be a stranger." She said with a teasing smile. "I expect to hear from you occasionally, even with the date."

"Yeah, okay," I responded, cheeks a little red. "I will."

"Good. Now get out of here," She said, a trace of a blush on her own cheeks as she patted my chest before pushing me back.

I let her gentle push feed into a step back, traveling away as I did. I stood on the landing pad for a moment, a full-body shiver running through me. That woman was something else. When I had finally recovered from the force of nature that was Natasha Romanoff I went looking for Ema. When I found her I pulled her into a hug.

"Ema, I'm sorry I left you behind like that, I should have considered how it would have made you feel a bit more," I said, pulling back to look Ema in the eye. "There were a few reasons I needed you to stay here but honestly I should have checked and talked to you about it. If we hadn't been so short on timewell I still could have done better."

"I appreciate the apology, Carson," Ema said with a smile. "I was okay once Jarvis got through to me, but I spend a while pretty upset."

"I'm sorry. In the future, I will try and do better."

"So what were the reasons?" She asked, stepping back to adjust the duct tape strapping on a landing platform to a caduceus droid.

"I know. But I'm not backing down. I refuse to give up the Void Skipper," I said with certainty. "And the robot support either. They are too useful."

"What if you offered them their own space-capable ships?" Ema asked. "Surely that will count for something?"

"The way Natasha talked about them, it sounds like they will never be able to accept anything I make. They would assume I've booby-trapped it or put in some sort of back door," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "Granted I would put in a back door, but I wouldn't hide it, there wouldn't be a reason to."

"Yeah I can't say I'm surprised."

'Neither am I. Nobody understands just how bullshit the Deck is better than you or I," I responded, summoning the deck to my hands.

"So what are you going to do?" Ema asked, taking my now clear plate and putting it back on the shelf, the self-cleaning cabinets making any food residue disappear as they cross the cabinets threshold.

"I'm going to do my best," I said with a shrug. "I really hope it doesn't come down to it, but we could always just bounce. Not much they could do to stop that."

"Fury knows who you really are," Ema pointed out.

"I'm past the point where my secret identity matters Though if things get tense you might want to clear out the apartment."

"I will if things go poorly."

"I'm not going to let this go comic book sideways," I said, partially to convince myself. "I will do my best to assuage their fears, and I'm willing to be flexible. For some stuff at least God I really hope this doesn't go bad comic book style."

"I assume you mean spiral out of control, due to misunderstanding and confusion?" She asked with her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, pretty much," I said, rubbing my face before continuing. "You know I had a thought while I was out in space after Loki mentioned his target was going to be New York City. I'm not sure if I'm on the money or not."

Ema turned from the cabinet to face me, leaning back and gesturing for me to continue. I paused for a moment to put it into words.

"Well if we take into account the lack of several people, like the Fantastic Four, the X-men, Spiderman We know a lot of people who would make up a solid roster of Avengers." I pointed out, Ema nodding along. "Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce What if Loki's intended attack on New York was supposed to be the gathering point? The call to action?"

"It's possible? I hope you're not saying that you wished you hadn't stopped it?"

"Of course not, an attack on the city would have been devastating, and not just because of how many people would have gotten hurt. Loki pointed out that it would have been much harder to gather troops in a city. If New York had actually been the target they might have actually succeeded."

'Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that the Avengers, for all their faults in the comics, is often the only thing stopping quite a bit of bad things from happening."

"I think you're missing the big picture because you're latched onto the concept of the Avengers, Carson," Ema responded. "You have Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Natasha Romonaff, Bruce Banner, Thor, and the Ancient One all not only owing you favors, but actually liking and trusting you. Do they call themselves the Avengers? Of course not, but they would all come running if you needed their help. Not to mention the fact that all of them save maybe Thor have benefited a lot from knowing you. I mean in what Comic Book does Natasha have access to even a portion of the stuff you have her outfitted with?"

"I Alright, that's a good point," I said, sitting up and nodding. "I guess I was just looking forward to an Avengers team at some point. Out of all the teams, groups, and people missing from this world, assuming it would pop up eventually seemed like a safe bet, considering how many members of the team are active right now."

I took a long breath and shook myself off, standing up and stretching.

"Okay, let's go say hello to Fury."