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When Bruce Banner gets low, he calls his soulmate. But not for the reasons that most people do. After New York, Creed found his mate. “Need me?”
Mutely, Banner nodded before being ushered out of sight. He felt safe with the controlled sort of pain inflicted upon him. Victor often stopped before Bruce wanted him to, out of concern for him not fear for the Other Guy.
The satisfied smile his mate wore when he woke up told him the Other Guy had made an appearance after all. “Seriously?”
Victor blinked a few times, “Yeah. It’s alright. He just wanted to play, nobody got hurt.” He quickly amended, “Nobody who didn’t want it.” Bruce burrowed into Victor’s chest and the feral mutant was quick to comfort him, to reassure him they were fine.
“Not that,” mumbled Bruce as Victor rubbed circles in his back.
“What?”
“Vengers,” answered the scientist, staying firmly pressed against his mate.
After a moment, everything clicked and Victor pried Bruce away from his chest to look into the younger man’s eyes. “We could always file,” he suggested with a shy smile.
“File?” A beat passed before understanding lit up Bruce’s face “File for soulmate rights?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds good,” he pushed his way back to his burrow, “Warm.” A side effect of his mutation made Victor run very warm, he kept rubbing circles in his mate’s back as they both just relaxed.
Paying a visit to the Tower, Bruce went to Tony’s lab. “Hey, Big Guy.”
“I have a few questions about JARVIS.”
“Really?” Tony set his work aside, “I didn’t think you’d be the one to ask about him.”
“Just,” Bruce sat down, “Does he have some sort of Soulmate Protocol? Y’know like for protection.”
“Oh, so you’ve already met yours?” Bruce nodded. Tony said, “J, show ’em the protocols, in English not code.”
“Certainly.” A hologram appeared in front of the physicist. “You may look into any of the protocols listed on the screen, Dr. Banner.” Soulmate Protocol was highlighted.
While his new friend was reading up, Tony called Pepper. She answered the phone with her usual level of exasperation, “What is it, Tony?”
“Don’t panic, but I’m thinking of giving you the company.”
“What?! Tony, are you dying again?”
“I said don’t panic. No, you’re already CEO in all but name. Plus, I think we’ve known each other long enough that nobody’s gonna say I’m giving you the job because we’re soulmates.”
“What brought this on, Tony?”
“Bruce asked about JARVIS’ Soulmate Protocols, the anonymity part, and a few things just fell into place in my head.” The ensuing silence made Tony anxious, “Pep?”
“Thank you.”
“You’ll take the job?”
“Of course, Tony and thank you.”
“Sure thing.” Returning to his project after the call, he asked Bruce “Am I gonna get to meet this soulmate of yours, science bro?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are they who you’re staying with while I fix up the Tower?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not in a chatty mood, got it.”
This was inevitable, Bruce realized, when you lived with a pair of super spies. Fed up with the verbal attacks, he shouted “Enough!” His voice held the depth they all associated with the Other Guy, silencing them instantly. He took deep breaths before saying “I’ve had enough of all three of you-”
Steve said, “It’s not just the three of us. Tony?”
“No, no, no, nope. Sorry Capsicle, I’m on the side of soulmates. You didn’t even tell me what this meeting was before you dragged me here to back you up.” He turned to Bruce, “You were saying?”
“I’m done with this team.”
Romanoff drew her gun “We can’t let you leave.”
“Go ahead, shoot me.” Bruce declared “Smashing you would hurt less than giving up my soulmate.” He walked away and after a moment, Romanoff lowered her guns.
Watching him pack, Victor asked, “What are you doing?”
“I think we did this backwards. You coming to me instead of me staying with you.”
Victor wrapped his arms around his mate, comforting the scientist. “I’ll make a few calls.”
When Project Insight launched, Magneto was there to hold the Helicarriers down while Mystique stopped the Data Dump. Tony Stark was too late to catch either of them but just in time to save Sergeant James Barnes. Upon learning this, Steve became convinced Tony took Bucky to get back at him, making it easy for his soulmate Brock Rumlow to turn him to the side of HYDRA. Discovery of HYDRA’s infiltration led to an independent investigation into all intelligence agencies. Secretary Pierce and Senator Stern were outed, along with over a hundred other high ranking agents throughout the world. Stark brokered a deal to get Barton off with house arrest, a life sentence in and of itself but his wife Laura appreciated it because she got to have her husband home with the family.
Living with his soulmate, even on the run, had a positive effect on Bruce’s emotional health. Magneto found uses for the scientist and smasher, an incredible change of pace from the Avengers who accepted Bruce but only wanted the Hulk. Almost as incredible was the revelation that Victor could make the transformation safer, he could ask the Hulk to turn back and the Other Guy would. Bruce stopped asking Victor to hurt him, no longer sought the controlled sort of pain that his soulmate had provided for years. He was really, truly happy.
Then Alcatraz happened and it was weird. Just as they were amassing their forces, Iron Man shot onto the scene in a plain suit of armor, no paint, a very dull glow from the eyes, hands and feet. As soon as he landed, Tony Stark exited the armor and ran up to Magneto, showing him a folded piece of paper “The Avengers are to secure this base and begin an investigation. Can I call the rest of my team in without you throwing them at them,” he pointed behind him.
After reading the page, the mutant leader nodded. Tony ran across the battlefield to show the Army field leader, who immediately ordered a retreat, before handing the paper to Beast and grabbing a flare gun from the Army’s supplies. Shooting the flare to call the Avengers, he said, “Your leaders,” pointing to the Brotherhood, “Their leaders and the Avengers’ leaders need to talk. But first, we need to get Jimmy out of here.” Turning to Wolverine “You can’t be anywhere near that kid until he learns to control his range, Jimmy is the source of Worthington’s cure. Alright?” He didn’t wait for an answer before snatching the paper from Beast’s hand and jogging to meet his team. Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision filed out of the jet War Machine landed next to.
Tony pointed at Magneto, saying “That’s him.” Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver nodded before approaching while Vision and Spider-Man hurried to secure the base. Rhodey and Tony talked as they walked over to the armor the latter arrived in, which apparently didn’t have any metal in it from the curious look Magneto gave it.
A few minutes later, Spider-Man came bounding out of the facility with a bald kid in pristine white clothes and Bruce remembered his job. Victor handed his mate the duffle bag the feral carried. They had to keep the equipment safe, in case the Hulk was needed. Hustling over, Bruce asked “Mind if I take a look?”
Spider-Man turned to him and touched the side of his chin before answering “We have to record the initial exam.” Clearly his mask contained a vocal modulator, probably why he touched his face.
“And I need to make sure he’s safe.”
Shrugging, Spider-Man repeated, “We need to record the initial exam,” emphasizing the word record.
“Go get whatever you need to use.”
Nodding, Spider-Man bounded to the jet and retrieved a camcorder. He put a hand on Bruce’s arm. His modulator was off when he spoke, “Protocol says we have to start every recording the same way for posterity.” From the camera bag, he pulled out a comlink “When I say live stream check, you say one two and my com will be off to ensure the camera’s mic is working. You’ll hear three four if it’s working. Then you do a basic rundown, we call Rules and begin. Otherwise, we have to re-check the equipment since we can’t switch places. The investigation of the base will work the same way except Vision will secure their files, make sure they can’t destroy any evidence, first. Alright?” He flipped open the camera and hit a button “Live stream check-”
“One, two,” they chorused. Bruce paused for a beat before explaining what he was going to do and carrying out his exam. Spider-Man zoomed in as directed to show marks left by the experiments. There were clear signs of ethics violations, such as from the scientists taking too much.
When they finished, Spider-Man handed Jimmy something from a hidden utility belt. It took a moment for Bruce to recognize a portable gaming system with the SI logo. Waiting for the other man to end the recording, Dr. Banner inquired “You just carry that around?”
“No, Tony hacked the security cameras and made sure we were ready. We thought Dr. Strange would be performing the initial exam and apparently Rogers had more tact than he does. I don’t know, he was in prison when I joined.”
“Prison?”
Spider-Man looked up from the handheld he was filling out a form on, “Rogers and Romanoff both went to prison after Barton and them tried to kill Tony. I’m not clear on the details but I guess something happened, the Avengers imploded and Barton was just an idiot accomplice. Not that stupidity is an excuse but Tony got him a deal where as long as he testifies when needed and never touches a weapon again, he can stay home to take care of his family. It’s both house arrest and a life sentence.”
“Rogers and Romanoff?”
Turning back to his handheld whatever it was, he continued typing away, “He committed the same felony, false enlistment, five times. The world would be a much better place had he been arrested for it.”
“No, I meant-”
“Are they still in prison?”
“Yeah.”
“Off the record, no. On the record, their location is classified.”
“What?” asked one of the younger X-Men, a girl with brown hair who was watching Jimmy play. The other girl was apparently taking advantage of Jimmy’s power to make out with one of the boys.
“Steve Rogers’ soulmate is Brock Rumlow, former Navy Seal Commander turned SHIELD Strike Team Alpha Commander, revealed to be a HYDRA agent.”
Bruce began “His soulmate is-”
“A man, I know,” his tone sounded almost jovial, “Guy from the forties, back when two men being together like that was an actual crime.”
“I was gonna say HYDRA.”
“Well he didn’t know that when he went off on you about yours.”
“Wha-?”
Again Spider-Man seemed surprised before his expression turned amused. Come to think of it, Bruce wondered, how was he so expressive under a mask? “You really didn’t know?” Beat “The day you walked out, Tony kicked all three of them out.” Glancing up to see his face, Spider-Man’s voice lost its amused tone. “What they did to you and him,” tilting his head toward Victor, “Was unacceptable and a violation of their lease.”
“Violation-?”
Spider-Man seemed to study him before thrusting the handheld towards him “I need you to sign this authenticating the video before I pull up the form you need to fill out.” He gave the doctor a stylus from the camera bag. Once Bruce was working on his own form, he said, “This is actually better than having Strange do it because, like I said, his bedside manner sucks and he’s terrible at paperwork. He’ll probably only show up for the fight.”
“Fight? I thought we avoided that.”
“Tony will explain. So as I was saying, Steve’s soulmate is HYDRA. The man never should’ve been allowed anywhere near a weapon, much less Enhanced and thrown into a War To End All Wars. He thinks Tony stole Bucky from him, apparently. Romanoff, as a Black Widow, was dehumanized from early childhood. Surprise, surprise, she switches sides at first convenience. Her attempt to blow off the Senate hearing would’ve been amusing, if they hadn’t let her walk out. I guess that was the last thing she did before trying to kill Tony. Again, I don’t know the details but that attempted murder was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“How do you know this?” asked another of the X-Men, the boy who’d been making out when the bombshell that Rogers wasn’t actually in prison was dropped.
“For a little bit War Machine, Iron Man and I were the Avengers. Then there was a mission to shut down HYDRA experiments, we got the twins and later, Scarlet Witch helped Tony bring Vision to life. I don’t actually remember at what point Dr. Strange joined but that’s probably because I was phased out of full-time after we started expanding.”
“What are you now?” asked the same X-Man.
“Reservist, but to be fair Strange is considered part-time and we have the same kind of shift. If you have other, conflicting responsibilities then you can’t be full time. Falcon is a reservist because he works at the VA and puts that ahead of Avengers’ business, which he should.”
“Why is Doctor Strange considered part-time?” asked Storm.
“Because his other responsibility often overlaps with Avengers’ business and our charter requires it.”
“Charter?” asked the first girl.
“We have a charter with the UN to operate internationally. One of the drawbacks is that they can give us missions. They usually call us in after they have confirmed the enemy is Enhanced or has Enhanced people on their side. Technically, we can refuse missions.” Spider-Man shrugged “Officially my other responsibility is to the Defenders, a New York focused team of Enhanced. We all have Reservist status that means we automatically have clearance to deal with conspiracies, crises and end-of-the-world stuff. Basically legalizes our vigilante work by making us required to answer the Avengers’ call. DD didn’t like it as much as Luke Cage but he got outvoted and grudgingly admitted the arrangement could be useful. Punisher is a Reservist Defender, that’s- I don’t know but I guess Punisher’s helped DD from time to time and being a Reservist Defender means they’ll suspend his warrants for the greater good or even let him out of prison to fight the good fight, probably as a last resort.”
“Things have really changed,” said Bruce.
“We didn’t have a choice. We had to change,” Spider-Man said, “Ethics and attempted murder aside, what were the Avengers gonna do without SHIELD? They may have been corrupt up the wazoo but their authority was somewhat recognized. Even if nobody knew what they were before, they had some strange kind of sanction or something. When they fell, all that went away as the world decided SHIELD and HYDRA were the same thing. So how do the Avengers survive? We adapt, we change our ways, we get a real freaking charter that carries actual authority.” Gesturing to the others, he said “We do missions to keep that connection strong.”
“You weren’t an Avenger when I left?”
“I didn’t have powers when you left, I was still categorized as Baseline.”
“Now what are you?”
“That would be telling.” Spider-Man reached out for the handheld, “Thanks for the help. I think Tony wants to talk to you before the fight starts.” To the X-Men, he said, “James Rhodes and Tony Stark are the Avengers’ two leaders, pick yours and send them over.” Touching his ear, or rather his com, he said, “Maximoff, send your father and his right hand to see Tony.” He took the camera bag back to the jet and checked their supplies.
Once Bruce was away from Jimmy, Victor joined him “What is it?”
“Spider-Man mentioned a fight, I don’t think we dodged a bullet just yet.”
“What do you need?”
“Answers.” Bruce turned to him, “You’re listening in already, aren’t you?” His mate gave him a pleased smile. Storm and Beast were sent as leaders while the younger X-Men took Jimmy to their jet.
Victor explained “They’re securing the island to make a last stand against HYDRA. Reinforcements are on their way, supposed to get here before they bait the trap.”
The Maximoff twins approached the soulmate pair, they’d barely begun asking their question before both turned to glare at Spider-Man who shrugged helplessly. Whatever he’d said over coms shut them down. Spidey portrayed traits the original Avengers desperately needed, he was loyal, trustworthy and helpful. Barton had been two of the three, Thor one, Romanoff and Rogers none. That reminded Bruce of something and he joined the wall-crawler. “How can I help you, Dr. Banner?”
“Call me Bruce and I was wondering, what happened to Thor?”
“I don’t know.” Spider-Man looked at him, “He’s not our alien expert anymore. Tony worked out some deal with Asgard to turn a deserter from one of their wars into a proper immigrant. His name was kept off the records, they just call him the Berserker or the One Who Stayed, both names from little-known myths that are actually based on the stories he told.” Spidey shrugged “I don’t know what happened, how Tony contacted Asgard to make the arrangements, when he did this or why Thor isn’t on the team. All I know is our alien expert is no longer Thor, or even Jane Foster. Tony still funds her research, preparing for the next invasion and making sure it’s not New York the Sequel are still priorities.”
With that, he walked midway between the two jets and turned to the water. A few moments later, a portal opened and seven people -three women, four men- stepped through. “All hands on deck?” One of the men was already moving toward Stark while the rest of the group nodded solemnly. Spider-Man led them over to the Avenjet, picking up a Starkpad and sending Quicksilver to get the Punisher. Stark similarly told the speedster to tell Wilson to suit up so Strange could pick Falcon up after he transported everyone inside the building into government custody to clear the place of civilians. By amassing on the island, they were throwing all the bait they could find on their trap. After sending Pietro to get Frank, Spider-Man crawled onto the roof and said, “If you can hear me, please ignore me.” Victor relayed the message to Bruce before guiding him over to Wolverine, who was on a video call with his clone/daughter Laura and the rest of the Barton family.
Dropping off Frank Castle, Pietro Maximoff ran over to Tony “You do remember I am a mutant and as such, cannot use my speed within Jimmy’s range, right?”
The inventor put a hand to his ear “Stranger Danger, Quickie can’t move the kid.”
“I figured as much.”
“Alright, we’re good.” Aside from the occasional use of nicknames, Tony’s personality had changed completely.
A shout drew everyone’s attention towards where Spider-Man was webbing up a woman who hadn’t been on the island before. The shout was her surprise when he turned her attack around. Rhodey ran to get between them “Major Danvers, that’s enough.”
Glaring at Spider-Man, Carol abandoned her offensive pose to stand at attention “Colonel.”
“Carol,” the recognition that found its way onto her face was enough to get Spider-Man to abandon his own stance.
Looking him over worriedly, Tony scolded him “I told you to toss me the pager when it stopped beeping.”
“I was making a phone call since it’s all hands on deck.”
Knowing that he meant he was calling home cooled the older man’s ire and Tony said, “Give it here and-”
Spider-Man cut him off by suddenly jumping and shooting a web at one of the bridge supports. He used the line to swing around to stop a few SUVs. Scarlet Witch had pushed aside the vehicles that were on the bridge before the attack, clearing one lane with space on the sides for foot soldiers. Landing between the vehicles, Spider-Man had no problem dispatching the HYDRA soldiers flooding out. From the top of one transport, Spidey jumped onto a support, crawled up to its top and ran across the supports like they were rooftops before doing a complicated flip off the last one to land clear of the Brotherhood gathered near the end of the bridge. Running, he tossed Carol Danvers the pager and turned toward the jet. In one leap, he landed on the roof, picking up his phone and hitting redial “I’m okay, Captain Marvel got here and I had the pager and there was a huge misunderstanding, but I’m okay.” Everyone ignored him after that.
Tony told the assembled mutants “Every Defender can do that in some way and the Avengers are held to an even higher standard.”
Spidey hopped off the jet after transferring his phone call to his com, “Hold on a second.” Peeking in on the X-Men in their jet to catch Doctor Strange floundering, he told them “When there’s an all hands on deck, the Defenders’ families get together as a sort of support group. Strange is just gonna hand Jimmy over to them to keep him out of danger, unless you’d rather give him the location of your base and have him take Jimmy there.” Spider-Man looked right at Jimmy “It’s your choice but it’s gonna be dangerous here and honestly, I think you’d make a great distraction for my family, keep their minds off the danger I’m in. I guarantee your game will still work.”
Jimmy said, “I’d like that.”
Spider-Man glanced at the X-Men to see they were in agreement before tapping his ear “Where’s the meeting tonight? I’m sending Strange with a kid from the lab. Sorry, I should’ve asked first but we need a safe place for the kid off the island and y’know Doctor Strange has the social grace of a squirrel.” Receiving his answer, he told Strange “They’re meeting at Fogwell’s Gym.” Then he returned to his perch on top of the jet. After his call, he crawled inside the jet and dropped down “Ready for me to web up the extra?”
“Nah, we were waiting for you to join us,” answered Iron Fist.
“Wha-?”
Colleen Wing spelled it out, “You’re a Defender, this is a Defenders’ tradition.”
“I know but usually-”
Frank said, “Sit down, let’s drink.” Spider-Man promptly sat.
Luke passed out the beers from the two six packs, putting two of the extra in the middle of the circle and giving Spider-Man the other extra. Misty said, “Now we’re ready.”
Picking up one of his beers by the neck, Spidey hefted it as if checking the weight before throwing it straight up and shooting a web after it, sending another web from the other wrist after the bottle was stuck. Lifting up his mask a little bit, he opened his beer with the rest of them. They talked as they drank, this tradition made them more than a team of vigilantes. Once the beers were empty, they put them back in the box as Colleen and Misty hid the two spares. Pulling down his mask, Spider-Man looked up at the bottle stuck to the roof of the jet. Jessica said, “It’s a weird tradition, isn’t it?”
Spidey shrugged “I don’t know. I mean, didn’t DD almost die when the team was founded? There’s a lot of stuff it could represent.”
“Yeah, I guess. Elektra, DD, me, Luke, we can all give it a deeper meaning but in the end, you webbed a full bottle to the ceiling and your webs are made to dissolve, so it’s kinda stupid.”
“That gives it meaning, doesn’t it? It dissolves, the bottle falls, we gotta get back before that happens.”
“I guess. Don’t think too hard about that.”
Spider-Man stood up “In the end, it’s just strange that we’re the youngest team and yet we have more traditions than all the others.”
“Youngest team?”
“Yeah. The Brotherhood and X-Men have been going at it for decades, the Avengers were founded before the Incident.”
“I guess we are new at this.”
“At least we don’t have the Avengers’ tradition of attempted murder.”
“What?” asked Colleen.
“Except for me and Bruce, every Avenger has at one point or another nearly killed Tony, including Tony.”
“He tried to kill himself?”
“No, his Arc Reactor did while Black Widow was doing her psych eval but he made the Reactor. I didn’t say they all tried to kill him on purpose, Vision was just very confused but I imagine the shift to having a body is jarring. He didn’t come nearly as close as,” something dawned on him, “Thor.” He bolted over to Tony, “Attempted murder, that’s why Thor’s not an Avenger, isn’t it?”
Blinking, the billionaire nodded. He explained “I evicted the Trinity for violating their lease then took some time for self-reflection, tried to see how I didn’t see their asshat behavior sooner, figured out some things while I was at it, got a self-esteem boost and decided I’m not gonna let people get away with abusing me. That’s why Scarlet Witch was banned from the Tower for a bit, her powers were haywire and she only had enough control not to attack her brother. Vision stayed with her in the Compound, helped her regain control and once she was no longer a danger to everybody, we put her back on active duty.”
The web-slinger looked around and noticed that he’d interrupted a discussion with Captain Marvel, Magneto and Beast. “Sorry, should I send DD over?”
“That’d be a good idea, keep an eye out for the others.”
“Okay.”
The Defenders moved out of the Avenjet as Daredevil hustled over to the leaders. Spider-Man went to grab a tablet for monitor duty, Vision stopped him “I will take care of that.”
“Can you make sure my com’s on the right channel, Viz?” The wall-crawler checked under the console, correctly guessing that no one had given the winged Warren Worthington his suit.
Jogging over to the X-Men’s jet, he said, “Sorry to interrupt or whatever but,” he thrust the case at Warren “Tony made you a suit using stats he got while gathering intel on,” he pointed a thumb at the facility. Warren nodded in understanding and Peter continued, “The suit’s more like mine or Quicksilver’s than the X-Men’s, you should have full mobility and protection.”
Warren took the case “Thank you.”
“While I’m here, have you guys synced coms with us? I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have to give the Brotherhood comlinks to get everyone on the same frequency.”
“We could use those too,” answered one of the young X-Men.
“Alright, Vision can hand those out and we need everyone’s codenames when you get them. I’m going to go and rejoin my team.” He hustled to the shore where the other Defenders had gathered. “Apparently Vision isn’t too good at logistics because nobody gave the X-Men coms and I doubt the Brotherhood has them either. You guys got yours?” When they only looked at each other, Spider-Man held out a box. “Here.” He looked at each of them carefully, noting that aside from Frank, they were all in their specially made Stark armor. “DD’s com is built into his suit like mine. The question is, did he leave it in?”
“That’s a good question.”
“Frank, Misty, Vision can show you where Romanoff and Barton stowed the guns. We still keep weapons there, if that helps.”
“It does,” answered Misty as she and Frank stood to go stock up, taking the box the coms came in with them.
Colleen said, “You’re really on top of things.”
“I did inventory today. Quicksilver, hopefully, took a look around the facility with a camera so we can have admissible evidence of Jimmy’s living conditions. Other than that, Vision should have all the files secured so the first part of this mission is complete.”
“How many parts are there?” asked Danny.
“I know a lot of things I shouldn’t and don’t know a lot of things I should, this falls into the latter category. All I know is we’re trying to force HYDRA into some kind of all-out frontal assault by getting as many of their objectives in one place as possible. Which reminds me, we’re supposed to keep an eye out for Quake and her team. They’re supposed to be bringing at least two artifacts, both of which need to be destroyed once they serve their purpose.”
“Artifacts?”
“The Darkhold and Kree Monolith, an evil book and a portal to another planet which houses an entity that could destroy the Inhumans.”
Jessica said, “That probably falls under shouldn’t know.”
Spidey shrugged as DD returned to the group with Misty and Frank following. “What’s the situation?” asked the Punisher.
Daredevil said, “There’s a good chance we could all die. Stark’s trying to get as many of HYDRA’s targets in one place as possible. The twins, two alien artifacts, James Barnes, and those are just the ones we’re sure of. Doctor Strange will take anyone who wants to leave home.”
Spider-Man said, “I already told them we’re trying to force an all-out frontal assault, notice no footsteps moving to leave.”
“Right.” Daredevil said, “Frank, you’re on sniper duty. Once you have your weapons together, Captain Marvel will fly you up to the roof of the facility. Misty, Colleen, the plan is for the non-Enhanced to hang back, which is why Vision will be taking care of aircraft.”
Spidey cut in, “Sorry DD but Frank, sniper duty is also overwatch. Be sure to call out patterns so nobody can pull off a sneak attack.”
“Actually,” Daredevil shot him a look, “The air team is overwatch but if you see something, say something and that goes for everyone.” Daredevil continued laying out the strategy for his team as Beast did the same for the X-Men, including Wolverine who rejoined the team after Jimmy left. Bruce was with the Brotherhood, making sure everyone had a comlink and was well aware they could leave without consequence if they wanted. Most had the mentality that this would be a great way to show humanity up and as such, nobody chose to leave. With the incredible display Spider-Man had performed, everyone was raring for a chance to prove themselves.
The way the fight ended was the weirdest bit. Colonel Rhodes had to eject from his armor and instead of calling for a flyer, he began floating as everything stopped. The various aircraft, including the robotic Iron Man armors that Vision had used to keep the ground force from being overrun, all tilted back ninety degrees. In the jets their various enemies were employing, this put the bay doors facing the ocean below. The calm look on the Colonel’s face was a stark contrast to the fear, confusion and anxiety everyone else was sporting. A few moments passed where nobody moved until Quicksilver took a chance and moved their people away from the enemy. While he got everyone to relative safety on land, the frozen enemy forces were moved around the bridge. Vision seemed to regain control of the Iron Legion, as the drone armors were named, and recalled them. Everybody watched the enemy be flung into the ocean before Rhodes fell, Captain Marvel was quick to catch him.
Pyro asked “What just happened?”
Spidey bolted towards the bridge, “Donnie!”
Vision passed him “I will retrieve Mr. Gil, Spider-Man. You would succumb to hypothermia rather quickly in these waters.”
Iron Fist put a hand on the human arachnid’s arm “He’s right, Vision doesn’t get cold like we do.”
Scarlet Witch met her soulmate at the end of the bridge, using her powers on the man in his arms “It’s FM.”
“Faustus Method; that is relatively easy to break, is it not?”
“For me, it is. Unlike WS, it can also be broken by human means. The main problem is that it’s subtle, this is what they’d use on sleeper agents.” The red mist connecting her hands to the young man’s head dissipated “There. Now he just needs time to wake up.”
Quicksilver joined them as one of the Inhumans, Raina, hugged Scarlet Witch “How many dead? A dozen or two?”
“More than that,” answered Wanda as Doctor Gardner, AKA Lash, took Donnie Gill from Vision. Then her brother’s words clicked and she told Vision “Have the Iron Legion retrieve the survivors and one dead body each, I’m gonna talk to Doctor Strange about a ritual.”
She ran off to do just that and her twin added “Give the soldiers on the other end of the bridge the survivors, we need the bodies and time so tell them we’re working on other objectives.”
“Will do.”
The speedster retrieved a knife from the Avenjet, waiting on shore for the bodies and a green light from the Sorcerer Supreme. Cutting off the first agent’s armor, he carefully carved the symbol needed for blood transference. “Just like that for all of them?”
Strange said, “Yes.”
The rest of the work was done in minutes. Picking up some nutrient bars, specially designed for his metabolism not taste, he stood by one of the sorcerers in Strange’s order “Trade you for your ring?” When the man looked around nervously, he pointed to his sister, “We are twins, I know how to use a sling ring.” Giving in, the Master of the Mystic Arts handed him the ring which Quicksilver slid on before moving to the edge of the island. Touching his ear, he said, “I need as many doctors as we can spare over here for Raft patients.” Vision and one of the Inhumans, a girl who can become many, joined him.
The android explained, “Alisha Whitley’s powers may increase our efficiency.”
“Time is of the essence,” agreed Quicksilver “I was just wondering what her name was.” Turning to the edge of the island, he created a portal, “Viz first.”
With the Raft raised and locked down to prevent tampering, he poked his head back through “System secure.” The mutant and Inhuman passed through before closing the portal and the android opened the door. “All passages except one are open to you, Quicksilver. The last one is designed specifically for your species.”
“Got it.” Moments later, he returned “After you, Whit.” He was shortening her name for her own protection, though the woman may not know that.
Vision directed them through the prison, moving guards into cells to secure the base. Since the mutant wing had to be secured and evacuated without Quicksilver’s assistance, the android sent the speedster to the kitchen when the time came to clear that particular area. Once all of their rescues were moved into the control room, Maximoff opened another portal to the island and held it open as all of the inmates were taken out of the illicit prison. Reporting to Colonel Rhodes, Vision said, “I regret to inform you we were unable to recover all inmates, certain cells had failsafe mechanisms I could not subvert without ample time to study their schematics.”
Pyro, who was with the leaders as Magneto’s second in command, asked “Who is maintaining the Raft now that SHIELD is,” he trailed off. They knew the agency wasn’t gone but they certainly weren’t in charge of the Raft anymore.
“I believe General Ross has, at least, played a role in the Raft’s continued use. Leonard Samson, a colleague of Doctor Banner, was among the inmates as was Emil Blonsky, better known as the Abomination, whom the Hulk battled in Harlem. Thaddeus Ross was incarcerated along with many HYDRA agents for his part in creating both the Hulk and the Abomination. However, there is little evidence aside from certain inmates to point towards Ross or any other suspect.”
“Guess we’ll have to talk to the other Ross, our liaison,” said Tony.
“If the prison is now being used legitimately, did we not just violate the law?”
Tony pointed to the inmates they’d rescued, “How many of those people are too young to drink? How many are officially missing, and/or presumed dead? How many have no criminal record? I can tell you right now that the worst thing Samson did was clone Bruce’s blood to try to help him. If this is legal then I’m sure the government wouldn’t mind answering those questions for the general public.”
Rhodes said, “I can tell you right now that officially, the Raft was decommissioned. This mission was meant to find out what happened to those inmates because there was no official report. We were meant to find dead adult bodies, not children. Something’s not right.”
“Yeah and we’re gonna find out what because that’s probably the only way to keep it from recurring.” Turning to the other leaders, Tony said, “I need recommendations for mentors. People with powers who can control their abilities and will help others do the same. I’m going to work on an arrangement with the ATCU so that new Inhumans and other Enhanced who can’t control their abilities will be sent to the Avengers Compound instead of going to superjail or being shot on sight. But, they’re not gonna go for that unless we have a system in place to train these people. So, suggestions?” Looking at Magneto and Beast, he said “I mean people you know who aren’t members of your teams, like maybe former members or something.”
Representing the Inhumans, Quake said “Lincoln Campbell is a trained doctor and transitioner.” When everyone turned to the blond man, she explained, “He knows how to stabilize Inhuman gifts like mine. He also doesn’t like fighting, we kinda dragged him onto the team. Dr. Gardner would need a containment cell because Lash tends to try to kill Inhumans, we’re working on that but what you’re describing would probably help, a job where he’s not surrounded by or cut off from the kind of people he’s a danger to. We can give you the specs for a containment cell that would neutralize his abilities, just as a little safety net.”
“Alright, they’d have to cut ties with-”
“Yeah, I know. Andrew’s soulmate is the Deputy Director and Lincoln’s mine, but otherwise they could totally cut ties. I think they’d actually like that.”
“Okay.” Tony turned to the mutants. “Like I said, the plan would apply to all Enhanced. When people think of mutants, they think of the X-Men or the Brotherhood, they don’t think about Robert Kelly pulling a McCarthy with mutant registration, they won’t think about Worthington locking his son up to be used as a lab rat. When people think of superheroes, they think of the Avengers, be it the current team or the one that fought off Loki’s invasion. There is power in being the example. What I’m shooting for is a united front so that when one of us says no, we all say no. That gives us negotiating power. I’m gonna make sure that the Avengers aren’t painted as the heroes of this fight, all of the armors recorded the fight. We’ll send in the raw video, a commercial cut that’s cleaned up a bit, and a simulation that shows what would’ve happened without mutant support. That should get your cause some capital,” he directed the last sentence at Beast.
Vision made his escape while they were discussing politics and Quake caught him “Tell Lincoln and Andrew about the job offer.”
“Will do.” He flew over to the field hospital, noting the Monolith and Darkhold had been destroyed in his absence. Aside from the leaders conferring and sorcerers working on the ritual, everyone was in the field hospital. “Doctors Gardner and Campbell?”
“Yes,” answered Lincoln as Gardner said, “Hold on a minute.” When he finished with the child he was treating, he passed them onto the waiting X-Men, who took them over to their jet and away from all the people in pain. Once that was done, he turned to Vision. “What is it?”
“Mister Stark plans to make the Avengers Compound into a facility for newly Enhanced to learn control, he intends to have the ATCU begin transferring the people they have taken into custody to this new facility. He has asked for Enhanced persons to work at the facility and Quake claimed that the two of you might prefer it to field work.” Focusing on Andrew Gardner, he said “Quake also offered to give Mr. Stark the schematics for a containment cell, she said that would help you by acting as a safety net.”
Lincoln said “So you’re extending the offer?”
“Yes, Dr. Campbell.” Vision assured “As I said, Mr. Stark still has to speak with the ATCU to make arrangements but he believes having the program set up beforehand will make convincing them to accept the proposal easier.”
Dr. Gardner said “Once you have the containment cell in place, consider me signed on.”
“I can start as soon as we’re done here, I think the facility would be a good place to take these people.”
“I agree,” he relayed the suggestion via coms to the leaders, who also agreed. Colonel Rhodes gave the order to put the Enhanced persons on a jet for transport back to New York, with Storm adding the X-Men would be providing said transport. Everyone was treated then transferred to either the Avengers or X-Men’s jet. Bruce was offered a place on the jet but declined, “I’m gonna see my cousin while we’re in the state.”
The next day, a flustered secretary informed ADA Jennifer Jones, “A Bruce Banner is here to see you.”
“Bruce?” Jennifer stood from her desk “Send him in.”
“Mrs. Jones, are you-”
“Send him in,” she repeated more firmly.
When Bruce came in, Jen enveloped her cousin in a hug. The physicist closed the door behind him before returning the embrace. Breaking apart, he awkwardly said “Jones?”
“I met my soulmate, Bruce. His name is Rick Jones, so-”
“I, uh, met mine too.”
“Really? What’s her name?”
“His name is Victor,” Bruce said “I just dropped by to ask you to dinner.”
“How about I call Glenn, that’s Betty’s soulmate, and we can all get together and catch up.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh my god, I almost forgot. How are you, Bruce?”
“I’m good,” Bruce smiled, “Better than I’ve ever been.”
“He really makes you happy.”
“Not just Victor. His boss, uh, he hired me and it seems really wants both parts. We’ll talk later, with Rick, Betty and Glenn.”
“Right.”
After they agreed on a time and place, Bruce left to rejoin Victor. Even without being recognized, people were often uncomfortable around the behemoth.
That night, they left the warehouse the Brotherhood was camped out in two hours early to beat the traffic. Their meeting place turned out to be a back room, which made sense as Bruce thought about it. Quiet, public, safe. After they exchanged greetings and introductions (Glenn turned out to be General Talbot of the ATCU), they all fell into an awkward silence. Victor, who was usually very anti-social, broke the silence “How’d you meet?”
The question was posed to both couples and looks of relief flashed over everyone’s face. Jen started “Rick, here, was drifting and got arrested.”
“That’s a great way to start a relationship,” quipped Bruce, earning surprised looks from the women.
Betty said “You really are happy.”
Rick picked up the story “First words I heard her say, thank god they weren’t directed at me, were ’what kind of idiots are you?’ I said her words as the cuffs were coming off.”
Bruce smiled at his cousin “We both know it could’ve been much worse.”
Jen said “Your turn.”
Pointing to Victor, he said “This guy was being extremely anti-social when I went to the middle of a frozen forest and tried to kill myself. The Hulk came out and the next thing I know I’m waking up in a strange cabin, lying on what I originally thought was a rug. I still have no idea how long he was out there but that’s our story.”
“You tried to kill yourself,” said Betty.
“Long time ago.” Trying to redirect her attention, Bruce told Glenn “I believe it’s your turn.”
“After Harlem, mean ol' Thunderbolt was dragging his daughter through base, lecturing her and I stepped in.”
Betty said, “You would not believe how happy he was when he realized that Glenn was the first to say my words.”
“Yeah, about that?” They stared at him, “I technically met Victor before Harlem.”
Something clicked for Rick, “Wait a minute, are you telling me Victor bonded with the Hulk?”
“No,” Bruce looked a little horrified, “No, he played the most dangerous game with the Hulk but we said our soulmark words, Hulk doesn’t have any.”
“My god,” Glenn looked at Victor “How are you not dead?”
Looking around, he held his hand out and let his claws extend. “Mutant.”
Rick’s head hit the table with a thud “Victor Creed,” he said into the wood.
Bruce replied, “I don’t know why you’re telling the table that, but yes.”
Jennifer began laughing, shortly followed by Betty and Glenn, “That makes so much sense.”
Settling down enough to give their orders, Rick asked “Does this mean you work for-” he trailed off, making an M with three fingers.
“Yes,” answered Victor.
“Who else would appreciate both parts of me? The Hulk and me?”
Glenn said “You got me there. How bad were the Avengers?”
“SHIELD wanted the Hulk. When I decided to walk out after they tried to tell me I couldn’t be with Victor, Romanoff drew a gun.”
“They tried to tell you that you can’t be with your soulmate?”
“I don’t think Romanoff, Barton or Rogers figured that part of the relationship out. To be fair, Barton would follow any orders given by the right people and Rogers came from a time when same sex relationships were illegal. They’re both idiots and Romanoff’s the biggest one because,” he took a moment to collect himself “If General Ross having a machine gun open fire on me can’t kill me then how is Romanoff pointing a gun at me going to accomplish anything? I called it from the beginning, we were a time bomb.”
Looking around the table, Victor asked another general question to defuse the tension, “What do you do for a living?”
“I write music, not for any of the big labels but I’m not freelance anymore.” Sharing a smile with his soulmate, Rick said “The job pays and lets me stay home with the baby.”
“What baby?” Bruce turned a playfully accusing look on Jen “You have a kid?” They relaxed into easy conversation.