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Chapter Text

Earth 199-999, Avengers Compound, New York, evening

"Hey, Cap," Sam greeted as he and Wanda walked into the lounge area, "You fancy hittin'-" But the rest of his sentence was cut off as they looked upon Steve and Natasha sat together on one of the new leather sofas, Nat sat in Steve's lap and arms around his neck, he with his round her waist and the back of her head, as they made slow all the time in the world love, and thankfully very fully clothed too. A cough from Sam though ended it all and they came apart, looking over in the direction of where the interruption to their private moment had come from.

"We, uh, could come back in a bit if you want us to," an embarrassed faced Sam offered.

"No. No no no no no," Steve said quickly with a shake of his head as Natasha got down off his lap and stood up, Steve joining her.

"What can we do for you?" Natasha asked the other two.

Sam shrugged. "Just wanted to know if you fancied heading out with me and Maximoff for a little evening meal out in town together, is all," he answered with, "What with the other two having scampered off already." Rhodey and Vision had themselves departed an hour ago, saying they were off to pay a call on Tony and Pepper, leaving Steve and the other three to clear up after the day's long training sessions.

Wanda nodded. "I'm very grateful for what you and Nat have done for me this past week to help me with getting over Pietro's passing, Steve," she said, "But Sam's right. We ain't had the chance of some proper social time together for a few days now, and after today's rather backbreakingly hard training sessions especially, I'm rather in need of it."

Once Wanda finished, Steve silently considered what she and Sam were proposing, but eventually he nodded in agreement, knowing they were both right. It was the same for him and Natasha, as they too haven't had the chance of an evening out themselves for the last week or so, what with being busy training the new Avengers members and also finishing settling themselves in at their brand new digs within the building they were currently, their brand new headquarters provided by Nick Fury himself. As a result, Steve and Nat had had to make do with using their own quarters for their private periods together, whether it was dinner or love making. A trip out into the main city would certainly do them and Sam and Wanda good, the chance at last for a nice quiet hangout between them without Rhodey and Wision there to add all the unnecessary awkwardness and spoiling to it.

He turned to his girlfriend, "Nat?"

Natasha nodded. "Let's get outta here," she concluded to it.

But just then, a flame rimmed circle appeared completely and without any form of explanation as to how out of nowhere beside them, and as the four Avengers turned as one to face it a figure in a hooded orange robe stepped out of it and stopped before them, the circle, obviously some sort of doorway, disappearing the moment the new arrival had done so.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam immediately demanded.

In answer, the figure raised their hands, gripped the sides of the hood which currently covered their head and lowered it, revealing a bald headed woman. "Greetings, Mr Wilson," she addressed Sam in a British accented voice. She then looked to the other three, greeting them one by one, "Captain Rogers. Miss Romanoff. Miss Maximoff."

"Like Sam said, who are you?" Wanda asked, furthering Sam's question to the strange woman in orange.

The woman nodded. "Of course, Miss Maximoff," she acknowledged calmly, "I am the Ancient One, Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts, and watcher observer over the multiverse and all the various dimensions between the infinite number of worlds that make it up."

"Woah woah woah woah. The so-called theory of the multiverse actually exists for real?!" Sam exclaimed, his jaw dropped wide open, "I thought that was just some sorta kids' bedtime story thing or something."

The Ancient One shook her head. "I assure you, Mr Wilson, it is very real indeed," she said confirmingly.

"So you're like, a sorceress, right?" Natasha asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, Miss Romanoff," the Ancient One said, "But not the sort you would read about in children's storybooks." And then, with a wave of her hands, as if to prove to the four Avengers what she meant, she conjured an Eldritch whip, wielded it with her right hand and lashed it out in Natasha's direction, catching the Black Widow woman's right ankle and pulling hard. Natasha felt her feet leave the ground, but being who she was she succeeded in doing a backwards bodily flip, landing back on her feet.

As soon as she did so, and as a stunned Steve, Sam and Wanda watched on, she stormed forward angrily, jumped in the air and attempted a downwards right elbow strike on the Ancient One's head as she descended, but the Ancient One surprised her and the other three again as she summoned a Tao Mandalas shield with her left hand and held it high, Natasha's elbow hitting the shield instead and causing a small burst of sparks, Natasha yelping a little as she dropped down on her back on the floor, Steve hurrying over to help her back up.

"What the hell was all that about, huh?" he demanded of the Ancient One after he had done so.

The Ancient One shrugged. "You wanted to know how different me and all the other sorcerers I supervise and help train into who we are are like, Captain Rogers?" she said in response with a touch of humour in her voice, "That is your answer."

"OK, so now we've practically established who you are, Miss Ancient One, I think it's time for answers to the real topic at hand," Wanda said, "That being just why you're here and providing an interruption to our plans for this evening."

"Why of course, Miss Maximoff," the Ancient One acknowledged, then looked to and addressed Steve. "It is for that reason, the multiverse, that I am here now, Captain Rogers. Or to be more precise, there is, thanks to one of my daily observational scans of the multiverse telling me of it this day, a crisis emerging on a certain Earth which needs to be resolved as soon as possible," she told him, "And you, Miss Romanoff, Mr Wilson and young Wanda are the only individuals on this Earth, our Earth, I see as the right candidates to undertake the job at hand which I want to propose to you."

The four Avengers looked between each other, pondering on what the Ancient One had just said, before then turning back to her. "Well, White Witch doppelganger with no hair..." Sam said as he and Wanda now sat down on one of the sofas and Sam himself folded his arms, Wanda resting hers on her knees and clasping them together. Steve and Natasha followed their example, Natasha choosing to sit on Steve's lap and wrap her arms around his neck while he wrapped his right around her waist to support her, "I'd say we're waiting for the beans to spill."

The Ancient One nodded. "Very well..." and she began.

"Jesus," Sam exclaimed.

"This is way beyond the borders of absolutely almost unbelievable to believe," Wanda added in further agreement.

Next to them, Steve and Natasha didn't say anything themselves, but like Sam and Wanda they too tried to take onboard the full magnitude of what the Ancient One had just told them.

From what they could gather from her story, on another Earth in the multiverse, Earth 14 as the Ancient One had called it, a devastating outbreak of flu brought on by an artificially created retrovirus called Simian Flu, or ALZ-113, the brainchild idea of a scientist called Will Rodman at Gen-Sys Laboratories in San Francisco as a hope to cure Alzheimer's disease, had resulted in human civilization being literally brought to its knees.

And it had all started when a chimp called Caesar, whose intelligence had been evolved massively from birth inheritance, and who Will Rodman had adopted as his grandson and taken good care of for a number of years, stole canisters of the ALZ-113 drug from Will's home and unleashed it on the rest of the apes imprisoned in the Primate Shelter where Caesar himself was being kept for violent behavior towards one of Will's neighbours. As a result, the intelligence of every ape in the building, including Caesar himself, was ramped up big time, and together, with a now actual proper speech word capable bearing Caesar leading them, the whole ape population in the Shelter instigated a great escape, storming through San Francisco and freeing apes imprisoned in the laboratories of Gen-Sys, as well as liberating captive ones from the San Francisco Zoo, before then leading them across the Golden Gate Bridge to their new home in the Muir Woods Park, battling with SFPD forces on the Bridge en route.

After that though, the very source of the Simian Flu pandemic, Will's bad tempered neighbour and Global Airlines pilot Douglas Hunsiker, returned to his work job without at all knowing that he had been infected with the virus thanks to another man who gained it himself from a human hating bonobo called Koba, before then dying from it. And as a result of this, Hunsiker spread the virus to people on the airplane he piloted, bound for Paris, France before traveling to Moussoro, Chad and then spreading it across Asia. Hunsiker eventually died, but not before he unknowingly brought the virus to Europe, which then proceeded to spread across the continent and then the globe via international flight routes.

Only the day after Caesar and the ape's Great Escape into Muir Woods, eight people in San Francisco died from the virus, with a medical emergency and implement quarantine procedures being declared. But less than a week later, the nationwide death toll in the US reached over 250,000, and with no sign of a cure San Francisco itself went into chaos, with citizens looting pharmacies and overwhelming hospitals, and the breakdown of law and order resulting in the National Guard and FEMA's intervention, and various domestic terrorist groups like Alpha-Omega and separatists emerging in southern California. Once the connection between the virus and the escaped evolved apes lead by Caesar became public knowledge, fear incensed rioting mobs broke into various zoos and began killing all sorts of primates, but hospitals soon became flooded with patients who were all showing signs of the 113, which by then was officially dubbed the "Simian Flu".

Soon, major cities across the world saw the same thing in widespread rioting and looting, and containment of the virus proved futile with US President Barack Obama organizing evacuation routes. In Belarus, an understaffed nuclear power plant went into meltdown, while in former Yugoslavia fighting broke out between Serbs and Croats, with similar conflicts being reported among the Israelites and Palestinians in the Levant, and the Hutus and Tutsis in Africa. China's government went on a brutal crackdown of rebelling ethnic minorities in the eastern parts of their nation, while fighting broke out between North and South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dividing the region on ethnic and tribal grounds. Only a few exceptions with Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei saw fewer cases of infection because those countries moved fast to close their borders. In Egypt, Muslims began burning Christians alive while in India, a chemical spill in the Ganges resulted in some people seeing the burning river as a religious sign, and immolated themselves in its waters.

Five years into the Simian Flu pandemic, which had now spread completely worldwide, three billion people were dead, with Australia speculated with rumours that it had lasted the longest due to less infections. By now, NATO and other organizations attempted to control the rioting and looting, but soon Spain itself collapsed thanks to being overwhelmed from anarchy. Meanwhile, the CDC and WHO took apes to use them for experiments in an attempt to make antibodies, but soon the CDC and U.S. Army handling the apes developed a rift between them and the whole thing ultimately ended. Soon after that, twenty eight nations, including the United States and Canada, declared martial law, severe power outage following that. All regular government functions were later suspended indefinitely, and eventually human civilization itself collapsed as civil unrest, anarchy, and economic collapse destroyed every country in the world.

"And all of this stems from the actions of one man, this Will Rodman guy, and the chimp called Caesar?" Natasha, still sat in Steve's lap, at last asked.

The Ancient One nodded. "That is indeed correct, Miss Romanoff," she confirmed, "By 2026, the year where current events are rolling on Earth 14, the only survivors of humanity are gathered in isolated groups scattered across the globe, forming small isolated colonies in the ruins of cities or elsewhere, thanks to them being genetically immune from the Flu. One such colony is stationed in the empty shell of San Francisco itself."

"And Caesar and his ape community?" Steve added in question.

"By now, they have long-established themselves in Muir Woods and built their own settlement in the hills there," the Ancient One concluded, that drawing a small whistle of awe from Sam.

"And now you want to send us, that is me, Cap, Nat and Wanda, there, to this Earth 14 place, huh?" he now put in.

The Ancient One nodded. "Yes. That is exactly the reason for my visit to you four this night, Mr Wilson, and why I have revealed all that I have," she said.

"And you wish for us to do what there exactly?" Wanda asked, her arms now folded across her chest.

"With where things currently stand on Earth 14, Miss Maximoff, the direction where I have events rolling towards tells me that if they are not stopped, things will end very badly for everyone, humans and apes alike, and will result in consequences beyond those we could only imagine otherwise," the Ancient One gave in answer. Once again, she looked between each of the four Avengers, then addressed Steve himself. "If there was any other candidate of person to tackle this situation, Captain Rogers, I would've sought them out," she continued calmly, "But there isn't, which is why I have come to you and your fellow comrades. Earth 14 needs Captain America, the Black Widow, the Falcon and the Scarlet Witch to help resolve the events which are already in motion."

Steve didn't respond at first, Natasha, Sam and Wanda all looking to him waiting for what his response would be. Eventually, he nodded. "We would like some time to consider your proposal, if you don't mind, Ancient One," he said.

"Of course," the Ancient One acknowledged, "I shall return in the morning to hear what your final word will be." And with that, she turned so that her back was to them, raised her left arm, and with a wave of her hand opened a portal, raised her robe hood back over her head again and stepped through, the portal closing the moment she had done so.

After the Ancient One had departed, the four Avengers turned to one another. "Well, what do we all think to what we've all heard and have been asked of?" Steve asked first.

Wanda went next. "Personally, I'd say all this seems like some absolutely wild fantastical dream," she said. "Sorcerers who wield and emit magic, the multiverse turning out to be a real thing, another Earth inhabited by talking intelligent apes and where humanity has been reduced vastly in numbers by a pandemic..." she shook her head, "Crazy, that's what I still think it all is."

Sam nodded. "I'm with you there," he said in agreement, "But it's all happening for real, right now."

"Me too," Natasha added, "But you know what?" At that, the other three all turned to her, "I think we should do it."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You believe so, babe?"

"If what the Ancient One says is true to its last, that things on this Earth 14 place are in need of extra help that no one else can resolve, a situation brewing between humans and this smartened chimp Caesar and his apes..." Natasha nodded, "Then yes. I think it all needs looking into."

"I agree," Wanda spoke up again, "After Sokovia, Ultron and losing Pietro, not to mention the last week or so of hard back breaking training here at the Compound..." eager excitement had now come upon her face, "I think I'm in the need of a new big adventure to help take my mind off things here."

With the two women having had their say, Steve looked to the Falcon man, "Sam?"

Sam considered for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "I guess I say 'Screw it'," he said, giving a laugh, "Won't have nothing else to do whilst you three head off for an encounter with talking apes on a disease ravaged Earth." Steve, Natasha and Wanda now laughed with him, "Let's go and start a fight, guys."

"Guess that's settled then, eh, babe?" Nat said to Steve.

Steve nodded, then looked past her and out the glass windows of the building. "Earth 14, here we come," he said to the night

Chapter Text

Next morning

"Think she'll come, eh, Steve?" Sam asked. He, Steve, Natasha and Wanda, having had and finished breakfast, now stood together once more in the lounge area, all four of them kitted out in their different outfits, Wanda's own brand new attire since officially joining the Avengers consisting of a black leather suit with red corset and red leather jacket over it that had two strips down the front, with elbow high black leather fingerless gloves and tall heeled boots with red piping on top of them completing it all. Steve also bore his shield on his right arm.

"If anything of what the Ancient One told us of about herself last night, and why we were the ones who she came to recruit for this mission and adventure, Sam, you can be absolutely sure she's sure to keep good on her word," Natasha answered for her boyfriend.

"I can vouch on that," Wanda added.

And then, to answer the very question they were all asking, a flame rimmed portal opened before them, and out stepped the Ancient One herself, the portal closing the moment she did so. Seeing the fully prepared Avengers group, her mouth formed a small smile. "I take it that you, Miss Romanoff, Miss Maximoff and Mr Wilson have accepted my proposal from last night then, Captain Rogers?" the bald headed British woman addressed Steve.

Steve nodded. "Indeed so, Ancient One," he confirmed.

"After all the shit that Ultron brought down on us all over a week ago, and causing me the personal loss of my twin Pietro, I'm more than ready for a big adventure on this Earth inhabited by highly intelligent apes under the leadership of this chimp Caesar," Wanda spoke with excitement, "And to prevent whatever's coming from happening between them and the survivors of humanity."

"I think you definitely saved us the otherwise boredom of a normal night out by coming to us with this big proposition of a journey into the multiverse, Ancient One," Natasha added, she, Wanda, the Ancient One and the two men all chuckling in response.

"I'd say Nat and Wanda have said it all, Supreme Sorcerer lady," Sam finished with.

The Ancient One nodded, "Then allow me to send you four on the first step of your journey." Briefly turning her back on them, she raised her right arm and opened a new slightly larger in size portal, allowing Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda the view, or at least what they could best see looking over the Ancient One's shoulders, of a city.

The Ancient One turned back to them, doing a forward gesture with both arms towards the open portal. "The doorway beckons," she said.

"And where to on Earth 14 exactly?" Wanda asked.

"San Francisco, Miss Maximoff," the Ancient One replied, "Where you will find the human community who are currently living there, lead by the man called Dreyfus."

"And is there anything you could possibly helpfully give us in advance about this Dreyfus guy?" Steve now asked. The other three nodded.

"What I can certainly tell you, Captain Rogers, is that Dreyfus is someone you and Miss Romanoff, Miss Maximoff and Mr Wilson will certainly not want to trust with your full conscience," the Ancient one said in a serious tone.

"He's that bad, huh?" Natasha put in.

The Ancient One nodded. "He's arrogant and overconfident, Miss Romanoff," she answered for Natasha, "An utterly delusional and unstable individual due to the inner rage and turmoil he feels about the personal loss he has suffered for years, that being the deaths of the rest of his family at the hands of the Simian Flu, which he naturally blames Caesar and the apes for creating in the first place, viewing them as nothing more than violent mindless animals."

Wanda snorted and looked to Steve. "Guess that's all we need to hear on him, eh, Steve?" she remarked.

Steve nodded. "I guess so, Wanda," he agreed.

"Aye to that," Sam added.

"Damn right," Natasha finished with.

Sam now turned again to the Ancient One. "And, uh, when will your magical doorway through the multiverse open for us again after you'll no doubt close it once we've stepped onto where we're about to go, Miss White Witch Lady?" he asked.

"You will know, Mr Wilson, when the time comes," was all the Ancient One gave him in answer.

Now Steve turned to Sam and the two Avengers women. "Ready?" he asked of them.

Natasha slipped her right hand into his free left. "Let's do this," she answered with a grin.

"More than ready, Steve," Wanda said.

"Same here," Sam followed with.

Steve nodded, pleased with all their responses. "Then let's go," he concluded with. And hand in hand with Natasha, Steve lead the way, past the Ancient One and through the portal, Wanda going next, and Sam bringing up the rear. As soon as they had all done so, they turned back to their doorway access through the multiverse, where the Ancient One stood waiting.

"Good luck, Avengers," the Sorcerer Supreme said, "May the fortune and success follow you the whole way." And with that, the portal disappeared, as if it had never been there.

"Woah," Sam said, "If the magical sorceress doppelganger of the White Witch had bothered to tell us she'd be sending us into something compared to the world of 'The Walking Dead', you'd think she'd make us a bit more prepared for it."

Natasha nodded. "I think that's definitely the best way you could've chosen to describe it, Sam," she said in answer, as they, Steve and Wanda walked slowly through their new surroundings, looking around in absolute shocked disbelief.

And it sure wasn't anything like the San Francisco they knew full well of back on their Earth- none of the hustle and bustle of every day life, no huge crowds of people going about their every day business, no vehicles driving along the streets, not even the overhead noise of planes soaring the sky. Instead, the whole area was silent, much of the ground and many of the buildings around them covered in vegetation, no doubt caused by ten years or so lack of any sort of maintenance and natural deterioration to them, not helped by just how filthy everything was too. Different coloured graffiti had also been sprayed on and left behind on certain buildings, the images and words the four Avengers saw being displayed by it all seeming to be out of derogatory mockery towards the Simian Flu virus named after the apes, even though they knew full well, thanks to the Ancient One, that it had been created in a science lab by humans in the first place.

"This is what the Simian Flu has done to the world, huh?" a wide eyed and gaping mouthed Wanda said.

"Certainly looks that way, Wanda," Steve answered for her. He himself had only just started being introduced to 'The Walking Dead' TV show by Natasha during the course of the last year of their new relationship, but looking around them, at where the Ancient One had deposited them, he could see full well just what she and Sam were certainly referring to.

"Guess the question now is: where exactly do we find this guy Dreyfus and the community of Simian Flu survivors the Ancient One told us are currently living in this post-apocalyptic version of SF?" Natasha said.

"And Caesar too?" Wanda added.

As if to answer their questions, from behind them came the sound of what sounded just like the call of a chimp, the noise increasing as several more calls joined the first, and as the four turned in its direction they stopped dead, frozen to the spot by what they saw before their very eyes.

"I think we've literally just found Caesar and his community right now, Wanda," Sam muttered as a whole army of apes, the majority consisting of chimps and bonobos, but with oranguatans and gorillas mixed in amongst them, made their way towards them, either climbing and scurrying down and over the vegetation and graffiti covered buildings, or moving swiftly across the ground via knuckle-walking or by proper upright. The vast majority bore in their hands spears carved and whittled from tree bark, and had painted their faces and chests with what looked like white warpaint. A few, very likely the leaders, rode on black horses in the midst of the oncoming army. And by the way some of them were gesturing and shouting in ape language, it was very clear to see that they had all seen Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda.

"What do we do, Steve?" Natasha asked.

"Surrounding 'em's out, and no chance of taking 'em all either," Steve remarked.

"Helluva time for humour or making 'Rambo' remarks, Cap," Sam said.

"They're getting closer," Wanda pointed out remindingly.

Looking back over his shoulder, Steve saw a building at the very end of the long street which was they and the approaching apes were all in, what looked like some sort of large dilapidated shopping mall. "I guess that's where we make for," he said.

The other three looked in the same direction. "Fine with me," Sam answered.

"Same here," Wanda added.

"Then let's move," Natasha finished with. And with that, Sam brought out his retractable wings, Wanda lit up her hands with red psionic energy, and together they took off from the ground and into the air, while Steve, gesturing for her to do so with his arms, hoisted an unhesitating Natasha up onto his back, she wrapping her arms and legs round his neck and waist. And together, the four of them headed off down the street, Steve running at super-soldier pace while Sam and Wanda followed him and Natasha from above, all of them focused on reaching the street's end where the mall building was and not looking back towards the ape army, their cries and calls now louder than before.

As Steve, carrying Natasha, hared through the open gates of some sort of checkpoint, seeing what looked very much like quarantine cages on their left briefly before they passed them by, a siren suddenly sounded out, and as the two of them and an airborne Sam and Wanda neared the shopping mall, they could now see that not only were its three big entrance arches blocked with heavy aluminium gates, but also atop the above walkway were several men with guns, which all aimed in the direction of the four Avengers who now came to a halt before the building, Sam and Wanda descending back to the ground on either side of Steve who gently set Natasha back down on her own feet, Sam raising his goggles from his eyes as his wings retracted back into the wingsuit.

"Behind you," a man in a dark coat and spectacles called out, gesturing with an arm, as his companions now directed the aim of their weapons beyond the quartet. Although the Avengers members wanted to ask the obvious question, they knew what they had just been hurrying away from, and they turned round again to see the whole vast army of rank upon rank of apes spreading out and taking up positions in front of and all around the area of the shopping mall, including on the equally as derelict and vegetation covered building directly opposite. The ones on horseback, consisting of two chimps, five bonobos, a gorilla and an orangutan made their way to the very front and stopped their horses before Steve and his group.

"I take it that one must obviously be Caesar," Natasha said quietly, gesturing with a nod of her head towards the middle ape, a chimp, who looked very much like he was the one in overall command.

"I think you're right," Steve replied.

"And going on by how angry that one is..." Sam said, nodding towards the very hateful face displaying bonobo on Caesar's right side, his left eye blinded by a scar, right hand holding a spear, "I reckon that must be the one the Ancient One referred to as Koba."

Steve nodded. "Correct there I'd say, Sam," he said. A grating sound came from behind them, and they turned, followed by the eyes of Caesar and his ape army, to see the gates in the central archway being opened, and a man in a white long sleeved tshirt, dark blue trousers and brown boots, with short brown hair and blue eyes, cautiously make his way out, step by step, accompanied by a green eyed teenage girl in her late teens or early twenties, with long dark brown hair, dressed in a grey hoodie, blue trousers and black trainers, the two of them descending the four stone step staircase which lead up to the building and onto the main outside area.

"Malcolm! Nikki!" The words came from the man with glasses in dark clothes, who stood at the head of the great crowd of people the four Avengers could see inside the building, several more men bearing guns.

Steve though acted first, holding up his free left arm in a gesture of 'Stop'. "Please stay back, sir, ma'am," he spoke loudly, the man and girl Mr Spectacles had called Malcolm and Nikki stopping, surprise coming over their faces at being told the words by this strangely clad individual.

"Steve..." Natasha began, she, Wanda and Sam looking to him.

Without waiting for any of them to speak further, Steve reached up and undid the straps on his helmet, taking it off and handing it to Natasha, who took it with uncertainty. "I'll be back," he assured her, laying a hand on her face and looking into her eyes as he did.

"Are you sure about this?" Wanda asked, she and the other two having caught on to what Steve was planning.

"It would be best if someone addressed Caesar in a peaceful proper way before anyone tries using force and potential bloodshed to do so," Steve told them, keeping his voice down so that the people of the San Francisco Colony in the mall building and the apes couldn't hear them.

Sam nodded in understanding, but his own face showed just as uncertainty as Natasha's. "Then in that case, I think it'd best if we did it together," he suggested, "Am not being doubtful of you, Steve, but there's a whole army of them and only four of us, and even with your Captain America abilities and shield, I doubt even you would stand a chance of holding off the likes of them on your own if words fail to deliver."

Natasha and Wanda nodded in further agreement. "I think he's right," Natasha said.

Steve took all this in, and eventually came to the same conclusion that his fellow Avengers were right after all. "Then let's do this," he said, relief coming over the other's faces. And then together, the four of them, Steve and Natasha taking each other's hands as they did so, watched by all eyes, humans and apes combined, stepped forward as Caesar rode his horse forward too, both sides stopping as they met.

"Am I correct to assume me and my companions address the ape leader known as Caesar?" Steve asked him in a confident voice. Behind them, the human Colony's members stared in absolute surprise, unable to believe that this man was speaking as he was with the situation that was happening right before them. The numerous ranks of apes just looked on silently, their scowling expressioned faces giving nothing away.

The chimp nodded. "Yes," he spoke, gasps and murmurs of absolute shock sounding out from the Colony at the single word, and even the four Avengers couldn't contain some of their own shock at that the Ancient One had indeed been speaking the total truth herself. "That is me," Caesar confirmed.

Releasing Natasha's hand, Steve saluted with his free left. "Captain Steve Rogers aka Captain America," he introduced himself to the ape leader.

Natasha went next. "Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow," she said.

"Sam Wilson aka the Falcon," Sam came third.

"Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch," Wanda concluded the introductions, speaking with just as confidence and pride as the other three.

Caesar examined them up and down one by one. "You know of me?" he now asked pointingly.

Steve nodded. "Yes, we do, Caesar," he answered, being very careful with what words he chose and how his tone sounded, "We know everything- your adoptive father Will Rodman, what happened to make you and your fellow apes here..." Steve gestured with his shield arm at the whole ape army, "...who you all are now, the Simian Flu and what it's done to humanity here... everything."

Behind Caesar, and seen plainly by the other three Avengers and the Colony, Koba and the other seven apes on horseback stirred at Steve's words, Koba himself growling fiercely as his one good eye focused on the humans, some of the other apes in the surrounding ranks looking between themselves. Caesar himself examined Steve very closely for several seconds, the Captain America man, Natasha, Sam and Wanda waiting with baited breath as to what his response would be.

Eventually, Caesar nodded. "Then you and your three companions should know, Captain Rogers, why we are here," he said.

"And why is that?" Sam asked.

"Because of them," Caesar answered, indicating with his right arm over the shoulders of the four Avengers, who turned naturally to follow Caesar's gesture, towards where the members of the Colony were clustered in the archway of the mall building. "We caught some of them trespassing in our home in the woods, after one shot a member of our own," Caesar explained.

"We were only trying to find the hydroelectric dam that's up there," Mr Spectacles suddenly spoke up from his position at the top of the mall steps, "You animals wouldn't understand, but that dam's the only means we have of restoring-"

"Shut up, dad," Nikki cut him off, other members of the Colony gasping and murmuring at her words, "Let him finish." The man with the glasses glowered at her angrily, clearly insulted that she had spoken to him in that way.

"I think it's fair to say that he is Dreyfus," Sam remarked in a very hard voice, his face expression hard too.

"Correct indeed, Sam," Natasha nodded, they, Steve and Wanda impressed already with Nikki. But then their attention was turned once again to Caesar, who now spoke in a loud voice which everyone could hear very clearly indeed.

"We apes do not want war," he declared, "But we will fight if we must." Caesar paused, and then looked to where the second younger chimp waited on another horse at the end of the line to his left. As everyone watched, the second chimp got down off his mount and, walking upright, approached and stopped beside the head of Caesar's horse and before the Avengers, throwing a green bag which he had been holding in his right hand down at their feet.

Silence stretched out again, before Steve said, "Wanda..." and the Scarlet Witch girl stepped forward and bent down to pick the bag up.

"That is our home," Caesar spoke again, gesturing with his left arm back in the direction of where he and his army had come, the humans knowing full well just where he was referring to. "This is your home," he went on, now gesturing with his right hand towards the mall building, before looking in the direction of the four Avengers. "And that includes you and your three friends, Captain Rogers," he added, examining them silently for several more seconds before finishing with, "Do not come back."

And with that, he pulled on the reins of his mount, and the horse moved to the left, all the other apes, both on horseback and on foot, immediately moving themselves, they and Caesar all heading off back up the street. But Koba himself hung back briefly, glaring first at Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda, then at Malcolm and Nikki, and finally towards Dreyfus and the other humans, the four Avengers unfazed by his hate filled one-eyed expression, before he and another bonobo who had been waiting for him followed after the other apes.

Once they had all largely departed the scene, Sam let out a whistle. "Well. That was quite something for a first meeting with Caesar, huh?" he asked his three teammates.

"Indeed so," Wanda agreed simply.

Natasha looked to her boyfriend. "That was good speaking, babe," she told Steve in a proud voice.

Steve nodded. "As what was needed to be as the alternative to violence," he acknowledged, he and Natasha chuckling before leaning forward and sharing a quick kiss. "Time we introduced ourselves to our new hosts now, I reckon," he now addressed her and the other two, nodding towards where the Colony members awaited them, the ones waiting in the open gated archway now clamoring loudly amongst themselves.

"I reckon so, Steve," Sam agreed.

As they now turned and walked towards the mall building, Nikki and Malcolm came forward themselves. "Wow," Nikki exclaimed in wonder as they came together, "I don't think any one of us could've addressed that chimp the way you four did." She shook her head, "Impressive, I tell ya, impressive."

Steve nodded. "Thank you, ma'am," he acknowledged, "And you would be...?"

"Nikki Anderson," Nikki said in introduction, "Daughter of this stubborn son-of-a-bitch back..." But she didn't have to speak the last word, for now Dreyfus himself pushed between them and stood glaring at the four Avengers.

"Who the hell are you people, huh?" he demanded, almost shouting, "You're not from around here, are you? Not with those funny attires you wear..." he gestured with a pointing finger to the quartet's attires, "...and what we saw you displaying on your way down here. Not to mention the fact the way you addressed that monkey who dared to lead his animal friends down here from their hiding hole in the Woods and threaten us."

"His name's Caesar, sir," Natasha snapped, Dreyfus turning to her, "You got that? Caesar. And from what he said, it seems that you lot provoked him in the first place."

"It was an accident," Malcolm now spoke himself, the Avengers turning to him. "That stupid bastard Carver..." he gestured over his shoulder with his right thumb in the direction of the open gates, towards a well built man with buzz cut hair and stubbly beard, "...was the one carrying the gun that shot the chimp he hit in the first place when he panicked." Then he seemed to remember that he hadn't said his name, and now did so, holding out a hand, "Malcolm. Malcolm McDonnell."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Steve acknowledged, shaking Malcolm's hand and giving his name once more as he did so, Natasha, Sam and Wanda also returning the gesture as well as their names.

"That's mine by the way, Miss Maximoff," Malcolm said to Wanda, nodding to the bag in her hand, "I dropped it when Caesar ordered us to leave the woods."

"Well then..." Wanda said, holding out the bag, which Malcolm took gratefully.

"You still haven't explained who the hell you four are," Dreyfus spoke up again.

"Really, dad?" Nikki demanded, clearly not at all afraid to address Dreyfus the way she was and had done so already, "You saw how Captain Rogers and his friends bravely addressed Caesar and the apes the way they did, and they've already given their names out twice. I think that should be enough to convince you otherwise."

Natasha shook her head. "Talk about one helluva girl, huh?" she muttered, Steve, Sam and Wanda nodding in additional impression as Dreyfus turned so that he faced Nikki fully.

"You and I are gonna have words later about that mouth of yours, young lady," he growled, Nikki completely unfazed by his tone as she folded her arms and stuck out her chin defiantly, "But first I need to go and sort out the situation with that lot back there." He gestured towards the raucous going on amongst the population inside the building, before then turning to the Avengers quartet again. "Come," he simply said, before marching briskly back towards the building.

"One very dislikeable bastard, he sure as hell is," Sam said, he, the other three, Nikki and Malcolm following after Dreyfus as he ascended the mall steps.

"He's been the leader of our community here in the city for the last few years now," Malcolm explained.

Not wanting to give away the fact that, thanks to the Ancient One, she and the other three already knew that, Wanda replied with, "Maybe so. But with that sort of attitude towards new arrivals, meaning us, who are here to help you lot, and towards harmless apes who want to avoid conflict with you, who knows how long he'll have continual support."

"Help us, you say?" Nikki asked in confusion.

"You and your stubborn father and your friends in that building have no idea of what's coming, young Nikki," Steve replied, Nikki and Malcolm turning to him at the words, "And we need to move fast before it all gets out of hand."

Chapter Text

Malcolm and Nikki led Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda into the mall building and in amongst the clamouring throng of people, all of whom, the ages the four Avengers could see and tell varying from young to old, white and black people all mixed in together, were shouting and jabbering amongst themselves in total panic at what they had just witnessed outside, the archway gates closing behind them. Malcolm moved to join a woman with long brunette hair and green eyes and a blue eyed teenage boy eighteen years of age with short dark brown hair, the Avengers quartet and Nikki all turning as Dreyfus, who had just fought his way through the front of the crowd to a scaffolding tower, made his way up it to the top platform and tried to calm the crowd.

"Everyone!" he shouted, holding up his right hand trying to get the attention of the people at ground level, but to no avail whatsoever. "Everyone, you have to calm down!" he then tried again, but still no one could hear him or wasn't paying attention.

Finally, as a man climbed the tower and began to present a megaphone to Dreyfus, Natasha took it upon herself to sort the problem, and drew one of her two Glock 26 pistols, the one in its right holster on her belt, cocked it and then raised her right arm above her head and squeezed the trigger twice, silence falling at once at the sound of the two shots as all faces in the place turned to the Black Widow woman. "I think the asshole wants to address you all," Natasha addressed everyone calmly.

"Where the hell did you four come from in the first place?" one man then demanded, addressing her, Steve, Sam and Wanda, while another addressed Steve himself with "What's with that fancy shield, eh, soldier boy?" Then came an old grey haired woman who shouted, "How the hell could you address those animals out there the way you did, huh?" and another continued angrily with, "You dare to call our leader an asshole?"

"We're here to help you all," Steve responded in answer with, looking round the huge room at the packed crowd all around him and the other three, "And that includes our friend Caesar the chimp and his ape community too."

"Why would you wanna help those animals out there?" someone else now demanded in a pissed off tone of voice, "They're the reason our whole race has been brought to the very brink of extinction across the globe with the virus they unleashed upon us all when they instigated their breakout here in the city ten years ago, and why those of us here are barely struggling to hang on as we are."

"Oi oi oi," Nikki spoke up, her face now showing as much anger and defiance as before as she looked around at the huge throng of people herself now, "You wanna blame someone for this whole mess, blame Gen-Sys Laboratories for creating the Simian Flu with their perverted experiments on apes in the first place, not the apes and Caesar themselves for not knowing they'd unleashed it in the first place when they broke outta their captivity holdings." When she next spoke, she gave the crowd a very daring expression, "And certainly, don't even think about spitting whatever towards Captain Rogers and his friends just for their mere presences here."

Sam nodded. "Well done again, young Nikki," he said appreciatively, he and she exchanging nods.

"How could you speak such words after what they did to your family, huh, young Nikki?" a very scowly faced woman now spoke up. She nodded up towards Dreyfus atop the scaffolding tower, "Your father's the only family member you have left. Your mother and brothers all perished from the Flu."

"Yes, I know, Hilda," Nikki replied, looking the woman right in the eyes, unfazed as ever, "There ain't a single day that goes by that I don't miss Mom, John and Edward, and wish that they were still alive and here amongst us. But unlike dad up there..." she looked up towards Dreyfus as she said the words, "...and the rest of you..." now she looked round the crowd throng again, "I know the full picture."

"Please, we're all immune. We're all immune, or we wouldn't still be here," Dreyfus finally began addressing everyone through the megaphone.

"How did they find us?" a man demanded from within the crowd, shouts of agreement sounding up all around.

"We found them," Dreyfus answered.

"You knew they were out there," the same man pressed on.

"What if they come back?" a black woman now shouted, choruses of "Yeah" sounding out in response.

"I got a bad feeling about what he's about to give in answer," Sam said to his fellow Avengers as he watched Dreyfus, Steve, Natasha and Wanda nodding in agreement.

"If they come back... if they come back, they'll be sorry they ever did."

"And what the hell's that supposed to mean, huh?" Wanda demanded, folding her arms across her chest.

"It means, Miss Maximoff, that this city may not have the manpower it once did, but it has the firepower," Dreyfus answered, "We have stockpiles of guns and ammo left behind by FEMA and the National Guard. We have it all, stored away and kept under constant surveillance and in tip top condition up in Fort Point. And we've been keeping it all in tip top pristene condition for whenever a situation arises, like the one we find ourselves in now."

Natasha snorted out loud. "I knew it," she growled, and turned to the Falcon man, "You were damn right to have a bad feeling about what he'd say, Sam."

Sam nodded. "It would seem so indeed, Nat," he acknowledged.

"Just what the hell are you two talking about?" Dreyfus asked of them, the anger rising in his voice.

Steve now took a step forward, his own face now as defiant and furious as those of his fellow Avengers and a just as enraged Nikki. "It means, you son-of-a-bitch, that all you're implying is making the situation worse when there are much easier ways for you and Caesar to work together on to resolve this," he said.

"You talk about starting a goddamn fight with apes who you have not even clapped eyes on in ten years or so, who have lived up there peacefully in Muir Woods and have built themselves a full thriving community under Caesar's leadership throughout that time?" Sam took over, now folding his arms across his own chest, glaring up at Dreyfus, "You really wanna put all that at risk by choosing war over peace?"

"And from what Caesar told us, and what Malcolm added to it, you and this squalid lot hunkering down in this miserable place are the guilty party in this, Dreyfus," Wanda took up in continuation, "As you apparently disturbed the apes earlier with some sorta trek up into the woods to find some dam or something."

Unable to believe the way the Avengers were addressing him and his Colony, Dreyfus couldn't keep in his anger, both in voice and face. "You four don't know just what the hell we here in this Colony are up against," he snarled through the megaphone.

"And just what is that, huh?" a now folded arms across chest herself Natasha growled, "Can't be as bad as things obviously are here right now."

"We're almost out of fuel, Miss Romanoff," Dreyfus replied, "Which means no more power, which means we could slip back to the way things were. That dam up there in the woods was the answer."

A cough sounded from amongst the crowd, and as everyone turned in its direction the members of the Colony made way for the green eyed brunette who had been waiting with Malcolm, as she made her way towards the four Avengers. "That's why me, Malcolm, Alexander, Carver and Kemp were up in the woods earlier, Captain Rogers," she explained calmly to Steve, "Because our rapidly shrinking power supply, which we all needed so badly here, isn't just about keeping the lights from going off. It will also allow us to be able to reconnect to the rest of the world, to find out whoever else may be out, isolated and stranded wherever like we here are and have been ever since civilization itself practically ceased to exist four or five years ago."

"And I take it you and your man Malcolm and the other three you say of had absolutely no idea that Caesar and his apes were up there too, ma'am?" Steve asked the woman.

She shook her head. "No," she gave in answer, then held out her hand. "Ellie. Ellie McDonnell," she introduced herself, looking between the four.

Steve shook her hand, the other three doing the same. "McDonnell?" Sam said, "As in...?"

Now Malcolm himself appeared at Ellie's side, followed by the boy. "Yes. Ellie's my wife, Mr Wilson," he answered, a look of sadness briefly coming over his face, "My second one actually." He then gestured to the boy at his side, "My son, Alexander."

The teenager nodded. "Good to meet you," he greeted, also shaking hands with Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda.

"Me and Alexander were two of the ones Ellie mentioned who were up in the woods earlier and had our first encounter with Caesar while looking for the dam," Malcolm told the Avengers group, "As co-leader of the Colony here in the city, I was in charge of the attempted expedition."

"Oh, so you lead these people alongside that stubborn old deluded in the head son-of-a-bitch standing so nonchalant and decrepit up there on his high view above you all?" Wanda asked of Malcolm, gesturing and looking up towards Dreyfus with a nod of her head as she said, not even trying to hide her smirk of amusement at the pursed lipped anger filled look Dreyfus gave her in response.

Malcolm nodded. "Yes," he answered simply.

"I couldn't've put the description of the old man any better myself, Wanda," Nikki at last spoke again, her eyes and voice full of amusement.

"Well once you and your wife and boy have all finished exchanging pleasantries with that troublesome group of bad word spitting four, Mr McDonnell, perhaps you can answer the question of what the hell do we do now?" the black woman demanded again, directing the question at Malcolm as everyone else apart from Dreyfus himself all chorused "Yeah" once again in response.

"We find another way," Dreyfus spoke through the megaphone, the racket calming once again as he did so, "Ellie has said it all herself practically already, but the power that that dam can give us will allow us the opportunity to... to rebuild..." he paused, his mouth trembling, then went on, "...and reclaim..." another pause, and then he finished with, "...the world we lost."

The whole crowd, Malcolm, Ellie and Alexander included, dispersed once Dreyfus had finished his speech to them, leaving the Avengers quartet with Nikki, and ignoring her father's shout of "You and I still need to have a private conversation, young lady" the young woman decided to lead Team Cap to where her own self made improvised quarters were within the dilapidated rundown building.

"And to think that if the Simian Flu hadn't happened, this place would be vastly different indeed to what it all is now," Sam remarked as they made their way through and up and along the upper floors of the mall, he, Steve, Natasha and Wanda staring in disbelief at their surroundings as they did so. The other three knew full well just what Sam's words stood for in meaning, cos back on their Earth a place like this would not be at all so dirty and vegatation riddled for one thing, or be as gloomy too with no overhead lights.

Natasha nodded. "Instead, it's turned into this," she said, as they saw that the majority of the areas on all floors, which once upon a time would've been filled with tonnes of whatever ready to be brought and emptied from their place of origin by every day customers, had here been converted into makeshift improvised living quarters by all the current residents in the building.

"Well we did have to improvise quite a lot for ourselves once it became clear we'd be making this our home for goodness knows how long," Nikki explained as they at last reached the top floor itself and walked down a corridor, "Until we're able to locate other survivors out there somewhere in the wilderness. One of the few advantages of there being practically no lawmen or army to keep things in order anymore here is that we had no worries about "borrowing" whatever from wherever to help us improvise with our own different separate needs."

"Steal, you mean, eh, young Nikki?" Sam pointed out. Nikki shrugged as if to say "Whatever", but couldn't help chuckling with the Avengers as they approached an open doorway on their right.

"And here's my private space," she said proudly, gesturing forward with her arms inviting her guests in to enter, which they obliged.

"Well," Steve said impressively, "I have to say, you've quite an interesting taste for sure, Nikki," as he and the rest of Team Cap set their eyes on fading and in places tattered martial arts posters displaying legendary faces like Bruce Lee and Tony Jaa, and some books in both the fiction and non-fiction fields, some with their pages yellowing, also about martial arts arranged on shelves and a table in front of a double bed, with all sorts of other junk scattered around the place as well.

"Thank you, Captain Rogers," Nikki acknowledged with a smile, "Before DVDs, TV and the Internet all became lost to us for good thanks to the Flu, I developed rather a strong love for the world that guys like the famous Mr Lee, Chucky Norris and Tony, to say of just a few, made famously possible with their movies and bad ass bodily moves, all of which inspired me to self teach and learn for myself." She held her arms out wide, indicating her room, "Hence what you see in here."

Natasha nodded, even more impressed herself in particular. "Well in that case, you can always be free to have a fun crack at me some day if you wish to show us what you've taught yourself," she said offeringly.

Nikki's eyes widened a little. "You can fight too, eh, Miss Romanoff?" she responded with.

"Please, call me and Steve and Sam and Wanda by our first names, Nikki," Natasha said, giving the girl a smile, "There's no need to be as formal as either Malcolm or that Mr Hard Ass Stinker of a father of yours. And yes, I'm the bad ass fighter member amongst us." She indicated herself, boyfriend Steve, Sam and Wanda briefly, "I'm not called the Black Widow just for nothing."

"How?" Nikki asked.

"Thanks to this monstrous training programme set up during the years of the Soviet Union called the Red Room, which involved taking young women, some of whom were orphans or just abandoned by their parents, while others were literally taken from their families through either bargaining or direct force, and turning them into elite spies and assassins known as Black Widows," Natasha explained. It pained her to be talking about her past as a ruthless killer assassin before Clint Barton and SHIELD had saved her and given her a much welcomed second chance of a better life, but from what she and Steve and their two comrades had seen of Nikki already, the young woman seemed honest enough to be trusted with the basic if not yet full details.

"The girls chosen for the Red Room, myself amongst them, were put through strenuous daily training, including hand-to-hand combat training, acrobatics, weapons training, and tactical skills," Natasha went on, "Occasionally, two girls were chosen to violently spar against each other, as weakness wasn't at all tolerated, and the loser was more often than not usually killed by their opponent. We were also forced to watch video projections such as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', however, the monsters in charge of the whole Red Room programme filled them with subliminal messages including "Instill," "Fear," and "Pain," slowly brainwashing us. And during sleep, all "students" would have both their hands handcuffed to the bed frame to prevent attempts of escaping."

"Jesus," Nikki exclaimed, shaking her head in utter disbelief and shock at what she was hearing.

"That was who you were before you became one of us, Nat?" Wanda asked, herself now equally as shocked at the facts about Natasha's past, as she had never heard the full story yet herself either, having only been officially a part of the Avengers for a week or so since the events with Ultron and Sokovia.

Natasha nodded, a somber regretful look coming over her face. "Indeed I was, Wanda," she confirmed for the Scarlet Witch woman, then looked back to Nikki as she went on with the story. "And you wanna know what the worst thing about being a part of the Red Room for any one of its unfortunate members is, Nikki? It's that we're put through the so-called "Graduation Ceremony", which takes place after we, the agents, have successfully passed a series of physical and mental tests, which involves the young women receiving involuntary hysterectomies."

Nikki's shock, and next to Natasha Wanda reacted exactly the same way, rocketed visibly as she worked out for herself what Natasha was saying. "You mean, you're sterilized?!" she gasped in horror, "You can never bear kids at all?"

Natasha nodded, sadness coming over her now. "You worked it out very correctly, Nikki," she confirmed, "Removing us Black Widows' ability to bear children allowed the Red Room to craft us into more loyal and better killers, so that we never have to experience such weakness as worrying more about a family than the missions we were on."

"My god..." Nikki breathed, and now she came forward and flung her arms round Natasha, the Black Widow woman not resisting at all as she accepted the gesture and hugged Nikki back. "I'm so sorry, Natasha," Nikki said, her voice muffled because her face was pressed against the fabric of Natasha's Black Widow suit.

"Thanks, Nikki," Natasha nodded, feeling her eyes well with tears as they released each other, allowing Wanda to pull Natasha into just as tight an embrace, Steve and Sam adding their own reassurances with rubs of the back, Natasha not resisting any of it.

"Anyway, think we'd better go and see where my stubborn jackass of a dad has got to and what he might up to now," Nikki suggestively once the Avengers quartet had completed their brief comfort period with each other.

Steve nodded. "I think that's a good idea indeed," he agreed, the others also nodding, and together the five of them, Nikki once more leading the way, departed her private quarters and made their way through the building again, eventually seeing Malcolm sat on his own at the end of a corridor, head down deep in thought, holding the bag that the chimp from earlier had returned on his lap.

As the group approached though, the sound of their footsteps alerted Malcolm to their presence and he looked up. "Hey, Nikki, Captain Rogers, Miss Romanoff, Mr Wilson and Miss Maximoff," he greeted them politely, but then all their attentions were drawn by Dreyfus arriving on the scene from up a staircase to Malcolm's left.

"Oh great," Sam muttered under his breath.

"That was a great speech," Malcolm now addressed Dreyfus, getting to his feet, still holding the bag, and turning round to face the other man as he went on, "There is no alternative power source. That dam is the only option."

"Well, then, we fight them," Dreyfus responded with.

"Now wait a minute, you son-of-a-bitch," Natasha spoke up herself, the anger returning again to her voice as she strode forward and pushed her face almost right up to Dreyfus's, "No one is killing anyone, and certainly not Caesar and the apes."

"We're two weeks away from running out of fuel, Miss Romanoff. Maybe three, tops," Dreyfus answered back defiantly, "And once that happens..." he gestured back towards the staircase up which he just come, "I won't be able to go out there with a bullhorn and calm all those people downstairs down as you and your friends saw me do earlier."

"Well that's no concern of ours," Sam said, his arms once more folded across his chest, "What is our concern though is you proposing war and intended cold blooded massacre on the apes, who have lived up there peacefully in Muir Woods for a decade now without any interference or encounters with you humans at all."

"You know nothing about me, Falcon man," Dreyfus snarled, almost shouting the words, "Or how hard I've worked my ass off, together with Malcolm here..." he gestured to Malcolm with an arm, "...to found this place and keep everything and everyone in it together the way we have ever since the Flu."

"We know about your personal loss, Dreyfus," Steve now put in in just as hard and determinedly, "About your wife Maddy, and your sons John and Edward, and that you lost them to the Flu. And we can understand why you believe in a sense that Caesar and the apes are responsible for their deaths due to what Gen-Sys did to them via their sick experiments with the ALZ-113 in the first place, but that doesn't give you an excuse to provoke unnecessary conflict and bloodshed with them, all of which could inevitably result in mass casualties for both sides."

"You speak of them as if they're like us, Captain?" Dreyfus spat, "They're animals. Violent, mindless animals, that's all they are." But then he yelped out loud as Natasha delivered a hard vicious slap to his left cheek with her right hand, sending Dreyfus staggering back with the blow.

"You speak of or pronounce Caesar that way again, and swear help me God I won't at all hold myself back from giving you a good beating up," she now snarled herself as Dreyfus rubbed his cheek with his right hand.

"Nice one, Natasha," Nikki said proudly as she came to the Black Widow woman's side, glaring just as viciously at her father. "You just can't accept mom and John and Edward's deaths, can ya, dad," she addressed him, "All this inner rage and conflict over it towards the apes is what's turning you into what you're so clearly becoming."

"You're taking their side in this, huh, young lady?" Dreyfus demanded.

Nikki nodded. "Damn right I am," she said defiantly, "Steve, Natasha, Sam and Wanda are the right ones in all this. Unlike you."

"We need that power from the dam to get the radio transmitter working. It's our only chance we here in the city have of reaching the outside world. We have to find other survivors," Dreyfus went on.

Malcolm turned to Steve. "He is right in one sense, Captain Rogers," he said calmly, "There's not that many of us left here in the Colony. We can't afford anymore casualties among us."

"We understand, Malcolm," Steve replied, "And please, call me, Nat, Sam and Wanda by our first names. But I know you don't want to risk losing further potentially bigger numbers of people through senseless war with the apes because you deliberately provoked them into said conflict by attacking them just to locate a dam."

"Steve's right," Wanda agreed, "If you people can't stick and work together to resolve this matter with Caesar in more peaceful ways that don't involve fighting, then you won't survive at all."

"I lost everything, Wanda," Malcolm told her, pain coming into his voice now as he spoke, "My first love, Rita, Alexander's real mother, was one of those claimed by the Flu, and it's put a strain on the relationship between me and him since then. He and Ellie are still struggling to get on between them because Alexander's still reluctant to accept her into his life."

"My god, I'm so sorry, Malcolm," Steve assured him. He too knew full well that it meant to lose someone you hold so dear in your heart, which is what he had experienced with Bucky back in 1945 until circumstances and massive revelations with HYDRA and SHIELD the previous year had brought them together again after almost seventy years.

Malcolm nodded as if in thanks. "I have so little left, Steve," he replied, "Ellie and Alexander are my whole life now." He looked between the Captain America man and the other three Avengers, "I can't afford to lose them."

The quartet nodded, all of whom knowing just what it meant to experience and having to deal with personal loss, looks of sympathy on theirs and Nikki's face, and they all moved to stand with him, Natasha and Wanda touching him on the back or arm in added comfort, Malcolm accepting the gestures. When he next spoke though, it was to Dreyfus himself, "I wanna go back up there."

At once, the four Avengers and Nikki all turned as one, all of them with shocked surprise on their faces. "You serious, Malcolm?" Nikki exclaimed.

"I am, Nikki," Malcolm answered her, then looked back to her equally as stunned father again. "Listen to me, Dreyfus," he went on, stepping forward as he did so, "Give me three days. Let me talk to Caesar, see if we can negotiate a peace deal that can allow me to gain access to and work on the dam."

"And what if it backfires? What if that chimp gets violent? I mean, who do you know that he'll even understand you?" Dreyfus demanded.

"Oh, get real for god's sake," Sam said in a fed up sort of tone, "You heard Caesar address us out there earlier. He's perfectly capable of normal proper speech now, it seems."

"And haven't you even bothered opening your ears to anything we've been saying about avoiding war with him, you stupid stubborn old man?" Wanda asked, smirking at the fresh pursed lipped anger filled look Dreyfus gave her in response.

Malcolm nodded. "Sam's right," he said, still speaking to Dreyfus, now holding up his bag in his left hand, "Caesar's more than just an ape. If he was, he wouldn't have returned this to me."

Dreyfus considered all this in silence, and then seemed to make up his mind. "Fine," he said, "But you're not going up there alone."

Malcolm nodded. "I'll take Foster and Kemp with me," he said.

"What about Carver though?" Dreyfus reminded him, "He used to work at the water department. He's the only one who knows how the dam works."

Malcolm shook his head. "After what he did earlier, and what he's like in nature, I can't trust him with us again on this mission," he answered back. Then, not waiting for any further argument from Dreyfus, he turned to the Avengers quartet, "I would like you, Natasha, Sam and Wanda to come as well, Steve." He paused, then finished with, "If you wish to do so of course?"

Steve nodded. "But of course, Malcolm," he gave in response, "You're certainly gonna need all the help and backup you can get if you gonna go up into those woods and be surrounded by Caesar's huge community of potentially uninviting and not exactly willing apes. And with what us four can do with our separate abilities..." he held up his shield, still strapped to his right arm as it had been ever since before the Ancient One's arrival at the Compound, as if to emphasize the point, "We're certainly going with you."

"I second that," Sam nodded, then looked towards Dreyfus. "For what it's worth saying to you, old man Dreyfus, I served as a soldier of the USAF in the hellhole of Afghanistan for two tours a few years ago," he told him, "And one mission me and some of my buddies were called out to do was to help with the repairing to some of the vital Kajaki Dam, which some Taliban members had launched an attack on in an attempt to destroy it and cause a devastating flood which woulda wiped out dozens of villages and their inhabitants in the valley where it was and beyond, not to mention many British and American troops. Very luckily though, we fixed the damage and were able to prevent said disaster from happening."

Steve whistled. "Wowee. You never shared about that with me before when we were briefly fugitives from HYDRA last year," he remarked humouredly.

Sam shrugged. "Sorry, Cap. It got rather lost in the billions of other things on my mind since then," he answered, he and Steve chuckling between them at the words before Sam then turned to Malcolm. "So you can certainly rely on me to be on hand with anything you need in terms of working on that dam you lot need for here, Malc," he told him.

Malcolm nodded. "Thank you," was all he needed to say.

"I'm with the boys," Natasha added thirdly to the topic at hand.

"Hear hear," Wanda concluded with.

"Count me in as going with you lot too," Nikki then spoke up herself again.

At hearing that, Dreyfus's reaction was one that would have been expected by any of them. "Woah woah woah, young lady," he began to say, "If you think I'm going to allow you to go out there with Malcolm and Captain Rogers and his friends-"

But Nikki cut him off by holding up her left hand. "Save it, dad," she snapped, looking him right in the eyes, "Don't even think about telling me not to go. There's nothing you can and won't do that's gonna stop me from doing so. I'm going, and that's final."

Natasha nodded. "Attagirl, Nikki," she responded with, again impressed by the younger woman's determined attitude.

"I think it's fair to say your clever daughter's mind is well and truly made up very solidly indeed, old Dreyfus," Steve said.

Silence followed, as Dreyfus took in everything that everyone had said to him, and when he saw that Nikki, nor Team Cap or Malcolm, were going to back down from their decisions, he let out a big breath of air as he folded his arms across his chest. "Three days," he at last said, holding up his left index finger, "If you lot are not back in three days, I'm bringing some of the boys up there, armed with whatever's still working in the armoury, and we're gonna kill every last one of those stinking creatures who follow that confounded chimp."

"Casear!" five voices, those of the Avengers four and Nikki, all chorused loudly and angrily as one, followed by a yet again mighty furious Natasha striding briskly forward and kicking Dreyfus's left leg out from underneath him with her right, grabbing him by his jacket as he fell to one knee and pulling him up a bit so that her face was right in his.

"We're coming back, you stubborn old ass," she snarled, her clenched teeth showing, "And if you so much as dare to show your face to us and the apes up there along with some other guys armed with guns, I can promise you, and on behalf of the rest of us too, that we will fight you. I am not called Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, member of the Avengers, and one of the most efficient, reliable and effective agents the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division ever came to be graced with, before the expose of HYDRA's decades long infiltration brought about its collapse, for nothing."

"Hear hear on that with absolute surity," Sam agreed.

"Correct," Wanda added.

"And the best girlfriend I could've asked for that," Steve added, Natasha looking back over her shoulder and sharing smiles with him, before turning back to Dreyfus and releasing him. As soon as her hands had let go of his jacket, Dreyfus scrambled back onto his feet, and with a final say of "Three days" he stormed off, heading back down the stairs.

"I, uh, better go and tell Foster and Kemp about what's going on," Malcolm said, "And then I need to pack what's needed, plus let Ellie and Alexander know too."

"Of course, Malcolm," Steve answered, "Don't let us stop you."

Malcolm nodded, replied with "Thank you" and headed off in the same direction as Dreyfus had, leaving Team Cap and Nikki alone.

"Well, young Nikki, looks like you're stuck with us after all," Sam told her with a cheeky smirk.

"I don't care," Nikki smiled triumphantly, "Anything's better than skulking in this godforsaken rotten tip of a dump of a place waiting for whatever might happen. An adventure with you four and Malcolm and his group to the woods and meeting Caesar and his apes again is far more exciting and to be looked forward to."

"Well then, what're we waiting for?" Natasha said, "Let's get started."