The SHIELD-Hydra war had gone well. Shockingly well, even with him putting his finger on the scale in a rather obvious manner. Taking their biggest asset in the form of an AI and his long list of suspects with Hydra affiliations would have been enough to transform the landscape.
But he didn’t just do that. He put back a legendary trio into the field. Three fresh supersoldiers would have been a nuisance. Three experienced super-soldiers would have been a dangerous tactical weapon.
What he put together was the nuclear equivalent of spy warfare. Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter, and Bucky Barnes, all empowered with the top of the line super-soldier serums, would have been the worst nightmare of any organization on their crosshairs, even for professional reasons.
Michael suspected that he couldn’t have invented a more personal battle for the three of them if he tried. Hydra stole their youth with the war and ruined their lives: Steve frozen, Bucky brainwashed into an assassin, and Peggy with her mind eroded while Hydra slowly destroyed her life’s work from inside.
The results were spectacular enough that he decided never to make Steve angry at him. It wouldn’t be fun.
Peggy and Bucky naturally stayed masked, but still, their involvement turned every battle into a rout.
Unfortunately, the amazing battle didn’t save SHIELD from destruction.
It didn’t matter that their casualties were shockingly low, most of their infrastructure intact, and their budget would probably swell by taking over Hydra assets.
For one simple fact.
SHIELD had lost all its legitimacy.
Frankly, there was no saving it. SHIELD had always existed to protect the world against hidden threats, and for that, they got a lot of leeway, not just in terms of budget, but also in terms of legal operating.
Being infiltrated by Hydra after all those claims was an ideological death knell, not just externally, but also internally. Just the number of agents who resigned in disgust would have been enough to cripple SHIELD.
That wasn’t enough. SHIELD was learning that Hydra wasn’t their only enemy.
Bureaucracy was.
For decades, high-ranking SHIELD agents had been global bullies of law enforcement, constantly involving themselves in every single topic, taking over cases and resurces while using the need for secrecy as a barrier. It was not a way to make friends.
Ironically, he suspected Hydra kept the worst away through corruption, favors, and possibly outright assassinations, leaving them cowed.
Those political enemies all came out of the woodwork, attacking SHIELD with an army of lawyers, auditors, and inspectors, the kind that SHIELD would have been hard-pressed to survive even if they were at full capacity. And, once SHIELD was revealed as weak, everyone turned against them, some out of principle, the others chasing after SHIELD’s juicy budged.
Their attack was the paperwork equivalent of a locust wave, impossible to resist, shattering SHIELD far worse than Hydra ever could.
Michael was glad that he had absolutely no reason to protect SHIELD as an organization, because he suspected that, even with all the capabilities he had accumulated, it would have failed.
He cared only about Phil’s team. Luckily, he didn’t even need to lift a finger. Phil’s team had proven themselves through the battle, and he knew for a fact Steve extended an invitation for Skye to join the Avengers if SHIELD doesn’t survive the inquiries.
Technically, SHIELD could have survived with Captain America as the next director; the only man whose reputation could survive the mess. Many people realized that and begged him to take over temporarily.
Steve refused.
He couldn’t say he was surprised. Nor he was surprised when Steve took a leave of absence from the Avengers, with express instructions not to reach him unless it was a real emergency.
Publicly, he was in a secret mission with the other two secret super soldiers. In reality, they had disguised themselves and decided to take a biker road trip through the nation.
He didn’t track them out of respect. The trio needed to find their balance, and deserved their privacy while doing so. And, if they needed help…
Anything that would threaten the three of them would be visible from space.
It also meant his effective house arrest was over. With SHIELD on its death throes and without a replacement to take over, his house arrest was gone. Meaning, he was free to move around once more.
It helped that Professor Azure identity was taken even more seriously once he raided a dozen large Hydra bases openly, with warnings carved on the walls not to annoy him.
It would have been an amazing opportunity to enjoy a holiday. It wasn’t for a very simple reason.
Aliens.
Raids on SHIELD and Hydra facilities gave him a lot of new toys and tech devices he could break down, upgrade, and integrate with his land army and space fleet. But none of those had been alarming enough as the information they had on aliens.
Both SHIELD and Hydra. Apparently, both organizations was aware of the existence of multiple alien empires that seemed to enjoy war, not to mention a lot of other threats … including space pirates.
The SHIELD database included a lot of fragmentary references to two interstellar alien empires at war. The Kree and the Skrulls, a war that had been going on for centuries, apparently.
Reading about modern-day Kree, he could see that they hadn’t changed much from the history he had found on their hidden underground city, still led by a gang of purist extremists. Only, apparently, they were being ruled by some kind of racist central AI.
The information was fragmented because someone had gone to a lot of trouble erasing it from every database, and only due to his enhanced Computer Tinker was he able to get more.
The information on Skrulls was even worse, mostly because he didn’t have an intact database to contextualize the information.
That was what he got from the SHIELD database. Hydra was worse.
Predictably so.
For one, Hydra had recently got in contact with an alien organization called the Confederacy, a collection of alien races that was offering protection for someone called Thanos.
A merciless warlord with mysterious aims, who was able to command Chitauri armies and actively culled half of the population of every planet he took over.
The information the Confederacy provided seemed a lot, but it was mostly useless. No tech, no real information about the wider galaxy. They just provided some vague information, and in return, Hydra provided them with a pretty long list of requests, from raw materials to every anomaly Earth offered, from Arc Reactor plans to Gravitanium.
In exchange, they promised protection from Thanos; and Hydra communication showed that they had been inclined to deliver.
Michael doubted it would work. Once they gave all its advantages, there were only two cases. The Confederacy was actually strong enough to keep Thanos back, meaning they would just take over Earth.
Or, they were weaker, and once the time arrived, they would just abandon them.
He didn’t really know whether Hydra believed them, or they were merely trying to play the Confederacy in turn. However, from the communications he was able to get on, it was clear that Earth being in Asgardian sphere of influence was the only reason they left Earth alone.
It was really threat after threat. It also meant he needed to prioritize the space even more.
He can’t trust others with his safety.
That was the way he acted when he first discovered the existence and purpose of SHIELD, which proved even better than he realized after catching on to the depths of Hydra infiltration.
Also, he couldn’t defend against a threat he didn’t understand. Both SHIELD and Hydra had some preliminary assessments of the power of the alien empires, but considering their spotty history of competence, he couldn’t take their assessments at face value, even if it didn’t come from broken data.
He needed to visit himself, and for that, he needed two things. First, he needed better spaceships, ones that he could rely on to actually travel himself rather than sending them with automation.
Second, he wanted to figure out how Asgardian tech worked, considering how other alien empires seemed to take the Asgardian threat seriously. He didn’t have a large base to work with, but luckily, both SHIELD and Hydra were like squirrels, hiding whatever artifact and book they got their grubby little hands on.
Which meant, he had a lot to study.
Later.
He deserved a real holiday after all that mess, once again free to move.
&&&
“How I missed freedom,” Michael said as he arrived at Los Angeles using his gate network, followed by a quick bounce. From there, all he needed was to put on a cap and arrive, and soon he was at the target building.
Watson Productions. A whole floor, converted into a combined working space, protected by some of the best tech Stark Industries could provide, at least on the surface. He had his own hidden stuff.
He was impressed by the movement. The open floor plan showed twenty people, each rushing around with intensity, showing there was work. Frankly, that would have been a lot of work, but he cheated a bit by ‘buying’ a few special computers for them to run their special effects.
The least he could do for his sexy redhead lover.
God, Peter was an idiot was not cherishing her enough, leaving him enough space to swoop in and steal her.
Bypassing the security had been easy after everything he could do. The best part, he didn’t even need to hide that part, not after being trained by both Natasha and May.
He hummed happily as he slipped into Mary Jane’s office and found her wearing jeans and a blazer over a t-shirt with a band logo on it. It should look mostly trite, but being an actual model, Mary Jane knew how to tie it together to radiate youthfulness and business savy at the same time while downplaying her sexiness.
She looked tired, but she also looked radiant. From the regular calls they were making, he knew that she was happy with her work and proud of it. It was justified. Having access to Pepper or his computers helped somewhat, but Hollywood was designed to chew and spit out outsiders after draining all their money.
The fact that Mary Jane was able to find a hold was impressive.
However, he was amused that she didn’t notice his presence. So, he actually went to the office kitchen, made her coffee the way she loved, and then returned and closed her office door.
“Hi, sexy. I got your coffee, just the way you love,” he said as he caressed her neck.
“Thanks, Michael,” she responded, absentminded as she grabbed the coffee, took a sip, only to cough it out in a spray in a very undignified moment. Her eyes widened. “Michael,” she gasped and jumped to kiss him. Then, she pulled back and pinched his arm. “That was mean.”
“Maybe, but incredibly funny. Maybe I should sell the recording to a gossip rag. They would love the genius new producer in town—“ he continued, which earned him another pinch or two.
It might have been annoying if it wasn’t immediately followed by Mary Jane pushing him down to her chair and straddling his lap. They spent a few minutes kissing before she put her head on his chest. “I missed you,” she said.
“I missed you as well. But you know, the mess…”
That was enough to ruin their juvial mod. “Yes, what a mess! Who would have guessed SHIELD was infiltrated by an international terrorist organization to that degree?” She paused. “Well, you did.”
He chuckled. “As much as I would love to accept credit, I merely assumed them to have general government overreach combined with incompetence. An international conspiracy was not on my bingo card.”
She caressed his chest while she pulled back, her beautiful eyes focusing on his face. "Are you okay? Really okay?"
"Actually, okay," he promised. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, the limited mobility was annoying, but it worked as a good bootcamp. I learned to fight much better, and even learned enough about biology and chemistry to make me a much better healer. Overall, a nice result.”
She chuckled, and her hips began to move. “Oh, you learned about biology indeed. Did you managed to complete the set, you greedy little gremlin.”
“Well, Simmons decided to thank me for saving the world … again, I might add.”
“Really, because I heard you worked an hour and left the real work to others,” she responded, teasing rather than directly asking about his ‘exhaustion’.
He chuckled. “I learned how to be a healer from bad computer games. Just buff the warriors and get out of the way. I even got my sexy nurses to tend me while I took a nap.”
That made her laugh even though she studied him a second longer, then decided to believe him. The tension drained from her shoulders. “So, did you really heal Peggy Carter? That sounds unbelievable.”
He wasn’t surprised by MJ’s question. He didn’t talk with her about it directly, but she was part of the inner circle, with constant communication with Pepper, so her knowing made sense.
“More unbelievable than an alien invasion?”
“Somehow, yes. I mean, it’s age and brain disease. Just knowing you can fix it … let’s just say I understand why you’re keeping it hidden.”
“Especially since it has to be combined with some high-potency super-soldier serum to work,” he said, only partially true. Serum made it easier, but it wasn’t entirely necessary. “But, enough of my abilities and how they could destroy the society. I’m bored of talking about it. Tell me about your movie business.”
“Amazing,” she responded, her smile wide. “I mean, we didn’t do much. Just two pilot episodes that seem like they would be picked, and three TV movies. Without the computers from a supervillain, we would have been struggling.”
“In a way, but the Professor is more of an old grouch than anything.”
“An old grouch that drove SHIELD crazy by raiding a lot of Hydra bases before they could get into,” MJ said, but she was laughing. She wasn’t anymore invested in SHIELD’s success than he was.
“Pepper is complaining, isn’t she?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. With SHIELD effectively out, they are asking Avengers to take an even bigger role, which means Pepper has to deal with all the mess while Tony forgets meetings, lost in inventing the next shiny thing. Meaning, Pepper is living more in Washington than in New York, locked in high-level committee meetings trying to save SHIELD on some level.” MJ sighed. “You should have visited her before me,” she said.
“I thought about it, but her schedule is literally locked tight, and if anyone realizes she took a day to visit me, her job gets ten times worse.”
“Why? You’re a literal hero.”
He sighed as he pressed his head against hers. “That’s the problem. Washington is filled with old men with oversized egos. If they believe that they could get my time just by holding Pepper’s initiatives hostage, she would lose her ability to achieve anything. No, it has to wait until she could at least carve a day out of the mess. I don’t expect it to happen for a week.”
“Knowing Pepper, a month is likelier.”
“Nope, anything longer than a week, I’ll kidnap her faking a Stark Industries emergency,” he said. “She needs some pampering.”
“True,” MJ responded, and kissed him again, her hips moving, but he stopped her. “Anything wrong?”
“Nope, but I assume you don’t want everyone in your office to hear what we’re about to do.”
“Walls are thick—“
“Not that thick,” he reminded her. “Or did you forget how loud you can get. Do you really test it after staying apart for so long? And, I also arranged a nice date we can enjoy before we enjoy our night together.”
Her eyes widened. “You make a compelling case,” she said.
He laughed. “Fine. Let’s go to the meeting room. I’ll meet you there,” he said. “That way, my presence here doesn’t suddenly turn into a battlefield.”
That made her laugh. They walked into the editing rooms at the far end of the office, and he stayed hidden while MJ sent the editors on duty for an early lunch.
“Let’s see what you have until now,” he said, quickly going through the movie. Thanks to their calls, he already had a general idea about the movie, including the direction. It was not yet finished shooting, but as the producer, she received dailies, which was all the shooting that had been done during the day.
It was a long, complicated mess that usually took weeks to turn into something that resembled a movie. Luckily, he had certain advantages. He went through them while they chatted about the movie.
Talking with MJ was always fun when she was passionate about something, and she was passionate about art and acting, and movies in general, and the fact that it was a movie she was the executive producer of made it even better.
He hummed. “Alright, cameraman three has to be fired immediately. He’s cutting unnecessary corners, meaning once they are tied together, it won’t work,” he said.
“Done,” she said, which was not a surprise, not with his capabilities in fine arts.
He hummed, then he made a few other suggestions, which turned into a heated debate, followed by a pretty intense make-out session, almost enough to reconsider his plans for the date.
Almost. He missed being outside too much.
Still, it was a good start.