There was something to be said about peace, delegation, and waiting. What should have been an annoying search for Doctor Strange, the only person I believed could at least help with a portal to Asgard, had been siphoned off to Iron Man. It had been a few days since he left here, close to a week now. I thought he would have had some new information or something, yet I had heard nothing from him, and Ajak had promised me that he had not called, which led to the last part.
Waiting.
Luckily for me, I was not quite as easily bored as I used to be. Ajak's favorite horse, a brown hulking thing with speckled white hide, trotted beside me, and despite how brutish and violent the creature looked, it was the calmest in the herd. Sitting astride the horse was Ava Starr. She was almost a different person. This was not the woman who had sought to take my life barely a week ago, the woman with little desire to live, especially not with the pain she endured every day. No, this Ava Starr was... skittish.
The horse followed behind me, even without my hand on its reins to guide it, my presence a familiar one compared to the scared human on its back. "A-are you sure it won't throw me off?"
"He won't," I replied to the question for the umpteenth time in a grumble that was enough to quiet the woman for hopefully the next few hours, but I knew I was only getting a couple of minutes of respite at most. Electric blue eyes flickered to the side, and I glimpsed the way she held the horse in realization. She was not scared of falling off the horse. She was scared of her ability acting up again and unconsciously flickering right through the horse.
It had happened twice already in the past week. According to Ajak, it was a psychological problem more than a physical one. Ajak had fixed her, and to make sure she did not lose her ability, the Eternal had tied her ability to her psyche in a display of cosmic surgery that I had neither the ability nor interest in understanding. At the end of the day, she had simply accomplished what should have been impossible, yet that had come with certain disadvantages.
Ava had been living in a state of quantum flux for so long that sometimes she forgot she had been fixed, and in brief moments of panic, she unconsciously activated her abilities. It was a sad habit that had been ingrained into her, and after twenty-plus years, it was not an easy thing to let go of, and the fact that she was trying alone spoke to me of her effort. It reminded me of the first week I found myself here.
My musings and wanderings were cut short when I felt something moving through the clouds. A plane? No, it was too low in the cloud, like it was hiding. Red brows furrowed as I tried to use my understanding of the skies to get an idea of the shape of the object. It was fast, yet camouflaged and even staring upwards my eyes could not pick it out, yet I knew it was there.
Big, triangular, and coming in fast.
"That's enough for today." The sudden sound of my voice was enough to make the woman panic, and she flickered right through the horse in time to land on her arse.
"Huh. What. I..."
I looked down at her, and her panicked waggling was silenced in an instant. I do not know what she saw in my eyes in those few seconds, but it was enough to put some steel in her spine as she stood up with a nod and took off towards the house. I turned to the horse, briefly brushed at its flank and its neck before looking into its eyes. Luckily for me, the creature proved wiser than Ava, possessing more sense for the incoming danger as it took off towards the barn, leaving me alone in the grasslands.
I stood in place, stance at ease as I felt what I assumed was a ship glide its way towards us. It was a minute away when the door to the house opened, and I heard multiple steps trail their way to stand behind me.
"What's wrong, Odinson?" Ajak asked as she took her place slightly to my right, while Ava took her place to my left.
"Something comes, or someone."
"I see. You fear it is an attack?"
I shook boulder sized shoulders before replying. "I don't know. But whatever it is, I'll deal with it." I could already feel the clouds stir, the skies darken in the slightest, as the weather slowly changed, with static filling the heavens. Without summoning the hammer, it would take seconds to build up the desired charge I wanted, especially with the distance.
A bolt of lightning strong enough to bring down the ship.
Ajak put a calming hand to my wrist, a tight smile on her face as she spoke. "I've no doubt you're more than sufficient, but perhaps we should try my way first. Some diplomacy, yes?"
I looked down at her, my eyes bright with untapped power. It was her property. With a final shrug, I let go of my will, and the skies grew bright once more. Ajak let out a sigh, and a few seconds later, something breached the cloud layer, and as it did, its camouflage was pulled back in a shimmering pattern that slowly revealed the craft that had flown through my skies. I was correct. The ship was triangular in shape, with slightly glowing script and circular arches on its form. Its body had the texture of stone.
"The Domo." Ajak said in realization as it came close enough for her to recognize. It took another second for the name to register. The spaceship that the Eternals had used to come to Earth. I suppose it was a good thing I did not crack it open, because if I remember well, the stone like structure was not very durable.
"What's that?" Ava asked, the only person wholly in the dark.
"Our starship. We came here aboard it nearly seven thousand years ago, to protect your race from the deviants that sought to treat you like prey, culling your ilk and ensuring that civilization never rose above a certain level." Ajak replied, yet there was something in her voice. Guilt. She was not lying, she was simply telling a part of a story, in a way that had her and the other Eternals look like heroes instead of what they were in truth. Farmers, cultivators, unknowing or not. That was their role, and humans were the nutrients they used to cultivate the Celestial growing in the heart of the planet.
The ship drifted low to the ground. Its sheer bulk took up kilometers of grassland, yet fortunately, there was more than enough space ahead. The ship did not so much as land as it hovered in place, before a section slid open and a ramp made of the same material as the ship was lowered.
Ajak took a step forward as shadows played across the ramp before resolving into a line of figures. Seven of them, to be specific. Makkari was the first, and she blurred her way to stand before Ajak, before hugging her so hard that if the elderly woman were human, she would have fractured her spine.
The remaining figures were no less familiar. A dusk-skinned, short haired man was the first off the ramp, Kingo, followed shortly by a woman with sharp features and dark hair, Sersi, who walked side by side with a blonde haired child I could only guess was Sprite.
The next were a strange duo, one Korean, male and heavyset just like me, and the other, a whip thin woman with an athletic physique and blonde hair, Gilgamesh and Thena. They walked hand in hand. The last figure did not so much as walk as float, coming up behind them. Ikaris.
"I can see you took your time, Makkari," Ajak said as soon as she was able to extract herself out of Makkari's grip once more, and Makkari signed something to her. Unfortunately, sign language was not one of the many skills I had picked up, so I was left ignorant, yet whatever Makkari signed left Ajak frowning slightly.
"Ajak. It's been so long." Kingo called out as he stepped off the ship. He only gave me a glance before rushing toward the older woman. "You don't call, you don't text. I had to leave my manager behind just to hurry to see you once more."
Ajak laughed before replying. "I see your face and hear your voice enough in your movies, Kingo." She replied as the taller man stepped up to her and hugged her as well, before shifting to the side and giving space for Sersi and Sprite. Like Kingo, Sersi only gave me a curious glance, while Sprite stared at me wide-eyed. For a seven thousand year old Eternal, she did not act like it.
"Sersi and Sprite, my darlings, how have you been?"
The younger woman smiled and leaned into a hug with Ajak just like Kingo before her. "I've missed you, Ajak." Sprite finally shook her head, ignoring me and rushing into Ajak, turning it into a group hug before speaking. "Unlike the rest of these sad fops, I'm glad you called. I hope this has something to do with finally leaving."
Ajak pulled back and smiled at the childlike Eternal. "There's a lot to talk about."
"I'm sure we can have it over a meal. I'm starving, and Thena has not had much of an appetite in recent days." Gilgamesh said as he walked up and gave Ajak a hug that she almost got lost in owing to his massive frame.
"I've missed your cooking, my dear, and you also." Ajak trailed off as she turned to Gilgamesh's counterpart, but if Thena was interested in the conversation, it could hardly be noticed, not when she had clouded over eyes focused on me. I returned her gaze with a heavy blue eyed stare and wondered just what was going through her head.
"She has been lost in the Mahd Wy'ry for the past few hours, but luckily, whatever vision she sees is of a calmer fate, and that has affected her mood," Gilgamesh said by means of explanation, as he put one heavy arm on her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.
"I understand," Ajak said at once, then she turned her attention to the last one. Her golden boy. Ikaris. He stood apart, his dark trench coat swaying in the breeze like a cape. He did not move forward to hug her. Instead, he gave her a calm nod. Yet despite that, since he left the ship, he had only had eyes for me.
"Ikaris. How do you fare?"
"Fine, Ajak. There have been complications in the mission, but I suppose that is what you called us here for, is it not? Yet that aside, Makkari gave us the cliff notes, but you have not introduced us to your new children." He said in that distinct Scottish brogue of his.
Ajak winced at his words, something about the way he said and phrased it. I suddenly remembered. Ikaris had been aware of their true mission. The only other Eternal aware of the Celestial at the heart of Earth. Ajak had shared the burden of the truth with him, and he had turned the Emergence into his life goal. Ensuring and sacrificing everything and everyone to show his loyalty to Arishem's plans. It was that loyalty, that mindset, that had led to Ajak's death for daring to rebel against their creator.
"You're right, introductions are in order." Ajak started, gesturing at the assembled Eternals. "Ikaris, Sersi, Kingo, Sprite, and Makkari you've already met. This is Thor, Thor Odinson, and Ava Starr. They are guests at my homestead. Odinson, I'm sure you're familiar with them, but Ava, these are my fellow Eternals."
Ajak said by means of introduction, yet my ears were deaf to her words, for as I stared at Ikaris floating inches away, I was suddenly hit with the realization that I might have to kill the strongest Eternal before the day ended.
__
Natasha Romanoff
The renovated Stark Industries warehouse complex that Happy Hogan had renamed the Avengers Compound, was a fortress of silence at 2:47 AM.
Natasha moved through its corridors like a ghost. The sum total of her training in the Red Room and her experience as an espionage agent for more than half her life turned her footfalls nonexistent against the polished floors of the facility. The security systems here were a state of the art. Tony's paranoia and genius had seen to that, but she had helped design half of them back when they were still a team. Back when the Avengers had meant something to the broken spy. A group with true loyalty, a band of misfits, a family. Yet that disguise had been shredded by signatures on a piece of paper and a lie that had torn them all apart.
Three years. Three years since Lagos, since Sokovia, since she had chosen Steve's side and walked away from everything they had built together. Three years since she had seen Tony Stark's face twisted in betrayal as she had let Steve and Bucky escape.
She pushed the memory down. She was good at that. She would be useless without that ability, considering her many sins.
The mainframe terminal was exactly where she remembered it, tucked away in a sub-level lab that Tony probably thought no one else knew about. Vision had disappeared for three weeks, turning his transponder dark, and that had been enough to leave Steve pacing their safe house like a caged animal in worry over whether the android had been killed, taken, or recovered by one of the many alphabet agencies that had sprung up with the fall of SHIELD. Then all of a sudden, Vision called.
He had been desperate when he reached out, his synthetic voice crackling with something that might have been fear, if androids could feel such things. Wanda had joined the call, and together they spoke of some sort of impending doom and some figure that could probably save them. He had spoken of dreams, and of a red haired man with a presence that pulled at him like gravity.
"I need to know what I saw. Stark's systems should have some answers. Help us. Please."
So here she was, breaking into her former home to help the android who had helped tear them apart.
She glanced around. The cameras were disabled and had been thrown into a loop. It should give her just enough time to slip in and slip out. The terminal hummed to life under her fingers, and she began navigating through layers of security protocols she had memorized years ago. Tony had changed some of them. He was not stupid. But muscle memory and intuition carried her through. Files scrolled past, weapons development, satellite feeds, and intelligence reports from sources she did not want to think about too hard. One of them was supposed to have what she needed. She typed in the keyword searches that Vision had given her. "Red hair. Lightning. Giant." It was not much to go off on, but it was all she had.
She was halfway into typing when she heard it, the faint sound of electromagnetic hum that raised the hair on the back of her neck. The sound was familiar, but this was the first time she would be on the receiving end of it.
Her body moved on instinct, muscles coiling to strike, but a voice stopped her cold.
"Somehow I'm not surprised that this is how our first interaction is happening after three years."
The voice was tired yet Familiar and filled with something that might have been humor or might have been hurt. With Tony, it was always hard to tell.
"How have you been, Nat?"
She turned slowly, hands up and visible, and found Tony Stark standing fifteen feet away in rumpled sweatpants and an MIT hoodie that had seen better days. His right hand was encased in red and gold metal, just the gauntlet, but this looked different, almost like liquid metal that crawled up to his shoulder. The repulsor at the center of his open palm glowed with enough energy to turn her to ash on the ground if the other man was not happy, or enough to knock her unconscious if he was in a good mood. The angle and distance were perfect. She would not have enough time to dodge. She would have laughed if she did not think Tony was already on a hair trigger and liable to shoot her. She would rather not know what setting he had the beam on.
He had learned well.
She had been the one who taught him how to shoot, back in the days when the thought of him pointing that beam at her was inconceivable. So she knew he would not miss. Not from this distance.
Natasha let her shoulders relax a fraction, allowing the ghost of a smile to touch her lips. "Fancy meeting you here, Stark."
Tony's eyebrow arched, and even in the dim blue glow of the lab, she could see the dark circles under his eyes, the new lines around his mouth. He looked older. They all did. But somehow, he looked worse, like he had not been sleeping well recently. A hundred dollars says it had something to do with the new state of the world, but the only sucker who would have taken that bet was Clint, and she had not seen him in three years.
"Really? That's what we're going with?" He tilted his head, making sure the repulsor stayed on her. "I have got to say, Nat, your infiltration skills are still top notch. You made it past eighty-seven security measures. I counted. Well, technically FRIDAY counted, but I was watching."
"You knew I was here the whole time."
"The moment you crossed the perimeter. Good trick with the camera, but we have a new system. Quantum sensors in the foundation. Cannot be fooled by the usual tricks." His voice was conversational, almost pleasant, but his hand still did not waver in the slightest. "I have had three years to plug the holes. You would be amazed at what paranoia and unlimited resources can accomplish."
"Then why let me get this far?"
There was sadness in his eyes, an indescribable emotion on his face. It lasted for a split second before he hid it, but Natasha had been trained to spot tells like that. "Call it curiosity. Also, I wanted to see if you would actually go through with it. Breaking into my home. Rifling through my files. Again."
She did not flinch at the accusation.
"I'm not here for your weapons," she said quietly, her eyes flicking to the side in search of anything that could turn the tides. Somehow she had the feeling the EMP she stored in her belt would not be enough. "Or secrets. I simply need information."
"Everyone needs something, Nat. That has been the running theme of my life lately." Tony took a step closer, and she heard a whir as more armor materialized along his arm. Whatever that liquid metal was, it spread until it was covering part of his chest. "Let me guess. Rogers sent you. Or maybe it was Barton, calling in old favors. Or maybe you are freelancing these days, selling information to whoever is buying."
"It's Vision."
That stopped him. The repulsor dimmed fractionally, and she saw genuine surprise cross his features.
"Vision," Tony repeated the name like he was testing it for truth. "The synthezoid who chose Team Cap and left without a word? That Vision?"
"Yes. He says there is a danger coming, and he needs our help."