I ended up kind of regretting inviting them when I realized what the 'something important' was.
"You absolute son of a bitch," Tony icily.
"Stark," Coulson said serenely, trying to calm him down.
"No, don't start with that. You couldn't send a text, an email, a signal flare," Tony said, getting in Coulson's face. "I mourned you, Coulson, I actually felt bad!"
"And I appreciate that," Coulson said back. "But we weren't exactly friends, Tony. We were allies, occasionally, when you weren't locking me out of the tower to avoid my visits, or pranking me like we were in high school!"
"That's how I treat my friends!" Tony said, looking offended. "Rhodey never complained!"
"He complained all the time!" Coulson shouted back.
"What, you spied on him too?" Tony scoffed.
"New flash, Tony. I am a spy!"
As the two quibbled back and forth at each other inside the Bus' laboratory, I looked around.
The Bus was a pretty cool looking plane. The hanger door was down to let sunlight in, letting me see it in all its glory. A sweet red convertible was parked on the right side of the door, all sleek lines and leather seats, a beauty from an older time. The left side of the door held a big black SUV. Some stairs lead up to another floor, while a set of glass panels separated the cargo hold from the forensics and research lab we stood in.
Skye, Fitz-Simmons, Melinda May, Clint, and Natasha all watched the fireworks alongside me. I learned in towards Natasha.
"How long is this going to go on?" I whispered.
"I'm just wondering why we're here," she whispered back. "He said this was important."
"Well, you know Tony," Clint said. "He likes an audience."
"Drama queen?" Melinda asked.
Clint and Natasha nodded.
"This is why you should never meet your heroes," Fitz said sadly, getting a pat on the back from a sympathetic Simmons.
"Been working for me so far," I said. Clint and Natasha grinned at me, to which I could only helplessly shrug. Once a-
"Fanboy!" Tony said, somehow perfectly cutting my thought off and completing it at the same time. "Come to meet Agent."
Apparently, Tony's nickname for Coulson was 'Agent'. With a bit of confusion at how casual Tony was suddenly acting, I stepped forward, the others coming along.
"Agent, this is-"
"Dial," Coulson said, extending a hand to shake. Tony interrupted our handshake when I went to shake Coulson's.
"Don't interrupt me. This is Fanboy. He makes cool things and turns into giant things, but his wardrobe needs work."
Natasha, my costume designer, raised an offended eyebrow.
"Okay, who've you got?" Tony asked.
Coulson, clearly used to Tony, waved at his own team. "Melinda May, the pilot of the Bus and one of the finest martial artists I've ever met."
"Charmed," Tony said.
"I'm not," Melinda returned coolly.
Tony smirked at that. Coulson continued.
"This is Skye, a skilled hacker and someone who is training to be a SHIELD agent."
"Kinda useless now," Skye admitted, looking at Tony with a bit of awe. "I just got the badge too."
"Keep it," Natasha said. "Souvenir. Plus, history buffs love stuff like that."
"You still selling old Russian military gear?" Clint asked. Natasha smirked, and Melinda surprised me, as well as her crew, by chuckling a little.
Melinda smirked at them. "You had to be there," was all she said.
"Okay, hearing that story later," Tony said, ignoring the looks the super-spies gave him. "How about the married couple?"
"What?" Fitz said, startled. "Oh, we're not-"
"We're not a couple," Simmons said quickly.
"Yes, just friends."
"Close for years!"
"But not a couple."
Tony looked between them, then at Coulson. "And Ross and Rachel do what on your crew?"
I blinked. Wait, Tony knew who they were. Why was he pretending otherwise?
Coulson sighed before gesturing. "This is Leopold Fitz. Fitz is my engineer, a weapons and tech expert. And this is Jemma Simmons, my biochemist, specializing in life sciences."
"Hello," Fitz said, waving a bit weakly.
Tony eyed them both for a moment. "Jarvis, bring it up."
A hologram appeared in the back, hovering over a table. Fitz-Simmons pointed at it. "How did you-"
"I'm Tony Stark," Tony said in answer, walking over to the table.
"I don't like you messing with my plane," Coulson said in annoyance.
"And I don't like wasting money on flowers, but I did it for your funeral," Tony shot back.
"How do you keep from hitting him?" Melinda asked Natasha and Clint.
"Practice mostly," Natasha said with a smirk.
"I don't resist the urge at all honestly, keeps him honest," Clint stated proudly, leaning out of the way when Tony threw a pen at him.
"So, you guys made this?" Tony asked, pointing at the hologram, which was a floating blue image of a gun shaped like a sniper rifle.
"Huh, I see you restored the data," Fitz told Skye.
"Coulson told me to do it," Skye complained. Fitz sighed.
"Yes, I made that."
"It's brilliant," Tony said.
Fitz blinked, surprised. "You think the Night-Night guns are brilliant?"
"Hell yes I do, Ross," Tony said. "Cool name for it by the way."
"Oh," Fitz responded. "Well, they're calling it ICER now."
"...No," Tony said dismissively. "Night-Night gun," he turned to look at the hologram. "A gun that fires a dendrotoxin bullet, knocking people out like that quickly and with no side-effects? You both made it, right?"
"Yes," Simmons said quickly. "Yes we did, you see, the way we designed it was-"
And suddenly she was no longer speaking with words I could understand. Fitz immediately joined in and Tony responded. Fitz-Simmons moved around the table and showed him a section of the hologram, the two so in sync it was amazing. Just as amazing was how Tony seemed to vibe with them, falling in step with their thinking and responding to it.
"Well," Coulson said. "I suppose they're going to be at it for a while," he looked over at us. "I suppose, I can show you the plane now."
"Not yet," Tony said suddenly. He walked up to look Coulson in the eyes. "I still have more to say to you."
Coulson and Tony looked at each other a moment longer. After a bit, Coulson nodded and walked towards a back room, Tony following.
"Um," Simmons said nervously. "Should we go with them?"
The door slammed behind Tony.
"Apparently not," Fitz said.
Melinda looked at Clint and Natasha. They both shook their heads, and Melinda nodded. Apparently, spies had their own body language.
"Well, I suppose we have some time," Simmons said.
"Yes," Fitz looked over at me. "Can we scan your Omnitrix? Maybe open it up and study it?"
"Please?" Simmons asked cutely. "I promise, we won't break it!"
"...How invasive are the scans going to be? And do I need to take it off?" I hesitated. "Also, what are the chances you'll activate something that will blow us all up?"
Simmons and Fitz chuckled dismissively. "Oh no, we're very good at studying alien technology, I think we'll be fine."
I thought about that. After all, the Omnitrix had a universal self-destruct in it. One I was very scared to activate since I was one of the assholes who lived in the universe.
"How about instead I tell you how it works?" They did not seem satisfied at all with that. Before they could say anything, I spoke again. "Also, just scans. No touching buttons or taking it apart. No putting lasers on it."
"I rather feel you're being insulting," Fitz said with a scowl.
"Remember how smart I said Azmuth was? This thing makes most other alien tech, maybe all of it, obsolete. I know it's insulting, but it is the truth. You're very smart cavemen studying a supercomputer," I admitted. "One owned by a very dumb caveman. We're all dealing with a piece of tech so advanced I can only turn into ten out of the over one million aliens on it. Let's not tempt fate."
Everyone looked at the watch. Fitz finally sighed. "Okay, well, scans only. And you'll tell us about it?"
Nodding, I began to speak.
Tony Stark/Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist
Tony stood with Coulson in the tight space of the room and glared at Coulson. In all his life, he'd rarely been this... angry. The closest was when Obadiah Stane revealed that he had been selling weapons to terrorists, which rested firmly under finding out his parents had been murdered.
"Tony, why are you-"
"You were my friend," Tony said suddenly. "I mean... I know I'm not friendly. But Pepper cried when she found out you died. Her and your girlfriend, they still talk about you," Tony shook his head. "Does she know you're alive?"
Coulson stilled. "...No. No, she doesn't."
"You absolute prick."
"Tony, I actually did die! I wasn't faking, my heart stopped, my brain function was gone, hell, we're still trying to understand how I was brought back-"
"Yeah, I know, Dial brought up the files for me," the billionaire said, Coulson stopping in surprise. "I don't care. You came back to life, you had months to talk to one of us, you asshole."
They stared at each other. Finally, Coulson sighed and leaned against the wall behind him. "You're right. I should have let people know. Not the whole world, but... people," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Tony."
Tony shook his head. "Not good enough."
"What?" Coulson said, finally annoyed.
"I want those three outside to work with me."
Coulson blinked in surprise. "You want what?"
"Skye, Ross, and Rachel. I don't care if they work for... whatever this new club Fury and Steve are building is at the same time. But I've read the team files. The stuff they've done, hacking into SHIELD with a laptop, creating a counter-serum to the Centipede formula, curing a Chitauri virus? They can do a lot more under me then they can with SHIELD. I want to work with them. That's what I want in return."
"Tony, you realize that Skye and Fitz-Simmons make their own choices," Coulson said.
"Then let me ask them," Tony said. "Take them to my labs, show them what I can do for them."
"Wait, was all this anger because you wanted to borrow my experts?" Coulson asked.
Tony shrugged. "Not at first. I'm still pissed at you. But I'm planning something. Something big. I've got Dial on board. And Bruce. But I've seen what your team can do, and I think they can do even more."
"Should I be worried?" Coulson asked.
"Not really," Tony crossed his arms. "But you owe me more than an 'I'm sorry'."
"They aren't commodities for me to trade, Stark."
"I'm not saying they are, Coulson. I'm just saying I think they can do some real good with me. But I know they're your team, so I'm asking permission." Tony smirked. "But like I said, you do at least owe me."
"...Like I said, they don't need my permission," Coulson said. "Hell, I'm not even sure I'll have a job once Fury's done. But let them know that whatever their choice, they still have a place on whatever team I end up on. Whether they work for you at the same time or not."
Tony nodded. "Now, let's talk about the other stuff you owe me."
Coulson rolled his eyes.
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Fitz ran a device over my wrist as Simmons and Skye watched. May, Clint, and Natasha had all gone upstairs to talk about spy stuff, I guessed.
"So yeah," I said. "The Codon Stream is what allows the Omnitrix to do its thing. All the genetic information the Omnitrix can access exists in that stream."
"Well," Fitz said. "It is giving off some very odd readings. If this is accessing another dimension for power, that would explain it."
"Can you turn into an alien?" Simmons asked. "That may give us new readings."
I blinked. "Yeah, okay," I thought about it, then tapped the watch. In seconds, I'd become Diamondhead with my proud battlecry. Funny, for some reason I was really starting to prefer Diamondhead over Blitzwolfer. Weird, but I went with it.
"Whoa," Skye said softly, staring up at me. "You're... big. And shiny."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," I said.
"Oh my," Simmons said, walking up to look at me as Fitz stared. "And this means your DNA has changed as well?"
"Yeah," I said.
"I wonder..." Fitz moved around. "I can sense some sort of energy from you," I raised a hand palm upwards and made a crystal sprout from it. Fitz stared at his scanner, then looked at the crystal I'd sprouted. "And that energy made the crystal grow, at a guess."
"Does that contain your DNA?" Simmons asked. "It's quite beautiful."
I released the crystal and rested it on the table. Skye backed away from it nervously.
"Uh, there's no chance you have any diseases or anything, is there?" Skye asked. "I mean, the last time we interacted with an alien thing carrying a virus..."
Simmons stared at the crystal I'd created with sudden fear when she realized what Skye was implying, Fitz stepping further back from me.
"I wouldn't worry," I said simply. "I'm been turning into aliens for weeks without anyone getting sick. Besides, I'm more worried about my human form getting sick. I got the sniffles one week, and Swampfire couldn't control his powers."
"Really?" Simmons said, stepping closer to the crystal. "So your human form's health has some effect on the aliens then?"
"Can you turn into another one?" Fitz asked politely. "For some reason, I can't understand some of these readings."
"I might be able to help with that actually." I said, tapping the Omnitrix.
"Upgrade!"
I leaned forward and poured into Fitz scanner.
"Whoa, what the-" Fitz freaked out and dropped me, stepping back.
I released a loud beeping noise as my tiny body hit the floor. I grew legs from the bottom of my oblong body and rose up, looking around while blinking with an eye made from the scanners port. Feeling a bit dramatic, I grew arms and waved at the three.
"He's so cute!" Simmons cried happily.
"Yeah, still a twenty-seven-year-old man," I reminded her with my green circuits glowing with every word.
"Whoa," Skye lowered to look at me. "What does that feel like? I mean, mixing with technology."
"Like reinstalling your third lung," I said, getting confused blinks. "Hold on one second... I think I can make the scanner better."
"You mean you can improve technology permanently?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah, but I don't seem to be that good at it," I admitted. "Some of my aliens mesh better with my personality than others do. But here," I rose up and separated from the scanner, becoming a giant nanite goo monster once more and passing the scanner to Fitz, who looked at it. "Try it now."
Fitz turned it on and seemed staggered by what he was seeing. "Jemma, look at these readings!"
"I know," Simmons said excitedly, staring at the computer that was receiving the scanners
Just then, Tony and Coulson walked back into the room. I turned into my human form as they joined us.
"Fitz, Simmons, Tony would like to speak with you," Coulson said, looking around. "Where's May?"
"May went upstairs with Black Widow and Hawkeye," Skye said with a grin. "Seriously, how cool is that sentence?"
"Fangirl," Tony coughed. When Skye glared at him, he smirked. "Sorry, my cough interrupted me. I called you Fangirl."
"Let's go join them," Coulson said, guiding Skye and me away. Smiling, we all went upstairs as Tony and Fitz-Simmons continued to talk science at a rapid pace.
"What's it like?" Skye asked me later. We were sitting on the top level of the plane, resting on plush seats around a table. Coulson, May, Clint, and Natasha were sitting a bit away from us, joking around and reminiscing, which left Skye and me to talk. But man, the Bus really was a nice plane. For something owned by SHIELD, I was kind of jealous of all the soft chairs, the bar, and all the other amenities.
"What's what like?" I asked, sipping at my orange juice.
"Oh come on," Skye said, sounding excited. "Turning into aliens! What does it feel like?"
I grinned at her. "Oh man, it's a total blast. I mean, it's weird. Some of my aliens are just plain crazy. But some of them..." I thought of Diamondhead's incredible strength and power, flying as Astrodactyl, zooming through the city in a blur as Fasttrack. "There is nothing like it in the world. Knowing at any second, I could just tap my wrist and get a few minutes to do things no one else can."
"Man," Skye leaned back, staring at the Omnitrix with a smile. "That sounds really fun."
"You have no idea," I admitted.
"Okay, now you're rubbing it in."
"Just a bit," I said with a grin that she returned.
"You ever think of letting other people try that out?" she asked.
I shrugged. "All the time. Sometimes as a possible strategy, sometimes just to let someone try."
"You can't take that off?"
"I can," I said. "But no one else can. Once it's on, I'm the only one who can wear it."
"Can I try?" Skye asked.
I scoffed. "No way. This is my super-awesome alien watch."
"Stingy," Skye teased.
I nodded slightly, watching as she slowly drank the brown alcohol in her cup. She didn't strike me as someone who drank often, but apparently, she'd needed it. I looked over at the group of super-spies. Coulson and May were drinking the same alcohol that Skye was. May seemed tense, the older Asian woman engaging in the conversation only in the sense that she was sitting close to it. Coulson was talking, but it didn't feel real, somehow, like he was going through the motions.
Skye was the same way. Like she was trying to distract herself and failing desperately. Well, shoot. I had a distraction that few in the world could match.
I got up and held a hand out to Skye. "Hey, you want to see something cool?"
She blinked up at me. "Uh, what?"
"Something cool? It really put things in perspective for me, and I think you'll enjoy it. Granted, every human on Earth would enjoy it, but..."
"I mean, are we even allowed to leave?" she asked, still taking my hand and rising up as I pulled her along. I ignored the confused looks I got from the super-spies.
"If anyone tries to stop me I'll try to unlock Way Big and throw them into the horizon," I said, moving towards the hanger.
"You do not have an alien called that!" She said, giggling. "That's so dumb!"
"Yeah, well, if you saw him you'd understand," I took a moment to feel offended on Ben's behalf. I liked the alien's names. We went down the stairs and I poked my head in on Tony, Fitz, and Simmons still discussing things at a rapid pace, now looking at the scanner I had modified. "Hey, guys!"
The three looked over at me.
"Skye and I are stealing a Quinjet," Skye gave me a startled look. "Wanna come?"
"What?" Fitz said, shocked.
"Hell yes!" Tony said, delighted.
"Absolutely not!" Simmons said at the same time, horrified at the idea in a way that made me smile a little wider. Hermione Granger would have loved Simmons.
"Yeah," Skye said, letting go of my hand. "I'm not so sure about-"
"Hey, Fury," I said into the Omnitrix's comm link. "X, connect him to the speakers."
"Of course sir," X said.
"Dial," Fury said, annoyed. "This better be quick."
"I'm stealing a Quinjet with Tony and some of Coulson's people," I said simply.
Fury sighed in annoyance but didn't really seem to care. "Well, we were thinking about redistributing some of our resources. Sure, it's yours."
"...What?"
"Dial, I may be suspicious of you, but I'm also grateful," Fury said simply. "You were essential in saving SHIELD resources, and especially personnel. Many of my people are alive because of you and the Avengers now. You've more than earned a Quinjet. So go ahead, pick one and have X let me know which you took. Fly safe."
With that, Fury hung up, leaving us all in shock. I mean... I had a Quinjet now. Holy shit. Wait, had Fury done that just to mess with me? Or was he honestly grateful despite all his suspicions? ...Whatever, I had a Quinjet!
"Looks like you have a Quinjet now," Tony said, somehow reading my mind, and rushing out of the lab. "So where we going?"
"What is going on?" Someone said upstairs. I looked up to see Clint leaning on the railing above, looking down at us. "Fury told me to come babysit you, and that he gave you a Quinjet? Was he kidding?"
"I knew that he couldn't just let us have this," Tony groaned in annoyance, but I just grinned, feeling a bit giddy and confused all in one.
"Yeah! Can you believe it!? I mean, what the hell, right? Come with us!"
"What exactly has you so excited?" Clint asked curiously, bypassing the stairs to simply hop over the railing.
"Yeah, seriously," Skye asked, sounding a bit weirded out.
"Okay," I said, raising my hands up. "Yesterday, I saw something amazing, something so beautiful it took my breath away."
"Damn, you just met her," Tony said, looking between Skye and I. "Granted, I don't blame you, but..."
Skye grinned at Tony. "Heh. That's an ego boost for me."
"Will you all just come on?" I said, looking over at Fitz-Simmons, who still looked hesitant. "Look, I promise, it is going to be awesome."
Moments later, I was merged with a Quinjet again, Upgrade's incredible powers being put to use. My Quinjet. Seriously, I loved Fury. For all his suspicion, gifting me with a Quinjet in return for saving SHIELD made him my hero.
As of then, I had flown into space once more. This time, I turned the bottom of the aircraft transparent to show the world below.
"Man," Clint said slowly, sitting on the transparent floor and staring down at Earth. "She really is beautiful."
Fitz-Simmons, Skye, and Tony were staring at the same view, while I was using my camera's and sensors to do the same. We were floating over the East Coast now. Uh, the East Coast of the United States that is.
"I can't believe we're actually watching this," Skye said softly.
"It's so pretty," Simmons said brightly. "Look at the way the clouds are forming to the North! Do you think-?"
"Possibly," Fitz replied. "But of course-"
"Yes, that might happen," Simmons agreed.
To my surprise, Tony suddenly cut in. "I don't think so. Look, the winds are clearly breaking up the clouds as they go south."
Fitz-Simmons both stared for a moment before nodding simultaneously. "Oh yes, that's quite right," Simmons said.
"God, there are three of them," Skye said, sounding more happy than annoyed.
"Still, it's very pretty..." Fitz shook his head. "This is unbelievable. I mean, we're in space!"
"I know!" Simmons giggled.
"Earth's... small," Tony said, sounding very different from his usual self. "I mean, obviously it's not small, but-"
"No," I interrupted. "She's small. Beautiful, and so..." I didn't say anything else.
Until you're up there, watching home spin below you among the beauty of the stars, Earth never seems real as a concept. You can know, intellectually, that you live on a tiny piece of the universe in a far bigger part of it. But it's only when you see her in all her glory that the concept of it really hits you.
We floated there for a while before Clint sighed, looking over towards the sun. "This is pretty crazy man. How fast are you like this?"
"Not light-speed fast," I admitted. "But give me time. I think... I think I can make things better. Not just upgrade them temporarily, but permanently."
"How fascinating," Simmons said, looking around at the black and green interior of the ship. "And you said you're a species made of nanites? That's how you improved the scanner back in the lab?"
"Yeah," I said through the Quinjets internal speakers. Well, the speakers I had made.
"And how much can you change?" Fitz asked. "What's it like?"
"Not a lot of ways I can explain it, but Upgrade is really damn versatile. Oh, here," I raised a podium in front of Skye, who blinked when it opened on top to reveal a keyboard and screen. "Check it out! I can make computers."
"Can your nanites be replicated?" Simmons asked.
"I've got theories about that," Tony said.
"You guys are really ruining the experience," Clint noted, looking over as Skye began typing at the computer I had made her with great enthusiasm. I could feel her sending a message to Coulson, who didn't respond.
"Well, the experience is going to be over in a bit," I admitted, a familiar red beep coming from the Omnitrix symbol.
Clint and Tony froze. Skye and Fitz-Simmons looked over at them, understanding something was wrong.
"Uh," Tony said. "These things are airtight, right?"
Clint didn't seem to know.
With a final beep, I appeared in the back of the Quinjet in human form. The transparent floor became black metal again. More importantly, the artificial gravity I had been creating disappeared, leaving us all to begin to float. "It was airtight, but I just made it more so," I admitted, spinning in the air to look at everyone. Time as Goop left me well adjusted to floating. "The Quinjet isn't quite a spaceship, but it will get us to home and the engines should be a lot faster now."
"Oh thank god," Fitz said with a sigh, floating to grab at his seat so he could strap himself down.
Clint rose up, pulling his floating form over to the cockpit. "Seriously, what is with that thing's random timing? I think we were up here for about twelve minutes this time."
"It may be some sort of failsafe!" Fitz yelled towards the front as Clint sat down. "Uh, Hawkeye, sir."
"Call me Clint."
Fitz grinned at that.
"Today has been weird," Skye said, looking at me when I sat down. "Seriously, I'm hanging out with three Avengers in space."
"Uh, excuse me?" Tony said, smirking. "Two Avengers. Fanboy here is a reserve member at best."
"I can kick the ass of every other Avenger in the right form though," I mumbled. Tony grinned, not disagreeing.
"Fanboy?" Skye asked as Clint turned the ship towards the Earth.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Tony asked, looking mischievous. "I'm his favorite Avenger."
"You mispronounced Black Widow," I sniped. "I distinctly remember saying, 'Black Widow is my favorite Avenger.'"
"All that leather really does it for ya, huh?" Skye asked me. She smirked at the betrayed look I gave her.
"So, back to the rendezvous?" Clint asked, flying down.
"Hey, Jarvis?" Tony asked. "Are they still talking about uh... what was it?"
"International border laws, sir," Jarvis said.
"God, please keep me from politics," Tony said, an ironic statement from the man whose involvement with such in the comics caused a civil war. "Yeah, let's not. Hey, let's go to my place. I wanna show you guys the labs."
"Wait, at Stark Tower?" Fitz asked.
"It's the Avengers Tower now," Clint responded from the pilot's seat.
"Shush Legolas, I'm talking," Tony tossed something at Clint, who easily dodged it. "What do you say Ross and Rachel, wanna see my toys?"
The pair seemed to glow with happiness. "Oh yes-"
"We would very much like-"
"If it's not too much trouble-"
"How about you, Fangirl?" Tony asked Skye.
"Sure," she said brightly, not bothered by the name. "Keep the good times rolling."
I hid a smile. Maybe they'd have to face it later. But for now, I'd managed to distract the three. And that was good enough.
"Cool, I'll introduce you to Bruce."
"Bruce Banner!?" Fitz-Simmons yelled in unison.
I ended up kind of regretting inviting them when I realized what the 'something important' was.
"You absolute son of a bitch," Tony icily.
"Stark," Coulson said serenely, trying to calm him down.
"No, don't start with that. You couldn't send a text, an email, a signal flare," Tony said, getting in Coulson's face. "I mourned you, Coulson, I actually felt bad!"
"And I appreciate that," Coulson said back. "But we weren't exactly friends, Tony. We were allies, occasionally, when you weren't locking me out of the tower to avoid my visits, or pranking me like we were in high school!"
"That's how I treat my friends!" Tony said, looking offended. "Rhodey never complained!"
"He complained all the time!" Coulson shouted back.
"What, you spied on him too?" Tony scoffed.
"New flash, Tony. I am a spy!"
As the two quibbled back and forth at each other inside the Bus' laboratory, I looked around.
The Bus was a pretty cool looking plane. The hanger door was down to let sunlight in, letting me see it in all its glory. A sweet red convertible was parked on the right side of the door, all sleek lines and leather seats, a beauty from an older time. The left side of the door held a big black SUV. Some stairs lead up to another floor, while a set of glass panels separated the cargo hold from the forensics and research lab we stood in.
Skye, Fitz-Simmons, Melinda May, Clint, and Natasha all watched the fireworks alongside me. I learned in towards Natasha.
"How long is this going to go on?" I whispered.
"I'm just wondering why we're here," she whispered back. "He said this was important."
"Well, you know Tony," Clint said. "He likes an audience."
"Drama queen?" Melinda asked.
Clint and Natasha nodded.
"This is why you should never meet your heroes," Fitz said sadly, getting a pat on the back from a sympathetic Simmons.
"Been working for me so far," I said. Clint and Natasha grinned at me, to which I could only helplessly shrug. Once a-
"Fanboy!" Tony said, somehow perfectly cutting my thought off and completing it at the same time. "Come to meet Agent."
Apparently, Tony's nickname for Coulson was 'Agent'. With a bit of confusion at how casual Tony was suddenly acting, I stepped forward, the others coming along.
"Agent, this is-"
"Dial," Coulson said, extending a hand to shake. Tony interrupted our handshake when I went to shake Coulson's.
"Don't interrupt me. This is Fanboy. He makes cool things and turns into giant things, but his wardrobe needs work."
Natasha, my costume designer, raised an offended eyebrow.
"Okay, who've you got?" Tony asked.
Coulson, clearly used to Tony, waved at his own team. "Melinda May, the pilot of the Bus and one of the finest martial artists I've ever met."
"Charmed," Tony said.
"I'm not," Melinda returned coolly.
Tony smirked at that. Coulson continued.
"This is Skye, a skilled hacker and someone who is training to be a SHIELD agent."
"Kinda useless now," Skye admitted, looking at Tony with a bit of awe. "I just got the badge too."
"Keep it," Natasha said. "Souvenir. Plus, history buffs love stuff like that."
"You still selling old Russian military gear?" Clint asked. Natasha smirked, and Melinda surprised me, as well as her crew, by chuckling a little.
Melinda smirked at them. "You had to be there," was all she said.
"Okay, hearing that story later," Tony said, ignoring the looks the super-spies gave him. "How about the married couple?"
"What?" Fitz said, startled. "Oh, we're not-"
"We're not a couple," Simmons said quickly.
"Yes, just friends."
"Close for years!"
"But not a couple."
Tony looked between them, then at Coulson. "And Ross and Rachel do what on your crew?"
I blinked. Wait, Tony knew who they were. Why was he pretending otherwise?
Coulson sighed before gesturing. "This is Leopold Fitz. Fitz is my engineer, a weapons and tech expert. And this is Jemma Simmons, my biochemist, specializing in life sciences."
"Hello," Fitz said, waving a bit weakly.
Tony eyed them both for a moment. "Jarvis, bring it up."
A hologram appeared in the back, hovering over a table. Fitz-Simmons pointed at it. "How did you-"
"I'm Tony Stark," Tony said in answer, walking over to the table.
"I don't like you messing with my plane," Coulson said in annoyance.
"And I don't like wasting money on flowers, but I did it for your funeral," Tony shot back.
"How do you keep from hitting him?" Melinda asked Natasha and Clint.
"Practice mostly," Natasha said with a smirk.
"I don't resist the urge at all honestly, keeps him honest," Clint stated proudly, leaning out of the way when Tony threw a pen at him.
"So, you guys made this?" Tony asked, pointing at the hologram, which was a floating blue image of a gun shaped like a sniper rifle.
"Huh, I see you restored the data," Fitz told Skye.
"Coulson told me to do it," Skye complained. Fitz sighed.
"Yes, I made that."
"It's brilliant," Tony said.
Fitz blinked, surprised. "You think the Night-Night guns are brilliant?"
"Hell yes I do, Ross," Tony said. "Cool name for it by the way."
"Oh," Fitz responded. "Well, they're calling it ICER now."
"...No," Tony said dismissively. "Night-Night gun," he turned to look at the hologram. "A gun that fires a dendrotoxin bullet, knocking people out like that quickly and with no side-effects? You both made it, right?"
"Yes," Simmons said quickly. "Yes we did, you see, the way we designed it was-"
And suddenly she was no longer speaking with words I could understand. Fitz immediately joined in and Tony responded. Fitz-Simmons moved around the table and showed him a section of the hologram, the two so in sync it was amazing. Just as amazing was how Tony seemed to vibe with them, falling in step with their thinking and responding to it.
"Well," Coulson said. "I suppose they're going to be at it for a while," he looked over at us. "I suppose, I can show you the plane now."
"Not yet," Tony said suddenly. He walked up to look Coulson in the eyes. "I still have more to say to you."
Coulson and Tony looked at each other a moment longer. After a bit, Coulson nodded and walked towards a back room, Tony following.
"Um," Simmons said nervously. "Should we go with them?"
The door slammed behind Tony.
"Apparently not," Fitz said.
Melinda looked at Clint and Natasha. They both shook their heads, and Melinda nodded. Apparently, spies had their own body language.
"Well, I suppose we have some time," Simmons said.
"Yes," Fitz looked over at me. "Can we scan your Omnitrix? Maybe open it up and study it?"
"Please?" Simmons asked cutely. "I promise, we won't break it!"
"...How invasive are the scans going to be? And do I need to take it off?" I hesitated. "Also, what are the chances you'll activate something that will blow us all up?"
Simmons and Fitz chuckled dismissively. "Oh no, we're very good at studying alien technology, I think we'll be fine."
I thought about that. After all, the Omnitrix had a universal self-destruct in it. One I was very scared to activate since I was one of the assholes who lived in the universe.
"How about instead I tell you how it works?" They did not seem satisfied at all with that. Before they could say anything, I spoke again. "Also, just scans. No touching buttons or taking it apart. No putting lasers on it."
"I rather feel you're being insulting," Fitz said with a scowl.
"Remember how smart I said Azmuth was? This thing makes most other alien tech, maybe all of it, obsolete. I know it's insulting, but it is the truth. You're very smart cavemen studying a supercomputer," I admitted. "One owned by a very dumb caveman. We're all dealing with a piece of tech so advanced I can only turn into ten out of the over one million aliens on it. Let's not tempt fate."
Everyone looked at the watch. Fitz finally sighed. "Okay, well, scans only. And you'll tell us about it?"
Nodding, I began to speak.
Tony Stark/Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist
Tony stood with Coulson in the tight space of the room and glared at Coulson. In all his life, he'd rarely been this... angry. The closest was when Obadiah Stane revealed that he had been selling weapons to terrorists, which rested firmly under finding out his parents had been murdered.
"Tony, why are you-"
"You were my friend," Tony said suddenly. "I mean... I know I'm not friendly. But Pepper cried when she found out you died. Her and your girlfriend, they still talk about you," Tony shook his head. "Does she know you're alive?"
Coulson stilled. "...No. No, she doesn't."
"You absolute prick."
"Tony, I actually did die! I wasn't faking, my heart stopped, my brain function was gone, hell, we're still trying to understand how I was brought back-"
"Yeah, I know, Dial brought up the files for me," the billionaire said, Coulson stopping in surprise. "I don't care. You came back to life, you had months to talk to one of us, you asshole."
They stared at each other. Finally, Coulson sighed and leaned against the wall behind him. "You're right. I should have let people know. Not the whole world, but... people," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Tony."
Tony shook his head. "Not good enough."
"What?" Coulson said, finally annoyed.
"I want those three outside to work with me."
Coulson blinked in surprise. "You want what?"
"Skye, Ross, and Rachel. I don't care if they work for... whatever this new club Fury and Steve are building is at the same time. But I've read the team files. The stuff they've done, hacking into SHIELD with a laptop, creating a counter-serum to the Centipede formula, curing a Chitauri virus? They can do a lot more under me then they can with SHIELD. I want to work with them. That's what I want in return."
"Tony, you realize that Skye and Fitz-Simmons make their own choices," Coulson said.
"Then let me ask them," Tony said. "Take them to my labs, show them what I can do for them."
"Wait, was all this anger because you wanted to borrow my experts?" Coulson asked.
Tony shrugged. "Not at first. I'm still pissed at you. But I'm planning something. Something big. I've got Dial on board. And Bruce. But I've seen what your team can do, and I think they can do even more."
"Should I be worried?" Coulson asked.
"Not really," Tony crossed his arms. "But you owe me more than an 'I'm sorry'."
"They aren't commodities for me to trade, Stark."
"I'm not saying they are, Coulson. I'm just saying I think they can do some real good with me. But I know they're your team, so I'm asking permission." Tony smirked. "But like I said, you do at least owe me."
"...Like I said, they don't need my permission," Coulson said. "Hell, I'm not even sure I'll have a job once Fury's done. But let them know that whatever their choice, they still have a place on whatever team I end up on. Whether they work for you at the same time or not."
Tony nodded. "Now, let's talk about the other stuff you owe me."
Coulson rolled his eyes.
Mahmoud Schahed/Dial
Fitz ran a device over my wrist as Simmons and Skye watched. May, Clint, and Natasha had all gone upstairs to talk about spy stuff, I guessed.
"So yeah," I said. "The Codon Stream is what allows the Omnitrix to do its thing. All the genetic information the Omnitrix can access exists in that stream."
"Well," Fitz said. "It is giving off some very odd readings. If this is accessing another dimension for power, that would explain it."
"Can you turn into an alien?" Simmons asked. "That may give us new readings."
I blinked. "Yeah, okay," I thought about it, then tapped the watch. In seconds, I'd become Diamondhead with my proud battlecry. Funny, for some reason I was really starting to prefer Diamondhead over Blitzwolfer. Weird, but I went with it.
"Whoa," Skye said softly, staring up at me. "You're... big. And shiny."
"Yeah, I get that a lot," I said.
"Oh my," Simmons said, walking up to look at me as Fitz stared. "And this means your DNA has changed as well?"
"Yeah," I said.
"I wonder..." Fitz moved around. "I can sense some sort of energy from you," I raised a hand palm upwards and made a crystal sprout from it. Fitz stared at his scanner, then looked at the crystal I'd sprouted. "And that energy made the crystal grow, at a guess."
"Does that contain your DNA?" Simmons asked. "It's quite beautiful."
I released the crystal and rested it on the table. Skye backed away from it nervously.
"Uh, there's no chance you have any diseases or anything, is there?" Skye asked. "I mean, the last time we interacted with an alien thing carrying a virus..."
Simmons stared at the crystal I'd created with sudden fear when she realized what Skye was implying, Fitz stepping further back from me.
"I wouldn't worry," I said simply. "I'm been turning into aliens for weeks without anyone getting sick. Besides, I'm more worried about my human form getting sick. I got the sniffles one week, and Swampfire couldn't control his powers."
"Really?" Simmons said, stepping closer to the crystal. "So your human form's health has some effect on the aliens then?"
"Can you turn into another one?" Fitz asked politely. "For some reason, I can't understand some of these readings."
"I might be able to help with that actually." I said, tapping the Omnitrix.
"Upgrade!"
I leaned forward and poured into Fitz scanner.
"Whoa, what the-" Fitz freaked out and dropped me, stepping back.
I released a loud beeping noise as my tiny body hit the floor. I grew legs from the bottom of my oblong body and rose up, looking around while blinking with an eye made from the scanners port. Feeling a bit dramatic, I grew arms and waved at the three.
"He's so cute!" Simmons cried happily.
"Yeah, still a twenty-seven-year-old man," I reminded her with my green circuits glowing with every word.
"Whoa," Skye lowered to look at me. "What does that feel like? I mean, mixing with technology."
"Like reinstalling your third lung," I said, getting confused blinks. "Hold on one second... I think I can make the scanner better."
"You mean you can improve technology permanently?" Fitz asked.
"Yeah, but I don't seem to be that good at it," I admitted. "Some of my aliens mesh better with my personality than others do. But here," I rose up and separated from the scanner, becoming a giant nanite goo monster once more and passing the scanner to Fitz, who looked at it. "Try it now."
Fitz turned it on and seemed staggered by what he was seeing. "Jemma, look at these readings!"
"I know," Simmons said excitedly, staring at the computer that was receiving the scanners
Just then, Tony and Coulson walked back into the room. I turned into my human form as they joined us.
"Fitz, Simmons, Tony would like to speak with you," Coulson said, looking around. "Where's May?"
"May went upstairs with Black Widow and Hawkeye," Skye said with a grin. "Seriously, how cool is that sentence?"
"Fangirl," Tony coughed. When Skye glared at him, he smirked. "Sorry, my cough interrupted me. I called you Fangirl."
"Let's go join them," Coulson said, guiding Skye and me away. Smiling, we all went upstairs as Tony and Fitz-Simmons continued to talk science at a rapid pace.
"What's it like?" Skye asked me later. We were sitting on the top level of the plane, resting on plush seats around a table. Coulson, May, Clint, and Natasha were sitting a bit away from us, joking around and reminiscing, which left Skye and me to talk. But man, the Bus really was a nice plane. For something owned by SHIELD, I was kind of jealous of all the soft chairs, the bar, and all the other amenities.
"What's what like?" I asked, sipping at my orange juice.
"Oh come on," Skye said, sounding excited. "Turning into aliens! What does it feel like?"
I grinned at her. "Oh man, it's a total blast. I mean, it's weird. Some of my aliens are just plain crazy. But some of them..." I thought of Diamondhead's incredible strength and power, flying as Astrodactyl, zooming through the city in a blur as Fasttrack. "There is nothing like it in the world. Knowing at any second, I could just tap my wrist and get a few minutes to do things no one else can."
"Man," Skye leaned back, staring at the Omnitrix with a smile. "That sounds really fun."
"You have no idea," I admitted.
"Okay, now you're rubbing it in."
"Just a bit," I said with a grin that she returned.
"You ever think of letting other people try that out?" she asked.
I shrugged. "All the time. Sometimes as a possible strategy, sometimes just to let someone try."
"You can't take that off?"
"I can," I said. "But no one else can. Once it's on, I'm the only one who can wear it."
"Can I try?" Skye asked.
I scoffed. "No way. This is my super-awesome alien watch."
"Stingy," Skye teased.
I nodded slightly, watching as she slowly drank the brown alcohol in her cup. She didn't strike me as someone who drank often, but apparently, she'd needed it. I looked over at the group of super-spies. Coulson and May were drinking the same alcohol that Skye was. May seemed tense, the older Asian woman engaging in the conversation only in the sense that she was sitting close to it. Coulson was talking, but it didn't feel real, somehow, like he was going through the motions.
Skye was the same way. Like she was trying to distract herself and failing desperately. Well, shoot. I had a distraction that few in the world could match.
I got up and held a hand out to Skye. "Hey, you want to see something cool?"
She blinked up at me. "Uh, what?"
"Something cool? It really put things in perspective for me, and I think you'll enjoy it. Granted, every human on Earth would enjoy it, but..."
"I mean, are we even allowed to leave?" she asked, still taking my hand and rising up as I pulled her along. I ignored the confused looks I got from the super-spies.
"If anyone tries to stop me I'll try to unlock Way Big and throw them into the horizon," I said, moving towards the hanger.
"You do not have an alien called that!" She said, giggling. "That's so dumb!"
"Yeah, well, if you saw him you'd understand," I took a moment to feel offended on Ben's behalf. I liked the alien's names. We went down the stairs and I poked my head in on Tony, Fitz, and Simmons still discussing things at a rapid pace, now looking at the scanner I had modified. "Hey, guys!"
The three looked over at me.
"Skye and I are stealing a Quinjet," Skye gave me a startled look. "Wanna come?"
"What?" Fitz said, shocked.
"Hell yes!" Tony said, delighted.
"Absolutely not!" Simmons said at the same time, horrified at the idea in a way that made me smile a little wider. Hermione Granger would have loved Simmons.
"Yeah," Skye said, letting go of my hand. "I'm not so sure about-"
"Hey, Fury," I said into the Omnitrix's comm link. "X, connect him to the speakers."
"Of course sir," X said.
"Dial," Fury said, annoyed. "This better be quick."
"I'm stealing a Quinjet with Tony and some of Coulson's people," I said simply.
Fury sighed in annoyance but didn't really seem to care. "Well, we were thinking about redistributing some of our resources. Sure, it's yours."
"...What?"
"Dial, I may be suspicious of you, but I'm also grateful," Fury said simply. "You were essential in saving SHIELD resources, and especially personnel. Many of my people are alive because of you and the Avengers now. You've more than earned a Quinjet. So go ahead, pick one and have X let me know which you took. Fly safe."
With that, Fury hung up, leaving us all in shock. I mean... I had a Quinjet now. Holy shit. Wait, had Fury done that just to mess with me? Or was he honestly grateful despite all his suspicions? ...Whatever, I had a Quinjet!
"Looks like you have a Quinjet now," Tony said, somehow reading my mind, and rushing out of the lab. "So where we going?"
"What is going on?" Someone said upstairs. I looked up to see Clint leaning on the railing above, looking down at us. "Fury told me to come babysit you, and that he gave you a Quinjet? Was he kidding?"
"I knew that he couldn't just let us have this," Tony groaned in annoyance, but I just grinned, feeling a bit giddy and confused all in one.
"Yeah! Can you believe it!? I mean, what the hell, right? Come with us!"
"What exactly has you so excited?" Clint asked curiously, bypassing the stairs to simply hop over the railing.
"Yeah, seriously," Skye asked, sounding a bit weirded out.
"Okay," I said, raising my hands up. "Yesterday, I saw something amazing, something so beautiful it took my breath away."
"Damn, you just met her," Tony said, looking between Skye and I. "Granted, I don't blame you, but..."
Skye grinned at Tony. "Heh. That's an ego boost for me."
"Will you all just come on?" I said, looking over at Fitz-Simmons, who still looked hesitant. "Look, I promise, it is going to be awesome."
Moments later, I was merged with a Quinjet again, Upgrade's incredible powers being put to use. My Quinjet. Seriously, I loved Fury. For all his suspicion, gifting me with a Quinjet in return for saving SHIELD made him my hero.
As of then, I had flown into space once more. This time, I turned the bottom of the aircraft transparent to show the world below.
"Man," Clint said slowly, sitting on the transparent floor and staring down at Earth. "She really is beautiful."
Fitz-Simmons, Skye, and Tony were staring at the same view, while I was using my camera's and sensors to do the same. We were floating over the East Coast now. Uh, the East Coast of the United States that is.
"I can't believe we're actually watching this," Skye said softly.
"It's so pretty," Simmons said brightly. "Look at the way the clouds are forming to the North! Do you think-?"
"Possibly," Fitz replied. "But of course-"
"Yes, that might happen," Simmons agreed.
To my surprise, Tony suddenly cut in. "I don't think so. Look, the winds are clearly breaking up the clouds as they go south."
Fitz-Simmons both stared for a moment before nodding simultaneously. "Oh yes, that's quite right," Simmons said.
"God, there are three of them," Skye said, sounding more happy than annoyed.
"Still, it's very pretty..." Fitz shook his head. "This is unbelievable. I mean, we're in space!"
"I know!" Simmons giggled.
"Earth's... small," Tony said, sounding very different from his usual self. "I mean, obviously it's not small, but-"
"No," I interrupted. "She's small. Beautiful, and so..." I didn't say anything else.
Until you're up there, watching home spin below you among the beauty of the stars, Earth never seems real as a concept. You can know, intellectually, that you live on a tiny piece of the universe in a far bigger part of it. But it's only when you see her in all her glory that the concept of it really hits you.
We floated there for a while before Clint sighed, looking over towards the sun. "This is pretty crazy man. How fast are you like this?"
"Not light-speed fast," I admitted. "But give me time. I think... I think I can make things better. Not just upgrade them temporarily, but permanently."
"How fascinating," Simmons said, looking around at the black and green interior of the ship. "And you said you're a species made of nanites? That's how you improved the scanner back in the lab?"
"Yeah," I said through the Quinjets internal speakers. Well, the speakers I had made.
"And how much can you change?" Fitz asked. "What's it like?"
"Not a lot of ways I can explain it, but Upgrade is really damn versatile. Oh, here," I raised a podium in front of Skye, who blinked when it opened on top to reveal a keyboard and screen. "Check it out! I can make computers."
"Can your nanites be replicated?" Simmons asked.
"I've got theories about that," Tony said.
"You guys are really ruining the experience," Clint noted, looking over as Skye began typing at the computer I had made her with great enthusiasm. I could feel her sending a message to Coulson, who didn't respond.
"Well, the experience is going to be over in a bit," I admitted, a familiar red beep coming from the Omnitrix symbol.
Clint and Tony froze. Skye and Fitz-Simmons looked over at them, understanding something was wrong.
"Uh," Tony said. "These things are airtight, right?"
Clint didn't seem to know.
With a final beep, I appeared in the back of the Quinjet in human form. The transparent floor became black metal again. More importantly, the artificial gravity I had been creating disappeared, leaving us all to begin to float. "It was airtight, but I just made it more so," I admitted, spinning in the air to look at everyone. Time as Goop left me well adjusted to floating. "The Quinjet isn't quite a spaceship, but it will get us to home and the engines should be a lot faster now."
"Oh thank god," Fitz said with a sigh, floating to grab at his seat so he could strap himself down.
Clint rose up, pulling his floating form over to the cockpit. "Seriously, what is with that thing's random timing? I think we were up here for about twelve minutes this time."
"It may be some sort of failsafe!" Fitz yelled towards the front as Clint sat down. "Uh, Hawkeye, sir."
"Call me Clint."
Fitz grinned at that.
"Today has been weird," Skye said, looking at me when I sat down. "Seriously, I'm hanging out with three Avengers in space."
"Uh, excuse me?" Tony said, smirking. "Two Avengers. Fanboy here is a reserve member at best."
"I can kick the ass of every other Avenger in the right form though," I mumbled. Tony grinned, not disagreeing.
"Fanboy?" Skye asked as Clint turned the ship towards the Earth.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Tony asked, looking mischievous. "I'm his favorite Avenger."
"You mispronounced Black Widow," I sniped. "I distinctly remember saying, 'Black Widow is my favorite Avenger.'"
"All that leather really does it for ya, huh?" Skye asked me. She smirked at the betrayed look I gave her.
"So, back to the rendezvous?" Clint asked, flying down.
"Hey, Jarvis?" Tony asked. "Are they still talking about uh... what was it?"
"International border laws, sir," Jarvis said.
"God, please keep me from politics," Tony said, an ironic statement from the man whose involvement with such in the comics caused a civil war. "Yeah, let's not. Hey, let's go to my place. I wanna show you guys the labs."
"Wait, at Stark Tower?" Fitz asked.
"It's the Avengers Tower now," Clint responded from the pilot's seat.
"Shush Legolas, I'm talking," Tony tossed something at Clint, who easily dodged it. "What do you say Ross and Rachel, wanna see my toys?"
The pair seemed to glow with happiness. "Oh yes-"
"We would very much like-"
"If it's not too much trouble-"
"How about you, Fangirl?" Tony asked Skye.
"Sure," she said brightly, not bothered by the name. "Keep the good times rolling."
I hid a smile. Maybe they'd have to face it later. But for now, I'd managed to distract the three. And that was good enough.
"Cool, I'll introduce you to Bruce."
"Bruce Banner!?" Fitz-Simmons yelled in unison.
