"Excuse me, Sir, Agent Romanoff is on the phone," Jarvis stated.
"Jarvis, I remember saying that Pepper and I weren't to be interrupted," Tony frowned.
"I know, Sir, but she was quite insistent," Jarvis replied.
Tony looked across the small table at Pepper. They were currently at the tail end of a very late and very delicious dinner. One that Tony had actually managed to remember to attend. It'd been nice, just the two of them, something that had been missing of late with so many in residence in the Tower.
"You might as well answer it," Pepper said from where she sat back in her chair, a glass of wine in her hand. "I'm surprised that we haven't been interrupted before this, to be honest."
"Thanks, Pep," Tony said as he lifted the mobile that he'd already fished out of his pocket and was holding just below the table. "Hey, Romanoff, why the late call?"
"Steve and I were just bombed by S.H.I.E.L.D.," she stated without preamble.
Tony shot up in his chair.
"What? Did you just say that you were bombed? By S.H.I.E.L.D.?" he repeated incredulously.
Across the table, Pepper's eyes widened and she leant forward, her face full of worry.
"Are you alright?" Tony asked urgently.
"We're fine. A little banged up but nothing we can't handle," Nat replied.
"Good," Tony nodded, letting Pepper know the answer as well. "What in the world is S.H.I.E.L.D. thinking, bombing the two of you?"
"It's a long story," she sighed.
"Then give me the short version," Tony insisted.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't what we thought it was. Apparently HYDRA's been growing inside it for the past seventy years. We don't know how deep it goes," she said.
"HYDRA? As in Nazi flag-waving, Red Skull-led HYDRA? From World War Two? That HYDRA?" Tony asked.
"Yes. Them," Nat confirmed.
"How'd you find out?"
"Fury. He gave Steve a drive and we've been following where it led," Nat replied. "There's some sort of algorithm on it. And before you ask, no, we don't know what it does or what it's for. We're working on it. But if it's as bad as we think it is, we're going to need help."
"Help? To decode that algorithm?" Tony asked. "You got it."
"No," Nat replied and he could picture her shaking her head, her red hair flying around her shoulders. "No, to take down HYDRA."
"Which would mean potentially going up against all of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony said, filling in the blanks. "I'll assemble the team and we'll get there as soon as we can. Where are you now?"
"On our way back to DC from New Jersey," Nat replied.
"Right. Leave your phone on and I'll have Jarvis monitor your whereabouts," Tony stated. "Hang in there. And Nat, you and the Capsicle, stay safe."
"We will, Tony. Thanks," Nat replied before the line went dead.
"That didn't sound good," Pepper stated.
"No, it's not," Tony replied. "My dad helped found S.H.I.E.L.D.; I may not be too fond of the guy, but this is part of his legacy and to find out that what he started has been taken over by HYDRA …"
Tony shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the world-tilting information that he'd just been given.
"You're putting a team together to go help Nat and Steve?" Pepper asked.
"Yeah," Tony said, lifting his phone to begin to do just that.
"Tony," Pepper said, catching his attention with that warning tone she was using.
"Hmm?" he asked.
"Leave the kids out of this one. They missed enough school when you took them to England," she said.
Tony considered it for a moment, but just for a moment before nodding.
"Done," he agreed. "Jenn, too, she's not ready yet either. And the Bird-brain's out, too. What a time for him to go on vacation. Next time he's here, I'm putting a tracker in his quiver."
The team now decided upon. Tony lifted his phone to make his first call.
ooo00ooo
Mage leant low over his Lightning Bolt, his arm outstretched with his wand aimed at the truck that he was flying behind. A slight swerve put him on its right side and he fired, shooting a slew of bludging hexes into the side of it.
As expected, the truck veered slightly at the impact and moments later, swerved suddenly, taking the next left turn in a futile attempt to evade him.
Mage couldn't help but grin. Feeling the wind whipping past his face like this always got his adrenaline going and he remembered why he enjoyed flying so much. Having the bad guys do exactly what you wanted didn't hurt either.
Noting Spider-man swinging in and around the corner, Mage drifted higher, up and over the web-slinger as the two pursued the truck.
This was much better, Mage decided; much less traffic in this street. That was one of the downsides of living and fighting crime in New York – far too many innocent bystanders that could very easily get hurt if he wasn't careful. Thus, the use of the bludgeoner rather than something a lot more powerful, lethal and so very much quicker.
The two of them, Mage and Spider-man had only been chasing this particular truck for a couple of blocks, ever since they, and their partners, had caught up with the bank robbers. Unfortunately, they hadn't been in time to stop the actual robbery, but Daredevil's superior hearing had pinpointed what had happened and where to go.
Speaking of the Devil, Mage had to shake his head slightly at the way the blood red costumed man somersaulted from the nearby building, landing in a crouch on top of the truck. The thump of his landing must have alerted the men inside as the truck's trajectory wobbled slightly before straightening once more.
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