Despite my fears, it was almost uncanny how… normal everything looked.
I'd been to New York City quite a few times in the past, so I was relatively familiar with it. The streets were filled with people from all walks of life going about their day. Cars honked. Traffic crawled forward in that ever-moving, never-moving way only a city could manage. The smell of hot dogs and halal carts drifted from the corners, mixing with exhaust and warm pavement until the whole thing felt almost nostalgic.
Hell, if it weren't for the distant shine of Stark Tower in the skyline, I wouldn't have even been able to tell this wasn't my Earth.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Anna mumbled around a bite of hot dog. She held out a bag of snacks we'd bought from a convenience store.
I chuckled and grabbed it, as was my due duty. Anna preened a little as she locked hands with me after I took the bag.
"Just a little surprised at how it's basically the same as my New York."
We stopped at a crosswalk as the light turned red. Cars rushed past, and a biker shot down the bike lane, weaving around a car that nearly clipped him before flipping the driver off with casual practiced ease.
It was all so… mundane.
I idly wondered if we'd already walked past a Hydra member heading to work, or some Hand ninja grabbing breakfast in plainclothes. Despite the hundreds of conspiracies and strange things probably filling New York, you'd be hard-pressed to tell a damn thing was wrong.
Should I be relieved at how well everything was hidden, or afraid of how goddamn well everything was hidden?
"I think you might be a bit paranoid, shug." Anna shrugged. "Before I met ya, I'd never even heard a lick of this sort of strange stuff. Well, except Iron Man, but that's a lot less crazy than secret conspiracies, aliens, and magic. As long as we don't do anything crazy, I think we'll be fine."
"True…"
No Peeking should mostly protect me from cameras or magical bullshit. Just to be on the safer side, Anna and I had dressed pretty heavily. Hats, sunglasses, and blue surgical masks were a necessity in case we ran into some Hydra agent on the street.
Fortunately, New York City's wide array of people meant no one really gave a fuck what you were wearing. Outfits that would have looked suspicious as hell almost anywhere else just disappeared into the sea of mundanity.
It was almost nice. The sheer mixed nature of the city was a mundane wonder all on its own.
Although it wouldn't stay that way for long.
While certain aspects of this world still confused me, too many pieces matched up with the MCU. I'd love to just hope for the best, but I'd rather not stick my head in the sand and turn to dust a few years from now because I didn't prep for Thanos.
Hopefully, this would be the first step of a successful plan to stop that future from happening.
Stark Tower loomed ahead, a shining tower of futuristic architecture.
—
Okay… perhaps I had underestimated the difficulty level of that first step just a tiny bit.
"Meet Tony Stark, you said." Anna giggled. "I got this, you said."
"Shut it…" I lightly punched her shoulder as my face went a little red. "Ugh, I wasn't expecting it to be this busy."
We were sitting on a bench in the lobby. The lower floors of Stark Tower, it seemed, were open to the public. Tourists wandered across the floor in little groups, led around while oohing and aahing at every polished wall and glowing display. Stark corporate workers in suits moved with purpose around them, cutting through the crowd as they went about their day.
Despite the lobby's size, the place was bustling with people.
I hadn't even gotten the chance to show off anything as I'd originally planned to catch Tony's eye. The secretaries, attendants, and basically everyone who looked remotely important were busy.
Maybe I'd grown a bit too used to just running into important people.
"Who knew meeting one of the richest men in the world would be hard?" Anna smirked at me.
"I get it, I get it, so wipe that smug grin off your face." I sighed. "Plan B, then."
"What's that plan?" Anna asked.
"You'll see," I smirked as we left the lobby.
It didn't take long for us to find a little alley away from Stark Tower. I looked up and eyeballed the height to the top. Maybe eighty or ninety stories?
"Blessing."
A small shine came over me as power filled my body. I quickly pushed [Blessing] out of the slot and swapped in [Spatial Displacement].
"Wait…" Anna's eyes widened as she realized what I was planning. "What happened to the plan about not doing anything crazy?"
"Don't worry, it'll be fast," I replied. "Plus, people don't look up."
My hands wrapped around Anna as I grinned.
"Hold on…" She shot me a look.
"Nope!"
I looked up and gunned it.
—
Tony almost missed the boring days.
Tracking down his little friendly neighborhood anomaly had been fun at first. He had to give it to whoever was behind that mask, because they could freaking move. He couldn't exactly go flying around the Bronx in his suit without turning it into a whole thing, so he'd give them a point there. Those webs made for some seriously good urban movement.
Still, he wasn't some brute. He'd put in a little effort and very responsibly borrowed New York City's camera network.
It should have been easy to find their web-slinging friend.
But somehow, the guy always freakingknew. Even when Tony got an alert from a sighting and tried to meet the damn Spider-Man, the dude was already gone with the wind.
It was maddening. Despite hundreds of different cameras across the city, Tony still couldn't find him. What had started as simple amusement had become a matter of pride, and unfortunately, his world-class genius meant everyone couldn't just leave him alone to tinker with the problem in peace.
"You've been buzzing around like crazy, Mr. Agent." Tony's hands continued to wave through the AR display, trying to isolate his slippery friend. "So here I am, very graciously giving you my time. You may praise my kindness."
"I have a message from Director Fury, if you would please hear it, Mr. Stark." Phil Coulson's face remained placid, his small smile carrying that same damn corporate polish Tony had seen a billion times on overworked interns.
Tony frowned as he waved the holographic display aside. "The cyclops working you too hard? You're not looking great, man."
"Things… have been busy." Phil made a difficult-looking face.
Tony got up from his couch and strode over to the bar. "Want something?"
"…Scotch," the agent replied as he leaned slightly against the counter.
Tony poured him a drink and slid it over.
"Shoot." Tony sat across from him on a barstool.
Phil sighed, grabbed the scotch, and downed it in one gulp. Then he set the glass down hard against the counter.
"Mr. Stark, from here onward, please refrain from contacting or speaking with any SHIELD members. Do not meet with any SHIELD member alone."
Tony stared at him.
"…Present company excluded, of course."
Phil snorted.
Man… this had to be really bad if Coulson was laughing at his jokes.
"Not to be Mr. Obvious, but I am a consultant for you guys." Tony raised his eyebrow. "It was this whole thing."
"Make an excuse." Phil rubbed at his face. "I don't care what excuse you have to make. Cloister yourself in a lab, or go gallivanting across the seas. Things are… let's just say very delicate right now."
"You gonna explain these 'things,' or just keep making ominous warnings?" Tony leaned forward. "Seeing as it's serious, I'll even give you a discount on the Iron Man bundle."
"No… we very much do not need Iron Man right now." Phil looked him dead in the eyes before sighing. "Just… please trust me when I say this, Mr. Stark. Bringing Iron Man into this would only make things worse for everyone involved."
Tony frowned at the pleading edge in the man's tone. He had to admit, he was a little weirded out by this tired, serious version of Coulson. He was so used to seeing the man cool as a cucumber.
Something that could rattle even this guy really sounded like something Iron Man should be punching, but, well… His gaze flicked toward the AR display, where the camera footage he'd been analyzing still hovered.
"Fine." Tony raised both hands. "I was busy with something anyway, so I won't poke whatever Illuminati nonsense you spooks are getting up to."
"Much appreciated," Phil said dryly. His hand went into his suit jacket, and he pulled out an envelope. "Please take this and memorize these codephrases. If someone from SHIELD tries to speak with you, only trust them if they know the proper phrase. No matter who they are. Even me or the Director."
Tony stared at the envelope for a second before slowly taking it.
"…Are we getting Terminatored, Coulson?" Tony asked. "Because you're just making me more and more curious with all these ominous warnings."
"Everything's under control, Mr. Stark."
Said nobody ever who actually had the situation under control.
Shit, maybe he should start rushing the Mark VII armor. He bet he could—
"Sir! Two individuals have just appeared on the helipad!" Jarvis's ever-calm voice sounded almost baffled.
"What?"
Tony's eyes snapped toward the glass as he saw a man and a woman striding in from his helipad.
How in the hell did they get up here?
"Is this part of your 'thing,' Coulson?"
"I'm not sure." The agent was already pulling out his pistol.
The duo walked in from the helipad, and Tony was slightly regretting the fact that he hadn't bothered to put in a better door. But come on, what kind of intruder came in from his freaking helipad?
The man raised his hands. "Hello—"
Three shots came from Coulson before Tony could even react.
But the man moved faster. He blurred, a sword appearing seemingly out of thin air as he parried the fucking bullets.
It happened in a single instant. The next thing Tony heard was Coulson grunting.
Tony's eyes finally caught up as he turned and saw Coulson's gun pinned to the wall by an actual sword.
That denied, like, a dozen laws of physics.
"Now, let's not be hasty—"
The stranger didn't get to finish before the girl beside him bent over and lost her lunch on Tony's couch.
"...What the fuck?"
***
Sorry for the late post folks
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