Natasha Stark: Arrival

Chapter 20:

Tasha: I landed on the air strip of the ship and unsuited, grabbing myself a tee shirt from the bag I packed. "Glad you could make it Natasha," Coulson said, "I'll show you to the main room, where Tony does not seem to be happy."

"Figured as much," I said.

I was shown to a large room, with a large picture window on one end. People sat at high tech computers all around the room. And walking towards me was Tony Stark, with a really angry look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Tony asked.

"The same as you," I said, "Trying to save the world."

"I told you to stay home," Tony said, pointing a finger at me.

"And since when do you of all people have the authority to bench me?" I asked.

"Since I signed my name on your birth certificate 16 years ago," Tony said through gritted teeth.

"But I had direct orders from the US government," I pointed out, "So I decided to follow them."

"So you'll follow their orders and not mine?" Tony asked.

"Well, since I can be thrown in jail for treason with theirs, yes, I do follow theirs," I said, angrily.

"You don't have a clue what your up against," Tony countered.

"Do you?" I asked, "For gosh sakes, I don't think anyone has a clue what we're up against."

"That's why I wanted you at home," Tony said.

"Because I'm so much safer against a man who can put cracks straight through Paris if I'm at home instead of here," I said, "And last I checked I'm more able bodied than you for this."

"At least he wouldn't know you exist!" Tony said.

"Cause he doesn't ever pay any attention to media?" I asked, "What happened to 'be brave' and 'do what's right'? What happened to the 'Never back down from a fight' speach?"

"That doesn't apply when there is a man who could get rid of your existence in a freaking poem!" Tony said.

"It doesn't?" I asked, "I think that's all the more reason!"

"Tony," Fury said, "Last I checked, this isn't your decision to make."

"As her legal guardian it is," Tony said.

"We need her and you know it," Fury said. Tony rolled his eyes.

"This isn't over," he said, pointing a finger at me.

"Is it ever with you?" I asked.

"So Tony, I take it this is your daughter?" a male voice said. I turned to see Bruce Banner standing there, eyes trained on me. I blinked a few times, amazed.

"Hi," I said, "Natasha Stark. I am a huge fan of your work with Gamma Radiation. In fact, most of your work I love. I'm also a huge fan of how you can turn into an angry green rage monster."

"Thank you," Bruce said. I looked around the room. There was a red head woman dressed in all leather. Black Widow. She was leaning against a man, with crossed arms and sunglasses on. Hawkeye. A man stood with his arms crossed, biceps the size of tree trunks. He had long blond hair that draped over mid-evil armor. Thor. A woman rushed in, blonde hair flying behind her as she buttoned her shirt, a pair of jeans on. Ms. Marvel.

And then I saw him. He sat in a chair, but he was tall. He was muscular, dressed in a blue, red, and white skintight suit. His blonde hair looked like something out of an old movie. Captain America.

"Um, hi," I said, flicking my gaze from person to person.

"Thank you for your help on the ground," Ms. Marvel said, stepping forward, "I'm Carol."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"So what do you know about the Storyteller?" Carol asked.

"What the packet had on him," I said.

"Okay," she said, "Well, he's not cool if you're his enemy, which you have just become. He can basically make his world a puppet, and he's the puppeteer. His name's Gavin, and he's a pretty dark character.

"How do you know this guy?" I asked her.

"She was in the field with him," Captain America said.

"Only once," Carol justified, "But apparently it made an impression."

"No way," I said sarcastically.

"He's dangerous. I told him to limit his use of power when I met him, but as you can see, he's not exactly a good listener," Carol said, "He can get rid of your entire existence without touching you, make you go nuts without an injection, and change your powers without even knowing who you are."

"Sounds like fun," I whispered sheepishly.

"You really shouldn't be messing with him Tasha," Tony said.

"He already knows I exist. I'm not safe anywhere I go, okay?" I asked. I turned back to Carol, "What can you do to avoid his powers?"

"As far as I know, nothing," Carol said solemnly.

"Do you have any information on how his power works?" I asked.

"Not all of us run off batteries, Stark," Captain America said, obviously not thrilled by my presence.

"First of all, don't talk about my suit like you have any clue how it works," I said, "Secondly, you're body doesn't work without your brain. You would be dead by now if it weren't for Gamma Radiation, so his powers have to have some sort of base."

"His voice is how it all starts," Carol said, confused.

"What if we could figure out how to shut this guy so much there would be no way to get him to talk," I said.

"Who would be willing to make their presence known enough to not only get close to him, but rip his tongue out as well," Carol said. For a moment, I thought she was joking. Then I saw she was dead serious.

"Danger is part of the job right," I said.

"On Asguard we use this collar on people who cause an immediate threat with their voices," Thor said, "It makes it so they can't moved their mouths."

"Do you have one with you?" Carol asked.

"Of course not," Thor said.

"Which of you geniuses wants to get on this job first?" Hawkeye asked.

"Does someone want to show me where to work?" I asked.

"Let's go," Bruce said.

"Hey," Tony said, as we started to walk away, "Lets not forget Tony Stark."

"Ah yes," Bruce said, "Because he'd ever let us forget him."