Time Changer

Chapter 5: Meet...

Day 1

Tony went on to explain that there were technically thirteen of them living permanently in Stark Tower, one of them off the grid- whatever that meant- (Rogers face fell when they were mentioned), and one of them kidnapped at the moment (much to Max's displeasure at mentioning them)- fifteen if one included Phil Coulson and Scott Lang, who were visiting so often that they might as well be living there too.

Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Max- they had already met- and the remaining- Bucky Barnes (the one off the grid), Vision, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff- Twins, Max had explained- Sam Wilson, Jason Mandy- Max's boyfriend, the one who's missing, Rogers explained, making Max slap him on the shoulder- Bruce Banner, and Thor - who, Clint explained with a shit-eating grin, was an honest-to-god alien. An alien of a race of demigods.

Bruce- Tony said- had once been in an accident that resulted in him gaining the questionably beneficial ability to transform into a big, green ball of rage.

This prompted a discussion of what it was that the Avengers actually did, which then led to a brief explanation of superheroes, which led to a passionate discussion about vigilantism, with Hamilton arguing vigorously that if everybody went off to mete out their own form of justice, the world wouldn't be able to function, to which Steve began his self-righteous tirade about how he had been given these abilities for a reason.

Unseen by others, Natasha exchanged a faintly amused glance with Clint.

Alexander Hamilton appeared before them six hours ago, and already, he has assimilated and started Asking Questions and forming his own Opinions (Clint felt that the actions deserved capitalization, if only for the sheer amount of energy and thoroughness Hamilton put into them).

Natasha momentarily wondered how the hell they had thought when they postulated that Hamilton would like to lay low at first, then shrugged because honestly? Not her problem.

She already had too much to worry about, without adding in two Founding Fathers that refused to shut up- the second one being Thomas Jefferson.

Luckily for everyone involved, the elevator chimed, and JARVIS announced that one Bruce Banner was about to enter.

Tony shone up at the prospect of introducing his self-proclaimed young protégé to his friend. At that, Hamilton retorted that he was older than Tony, thank you very much, looking so adorably ruffled that, had Natasha's self-control been anything but stalwart, she would have cooed. As it was, she saw, out of the corner of her eye, as Steve practically melted.

"Brucie!" Tony bounced over to the man. Natasha envied Bruce's patience when dealing with Tony: he grated even her nerves at times, yet Bruce seemed unaffected. "So good of you to drop by!"

Bruce tilted his head. "You texted me. Seventeen times."

"Only to ascertain that you'd show up," Tony said, still bouncing. "C'mon, i've got some people to show you." he grabbed Bruce's sleeve, leading him to where Hamilton and Laurens were seated on the couch.

Jefferson and Madison were laying on the floor, but they looked like they didn't know why they were.

Washington, Gilbert, and Mulligan seemed to have taken up over half of the other couch- which they didn't seem to care about, since they were all just laying down all over it.

Burr looked like he was about to fall asleep from his place on a bar stool.

Seabury and Francis looked to be cuddling on the floor.

Natasha noted with amusement that, while Hamilton was trying to keep a respectable distance in a last half-ditched effort at keeping their relationship a secret from any newcomers, Laurens had taken to draping his arm over Hamilton's shoulders.

Hamilton didn't seem to mind overly much.

"Now, Fury doesn't know about this," Tony continued, "and we'd like to keep it that way. I trust that won't be a problem?"

"Tony, you know Fury isn't on my list of favourite people."

"I thought so," Tony said smugly. "Anyway, this is Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens, but they go by Alex Andre and John Lewis." he also introduced everyone else, but went right back to Hamilton and Laurens. He started pointing others out one by one as well. Thomas Jefferson, but he goes by Thomas Mannings, George Washington, but he goes by George Hemmings, King George the third, but he goes by Fred Mbret, James Madison, but he goes by James Griffin, Aaron Burr, but he goes by Aaron Bellamy, Samuel Seabury, but he goes by Sam Mer, Hercules Mulligan, but he goes by Hercules Buker, and Marquis de Lafayette, but he goes by Gilbert Sorcier."

Bruce closed his eyes. He opened them again. Natasha could see the hundreds of questions swirling in his mind.

In the end, he settled on a, "That's a terrible name choice. Who let Tony choose the names?" he asked the room at large.

"Fuck you too, Bruce." Max said from across the room.

"We did object," Hamilton protested. "Vociferously."

"Not loudly enough," Bruce replied.

"Alex, that's Bruce Banner," Tony cut in. "Bruce, meet Alexander Hamilton."

"Yes, about that," Bruce said slowly. "Explain to me how you managed to find yourself four Founding Fathers. As far as I knew, those were only available two hundred years ago. Plus, the king of Britian, which- again- was alive two hundred years ago."

Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "Glowing portal," he said lightly, as though it explained everything.

Bruce snorted. "Strange," he said succinctly.

"Indeed," Hamilton confirmed, trying to keep up with the conversation.

Bruce smiled. "No, not like that," he corrected gently. "Well, yes, like that too, but that's not what I meant." he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"There is a sorcerer by the name of Stephen Strange who seems to specialize in the kind of portals you describe. You should have given him a call," he admonished Tony.

"JARVIS, remind me to call Strange," Tony echoed. "But tomorrow. Today, you and I are going to answer the soldiers questions, and let me tell you, they have a lot," the lazy grin he gave Bruce wasn't exactly reassuring.

Natasha and Max decided that this was the time to withdraw, before they were sucked into the big, black hole that was Science with a capital S. Max caught Clint's eye and indicated the door. He nodded, then whispered something into Steve's ear. Steve nodded.

"Well," Natasha said loudly, "we are going to leave you three to discuss science. We'll be at the gym if you need anything."

The two made as if to leave the room, then turned back to fix Laurens and Francis with a look.

"You coming, soldier boy and Britianians?" Max asked.

Laurens threw a reluctant look at Hamilton but came to the same conclusion Natasha and Max had, and fled the room with as much dignity as possible.

Francis and Samuel did the same thing.