Prepared for War

A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07

—

The atmosphere was somber. SHIELD agents were silently working, trying to turn their systems back on, while Steve, Tony, and I sat on the chairs around the weirdly shaped conference table and in front of us, stood Nicholas Joseph Fury, along with his Deputy Maria Hill.

The battle of the Helicarrier, as I was privately calling it, was over. There were 34 deaths on our side, and 19 deaths on theirs. Considering they came with just 25 people, one of whom and the leader of their team, was Agent Clint Barton, it was.. not that bad. 

Thor had disappeared, having dropped off the Helicarrier by Loki, and Hulk, well Thor was responsible for sending that particular man out of the ship.

Steve and Tony were sitting with their heads down, and I could feel that while Steve was majorly upset about the loss of life, Tony.. was angry. I was just sad that this had to happen.

I could have stopped it, I know that. Just like I know that I could stop the invasion from ever happening. 

The 16 year old Mason Aves would have felt disgusted by the current me, and I accept that. I accept any accusations that he might make upon me. But I stand by my decisions.

I am not a hero. I stopped being it the moment I allowed Slavery to keep happening all the way back in 50 BC, and then again, and again, and again. So many genocides I could have stopped by a single snap of my fingers, and I didn't, all because I wanted to preserve the Timeline.

And a little bit, out of fear of the TVA.

Or, maybe I did try something in an alternative timeline which was pruned by the fucking TVA and the Time Keepers.

But whatever my reasons, I am allowing these events to keep happening, and so, it is my responsibility to help at least a little bit. And hence, here I am.

I had fought the attacking mercenaries and mind controlled soldiers, delayed the Hulk enough for Thor to appear and sent him away. But alas, some events even my existence couldn't change.

Phil Coulson, a good Agent as far as my knowledge goes, still died at Loki's hands. 

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." Fury says, brandishing a punch of blooded trading cards in his gloved hands. 

I could barely hear the skip of his heartbeat, so good of a liar was he. Even if I didn't already know that they were in his locker, however, Maria Hill's minute change in expressions to show some anger at Fury would have been enough to clue me in.

"Guess he never got you to sign them." Fury says, and throws the cards on the table.

I sigh, knowing that if my Time peaks prove true, then Coulson won't be remaining dead for a long time. 

Science, how advanced could it get, I wonder? To bring a man back to life, even if it is within hours of his death? With Magic, I could accept it easily, since there is usually a price to pay for such an action. But with science? Despite my knowledge, stuff like this sounds unbelievable.

As Steve leans forward to pick up one of the cards, a Bucky one I see, Fury continues, "We're dead in the air up here. Communications are down, the engines are barely running. The Tesseract, Thor, and Banner are all lost. I got literally nothing for you. I lost my one good eye."

"Maybe I had that coming." Fury sighs, and this time I could tell that his tiredness was legit, and says, "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal of Tesseract charged weapons. Like Hydra. I could give excuses, like we had no choice, having seen Thor and Loki's robot destroy a town in New Mexico just on their lonesome. But I won't. Because I never relied on the single idea myself. Neither did Phil. We were playing something far riskier than that."

"There was another idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The plan was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become.. more. To fight the battles that the normal Military forces cannot. Phil Coulson died believing in that idea. In heroes." Fury says, and despite my own lack of actions, I couldn't help but be angry when I feel Fury manipulating Tony and Steve's emotions.

He was playing on their survivor's guilt like a fiddle. And Steve, bless his soul, was getting played despite knowing about the information Fury was still hiding from them.

As Tony stands up, his heart rate telling me that he was on the verge of having a panic attack, and starts walking away, Fury says, "Well, it was an old fashioned notion anyway."

Picking a pen from the top of the table, I pick my own card and sign it as Captain Avalon, and hand it to Steve. Without even exchanging a single word, Steve takes another pen and signs it with his own Captain America signature. 

After signing all the cards, almost all of them with Phil Coulson's blood on them, Steve pats me on the shoulder and walks towards the exit, no doubt to find Tony and comfort him. 

Feeling eyes on me, I turn towards Fury, who says, "So, Mr Aves. You say you've been hidden from the entire world and its Governments. Funny, I got a call a few hours ago, when Steve was interrogating you, that proves you're lying."

I raise an eyebrow, and say, "That makes the two of us then, Mr Fury."

Fury narrows his eyes, and says, "And what did I lie about?"

"Recently? You just lied about where those cards were. You're also lying about Coulson's death, for some reason. And you're lying about the fact that Thor and his brother were the first Alien contact you've had." Shaking my head, I say, "You must've had old SSR files dug up, and I know that Steve mentioned my gifts to you. Those are not lies, Fury. I can hear a lot of things, smell lies and deceit, see the tiniest change in the expressions on your face as you lie. I admit you're a better liar than most spies, but I'm.. me."

Fury stares at me for a few seconds, after which he asks, "The MIS knows about the Kree?"

"And the Skrulls." I confirm, nodding. "An MIS Agent had tried to stop the Kree known as Yon-Rogg from kidnapping your friend Carol Danvers when her accident happened in 1989. Unfortunately, said agent lost his life against the Kree team that he was trying to stop. And I was personally present when the Kree Armada came to conquer Earth in 1995. Thankfully, Ms Danvers had that part handled spectacularly and I wasn't forced to out myself."

I wasn't surprised that someone in the MIS called Fury asking about me. Being two of the most secretive Organizations around the world, MIS and SHIELD obviously know about one another. There were attempts at infiltrating each other in the past, but as it had happened, the Telepaths in MIS did not allow any infiltration attempt to succeed, and the Skrull technology in the hands of SHIELD didn't allow the MIS to do the same. 

Fury sits down, and with a sigh, he says, "Rogers and Stark.. they're too headstrong. They will not work together unless they have a common ground to fight on. Coulson's death proves to be just that. Even if Phil hadn't died, I would have asked him to fake his death at least temporarily so the Team can work well together. But I assure you, Mr Aves, Phil Coulson is most definitely dead."

Smiling, I say, "But you don't plan on keeping him dead."

"No, I'm not." Fury doesn't deny it.

After a short pause, he says, "Tell me, Mr Aves. How did the MIS know you were in my custody? And why did the Director of MIS herself call me, asking about one of her assets?"

I frown, and say, "I feel offended. Emma called me an Asset?"

Heh, MIS is more my asset than I'm theirs.

Fury smiles, and says, "No. No, she didn't."

Ah, I see what you did there. Right after I boasted about my superior senses too. I totally deserved that.

I dip my head to him, and say, "Well played, Fury."

Fury grunts, and says, "So the British Government knew about you still being alive and well. But you being the shadow leader behind the MIS does not explain how they found out you were in my custody. I know you didn't contact them, at least not through any regular non-magical means."

Without correcting his misconception that the British Government knew everything, I snort, and say, "I'm not a shadow leader of anything. I just recruited a few people, trained a few more, and then washed my hands off it. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to disappear. Being a Government leader would have been counterproductive. Not to forget annoying."

"As for how they found out you have me? Well, having Mutants inside a Government organization helps. See, when you make efforts to train mutants and help them get a normal life instead of spending millions to persecute them, the results speak for themselves." I say, and lift my shoulders a bit in a shrug.

Fury scoffs, and says, "The British Government would do away with the Monarchy before they give any kind of Power to Mutants. Hell, they wouldn't even give any significant power to people like me, I can say that with honesty."

Smiling, I lean forward and whisper, "It is a good thing then that the rest of the Government does not know what goes on in the MIS now, isn't it, dear Nicholas?"

Fury stays silent, and even without using my Telepathy I could see him conclude that I was a lot more dangerous than I was showing myself to be. No one would give away so many secrets without having more to hide, and I know he knows it.

Standing up, I say, "I've spent half a decade staying away from the public eye, Nicholas, and if it wasn't for Loki's actions and Steve's return from death, it would have remained so for as long as possible. You have nothing to fear from me. I am not your enemy.. just as long as you remember not to make me one."

And then, leaving Fury and Hill with those last words, I walk out, to go look for Steve who should have calmed Tony by now.

—

"He's a dangerous man." Hill remarks as Aves walks away from them.

Fury snorts, and says, "That's an understatement. He has strength like Rogers and a mind like Romanoff. It is a pretty bad combination for anyone against him."

Glad that we're not, he doesn't say, but Hill hears it just the same.

Hill frowns, and asks, "So we do nothing? He basically admitted to taking over a Government agency and changing the memories of Government leaders. Of the British King, and maybe even the Queen."

Fury turns to her, looking as if he's swallowed a bitter pill, and says, "There is no proof that he took over the MIS through less than legal means, Hill. But when did I ever say we do nothing? We keep an eye on him, make a list of his crimes. We recorded this conversation; make copies of the audio and make sure no one knows where all of them are. He's shown capable of changing memories, we don't know if he can read minds too, but we can't be too careful here. And most of all, get me everything we have on Emma Frost, and whoever the MIS Director was before her."

Aves was not his enemy, Fury knew that. But he wasn't a friend either. Aves cared for Rogers, and Fury would have to make sure nothing happens to the American Super Soldier. Because he knew now that Aves hadn't shown them half of what he could do.

Magic, Healing, Memory manipulation. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if Aves grew wings tomorrow and started flying, or shot lasers out of his ass.

And if anything happens to Rogers, God forbid because of their negligence, then Aves would most definitely be an enemy.

"Yes sir." Hill nods, and starts walking away to her station.

If Nicholas Joseph Fury was a trusting man, he would have believed Aves was actually on their side, and just wanted to be left alone. But one does not become the leader of SHIELD by trusting anyone, even if said person was one of the first Superheroes in this modern world.

—

Steve was rushing towards the Medical wings after his latest conversation with Stark. If the situation wasn't so dire, he would have realised the fact that almost every conversation with Stark had him rushing somewhere else.

Stark Tower. The place where Loki was going to stage his attack. Or at least begin it, since Steve had no idea what the size of Loki's army was. But at least they have a location now.

And even if Stark seemed more annoyed by Loki choosing his Tower than he was at Loki choosing to attack at all, Tony was at least on his side now. He wasn't.. antagonistic anymore.

"Steve!" Hearing the call, Steve turns around, and his shoulders immediately sag a bit, the pressure on them lessened.

Nodding, he says, "Mason. We found out where the Invasion is going to take place. Stark Tower, Tony's big building in the middle of New York."

Mason raises his eyebrows, and says, "That was.. fast. When are we leaving then?"

Steve smiles, not even bothering to question his friend about his own inclusion in this battle roster, and as he starts walking once again, he says, "Around half an hour. Thankfully we're floating just 180 miles away from the location, or so Stark said, so it won't take us more than ten minutes to reach."

A few years ago(for him), such speeds would have been unimaginable for Steve. But as he had realised since his waking, the times have changed a lot.

Mason nods, and asks, "Who else? We can't defeat an alien army on our own, you know."

Steve nods and says, "Natasha is coming, of course. I have yet to ask her, but I have no doubt she'll come. She will want to avenge her Mind Controlled friend, if nothing else."

Mason hums, and says, "I might be able to look at his mind, see if I can get him out of Loki's control if he isn't already out."

Steve couldn't remember the number of times Mason had shocked him in these two days. His miraculous return from Death, his use of Magic, his knowledge, and now this.

"You can do that? Your Magic can just.. look into people's minds and find stuff like that?" Steve asks, unable to keep the incredulousness out of his voice, although it was also tinged with a tiny bit of fear.

Has Mason ever read his mind? Was he reading Steve's mind now?

Mason smiles, and says, "Sure. Foreign influence is very easy to find in any Mind, the highly dense energy of the Scepter doubly so. Taking it out and making sure the Agent is in his own sane mind will be the hard part."

Steve sighs internally. He could accept that. Maybe Magic works like that. What would he know? He only learned about Magic from Thor, just a few hours ago.

As they reach the Medical wings, and the room in which Natasha was keeping watch over Barton, Steve opens the door. 

Seeing just Natasha, he looks around and says, "Time to go."

"Where?" Natasha asks, already standing up, ready for the fight.

Steve says, "Stark Tower, we'll tell the rest on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?"

The inner door opens just then, letting out Clint Barton in all his free glory. Wiping his hands on a towel, his face still showing some shadows of the things he had gone through and done, Barton says, "I can."

Steve looks at Natasha, who nods, so Steve says, "Suit up, we leave in under 20 minutes. Be ready for Stark's signal."

Steve closes the door on them when they nod, and sighs loudly as soon as they're far enough away. Turning towards Mason, who had remained out of their sight, he says, "I'm.. sorry. I didn't want to put the possibility of Loki's influence still in his mind out there, not while he's already under so much stress."

Mason chuckles, and says, "Never change, Steve. Never change. Besides, I doubt Barton would have allowed anyone to check his Mind using Magic of all things after what he has just been through. But don't worry. If Loki manages to get Barton or anyone back under his Control, I'll be there to stop them and help them then." 

Steve sighs, thankful for his friend's presence here, and says, "I'm.. glad you're here, Mason."

Grinning, his friend bumps his shoulder to Steve's and says, "Me too, mate. Me too."

As they start walking towards Stark's room, Steve looks Mason over. Only then does he notice the blood smears all over his clothes. His highly expensive clothes, a three piece suit. Steve didn't even know how Mason fought the intruders right now. Or how many bodies he left behind.

Steve wasn't an idiot, he was a soldier in a War that spanned almost the entire planet. So he had killed before, and even now during the attack on the Helicarrier. Even still, he found himself wondering if killing his enemies is a bit.. old fashioned. If he should practice some restraint, and if Mason should do it too.

"You can't possibly fight Loki and his army in that." Steve says, ignoring the doubts about his morals right now.

Mason looks down at his clothes, and says, "Eh, don't worry. I'll be fighting in my old armour. It'll even be better for the public, you know. When they realize that I'm back to the land of living, seeing my familiar uniform should give them some reassurance that it is me."

Frowning, Steve asks, "How will you even go get your armour?"

Mason smiles, and says, "Steve, as I've said before, I'm a Wizard. To any question regarding me that starts with 'how', assume the answer is Magic."

Steve chuckles, a bit bashful, and is saved from saying anything when they reach Stark's room. Knocking on the door, Steve opens it only to see Stark suiting up in his Iron Man Armour. His suit.. did not look good.

"Don't worry about the damage. I have a spare suit back home." Stark says, waving his hands. "I've fixed it well enough for me to take it back there."

Steve nods, and says, "Barton and Romanoff are ready to leave. Barton will fly us to New York."

Stark nods, and asks, "Good about the wonder twins. Do you trust him?"

Steve looks at where Stark had just pointed with his head, and sees Mason, leaning on the wall. Nodding with complete confidence, Steve says, "With my life."

"Good." Stark says, lifting his helmet from the table. "Coz we could use all the help we can get. Welcome to the team Captain Avalon. God that name is bad."

Mason chuckles, not taking any offense, and says, "The alternatives were far worse, trust me."

Stark nods, and as he starts walking towards them, towards the doors, he says, "I've informed Black Widow that we're leaving. They'll meet you up in the Hangar. And I will be heading off first, try and stop Loki from activating the Tesseract."

Steve nods, but before they can leave, Mason says, "You go on forward, Steve. I'll meet you in New York."

Stark stops, and raising an eyebrow he asks, "You got a date, Captain? Gods this will get so confusing."

"Call me Aves, Tony. I'm going to try and.. get help. See if we can bring a few more people on our side." Mason says.

"Well, be quick. We don't know what timeline Loki's running on, exactly." Stark says.

Smiling mischievously, enough to alarm Steve for a moment, Mason says, "Don't worry about my speed, Stark. I have Magic on my side."

And then, right before the pair's wide eyes, Mason.. twists into space, like he was made of water getting pulled into the hole in the sink, and disappears.

"I.. am not even surprised. Instant teleportation, through a wormhole." Stark says, and starts walking once again, mumbling to himself.

Steve just nods, and goes towards the upper Hangar, where Barton and Romanoff will be meeting him. Suddenly, he chuckles, and whispers to himself, "Infiltration specialist, my ass. He used his Magic all the time, didn't he?"

—

Appearing out of the Apparition tunnel, I smile at the questions I have no doubt left in Steve and Tony's minds. But, time to focus on this task, I suppose.

Having appeared right before the door, I raise my hand and ring the doorbell. The doorbell rings out loud inside the house, and after a few seconds, the door opens, showing a familiar figure on the other side.

"Can I help you?" The man gruffly asks, a cigar in his mouth.

I frown, and then widen my eyes, realizing something. "Oh, you don't remember me! Of course!"

"You ain't making any sense, bub." The man says, and I just see him tense a bit in preparation for a fight.

Smiling sheepishly, I say, "Sorry about this, James. It'll hurt, but you'll be okay."

James Howlett immediately drops the cigar from his mouth, as his Adamantium claws pop out from between his fingers, and says, "I don't know what you want-"

And then, before he even knows it, my hand touches his forehead, a green glow covering it. James stabs me still, but I ignore it, focusing on boosting the Healing Realm's Magic that was already flowing through his body, and guiding it to fix his mind.

"AAAAAAAARGGHHHHHHH!" James yells, as pain flows through his entire body, the Healing Realm's magic fixing any issues that his natural Healing factor hadn't managed to fix. Like the Adamantium poisoning he was suffering. 

It's a temporary fix, just cleansing the Adamantium that was already inside his blood stream, but it gives him a couple more decades to live at least, unless the issue is fixed completely.

James's claws retreat back to his hands as his body drops down, and I pull my hand back. Suddenly, however, a large gust of wind slams into my chest, sending me flying straight back and away from James's unconscious form.

As I drop down on the ground once again, skidding backwards but still on my feet, I hear a girl say, "He's still alive. But unconscious."

I look up, to see a few people standing over James's unconscious body, with a teenage girl kneeling next to him, her fingers on James's neck.

"Didn't Logan just stab him? How's he still alive!?" A boy that was standing next to the girl asks, getting into a.. admittedly good defensive fighting pose.

As I watch, however, a woman who had remained to the side, her hands pointed at me, says, "He must have a Healing factor like Logan's. Doesn't matter though. He hurt Logan, and he might be dangerous. Kitty, take Logan to Hank's. The Professor is sending help."

The girl named Kitty puts her hands on James's chest, causing both of them to drop down underneath the floor immediately. 

I watch it all happen, a bit amused, but I can't help the feeling of.. pride I feel, when I see how much they love James. 

Seeing the smile on my face, however, the woman I know to be a champion of Gaea floats up into the air, and conjures a thunderstorm above our heads. A simple motion from her hand, and a Lightning bolt speeds out of her outstretched hand towards me.

I take my sword Glamdring out of Nowhere, and with a swipe, dissipate the lightning bolt into pure Magic, much to her confusion. Two of the boys who were just standing next to James run to each side, and one of them grows spikes of bone out of the sides of his arms, which he then throws at me. Meanwhile, the other teen turns completely into ice, and attacks me with an intense beam of cold.

Banishing my sword for a moment, I spread my hands to the side. I cast a shield from my left side, which catches the bone spikes and freezes them in place. Meanwhile, the Cold beam that the other boy sent at me is stopped by another shield. Only instead of just stopping it, this spell absorbs the energy within itself.

Seeing the Champion of Gaea gear up for another lightning attack, this one I could feel was stronger than the previous one, I turn the ice-absorbed shield towards her, and banish all the energy I just absorbed straight at her.

My attack hits a wind barrier that she managed to erect just in time, but unfortunately, it proves too weak to stop the attack completely, and she is sent flying backwards, her body already shivering from the cold.

As a side effect of trying to stop the Champion of Gaea, the cold mutant's still ongoing attack manages to hit me on my right side. It freezes my body a little, but thankfully, this cold has nothing on Ikthalon's icy winds.

A simple pull on my Magic warms my body back up to my regular temperature.

Suddenly, however, a circular portal appears into existence right in front of me, along with a 7 feet tall man completely made out of metal. I raise my hand to stop the punch he throws at me, but since I was already holding myself back so much, I get thrown back with a broken arm, through another portal, where I am caught in a headlock by comparatively tiny hands.

As the hands directly touch my skin, however, I feel some of my strength start leaving me. 

"And that's enough." I say, sending a Telekinetic blast that throws my captor away from me.

As the metal man once again appears out of the portal I was just thrown through with a punch already extended, I catch his fist in my single hand, without any stress to me this time, and with a simple motion of my hand, send him flying right back.

The Champion of Gaea reappears, sending multiple lightning bolts at me. I raise my hand and just like I did with Thor's Lightning, which is multiple times stronger than this mutant's, I condense it all into a single plasma crystal that I throw right back into the air. Back into nature.

Staring at the Champion of Gaea, who wasn't giving up, I smile and appearing behind her, knock her out with a simple chop to her neck. The cold mutant was sliding towards me on a road made of ice, to which I turn my entire hand aflame, and catch him by his neck.

My blue Kasha flames start melting the ice covering his body, and within seconds, he is knocked out too.

I look around, only to see some 20 other mutants surrounding me, some teenagers as young as 16, while a couple as old as in their thirties. The metal giant was once again back, standing in front of another girl. As I see the oldest man there raise his hands to the red glasses covering his eyes, the doors to the Manor, because that's what it is, opens, letting out three people.

"Enough!" One of them forcefully says, making everyone turn towards him.

A man covered with blue fur, a man riding a wheelchair, and lastly, James, healed once more. 

"But.. Professor! He hurt Storm, Colossus, and Bobby!" The man with the red glasses says, still poised to attack me.

The man stares at the glass-wearing man, and says, "I said enough, Scott." Turning towards me, he says, "Forgive my students and faculty for attacking you, Captain Aves. But I can't help but think that they were justified, since you are an intruder here."

I shrug, and say, "Well, sorry about that. I didn't think my actions through when I healed James."

I didn't know they'd take it as me attacking James. I should have, but I didn't. Not everyone can feel the intent behind spells, I should have remembered.

"Who the fuck is James?" One teenager whispers loudly.

While another asks, "You know this man, Professor?"

"Language, Ms Lee." Professor Xavier admonishes, much to her embarrassment, and turning towards the second teen, the one who was throwing bone spikes at me before, he says, "Yes, Mr Daniels. We have met before. Twice. First was 30 years ago, and then 17 years ago once again."

As the kids start whispering(some of their questions about my age) James walks forward, and asks, "Aves. You brought my memories back. How?"

"Nice to see you too, James." I sarcastically say. When he keeps staring at me, not angry, but in thought, I say, "I am something called a Wizard. You remember something about that, don't you?"

James nods hesitantly, as he frowns in thought, and says, "I.. I was captured by other Wizards. During the Second World War. You and Victor were attacked. But.. I didn't remember it before. Not even before I lost my memories."

I smile softly, and say, "Sorry about that. Our Laws required me to erase those particular memories of yours, I'm afraid."

"As worrying as your actions regarding Logan's memories are, Captain Aves." Heh, you're one to talk, Xavier. "Why are you here? The last time we met you kidnapped one of my students, whom I haven't seen since then. So please, explain." Professor Xavier says, breaking up the.. not so emotional reunion James and I were having.

I could feel his anger at me, feel the restraint he was exhibiting by not attacking my mind outright, but I didn't care.

I turn towards him, and say, "I did not kidnap anyone. Jean learned to control her powers far better under me, than she did under you, Charles. Not to mention safely, without her mental capacity inhibited. But that isn't why I'm here."

I look around, and focusing on the people I had injured, I send green beams of Healing Magic towards them, speeding up their recovery.

As the others watch their friends start waking up, I turn back towards Xavier, and ask, "How would you like for the world to finally see the mutants as Heroes?"

—

A/N: I had debated about bringing in the X-Men during this battle. But it didn't make sense to not include them. My story will be focused more on the MCU side, but as I just did, the X-men characters will make some appearances.

Jean.. what happened to her will be mentioned at the start of the next chapter. And yes, she's not with the X-Men in this Universe.

Thank you for your support! Ask any questions if you have doubts! Tata!