132 Magical Protection

Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

Walking down the halls with Ruby, I raised my hands to rest behind my head, continuing to stride forward. "How've you been Ruby?"

"Are you trying to make small talk right now?" Ruby asked with a frown. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Exactly that. How've you been? How is life, what's going on with you?" I said casually.

Ruby looked up at me like she was trying to find out what I was hiding. I didn't have anything to hide, so I looked back at her. After a moment she shrugged. "I'm all right. Training mostly. And reading the books you gave me. I'm glad Shuri is here though."

"That makes sense. I guess you don't have a lot of people your age around here…" I mumbled.

She scowled. "Like I'd have anything in common with other kids. I mean, Shuri is Wakandan, she comes from a warrior culture. What am I gonna talk to other kids about?"

"Music, tv, cute boys/girls/non-gendered aliens?" I said uncomfortably. "There are a lot of things you can talk about. It doesn't have to be all Avengers all the time."

She scoffed. "What's the point? Even when I was with my m-mom I never had to worry about being friends with anyone."

Her voice hitching when she said, mom... I thought for a long moment.

Family. That stuff seemed to belong to another world now. In more than just the literal sense.

Unbidden, the image of my nephew popped into my head. It had been months since I saw any of my family, longer for some of them. My nephew was… well, he'd been an unexpected and beloved surprise. A cute little scamp, who loved video games, hanging out with me and my brothers, and not eating. Seriously, the kid seemed to hate food, which I found odd.

I missed him. I missed all of them. Sure, my current life was cool… except for the scary as shit moments. But I still missed home.

And if I did...

"...How long has it been since you saw your mom?" I asked idly.

Ruby jumped as though she'd been tased. For a good moment, I was sure she was about to attack out of embarrassment. "I-I don't know! Like, a couple of months, maybe?"

"Well that's just way too long," I scoffed. "I mean, your mom is probably going stir-crazy. We should probably visit her. Make sure she's doing alright. Can't imagine how much she misses you."

We walked along for a bit longer.

"I-If it'll help mom," Ruby said quietly. "I don't mind visiting her. But you can't come!"

Once again, she managed to pull off the combination of threatening and adorable. A true tsundere at heart.

"Sure, sure," I said with a chuckle. "I don't mind… Ruby. Appreciate what you have, okay?" I removed my hands from behind my head, my face scrunching up just a bit. "I'd kill to be able to see my family again."

She gave me an odd look. Before she could speak, I quickly continued. "Anyway, you already saw a few Discworld movies. I think we should look at Going Postal. Learn about how the postal service works!"

"That sounds so boring," Ruby complained loudly. But she didn't stop following me, which I noticed happily.

"Yeah, right up until the banshee assassin."

The next couple of hours were just me and Ruby hanging out and watching a fun movie. She was a good kid, but she had to learn to accept the human parts of her. To be willing to miss her mother, to look for companionship.

Ah, but what do I know? I'm no therapist.

All I knew was that hanging out with Ruby felt like watching out for the family, and that was good enough.

It wasn't until later that I found the female Avengers had an adventure while Ruby and I were hanging out.

May 16, 2014

Fantasma

Fantasma and Mikhail walked side by side through the Avenger Tower's halls, Fantasma speaking. She was wearing a pink dress with flowers on it, having felt very cheery that morning, while Mikhail was in his best military dress.

"Mr. Fury said we are not in trouble with the city but we should avoid having a night out like that again, at least for a long time," Fantasma said sadly. "I don't know how we even got to that point. Things just-"

Mikhail chuckled, interrupting her. "Don't worry, little one. These sorts of things happen when soldiers party. You will get used to it. And I am glad our new allies took you in so easily."

Fantasma's sadness quickly turned to happiness. "Oh, yes! It was very fun, even with all that happened. They were very nice!"

"Good," Mikhail chuckled.

"What about you?" Fantasma asked curiously. "How did your trip with Mr. Stark go?"

Mikhail's smile turned a bit darker. "Oh. That went well. We went to Colorado, then back home to drop off an old friend of the Russian government. He'll be enjoying our hospitality."

Fantasma looked over at him. Mikhail, for all his joviality, sometimes showed a dark side. Now, the pleased look on his face made her want to shiver a bit. Then he looked at her. His smile became much warmer immediately. "Ah, he wished to speak with you by the way."

She scowled. "What about?"

"Using your magic as he scans you."

Her scowl became deeper. "No. I am tired of tests."

That had been a huge portion of her life at one point. Scientist poking and prodding her over and over, trying to find some way of replicating her powers. They didn't do anything too invasive, as Boris and Mikhail wouldn't let them, but it was still a trial.

"If that is what you wish," Mikhail said respectfully. "He did also want to ask about the possibility of magical protections on the Avengers Tower."

Here, Fantasma stalled. Magical protections. That was a thought. She had spent some time on the Winter Guard base putting spells on the walls and doorways in an attempt to stave off things like demons making their way into the complex (Something that had been amusingly annoying to Chernobog, who found himself constantly with headaches before she managed to adjust the spells. Otherwise, his constant migraines and cursing were hilarious to behold). A project that might have been slightly laughable, until Rio proved the existence of such things, if much weaker than what could have appeared. And the Avengers Tower, while well defended by technology, was ill-suited against magical onslaughts.

"...He'll scan me while I do them, won't he?" Fantasma asked sourly.

"Not if you ask him not to, I believe," Mikhail placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, stopping them. "My solnyshka, I know you're nervous. But you will be fine. These people are honorable. Trust in that. Trust in the soldiers in your unit. Especially Creel and Schahed, both of whom have fought alongside us in the most brutal of battles."

She bit her lip before nodding. As gently as ever, Mikhail led her along. "I will miss you," Fantasma said sadly. "When you have to go back home."

Mikhail pulled her into a hug. "Do not worry. I'll be here for a little longer and I'll be a quick ride away whenever you want me back. I promise."

They walked off toward the rec room, where three people were already standing. Thor, Stark, and Dial. Fantasma smiled warmly at the sight of the last, feeling a bit giddy at the sight of her new friend. Then she noticed what he was wearing. A Crimson Dynamo hat displaying her armor-clad friend shooting a beam of light from her chest, and a black hoodie that was designed to look like swirling shadows. On seeing the chest, which was designed to look like it had pale white teeth curled into a grin and pale white eyes, she realized it was a Chernobog hoodie.

So she was unsurprised as she and Mikhail walked up to hear Thor's annoyed voice.

"- just wearing that to annoy us," the Thunder Deity said petulantly. He was wearing his usual suit of armor, only missing his cape and his arms left bare. "Admit it."

Dial grinned up at the deity, apparently unafraid of the far stronger being. "Nah, I just like wearing nerd gear, you know that."

"You know she cramped my style, right?" Tony asked casually as he poured a drink from behind the bar, the billionaire dressed in a black Metallica t-shirt. "Seriously, I do the suit thing and suddenly everyone is doing it?"

"Dude, people have had the idea of power armor way before you got your hands on it," Dial said with rolled eyes, though his grin showed he was making fun of Stark. "If anything, you kinda owe royalties to Warhammer 40K."

"Fanboy," Stark said as though from long habit. "Seriously, I'm going to buy out whatever factory is making those things just so I can burn them."

"You would have a long and hard fight," Mikhail said cheerily as he and Fantasma joined the trio. "I believe the Russian government is rather possessive of them."

Stark brightened at the sight of Mikhail. "Hey, Misha! Thought you'd be fighting off jet lag!"

"I am used to the rigors of travel," Mikhail moved to pull out a seat for Fantasma, only for Dial to beat him to it. He gave the young man a nod before taking his seat, Fantasma sitting next to Dial. "Are you so bothered by the idea of Galina, Stark?"

The billionaire shrugged. "Nah. I kinda want to trade tips with her, to be honest. Can't say I like your guys making the direct comparison between me and the little Russian that could though."

Mikhail grinned at that while Fantasma frowned. "And Chernobog?"

"He is an evil god," Thor said, sounding almost incredulous. "Of course I don't like him! I, how…" Thor looked around at everyone. "Why are you all okay with this?"

Dial shrugged. "He was pretty creepy… but he seemed to like me all right."

"I don't like him," Mikhail added. "So I am in the same boat as you."

"He is a monster," Fantasma admitted. "If a useful one. And his stories are interesting."

"Indeed," Mikhail nodded. "Hearing tales of Chernobog insulting or disturbing zealots is quite entertaining! Still, he's an asshole."

"Asshole," Dial added.

"Asshole," Fantasma sighed sadly.

Thor seemed almost pacified by those admissions before Tony spoke.

"Sounds tough, but I think I can get over that, especially for a good story. I mean, I'm friends with you, aren't I?"

"Wha-!" Thor gaped at the Iron Avenger. "I'm a good god!"

"You tried to electrocute me the first time we met, Point Break," Tony pointed out. "Not a great first impression."

Thor didn't seem to know what to say to that. Tony grinned at him and passed him a drink. "I'm kidding Thor. You're the only god I like you, big baby."

He took his drink and mumbled into it. "Better be. Electrocute. You'd have just passed out, wouldn't have even been hurt."

Fantasma giggled quietly. Dial turned to look at her. "So, I heard from Jen that you guys had a crazy night."

Tony looked at her as though pleased to find a new target to tease. "Is it true you set a building on fire your first night on the town?"

"Technically that was the meth lab exploding," Fantasma mumbled while blushing.

"I'm so proud," Stark passed her a drink. She was surprised to see it was a milkshake and gave him a confused look. Stark explained. "Ever since Dial joined up, I made sure to have a bunch of ingredients for non-alcoholic stuff. You want some real booze?"

She shook her head, taking a sip of her drink instead.

"So," Stark poured himself some whiskey. "I'm guessing your dad here already told you about what I asked?"

Fantasma blushed. "Mikhail isn't my father…"

Stark scoffed. "Cute. Seriously, what do you think? About magicking up this place?"

Before she could respond, Thor spoke. "That is an excellent idea. I've often thought that having such defenses would be good for the tower."

"That would be so cool," Dial said in soft awe. "Magical and Supertech defenses. At least we'd attempt making this place invulnerable even if it inevitably fails."

"Wow, way to bring us down," Stark said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Dial winced. "That's my inner nerd talking."

"You have an 'inner' nerd?" Stark snarked. "So what, this is you as a jock?"

"I'm sorry, of the people in this room, who is the only one who can speak in ASCII?" Dial snarked back.

"I'm sorry, of the people in this room, who has had sex with supermodels?" Tony said right back.

"You sure you wanna brag about that?" Dial said with a grin. "Cause Pepper would love to hear that."

Tony scoffed and looked back at Fantasma. "Fanboy's weak game aside-"

"I'm dating Jen!" Dial protested.

"More like she's dating you," Tony said without looking away from Fantasma. "What do you think?"

Fantasma sipped at her drink while thinking. "...I can offer some useful spells. However, I need some time to ask you questions, to make sure they do not interfere with the technology you have. That may mean I'll have a more intimate understanding of the tower than you are comfortable with."

Stark frowned. He looked almost uncomfortable.

Then Dial put a hand on her shoulder, surprising her. "Fantasma is cool, Tony. We don't have to worry about anything."

She smiled at him with some relief. Dial trusting her so much just felt… good. It may have been naive, but it was something refreshing to behold.

Stark still seemed unsure but still nodded. "Then I guess Molly and I will get to work."

The warmth Fantasma was feeling turned to annoyance. "If you call me that again, I'll turn you into a weasel."

"Molly," Tony said immediately. When Fantasma glared at him, Tony shrugged. "Hey, I kinda wanna see that. Plus, being that small could be fun."

"It is not a nice feeling," Thor said, surprising the room as a whole. He gave them a grave look. "I was once turned into a frog. I still have nightmares."

"Heh. 'Throg'," Dial mumbled quietly.

"Anyway, I'm out," Tony swigged his drink and tossed the glass into the sink, somehow not breaking the cup. "I'm getting a haircut in town."

"For real?" Dial asked, surprised. "Don't you have your hair cut by some kind of… I don't know, hairdresser for millionaires?"

"First, I'm offended you think I'd take a hairdresser for people as cheap as millionaires" Stark grinned. "I hear this guy is pretty good."

With that, Stark was off, striding confidently to parts unknown. Mikhail rose up. "I'll need to complete my report and send it out in the meantime," he said while eyeing the drinks before reaching out to grab the largest bottle of vodka he could. Fantasma felt a sense of fond exasperation at the elation on his face as he prepared to leave.

"Will you be okay here?" Mikhail asked Fantasma.

She nodded. "Yes. Talk to you later?"

"Of course, solnyshka," with another fond smile, Mikhail walked off, leaving her with Thor and Dial.

She looked between the God of Thunder and the Universal Dial, as both were called (Among a host of titles). There was an awkward moment before Dial spoke.

"So, Thor, how's Sif and the Warrior's Three? I know they're still on Midgard, but I haven't seen them for a while."

Thor nodded, looking more cheerful immediately. "Yes, they are! We were planning to spend some time out in the city."

"Is that good idea?" Fantasma asked without thinking. When Thor gave her an almost offended look she winced. "It's just, I know they might have an issue with… culture shock? It's bad enough for me and I'm from Earth."

Thor's face cleared. "Ah, you are quite correct, Lady Fantasma. That is exactly why we must visit the city. So that they may see how Earth has changed in our absence, both the good and the bad!"

Dial cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "Yeah, that's fair. You want anyone to come along? I mean, you've gotten better, but you tend to have some problems with Earth culture to some days."

The God of Thunder scowled. "No, I don't."

Dial crossed his arms.

"...Well, not as much!"

Dial coughed.

"That-! I-!" Thor sighed. "Verily, you are annoying."

"You're my friend, dude, I'm just trying to help," Dial said with a shrug.

"And I appreciate it. But it is annoying," Thor sighed once more, holding his hand out. Mjolnir flew from a table nearby to smack into his palm. Dial's face sprouted a grin.

"Man, it is still so cool to see that," the part-time alien whispered. Thor seemed to hear, for he smiled broadly.

Then the god of thunder looked at Fantasma. "And you, Lady Fantasma? Would you like to join us?"

"Me?" Fantasma asked, startled. "Oh, I don't-"

"Please?" Dial asked. "It's going to be fun. We can see how many restaurants Volstagg gets kicked out of!"

Despite his joke, he seemed earnest. Fantasma thought about that.

She didn't have many plans for today. True, she'd been told to avoid having another night out… but then, it was midday.

"Very well," Fantasma rose with a smile, taking Dial's arm graciously. The Trio walked towards the balcony outside. "Where will we meet the others?"

"Near the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum," Thor said grandly. "The Lady Sif was apparently on quite a journey! She will be returning there with the spoils of battle!"

Fantasma blinked at that. "Spoils of battle?"

Dial looked confused as well but didn't seem willing to question it as they stood in the empty air. Instead, he separated his arm from Fantasma's and reached for his watch. After several twists, he pushed down on it.

"Astrodactyl!"

"Squawk! Well, let's go see!" The space pterodactyl yelled. A blast of green released from the jetpack on his back, sending him shooting up into the sky before he twirled around. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"You cheater!" Thor shouted gleefully, spinning Mjolnir around to pick up speed.

Fantasma laughed, raising her hands to release blasts of purple magic, floating up into the air.

The three superheroes launched from the Avengers Tower in a blaze of green star power, white lightning, and purple magic, heading out towards the Hudson River.