Chapter 16- Magician for Hire

POV- Kate Bishop

'Holy fuck this is hard without Nathan or Peter.' I hadn't realised just how useful they were at controlling the actions of their enemies in a fight, and with Nate's Fear toxin, they often acted like mindless goons, which had made things much easier for Jessie and me. Within moments of Jessie bursting through the door, she was shot at, and although me and Clint had taken down those carrying guns, whether by using a heavy, blunted arrow to the head or a regular broadhead through the hand, she was struggling.

"Oww shit," I hear through the comms, as I watch her get smacked into the floor, her small body not blessed with superhuman strength or toughness was rag-dolled by the kick of the tall man in front of her, he body having been thrown backwards. "Hehe, idiot." Watching her use her newly gifted distance, she reciprocates the gift with a burst of emerald green flame, directly into his face, leaving what I know is a future of scarring and blindness, if he survives at all.

'Maybe we've spent too much time around Nate,' I think, releasing a binding arrow to one thug who'd picked up a bat. "Room's clear from her Firestar, you may proceed."

"Very well-done girls, out of the 13, only 2 died. That's an impressive amount of control, which means Leviathan's been killing more than I thought. Oh well, resisting arrest and all that."

"I'm not sure that's how that works, Hawkeye," Jessie mentions through the comms, and I have to agree. Though I'll admit it sounds better on a report than, because he ticked me off, or because I was hungry. The latter an exclusive of Nathan's as none of us had his issue thankfully.

"Call it in Clint, I wanna have a bath." Jessie moans, walking over to us covered in sweat, blood, and soot, smelling positively smoky. I couldn't help but agree, the idea of having a warm bath made me desperate to head back early. Even just getting out of this suit sounded great, and when he agreed, probably happy to go home and see his kids, me and Jessie could barely stop ourselves from sprinting to the SUV we used to get here.

POV- Steve Rogers

Natasha had left a message that she would be difficult to contact for a bit, having been found by her sister, which I understood. Regardless of whether she was being dragged into something or simply wanted to enjoy some time with her family, she didn't ask for help, and so I left it alone. Now though, looking over the reports Nat usually completes, I'm shocked and grateful. 'If he wasn't our new Vaught team leader, and was a villain, I'm not sure how many would suffer until he could be stopped. Having seen Nathan heal from stabs through the heart, bullets into the brain, and regenerate cut-off limbs during his training, I wasn't even sure if he could die of old age anymore, seeing as poison was immediately found useless, his body burning it off quickly and regenerating damaged or altered tissue. If he was a villain, the best bet we'd have is to imprison him forever, a thought I shuddered at. The image of a rabid ghoul, as he called himself, chained and bound in a cage forever, lashing out eternally was terrifying like the Fenris of the Norse mythology Thor mentioned.

'Though I'm surprised by how easily he persuades others, even before he gained the pheromone ability, something he had admitted he hated and struggled with.' Both Kate and Jessie, now Robin and Firestar, had killed, and accepted their role as protectors and defenders of the innocent, though it seemed Firestar was also excited by the notion of proving mutants a force for good.

So many decades in the ice and I woke up in a world I thought was more accepting than before, but I found it had only shifted targets. This world is in an ever-present state of turmoil, and we need to protect those we can. 'I need to start hiring new heroes.'

POV- Nathan Cross

Arriving at 117 A Baker Street, I knocked. Well, went to, before the door swung open, granting me entry. "Hello?" A small man walked out from around the corner and guided me through a portal, not even asking who I was. "I guess you guys were told about me?" A small nod from the old man, frail as any other old man in a retirement home, but with calm energy radiating from him, as if nothing really mattered.

"Mr Cross, you're earlier than I imagined."

"Well, I was wondering if I could persuade, or at the very least bribe you into allowing one of your students capable of portalling and protecting themselves to accompany me and my team on a personal mission."

"What kind of mission?"

"Well, I figured that using Shield's information and some that we will obtain from an arms dealer I want to kidnap anyway, we could deal with some of the largest illegal arms holders and smugglers across the middle east and Asia. Additionally, we could then hunt down some of the people smugglers we have on file."

"Ah, a rat chase, I think it used to be called. And why would you need one of my students?"

"Their portals would give us a speed difficult to escape, provide us a means of getting any hostages or trafficked people back to a safe location, such as the embassy in each country, and also a means of moving the illegal weapons into the warehouse of Shield, where they may end up being used for protection in those future events, rather than land disputes that make little to no sense and have been carried out for centuries."

A long pause held the room, her sipping at her tea, as one of the masters brought me a coffee. "You know that we don't interfere with non-mystic issues-"she began.

"Nor did you help Mathew Murdock against the Hand, who is operated by a demon, so don't even start that excuse. Nor did you help Daniel Rand with the Kama Taj, or the world against Loki, whose MAGIC allowed him to deceive and manipulate key figures as he prepared an invasion, holding in his possession unknowingly two of the infinity stones, Space and Mind."

Smiling briefly, she accepted the comments, "We have been absent of late, protecting from attacks from other dimensions. It's been a growing concern." Seeing my disbelief, the Ancient One beckons one of the masters over, "Bring Librarian Wong over to me, he has need of some practical experience."

"Thank you, Ancient One. What's the price?"

"You will involve my student in all aspects of your mission, not just use him for travel. Additionally, I would like you to help me one time, if I should ever need you."

Thinking on it, I accept, "Perhaps that means you plan on living past the start of next year? Though know that unless you find a way to hide your presence, Thanos may act differently."

"I'm already quite good at it, but I'll work on it." Wong walks through the door and listens to his new orders, thoroughly confused as to why the Ancient One was loaning out one of her students for mortal matters.

"Leviathan, you must be Wong, a pleasure," I greet, offering a handshake that he takes after a momentary pause. "Would you mind preparing anything you might need, I'll text my team to get ready and meet us at the tower."

1 hour later-

"Robin, I understand that you missed out on going shooting with Clint," Wanda said, having taken Nat's role in explaining mission directives, voluntarily I might add. "However, showing up 15 minutes late is unacceptable, and you'll get a LOT of shooting practice this week."

"This WEEK?" Peter exclaimed in a slightly squeaky voice which he covered up quickly, failing miserably. "Nate, we can't go missing for a week, we have school. And I want to find the Vulture."

"We don't have a lot of time to find Klaue before someone else targets him, and school is bloody useless. You make premium money and spend time with the likes of Dr Banner and Tony Stark. Don't whine because you may have to cancel a date with your girlfriend." Having taken my previous advice given to him the night of the Bubble Gum Pyro, he had asked Liz out, explaining that he wasn't sure if she wanted to be in an actual relationship with him.

"You're just pissed because you're single," he mutters, looking away and copping a smack from the kagune, which had encased him instantly and smacked him lightly into the floor.

"You find me a sexy, immortal babe that is loyal and okay with what I am, and then I'll date. Until then, shut up. Now that everyone's here," glancing at Kate, "We can go now, have, we located Ulysses Klaue and Erik Stevens? Excellent, Mr Wong, if you would be so kind." Having already explained magic to them they followed instantly, though still amazed at the wonder of magic and teleportation, and in the case of Peter, other dimensions.

Walking out into the bright sun, a dock is before us, filled with colour and smells, not altogether pleasant, with a rather large ship docked at it. "They're both in there," Wong said, looking briefly at the two arrows he held hovering over his palm that pointed towards the ship. Ignoring the merchants at the pier, we move forward, drawing even more attention somehow than the closing orange portal.

"Hawkeye and Robin, I want you up on the prow, make sure no one escapes. Peter with me, as the melee fighters, and Wong I'll want you with us to immobilise and bind any that approach, with your whips and shields. Is that fine?" Receiving a nod I turn to Firestar, "Unfortunately, most of the things in the ship will be explosive, so you'll be on watch this time, keeping people away from the ship and burning any that make a jump for it."

"Okay lets move. Anyone that needs a lift move to Peter and me. Hmm, maybe I need to employ someone who can fly." Bringing Kate, Clint and Jessie to the top took mere seconds and within a minute the top was cleared, with people being arrested or simply tied together to a metal railing. Bringing Wong up to see the already cleared deck alarmed him, probably because of the ease with which non-magical humans were able to dominate armed men, though the signs of burns, electrical and pyrokinetic, were very apparent.

"I thought you were told small flames," Peter joked, earning a glare from Jessie."

"And I said you'd be in melee so go forth Spiderling."

Wong was growing frustrated at how casual we were, "This is why it is better left to mature adults, rather than children."

"Perhaps," Clint commented, "but if you let them hear that, they'll make your life hell. And their leader has superhuman senses."

"Exterminate the vermin, take all their goodies," I command Peter, who laughs at the quote from a kid's show. "Wong, don't get shot, they already know we are here, so don't bother being subtle."