Going Public

Late nights were something that was part and parcel of the reporting industry. At least that's what Lois Lane believed as she sat at her desk at the Daily Bugle. It was not even a good desk, rather it was something that was second hand. She supposed she should not expect much for a college student.

Lois read the latest reports coming in, trying to find a connection between the mysterious vigilante who was taking out the Friends of Humanity and the mysteriously disappearing Arcane. There was a theory going around that they were one and the same and it was hard to discount it wholesale. The dark haired reporter bit down on her pen cap, ignoring how bad that was for her. Her mind went all over with millions of different thoughts.

Graydon Creed was obnoxious to a fault and she felt sorry for anyone who had to be in near proximity of him. Lois got some form of vindictive pleasure in getting to see Creed knocked down a couple of pegs in any way.

The problem was that more than a few pegs was not enough to get Creed down to a level where he might shut his yap. He continued to press on with his anti-mutant crusade, to the point where he gave Lois suspicious.

'Someone that obnoxious has to have a skeleton in his closet,' Lois thought to herself.

As for mutants, well Lois was going to reserve judgment on them until she learned more. She suspected that they were much like most people. There were some good ones, there were some jerks, and there were ones that were pure evil.

"Hey, Lane, are you busy on Saturday?"

Lois sighed, speaking of the jerk category, there was Eddie Brock, supposed world class photographer, who took highly acclaimed photos. Or did if you believed the drivel that came out of Brock's mouth because Lois did not find any evidence of Brock's supposed greatness other than his own spoken accolades.

Naturally there were going to be people who were going to overstate their accomplishments and Lois had to deal with individuals like that time and time again.

"Yes, Brock, I have a lot to do," Lois offered, taking his comments in stride, she didn't even bother to turn around to face him, her attention remained on the work in front of her.

Her mysterious savior was something that caused her to raise an eyebrow. This Star Child, as he was dubbed, was an enigma and a half. The purple eyed reporter did not even get a good enough look at him.

Then again her entire life kind of flashed before her all at once. So there were more pressing concerns that passed through her mind and Lois took an instant to mull it over. The dark haired reporter encountered more and more stress as time passed. She had to figure out how something like this might have happened.

She tapped her pen on the desk, clicking on it absent mindedly. Which was strange as it bugged Lois when other people were tapping their pen. She placed the pen in her mouth and threw her head back, trying to think about all that she had to do. Her thoughts turned around in her mind as the crafty reporter tried to consider every single possibility.

"Late night."

A dark haired woman dressed in a black business suit stepped by. A pair of stockings covered her lovely legs and a pair of black heels covered her feet. She had her hair cut into a bob and was looking at Lois with a curious expression, an eyebrow raised slightly.

Lois shook her head before cupping a hand to her chin.

"No more so than usual, Betty," Lois commented to the woman as she turned her head to face her. "Jameson's leaning on me about the Star Child thing and I can't even get a fingerprint that might lead me to him."

"Well just keep…"

There was a whooshing sound that resounded through the office and it caused Lois to stand up so fast that she banged her knee on the edge of the desk. Wincing in the pain, the reporter took a few seconds to block the pain out. Betty was taken off guard and a few members of the office staff who stayed around to try and meet deadlines also spun around in confusion.

"WHAT THE DEVIL WAS THAT?

The lack of indoor voice indicated that it could only be one person who made this declaration.

"I don't know, Mr. Jameson, sir," one of the hapless office staff members stated in a timid voice.

Lois rolled her eyes but them she once again nearly jumped up. This time she spared herself the indignity of ramming her knee into the underside of her desk. She stopped herself and blinked as she saw it there on the side of her desk. It was an envelope that was taped to the side of her desk.

Thinking quickly, Lois snatched it and stuffed it into her bag. There was no sense in drawing anyone else's attention to it after all. Her purple eyes flickered as she placed her hands on her chin and threw it back with a lengthy sigh. The woman turned her attention towards the situation before she twisted herself around.

"Well you better figure out what it is or I'll have you busted down to the mail room!" Jameson bellowed in an angry tone of voice that practically shook his office.

"I wonder if he wants photos of Spider-Man as well," one of the office staff workers stated bravely although Jameson did not hear him.

Lois on the other end made her excuses and slipped out of the office. She'd learned a lot during her short time as a reporter and she knew that a mysterious note being dropped on her desk was far from a coincidence.

The woman rushed her way outside towards her car, and she scrambled inside it. With a trembling hand, she ripped open the envelope and a note fell out.

There was a message, it was short, sweet, and to the point but it offered her a lot of information never the less.

I hear you want to talk to me.

Meet me outside of Central Park on Midnight on Saturday.

Come alone or I won't give you anything.

Lois read the note, holding it over in her hand. She almost expected a few more words to appear for some reason, as if it was like magic. She turned the note over in her hand and read over it once more.

"You better believe I'll be there," Lois commented in a low voice, even though there was no one around to hear her.

Natasha Romanov was used to the cold surroundings like those in the Artic. It was part of her training where she was bred to survive in some of the worst conditions possible. The red haired woman stepped onto the perilous ground and was joined by the rest of her team.

Steve Rogers was another individual who did not even blink at the harsh Artic conditions. The breeze barely even affected him as he edged forward before he crossed his arms.

"Stay sharp," Steve informed them as his head turned and the blinding white out kept them from pressing forwards through the snow. "Do you think you can get a visual on what we have in front of us, Tony?"

Tony adjusted the thermal sensors on his armor.

"Yeah, I'm not seeing much of anything other than snow, snow, and more snow," Tony informed them as the Avengers crossed through the snow. It was Carol, Natasha, Tony, Steve, and Thor who made made their way towards the destination point as the snow continued to blow around them.

"Aye, it is quite the treacherous….situation," Thor managed before he turned around. He had suffered worse conditions but it was still no picnic as the people on Midgard might say. The God of Thunder trudged through the snow as his feet sunk into it. Thor crossed the threshold of the snow and once again his teeth chattered together. Normally conditions like this should not effect him but there was something in the air that caused him to be slightly unnerved.

Carol looked up, there was something that Fury picked up in the Artic and SWORD picked up a brief beacon weeks ago. It was around the time of the Meteor Shower come to think about it. There was one conclusion that came to Carol's mind as she thought about certain aspects.

'Not a coincidence, there is no way it can be a coincidence,' she thought. Slipping and sliding as they made their way over the ice. The entire group struggled but the five were extremely hardened, they knew what they had to do.

"I think I hear something," Tony remarked as the billionaire struggled to make his way over the ice. When a misjudged step, and the weight of his armor caused him to slide forwards as he suddenly lost his balance. Reaching over quickly Thor was able to grab him by the shoulder of his armor stopping his descent before he ended up crashing through the ice. After a moment Tony was able to adjust his footing under himself in order to regain his balance. He nodded his head towards Thor in thanks.

Natasha heard the same thing and her eyes widened expressively. There was a small structure out in the snow that was visible.

"Either we've discovered that there is a Santa Claus or someone else has set up shop here," Natasha remarked briskly as she pulled herself towards her destination.

The ice was treacherous and the temperature was below subzero.

Steve meanwhile looked thoughtful, he did know that HYDRA had outposts all over the world and despite the fact that they got most of them, they might have missed a few. Could this outpost in the Arctic be among them?

"It's bigger on the inside," Steve breathed after he got the doors open.

"Great, we've ran into the TARDIS," Tony commented in a dry voice as he tried to get inside but there were many hallways. It was lit with impressive crystal structures all over the wall.

The armored avenger did not say much of anything but never the less, he was extremely impressed all things considered.

"Keep going," Steve informed them as there were a few different doorways. Whatever they stumbled into, they would know before too long.

Natasha slipped away from the rest of the group. She decided to go do some exploring on her own. She did not roam too far but curiosity got the better of her. The redhead spy continued to make her way throughout the area.

"I see you're impressed."

Natasha spun around as she heard someone in the shadows. She reached into her belt and was about ready to shoot but a hand wrapped around her wrist. Her eyes widened as she turned around but another hand clasped over her mouth.

"It appears that I've caught the Black Widow in my web. I wonder what I'll do with her."

Natasha recognized the voice as he pulled her in close against him, before moving them down a level.

After they reached their destination, the hand removed itself from her mouth. The redhead spy came face to face with Harry, her eyes narrowing slightly as she focused on his green ones

"So this is where you've run off to," Natasha breathed to him and the young wizard expressed his amusement towards her answer with a stiff nod. She placed her hand on her hip before she turned her head around to the right and then to the left so she could survey her surroundings. One who did not get a good look at their surroundings ends up day "People were wondering where you went."

"I get that a lot oddly enough," Harry commented with a smile as he looked towards her. "People need to know that there are times where I do my own thing and you can't really fault me for that. I would think that you of all people would figure out that there are times where we just need to be left to our own devices."

Natasha smiled; she of all people did understand that better than anyone else. The redhead spy nodded her head slightly in agreement and her arms folded over her chest as she eyed his new development.

"So, I think the question is did you in particular miss me?" Harry asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Harry smiled, his senses had heightened during his training in the Fortress. He could now sense when a woman was aroused or at least if they were sexually frustrated. That was a handy little ability to have but naturally one should exercise supreme caution with such a thing or it could run away from him. The young wizard kept his intense gaze focused upon the spy.

"Well…"

Harry was behind her immediately and he pressed his nose to her neck. His arm wrapped around her waist, narrowly brushing against her breasts for a moment. His crotch a hair away from touching against her leather clad ass. Her curves wiggled enticingly in that skin tight cat suit so there was very little room for imagination.

"You know, my team could find me," Natasha moaned breathlessly as she felt the desire to have this talented young man take her once again.

"They could," Harry agreed as he flipped her red hair back and pressed his lips on the side of her neck at that instant, kissing it. "But isn't that half of the fun?"

Harry smiled knowingly, The Avengers did not find anything that he didn't want them to. This was a dummy outpost that they ran into, the real Fortress was elsewhere. He figured that Fury was going to pick up on something, it was inevitable.

Natasha felt a sudden sensation of warmth.

"Magic, it's amazing," Harry commented as he tightened the arm around her waist as he ground his crotch against her backside.

Natasha nodded wordlessly as she felt his lips on her neck. Her body was starting to glisten with sweat because of the suddenly intense heat. It was a sensation beyond all the words that she could say, so she didn't say anything. Rather the heat rose from between her thighs as the wizard worked his way down her body.

"And you're nice a wet for me, amazing," Harry commented, as he slowly unzipped her catsuit to reveal more of her body.

Natasha spun around, and wrapped her arms around him, straddling him as he sat down on desk that appeared behind suddenly, as if by magic. She was not questioning it now, she was ruled by the intense pheromones that were going through the air.

Natasha had to admit that was a reunion and she walked a little lopsided.

No sooner did that they finish, Carol broke into the room.

"There you are Natasha….oh hello Harry," Carol commented as she slowly took in everything.

She saw that Natasha walked around bowl legged and the smile on Harry's face, well it was not hard to put two and two together. Not to mention that they were in here for nearly an hour, if not more before she could find Natasha.

"Hi, Carol," Harry offered in a cheerful voice as he reached forward to shake her hand. "I trust you're doing well."

"Fine," Carol managed but she kept her voice steady and business like.

She hadn't really had a chance to look at Harry recently until now but her eyes were fixed on him now, trying hard to block out the thoughts that went through her mind that were of the risqué nature.

"Well I guess we can cancel the search party," Tony remarked as he showed up before he saw Harry. He paused before he locked eyes with the young wizard. "Yeah, I should have figured that you'd be a part of this."

"Am I that predictable?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Well no, no one should be able to predict you, given that you're….well you have your quirks," Tony remarked as he stepped forward. "Fury's not too happy that girlfriend of yours has slipped underneath the radar."

Harry paused to tilt his head to the side as he pondered that statement for a moment, before finally commenting in a slightly confused tone of voice. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"Right, I forgot, you're everything that the tabloids say I am," Tony commented before Carol, Natasha, and Harry looked at him with three glares which caused him to step back, waving his hands wildly. "Well not everything, because you wouldn't believe some of the things but….still they….I'm just going to shut up before I dig myself an early grave."

"Smart man," Carol remarked to Tony before she turned back to Harry. "Anyway, he is referring to Miss Pryde."

Harry smiled as he thought about that, it appeared that the X-Men were not the only ones that Kitty gave the slip to. The wizard's expression contorted as he thought about it.

None of the tracking charms he placed on her were working, which meant that either something was very wrong or she was smart enough not to wear any clothing that had been in her possession when he was around.

He grimaced, truly he taught her too well.

"We have a problem," Steve remarked as he turned up before Harry could even say anything more.

That was never good, that was one thing that the Avengers could all agree about it.

"Remember how Fury said that the cargo was being moved today?" Steve asked them and the Avengers nodded in response.

"What cargo?" Harry asked calmly as he eyed them and suddenly things got more than cool.

Carol decided to be the one to break this news to Harry. "Well the alien ship that arrived….SHIELD managed to get ahold of it…."

"And we haven't been able to get it open, even though both Reed and I put our heads together," Tony remarked before he tapped his head in confusion. "Do you think you can maybe voodoo it open?"

"Voodoo it open?" Harry asked Tony with a surprised expression on his face and he corked an eyebrow.

"He means use magic to break it open," Carol commented and Harry smiled.

"That's not the current problem, someone is attacking the transport vehicle that the ship is on," Steve remarked and in response Tony's eyes widened.

"Who is it then? Doctor Doom? HYDRA? The Mad Thinker? Paste-Pot Pete? Who could be crazy enough to attack a SHIELD transport vehicle?"

"It be that troublemaker, the one known as Deadpool," Thor commented as Tony's eyes widened before the shock set in.

"Deadpool?" Tony asked in confusion and he chuckled. "You've got to be shitting me."

"Yes, Deadpool," Fury commented as holographic representation suddenly popped up. "I want the Avengers to make sure that fruitcake doesn't do anything to destroy the ship. If we can get it open, we might be able to figure out a clue of what that nutjob Tyrell was going on about."

Harry smiled mysteriously in the shadows but said nothing.

"Yeah, stop Deadpool, it shouldn't be too hard, he's just someone with mental issues, thinks he's a fictional character," Tony commented as he placed his hands on top of his head.

Steve shook his head before he offered a word of warning. "Careful, Tony, just because someone doesn't seem dangerous, it doesn't mean you should take him lightly."

"Well we aren't going to accomplish anything by standing around here, are we?" Natasha asked and their heads were shaken.

Steve's expression turned to a triumphant one before the spoke in a bold and commanding tone of voice.

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

Harry tagged along for the ride, because no one was going to turn him down if he went with them, plus he was a founding member of the team, even though he was currently a part-timer.

Deadpool stood over the various SHIELD agents that he took out. The Merc with the Mouth thought that they might have been better trained but he was more creative with his maneuvering. He reached forward and took the information that his mysterious benefactor gave him. The Merc with the Mouth's eyes read the typed up instructions.

"Don't know why mister mystery didn't come and get the ship himself," Deadpool commented as he kept reading the document as he shook his head. "Lazy bones."

The Merc with the Mouth whistled as merrily as he could be, his hands clutched together as he spun his head around. He walked in front of the ship.

"Oh, my Avengers sense is tingling,' Deadpool commented as he looked over his shoulder. "I better pick up the pace."

The Merc with the Mouth reached forward and began to diddle with the lock of the ship.

"Heh, you said diddle," Deadpool commented as lightning cracked in the background. He threw his hands up in surrender and stated in a soft tone. "Joking, joking, joking."

He was completely insane but he knew it was time to buckle down and be serious. The door was wedged shut, at least for now. The Merc with the Mouth threw his head back.

"Damn, neck crick," Deadpool commented as he threw his head back. He threw his head back again and again, making like a bobblehead with a demented grin crossing his face as he did so and he placed his hands on his hips, swaying from side to side a little bit. He decided to edge forwards and try and find his way into the system to unlock the ship.

The instructions were straight forward, so much so that even a child, or an idiot could figure them out. Which made sense considering who's hands they currently resided in. How this individual knew exactly how to disable this ship, well that was something that Deadpool would figure out later. Right now he had to keep his mind on the mission and not on asking stupid questions that would be explained if he exhibited a little bit of patience.

Not that it was easy for Deadpool to do so but that was just the way that he rolled. He kept himself focused on the panel, clicking through it, causing the front of the ship to open.

"Face it Tiger, I've just hit the jackpot," Deadpool commented as he continued to open up the ship.

'Wait for it.'

There was a second where the doors to the hanger burst open and the Avengers showed up, right on schedule. The Merc with the Mouth turned around.

"Let me guess you're shutting me down once and for all, aren't you?" Deadpool asked as he placed a hand on his hips and smiled.

Tony's eyes widened, he had the line all ready and everything. He didn't like it when he was cut off at the pass, not at all.

"Step away from, it Deadpool," Natasha commented, hoping that this guy gave her a reason to hurt him badly.

He was number one on SHIELD's most annoying yet somehow dangerous list. She thought that there was an obvious way to correct his behavior.

"So wait, it's Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Ms. Marvel, and Iron Man, and yeah its Arcane, hey Arcane, sup, remember the time where I transported you and your friends to Mojoworld, and put you on television and I was like really a robot, man that was so sweet and by sweet that was…"

Black Widow kicked Deadpool in the mouth mid-stream which was quite frankly kind of rude.

"What's your problem lady?" Deadpool asked as he picked himself up off the ground before he pulled out two guns, anger flowing through his tone. "NEVER INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M MONOLOGING!"

"Bang! Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!" Deadpool fired off a series of shots which caused the group to scatter. They ran around, trying to duck and run for cover. No matter what, Deadpool was trying to get in some pretty good shots at them.

Captain America used his shield to block the attack.

"Again, don't underestimate anyone ever," Captain America commented before he rushed forward and tried to disarm Deadpool.

"NO!"

Deadpool dodged the attack by sliding forwards underneath it, taking out Captain America's legs as both of his feet connected with the Super Soldiers ankles, and sending him flipping forwards over his head. He drew his sword from his sheath only for it to be turned into a rose as Harry blasted him with an attack.

"That's really….that's really low Arcane," Deadpool commented as he stepped forwards only to hear the ship click open the rest of the way behind him. The Merc with the Mouth spun his head around before a triumphant smile spread over his face. "Hey, it's done. That's awesome!"

Deadpool cheered with a smile on his face as rushed forward, trying to get to the black box.

Ms. Marvel grabbed Deadpool around the back of his head and flung him backwards. The Merc with the Mouth flew head over heels and slammed against the wall with a loud crack.

"At least I didn't drop down to the ground," Deadpool grumbled but then he dropped down to the ground. "Hey, there it is! Spoke too soon."

Deadpool picked himself up before he checked his watch.

"It's time to make a strategic retreat," Deadpool commented to himself before he pulled out a cylinder like object which he shook like mad whilst doing a jig. "Come on, let's get crazy! Let's go nuts! Let's get dangerous!"

Deadpool hoisted the cylinder up before he hurled it like a grenade into the air. It plummeted to the ground and it exploded with a loud crash.

"What did he throw at us?" Carol managed as her eyes watered over.

"That be a putrid smell," Thor remarked as Harry waved his hand, to clear the room. "Ah, that is much better."

"I believe that was a stink bomb," Harry informed him as he coughed a tiny bit.

"Yeah, that's about right," Tony commented before his eyes watered.

The sound of an escape pod clicking open was heard and Deadpool was about ready to get out of there.

"I've got this one," Harry told the Avengers before he waved his hand.

The loud shock wave spell shot out but it only succeeded in pushing Deadpool further away from them rather then stomping him completely flat.

"Well that didn't work as well as you intended," Tony remarked to Harry but the wizard shrugged.

"Trial run," he informed him and Tony whistled.

"That was a hell of a time to do a trial run," Tony informed Harry, as he turned his head around but Steve shook his head.

"No time to worry about that, we need to get to the jet, let's go."

"The ship broke apart the moment that he took the hard drive out which means there's something tangible on it," Fury remarked as he shifted in his seat as he checked in with the Avengers. "We're trying to find out who hired Deadpool because it might give as a clue of what the method to his madness is."

"Well Deadpool sure as hell has it now, doesn't he," Harry remarked as he moved across the ship and sat in one of the seats. "SHIELD had that ship, who's to say that they had any right to it? You should have told me that you had it when I was there, I could have made sure that a nutcase like Deadpool didn't get his hands on it."

"Sorry, I didn't decide to run confidential SHIELD business past you, Potter," Fury commented in an argumentative voice and the Avengers all looked nervous.

Any time that Harry Potter and Nick Fury went face to face, it proved to be a spectacle to say the very least. The one eye of Fury fixed on the two of Harry's.

"You should have told me, now you lost the hard drive of a potentially dangerous alien ship to a madman, and who knows who he's working for," Harry remarked as he placed his hands on his forehead as the Avengers kept chasing the ship. "Someone who is completely and utterly out of his mind more than likely, great one Fury."

"And the ship busted apart after he removed the hard drive," Tony remarked to them all before he was visited by a sudden thought. "You know, how did he know how to get the ship open anyway?"

"Knowing that nutcase, he just started to randomly press buttons for the hell of it," Nick Fury commented crisply.

Natasha shuddered at the thought, he could have easily got whatever he needed from the ship or he could have blown them all to smithereens. Knowing Deadpool he would cause some kind of Earth shattering Kaboom as well. That was how the Merc with the Mouth worked all the time.

"Okay, we've got to find a way to track him," Steve stated as Tony calibrated the tracking device.

"I'm on it already," Tony commented but there was something jamming the sensors. "I don't understand what's going on, there should be a way to track it."

"Maybe you don't have it calibrated properly," Harry commented to him and Tony shrugged his shoulders as he muttered underneath his breath.

"Let's see I got that done right, that done right, and that done right….damn it, what am I doing wrong?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders before he slid back and let Tony do his thing.

"You could have slipped some kind of tracking charm on him before he went out the door," Tony offered to him.

"I could have but would it have worked if your equipment is failing?" Harry asked him in an evasive tone of voice. "SHIELD should have their own tracking signal for their escape pods, shouldn't they?"

Harry's expression was on Fury and the director of SHIELD was all too prompt in answering his question before he nodded.

"All of SHIELD's ships have their own unique tracking module that I can lock into or I could if something wasn't jamming my signal."

"That settles it, someone set Deadpool up with some new toys to screw with you," Tony concluded.

"Electro-magnetic interference is in the air…jamming my scanners…."

"Commander Fury, you're breaking up," Natasha informed him as she tried to bang her fist on the edge of the console.

It flickered and sputtered to a stop and there was no telling what Fury was going to do. The redhead turned her head to face her fellow team members.

"I do believe we're on our own," Steve commented as he clutched his SHIELD.

When the chips were down, Captain America was going to do what he always did, do things the old fashioned way. He was going to track this thing old school, as best as he could. The First Avenger looked out the window.

"Oh boy, this is dramatic….the Avengers are coming after me and one eyed Fury is putting a price on my noggin," Deadpool remarked as he navigated the stolen SHIELD transport vehicle. He was surprised he did not have the SHIELD agents bearing down on the back of his head and halfway up his ass.

Not that he questioned this because he would kind of be an idiot to question something like this. Still Deadpool craned his neck up and back before he heard the ship.

"Now it's time for the climax," Deadpool commented to himself as he looked at the dashboard before he smiled. "Oooh, what does this button do?"

Deadpool raised one hand before he pressed the button.

Missiles launched towards the Quinjet gaining velocity as they hurtled towards them. The aerial craft was able to dodge the missiles but Deadpool did not expect that to take them down. It would be amazing if the Avengers were going to be taken down with one shot.

Back in the Quinjet, Carol's mouth opened halfway as she was about to ask if Deadpool was completely and utterly insane but she shut her mouth. She knew better now, she really knew better.

"Has he taken complete leave of his senses?"

Thor on the other hand, could not resist speaking his mind.

"Yeah, pretty much, Cap, see if you can get me close, I might be able to scramble him," Tony remarked as he tried to lock onto the computer. "I don't know if this Electro Magnetic interference will cause any problems though."

"Yeah, it could," Harry offered him before he stepped forward. "Do you want to see if I can negate it?"

"After your last spell attack, I think you better sit this one out," Tony informed Harry briskly and the wizard threw his hands up.

"Well very well then," Harry offered as he turned his head away. "You might want to duck."

"Duck why would we…."

There was a huge missile that flew through the air towards them. Thankfully Steve was able to evade the flying attack, as the ship spun in the air wildly.

"Don't fail me now," Captain America commented as he tried to adjust the plane.

"I think that I can get him from here," Carol offered but Captain America shut that one down right after she said it as he clutched his hands around the stick.

"No, it's too risky," Captain America stated as an intense glare filled his eyes.

Now it was time for the moment of truth, he kept things steady as the SHIELD escape pod gained even more velocity. They flew closer to him, closer, closer, they were almost on his ass, getting right up into it. Captain America strapped himself in as did the other Avengers. He looked over his shoulder.

"Bring down the Thunder, Thor," Captain America commented but the Quinjet suddenly sputtered to a stop before it could get right next to the escape craft.

"Now what's wrong," Tony said through gritted teeth as he turned his head around, his eyes flickering a tiny bit as he tried to fly on top of it but it was out of reach. The Armored Avenger pushed himself as closely as he could to the edge of it.

"Our pressure is dropping," Captain America informed him keeping himself calm. "I can't maintain altitude."

There was a loud explosion that echoed as the engine began to fail, as Harry managed to slow the descent.

"I can stop us from crashing but there's no way for us to catch up to the ship," Harry informed them and Steve nodded towards him.

"Our lives are more important than Deadpool, we can catch up with him when we figure out what went wrong," Captain America stated as Harry diverted them safely to the ground.

They let out the breaths that they were holding, naturally they should have figured out that he was going to get them through this. Not a hair on their heads was harmed as he deposited them to the ground.

"Well that was unpleasant," Tony commented as he turned his head around and his heart thumped hard against him. His pacemaker was going wild.

"At least we can walk away unscathed," Carol commented as she stepped out. That was a rule of the Air Force, if you could walk away intact, than one could call it unscathed.

Deadpool meanwhile was flying away further and further. His eyes widened before a triumphant smirk spread underneath his face.

"Wait a minute I actually won?"

Deadpool's expression got even wider. He had one of those Grin grins on his face underneath his mask. It was like he had an idea, an awful idea, it was like Deadpool had an awful wonderful idea.

"Ha, in your face beyotch, Deadpool wins, buy my game!" Deadpool screamed as he threw his fist up and pumped it into the air. "Screw that Logan guy, I'm the best in the world at what I do and what I do is awesome."

He hummed Highway to the Danger Zone as he prepared to give them the slip, he was not about to tempt fate. He would leave the Avengers a nice little surprise. They could have the ship; he had the hard drive that was seemingly worth millions of dollars.

Deadpool rolled back into the meeting point, his expression spun around just because he could before he made strides towards his location. The Merc with the Mouth thought that thought was one of his grandest moments of triumph. And that included the three way that he had with the nuns, that much was true.

Still he had in in his hands, from SHIELD, the device that he managed to remove from the ship. He held the black box in his hand as he walked forward. The Merc with the Mouth had no idea how he was able to open a ship that even Nick Fury could not figure out how to open.

Deadpool's shoulders shrugged, there were some things that he was not going to question at all, rather he rolled with the punches.

'Okay here goes nothing,' Deadpool thought to himself before he raised his hand as he knocked on the door. He paused before he waited for the person on the other end of the door to answer it. Deadpool started to whistle carefully as he turned his head around and swayed his hips to wait for what was happening. 'Wow, we're really building up the suspense, to the point where….oh here comes someone now.'

The door opened and Deadpool saw it open yet he did not see anyone open it.

"Okay, this is getting ominous," Deadpool commented as he walked into the room. His expression twisted around as he whistled merrily or at least what passed as merrily for Deadpool. The Merc with the Mouth turned his head around and placed his hand on the side of his face as he watched.

"Come closer."

Deadpool did as he was told, he came closer, closer yet but not close enough where everyone was uncomfortable because your right up in their personal space. The Merc With the Mouth shifted his attention towards his mysterious benefactor.

"Do you have it?"

Deadpool held the box out for the figure in the shadows to snatch.

"So, if you don't mind me for being a nosy pants, but what exactly do you want that box for?" Deadpool asked to the individual in the shadows and there was a long pause. "Yeah, I know, I shouldn't ask these questions, curiosity killed the cat, and also it pulverized the pussy, but I need to know why did you send me after the box?"

The individual in the shadows shifted before a smile crossed his face.

"Why did I send you for the box? Why not?"

"Okay, that kind of circular reasoning….wait, wait, wait, wait, whoa!" Deadpool stated before sudden realization crossed through his eyes, not that you could see it because he's wearing a mask. "I know what's going on here, it just hit me, faster than a speeding bullet."

There was a sense that this man was smiling at him from within the shadows. He stepped forward and Deadpool came face to face with Harry Fucking Potter.

"Oooh, swerve motherfucker," Deadpool commented as his eyes became even more expressive beneath his mask as he held up the black box. "I didn't….actually that was pretty clever; even I didn't see that coming and I read ahead."

"Well that was kind of the idea," Harry remarked to Deadpool and the Merc with the Mouth smiled.

"You know, I called the hot alien blonde coming during my first appearance, so perhaps people should listen to the Pool," Deadpool commented before he crossed his arms and Harry took the black box. "But….I need to do something, oh I've always wanted to do this."

Harry blinked before he waved his hand which gave Deadpool to continue.

"I want to play the part of the person who can't read between the lines and asks an obvious question that is obvious," Deadpool commented as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet like he was a three year old on a sugar high. "Oh can I, can I, can I?"

"Sure knock yourself out," Harry informed him. It was a lot easier just to let Deadpool talk and get it out of his system.

"Why didn't you get the black box for yourself?" Deadpool asked to Harry before he blinked. "No look at this way, I mean, all you have to do is say, 'Accio hard drive" and that shit has done been accioed."

Harry smiled before he crossed his arms.

"Well I know it's because we need to tell a certain story, but I'm just asking you why you did such a thing,' Deadpool offered as his eyes kept on Harry's face. "So are you going to let me in on the secret?"

Harry's smile crossed over his face and he drummed his fingers in an oh so casual manner.

"Well it's simply like this," Harry explained to Deadpool as he leaned towards him. "In the black box came flying out of the ship, then it might kind of clue Fury and the rest of SHIELD that I was after it. So that would be what we might call a really stupid idea."

"Ah, I see," Deadpool commented as he nodded in understanding. "So your incompetence was blatant as well."

Harry smiled.

"I see, I see, man this is so easy, even a three year old can figure it out, you don't need a Power Point, graphs, pretty pictures, or anything to hash it out," Deadpool commented with a smile crossing his face and his head inclined as he kept swaying back and forth like a hula dancer on crack. "I like it, I like it, I really like it."

Deadpool's expression continued to fixate on Harry.

"Why didn't you ask Fury for it yourself?" Deadpool wondered.

Harry smiled. "Would Fury have willingly handed it over?"

"You've got a point," Deadpool commented as Harry handed over a briefcase at least three times what Deadpool's going rate was. "So this is my, 'we never spoke' money."

"Exactly," Harry commented to Deadpool as he watched him.

"And how do you know that thing is legit?" Deadpool asked.

"You wouldn't be breathing right now if it wasn't," Harry remarked in a cheerful tone of voice before he disappeared with a pop.

This left Deadpool to contemplate whether or not Harry was pulling his leg.

X-X-X

Midnight on Saturday came just like clockwork and Lois turned her head around as she took in her surroundings, the intrepid reporter had a mixture of emotions that passed through her being. She folded her arms as she heard the wind flying around her and brought her hair into disarray.

'This could be some kind of sick prank,' Lois thought to herself as she had an expression that was burning with determination. The woman's hand cupped her chin. 'Wouldn't put it past some people.'

Never the less, there was something that caused Lois to stay rooted on the spot as she turned her expression off to the side. The woman thought that she better stay where she was, stay put and see what might happen.

It was not quite Midnight yet so Lois did not have to be too nervous even though she was on edge. It was New York in the dead of night and there were any number of psychopaths that could step in to cause her grief. The woman's eyes widened as she bit down hard on her lip to the point where she almost drew blood.

Lois had to cut that out, and there was a thought in her mind. It was almost like time had crawled to a stop and was deliberately being slow to mock her, to screw with her. That thought went through her mind as she shook her head harshly.

'Lane, you need to cut back on the caffeine, it's starting to screw with your mind,' Lois thought to herself but never the less, there were more than her fair share of paranoid thoughts that went through her head.

"So, I'm here as promised."

That caused Lois to jump a few feet up in the air as that was something that she did not expect. She thought herself to be extremely alert but this individual caught her completely off guard. Her heart was racing as she placed her hands on her hips before she turned to the direction of the voice. Slowly her eyes blazed a trail forward as she tried to find out who was there. She crossed her arms and decided to offer a blunt statement as only Lois Lane could.

"You don't have to give a person a fucking heart attack, you know," Lois offered as she saw him standing in the shadows. She could not see his face, although the outline of his shadow made her imagination run wild and her mind delve into the gutter.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist, you seem like a basket of nerves," the individual in the shadows stated to her.

"You try being the personification of sanity when you have to deal with J. Jonah Jameson on a day to day basis," Lois remarked to him before she amended carefully. "I don't….I don't want to be the person who complains about her job….I mean, there's nothing that anyone hates more than someone who whines and complains about their job, going on and on, until you want them to shut up or want to duct tape her mouth shut."

Lois paused before her eyes turned towards the figure in the shadows and a smile crossed her face.

"And I'm rambling aren't I?"

Harry's expression flickered into a tiny smile even though Lois could not see him from the shadows.

"Yes, you kind of are but it happens to the best of us," he remarked before he told her. "Then again some of us do have that ability to ramble and not to mention a certain ability to get into trouble."

Lois's eyes widened before she was caught off guard by this accusation. "I'm….I'm not getting into trouble."

Immediately she felt the bullshit slide off of her own tongue. She did have that ability to get herself into any kind of trouble with the best of them that was one thought that flickered through her mind with picture perfect clarity. The reporter bit on her tongue before she kept her expression fixed on him.

"Well aren't you going to step out of the shadows?" Lois asked him and there was a smile that she could almost sense. Or rather she assumed that he was smiling, it was really hard to tell as he was standing in the shadows, hidden from her. "You're enjoying causing me some grief aren't you?"

"A little bit of grief, yes, more than a little bit," Harry informed her as he stepped forward.

"So are you….you're him aren't you?" Lois asked.

"Depends on which him you are referring to," Harry commented and Lois watched him.

She was used to playing word games, being a reporter caused them to be second nature to her. She blinked ever so slightly and nodded.

"Right, perhaps I should be a bit clearer," Lois offered him before her arms crossed open with each other. The dark haired reporter's expression could not be any clearer than it was. "Are you the mysterious disappearing Arcane?"

"Now, Miss Lane, if I were to tell you that, Arcane wouldn't be so mysterious," Harry remarked to her in a calm tone of voice.

"Can I at least see a glimpse of you?" Lois asked, feeling even more bold than she was. Perhaps she should learn when to use a proper amount of tact.

She could sense the chilling breeze resound through the air around her and the woman's eyes widened.

'Good one, Lois, one step too far,' she thought to herself.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked Lois.

"Hey, it's okay, if you're disfigured or something, I mean….my dad's an army general, so I've seen worse," Lois remarked as she turned her head to Harry. "Unless….oh unless you're not disfigured or something but…."

"Rambling again, aren't we?" Harry asked Lois, his lips curling in amusement.

Lois threw her hands up into the air and offered him a labored sigh. "Yes, rambling, that's me, rambling Lois Lane, it's a pretty bad habit of mine, isn't it?"

"Well, it's not the worst thing in the world," Harry remarked as he smiled.

He wondered if he should show himself. With the charms in place, it was hard for any hidden cameras to get a picture of his face. The dark haired alien sorcerer tapped his foot on the grass before him.

Lois tried to not take a step forward, as tempting as it was to do so.

He stepped out of the shadows and Lois tried to catch a glimpse of him. She saw dark black hair and green eyes. He wore a black trench coat, with a black t-shirt, and jeans but other than that, his facial features were pretty much a blur. She wouldn't be able to pick him out of a police line-up after tonight.

"You don't make anything easy, do you?" she asked him.

Harry smiled. "Afraid not, Lois. My name is Har-Rell."

"You're not from around here, are you?" Lois asked him as she looked into his eyes which shimmered out towards her.

"Well the British accent might clue you in on that fact," Harry teased her.

Lois crossed her arms, it was an expression that indicated she meant in a way different then that fact.

"Well I mean that….but there's something beside the accent, all of this mysterious Star Child talk going around and…."

There was someone who broke Lois's line of questioning before she could really get going.

"Lane, what are you doing here?"

Harry spun around and disappeared with a pop before Lois could say anything.

Eddie Brock showed up, he had followed Lois's car all of the way there from the Bugle but she gave him the slip. The man closed the distance and looked at her.

Lois wanted to hit him as hard as possible. The fact is that she was this close to figuring out the mysteries of this Star Child. He was about to tell her something tangible and then Brock showed up.

"Just following up on a story Brock," Lois offered, as she resisted the urge to strangle him.

It was very hard not to do so.