The Avengers’ Quinjet soared high into the atmosphere, headed from Sokovia back to base. Tony was in the pilot’s chair. Behind him, Hawkeye lay on a chair folded down as a makeshift gurney. Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America watched over him. He was in rough shape. Behind them all, Bruce sat by himself.

Natasha went back to him, knowing she could do nothing for Clint right then. “Hey,” she said. “The lullaby worked better than ever.”

Bruce still looked worried. “I wasn’t expecting a Code Green.” That was what they had started calling his transformations into the Hulk.

“If you hadn’t been there, there would have been double the casualties. And my best friend would have been a treasured memory.”

“You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn’t exactly what I want to hear,” Bruce said.

Natasha considered this. She spent a lot of time trying to help Bruce, but sometimes she thought he didn’t want to be helped. “How long before you trust me?”

He looked up at her. “It’s not you I don’t trust.”

Their gazes met. She was really starting to care for him, and she knew he felt the same. “Thor!” she said. This would help. “Report on the Hulk?”

“The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims!” Thor said proudly. She shot him a glare, and he realized his mistake. “But not the screams of the dead,” he added quickly. “Wounded screams, mainly. Whimpering. A great roar of complaining, and tales of sprained, uh...​deltoids. And gout.”

Bruce and Natasha looked at each other again, smiling now at Thor’s awkwardness.

“Banner,” Tony said from the pilot’s chair. “Dr. Cho’s on her way from Seoul. Okay if she sets up in your lab?”

Bruce nodded. “She knows her way around.”

More quietly, Tony consulted with Jarvis. “Tell her to prepare everything. Barton’s going to need the full treatment.”

“Very good, sir,” Jarvis said. “Approach vector is locked.”

“Jarvis, take the wheel,” Tony said. He spun in his chair and went back to Thor, who sat with the scepter wrapped in a cloth. None of them wanted to touch it ­bare-​­handed.

“Feels good, right?” Tony prompted. “You’ve been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed. Not that I haven’t enjoyed our little raiding parties, but...”

“But this brings it to a close,” Thor said.

Cap joined them. “As soon as we find out what else that thing’s been used for. And I don’t just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?”

“Banner and I will give it the ­once-​­over before it goes back to Asgard,” Tony said. To Thor, he added, “Cool with you. Just a few days until the farewell party. You’re staying, right?”

“Of course,” Thor said. “A victory should be honored with revels.”

“Well, hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA,” Cap said. “So, yes. Revels.”

Around sunset the Quinjet arced over New York City and braked to a landing on the new pad on top of Avengers Tower. Tony had rebuilt the building after the Battle of New York, and it was better than ever. No longer just Stark Tower, now it was the headquarters and research center for the Avengers.

Maria Hill met them on the landing pad. As Thor and the others went with Hawkeye to the lab for his treatment, Cap and Tony stayed with Agent Hill. “Dr. Cho’s all set up, boss,” she said to Tony.

He nodded toward Captain America. “He’s the boss. I just pay for everything, design everything, and make everyone look cooler.”

“What’s the word on Strucker?” Cap asked.

“NATO’s got him,” Hill said. The European military authorities would hold him until they decided what to do.

“And the two Enhanced?”

She handed Cap a file. He looked at it and saw two pictures, one of each of the Enhanced they had seen in the Sokovian fortress. They had been photographed at a political rally protesting American involvement in Sokovia. “Wanda and Pietro Maximoff,” she said. “Twins, orphaned at ten, when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia’s had a rough history. It’s nowhere special, but it’s on the way to everywhere special.”

Cap took this in. He was more interested in people than geopolitics. “Their abilities?”

“He’s got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neuroelectric interface. Telekinesis, mind control...”

He was looking at her the way he always did when she used specialized vocabulary.

“He’s fast and she’s weird,” Hill said to keep it simple.

Cap nodded. “They’re going to show up again.”

“Agreed,” Hill said. “File says they volunteered for Strucker’s experiments. It’s nuts.”

“Yeah,” Cap said. “What kind of monster lets a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?”

He watched her get his joke. That was exactly what Steve Rogers had done during World War II. “We’re not at war, Captain,” Hill said.

“They are,” Cap answered.

Tony got repairs started on the damaged Iron Legionnaires, checked on Hawkeye, and then met Bruce outside the lab. “How’s he doing?” Bruce asked.

“Unfortunately, he’s still Barton,” Tony said. “He’s fine. He’s thirsty.”

Bruce went to join Dr. Cho at Hawkeye’s bedside. Tony turned his attention to the scepter, which he had put into a device specially designed to hold it for analysis. “Look alive, Jarvis. It’s playtime. We’ve got only a couple of days with this joystick, so let’s make the most of it. How we doing with the structural and compositional analysis?”

“The scepter is alien,” Jarvis responded. “There are elements I can’t quantify.”

“So there are elements you can?”

“The jewel appears to be a protective housing for something inside,” Jarvis said. “Something very powerful.”

“Like a reactor?”

“Like a computer. I believe I’m deciphering code.”

Huh , Tony thought. That’s a new wrinkle. He dug into the problem and lost track of time. CLsxhzdxW2XdruZqwFQAIPhMfeks8yW3FITdE9N2TlFS82ZaXsQs+ud4mFg7l5CE