My Star Spangled Invisi-Gal [MCU/Dispatch]

[Zetakille]

Oh that's a downright EVIL way to give SDN Corporate their just desserts. Completely deserved and satisfying.

Edit: Also, Tony is going to have an absolute LAUGH when he hears about Robert and then make a toast to his success and Robert effectively saying "fuck corporate, I'm going to improve the world".

 

[Simonbob]

I have to admit, "Take the deal, violate the deal so I don't get the money, but I'll be out of the dimention, so what do I care?" isn't what I expected, but it's pretty dammed funny!

 

[cliffc999]

I have to admit, "Take the deal, violate the deal so I don't get the money, but I'll be out of the dimention, so what do I care?" isn't what I expected, but it's pretty dammed funny!

Click to shrink...

It's even more funny when you find out that Courtney is going to be far richer in the MCU than she could ever dream of being by taking the SDN settlement, because the bionic tech in her lungs is worth a fucking fortune to the medical industry - and Tony is entirely capable of reverse-engineering it, and will give her the royalties on it.

 

[Lillie Jones]

Thanks for Journey
Cheers!

 

[KaitouPrism12]

Thank you for writing this and the journey you gave us. Hope you have a great day!

 

[cliffc999]

Don't worry, there's a few more chapters yet. But yeah, we're moving into the wrap-up phase.

 

[The Unicorn]

@cliffc999 Very nice, even if oddly disappointing, although I expect I'd feel that regardless of how you chose to end the story.
I do note with interest that "what I have said is not a lie" is very different from "what I have said is the truth", which makes me wonder what the Ancient one is actually planning.

I really liked the lawyer scene but the line about Payne's contingency fee bugs me, for two reasons.
First - Why would they hire a lawyer to work on contingency fee when they have the 2 million reward to fund the legal battle?
Second - while I can see the SDN lawyer being as moronic as depicted, Payne reacting with amusement instead of anger to their blatant attempt to convince him to act against both his clients best interest and their instructions. I'm not sure if that is a criminal offense or not(offering a bribe? doesn't seem to quite fit), but it's definitely a gross violation of professional ethics.
On the other hand, while writing this it occurred to me Payne might simply be a good enough actor to fake amusement while he starts composing his report to the ethics committee, or actually be amused at how they keep digging their hole deeper...

 

[deathzealotzero]

So, when I read this over at Spacebattles I really didn't what happened with the whole SDN Legal Scene and how they are pretty much SOL. Now reading the comments here, I guess that pretty much SDN tried to keep everything hush-hush by giving them a very large amount of money to shut up about what they tried to do and enforced it with a NDA. However, since Courtney is going to be leaving for the Marvel Verse with Steve, she ended up spilling the beans anyway, pretty much bringing down the whole SDN's corporate leadership as a result. Did I get that correct?

 

[The Unicorn]

So, when I read this over at Spacebattles I really didn't what happened with the whole SDN Legal Scene and how they are pretty much SOL. Now reading the comments here, I guess that pretty much SDN tried to keep everything hush-hush by giving them a very large amount of money to shut up about what they tried to do and enforced it with a NDA. However, since Courtney is going to be leaving for the Marvel Verse with Steve, she ended up spilling the beans anyway, pretty much bringing down the whole SDN's corporate leadership as a result. Did I get that correct?

Click to shrink...

Pretty close, but the only reason Courtney even considered accepting was that they were going to have to leave so couldn't drag SDN through the full, public court process. Her original plan was "Crucify 'em with dull nails, then skin and salt the hide." and the only reason they looked at the settlment offer was that their lawyer was required to present it to them before he could report it was rejected.
Given they were leaving they couldn't drag out the process so tricked SDN to sign a confession thinking the money would keep it private when Courtney never cared about the money in the first place.

 

[cliffc999]

First - Why would they hire a lawyer to work on contingency fee when they have the 2 million reward to fund the legal battle?

Click to shrink...

Because he wouldn't work for less, and they considered his price worth paying to get the best lawyer available.

Second - while I can see the SDN lawyer being as moronic as depicted, Payne reacting with amusement instead of anger to their blatant attempt to convince him to act against both his clients best interest and their instructions. I'm not sure if that is a criminal offense or not(offering a bribe? doesn't seem to quite fit), but it's definitely a gross violation of professional ethics.

Click to shrink...

The people he's talking to are already going to be mind blowingly ruined both professionally, financially, and criminally, why shouldn't he laugh at their desperation?

Also note that the only thing they asked him to do was 'please convince your client that they really want the thirty million dollars instead of our public humiliation', which is not actually illegal or unethical to ask for.

or actually be amused at how they keep digging their hole deeper...

Click to shrink...

That latter one.

 

[The Unicorn]

Because he wouldn't work for less, and they considered his price worth paying to get the best lawyer available.

Click to shrink...

My point was, if they establish their goal of making SDN hurt rather than getting as much money as they could from them, they could end up not getting paid much (relatively speaking)

That latter one.

Click to shrink...

 

[cliffc999]

My point was, if they establish their goal of making SDN hurt rather than getting as much money as they could from them, they could end up not getting paid much (relatively speaking)

Click to shrink...

Note that if the corporation is offering $30 million as an out-of-court settlement, that means they're expecting the punitive damages that a jury would award to be MUCH higher than $30 million. Maybe even a full order of magnitude higher.

If Steve and Courtney had not had to return to the MCU and could have stuck around for the full trial phase, Mr. Payne was standing to make an absolute bundle.

(And note that even in the 'we're tapping out right away', he outlines exactly how he can make an absolute bundle - because SDN's public confession in this case means that the class action lawsuit he can file on behalf of all their other screwed employees will make him 'sued the tobacco companies' lawyer money.)

 

[The Unicorn]

Also note that the only thing they asked him to do was 'please convince your client that they really want the thirty million dollars instead of our public humiliation', which is not actually illegal or unethical to ask for.

Click to shrink...

The line I was referring to was

"Payne!" Legal sputtered. "You were working on contingent fee! You're losing out-!"

Click to shrink...

Which seems to be a request for Payne to pressure his client to agree based on Payne's financial interest. That is extremely unethical and possibly illegal.

If Steve and Courtney had not had to return to the MCU and could have stuck around for the full trial phase, Mr. Payne was standing to make an absolute bundle.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough, and I suppose even if they were pushing to maximize pain and humiliation for SDN rather than financial damages he'd still be making a lot more than Courtney could pay him.

(And note that even in the 'we're tapping out right away', he outlines exactly how he can make an absolute bundle - because SDN's public confession in this case means that the class action lawsuit he can file on behalf of all their other screwed employees will make him 'sured the tobacco companies' lawyer money.)

Click to shrink...

Sure, but that's no reason not to make a second bundle Although thinking about it it really was either or - if he'd been working Courtney's case by the time he'd been free to work on building the class action suit there'd be a a bounch of other lawyers handling it, since the case is shut and he's the one with all the information he's perfectly positioned to be the lead on the class action suit.

 

[cliffc999]

Which seems to be a request for Payne to pressure his client to agree based on Payne's financial interest. That is extremely unethical and possibly illegal.

Click to shrink...

It's skeevy as fuck but technically not illegal, which is exactly the airspace that a corporation's 'not getting us sued' lawyer lives in full-time.

 

[The Unicorn]

It's skeevy as fuck but technically not illegal, which is exactly the airspace that a corporation's 'not getting us sued' lawyer lives in full-time.

Click to shrink...

I can see it not being illegal, but it's definitely enough to at the very least get them an "invitation" to defend themselves to the ethics committee or get disbarred.

 

[cliffc999]

Earth-MCU
Insight Day: D Minus 41

"Intruder alert-!" the smooth mechanical voice announced, before immediately interrupting itself and continuing in a slightly stunned tone of voice. "Captain Rogers. I think I speak for all of us when I say that it is most unexpected but also most gratifying to see you again."

Steve and Courtney both landed lightly on the floor of the penthouse suite as the portal behind them closed, each of them dressed in neat civilian clothing and holding a duffel bag. "JARVIS?" Steve greeted the voice. "We're in New York, then?"

"Correct, Captain." JARVIS answered. "You are in the living room of the master suite of Stark Tower, and it is 9:34 am on January 7th​, 2014. You have been missing and presumed dead for sixty-five days."

"Well, that certainly beats seventy years." Steve answered amusedly. "Courtney, this is JARVIS, the artificial intelligence built by my friend Tony Stark. JARVIS, this is Courtney Jane Doe, she's a very good friend of mine."

"Welcome to Stark Tower, Miss Doe." JARVIS greeted her amiably. "Protocol requires that I obtain the permission of either Mister Stark or Miss Potts before inviting you to stay, but I can certainly offer you the hospitality of a visit while-"

"Holy shit, it is you." Steve and Courtney both turned to see Tony standing in the doorway of the master bedroom nearby. The haggard-looking man was dressed in a bathrobe that was half-open enough to reveal bandages still wrapped around his chest, and he was pale and slightly unsteady on his feet. "I thought the pain meds were making me hallucinate. JARVIS, I'm not hallucinating am I?"

"No Sir, you are not hallucinating. Captain Rogers is physically present, and arrived in the Tower by what appeared to be an unknown variety of controllable wormhole approximately two minutes ago." JARVIS replied.

"You're back." Tony stepped forward and drew the stunned Steve into a hug as he manfully struggled not to cry. "You're really really back. We thought that wormhole vaporized you, man. But you were just stuck somewhere over the rainbow, then?"

"Alternate Earth. Different history, different people. It's a long story, but for right now… it's good to see you, Tony."

"Good to see you too." Tony choked out. "Fuck, when we thought you were gone I just completely crashed the hell out. Never do that to me again. Please."

"Are you okay?" Steve asked him. "You look like you just walked out of the hospital."

"Kinda just did." Tony agreed. "Had a thing with some terrorists a little while ago. They blew up my Malibu house, almost killed me, left me needing heart surgery - it was some serious déjà vu all over again. Really sucked, but me and Rhodey eventually wrapped up all that shit. And at least the latest round of repairs finally let me get the Arc Reactor out. I tossed it somewhere." He thumped his chest.

"I think I found it, actually." Steve drew the Arc Reactor out of his pocket. "The person who helped me get back here brought it with them to prove that they were really from here."

"Huh." Tony glanced incuriously at the reactor and then tossed it onto the nearby coffee table. "Weird. Anyway, I-" Tony stopped and blinked several times, then looked to the side, then blinked again. "Uh, Cap? Who's she?" he pointed at Courtney, who he'd only just noticed was standing there.

"Tony, this is my girlfriend Courtney. I met her over there, and she came back with me." Steve said proudly.

"Girlfriend?" Tony blinked in shock. "Um, did you mean 'friend who happens to genetically possess a double X chromosome', or did you mean-?"

"He means that I'm the girl he's fucking on the regular." Courtney replied amusedly.

Tony stopped dead and then burst out in wheezing, helpless laughter. "Oh my God don't do that! I literally just had a heart transplant, I'm gonna need some more recovery time before it can take that kind of strain!" He looked back at Steve. "Are all the girls on her home planet like her? Because if they are, I'm gonna need to see if I can figure out how to wormhole back there-"

"And why would you need to do that?" an amused female voice broke in, and Tony gave a guilty flinch. The beautiful redheaded woman entering the master suite from the elevator smiled at everyone. "Welcome to Stark Tower, and please make yourself at home." she greeted Courtney. "And Steve-" Pepper Potts drew up in front of him and smiled tremulously, keeping her composure only with a visible effort. "There… really aren't words adequate to describe how I'm feeling – how we're all feeling – right now, but I'm sure you already know. Welcome home."

"Thank you, Pepper." Steve smiled back at her. "Courtney Jane Doe, meet Tony Stark and his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. Guys, this is Courtney."

"You journeyed to another planet entirely to stay with the one you fell in love with." Pepper greeted Courtney in awe. "You must be a remarkable person. The only other person I know who's done anything like that is literally a god."

"He's the remarkable one." Courtney nodded towards Steve. "I'm just a girl, really." She continued embarrassedly. "Are you sure it's okay if we stay here? I mean, do you have room-?"

"I am the single richest person in human history." Tony stated matter-of-factly, and Courtney gasped in shock. "And right now we're standing on top of the skyscraper that I built and own. There's a whole suite downstairs I keep for Steve that he almost never uses, just like the ones I keep for the rest of the team. And you mentioned that you guys were already at the co-habiting stage so sure, move on in."

"Thanks, Tony." Steve agreed. "I was hoping you could help Courtney set up something, in fact. Not that SHIELD couldn't do her paperwork to move here, but-"

"Fury is a lot less likely to try and dick her around on the terms if old one-eye knows that I'm lurking in the background ready to put in a competitive bid." Tony nodded vigorously. "Because there are a lot of people who are going to immediately leap to the conclusion that she's a potential handle on you that they can crank, and some of them are the people who signed your paychecks." Tony blinked. "JARVIS? Counter-surveillance status on the penthouse?"

"Counter-surveillance was increased to maximum as soon as I detected anomalous phenomena and Captain Rogers' arrival on my own initiative, Sir." JARVIS answered him. "I… calculated that you would wish privacy on this matter until you could release the information on your own terms."

"And you calculated correctly, just like you always do." Tony thanked JARVIS. "Seriously, Cap, you're dead right now. You had the big funeral at Arlington and everything. The President gave a speech-"

"The President?" Courtney mouthed incredulously.

"-and everybody was there. I had front-row seats." Tony continued heedlessly. "Which that plus what JARVIS just said means that until after we actually pick up a phone and tell someone that you're back… nobody knows that you're back." He looked at Steve. "If you want, you can leave here with a completely new identity for both you and her. I hack some databases, slide you a few million bucks on the down-low to set yourselves up with… and you get a new life. You could settle down with your girl, find yourself some peace and happiness. Stop having to jump on Fury's string all the damn time." Tony smiled at Steve. "Honestly, one of the biggest regrets I had when I thought you were dead is that I didn't offer you a life-line out of that spook shit earlier. Because I really didn't think that you were happy there. Were you?"

"No, I wasn't." Steve agreed matter-of-factly. "Unfortunately, retiring is not an option for me right now." Steve exhaled. "How I got back was with the help of a sorceress from here, she called herself 'The Ancient One'. She said she knew Thor at least a little, so I'll double-check about her with him next time I talk to him. But she told me that I had to come back here, because whatever was behind the Chitauri? We were right, they're coming for a rematch. She didn't know exactly when or who, but it sounded like it's going to be bad, Tony. Bad enough that it'll need every Avenger all pulling together again and at the top of our game. Bad enough that I won't get to sit it out, no matter how much I might want to."

"We were already talking about maybe getting the band back together when we met up at your funeral." Tony nodded soberly. "Nothing's come of it yet, we've all had other shit on our plate recently and the threat board's been mostly clear except for local stuff-" He thumped his chest again. "But yeah, if you're up for being officially alive again then we definitely need to have another team meeting about all that stuff you just said. You want me to ping all the guys first and we have a huddle here, and then we only get around to telling Fury you're alive a few days after we've done that?"

"Sounds good to me." Steve agreed. "And Tony… thank you. Even if I couldn't accept it, that's still one of the kindest things anybody's ever offered to do for me."

"Any time." Tony agreed. "JARVIS? Tell the Avengers- shit, get together with Pepper first and come up with some kind of story that gets them all here soonest and not expecting horrible shit, but which doesn't tip Fury off too much. She'll know what to say. Then call the team meeting. Pep, what else do we need to be doing right now?"

"I go talk to Legal about a hypothetical case involving a dimensional refugee/immigrant and what would be the way to start setting that up, and you ask our houseguests if they need anything to eat." Pepper said calmly. "Then we can show them their suite after early brunch."

"There's something else." Steve suddenly remembered. "Tony, Courtney has a cybernetic implant in her lung. A bad guy promised her a cure for her asthma, then turned the implant off when she wouldn't work for him. The techs back where she's from couldn't do anything with it-"

"Asthma, huh?" Tony interrupted. "I'm kinda on medical restriction from doing lab stuff for at least another week, but yeah, as soon as I can I'll definitely have a look at it. An asthma cure would help tons of people, and if this bad guy solved the general implantation problem for something as sensitive as lung tissue then that by itself has implications- hell, the patent rights could potentially be worth hundreds of millions if the anti-rejection factor I'm hypothesizing turns out to be valid, and as this would be relic tech she'd brought to our Earth she'd have the discovery rights on it-" He stopped his own torrent of mad science with an effort. "And I get it, if this was originally bad guy tech then somebody needs to make sure it doesn't have nasty surprises lurking in it to jump out and hurt your girl later, and I can definitely do something about that. We had, uh, our own bad experience with that kind of thing recently."

Steve took in Pepper's pale face and drawn expression and rapidly worked out just what Tony had meant. "Are any of these terrorists you went around with recently still left, and would you like some help fixing that situation if they are?" he asked Tony firmly.

"Oh, we clean sweeped." Tony said proudly. "But thanks for offering."

"Hold up." Courtney stopped everyone, and turned to Steve. "The President gave the eulogy at your funeral. Your hero team apparently didn't just fight in an alien invasion but was the entire fight against the alien invasion and does all the big strategy for the rematch. Your power-armor friend you mentioned isn't just a rich guy but is the richest guy. And alphabet agency directors personally want to mess with your life, and-" She looked Steve penetratingly. "You summed up your whole life story for me already, but I'm starting to think you might have just been a tiny bit modest about the details. Steve, exactly how famous are you here, really?"

"Um-" Steve began to stammer, and Tony's laughter cut him off.

"JARVIS?" Tony grinned ear to ear. "I think Courtney needs the multi-media presentation on the old Living Legend here. Put together an executive summary and send it to…" he looked around and grunted in relief at spotting something on a nearby table. "Here, use this tablet." He handed it to Courtney. "Oh, and make sure to use the right opening credits music!"

"Tony, no." Steve moaned softly. "Please."

"Opening credits mus-?" Courtney puzzled, and then looked down at the Youtube video that had just opened up and started playing on the tablet and stopped dead at the sight. Steve gave Tony a mock death glare as a very familiar opening flourish of trumpets began to sound from the speakers and his least favorite song in the entire world began playing.

Who's strong and brave,
Here to save the American wayyyyy?

"Why did I miss this again?" Steve sighed quietly, as Courtney began to grin ear to ear before choking helplessly with laughter.

Who vows to fight like a man
For what's right, night and dayyyyy?
Who will campaign door-to-door for America?
Carry the flag shore-to-shore for America

Pepper laid a commiserating hand on Steve's shoulder at their mutual inability to stop the Tony train once it had lost its brakes, and then gave Tony her own icy stare that bounced right off his mirth as if from a force field.

From Hoboken to Spokane
The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!

* * * * *​

Earth-MCU
Insight Day: D Minus 40

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today-" Tony began smugly.

"Tony." Pepper cut him off firmly but affectionately, before she turned to the Avengers all sitting in the master suite's living room. "First off, thank you all for coming so promptly, especially when I had to be a little vague about exactly why we were calling this meeting because we didn't want any of the many people-"

"Fury." Tony coughed loudly.

"-who eavesdrop on our communications sometimes to know about this just yet." Pepper continued. "Thor, where's Jane?"

"She had to remain behind with Dr. Solveig. Her researches are at an important juncture." Thor nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry she'll have missed this." Pepper's beaming smile finally broke loose from where she'd been restraining it the entire time. "Because we have very, very good news. Just yesterday we safely recovered someone that we'd all been missing and had thought was dead."

Natasha's eyes widened and Clint rapidly began to look around, as Bruce and Thor were just starting to straighten up in realization.

Tony wiped tears out of his eyes and grinned more wildly than all the rest. "Yeah, you're right." Tony nodded. "Cap pulled off the 'everybody thinks I'm dead but here I am' thing again."

Steve Rogers, dressed casually in jeans and a collared shirt, stepped out of the nearby bedroom door and only barely kept a straight face himself as he stepped out to greet his friends. "Hello, everyone. I'm sorry I gave you all such a fright, but it really wasn't anything I'd planned on."

"Steve." Natasha said softly, wonderingly, before immediately turning to look intently at Tony. "Are you sure it's actually him?"

Steve broke out in soft laughter. "Never change, Natasha."

"Yeah, we tested everything from DNA on up." Tony nodded back at her vigorously. "Definitely the 100% original Capuccino, accept no substitute flavors."

"What was the first question you asked me?" Clint nodded at Steve, a slight smile at his face.

"I asked if you knew how to fly one of those jets." Steve acknowledged their original meeting onboard the Helicarrier, immediately after Clint had been freed from Loki's mind control. "And the next question I asked was if you had a suit."

Clint's thin smile broke out into a beaming one at the further confirmation. "It's really you." He stepped forward to shake Steve's hand. "You gotta stop doing this whole 'heroic return from death' thing, Captain. The gag will only get stale if you overwork it." Steve laughed out loud at Clint's cheerful sarcasm.

"We must celebrate!" Thor boomed out joyously, stepping forward to clasp Steve by the shoulders and shake him gently. "We had all thought you dead, Steven! Even far-sighted Heimdall could discover no trace of you, nor the most vigorous explorations of the wormhole's possible course via the Bifrost. You must lay out a feast, Tony, one fit for the occasion!"

"The caterers are already standing by, big guy." Tony gave Thor a thumbs-up. "Soon enough we'll have to let Cap check back in, but right now the only people who know he's back are all standing in my penthouse. So tonight's just for the team."

"Welcome back, Steve." Bruce Banner nodded at him quietly, before chuckling. "And now I can finally stop apologizing for not being able to make your funeral."

Natasha finally broke loose from her shock and finished regaining control of her expressions enough to step forward and just barely avoid grabbing Steve by his forearms. "Welcome back." she forced out. "Steve, I'm so sorry that I wasn't with you on that mission. If I had been, then maybe-"

"Natasha." Steve reassured the upset woman. "It's okay. It's really okay. What happened wasn't your fault. And honestly, I would not have given that wormhole trip up for anything."

"Which segues right into the even better part of this whole thing!" Tony said eagerly. "You guys are gonna flip when you see this!" Tony looked around and saw nothing. "Hey! Where are you? You're missing your cue!"

"Uh, hi?" a shy female voice broke into everyone's awareness, as they all turned to see a strange young woman with short black hair and olive skin standing silhouetted against the one-way panoramic windows of the penthouse.

"How did you get over there without me seeing you?" Natasha went taut and her hand almost reached for her weapon, before she caught up to her reflexes and realized that clearly this person wasn't an intruder.

"Yeah." Clint agreed, his own posture relaxing from a ready stance. "I have really good peripheral vision, and there's no way you would have been able to reach where you're standing from any of the nearby cover without being in my field of view at least once. Even Nat's not that sneaky."

Courtney answered the question by turning invisible and then immediately rematerializing.

"… okay, I'm a little jealous." Natasha immediately admitted. "Seriously, so useful a power."

"You are not merely a new prospect for the team that Stark discovered. You returned with Steven, from the world that had been sent to." Thor reasoned wisely. "That is why you are also being introduced to us at this time, instead of later."

"Yeah." Courtney nodded nervously. "Um, it's very nice to meet you-"

"Hey." Steve said warmly, stepping up alongside her and laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to be shy. Everybody will like you."

Four people immediately took in the significance of Steve's facial expression and body language, which they had never seen him use before with any woman – not Natasha, not Pepper, not anyone.

"Damn." Clint said knowingly, before turning to face a gleeful Tony. "So Steve returning from an alien planet he got randomly wormholed to really was only the second-biggest surprise you had for us."

"It kinda is." Steve agreed proudly. "Everyone, this is Courtney Jane Doe – yes, that actually is her real name – and yes, she's my girlfriend. Courtney, these are-"

"People who hope that Steve's warned you what kind of madhouse you're about to step into." Bruce interrupted sympathetically. "Seriously, Steve Rogers returns from being lost on another world, and a mystery woman comes back with him to become the official Star-Spangled Girlfriend? You're going to be a media frenzy."

"Please don't remind me." Courtney shook his head. "Tony and Pepper have already been trying to prepare me for what kind of a circus this is going to be, but-"

"But the truly important thing here is not the chattering of malicious gossips or the curiosity of idle masses." Thor said gravely as he came to his feet. The massive and imposing frame of the God of Thunder cast a shadow over her as he stepped forward, and Courtney almost stepped back before Thor surprised her by kneeling down enough to bring his head level with her own. "I am presuming that the manner of your return here with my shield-brother does not allow for regular travel back to your home?"

"The sorceress- she said it was a one-way trip, yes." Courtney acknowledged.

Thor beamed at her with approval. "Then clearly your love for Steven is genuine and heartfelt. To leave your home behind forever to remain with they whom you love is a great sacrifice indeed, and proves beyond doubt that you have a great and worthy heart." Thor nodded to her respectfully as he stood up. "I am Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard, and I too once faced the choice you did – and not even to such great extent as yours, for I at least can return to visit my home with sufficient effort while you are denied even that much. That a man such as Steven Rogers would choose you to share his life with is already testimonial enough to prove the good character and strength of spirit of any woman, but to see such a valorous and loving deed done with my own eyes is a remarkable thing indeed. Be welcome to Midgard, beloved of my shield-brother, and know that my arm will strike down any foe in your defense as readily as Steven's own."

"That's not true." Courtney denied immediately. "My, uh, good character and spirit thing. I mean, maybe I'm not horrible, but-" She shook her head. "Let's just get it out right away. I was a thief and a criminal."

"Was." Steve stated firmly.

Natasha stepped forward and gave Courtney a gentle smile. "We don't all have uncheckered pasts either. And nothing you said contradicts a single thing that Thor just said."

"Courtney doesn't like talking about herself, so I just want to get out that she'd already given up her whole life of crime thing before I even got there." Steve said. "I just helped her get clear of some of the lingering consequences of it."

"So you're ahead of me then." Natasha acknowledged. "Has Steve mentioned anything to you about my past?"

"If you're the woman he partnered with who used to, um, assassinate people? Then yes." Courtney replied nervously.

"I didn't even begin to change my ways until after Clint reached out a hand to me." Natasha reassured Courtney. "I wasn't even really able to conceive that I could change. But eventually I did, and they still accepted me despite all that. So don't ever feel that you need to apologize for being you."

"And if you ever need to talk to someone about how it feels to have red in your ledger that you still want to wipe out? Come to either of us, we'll understand." Clint nodded, and then stepped forward to introduce himself. "Clint Barton, and she's Natasha Romanov."

"Dr. Bruce Banner." the shy scientist nodded to her.

"If he's the god, and you're the two operatives, then you're the… one that transforms?" Courtney asked diffidently, and Bruce exhaled heavily and nodded.

"That's me. Don't ask to see it, though. This is a little bit of a confined space to bring out the Other Guy." Bruce joked nervously.

"I'm sorry if I stepped on a landmine." Courtney acknowledged his tension. "Steve's talked all about you, of course, but-" she trailed off.

"But there'll be plenty of time for everybody to get to know everybody." Pepper broke in gently.

"Seriously, guys, she's usually much feistier than this. I think you all are kinda overwhelming her." Tony added.

"Yeah, we are crowding the space a little." Clint acknowledged and everybody stepped back to let Courtney breathe. "But Steve, you have got to tell us all about it soon or the curiosity is going to kill us."

"I will, I will, I promise." Steve held up placating hands. "And for my own confession?" He looked down at Courtney. "I was this close to deciding not to come back. No, I actually did decide not to come back at first, and the only reason I'm not a complete wreck right now is Courtney's own decision to come back with me. That's how much she means to me."

"We would sorely have missed you, believing you dead, but I would not have derided you for such a choice." Thor agreed. "You have already done your duty and more, and even the doughtiest warrior eventually earns their peace."

"Unfortunately, seems like not so much in this case." Steve replied soberly. "Do you know anyone called 'the Ancient One of Kamar-Taj'?"

"I do." Thor acknowledged. "I have not spoken to her for over a century but she is the Sorcerer Supreme of Midgard, the seniormost of a secret order of mystics who act as some of your world's hidden defenders against threats from the other realms. She is the sorceress your beloved spoke of, then? The one that facilitated your return here?"

"She was." Steve said. "And she convinced me to come back when she warned me that the same threat that was behind the Chitauri is eventually coming here for a rematch. She didn't have a time frame except for 'sometime after the next several years', or much detail on the threat, but-" Steve took a deep breath. "She said that if we weren't all unified, and prepared to fight harder than we've ever done before, we were going to lose everything."

"Oh, Fury's going to love hearing that." Natasha murmured.

"So, we're officially teaming up again?" Bruce asked. "Like we were already starting to discuss while you were gone?"

"We've still got some time." Steve acknowledged. "But yeah, even if it's going to take me some time to figure out how to disentangle from SHIELD-" He nodded apologetically to Natasha and Clint.

"We get it." Clint acknowledged. "We can do the detached duty thing as needed, but we're just senior agents and you're STRIKE Ops commander. That's not a part-time job, and you're too prominent in SHIELD to really be able to take any lesser position. For you it's all or nothing."

"And while I'll give Nick a few months of notice before I resign, it's gonna be nothing." Steve gave a meaningful look at Courtney. "Kinda hard to juggle both SHIELD and a- personal life."

"Well, some people manage." Clint agreed evenly. "But yeah, it's not always possible."

"We shall speak further of war and sorrow at the proper time." Thor broke in firmly. "Today is a day of joy, and a celebration of friendships old and new."

"Truer words were never spoken." Tony agreed. "JARVIS? Tell them to bring up the good stuff, and let's get this party started!"

* * * * *​

Author's Note: And so they return to the MCU. I've went back and readjusted the 'D Minus' dates for the earlier MCU segments because I always knew how shortly before Insight I wanted Steve to arrive back here, I just didn't know exactly how long the Dispatch sergment would be taking.

That is indeed the events of Iron Man 3 that Tony had just recently gone through and is referring to. (In fact, Iron Man 3 canonically happens only five to six weeks before TWS, which is why Tony has no involvement in the events of TWS – he's still in recovery.) And Killian jamming the Extremis in Pepper is what Tony was thinking of when he hears that Steve's new girl also had a bad guy putting stuff in her, so Tony can really relate to that right now.

There will be a couple more chapters, and then we're done.

 

[Marchewmen]

Kinda sad this isn't earth mightiest heroes avengers. I watched whatever was on youtube, and damn was that show good.

Much better connection from avengers to overall marvel world, fights are super fun to see.

 

[The Unicorn]

Should be only a couple more chapters and we'll be done.

Click to shrink...

There will be a couple more chapters, and then we're done.

Click to shrink...

Hmm...I think I like this trend, you should keep it up

 

[cliffc999]

Hmm...I think I like this trend, you should keep it up

Click to shrink...

We just dropped chapter 25, and chapters 26, 27, and a post-credits stinger are yet to come. So at a 2/day update it should be finished tomorrow afternoon.

When I did this on SB it originally had only 25 chapters and the MCU return skipped over a lot of the reactions to Steve and Courtney's return/arrival because I was stuck on writing them. Then later on I actually managed to get some of them out as sidestory chapters. Then I later redid my chapters there to splice them all in-line. You're getting the final production version here.

 

[htgriffin]

"Sounds good to me." Steve agreed. "And Tony… thank you. Even if I couldn't accept it, that's still one of the kindest things anybody's ever offered to do for me."

Click to shrink...

Okay. Kept Boy of Independently Wealthy Non-Convicted Ex Thief, and now this? Man's duty keeps him away from so many retirement options.

"Oh, and make sure to use the right opening credits music!"

"Tony, no." Steve moaned softly. "Please."

Click to shrink...

Now Courtney begins to truly grasp where Steve's Thing about PR Dog&Pony shows comes from.

 

[cliffc999]

Now Courtney begins to truly grasp where Steve's Thing about PR Dog&Pony shows comes from.

Click to shrink...

As foretold in the prophecy:

"Look. I get that you like to always be the star-spangled man with a plan-" Courtney began, only to stop dead at Steve's flinch. "… another landmine?"

"Embarrassing one." Steve blushed. "It's okay, it didn't hurt. Except my dignity."

"Oh, you gotta explain this one to me." Courtney asked eagerly.

"No, I don't think I will." Steve replied politely after a distinct pause.

Click to shrink...

 

[The Unicorn]

We just dropped chapter 25, and chapters 26, 27, and a post-credits stinger are yet to come. So at a 2/day update it should be finished tomorrow afternoon.

When I did this on SB it originally had only 25 chapters and the MCU return skipped over a lot of the reactions to Steve and Courtney's return/arrival because I was stuck on writing them. Then later on I actually managed to get some of them out as sidestory chapters. Then I later redid my chapters there to splice them all in-line. You're getting the final production version here.

Click to shrink...

Yah, but the joke is that we were two chapters from the end, and after two chapters we're still two chapters from the end.