The Soulmate Initiative: Book 2

8. Too many stairs!

LOCATION: AVENGERS TOWER

Ashley is watching the tower from the next skyscraper over, using her Iron Woman suit "Better hustle, Cap. Thongs look like they're just about wrapped up here." "Got it. I'm approaching the elevator now." Ashley flies in through a broken window and hides so the Avengers can't see her. She retracts her suit and listens in, she hears past Lavina's voice "I have felt nothing for you, mortal." Past Candice clears her throat and explains "It was the sceptre, it messed with us. But when you and I first met, I felt the connection, and that was before I fell under the sceptre's control." As Ashley observes the group, she gets a good view of Stacey's butt "Miss Rogers, I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass." She hears Stacey through comms "No one asked you to look, Ash." "It's ridiculous." Scott, who shrunk down and on Ashley's shoulder, says "I think you look great, Cap. As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass." Ashley raises an eyebrow. Past Nian speaks up "Speaking of which. Who gets the, uh, magic wand?" He gestures to the sceptre he is still holding and past Stacey replies "STRIKE team's coming to secure it." Past Candice heads over to the bar "I need a drink." Past Stacey points to past Lavina "We'll talk about this later. I think we all just need it to sink in first. We've all learnt a lot in a short time frame." She then listens to radio chatter.

The elevator door beeps and Ashley quickly hides, the door opens and a group of Agents, including Brock Rumlow and Jasper Sitwell, walk in "We can take that off your hands." Past Nian passes it over "By all means. Careful with that thing." Past Candice adds in "Yeah, unless you want your mind erased, and not in a fun way." She hands past Nian a drink, one of the Agents replies "We promise to be careful." Scott asks "Who are these guys?" Ashley explains "They are SHIELD. Well, actually HYDRA, but we didn't know that yet." "Seriously? You didn't? I mean, they look like bad guys." "You're small, but you're talking loud."

As Rumlow secures the sceptre in a box, Stacey hears something on the radio and responds, heading away from the group "On my way down to coordinate search and rescue." Past Ashley opens the case the tesseract is in, to make sure it's secure. Ashley spots it "Ooh, alright. You're up, little buddy." There's our stone." "Alright. Flick me." Ashley flicks Scott across the room, and she makes her way onto past Ashley. Ashley quickly activates her suit and drips out of the broken window, as the past group head into the other elevator. Past Hulk heads towards the elevator too, but there's a problem "Move." Past Ashley puts her hands "No. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, sweetheart, what do you think? Maximum occupancy has been reached." Past Tasia speaks up "Take the stairs." "Yeah." Past Hulk gets angry and pulls a fist back "Stop, stop!" Past Hulk punches the doors as they close and roars, then grumbles "Take the stairs. Take the stairs."

Ashley is hovering in the air outside the tower "Alright, Cap, I got our scepter in the elevator, just passing the 80th floor." Stacey, who's inside, presses the elevator button to get it to stop on the floor she's waiting on "On it. Head to the lobby." "Alright, I'll see you there." Inside the elevator, past Sitwell reports in "Evidence secure. We're enroute to Doctor List. No. No hitches at all, Mr Secretary." When the door opens, they all try not to look suspicious "Captain? I thought you wrote coordinating search and rescue?" She steps in, presses a button and the doors close "Change of plans." Past Rumlow watches her suspiciously, then finally says something as Stacey stands beside her "Hey, Cap." "Rumlow." The Agents all move their hands to their guns "I just got a call from the Secretary. I'm gonna be running point on the scepter." Past Sitwell turns to her "Ma'am? I don't understand." Stacey glances at the largest of the Agents, who is standing right behind her and has gotten a little close, then back to past Sitwell "We got word there may be an attempt to steal it." Past Rumlow speaks up "Sorry, Cap. We can't give you the scepter." Past Sitwell puts his hand in his jacket pocket to pull out his phone "I'm gonna have to call the Director." But Stacey stops him "That's okay. Trust me." He leans close to past Sitwell's ear and whispers "Hail HYDRA." Past Sitwell looks at Stacey in shock, then at past Rumlow, who looks relieved. As the elevator door reopens, Stacey has the case in her hand and smiles at herself.

Past Hulk takes the stairs. The many, many stairs "So many stairs!" Past Thor and past Ashley, along with a few Agents, lead past Lavina out through the lobby of Stark Tower. They don't spot Ashley there in SHIELD uniform, who whispers "Thumbelina, do you copy? I've got eyes on the prize. It is go time." Scott whispers "Bombs away." As she climbs into past Ashley's arc reactor "I'm going inside you, now." The group get stopped by a group of Agents in suits "May I ask you where you're going?" Past Tasia replies "Bit of a lunch and then Asgard. I'm sorry, who are you?" Past Ashley introduces them "Alexander Pierce. He's the man above the folks behind Nora Fury." "Oh." "My friends call me Mr Secretary. I'm going to have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me." Past Tasia responds "Uh, Lavina will be answering to Odin himself." "No, she's going to answer to us. Odin can have what's left. And I'm gonna need that case, that's been SHIELD property for over 70 years." An Agent reaches for the case, but Ashley holds it back "Hand over the case, Stark." Ashley says "Alright, move it, Stuart Little. Things are getting dicey out here. Let's go." Past Ashley says "I'm not gonna argue who's got the higher authority here..." Scott gets to where where needs to be "You promise me you won't die?" "We're only giving me a mild cardiac dysrhythmia." "That doesn't sound mild." Past Pierce steps forward "I need the case." "I know you got a lot of pull, I'm just saying, jurisdiction-" "Okay, then just give me the case." "Well, jurisdiction-" "Hand it over." Ashley whispers urgently "Do it, Lang! Window's closing. Pull my pin." Agents start getting handsy with past Ashley, and so past Tasia does too, past Ashley starts protesting "Get your hands off me!" Scott pulls an important piece out "Here goes!" Past Ashley starts gasping and choking, she drops the case and then she drops too. Past Pierce looks concerned "Stark?" Past Tasia takes her soulmate in her arms and lowers her onto onto back on the glor "Stark?" One of the Agents cals out "She's convulsing. Give her air!" Past Pierce calls out "Medic!' And Ashley does too "Medic! Give these guys some help." Past Tasia is scared, she holds her soulmate's head "Speak to me." Padt Ashley is gasping and her arc reactor is sparking "Is it your chest machine?" Scott runs from past Ashley and kicks the case holding the tesseract away from the huddle, it landing close to Ashley, past Lavina sees it happen. Past Tasia is still trying to help "Breathe. Breathe." Ashley quickly grabs the case and starts walking the opposite way down the lobby, from the huddle "Good job. Meet me in the alley." But past Hulk bursts out of the elevator and knocks Ashley onto her back, unconscious. The case skids across the floor, opening and depositing the tesseract to the floor right at past Lavina's feet. She looks down at it.

Past Hulk screams "NO STAIRS!" People start running and screaming. Past Hulk is escorted out by two of their soulmates, once they make their way down. Meanwhile, past Lavina quickly grabs the tesseract and teleports away. The medical they had called for is on his knees beside past Ashley, trying to help "Come on, Stark, stay with us." Padt Tasia has an idea "I'm going to try something, okay?" She holds Mjolnir over past Ashley's chest "I have no idea what it's going to work." She gives her soulmate a little spark and past Ashley catches her breath. Past Tasia lets out a chuckle in relief "Yes!" Past Ashley comments "Oh, that worked a treat. Babe, that was so crazy." "I had no idea of that was gonna work." "The case." "The case is, uh..." They glance around "Where's the case? Where's Lavina?" Ashley wakes up, to find still miniaturised Scott, standing on her chest "That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" "Oh, we blow it." Padt Tasia gets up "Vina!?"

Still in the tower, Stacey hears a quiet alarm and asked "Ashley, what's going on? Tell me you found that cube." She walks up to a catwalk and sighs "Oh, you gotta be shitting me." Standing on the catwalk is herself, helmet on, shield at the ready. Past Stacey speaks into her earpiece "I have eyes on Lavina. 14th floor." Lavina keeps her left arm, with her shield, relaxed, and slowly lowers the large case to the floor "I'm not Lavina and I don't want to hurt you." But past Stacey charges at her, so she has no choice but to fight. When past Stacey manages to knock her down, she says "I can do this all day." Stacey sighs "I know. Yeah, I know." They continue fighting, Stacey uses new moves she's learnt over the years. During the fight, the scepter falls several stores, then so do they. Past Stacey sees the compass with Johanna's face, open in front of her, but it's not her one. She picks it up and looks at it, as Stacey gets up too "Where did you get this?" Stacey tries to grab the scepter that's laying on the ground, but past Stacey tackles her and puts her in a headlock. The pair roll around on the floor a bit, as Stacey continues to try and grab the scepter, but past Stacey has a solid grip on her and is strangling her, she takes a chance "Anna is alive." Past Stacey lets go of her neck out of shock "What?" Stacey quickly punches her in the face, grabs the scepter and holds it to her chest. She falls unconscious and Stacey grabs her compass, before standing up and catching her breath. She looks down at her past self "That is America's ass." She then walks away.