Imagine: The List
Fic posted by members of Vo's Imaginings YahooGroup


 

The first meeting of the 'group' overseeing everything in New York is larger in February, Mac Taylor had become a permanent member, dealing with the lab and other speciality services in New York leaving Don with just the police and fire departments.

 

"Gentlemen, do we need new fire trucks?" Pepper asks as she gets the meeting started. Tony and Reed Richards are off clearing out closed landfills and returning everything to raw materials, not just in the US but all over the world. They'll be gone for years their time.

 

"No, thankfully ours are older but they don't get all that much use anymore with all the abandoned buildings tore down." Don says. "The fire department is now able to do a lot more training, teaching, and inspections now."

 

Mac nods. "While the police are walking beats and being positive influences in neighborhoods again. Instead of teenagers running when they see a police car coming down the street they wave and call the officers by name. The officers are getting involved in community affairs, seeing a police officer in uniform talking to merchants isn't shaking them down for protection money anymore. Using Manhattan as an example, other cities are forming action groups and working together to make their neighborhoods more peaceful. Gang activity is either gone in other cities or so close to zero it's unregisterable. Petty crime is taken care of by others. . .a kid snatching a purse from an older lady will be ran down by neighborhood watch programs, he'll be took back to her and made to apologize before being frogmarched to the police. His parents or somebody else in authority over him will be called and he'll be charged. Kids shoplifting for kicks will be dealt with the same way or they'll be working for the shopkeeper, a lot of teens are working so they don't have the time for this foolishness anymore." Nods from everybody in the room.

 

"Neighborhood watch?"

 

"Around here it's making sure the people who need extra help have it." Weasel says. "On my block we have a few older people who have their walks shoveled in the winter, their leaves raked in the fall. We got people who will run errands for them. . ."

 

Don nods. "You see people in the parks reading, playing chess, or just enjoying the sun anymore without the fear of being bothered. Old women are gathered outside their apartment buildings gabbing while the old guys are playing checkers."

 

"How is everybody dealing with the fools trying to come in to take over?"

 

"Most everybody we've talked with have called them damn fools. They'd have liked to have been able to get their own licks in before they were drug off. Everybody's furious at the assertions that we're either too damn stupid to live and that Stark's taking advantage of that or he's brainwashing everybody. Of course once their real plans were disclosed their attempts to say they were just rescuing us fell in the heap of shit it belongs." Weasel snorts. "Did anybody hear about the trial?"

 

"Quickly held in the same quiet federal court they wanted Stark to stand trial in and they were found guilty on all charges. Half of them went to Gitmo, the rest are still in the supermax they were dumped in. The fuckers are wailing about travesties of justice but. . ." Pepper snorts. "The court of popular opinion says it's too good for them, they should have been all lined up and beaten to death by the people they tried claiming were too stupid to realize what Stark was doing. They're trying to throw up appeals but the courts and lawyers are all laughing at them." Pepper says. Everybody looks at her. "Tony got a call from the President last night to let us know what happened. The fools own rules worked against them, they wanted Tony to have a quick mock trial in their kangaroo court and everything we've worked on pawed through by them. Instead they got the quick trial and the court didn't agree with their screaming that they had to do it, Stark was trying to take over the world. The judge they wanted to oversee the case recused himself because they had him firmly in their pockets and the new judge found them guilty on all charges in less than an hour. The stupid fools are wailing because they're going to be growing food in the supermax, a garden for the kitchen, greenhouses, and hydroponics. The food from the greenhouses and hydroponics will be sold to the public." Hooting and poo' baby sounds greet that news.

 

"The rest of congress?"

 

"Considered them goddamn fools and marginalized them, they're actually working for their constituents. . .unlike those old fools who just wanted the voters to kiss their asses. they had to act now because the voters were getting disgusted with them and were trying to vote them out of office."

 

"Has anybody been trying to get term limits back?"

 

"Not really, there's a lot more accountability in the government. . .people elected actually have to be responsible to the voters who sent them to DC." Matthew says mockingly, grinning at the 'oh god the horror' sounds from the others. "There's nobody lining up ranting about why they should be in the white house, a lot of fools who would overturn everything that's been done either died thanks to the disease or are keeping quiet since the attack. . .realizing congress and the government won't put up with their nonsense anymore."

 

"Has anybody heard rumors about morons wanting their own planet?"

 

"Sounds like the rumors about colonies from a couple years ago." Stephen Strange snorts. "They'd have to find a habitable planet, they'd need the money for supplies, they'd need the people to pack up and move to another planet under their rules, and they'd need a spaceship big enough for all the supplies and people. Not to mention they'd have to grow all their own food, can and otherwise preserve it for winter, save seeds for the following year. . .it's not going to happen."

 

Pepper nods. "Tony and Reed Richards spend years on their ship while only a few hours passes here. Add in there's all those empty countries all over the world. . .they just want their own world, their own government, and everybody kissing their asses."

 

"How are we on fabric and clothes?" Coulson asks.

 

"Some things might be running low, we brought a number of factories and Tony is working on robots to take over shifts. We passed on buying three factories and they went into bankruptcy. The employees were hired by other factories and Tony picked them up for next to nothing. The machinery was wore out, most of it was torn apart to recycle. The former owners are wailing. . .weeeeellllll yyyyyeeeeesssss, they knew that the machines were old and failing. . ."

 

"but they didn't want to take the hit to replace them? And they're whining about the business failing? Figures." Weasel snorts. "Okay, I've got the list of stuff the mercs will need." Pepper takes the list, looking everything over and nodding before looking over the list from the police department. "What about other weapons?"

 

"Knives and swords? We've got contacts with people who make them. Though. . ." Weasel brings out a piece of paper. "This is the requirements they'd need if somebody wanted to move into the area."

 

Pepper looks at it and nods. "Yeah, a lot of this we already order for Tony's metalwork. We've got plenty of empty buildings if they'll work or we can build. I've been talking to a group of glassblowers who want a large communal workplace too." She copies the list and makes a note on her copy.

 

"Growing areas and hydroponics?"

 

"Still doing brisk business even with the growing dimension." Stephen says. "I've been in contact with physicians, our health is improving tremendously with getting fresh fruit and vegetables year round. Obesity is down, so are the need for high blood pressure medications. Smoking rates have dropped, even the e-cigarettes."

 

"Yes, before all this shit they were complaining about them on the news. . .how teenagers were getting hold of them." Nods from the others. Pepper shakes her head. "Tony would be making a smart-ass comment about needing something in their mouth right about now." The others laugh and nod.

 

"Miss Potts, sir had arrived and is on his way to bed. He said not to disturb him unless the world was ending. . .he wouldn't want to sleep through it. Somebody would complain."

 

"Yes, that's Tony." Pepper sighs. "Do you have any idea how long he was gone his time?"

 

"From what Sir was mumbling. . .at least fifteen years. Ahhh, I am receiving a message from Dr. Richards. Yes, they were gone fifteen years, all the closed landfills are now clean and the . . .lost countries supplies are waiting to be used either by the United States or their neighbors. Ahhh, they delivered some of the supplies to the country of Wakanda."

 

"Ahhh, I know he was going to drop in and see if they needed any. I'm sure some old fool tried saying he was trying to pull something. Is there any news on that special project?" She's being cagey since not everybody there knows about the power facility. This latest . . .bullshit nonsense just proves he's right in hiding it away.

 

"Sir plans on bringing it out this summer." Coulson catches her eye and nods. The others shake their heads, they'll find out soon enough if they need to and turn their attention back to the meeting. "Seed orders?"

 

"Yes, I'll have the information on the server in a few hours. Here's the printouts for you." They're passed around and nobody is surprised when Matthew 'reads' it by feeling the ink on the page. "The date to get your requests in is the middle of March. I'm sending off the messages to the hydroponics buildings and the people over the commercial gardens after the meeting."

 

"Has anybody heard anything about the weather?"

 

"Ororo says this is supposed to be a warm but dry summer, save your rainwater if you use it to water your plants. Otherwise you'll be using tapwater. It's also going to be a cool fall and bitter winter. Remember the winter a few years ago where it snowed everyday? A repeat of that but colder weather and more snow." Professor Xavier says.

 

"Oh well, at least city services has enough money to keep the roads plowed now." Weasel mutters. The others nod.

 

"Thanks to that fool of a former mayor being arrested and no longer dipping his fingers in the till. And essential services actually getting the money they need instead of what's left over after the damn pet projects got funded." Matthew snorts. Hell's kitchen has been cleaned up over the last few years and has been turned into a low-income housing area. Though with everybody working at least one job unless they were totally disabled the low income is a lot better than it had been. And even those people are finding ways to make extra money.

 

Tony comes out of his bedroom the next morning.

 

"Okay, do we have plans on moving to another planet if we have to?"

 

"Yes, Richards and I have found a number of habitable empty planets. And we could move to the ag dimension if we have to. I'd rather not though, that would give the fools more ammunition, no doubt whining I wasn't able to take over the world so I'm running off with my tail between my legs." Pepper makes a rude sound. "Too bad those fools didn't die thanks to that bastard's disease. But then there's always going to be fools out there complaining about doing something they'd like to do." Tony sends Pepper a couple files. "The larger one is from an Earth that ended up colonizing another solar system, sixteen planets all of them terraformed to be habitable but the last six are winter planets. People from a number of dimensions where either their Earth had hardships or they just wanted to move have settled. They were able to bring their homes and buildings to the new planet instead of having to build colonies from scratch. In the information is records they had of another Earth that sent off ships thanks to a fool like Trask who wanted to take over the world. . .they had to build their colonies from the ground up. The other file is from another Earth where some families have moved to Mars. They're using the same type of facility we plan on thanks to a fool who wanted to control the world and his pet mad scientists. There it wasn't a disease but a machine that cut off power everywhere."

 

"Shit." Pepper looks at her empty desk and starts to read. Tony comes back from the cafeteria and starts working on the piles on his desk, looking over the minutes from the meeting he missed. A few hours later the elevator opens and Coulson comes out, looks over at Pepper busily reading and making notes, and walks into Stark's office where he's going through everything on his desk.

 

Coulson looks at Stark and then at the other office.

 

"I gave Pepper the information we got from the others on Haven and Mars. Pepper asked if we had plans to move to another planet if we had to, I told her Richards and I have found a habitable planet but I really didn't want to move because the fools who are trying to claim I'm taking over the world would crow I was leaving with my tail between my legs because I hadn't succeeded." Coulson snorts quietly. "They're fools. Landfills?"

 

"Full ones are emptied now. If they could take it 90 percent of everything that could be recycled or reused again was given to the governments. Nearby countries got extra and I dropped off a good bit in Wakanda but we've got decades of raw material to slowly start reusing." Coulson nods. "Are you still planning on bringing the facility out this summer?"

 

"Yes, part of our time in Wakanda was finding the perfect spot where it could be observed but left alone but still within range of backup in case somebody found it. If we didn't have King T'Challa I'd have brought it out in the arctic." Coulson nods. "I see Pepper's made the announcement about seeds for this year, did I miss anything at the meeting?"

 

"Not much, Pepper took notes about what would be needed if we brought in somebody to make knives and swords, she said something about glassblowers. Strange said he'd talked to other physicians and with fresh fruit and veggies available year-round people are getting healthier. Obesity is down, people can walk the streets without being accosted. We laughed at the rumors of fools wanting their own planets. . ."

 

"They'd never make it, they'd need too much supplies, people wouldn't kiss their asses. . ." Coulson nods. "Oh, this you will need to know. We're going to have a warm, dry summer so save rainwater for outdoor gardens if you can otherwise you'll be using tapwater. And we're going to have a cold winter, even worse than a couple years ago when it snowed every day."

 

Tony starts looking through papers on his desk.

 

"Yes, all the houses have gutters and rain barrels." Pepper calls from the other room. Proving that she hears all and knows all. "They were added in the last round of renovations. They feed both watering systems." Tony grins.

 

"Both watering systems?" Coulson asks.

 

"Drip irrigation for roots, sprinklers for plants like tomatoes that do better getting their water from the top." Darcy says as she walks past to get her mail. "The things you learn helping in the growing areas."

 

"Are you going to be finished with this latest degree this semester?"

 

"Next year, I'm picking up enough classes for two degrees." Tony nods in satisfaction. "Oh director Coulson, Skye's going to be working at Stark in hydroponics this summer. . .internship for her degree." Coulson nods. "I'd been expecting it."

 

An hour later he heads off, Tony dragging Pepper off so she can eat lunch. Natasha looks at her in disbelief and snags copies of what she's reading, cursing in Russian a few minutes later. Sighing Tony sends the files to the others. "This is from a dimension that colonized a binary star solar system after their 'friends' of humanity set off rockets that kicked up tons of dust in the upper atmosphere, the world slowly started sliding into an ice age. There's sixteen terraformed planets, all the planets are habitable though the last six are permanent winter planets. There's people from a number of dimensions who have settled on the planets, some from dimensions where there Earths have had problems either natural or manmade while others have just moved there permanently or semi-permanently because they have family and friends on the planets. This is what I've been using as a basis on supplies we'd need if we moved offplanet or to the other dimension. Included in that information is reports on colonies that left another Earth thanks to the asshole in chief there trying to take over the world. Unlike Haven and the other file which is from a world where basically a large extended family moved to Mars, they had to build their new worlds from scratch. Haven and Mars were able to bring their buildings with them and basically went to sleep on one planet and woke up on the other. Mars' Earth. . .well, they had a damn fool that wanted to control the world just like we did but in their case it was a machine that shut down power to everything that killed so many people. He wanted to be the only person who had the supplies to rebuild everything destroyed by massive EMPs."

 

Bucky snorts. "Don't let this get out, the fools whining you're taking over the world would claim this was you. It wasn't, was it?" He looks at him.

 

"No, while I am there I'm one of the people who have moved to another dimension permanently instead of moving to Mars. I got involved before the machine when the asshat World Council tried bombing New York there too, but not because of an alien invasion. . .just because they could. Morons didn't realize that it could turn into a goddamn nuclear war, the president at the time blubbered he wouldn't let congress set off more bombs. . .he knew it was them. Nobody retaliated after we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, did they?"

 

"The president doesn't declare war, Congress does." Steve says.

 

"And we're the only ones who had the bomb at that time." Bruce sighs.

 

"Exactly. Anyway somehow I stopped the damn bombing and shut down Stark because the asshat in chief was pouting about his buttbuddies being stopped. The asshole tried forcing me to return to New York and reopen Stark immediately and I sent the networks all the information I had on his friends stunt. . .they were arrested and he nearly was impeached but being too fucking stupid to live isn't a crime. Too bad, it would have saved the rest of the country a lot of grief when the damn mega power plants that produced power for entire states suddenly went out. Power went out around DC but other plants diverted power to them, but when other areas lost power he didn't want them sending power to the affected areas. He couldn't understand why people were so upset with him. Well. . .he didn't know the power plants were sending power to DC, he's that fucking stupid he didn't remember they had been without power. Why hadn't the power plants restored power yet . . .it's been weeks he blubbered. Try months. Finally the other plants started diverting power to the affected areas and they started building new ones. Then the damn machine started operating and the European continent was hit by the EMP. Then Australia. Moron's machine wasn't powerful enough to take out everything via EMP but it shut down power everywhere. . .not even batteries or the emergency radios with lights that you crank worked."

 

The others shake their head. "Millions of people died, airplanes don't fly to well without any engines. Add in the first power outage happened just before Christmas when everybody was travelling. They finally got the fool away from the machine but rather than destroying it. . ."

 

"The government decided to use it against their enemies? Figures." Bucky snorts. "And every fool with an agenda used it?"

 

"Yes, by the time somebody 'improved' it and fried it. . .and half of everything else they were down to two billion people worldwide too. Europe was gone. . .surprisingly people can't survive a winter without power anymore, the days of small farms growing their own food and getting in enough supplies for winter doesn't really jibe with the modern age of heat at the turn of a dial." The others nod.

 

Leonard is looking at the supplies they'd taken with them to Haven and all they'd brought up on trips back to Earth. "There's so much we haven't thought of that we'll need for the future."

 

"Yes, we were thinking what we'd need to keep New York running, not having to build a whole new civilization." Tony sighs. "That's the plans I've been using. . . though the hundred years worth of toilet paper?" he shakes his head. The others look at him and he tells them the story. "Yes, I can see our geeks doing just that too."

 

"According to the Tony who's from there, the you there said if we had an empty floor we could fill it with toilet paper and still not have enough." Pepper sighs but nods and makes a couple notes on her PADD for factories to look at, either putting in large orders or buying.

 

"Some of them we might be getting for their stupidity."

 

"If we do I'm sure they'll need massive work, the fucking fools couldn't be bothered to do proper maintenance or put money into them to make money. When we took over the factories we brought, we added in a influx of cash that was desperately needed."

 

"As well as permanent orders."

 

"Changing the subject, schools?"

 

"We've got seven more years until all the students who were in school when they closed graduate. We're looking at a few more for the rest of the country. Fools are complaining about the students graduating so late then go 'oh' when they realize it's because dumbass shut down the schools in a shit fit. One good thing about so many kids working, they've got jobs lined up after they graduate." Pepper says absently. "I'm sure the fools in prison are still whining about the schools reopening."

 

"Of course they are, if the kids are in school getting an education they're not working themselves to death in their factories." Tony snorts. "Idiots don't realize that's something that would be happening in the former Soviet Union . . ." Natasha nods vehemently. "Or back in the 1800s here before unions were created and laws limiting shifts and protecting children were passed. I'm sure the asswipes would have got rid of those pesky, annoying laws too under Trask."

 

"That's what the asshat in chief did in that other dimension, it's the 9th planet's earth tab for those who haven't got that far yet. The first one, the second one is a peaceful Earth that had some people emigrate because they weren't aging. They're part of the groups who had family and friends there and nobody cares, from what I've heard it basically 'yeah, you're older than you look, isn't everybody?' and that's it." Tony looks at Natasha, Bucky, and Steve. Bucky snickers and Natasha just gives him a serene look. She'll get him later for commenting on her age.

 

The plans the fools had had for overturning laws and forcing children to work sixteen hours in factories is 'leaked' to the press and the fools in prison are stunned everybody is talking bad about them. Don't they know who they are and they should be 'blessed' to be able to work for them? The other prisoners in the Supermax treat them like the trash they are and they're sobbing in their pillows every night at having to work long hours, ignoring the fact they wanted the others to work even longer hours. They blubber that they'd have given them a few cents for their work. . .and been reminded they themselves are getting the selfsame few cents for their work.

 

"You're not going to be barging in here wailing that Stark is going to be taking over, are you?" The President asks the woman who'd taken over Anderson's seat until a permanent election can be held.

 

"Hell no, I have some damn sense." She snorts. "Anderson was a goddamn fool who didn't like anybody else doing something that he didn't want to do. It started with him complaining that schools were reopening and exploded from there. Anything and everything Stark did was proof he was taking over the world. . .Hell, if he took a shit somewhere other than New York he'd probably say that was proof he was going to take over the world." Brandon snickers despite himself. "His problem is he saw Stark actually doing things to help people and he couldn't have that, it's making him look bad. Despite the fact he never met the little fool and his constituents are half a country away."

 

Tony slumps into the seat behind his desk, giving his full desktop the hairy eyeball.

 

"This pile stuff for Stark, sign and put it in the outbox." Darcy says, patting the first pile. "This pile the city and state, that includes the hydroponics. This handful. . ." she picks up a small pile. "Is reports on hydroponics units in the other states and the growing dimension, everything is going well." He nods in satisfaction. "The table is full of applications for internships, Pepper and I sorted them by speciality and notes on where they think they can be placed. Do I want to know how the tour of the stuff you got from the fools who tried 'rescuing' New York from you went?" Stark's sour look has her nodding. "That's what everybody had been expecting."

 

"Yes, the only reason I'm keeping them open is the employees need the jobs. Though with the state the machines are in, I don't see them staying open much longer. Something's going to go up and the whole factory will shut down. The shifts are half of what they should be. . .the fools tried making them work sixteen hour days instead of having to shut down at night because they didn't have enough employees to run it all the time."

 

"Oh god the horror." Darcy snarks. "Fucking a-holes. And of course they'd never have accepted robots."

 

Tony nods. The phone rings and Darcy grabs it. "Tony Stark's off. . .yes Mr. President, he just returned from inspecting everything." She hands him the phone and leaves his office, shutting the door. Pepper looks at her. "The President." She nods and turns her attention back to making plans for Stark and the city.

 

"Did he say anything about the factories?"

 

"As bad as we'd been expecting, the only reason he's keeping them open is the employees. Hopefully they can find other work because he says the machinery will be failing in less than five years. The fools wanted people to work sixteen hours, they refused so they had to shut down the third shift."

 

"Figures, do you have any information on the areas around the factories?"

 

"Research started working on it once they got the list. The old fools will howl if Stark turns the factories around, brings in new jobs, improves the schools. . ." Darcy makes an and so on and so on to infinity hand wave. Pepper grins and waves her off to go handle her other duties, both at Stark, city duties, and her job as Pepper's second in command. The few people who had sneered at her had gotten her foot up their asses. .. in one case nearly literally when a drunk fool had tried grabbing Darcy's boobs and she'd kicked his ass nearly across the room until Steve and Bucky had drug him off and tossed him out of the tower.

 

Later that night Darcy walks into her apartment, petting the two dogs and a cat that had come up to her when she opened the door. Walking into the kitchen she puts down dry foot and splits a can of wet dog food between the two dishes, a smaller can of cat food being mixed into Minx's bowl.

 

"Hey kiddo." She looks over at Kate when she comes in from the fire escape. "You know the front door actually works."

 

"Yeah, but this way I keep my training up." She settles in a chair near the couch Darcy's stretched out on with her pets.

 

"How's school?"

 

"One more year. . .it doesn't seem possible some days, not when I remember everything that has happened over the last ten years. I'm nearly twenty-seven and still have a year to go for my bachelors."

 

"You're not the only one, we're looking at at least another decade of students graduating later than they should thanks to dumbfuck Trask. At least you don't have to worry about getting a good-paying job or paying off student loans once you've graduated." The last two summers Kate had been interning at Stark, she's working at Stark again this summer, and has a full-time job lined up when she graduates. The other Young Avengers all have good jobs and the groups try to get together for training at least once a month.

 

"Have you heard anything about student loans?"

 

"The President, Stark, and various government people have been talking about it. We need people to have degrees now, and people working years to pay off their student loans isn't the way to do it. It's either going to be a fund where you can get the money for your schooling and working summers to help pay it back at little to no interest or like the old Northern exposure show." Kate looks at her. "Before your time, a town in Alaska put up the money to send a guy to medical school, in turn he came to their town and worked there until he paid the debt off. It's on DVD, snag a copy from the replicator one day. I'm sure there's a lot of places that would pay to send kids to school for jobs they need now." Kate sighs but nods.

 

"How's Cassie doing?"

 

"Good, I've seen her around campus and the school has a lot of study groups set up to help the students. She just looks younger than the other students because she's the age she should be to be attending school." Darcy nods. "Her mom is happy she's living at home while she's attending school."

 

"How is Clint's son settling in?"

 

"Good, his parents are glad he's not stuck in a lonely apartment since the dorms haven't opened yet. I've got a housekeeper and cook so he's coming home to a good meal that's not cafeteria food though he's got to keep his room clean, we all do. There's a schedule for the common areas like the bathrooms, kitchen, and dining room. In the library it's clean up after yourself."

 

"Your dad's study?"

 

"I. . .I was finally able to bring myself to go inside. I was expecting to find signs of all his bad stuff. . .I know he used to be a crook before I was born. . .but. . .but. . ."

 

"But all you found was pictures of yourself and your mother?" Kate nods. "Makes sense, he wouldn't have had stuff like that at home, he gave that life up when he got married and started a family. A lot of men, whatever business they're in, keep their public and private lives separate. I'm sure none of the assholes who tried to attack Stark told their families what they were planning." Kate snickers but nods. "Not that I doubt any of the old fools have families, their attitudes would have sent them away years ago." Kate nods again. "I'm getting some water." she says, standing up.

 

"Check on the casserole? It should be about done." Darcy waves a hand and turns the tv on, flipping through the channels to a comedy.

 

"Pepper, I'll be gone tomorrow. . .for you anyway." Tony says the next morning.

 

"What are you doing now?"

 

"Richards and I are going to be cleaning up some of the trash in the oceans, we were able to scan them and it's disgusting. I think we have a landfill or two just in the water, then we're going to start cleaning rivers. It's going to be another ten to fifteen years for us, we'll be turning what we can into raw materials and the rest will be zapped into energy." Pepper nods in satisfaction. "Tomorrow's a good day, no meetings or anything."

 

"Yeah, that's why we chose tomorrow. Next week is an expo we're both going to be attending."

 

Tony looks at Reed as he gets in their ship. "Planes and boats?"

 

"I thought we'd map their locations so historians can see if they can identify them. I'd rather have taken them out too but they most likely have plant life growing on them. We'll take samples of the water to see if we need to use the cleaners too."

 

Tony nods as the ship lifts off. Nearly twenty years later and drops into a seat across from Pepper. "We cleared billions of tons of garbage out of the oceans, mapped every wreck we can find it and sent the data to various ocean groups that are still around, we have thousands of cubes of raw material now. We plan on doing sweeps yearly."

 

Pepper nods in satisfaction. "Have you eaten?"

 

"And slept, I'm going to go over my speech for the expo next week."

 

"You've got a meeting tomorrow with environmentalists."

 

"Yes, hopefully all Richards and I have been doing will offset the climate changes that have been happening. I'd rather not survive the damn disease and drown because the polar ice caps melted." Tony walks off muttering and Pepper shakes her head when she hears him muttering about a permafrost ray.

 

"See if everything you've done halts or reverses it before you do something like that." She says at his retreating back. A waved hand lets her know he heard her.

 

"Good lord, look at how clean everything is, there's no garbage in the streets or alleys." One of the men says as they drive down the street to Stark Tower. "I see recycling containers everywhere and they're being used." On the street a man is stacking old newspapers into a bin. He walks back into the building he'd just come out of as a woman comes out and puts flattened cans in another container. A garbage truck is rumbling up the road and the men nod as they toss the recyclables into the truck.

 

"I hear recycling is 80 percent in Manhattan. If there's bins on every street. . ."

 

"Yes, and do you notice everybody is walking? Or taking public transit?"

 

"There's gardens everywhere and all of them have compost areas set up." They pull up to the building and are let in, parking and going to the elevator. They go up to the penthouse and find Mr. Stark looking over some papers in his hand.

 

"Welcome to Stark Tower Ladies and Gentlemen. Please follow me and we'll go to a meeting room."

 

"That wasn't anything like I was expecting." One of the men says later that night in a hotel room after they've eaten dinner. "Recycling bins everywhere, plants everywhere. While we were there they were talking about seeds. . ."

 

"Alternate energy was everywhere, what roofs we could see either had rooftop gardens or solar arrays."

 

Nods from the others. "I overheard talk about starting a seed bank of trees and crops from the other countries so they're not lost. I'd feared they'd go in and clearcut everything."

 

"You missed it, I heard that he and Dr. Richards were off clearing the oceans of all the junk that you see floating in it on the news. You know, the damn big floating piles of plastic. According to the gossip, he brought back tons of plastic and whatnot that they somehow turned back into raw materials and did something to what couldn't be reused."

 

"I can believe it. I was talking to the garbage men while I was waiting for you guys to come out of the restaurant, he says the actual garbage that can't be recycled or composted is down to ten percent of what it had been. Not only did they clean up the oceans, they cleaned up rivers and harbors. And they cleaned out closed landfills all over the world."

 

"That's where they got all the raw material then. Probably tons of metals from when we just tossed everything in the ground."

 

"Yep. I hope they can clear out the remaining landfills before they have to close."

 

A couple months later Peter's car pulls up in front of his house. Frank's wife hurries over and gives him a hug. "Your aunt will be so happy to have you home again."

 

"She's not the only one. I enjoyed the year off but I'm happy to be home." He gathers his bags from the back seat. . .more than he'd left with and unlocks the trunk. Bags of groceries and from ESU are in the trunk and she and her daughters grab them and carry them inside.

 

"May, your nephew's home." Matthew says when he gets the call. Across the room May smiles. "Your neighbor says he brought food on the way home so you don't need to bring anything home but yourself."

 

May walks into the no longer feeling so empty house and the first thing she sees is the pile of mail that she'd been saving for Peter is sitting open on the coffee table. The door opens behind her and she turns around, wrapping her arms around the son of her heart.

 

"Welcome home dear, how was the Institute?"

 

"Nice, and listening to the others tell me stories about my parents made them more than just pictures in the photograph albums but this is my home."

 

"Did you sign up for your doctorate classes?"

 

"Yep, stopped there before I went grocery shopping. Dinner's in the oven. The garden looks good. Is it bigger than it was last year?"

 

"Yes, Frank tilled the ground up for me and his girls helped me plant. Their garden is now twice the size it used to be too. Ohhh, and Mr. Stark is going to be putting up greenhouses for us in a couple weeks. It's supposed to be a bad winter this year, snowing every day and cold."

 

Peter shakes his head. "Do we have supplies for it?"

 

"Yes, they doubled the seeds, canning supplies, and other stuff. I've been working shifts at the greenhouses so I have a good idea what needs to be done when ours are up."

 

"Good thinking. I did a lot of work in the greenhouses at the Institute so I'm somewhat familiar with them too. Do I need to check the snowblower?"

 

"Frank checked it this spring. It's good through for a few more years. Even with the snow they're predicting."

 

The crops start coming in hot and heavy, the cases of canning jars are filled and put away for the winter as the greenhouses go up and seed trays filled. It's already turning cooler and extra blankets start to be added to beds and warmer clothes are brought out.

 

Reed Richards walks into Tony's office one day in late fall. "I took readings on water quality."

 

"And from the look on your face we're going to need to use the cleaners?" Tony sighs.

 

"Yes, the plants and fish that would normally clean the water can't handle it."

 

"Will the cleaners strip the salt out of the ocean water?"

 

"No, I calibrated it for salt water last night."

 

"Now?"

 

"Unless you are in the middle of something besides grumbling about paperwork. The ship is parked on the roof."

 

"Pepper, Richards and I are going to go clean the water." Tony says as they walk past her desk.

 

She waves a hand.

 

"We should show the President before and after readings."

 

"I already sent him the before data."

 

The president sighs as he takes off his glasses, having been looking at the after data for the last few hours. "You always heard the commercials about children walking hours for water in Africa until charities dug wells."

 

"Yes, you never stopped to think how bad it was all over until you got the data. We cleaned London's water but . . ." Tony says on the phone. The president had called him after looking over the data.

 

"Never thought anything about water everywhere until you looked over the data. Hopefully with clean water, factories that had been spewing pollution shut down, and recycling and composting the ground will recover."

 

"Yes. What is the latest on the fools who tried invading?"

 

"Blubbering that everybody's being mean to them. . .you should be in that prison. ..not them. They just wanted to free everybody you have to be brainwashing to keep them under your control."

 

"More like take over everything. . .for all they ranted and raved I was trying to take over the world, that's what they wanted to do. They'd have closed all the schools again. . .how dare we give children an education, they should only be working for them. Those pesky child labor laws needed to be repealed too, they'd have outlawed those damn unions. ..how dare they tell employers what they can and can't do with their employees. . .if they want them to work sixteen hours, they'll damn well work sixteen hours, right?" Tony snorts in his office.

 

"Exactly, now they're wailing because all they wanted their employees to do while they raked in the profits is happening to them and they don't wike it." The president snorts. "Miserable fools are getting a taste of what they wanted for their employees. . ."

 

"But they're just employees. . .we're special." Tony snorts. "I'm sure you were going to be their next target."

 

"Oh yes, how dare I take the side of the little people over them. They wanted children to be little more than slaves to them. They wanted the schools to stay closed. .. how dare I allow you to reopen your schools, let alone the other states? Fucking fools, let them rot in prison. Changing the subject, are the factories you took over from them as bad as expected?"

 

"Yes, I see the factories having to close in five years. . .the machinery is wore out because they fools didn't want to spend money for necessary maintenance or god forbid buy new ones. I'm sure we'd have all heard the anguished howling when the damn things fell apart."

 

"They'd have tried blaming you for their stupidity. . .because of course you're trying to take over the world." The president snickers at the rude sound from the other end of the phone.

 

Tony walks into the meeting room. "Sorry I'm late, the president wanted to talk after he looked over the updated water scans." Richards, Xavier, Essex, Coulson, and Magneto are waiting on him.

 

"How is it looking?" Magneto asks.

 

"Good, we figure on checking yearly when we go out to clean the waterways again. Hopefully with the worse of the pollution gone, the animals and plants that kept everything clean can handle the job." He settles in a chair. "Okay, I was asked this yesterday, the industries that farm the oceans?"

 

"Are all much smaller now with all the deaths. With being able to preserve what they catch better, it's now every two or three years that they harvest. This will allow the populations to recover and grow. Stuff like seaweed now have much smaller farming practices." Essex rumbles. "At least with all the deaths, the recipes for the foods have been written down and put in safes for the future in case more people are lost in the next round of the disease."

 

"Are the precogs seeing more deaths?"

 

"Yes, as well as another massive power outage." Xavier looks at Richards and Stark.

 

"The alternate power source was brought out when we went out to remove the garbage from the oceans and waterways." Tony says absently. "We're bringing out boxes and putting them in various places around the country over the next year so local authorities and the national guard can get to them. We worked out locations that can quickly get the boxes out to large cities and fill trucks to deliver them to rural areas." Everybody nods in satisfaction. "Thank you, the precogs had shown that this next outage. . ."

 

"They wouldn't be able to restore power. Yes, that's what the president had figured as well. And we're still looking at a new sweep of the disease coming though next year. And speaking of the epidemic. . .is anybody closer to a vaccine than they were?"

 

"No, may Trask rot in his own personal hell. There are indications that the disease is mutating." Coulson says quietly.

 

"Yes, Thor told me the seers on Asgard saw it changing, that's why he gave us something. He said that the serums made Natasha, Steve, and Bucky immune." Tony says quietly. "I hope we don't see the damn deaths we did last time since so much of the world isn't living cheek to cheek anymore and people are in better health since fresh fruits and veggies are available year-round now." The others nod. "That's why we're setting up the boxes everywhere to keep the deaths down from the power grid collapsing into dust."

 

A knocking on the door has Darcy sticking her head inside. "Boss, major power outage on the other coast, going up as far as Canada and down into Mexico. Pepper's on the phone with the Malibu branch right now, the buildings have the alternate power but not their homes or other businesses like New York so they're closing until the power comes back on unless it's something that they have to be there to work on because it's top priority or it will go blooie if it's left alone."

 

"Hell." Tony sighs when the door shuts. "It's starting."

 

"Yes, Mexico and Canada would be surges from the outage here." Richards says, bringing up a holographic image in the middle of the table and marking how much is without power from the reports coming in. "Do we have enough boxes for the entire world if need be?"

 

"We can bring them out as needed."

 

"Sir, Ms. Potts says the President is on line one." JARVIS announces.

 

"I'd been expecting it." He sighs and puts the phone on speaker. "Yes Mr. President?"

 

"Is Coulson and Richards with you?" Brandon asks in the White House.

 

"Yes, along with Essex, Magneto, and Xavier. We were talking about the possibility of power outages and more people getting sick when the news about the power outage was relayed by one of my employees."

 

"Do you have boxes in California?"

 

"Yes. . ." tapping tells the President that Stark is looking something up. "I have ten warehouses filled with boxes scattered throughout the state. But Richards and I would need to bring in three times that many to cover just the state."

 

"Shit, that's what I was afraid of. Hope to god they can get the power back on. But you're going to. . ."

 

"Richards and I had already planned on making a special trip to bring out boxes all over the United States, it's going to take us years though on the ship."

 

"Eighteen and a half." Richard's voice says, telling the president Stark has them on speaker.

 

"Is there a way they could be built in factories?"

 

"Unfortunately, no. Not one of the dimensions I have the reports from but another where Earth has been having major problems with their power grid, they were building new grids in local areas and joining them together. The government had a supply of the boxes, but not enough for a power outage that destroyed a lot of the grid. . .including the new one. Someone in the government asked if the factories weren't making them, they were told they couldn't replicate something in the box that allowed them to get the power. They'd reported that but. . ."

 

"The fools who couldn't be bothered to read the reports complained? Figures." the president sighs. "How long until you and Richards can start delivering them again?"

 

Tony sighs.

 

"It's going to take months, not to bring them out but to have places set up where we can put them."

 

A softly mumbled swear word tells the the president hadn't thought of that. "I'd say we'd be better off bringing them out after the power goes out when there's people who can create the accounts and hand out the boxes."

 

"I'd suggest bringing out the boxes to essential services first, that way people know about them and don't think this is just a gimmick." Coulson says quietly.

 

"Yes, that would give them an uninterrupted power supply and when the power does go out they're not affected." The president sighs.

 

"What about empty hospitals?" Essex asks. "Could we use them to store the boxes?"

 

"Yes, that might possibly work. As well as hotels that closed during the epidemic and didn't reopen." Tony makes a note on the PADD in front of him. "The buildings themselves could be used as distribution centers." He sends off his notes to Pepper who gives him a 'and why are you looking into these' look when he comes out of the room with the others. "Storage places for the boxes, this outage is warning us we're going to need to bring them out sooner rather than later. And we're going to need places to hold all the boxes, we've got ten warehouses full of boxes in LA and would need three times that many just for the state."

 

"Hell." Pepper moans. "And the buildings could be used for storage and distribution if all the buildings aren't all in one area."

 

"Yes, that's something we'd have to think about. Otherwise if we don't have enough storage we'll have to be bringing them out when the power goes out. We're going to be passing out the boxes to essential services though, this way when the power goes out, they flip the switch and have power." Tony starts to walk to his lab and stops suddenly, swearing. "Damn it, the morons in congress are right. . .I am taking over the world."

 

Pepper's sniggering behind him makes him swear again.

 

 

 

 

 

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