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


 

Back at Stark Tower Pepper looks over the reports from the meeting. The tower is quiet, it's the 23rd of December and the only ones there are the Avengers. Well most of them, Clint had headed home and Scott was rebuilding his relationship with his ex-wife and daughter.

 

Tony sighs and grabs a notebook. "Commercial farms of soy for soy milk and soy cheese." Pepper looks at him. "It's not as bad as it sounds. The vat-raised meat tastes just like real meat doesn't it?"

 

"It does." She says slowly. "I suppose soy milk would taste the same. . .and not affect those people with lactose problems. Are you going to expand the replicator to the rest of the building? Or even the city?"

 

"No, that would leave us open to lawsuits. People still have allergies."

 

Phil comes out of the elevator, nodding. He'd obviously been listening to the conversation thanks to JARVIS. "There's also the egg substitutes."

 

Tony nods. "We use about a third real eggs and the rest egg substitutes. Mostly the dry." He makes a note to look at factories to make soy milk and the egg substitutes.

 

"The liquid isn't meant for commercial cooking." Phil agrees. "Have you looked at the water cleansers?"

 

"Yes, and ran tests comparing them to the treatment facilities, they're better but they don't have the output of the plants."

 

"They're more for buildings."

 

"Yes, it would be easy enough to put them on the water line of a building."

 

"Or spacecraft."

 

"Yes, how many units were in operation would depend on the number of people aboard."

 

"This isn't just a visit to wish us a merry Christmas." Pepper says quietly.

 

"NASA says the sky changing is magnetic eruptions in the sun."

 

"Are we in danger?"

 

"No, it's all going around us, the eruptions are dying back down."

 

"Like the sunspots causing electrical problems?"

 

Phil nods. "Same cause. This is what happens when they go past Earth without incident, that's when they impact Earth. Normally we don't even know it's happening, everybody's on edge thanks to the epidemic."

 

"And waiting for the other shoe to drop." Pepper sighs in relief. "Thank you Phil. Are you going to the farm for Christmas?"

 

"Clint insisted." Phil ducks his head and Pepper smiles as he gets back on the elevator. "Phil's got a family whether he knows it or not."

 

Christmas is quiet and after the first of the year everybody appears for a meeting, Dr. Banzai attending to pass along information to the group that is handling New Jersey. Don Flack is attending as representative from the police and is alternately looking around in disbelief and muttering. Clint recognizes that look and chuckles. "Lose the draw or your boss 'volunteer' you?"

 

"I was out of the room."

 

"Yep. that's usually how it goes." Clint chuckles as he looks at Phil. "Been there, done that." Then rubs his head when Natasha swats him. Phil gives her a nod of thanks. "That's the 'quit embarassing me' look from a Marine." Don chuckles.

 

The meeting gets underway.

 

"Weasel, Mr. Flack. . .is there any problems getting in weapons or ammo?"

 

"The police department needs new guns. A lot of cops were having to buy their own guns since the.. ."

 

"guns the city provided were pieces of shit?" Weasel snickers. "We've had a few officers coming in making that complaint."

 

"Are there any rapid response units trained specifically to deal with superhumans?"

 

"No, we had a few units but they were disbanded by the mayor. They didn't deal with superhuman activity. . .they were more swat type units and he didn't feel the need for them. That left the regular cops. . ."

 

"Bending over and kissing your ass goodbye when the shit hits the fan? The invasion case in point?"

 

"Yes, our guys were reduced to getting civilians to safety because we didn't have the weapons that could have hurt the alens."

 

"And the army would have took too long to get here." Tony mutters. "We need to think about bigger weapons. Get Coulson the information on the guns." Phil nods and makes a note. Don reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out a folder. Phil chuckles. "The brass didn't want me to bring it but Mac told me to bring them along."

 

The meeting breaks up after a couple hours, Don giving Weasel and Matthew rides. A beeping after they leave have Tony and the others running to a lab that's on fire. Foam suddenly appears to douse the fire and Buckaroo blinks at the young man who's clinging to the ceiling as he throws balls that explode into foam on the remaining fire. Flipping around he lands on the floor.

 

"What happened?"

 

"I don't know Mr. Stark." the woman who's lab this is says as she comes back in. Peter had dragged her out before pressing against the ceiling. "One second everything was going fine and soon. . .blooie." Clint snickers despite himself.

 

"Peter?"

 

"I heard the explosion, got her out, and started throwing my foam balls."

 

"Is this what you've been working on?"

 

"Yes, they're easier to handle than an extinguisher, don't need recharging, and the coating melts at the heat of an open flame. The foam inside expands."

 

Buckaroo is introduced to Peter after he wipes off the soot. He knows who he is now. . .not many people can cling to a ceiling like that after all.

 

"Did you bring up the need for new guns?" Mac asks as Don arrives back at the precinct.

 

"They asked if we needed anything in the way of guns or ammo, I gave them everything." Mac nods in satisfaction. The higher ups might now have wanted it brought up but he wants the police to have good guns.

 

Wails of 'but we don't need new guns' can be heard from the office of the person in charge of requistions for the police. 'If they'd just take care of them' gets the stupidity slapped out of him by the commissioner as he looks at all the complaints about the guns. "But if you buy new guns that will destroy the budget surplus." he wails.

 

"Our officers lives are more important than your damn budget surplus. We never should have ordered from that supplier in the first place."

 

The moron continues to wail as he looks over all the reports, trying to find fault with the officers instead of the guns and finding all the complaints justified. Looking at the supplier finds similar complaints from other police departments and he whines about his precious budget as the order is placed.

 

"But they have to be trying something." A man wails in DC when he hears about all the purchases of guns and ammo.

 

"Moron! Police forces routinely buy large lots of guns for their officers. And New York is a good target for anybody wanting to do something, they need supplies of weapons. Look what happened during the alien invasion. . .regular police weapons would have been a peashooter against their ships."

 

"Weeelllll. . .I . . .I guess so. But what about the army?"

 

"They don't have any local bases and by the time they get supplies together and on the move, it would be long over. Or don't you remember the army arriving after the Avengers took out the aliens?"

 

"Weeeeelllllll. . .I . . .I guess so." he mutters again. "But Baxter. . ."

 

"I don't care what that miserable bastard says. He's been after Stark ever since he started getting in supplies. He's sure he's up to something. Well he is, he's trying to protect New York."

 

Buckaroo returns to the Institute a couple days after the meeting, finding the others doing an inventory of the supplies they're getting in from the state.

 

"How was the meeting?" Perfect Tommy asks.

 

"Good, they've had a year more experience running things than we have. They're making sure New York is in good hands. .. from what I understand the former mayor was a fool and the governor is more than happy to have somebody with some sense taking over the city."

 

"And the world?" Tommy chuckles.

 

"I don't think they're that far yet, no matter what some old fools in the government think."

 

"Buckaroo, have you heard anything about schools?" One of the others asks.

 

"Schools are being inspected and they figure on opening this fall. The bigger cities might see situations like New York where they have to tear down schools and have two shifts but not areas like ours."

 

"Good, I know all our interns are keeping up on their classes and will be able to get in their proper classes but. . ."

 

"One of Mr. Stark's associate's daughters was able to do it as well since she'd been getting assignments through a private school. Another of his young associates had to start her senior year over again however."

 

"That's got to be rough."

 

"Not as bad as the other areas that aren't even trying to reopen their schools. . .those poor kids are stuck in limbo. They can get a GED when they're old enough but if they weren't that far in their schooling. .." Everybody in earshot nods. "They're going to be complaining if this all gets straightened out and the US is the laughingstock of the world because they're not even trying to open the schools again."

 

"Of course not, he had to have had had a reason for shutting down the schools. A good one. . .we just don't know it yet. It can't be because the man was a fool and thought the schools had tons of supplies he could use to make the local governments do what he wanted."

 

A few days later Buckaroo nods in satisfaction as he sees the dome go up over the Institute. The alternate power supply hadn't been that hard to install and the others were busy making tesseracts of empty rooms for more supplies.

 

In New York Pepper looks up from the paperwork when security buzzes her, she pushes some buttons on a remote and when the elevator opens the men inside are stuck, unable to move.

 

"Mr. Fisk. .. what do you think you are doing demanding Mr. Stark drop everything and turn everything over to you?" Pepper sneers as she gives the Kingpin a disgusted look. "What's the matter . . .are the real villains in the city ignoring you?" She mocks him. In his office Tony has a hand shoved in his mouth to keep from laughing as Coulson alerts his agents to come get the man.

 

He's blustering about how he's never been so insulted as the elevator doors open again on the ground floor, SHIELD agents stunning him before they take him into custody. He wakes up in a special cell and is given a speedy trial before being sentenced to the rest of his life in a special prison. He howls loudest at the news that all his holdings are going to Stark and SHIELD, throwing himself at the bench before being tazed.

 

"Damn fool. . .did he really think Stark would roll over and give you everything?" the judge says in disgust as he's led off.

 

"Of course, little. . .well I can't call him that. ..big bastard has lost power over the last couple of years as gangs and organized crime is clamped down on and he's pouting."

 

Fisk's name is added to the list of 'in prison until he's dead' list at SHIELD headquarters. All his records are being gone over with a fine tooth comb and Peter and Matthew toast Fisk being put behind bars permanently with soft drinks.

 

A meeting of 'villains' a few weeks later has people shaking their heads at empty spots as a list of those dead or in prison is read.

 

"Fisk was a fool, did the moron really believe Stark would give him whatever he wanted?" Doom snorts. "The only reason he stayed in power for so long was because he had a nearly unlimited supply of young fools to do his bidding." Mister Sinister nods across the table. "Is AIM gone for good?"

 

"Most likely, I haven't heard any news about them and all SHIELD is finding is empty bases." The HYDRA agent in the White House says. "And before you ask. . .yes HYDRA is just as bad, we were gutted by all the deaths and arrests when SHIELD fell and never really recovered. Anybody left is helping out in other ways."

 

"AIM's research?"

 

"Being parceled out to scientists after SHIELD makes sure it's nothing dangerous."

 

The next couple of months pass slowly, everybody would swear that it snows nearly daily. Tony is busy dismantling Fisk's empire, giving great pleasure in sending the old fool updates in his special jail.

 

Phil taps Tony on the shoulder one day as he's looking over reports on a training center he's purchasing outside the city.

 

"Good morning Agent, is this a social call?"

 

Phil shakes his head. "The sickness is starting up again." Tony sighs but nods. "Do we have a list of locations?"

 

Phil puts a file on the screen. "The green areas are areas with no illness, pink areas are areas with sickness but no or limited deaths, while red is heavy deaths. It's small right now but they're all growing."

 

Swaring in Russian alerts them to not just Natasha but Bucky arriving.

 

"What's the death toll?"

 

"We're looking at nearly four billion when this is done. The precogs are seeing more countries being wiped out." A file goes up on the server. "This is just our best estimates at how many people the countries have left. Some we have no way of knowing."

 

"Communist countries won't admit to any deaths." Natasha says. Everybody nods. "We need to make plans to take them out if they try to attack us when they think we're weak."

 

Phil sighs. "That would bring us into a war. Which might be what dumbass wanted since he was beefing up our military."

 

The others, Richards and Xavier are either on the phone or computer, nod. "I have a way to keep nuclear weapons from detonating." Reed says.

 

"Good, that's one less worry." Phil pinches the bridge of his nose and Clint starts massaging his shoulders, recognizing the signs of a tension headache. "Thank you. . ." he says both to Clint and Pepper who hands him two aspirin and a bottle of water.

 

"I can't see many 'super-villains' sitting back to let communists take over the world." Professor Xavier says slowly. In his office Erik and Sinister nod.

 

"Doom wouldn't stand for it, he'd attack them." Reed says. "Now. . .I've heard rumors that military academies are trying to reopen and to get in students would have to enroll in the military for several years."

 

"I can't see the president doing it. . .at least this one. Now dumbass would do it and I can see the other countries declaring it an act of agression."

 

"Wellllll, he did want to grow the military." Pepper snorts. "Making it so that the only way you could get an education was to join the military would certainly do it." Nods from everybody listening again.

 

Doom gets an update from Richards an hour later, nodding when he says Doom wouldn't put up with the communists trying to take over. "Indeed."

 

Kate blinks back tears as she attends her graduation ceremony, wishing her parents had lived to attend. But she can see her friends in the Avengers and Young Avengers in the audience. So is Dr. Banzai, who's talking to her about an internship at the Institute. Her acceptance to Columbia had been . . .delayed by the school closings and she'd already planned on taking a year off.

 

A couple days after Kate's graduation Tony, Steve, and Phil walk through the compound Tony had brought, making notes on what will be where.

 

"Is this going to be just for us?"

 

"No, the young Avengers, Peter, and Matthew will be allowed to train here too." Pepper nods in satisfaction.

 

"Are we putting the same supplies in here that we have at the tower?"

 

"Yes, and it will be domed as well."

 

"Is the dome growing again?"

 

"Not this year."

 

"Have you looked at the land we took over?"

 

"Yes, some of it is already being tilled up for commercial farms."

 

"Offdimension growing?"

 

"Expanded." He sends Phil the list of what they have planned, Steve looking over his shoulder and nodding. "Nice selection but are you growing too much?"

 

"No, some of it will be passed along to the state, some for sale here in the city, some will go to all of us, some will go to the Banzai Institute." Tony sends a note off to Pepper. Phil looks at him. "Frank and Peter will have their gardens again. . .we need to see if they need more canning supplies."

 

"Do we have some?"

 

"Oh yes, I've got a warehouse filled with various canning jars. Now. . .the stuff like pectin and whatnot will have to be either brought or replicated. . .it doesn't last forever."

 

"Tree crops?"

 

"Will take several years before they can be harvested."

 

"Coffee?" Phil chuckles.

 

"Yes, that's one of the major crops I have in mind over the next few years."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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