"For being retired, the Avengers do seem to be constantly going off on missions quite often."

Tony knew that voice. Hadn't heard it in a while though.

"Point Break! When'd you get back?"

"I returned to Midgard almost a week ago," Thor replied, striding forward towards the group that had just arrived back from Wakanda.

Well, the group minus Johnson. He'd barely landed the quinjet when the woman had punched the rear doors open and had leapt from the craft only to enter the one next door, along with a second woman that Tony didn't get a good enough glimpse of to recognise, before Sam had lifted their quinjet and rocketed away.

"It's good to see you, Thor," Steve said, shaking the Asgardian's hand.

"You as well, Captain," Thor replied before nodding to another of their group. "Seidhr."

Seeing Thor turn towards Pepper, Tony hustled forward, placing himself between the two.

"Nah uh," Tony began, only to be subsequently pushed aside by Pepper who promptly gave Thor a hug.

"I'm pregnant, Tony, not an invalid," Pepper admonished.

"You are with child?" a clearly happy Thor boomed. "That is cause for much celebration."

"But Thor doesn't know his own strength," Tony didn't whine. "I don't want him inadvertently hurting you or the baby."

"I would never hurt the Lady Pepper," Thor replied sounding indignant.

"Is that someone new?" Steve asked, nodding towards the upstairs window.

"Indeed, a friend and ally," Thor replied. "I met Carol on the Kree home world."

"While you were looking for answers?" Steve asked, leading the group inside.

"Aye."

"What'd you find?" Harry asked.

"Nothing solid that I can bury Mjolnir or Stormbreaker into as yet," Thor frowned.

"Stormbreaker?" Tony asked. "Is that like a euphemism for your fist or something?" Seeing the incredulous looks directed at him, he continued, attempting to defend himself. "What? He's the God of Thunder, isn't he? It makes sense!"

"No, Stark, Stormbreaker is my new weapon," Thor replied and held out his hand.

A whooshing sound preceded the meaty thwak that a large axe impacting with Thor's hand made. Its handle was long, meaning that the axe itself came all the way up to Thor's chest.

"A new weapon? What are you going to do with two weapons?" Tony asked.

"He's got two hands, doesn't he?" Nat shrugged, eliciting a mighty laugh from Thor and a chuckle from the new woman who was approaching.

"That is precisely what Eitri, the Dwarven King who crafted Stormbreaker said," Thor said. "But have no fear, Stark, Mjolnir will not be cast aside, after all, both the Vision and the Seidhr can wield the hammer."

Instantly, Tony whirled on Harry, as, he noted, did everyone else there.

"You can lift Mjolnir?" Tony asked incredulously. "Nope, don't believe it."

"I'm with Tony on this one," Steve added. "We all tried to lift Mjolnir at the party before Ultron crashed it. None of us could so much as wiggle it."

"That's not true," Nat frowned. "Potter here never got a chance."

"Don't look at me!" Harry exclaimed, "I've got no idea where Thor's got this idea from."

"Thor?" Tony asked, spinning back to the Asgardian. "You care to explain that claim of yours?"

Thor was clearly looking confused by the turn of the conversation. "When Ultron first appeared and attacked, I clearly remember Harry picking up Mjolnir and tossing it to me."

"I don't remember that," Harry replied with a shake of his head.

"One way to settle this," Tony stated. "Friday. Tap into the archives of the Tower of the night in question. Show us the footage of when Ultron first appeared."

"Yes, Boss," Friday replied.

A screen to their left flicked on showing the group seated in a set of lounges, laughing and talking. As they watched, they saw the challenge of lifting Mjolnir issued. One by one, they tried and failed – Clint, Tony, Rhodey, Bruce, Steve, Darcy. But before Harry could try, Ultron appeared. There was a brief conversation before the four Iron Legion suits controlled by Ultron appeared. They heard Harry shout and grab and toss Mjolnir to Thor microseconds before Steve kicked up the coffee table to intercept incoming fire.

"Freeze," Tony said, his eyes fixed on Harry. "Well, Merlin? What do you have to say for yourself? Clearly you've been holding out on us."

The fact that Harry didn't comment on the 'Merlin' quip was extremely telling.

"I don't remember doing that," he frowned. "Could it have been a fluke?"

"No," Thor replied. "You simply proved your worth. Here, let me show you."

With one arm, Thor held out Stormbreaker to Harry, while with the other, he summoned Mjolnir to him. The fact that Harry took the axe seemed to make Thor grin.

"Now, give Stormbreaker to Stark there," Thor instructed.

Tony narrowed his eyes. He knew that there was some kind of trick being played here but for the life of him, he couldn't see what it was. Warily, he reached out and grasped the axe that Harry offered him. The second that Harry let go, though, it was as though Tony's shoulder was wrenched from its socket as the axe plummeted to the ground, far far too heavy for Tony to lift.

"You see, my friend, you are worthy. Stormbreaker is imbued with the same magic as Mjolnir and only those deemed worthy can lift it."

"Not cool, Point Break," Tony groused. "Just for that, I'm sending back all the pop tarts that we have."

"You are a cruel man, Stark," Thor pouted.

A warm tingling sensation appeared around the shoulder that he was clutching and he looked over to see Harry putting away his wand. As the spell faded, Tony rotated his shoulder a couple of times, finding that it felt better than it had in years.

"Thanks," he nodded.

ooo00ooo

Tony eyed the new girl curiously even as he took a drink of scotch. He'd heard her story. Ace air force pilot, first on the scene of a crashed Kree spaceship – and wasn't that something that he needed to start a file on, the Kree, those guys just kept popping up time after time. Fought alongside said Kree against another alien species – Skrull, these ones were called – and won but was subsequently busted up too far for Earth medicine to heal. And then taken off-world to get healed and experimented on.

Thor seemed to trust her, though. So, there was that.

Well, if the woman was used to being experimented on ...

Palming a cocktail fork, Tony sauntered over towards her. She glanced at him but taking another sip of his drink was enough to put her at ease. Then, before either he could take a second thought or she could react, he jabbed the cocktail fork into her arm.

"Hey! What the hell?" Carol yelled.

"Stark!" Thor began warningly, a warning that Tony was happy to ignore.

"Well, we still bleed red blood," he stated, peering at the twin droplets of red on her arm. "You sure you were experimented on?"

Carol's expression darkened and it took all Tony had in him not to shy away. That feeling only doubled when she raised her arm, her fist clenched as it pointed at his face. And then, unexpectedly, it veered away slightly before it suddenly glowed a bright golden colour and a pulse of power rocketed out of her.

Tony spun, trying to watch the blast and to see what it could do, only for the blast to rocket out of the open window and sail across the open ground outside.

"What? Just, what?" Tony asked, spinning back to stare at her.

"Photon blasts," Carol said. "And that's not all I can do. So, yes, I'd definitely say that I was experimented on."

"Photon, huh? What's your max power output? What sort of damage can you do?" Tony blurted.

"Tony," Steve said warningly. "That's enough. I've already missed my best friend's wedding due to wizarding customs that neither of us completely understand, don't make it so that Captain Danvers ensures that I don't miss your funeral. Leave the woman alone. If she feels like indulging your experiments, then she'll tell you."

"Thank you, Captain," Carol nodded to Steve before turning to Tony.

Before she could say whatever it was that she was thinking, though, Friday interrupted.

"Sir, I believe that there is something that you will want to see on the television."

"Then, by all means, throw it up," Tony instructed, gesturing to the largest screen in the room.

Everyone turned as the sound and screen blared to life. Most even took a couple of steps closer to the screen at what was shown.

"Is that ...?" Rhodey asked.

"... calling himself the 'Hobgoblin'," the reporter, Christine Everhart from WHiH answered for him. "From the little that is known, this 'Hobgoblin' flew into the Stirling National Bank a little before four p.m. on what has been described as some type of advanced flying glider. Whatever it is, it's definitely tech that has been specifically banned under the Sokovia Accords. At this stage, we do not know how many hostages have been taken or what other weapons this Hobgoblin has, although his method of gaining entrance to Stirling National was through a grenade-like explosion which levelled the doors to the bank."

The image switched to a grainy one, obviously taken from a security camera across the road from the bank, of when this 'Hobgoblin' first appeared, announced himself, blew off the doors of the bank and flew in on his glider.

"Catch that image!" Tony snapped.

Instantly, the screen froze and Tony strode towards it.

"Isolate the glider. Now, compare it to the one that Osborne was using at Barracuda."

The screen split in two with each showing a glider. To the naked eye, it was easy to tell that the designs were extremely similar.

"This new glider appears to be both more advanced and more primitive at the same time," Friday stated.

"How does that make sense?" Darcy asked. "Friday, are you on the fritz?"

A slashing movement of Tony's hand silenced her.

"Oh, it makes sense," he said. "Show me."

Instantly, parts of the two gliders began glowing even as scrolls of text appeared beside them.

"Whoever built this new glider knew what they were doing," Tony stated. "Power levels increased, better efficiency, those stabilizers would make it more manoeuvrable as well. The problem is in the materials. This thing loses a lot in what was used to make it. It's too heavy, too bulky."

"Lack of funds to afford the good stuff?" Bruce asked. "Is that why he's robbing a bank?"

Crreeaakk!

"Easy, there, Matt," Steve said, laying a hand on the man's shoulder. "We're all feeling exactly the same."

Slowly, Matt's hands relaxed slightly from where they'd been wrapped so tightly around his walking stick that his knuckles had been completely white.

"We should be there!"

"How'd this guy get Osborn's tech anyway?" Bruce asked.

"That's not Osborn is it?" Rhodey asked. "Doesn't look like it, just want to make sure."

"No, it's not Osborn," Maria said, lowering her phone from her ear. "Osborn's still locked up tight in the Raft, he's not going anywhere, especially with the way his suit is rigged so that, if he even attempts to escape, it'll lose power."

"Which would mean that he'd die from the venom of the dragon that bit him," Thor nodded.

"As to how this guy got the tech, we've got no idea," Maria continued. "According to my sources at S.H.I.E.L.D., no one's even attempted to access anything that they collected from Oscorp in the past year."

"Any chance this guy worked at Oscorp and had access to the files before S.H.I.E.L.D. got to them?" Erik asked.

Maria nodded. "Definitely an angle to look into."

"And what about that guy?" Matt growled. "We just have to let him go?"

"Unfortunately, we have to let the police handle it," Steve replied sympathetically. "At least, for now."

ooo00ooo

Harry's eyebrow rose involuntarily at the sight of Doreen, Gwen and Peter loitering near the Bungalow. Really, there was no other word for it. The three of them may have been dressed for the beach with towels either thrown over their shoulders or, in the case of Gwen, tied around her waist, but there was certainly no intention on their part to actually head to the beach. The fact that their eyes were also constantly flicking up the Bungalow gave away where their thoughts were.

Obviously, Teddy has something particular in mind for today, Harry thought.

Not that he could blame him. And if he were being honest, Harry would have expected this to happen weeks ago. Probably only his time in Wakanda had prevented it from happening when he'd thought that it would.

Deciding not to make his godson wait any longer than necessary, Harry took the stairs two at a time, quickly crossed the veranda and entered the Black Bungalow. Throwing off his travelling cloak, he used a touch of wandless magic to banish it across the room to land on the sofa.

"Teddy? You here?"

"Up here, Uncle Harry!"

Looking up, Harry's ears narrowed in on the source of his godson's voice. The 'attic' or, at least, the large open room that covered the entire top of the Bungalow and allowed those up there an unparalleled view of this part of the island.

Entering the great room, Harry's eyes instantly swept it and again, unbidden, his eyebrows rose. Teddy was sitting off to one side, his legs crossed, his arms hanging loosely on his knees, his head slightly bowed and his eyes closed. Harry nodded approvingly at the posture of meditation; the boy had obviously been putting in a lot of practice.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Harry asked. "I could come back later."

Instantly, Teddy's head snapped up, his eyes wide.

"No! No, you're not interrupting," he blurted. "I was just meditating while I was waiting for you."

"Ah, in that case ..." Harry said as he crossed the room and dropped into a chair across from where his godson was sitting, "perhaps we should eliminate all distractions?"

A flick of his hands caused the torches around the room to flare to life even as the shutters on the windows snapped shut, enclosing the room and incidentally blocking out the almost inaudible sounds of voices coming from the ground below.

"Uncle Harry?" Teddy asked.

"I assume that you've been practicing your meditation and connecting with your chameleon-side while I've been away?"

"Every chance I got," Teddy nodded vigorously. "I was even meditating in the Den when Flash and his crowd were in there."

"You were?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Teddy replied. "Well, you did say that I had to be able to do connect with my animal at any time under any circumstances. I figured that if I could do it then, then it'd be easy to do at normal times."

"Hmm," Harry frowned.

Sitting in a booth with distracting noises was one thing – and an impressive one at that – but being in battle or being able to transform when your adrenaline was pumping was an altogether different barrel of flobberworms, as Harry himself knew. It was, however, a start.

Concentrating on one particular shelf on the small bookcase against the near wall, Harry snapped his fingers. Instantly, a series of eight old, leather-bound volumes vanished only to be replaced by a single vial of potion.

"Woah! Where'd that come from?" Teddy blurted, eyes wide. "No, don't tell me. An illusion charm? And it's been there the whole time?"

"Yep," Harry grinned.

A wordless accio had the vial flying across the room to smack into his hand.

"This will force your body into completing its very first transformation into your chameleon self," Harry explained. "It won't last long – a couple of minutes at most – but it'll be more than enough to 'kickstart' your body into knowing its 'alternate' shape. And then it'll simply be a case of practicing until you can do it without any effort at all."

"Cool," Teddy said, his eyes firmly fixed on the vial.

Suddenly, though, his eyes snapped to Harry's.

"When do I get my Marauder name?"

"When you can transform into your animal and back in less than a minute," Harry replied. "Now. Are you sure that you're ready? It will be uncomfortable, painful even these first few times."

"Yes. I'm sure," Teddy nodded. "If you can do it and if dad could suffer through transforming into a werewolf every month for most of his life, then I can do this."

That answer was exactly the one that Harry had expected and wanted.

"In that case, get yourself comfortable."

Harry watched Teddy squirm around, tossing aside a couple of pillows until he was in the very centre of the bright blue rug with nothing around him. As soon as he was sure that Teddy was ready, he simply held out the vial and watched as Teddy's slightly trembling hand took it.

Now, as far as Harry was concerned, came the hard part: sitting back and watching his godson drink the potion and go through a transformation that he knew was going to really hurt – something that no parent (or in this case, god-parent) wanted for their child.

Then, with barely any hesitation, Teddy uncapped the vial and tipped it up, swallowing the foul-tasting potion in one go. A simple accio on Harry's part had the vial gathered and out of the way before it'd even fallen halfway from Teddy's suddenly spasming hand and the floor.

Fingers stretched. Eyes enlarged and moved to the side of his head. Teddy's body shrunk even as a tail popped into being. His skin colour flickered and flared, going through the whole rainbow of colours before settling on a greenish-brown. And then, after nearly two minutes of changes happening, Teddy had completed his change into a green-brown chameleon. That, of course, only lasted for a couple of seconds before his skin changed once again, this time to the same bright blue as the rug that he was sitting upon.

Harry watched with interest as Teddy hesitantly moved one foot in front of the other, beginning a slow, awkward, four-legged walk across the rug. The awkward steadily began to change into a movement that looked a little more natural, however, before chameleon-Teddy could get walking completely down, his body began its painful transformation back into its human shape.

Just under two minutes later, a sweating, panting Teddy was looking up at him with the biggest grin on his face that Harry'd ever seen him with.

"That hurt! A lot more than you said it would," Teddy accused. "When can I do it again?"

"Actually, if you're up for it, now is the perfect time," Harry replied. "While your body is fresh from its first change and still remembers your new shape, it'll be good to reinforce it. But!" Harry said, emphasising his point with a raised hand. "Twice more is your limit for today. Your body simply won't be able to handle that amount of pain any more than that. It'll get better and easier though. So, are you ready?"

"What do I have to do?" Teddy asked eagerly, sitting up, his eyes ablaze.

ooo00ooo

"You sure they're here?" Sam asked from the pilot's seat of the quinjet. "Only I'm not seeing anything."

"They're here," Daisy replied confidently. "The Bus can cloak remember and with the Accords in play, Coulson will be doing everything he can to make sure that they keep a low profile."

Sam frowned at the view of the – apparently – empty field below them. It was certainly large enough for the S.H.I.E.L.D. Bus to