The Intruder (July 2012)

Serena was in her suit and her, Peter and Tont were on the lab. This was the 6th test and it had taken all night for Tony to modify her suits energy pass throughs enough to where she could form a smaller, localized shield around an object and also have gaps enough in order for air to pass in and out.

Her doing this without the suit was going to be another thing altogether. Peter yawned as he sautered copper wires onto a tiny green processor board. They were trying to make a miniaturized version of her gauntlets that she could wear as bracelets. They had solved the power problem but the output control was the main issue now.

Peter looked up as he saw Serena’s head bob. ‘How she can sleep sitting up like that, I’ll never know’ He thought with a loving smile.

“Ok, test number 7,” Tony said into the camera,”

———————-

Steve and Kate had experienced a little of what Logan and Natalya had gone through when William pulled a little disappearing act on them. They were both in a panic and as Steve searches downstairs for him, Kate searched the main room. When she came back into their room to see if he was there she found him in his bouncie seat safe and sound.

“Kate...I don’t want SHIELD to know about Will,” Steve said when she gave him that worried look again. They weren’t certain if Tony would be able To design something in time but Steve had been still against SHIELD’s involvement.

Serena still wasn't sure if her father's idea was going to work. It was proving to be difficult to do this in the suit, let alone without the suit. She, Peter, and her father had been in her father's lab all night working through the problems, but now she was exhausted. She had only meant to close her eyes for a moment but it took Peter nudging her to actually get her eyes to reopen.

"I'm..." yawn "...awake..." yawn.

--------------------------

Kate freaked out when William disappeared on them. She and Steve searched everywhere for him and her worry grew second by second. She was so relieved when they found him in his bouncie seat that she nearly started to cry. She sat down on the edge of their bed and looked at Steve when he told her that he didn't want SHIELD to learn about William's abilities.

"I don't want that either Steve," she told him honestly, "but if Tony can't figure this out then what other choice do we really have?"

Well not it came to it. Steve has not told her what he did because so far Brice Banner has not called him back. But he knew he’d have to appease Kate somehow.

“I called Bruce Banner...I left messages but he hasn’t called me back. Rhodes told me he’s out of the country and thinks he knows where,” he said as he saw Kate’s eyes grow more intense. Dealings with Bruce Banner were sometimes extremely dangerous. Everyone knew that but the fact that Steve called him at all just showed how desperate he really was.

——————-

As Tony handed Serena back her gauntlet Peter helped her put it on. They had an Apple, an organic substance on the test table and the test involved her trying to surround the Apple with her shield. A delicate process and far from as easy as it sounded.

Kate's eyes widened when Steve revealed to her that he had called Bruce Banner. How could he not have told her that? She and Steve had both worked with him and she knew that he was far from stable as far as the Hulk was concerned. "Why didn't you tell me you called Bruce?"

-------------------------

Serena sighed and stood back up. She really needed some more coffee...or a nap. She wasn't sure how well she was going to be able to perform like this, but she would give it her best shot. She let Peter help her put her gauntlet back on and she looked at the apple that was on the test table. She raised up her right hand and pointed her palm at the apple. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in and out deeply before opening her eyes and focusing on the apple. She concentrated hard and a shield formed. It pulsed with a reddish glow that surrounded just the apple. At first she grinned at her success and looked at her father.

"See, I can do this."

However, what she didn't realize was that the shield was too tight around the apple and suddenly the apple began to wobble as the pressure built before exploding. Bits of apple splattered all over the lab and unfortunately most of it hit Peter in the face. She winced a little when she looked at him.

"Ooops?"

At first Peter thought that they had it. ‘You got it! You got it Serena!’ He thought as the Apple was surrounded by the energy field. He took a step forward then noticed the Apple began to wobble. Before he could step back again the Apple exploded and bits of Apple and juice fell over over his shirt but mostly all over his face. As everyone looked on in stunned silence at the failure he licked a bit of the juice and Apple that was on his upper lip.

“Well, If I ever want apple sauce, I know who to come to for it,” Peter said hopefully to lighten the mood.

“Ok what part of ‘a larger field this time’ did you not understand Serena?” Tony asked sounding tired and annoyed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Ok, obviously we’ve been at this to long. You two go and get some sleep. We’ll try again in the morning,” he said

———————-

“Because he hadn’t called me back. If he had I would have talked to you about it,” he said then saw the look in her eyes. Steve stepped up to her and put his arms around Kate. “We’ll figure this out Kate. I promise,” he said as he kissed her forehead.

William was turning out to be a lot more work and stress than he could ever had imagined. He already felt close to him and even called him his son or his boy. Kate had already fallen in love with him so there was no going back. The search for the fox for this problem might be an impossible one but finding it was a necessary one to.

Serena scowled at her father. "I'm doing the best I can!" she snapped back at him. She took off the gauntlet and rolled her eyes. "It is morning," she said grumpily. She was so tired. She desperately needed a few hours of sleep. Peter had to get in between Serena and her father and she let him lead her away. She got to her room and was still mumbling angrily. "Make the field bigger...make the field smaller," she mocked under her breath. "I'm not a damn machine."

--------------------------------

Kate sighed and leaned against Steve. She wasn't angry with him. She was just upset at the situation and she was worried about what they were going to do. "I know we will, because we have to. And if we can't figure anything else out we can take him to Charles."

As Peter and Serena headed toward their room they noticed the elevator open but no one came out. He looked at her and she looked at him and the. Peter’s spider senses went crazy. He grabbed hold of Serena and, as a small black orb bounced down onto the floor he had jumped away and flipped end over end with her as the orb exploded with a bright blinding light and a sonic attack that stunned them both even though they had been out of the blast range. It did very little damage all things considered but Peter rolled away from her and stayed low as he prepared to fight.

———————

From the lab Tony heard the sonic boom and felt the whole floor shake. From her her office and from their rooms the others heard the same thing. From the Hot tub, so much for her threat about having no sex with him, Logan and Natalya felt the blast as well if not so loudly.

Cable dropped from the ceiling and pulled out his rifle. He wasn’t sent to kill these people, only the boy.

Serena was still mumbling to herself when suddenly the elevator doors opened. No one stepped out and Serena immediately got a bad feeling about what was about to happen. All of a sudden she felt Peter grab a hold of her as a black orb bounced down onto the floor. Peter shielded her with his body and together they flipped end over end out of the way of the blast. Even so, Serena was left feeling rather stunned. It took her a second to fully realize what had happened and she quickly got up and formed an energy orb in each hand.

Suddenly, a massive man dropped down from the ceiling in front of them. He had one metal arm and a strange looking left eye. He carried a rifle with ammo strapped around his body.

"What the hell do you want?"

Kate and Steve had been sharing a rather romantic moment when suddenly that moment was shattered by the sonic boom they heard and felt. Isabella had been working in her office when the boom shook the room. She and Steve and Kate nearly ran into each other in the hallway as they rushed out. Natalya and Logan jumped out of the hot tub and quickly got dressed and rushed upstairs. Natalya thought that perhaps something terrible had happened in Tony's lab.

As Peter sized the man up, he looked as if he was from one of those Terminator movies. He felt sluggish but as the man leveled his rifle at them he tilted the barrel up beyond them. “Where’s the boy?! Cable said in a raspy voice as he pulled up His arm scanner and began scanning the floor.

Peter looked at Serena uncertain of what to do. Steve, Kate and Isabella ran out toward him and Peter saw the barrel of his weapon shift and he fired some kind of projectile at them. Before he could fire a second shot Peter webbed his weapon then webbed the ceiling and pulled hard. Cable held onto his rifle but he was pulled up into the air with it. As Serena’s hand glowed with His offhand cable pulled out a pistol of some kind. In a flash he fired it at Serena and when it hit her in the chest what seemed like hundreds of thin, sticky cables pressed her arms to her sides. The more she moved the tighter they seemed to get and the shot knocked the wind out of her to boot.

The round forced everyone to dodge away from it and the room was filled with a thick, caustic has that made them begin to choke. Peter turned his back to cable to help free Serena of the cables. “I’ve got you Serena!” He said as he began to pull them by the handful.

Cable let go of his rifle and as he did Steve rushes into him. Cable flipped backward and tossed Steve off into the elevator. With some kind of wrist launcher he fired something that struck the elevator controls and the doors closed on Steve.

Serena was horrified by what the man said. There was only one person he could be talking about and that was William. Who was this man working for? As Peter began to use his webs against him, Serena readied herself to fire her energy orbs at him. However, before she could she saw the man pull out another pistol. He aimed it at her and fired before she could even draw a breath. She was hit in the chest by hundreds of thin, sticky cables that pinned her arms to her sides and held her tightly. She tried to move, bu when she did they only became tighter. Her chest throbbed from where she had been struck and she found it difficult to breathe. She then began to cough and choke as the caustic was released.

Kate watched in horror as Steve rushed at the man she recognized to be Cable and was tossed into the elevator like a rag doll. Kate lifted up a hand and used her telekinetic powers to rip the rifle from his hands. It flew back into her hands and she aimed it at him.

"I suggest you stop right there!"

At that point Natalya and Logan had joined the others and were both prepared to fight.

With just a tap on the back of his hand the rifle sent a arc of electricity through Kate that knocked her off of her feet with its intensity. Both Logan and Natalya rushed Cable and, working as a team they attacked. Logan sliced at his weapon and its barrel fell in pieces.

Kate screamed as the electricity rushed through her body. She was thrown off her feet and into a wall and then collapsed in an unconscious state. Her clothes were burned as were bits of her skin. Isabella had called her suit and rushed over to try and help Kate. Natalya rushed Cable with Logan and as Logan sliced at his weapon Natalya performed her signature double leg grapple move on him.

Cable and Natalya were thrown back by her attack but in mid air his hand shot out and he struck her in the throat just hard enough to restrict her airflow. When he landed he rolled as Logan attacked him. His first attacks missed completely but his next one struck a large knife that Cable pulled from his belt. The knife was only a ruse though and with his other hand he threw something that attacked to Logan’s chest. As it activated it seemed to draw him Down to the floor. He tried to lift a limb but it was as if the gravity around him had increased by a factor of 5.

He saw Isabella as Tony in his suit and Pharaoh ran out to join her. Cable removed another rifle from his back.

“I’m not here for you, only the boy. He needs to be removed from this timeline. He was never meant to be,” Cable said.

Isabella knew that Kate needed more help than she could give her, but unfortunately they needed to deal with Cable first. Isabella was horrified to learn that this man was here for William. However, something he said caught her attention.

"What do you mean 'removed from this timeline'?"

Cable decided that if he could get through to these people that he might be able to convince them.

“Someone, we don’t know who has given Hydra knowledge from the future. Specifically gene manipulation and mutation technology. There is a boy here that was created using this technology. I’ve already dealt with the scientist and now I must deal
With the boy. If you stop me you will be risking your lives as well as your future,” he said. “I do not like this business of harming a child but I have my duty,” He said as he charged up his rifle. “Let me be about this dark business and I will trouble you no longer,” he said as he looked into Isabella’s eyes.

Isabella was shocked by what Cable told them. However, she actually believed him. She had seen quite a bit of 'impossible' things working this job. Her mind was open to a lot of possibilities. That being said, William was Kate and Steve's child and she wasn't about to let this man harm him. She stepped out to block his way and looked at him.

"You're going to have to go through me first," she said as she began to fire repulsor beams at him.

Tony joined his wife as they fired their repulsive beams at him. Cable had some kind of shielding that seemed to protect him but their blasts forced him back toward the windows.

Peter had freed Serena and he helped her up. Steve has come back from the elevator and Kate was able to haul herself up from the floor. With his shield failing Cable tossed an orb at the window and it shattered. He tossed a shock bomb at the floor then tapped something on his wrist. In a blink he was gone as everyone looked away from the bright flash. And the tower was quiet once more.

Kate leaned against one of the walls for support, but felt weak. The ends of her hair had been singed and her skin burned in several places. Isabella rushed back over to her and looked at her.

"We need to call EMS."

Kate immediately shook her head. "No..."

"Kate, you were electrocuted..."

Kate shook her head again. "If EMS is called then SHIELD will come and they will find out about William."

Steve was there in an instant. His face was grave when he looked at Kate and he picked her up into his arms. “Isabella, could you please look in on William,” he said as he stepped away toward the infirmary. Peter was looking over Serena she had cuts and bruises from the cables that had wrapped her up. “We should go to Serena,” he said eyeing a large bruise on her neck and a cut on her arm.

“Who was that guy Mr Stark?” Peter asked worriedly. “Take care of Serena Peter, we’ll talk later,” he said as he watched Steve go.

—————-

Steve laid Kate on the biobed and brought down the diagnostic arm. He cut much of her clothes off with a small pair of medical scissors and he went to the cupboard to look for the burn gel. Peter helped Serena onto the other bed and he helped her hike up her short enough to expose where the cables had pressed into her flesh. He winced as he saw the raw flesh around her sternum.

—————-

William was still in his bouncie chair and he looked at Isabella when she came in.

Kate didn't fight Steve as he came over to her and picked her up. Being this close to her Steve would be able to smell her singed hair and burned flesh. She was in pain, but would never say so to Steve. Kate and Steve were both fighters and she had been trained to fight through the pain. She was quiet as he laid her down on the biobed and began to cut off her clothes. In addition to her other burns, she had been burned by the metal underwire in her bra and by her rings. She actually had to pull them off and put them aside. She was trembling slightly as she did so. A clear indication that she was in pain and likely also upset.

"Cable....he was here for William. Hydra apparently got the technology to do what they did to him from the future. At least...according to him."

“I don’t care what he said or what anyone did to Will. He’s ourson and we will raise him how we will. Nobody is taking my son away from me. Nobody!” He growled as he rubbed the gel onto her fingers and hands and then the spots on her flesh. The gel brought immediate relief once it was applied.

Peter had gotten an ointment and was spreading it over Serena’s wounds. It began to sooth her immediately when it contacted her skin.

——————-

As Isabella held Will Tony came in and paused near the door. They were both in their suits still and he looked at the boy who just looked like any other baby.

“What harm can a child bring to the world Isabella? Steve and Kate are two of the most annoyingly good people I know. Whomever is pulling Cable’s strings can’t be right. They are misguided and we can’t let them have him. It feel wrong to me. Something about all of this is just wrong,” he said.

Kate looked at Steve and she reached up and gently touched the side of his face. “I know...I know,” she said soothingly. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll figure this out.” She winced at first when Steve touched her skin, but then it began to bring her some relief.

Isabella was holding William and she looked over at her husband when he walked in. She listened to him and nodded in agreement. “We will have to assume that Cable is going to return. We will need to be better prepared for him.”