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Peggy sighed as she walked toward the base. She wasn’t sure why Howard asked her here, only that it was, in his words, a breakthrough to match all breakthroughs. Of course, Howard had said this many times throughout the years, so at this point in her life she was taking it with a grain of salt. It didn’t help that he’d dragged her out to the California desert in the middle of summer for this. The man in question was talking animatedly to another scientist as she approached them. “Ah, Peggy! Finally, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” he greets her. “This is Dr. Wendy Lawson, the head scientist in charge of this project. Dr. Lawson, I’d like to introduce Director Carter.”“Pleased to meet you, Dr. Lawson. I must admit I’m at a loss as to what it is you’re doing here though, Howard was rather coy about the whole thing.”But, before the doctor could start to explain, an orange cat walked up to her and started brushing against her legs. “Oh,” she exclaimed. “I’m surprised Goose came to introduce herself! She’s usually very wary of new people.”Peggy looked down. The cat looked up with almost too intelligent eyes and meowed at her. “It’s quite all right. Goose, did you say her name was?”“Yes. I got her right after Top Gun came out and I couldn’t resist.”Peggy nodded. “May I pet her?”Dr. Lawson looked down at the cat for a moment, before nodding. “It’s fine. She won’t mind a chin scratch or two.”Peggy leaned down and stroked the cat for a moment, before she let out another meow and walked toward the doctor again.“Well, that was very sweet,” Howard interjected, “but why don’t we get back to the topic at hand.With that, they were off to look at some new jet design, though part of Peggy couldn’t quite get over the rather odd encounter with the orange tabby.
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Natasha schooled her features as she walked through the halls toward the director’s office. She had to remind herself that she was supposed to be here, she wasn’t spying for someone else for once. She was doing this for herself. While she was more than capable of taking care of herself, life on the run from the Red Room had not been easy. If it wasn’t for that one agent, she wouldn’t even be alive right now. She wasn’t ashamed to admit it either. She owed him her life, and she intended to repay that debt as soon as possible. She hated owing people.Opening the door, she found Fury wasn’t there, but that wasn’t surprise. She’d known he’d still be in a meeting with the World Security Council, one that was supposed to go for at least an hour more. But rather than leave and come back later, she decided that waiting would be the best option. After all, he never said she couldn’t, he just told her, if she decided to accept his offer, to meet him at SHIELD headquarters.As she settled in on the chair though, something caught her attention. In the corner, by his desk, was a cat bed. As far as she’d been aware, Fury didn’t have any pets, and he didn’t seem the type to get so attached as to take it to work with him. But before she could get up to investigate, the pet in question came out from behind Fury’s desk. Odd thing though, this cat didn’t move like any cat Natasha had seen in her life. Cats were typically either wary of new people in their territory, or welcoming of them. This one though, there was a confidence in it’s step, like it knew it was the apex predator in the room. It walked up to her, stopping a foot or so away, far enough Natasha couldn’t reach out and touch it without stretching. The cat, Goose according to the tag on its collar, just stared intently, not breaking eye contact even as Natasha stared back. It was almost unsettling, how focused this cat was, not the least bit intimidated. The only move it made was to sniff at the air.If the cat were human, she’d think it was trying to get a measure of her. But that was impossible.Before she could let her imagination run away with thoughts of enhanced and bioengineered animals though, Fury walked in. “Ms. Romanoff. I was wondering when you’d show up. I have to admit, you have impeccable timing.” He didn’t even sound shocked to see her, which impressed her even more than she’d already been with the man. “Ah, I see you’ve met Goose. She didn’t claw at you or anything, did she?”“She was on her best behavior,” Natasha said as the cat let out an almost indignant meow. Natasha turned to give the cat a look, only to see her laying there grooming herself.“Good. Now, are you ready to get to work.”That was what Natasha wanted to hear. “Ready when you are, sir.”
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As Loki ran, dodging the guards as he tried to make his escape, he had to admit that his plan to have a little fun with the Kree might not have been the best one. He hadn’t meant any real harm, but he’d been so bored. Thor was away at the moment, probably out stirring up trouble with the Warriors Three, and with his primary target away, he’d been hard pressed to find an outlet to create his own brand of mischief. As loathe as he was to admit it, his mother might have been right, his idle mind lead him to a world of trouble.But, lucky for him, he also had her aptitude for magic. While he wasn’t the best at it yet, he could conjure a portal to take him away from this planet. That he’d only been able to do it a few times reliably during practice was of no concern. There was a first time for everything after all, and he was always at his best when his back was against the metaphorical wall.With half his concentration still focused on not being captured, he summoned his magic and willed a portal into existence. Not caring where it led, so long as it was away from here, he jumped through, sealing it shut behind him. But instead of the palace on Asgard, or another, less hostile world, he came out on the other side of the portal into a void. Not space, no this didn’t have that same feeling of vastness or lack of air. But it was disconcerting nonetheless. Even more disconcerting, he couldn’t summon another portal out of here. It was as if, wherever he’d brought himself, it was blocking his magic. But, before panic at being stuck in this void forever could take hold, he felt himself start to be thrust forward. It was as if the place was slowly pushing him out, and he was helpless to do nothing but go with it and hope he ended up somewhere his magic was useful again.He didn’t expect to end up sprawled on the ground covered in some disgusting, viscous substance. He sat up quickly, looking for the exit point, only to see an orange cat-like being glaring at him. “Ah. A Flerken. My apologies, I seem to have ended up in your pocket dimension by accident.”The Flerken just hissed at him, showing her displeasure at being forced to cough him up.“You’re quite right, it was very rude of me. Tell me, is there anyway I can repay your generosity?” He was well aware of quickly this could turn against him. Flerken scratches were nothing to be messed with, after all.Thankfully, she just let out a short growl and turned to walk away, sparing Loki any damage but what had been done to his ego.“Thank you, I am in your debt.”—Loki tried to stay calm as Thanos and his lackeys boarded their ship. He knew why they were here, and he’d been kicking himself for giving in to that instinct of taking the most powerful, shiny thing for himself. He really should have known better, it’s yet to work out for him.But he had taken the Tesseract, and now here he stood, facing the consequences of his actions far sooner than he’d expected to. He’d at least hoped they would be able to find a new home for their now displaced population first.He’d almost given into despair for a moment, remembering the hell he’d been put through under that madman’s control. Then a spark of an idea came to him. Blindly casting a portal had saved him once, long ago, when he’d been new to the spell and under an immense amount of stress. Now, though, he was far older and wiser, and had a control his younger self would envy at. With a flick of a hand, he summoned the jewel Thanos was after, and using that as a distraction, very subtly created a duplicate of himself, as solid as he could manage, and stepped through the portal. Relief flooded through him as he found himself in a familiar void. He had no idea where the Flerken was, but anywhere would be better than dying.It took a little longer this time, but the familiar thrusting sensation finally starting pushing him out of the void. Eventually, he wound up sprawled on the floor of a home on what appeared to be Earth of all places, facing a very displeased looking Flerken.“My apologies… Goose,” he asked as he glanced at the collar around her neck. “Is that your name here?”Goose meowed in response. She didn’t sound angry, per se. Just very, very annoyed.“Ah. I see. Well, this is more advantageous than first expected. Again, my very deepest apologies, but it was literally a life or death situation. I promise this was the last time.” He got up and brushed away as much of the mucus as possible, knowing it was a pointless gesture until he could get to a bath. She gave a half hearted swipe at him, then returned to her position looking out the window.“I will warn you though, trouble might be coming. If you have any allies in the area, you’d do well to tell them to prepare.”She looked up at him, tilting her head in question.“Tell me, have you heard of the mad Titan, Thanos?”The sudden hiss was all Loki needed to hear to know he’d found a useful ally.“Good. Then you know what’s coming, and that we have work to do.”
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Thor had no idea how long it had really been since the universe had been plunged into chaos and despair. A few weeks? A month? Honestly at this point he’d lost track of time, everything had blurred together into one horrific day.He and the other Avengers had done their best to help in the aftermath, but what could be done? They’d failed. He’d failed. He had the chance to take the killing shot, should have done it, but he’d let anger cloud his judgement. The others tried to assure him it wasn’t his fault, but he knew better.Wallowing in the past wasn’t going to fix it, as tempting as it was to do. The problem, though, was how do you kill an unstoppable man?They’d been talking in circles trying to solve that very issue. The arrival of Carol Danvers had sparked some hope, But there was still the question of a plan, as much as Carol and Steve just wanted to go at Thanos full force. They’d done that once and failed. They needed a better option.So, for lack of anything better to do at that moment, he sat outside, drinking what passed for alcohol on this planet, looking up at the stars. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone who asked, but he was trying to find the tiny speck that was Asgard. It would still be there, he knew. That one last glimpse of home he had left.A meow and a tiny tinkling noise interrupted his stargazing as he looked down to see the Flerken Carol claimed was her pet. She had shown up shortly after Carol’s arrival, as if she’d known Carol would be here and had been waiting for her. “Hello,” he greeted. It was the first one on one meeting he’d had with the creature since her arrival, and he was unsure how she would react to him. Carol had warned them the Flerken, Goose she’d called her, had been known to be somewhat temperamental at times. He’d already been well warned about Flerkens in his youth, though, and had done his best to avoid contact with the species as a whole. He liked his limbs where they were.The Flerken, thankfully, just rubbed up against his side, in a gesture of comfort he supposed. He carefully put a hand down to scratch at her head. “Thank you, friend.”The Flerken meowed again, a chiding meow.“I’m aware sitting here isn’t going to help anything. But I… well I suppose I need a moment to mourn. I’ve lost a lot on a short time.”Another meow, exasperated, and the Flerken trotted off into the woods surrounding the compound. He sighed and turned to look back up at the sky. It was just as well, he hadn’t exactly felt up to sharing his tale of woe with the creature.Ten minutes later, she came back, holding something in her mouth. Thor stood up when he saw it was a snake. “Now, you might want to put that down. I know you’re a formidable creature in your own right, but the snakes here have been known to be venomous.”She ignored his warning and kept walking until she was right next to him, then spit the snake on the ground, gave it a pointed meow, then walked back into the compound as if she did this kind of thing everyday. Thor looked down at the snake, utterly confused about what to do with it, until he noticed a very, very familiar marking. The snake was all green, except for a golden V shape on the top of its head. Like a crown, almost, or a very familiar helmet. But there was no way. He’d seen Thanos…. “Loki?”The snake started writhing and expanding on the ground. For all that he’d seen this little trick a million times before, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Finally, after a moment, his brother, whom he’d thought actually dead this time, stood before him with a grin that promised mischief.“Hello brother. Tell me, what did I miss?”
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Sam watched as the medic tended to Natasha wound, and couldn’t help but think this was the weirdest week he’d ever had. Well, month, if he was being honest, but having a defrosted World War Two superhero become his running partner and friend had actually started to settle into a new version of normal for him. Having said friend come to his back door with one of his superhero pals and claim the government was after them? That was pushing the limit of normal. Everything that happened after had sent normal straight into the stratosphere, never to return. Sam felt for Steve though. Having… well, whoever Barnes was to him, Sam couldn’t tell but he had the feeling it went deeper than just the friendship the history books taught him, it couldn’t have been easy seeing him like that. There would be time for that later, he hoped at least. For now, they had a world to save; and according to Fury, there was already a plan under way. All that was needed was one missing component, one that was on it way.With nothing better to do, Sam kept an eye on the monitors, watching for anyone approaching their hideout. The most interesting thing to show up so far though was a cat. One who was getting a little too friendly with the front door.Hill walked up behind him, curious to see what had tripped the sensor. “Ah, finally,” she said and walked to the door to open it.“Umm… it’s just a cat,” he said as he followed her, confused as to why she would open the door for a stray cat of all things. “Not just a cat,” she said as said cat walked in and meowed while looking at Hill. Straight at her, as if speaking to her. “I know, I’m sorry. Take it up with Fury, he’s the one who picked the place.”The cat meowed again, sounding annoyed. Which was impossible because that was a human emotion and cats don’t get annoyed, at least not like this one seemed to be.But before he had the chance to ask, the cat started coughing like it had a stubborn hairball that refused to come out. After a few seconds, the thing it had been trying to cough up came out, and it was not the hairball Sam expected, but a briefcase. One that was as big as the cat. “Okay I’ve seen a lot of weird shit today, but what the hell just happened?”Hill glanced at him with a small smile. “That’s Goose. You’ll get used to her, she’s a very special cat.”“Yeah, no kidding,” he said as he watched Goose, and god that was a weird name for a cat, slink over to a corner and lay down. She glanced over in Sam’s direction and gave a small meow before starting to groom herself.“Well, look at that. She likes you,” Hill smiled. “Come on, now that we have this, we can begin the meeting.”“Yeah. Sure,” Sam said with a glance back at the cat. Weirdest. Week. Ever.
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As she watched Fury walk out of her office, coat billowing dramatically behind him, she let out the sigh that had been threatening to escape. She understood why he’d picked her for this assignment. She was one of the best covert agents SHIELD had, and Steve Rogers was one of their highest target assets. While she was well aware he was more than capable of protecting himself, he was still human after all. She just wished it hadn’t have been her they’d asked. In a way, she almost felt too close to this. She’d grown up on stories of the heroic Captain America who’d swoop in to punch the evildoers and save the day. But that was the myth. The man, while more than living up to his heroic persona, was much more than that. It had been clear, the few times she’d seen him in passing, he was a man drowning. Her heart went out to him, and she’d wanted nothing more than to reach out and help.Though, now, she supposed she could. Not as Sharon Carter, but as Kate, his friendly neighbor.There was also the issue of the temporary partner she’d been assigned. All Fury would tell her was she’d be joined by one of his most trusted agents, someone who went by the name of Goose. Apparently, she’d be a real asset to Sharon while helping to establish a cover. While she’d never heard of the agent, she trusted Fury, so if he thought she’d be a good partner for this assignment, she’d accept it.—Sharon collapsed on the couch, exhausted after a day of moving in the last of her stuff. Honestly, it was the worst part of these long term assignments, having to adjust to a new living space.The only thing missing was Goose. Fury had assured her Goose was already around, and she would be checking in that night, all Sharon had to do was wait.She hated waiting. Finally gathering up some energy to look for any takeout places close by, she sat up and reached for her phone when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.Expecting it to be the mysterious Goose, she was caught a little off guard when Steve was on the other side of the door, holding an orange tabby cat.“Um… sorry to bother you, but I found this little guy wandering around my place, I think he might be yours?”Catching the name on the collar, it took all her expertise and skill as a spy to keep her face smooth and not show the shock she felt. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Come here you silly Goose,” she said as she took the cat from Steve’s arms. “She’s sneaky, even for a cat. I’ll try to make sure that won’t happen again…” She paused, hoping Steve would introduce himself.“Right, sorry. I’m Steve,” “Steve, nice to meet you. I’m Kate. I’d invite you in, but I just got finished moving in and it’s still a mess.”Steve shook his head. “No worries, I get it, I just moved in not too long ago myself. I’ll let you go, it looks like you have a lot you need to do. But, feel free to knock on my door if you need anything?”“I will, thanks. And thank you for returning my cat, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Maybe I can take you out, as a thank you? When we both have some free time, that is.”“Maybe,” he said with a smile. She held out her hand, and at his quizzical look she said, “Phone? So I can give you my number.”“Oh, sorry.” He fished his phone out with a slight blush on his cheeks, one she was kind enough not to comment on.“There,” she said as she handed it back to him. “I’ll see you around?”“See you around.”She leaned against the door after she closed it, gaping down at the orange tabby who was looking up at her with for too intelligent eyes. “...Goose?”The cat looked up and meowed.“Okay, the cat just answered. That’s normal. Totally normal,” she said aloud to herself. She sat back down on the couch, all thought of dinner forgotten in her shock. “My partner for this op is a cat. Great.”The cat jumped up on the couch and touched her arm, letting out a sound that, if she let herself actually think about it, sounded sympathetic. But that was impossible. She grabbed her phone and dialed the number she only called in the most dire of emergencies. Fury, of course, picked up right away. “Everything okay, Carter?”“Goose is a cat.”Fury had the utter audacity to let out a chuckle. “I see you’ve met your partner. I promise you, she’s no ordinary cat. Looks like she’s already got the surveillance system up and running. Oh, and she likes chicken liver, don’t try to feed her cat food, even the wet stuff. Won’t end well for you.”Before she was able to get another word out, Fury disconnected the call. “Um… well. Nice to meet you, Goose?”She looked up from where she was curled up on the back of the couch. “Right. So, you hungry? Fury mentioned something about chicken liver, I’ll see if we have any.”Goose jumped up walked to the kitchen before Sharon could even take a step in that direction.She blinked in astonishment before coming back to her senses. “Right, not an ordinary cat.”