00014. Who is the best?
The room was quiet, only three people were inside. Everyone else had left after the meeting with Ezekiel was finished. Fury looked at the other two people with him, the first was his mentor and the other a brilliant scientist. Peggy was the first to speak as she said, "Out with it Fury, I wanna know your thoughts."
Fury looked at Hank and Peggy before he looked at the monitor Ezekiel had been using for the past few hours. He let out a sigh before he said, "If even a little bit of what he said is true, the world is in trouble."
"You think he was lying to us?"
"No Peggy, I don't and that is the biggest issue. I think everything he told us was the truth as far as he knows. But he also gave us more information than he might have intended. Like when he asked Hank if he wanted to believe in magic. He mentioned someone, the Sorcerer Supreme that he didn't want to deal with. We need to find this person and hopefully they might know something about our new friend Ezekiel."
"I agree, I think finding out more about him is our safest bet moving forward. What about you Hank?"
Hank nodded his head and said, “I agree, we need to know more about him. Once we do, we can make a better determination about him and his character. But honestly, if he is right about even half of the stuff he talked about. I would rather have him on our side feeding us information. Also he talked about Inhumans, you think that means mutants?”
Fury shook his head and said, "Doubtful, I am pretty sure he is talking about another group of powered people or another species altogether. Since he said the one Hydra worshiped was sent to another world. Just another thing we will have to look into."
"I agree, but first I need to go find Steve. Hank, how soon can you bring me those particle discs?"
Hank smiled and then pulled out a small pouch. He opened it up and inside were some small silver discs. He held one up and said, "This one will shrink things down, the other colored one will enlarge them back to normal."
After handing them over to Peggy, Hank stood up and said. "I am going to head out, I need to go find Bill and Ava."
Hank turned and looked at Fury as he said, "Is there space here to set up a lab?”
“There are a lot of areas that we haven’t touched yet, I will have Sam start to wire one up for power. If there is any equipment you need, just send a list to Sam and he will make sure you get it.”
Hank nodded his head and then walked out of the room. Fury turned to Peggy and said, “Who are you taking with you to go pickup Steve?”
“I think your man Coulson will work. Can I borrow him for a few days?”
“Sure I can make a 'mission' for him that will take a week or so. It shouldn’t make anyone suspicious if he isn’t around for a bit on a mission.”
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Theo was sitting reading in the kitchen, while his father was cooking dinner and his sister Emily, Better known as Milly was sitting next to him watching their father cook. After a few minutes she looked at Theo and said, “Te-o, Te-o, what are you doing?”
Theo looked up from his book at his younger sister Milly. She had just started talking after her first birthday and would ask questions constantly now. Most of the time it was to learn new words since her favorite thing to say is, “What is that called?” followed by, “Why?” Honestly her curiosity about everything is kinda amazing, she almost gives Sam a run for his money when he was first created.
“I am reading this new book dad gave me.”
Milly tilted her head slightly to one side and asked, “Why? Is it fun?”
Theo tilted his head the same way as Milly and asked, “Do I ever do anything not fun?”
“Yes.”
Theo’s eyes widened for a second as he heard his father laugh a little. Theo then asked, “What? When?”
Milly turned and looked at the ceiling, her face scrunched up as she thought for a minute. His father turned around and watched for a moment. Milly’s face relaxed as she looked back at Theo and said, “Always.”
His father started laughing hard at that and then asked, “Milly what about daddy? Is daddy fun?”
Milly put her hands up and said, “Daddy is the best!”
His father laughed again at that and asked, “What about mommy?”
“Daddy is the best!”
Theo looked at his father as he laughed and then looked back at Milly and asked, “What about your big brother? Didn’t you say I was the best when we were at Aunt May’s?”
Milly looked at him for a moment before she looked away with her lips slightly pushed out and said, “Daddy wasn't there.”
“So I am only the best when dad isn't around?”
Milly had her eyes closed and lips pushed out slightly as she nodded yes. His father laughed again at that and Theo just shook his head at her response. Theo then picked his book back up and went back to reading as his father started to sing and Milly tried to copy him. It wasn’t long before everyone heard the front door open and someone said, “Whatever you are cooking smells amazing!”
After a few moments Theo’s mother entered the kitchen and went straight to Milly, picked her up and gave her a hug and some kisses as she asked, “Did Milly miss mommy?”
“Yes! Mommy is the best!”
“You hear that honey? I am the best.”
Theo’s father smiled and asked, “Milly, who is the best?
“Mommy is the best!”
Theo’s father turned around and looked shocked as he asked, “But didn’t you just say I was the best before mommy came home?”
Milly looked at her dad and stated matter of factly, “Mommy wasn’t home.”
Theo laughed at that and said, “Looks like you are only the best if mom isn’t around and I am only the best if mom and you aren’t around.”
Milly nodded at that and said, “Mommy is best.”
Theo’s mom laughed at that as she seated Milly back down, she reached over and rubbed Theo’s hair before she grabbed his book and set it to the side as she said, “Dinner time, you can read after we are done sweetie.”
Theo’s mother gave her husband a hug and a kiss before she started to set the table as he finished cooking dinner. It wasn’t long before both of them joined their kids at the table and began to eat the chicken alfredo that had been made.
Theo’s mother leaned over and kissed his father after her first bite and said, “Great as always honey.”
Theo nodded his head and said, “I still like tacos more, but this is pretty good.”
Milly had a small plate in front of her and the bottom half of her face was covered in sauce as she said, “Pizza is the best.”
Theo’s father smiled at the compliments as his wife reached over with a napkin and cleaned Milly’s face up as she asked, “How come you make a mess every time you eat?”
Theo laughed and said, “It’s a skill she practices every day.”
His father laughed and his mother shot him a quick glare at his comment. Milly sucked another noodle into her mouth and it hit the side of her face before she finished. Her cheek now had sauce on it again. Theo laughed and said, “See, it’s a skill she practices!”
His mother just shook her head as his father laughed again. Dinner finished shortly after and Theo moved to the couch with his book. His mother sat next to him with Milly seated on her lap and asked, "So how was your day at Aunt May's?"
Before Theo responded, Milly spoke up and replied, "It was fun, Peter and Te-o climbed to the top of the book case!"
Theo's mother looked at him with a blank face and asked with a calm voice, "So you climbed to the top of the book case today? I distinctly remember asking you not to climb things anymore."
Theo looked betrayed as he said, “You asked me to do it and said you wouldn’t tell mom if I could climb all the way to the top!”
Milly nodded her head in understanding and then looked at her mom and said, “Te-o didn’t climb to the top of the bookcase.”
Theo dropped his head into both of his hands and shook his head back and forth. His mother laughed as she hugged Milly and said, “Okay Milly, so Theo didn’t climb to the top of the bookcase today. What did he do then?”
“He climbed the tree! It was better than when he climbed the bookcase!”
“You are not helping!”
Theo’s mother smacked the back of his head and said, “Not only did you climb the bookcase, but you were climbing the tree in May’s back yard? What if you fell and got hurt? What if Peter copied you and started to climb the tree?”
Milly looked up at her mom and said, “Peter climbed the tree too! It was great!”
Theo’s mother smacked the back of his head again and said, “You are setting a bad example for Peter, if you keep this up Milly might start climbing stuff also.”
Theo looked over at his sister but it was already too late as she said, “Te-o taught me to climb the couch today!”
Theo’s face fell as he looked up at his mothers disappointed face. She pulled Milly into a tighter hug and said, “You are Milly’s older brother, you are supposed to watch over her and make sure she doesn’t get hurt. So why are you teaching her how to climb things? Things she could fall from and get hurt.”
Theo waited a few moments before he said, “I can’t say no when she starts to ask in her cute voice.”
Theo’s dad had just walked into the room and started to laugh before he said, “In Theo’s defense, you can’t really say no when Milly asks you for something in her cute voice either.”
“But I am not teaching Milly how to climb things! I just give her treats.”
“And I’ve said climbing stuff is fine, once they get hurt they will know not to do it.”
Theo’s mom shook her head and said, “But I don’t want them to get hurt. I want them to be safe.”
Theo’s dad sat down and put one arm around his wife as he said, “It’s gonna happen one way or another at some point. I know they are both young, but you need to prepare now. I still want them safe and healthy, but I also know Theo is gonna climb everything he can.”
Theo’s dad looked at him and said, “No new books for a week since you didn’t listen to your mom.”
Theo just looked down again and said, “I, understand. Sorry.”
Theo’s dad looked down at Milly and said, “And you young lady, you don’t get any treats for a week for asking your brother to do stuff he shouldn’t be doing.”
Milly started to tear up a little and looked up at her mom and asked in her cute voice, “Mommy, I can have treats right?”
Her mom looked like she wanted to say yes, but a gentle squeeze on her shoulder and a single shake of her husband's head was all she needed. She looked down at her daughter and said, “Sorry sweetie, your father said no treats for a week.”
Milly looked at her father and said, “Mommy is still the best.” Before she turned her head around and puffed out her cheeks as she looked the other way.