We're in This Together

Harry is awoken by the beeping sound of his Avengers membership card. He raises his head, looking around. He slowly rolls out of bed and onto the floor, tangled in blankets and hung-over from a night of partying. Harry smacks his hand on top of his night stand and slides it off, grabbing the card.

“Mm-hello?” Harry murmurs, rubbing his face with his hand.

Director Fury appears on the small screen. “Agent Styles, we need you to come in. It’s urgent,” he says.

“Hey! I’m not an ‘agent’!” Harry snaps, pointing a finger at the window where his commander stands.

“Very well, then.” Nick Fury clears his throat, rolling his eye. “Mr. Styles, we need Iron Man.”

“Nah, I don’t think so.” Harry says with annoyance. “Why don’t you ask Cap-sicle or one of those other guys to help you out?” Harry shrugs as he is about to get back in bed.

“Styles, I don’t think you understand.” Fury’s voice becomes grave. “We’re calling in everyone. The Avengers are assembling.”

Harry’s blood runs cold; his head starts swimming with the idea that they might have returned but he tries not to believe it. He nods solemnly. “I’ll be right in,” he says, his voice cracking.

The line goes dead on the other end and Harry swallows with difficulty. There were only a few things that shook the billionaire and they were one of them. He then slowly stands and picks up the remote on his bedside table. He presses the large blue button in the center and waits. Within a few seconds, pieces of his Iron Man suit come flying into the room, landing on his body and morphing together to create one humanlike machine.

With one last sigh, Harry steps onto the balcony of his home. He counts to ten and then takes off for flight, sights set for the SHIELD helicarrier.

“Welcome back, Mr. Styles,” a SHIELD agents greets as Harry enters the deck of the helicarrier—his suit in its special tank, awaiting a chance to fight some bad guys.

“Agent,” Harry nods. He steps forward, spreading out his arms like he is Jesus. “Hello, Agents of SHIELD! Did you miss me?” He flashes a smile. Everyone just stares. “Geez, tough crowd.”

“Mr. Styles, over here, please,” Fury calls from the meeting table.

Harry jogs over. “Hey, Louis,” he says, hitting Captain America lightly on the arm. Harry then sits down next to him. “Niall, Liam, Zayn,” he greets each of his team members. “So what’s the scoop?” He looks up to Nick Fury.

“The ‘scoop’ is that we have a massive crisis on our hands,” Fury states with distaste.

“What mere mortals are causing disarray now?” Niall asks with a humorous smile.

“These are no ‘mere’ mortals,” Fury says, his eye darkening.

Liam shifts in his seat. “Then who are they?”

“It’s The Wanted… they’re back.” Fury shakes his head and clicks the keyboard in front of him. A screen appears with The Wanted on it.

“What?” Louis exclaims. “But how?”

“Chill, Cap,” Zayn says nonchalantly. “They don’t have their power source, so therefore they have no power.”

“That’s the thing,” Fury continues. “They have their power source. They broke into SHIELD headquarters and stole their energy packs.”

“What?” Zayn shouts. “How did this happen?”

Fury puts his fists on his hips. “Can I finish my briefing, please? I’ll answer questions when I’m done!” Zayn puts his hands up in surrender. “As you all know, The Wanted are from a distant planet in another galaxy known at The Gray Planet.” He clicks the keyboard again and a photo of The Wanted attacking a city. “They have powers much like those found in Asgard, Thor’s home realm.” Fury gestures to Niall.

Niall clears his throat. “They muster dark magic and sorcery to do their evil deeds. The Wanted give a bad name to magic. They must be stopped!” He slams his fist down on the table.

“What’s their game plan” Liam questions, his eyes dark.

Fury turns to face Hawkeye. “They plan to attack each of the four main SHIELD prisons, unleashing hell on the world.”

“Prisons?” Louis interrogates. “How many are there?”

“Well,” Harry begins, taking over the role as meeting leader. “There’s The Cube. It houses all the gamma-ray-induced villains, such as The Leader and his ‘pet’ Abomination.” There is disgust thick in his voice.

“Then there’s the Vault—where the super villains are held. These include Baron Strucker of AIM, Whiplash and MODOC,” Liam explains.

Zayn leans forward against the table. “Finally, you have the Big House, where the superhuman prisoners are held. You’ve got your basic Arnim Zola, Wrecking Crew and King Cobra, along with many more.”

Fury clears his throat anxiously. “That’s not all,” he says. “There’s one more prison… known as The Raft. This is for various super villains, such as Baron Zemo, Man-Killer and Graviton.”

“Man-Killer? I like the sound of her!” Niall cracks with a laugh. Liam shoots him a scolding look and his smile melts off his face.

“What? You kept a secret prison and you didn’t even tell your own SHIELD agents?” Zayn exclaims, gesturing between him and Liam.

“That is confidential,” Fury spits. “Last time I checked, I was your superior and I don’t need to tell you everything that goes on around here.”

Everyone stares as Zayn crosses his arms in huff, leaning back in his chair.

Turning back to the Director of SHIELD, Louis asks the question that’s on everyone’s mind. “Do we have any idea when they’re going to attack?”

Fury sighs. “…Within 36 hours.”

“And you’re just telling us now?!” Harry shouts.

“We just found out and called you all in as soon as we got the news,” Fury says tersely.

“Well do we know what prison they’re going to attack first?!” Harry stands, smacking his hand on the table, standing up.

“We’re tracking that right now,” Fury seethes. “You know what, Styles? I’m getting really tired of your shi—“

“Sir,” a SHIELD agent mumbles, coming up to Nick Fury with a paper. “We have a lead of where The Wanted is.”

“What? Where?” The five Avengers gasp, all standing now.