One month at Stark Tower had been... surprisingly tolerable. The team was eccentric but manageable. Bruce was fascinating, Thor was exhausting, Clint was annoying, and Tony was insufferable but brilliant.
But the scepter—that glowing blue thing HYDRA had recovered from Loki—was a problem. Nobody knew where it was.
The Avengers had been running raids for weeks. HYDRA bases popped up like weeds, and each time they found something—files, weapons, scientists—but never the scepter.
Tony was getting frustrated. "It's like chasing a ghost. We hit twelve bases. Twelve. And nothing."
Natasha leaned against the briefing table. "They're hiding it well."
Steve frowned.
"They've got cells, bunkers, mountains..." Clint listed off, pinning photos to the board. "Thirteen bases raided. Not a single trace of the scepter."
Tony paced. "Loki's baby is somewhere out there, and HYDRA is keeping it secret from everyone." He paused, eyeing Alan.
"What?"
Tony pointed at him. "You. We need your eyes." He leaned forward, tone serious. "You dismantled an entire Helicarrier in seconds. You've got cursed energy, reality alteration— whatever you call it. Could you track it?"
Natasha crossed her arms. "Alan's been with us for a month, and we still don't know his full range."
"I can't I would have to have been close to it before."
Tony threw his hands up. "Great. So we're flying blind."
Thor stepped forward. "The scepter contains the Mind Stone. If it were to fall into the wrong hands again..."
Bruce rubbed his temples. "Yeah, we know. World domination, enslavement, the usual Tuesday."
Steve turned to Alan. "You said you need to be close to it. How close?"
"20 feet."
Tony whistled. "Twenty feet. That's practically hugging distance."
Bruce pulled up holographic data on his tablet. "So if we find a HYDRA base and you're within twenty feet of the scepter, you can track it?"
Alan nodded.
Clint shook his head. "Then we're still back to square one. We have to *find* the base first."
A year had passed. The Avengers had grown accustomed to Alan—his quiet presence, his occasional bluntness, his overwhelming power. They'd gone on missions together, fought side by side, shared meals, argued over remote controls.
But the scepter remained missing. HYDRA bases continued to appear, and each raid turned up nothing.
Tony sat at the briefing table, exhausted.
Tony leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "One year. We've hit forty-seven bases, three secret labs, two underground bunkers, and one submarine. Nothing."
Clint tossed a dart at the board across the room. "Maybe they destroyed it."
Natasha shook her head. "HYDRA doesn't destroy artifacts of that power. They hide them."
Steve frowned. "We're missing something."
"Is there a Hydra facility in Sokovia?"
The room went silent. Tony's eyes widened slowly. Bruce pushed his glasses up. "Sokovia... HYDRA has deep roots there. Former Eastern Bloc territory. Unregulated. Dark money flows through that country like water."
Natasha nodded slowly. "We've had rumors for months. HYDRA remnants regrouping in Sokovia."
Steve stood up immediately. "Then that's where we go."
"Sokovia," Tony repeated, already pulling up satellite imagery. "Small country. Eastern Europe. Very mountainous. Lots of places to hide things underground." He swiped through images, pausing on a particular region. "Here. Got something interesting."
The image showed a fortified complex buried deep within a mountain range. Radar pings confirmed underground activity. Massive power signatures.
"That's not just a base,"
"That's a fortress," Natasha finished, studying the screen. "Look at the structural integrity. Multiple levels, heavily reinforced."
Thor nodded. "This is no ordinary HYDRA outpost. This is a sanctuary."
Tony swiped through different elevations. "Satellite pings show activity at 300 feet underground. Massive power signatures. This place has its own generator."
Bruce froze, his eyes widening behind his glasses. "Wait. Three hundred feet underground. A massive power source in a mountain fortress." He looked directly at Alan. "That's the kind of environment you'd use to hide an Infinity Stone."
Tony snapped his fingers. "That's exactly what we need. Alan—"
Alan was already standing, grabbing his jacket.
"Let's go." He said simply.
Natasha moved to grab her gear. Steve followed suit. Within minutes, the quinjet was prepped.
As they boarded, Tony muttered under his breath, "Could be the biggest mistake or the biggest win of our careers."
Thor gripped Mjolnir. "The gods are watching this day."
"You good Bruce."
Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine. Just... need to stay calm. If he gets angry, the other guy comes out." He looked at Alan. "And I don't wanna bring the Hulk into this."
Alan nodded.
Thor clapped Bruce on the shoulder. "I have faced the other guy. You are... manageable."
Bruce winced.
The quinjet touched down in the mountains of Sokovia. The fortress was massive, buried deep in the rock, invisible from the surface. Only Stark's satellite tech had found it.
They moved in quietly. Natasha and Clint took point, stealth experts. Steve and Thor provided heavy support. Tony flew above, scanning. Bruce stayed close to Alan, monitoring vitals.