Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Steve walked down the Helicarrier’s dark hallways, the only illumination being rows of blue lights that lined the walls. The veteran found himself still amused by them. Millions of little lights that didn’t heat up were a luxury he didn’t see in the 1940s.

The opposite reaction could be seen approaching his side, Tony Stark. Who had developed so many wild, unimaginable pieces of technology, LED lights were like meager cave tools to him.

“I take it you got a summons from Fury too?” Steve inquired,
“I did. Something about a compound being under siege by cyber attacks.” Tony answered as he quickened his pace to catch up with him.

Tony pressed his hand to a glowing panel at the side of the hatch that led into the cockpit chamber of the helicarrier, letting Steve go in first before following inside. The hatch closed behind them.

“Director Fury!” Steve waved, getting the stoic man’s attention. Who was standing on the bridge in front of the large window that overlooked the city below.

Fury turned his head. Giving them a nod before walking off the bridge. The floating blue displays he was looking at blinked off.

“Steve, Tony.” he greeted. “I have a mission for you both. Project ICARUS has been facing some security breaches. The surrounding compound has also been having outages with no clear cause.”

Tony raised a brow. “ICARUS? Why would anyone want to hack them?” Rakke Corp wasn’t necessarily a competitor of Stark Industries. His business was in engineering weaponry and tech. They were more aligned with ecological research.

“A month ago, a comet passed by earth. Nearly grazing it.” Fury explained. “They’ve been examining the fissure. It’s believed to be deeper than even the Mariana Trench.”

Tony’s face was skeptical. Being asked to be IT support for a research center seemed a little below his paygrade. Steve, ever the valiant soldier, remained eager to hear Fury’s concerns.

“I want you to go there, figure out who is trying to hack into their security systems, and patrol the compound for whoever is dismantling their sensors.” Fury stated.

Tony gave Fury a skeptical look. “I’m guessing they’ve found something interesting in that hole if you require us down there.”

Fury rolled his eye. “Yes. A new mineral has been discovered. It can act as a powerful source of energy. As of right now. It hasn’t been announced to the public.” he explained. “We assume the cyber attacks are trying to steal information about the mineral.”

Steve smiled, “We’ll take care of it, Director.” Giving Tony a look.

Tony sighed, “I’ll see what I can do.” he conceded.

“Good. Because the jet to transport you two is already waiting on the upper deck.” Fury dismissed the two.

Steve headed towards the hangar, walking with purpose. Tony followed behind him. Acting more like a reluctant teenager rather than a man with an engineering degree.

Steve’s brow furrowed. Disapproving of Tony’s reluctance. Knowing his friend, Tony picked up on this quickly. “I just think my skills can be put to work somewhere else.” He huffed, crossing his arms.

“People need us, Tony.” Steve stated. “If this is the biggest threat we can be pointed to right now, we should treat it no different than any other mission.”

Tony held tense for a moment. Wanting to retort, and argue that he has no business lending a hand in technological security. “Alright. Just stop getting all… little-league-pep-talky on me.”

Steve patted his friend’s back. Giving him a supportive smile before they exited out onto the upper deck. The jet that was waiting for them descended it’s ladder with a hiss.

The two climbed aboard, sitting in the passenger seats and fastening their seat belts before the jet sped down the runway and launched off the helicarrier.

Chapter Text

“Coming up on Rakke town, prepare for descent.” the pilot shouted as he brought the jet down towards the landing pad. Tony and Steve prepared themselves for the G-forces as it came to a stop.

The two emerged from the jet, being greeted by Philip Baker. Who had a stoic visage much like Fury’s. “Greetings, men. Hope the journey wasn’t too rough.”

“It was fine.” Steve smiled. “I saw the fissure on the way here… quite a marvel.”

A polite smile across Chief Baker’s face. “It sure is. About seven miles deep and ten miles long.” he started walking into the facility, and the two Avengers followed behind.

“As you may already know, we’ve been dealing with some security issues.” Chief Baker explained. “They mostly target our perimeter of sensors around the fissure. They're meant to prevent anyone from doing any unauthorized independent studies. Other safety protocols have also been targeted.”

Tony suppressed a groan. Great. It sounded like this place had the security of a wall of toothpicks.

Baker led them into the main building. Giving them a general tour.

Meanwhile, the resident teens were bored. Tom Kullerson leaned against the back of the seat he was in. Bouncing his leg impatiently. All he wanted to do was run back to the cave and fly with Thunder again. Instead, he had to bear a mandatory education unit. Even out in the middle of nowhere, he still couldn’t escape school.

Alexandra was the only one somewhat entertained and engaged with her tablet. Jun just stared off into space, probably having some eccentric daydream.

DeAngelo was pacing. This was a habit he had to blow off steam. The sound of his shoes rapping on the carpet was a tedious noise. Eugene was at the door. His head sticking out but his feet planted firmly inside the room for deniability. His eyes were wide in awe.

Eugene's demeanor caught Kullerson off guard. The only time he had ever seen Eugene look like that was the rare occurrence when an authority figure he actually respected gave him admiration, or when he first saw a dragon.

“Guys…” Eugene whispered, waving everyone over to the door. “Tony Stark and Captain America are here!”

DeAngelo crossed his arms. Already skeptical. " No way, you’re just trying to make it look like we were all planning to escape when Mrs. Wong gets back.”

“I’m not kidding you guys! Get over here!” Eugene raised his voice.

Tom, now intrigued (or probably just bored) stood up and walked over to the door. Although he was just as skeptical as the rest, he also knew Eugene couldn't fake that face. He was simply too poor of an actor.

The older teen granted Tom some space to look through the door. A gasp escaped Tom's lips as he spotted the unmistakable visages of the two most popular Avengers.

As the three adults neared, the two retreated back into the classroom. Eugene shut the door with a well-practiced method of holding the knob turned until it was fully secured in the frame.

“And over there is where we host the classes for the youth on the compound,” Baker said, gesturing to the classroom door.

“There are children here?” Tony asked, his tone disapproving. Anyone under eighteen was okay by him if they were cheering his name. Any other circumstance? He wanted nothing to do with them.

“None under the age of fourteen,” Baker assured.

“Just as long as they leave me to work we’ll be fine.” Tony shrugged.

“They're always off playing some... dragon board game together. I think it's one of those table-top role-playing games." Baker said dismissively. "The next level has our labs."

Steve couldn't help but peek in at any door left ajar. Watching people in white lab coats go from counter to counter with vials and samples of strange minerals and gasses. Looking over to Tony, his expression dropped when he saw his friend scrolling on his self-engineered smartphone.

Baker stopped at a heavy door, addressing the two. "In here is the helm. The central computer room." Looking over to Tony "I'll leave you to-"

Stark cut him off. "I got my own tech. I can just connect to your networks and get this figured out in minutes." he boasted.

"Very well." Baker inhaled. "Captain Rogers, I'll show you to the perimeter."

Tony pushed into the helm. "See you in three hours. Tops."

Baker let out a groan, rolling his eyes as he and Rogers walked back down the steps. "I don't know how you tolerate working with that."

"Believe me, I don't know either," Steve replied. "But, when you need an all-or-nothing strategy in a dire situation or something engineered out of any scraps you can find, he's your guy."

Baker smirked. "He should count himself lucky he's a visitor, not an employee. With that smart mouth, he would've been on latrine duty within five minutes!"

Rogers laughed, "Been a while since I scrubbed a few facilities. I don't miss it though. Though I don't think Stark has had the displeasure, yet."

The two shared a hearty chuckle as Chief Baker led Steve down to the lower levels. Showing him the garage. The Captain couldn't help but point to and ask about every piece of equipment he hadn't seen before. Wanting to know when it was developed, what it was used for, and what fuel it uses.

Baker was tolerant of Steve's inquisitions. Finding his relentless questions much more tolerable than Tony's smug, dismissive attitude.

"So... you know how to ride an ATV, right?" Chief Baker inquired as he led Steve to Icarus's fleet of all-terrain vehicles.

Steve gave him a smirk. "I was born in the nineteen twenties, I'm not stuck in them."

The physically older man shrugged, figuring that the answer was good enough. He did have to convince Steve to wear a helmet, though.

Baker grimaced as they passed a downed sensor. "We have some wildlife in the area, bears, mountain goats, a few feral sheep. However, it's these sensors in particular that get downed. It seems to be calculated to be a wild animal investigating something unusual in its habitat."

Steve nodded, stepping off the ATV to investigate the sensor. It was fully intact. Not a scratch or dent on its aluminum casing. He rubbed his chin in contemplation before setting it back down.

The two rode around the perimeter. The functional sensors occasionally beep in response to their presence. "I've been out here a few times. I know something or someone is stalking around but I haven't caught them yet."

The two coasted near the edge of the fissure. Steve felt his organs lurch back when Chief Baker came to an abrupt halt. His eyes locked on the depths which were obscured by a mysterious fog.

"A seven-mile drop... the deepest humanity has seen." His voice was low in contemplation.

Steve also peeked down. Feeling his stomach drop as he beheld the faint orange glow of magma under the thick smog. "It's like a whole new world down there..."

"I ain't been down there myself. My job is concerned with keeping everyone on task and safe." Chief Baker stated. The two looked at the fissure as if it were a morbid painting before finishing their drive around the perimeter.