Super Secret Meeting Spot that's Definitely Not Starbucks [Somewhere on the Mainland, Saturday]

[heroic_jawline]

Steve had reached out to Natasha (through several layers of encryption and burner phones because Natasha, at least, understood how to lay low) and was now in his very best incognito outfit (beard, jeans, baseball cap, sunglasses) with Tony (in generally the same outfit), trying to appear casual as they walked around one of those giant outdoor outlet malls waiting for Natasha to make contact.

"She said she'd drop a pin with where she is in--" Steve glanced at his watch, "--eight and a half minutes. You've got the test with you?"

He'd asked that about four times already, but he was anxious.

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[imafuturist]

"If you can get us in touch with him?" Tony asked. "And... not mention what we talked about here. Just in case."

Worst case scenario and all that.

[hailhailgangsallhere]

Natasha reached for a napkin and scrawled out a number. "This is what I have for him," she said. "No idea what continent he's on now." She tapped it with her fingernail. "Let me know how the meet goes?"

Just in case.

[imafuturist]

"We will," Tony promised seriously. "Stay safe, okay?"

[hailhailgangsallhere]

"Always," Natasha said with a quick smile, standing up and kissing Tony, then Steve, on the cheeks. "You too."

[imafuturist]

"We'll be in touch," Tony promised before she could slip away into the crowd out on the street.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve watched her disappear and shook his head with a small smile. "I need to get better at that part."

[imafuturist]

"You're built like a linebacker these days," Tony replied. "So it's a bit more difficult for you."

[heroic_jawline]

"But I need to learn it anyway," Steve decided.

[imafuturist]

"You might have time to practice now," Tony replied, reaching over to grab Steve's hand.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve squeezed Tony's fingers and stood up. "Let's go home," he murmured. "And you can tell me how people get turned. They just get nabbed off the street?"

[imafuturist]

"I can only tell you what I've heard," he said with a little sigh, standing up and adjusting his super good disguise of a baseball cap.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve added his sunglasses of invisibility and headed outside. "It's better than letting my imagination run wild."

[imafuturist]

"I expect like any kidnapping, they have to be smart about when and where it is," Tony whispered, keeping close. "But they were... they were here because they had some kind of prophecy? After their planet was, ah, eaten."

ANTHONY.

[heroic_jawline]

"Eaten?!" Steve said very unsubtly.

[imafuturist]

"Shhh," Tony said, looking around. Literally no one cared. "Look, there are things out there in space that are... just beyond us."

[heroic_jawline]

"Something that eats planets."

He probably couldn't punch it, right.

[imafuturist]

"Yes," Tony said with a deep sigh. "Galactus. And it took a lot to keep it away from Earth."

[heroic_jawline]

"I'm going to need that story too," Steve said, reaching for Tony's hand.

[imafuturist]

"Well, it's what lead me to coming to Fandom," Tony replied.

[heroic_jawline]

"I don't think I knew that," Steve said.

His head had been a little, um, traumatized, when he'd arrived himself.

[imafuturist]

"It was less important to talk about then." Meaning Tony was totally living the repression lifestyle.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve squeezed Tony's fingers. "Okay to talk about it now?"

[imafuturist]

"It's not really too much to tell," Tony insisted. "He showed up. We all sort of banded together to make it seem like the planet wasn't worth the effort..."

[heroic_jawline]

"How'd you do that?" Steve asked.

[imafuturist]

"We distracted his heralds and then trapped him in the Negative Zone," Tony said like any of that made a lick of sense.