After Lin Hai briefly introduced the three people with extraordinary abilities on the holographic screens, Tony had a fair idea why S.H.I.E.L.D.—or rather, Nick Fury—had shown him their files.
Still, he wanted to confirm it with Lin Hai. "So these three are...?"
Lin Hai nodded. "Exactly what you think. They're your future Avengers teammates."
Tony pressed a hand to his forehead and dragged it down to his chin, sighing helplessly. "Damn it. I knew it."
"What kind of people has Nick Fury found? An alien god who's hardly ever on Earth, a green beast who transforms when provoked and can't tell friend from foe, and the only one who looks normal is nearly a hundred years old."
"Honestly, Dr. Lin, even if your personality is a little awful—"
Lin Hai raised an eyebrow.
"Compared to those three, you're practically my ideal teammate."
Peter had been listening with keen interest. When Tony called Lin Hai's personality "a little awful," he couldn't help laughing.
Tony looked toward the sound.
"And Peter. I'd take even an unreliable Pajama Baby like Peter over them."
The smile vanished from Peter's face before their eyes.
As everyone knew, a smile never disappeared; it only moved elsewhere. So when Peter's vanished, the corners of Harry's and Gwen's mouths rose together.
Lin Hai knew Tony didn't really object as much as he claimed. In the end, he would accept Thor and the others. Of course, objectively speaking, the two besides Steve were a little beyond what most people could take in stride.
By then, Tony had swiped through the three holographic displays to the incident summary. A transparent cube glowing deep blue came into view.
Tony stared at the projection, lost in thought. He had seen the thing in his father Howard's notes. Howard had devoted several pages