Avery pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"I may slip out early tonight," she commented. "I'm probably going to head to the SHIELD gym. Just so you know, if anyone needs me for whatever reason."

"Right, yeah, sure," Tony said, already starting to fiddle with the phone to see what was going on with it. Because apparently he hadn't perfected magic-proof technology yet.

Avery rolled her eyes, and wrote her cell number with the words 'Agent Maclaine's not-StarkPhone number' on a post-it and stuck it to the fridge at approximately eye-level. Couldn't hurt to have it there, just in case, especially with Loki in the tower. She stuck around a while longer, and then gathered up her things.

"Wait, hold on," Tony said when he noticed her getting ready to leave. "Two minutes, this upgrade will be done, and you can be back to testing this."

Avery blinked.

"Alright," she said as she finished packing up her things. She hung around, though, waiting for him to hand her back the phone.

It actually took three minutes, but Tony handed the phone back. "See how long that lasts," he said, scowling a bit at it. "Should be more magic-proof by now."

"I'll let you know," Avery said, slipping it into her pocket. "It should get a workout tonight, so we'll see how it holds up."

"Right." Tony got another cup of coffee for himself. "Have fun, or whatever." He made no move to leave the kitchen yet though.

"You know how to reach me if you need anything," Avery said. She nodded to him and headed out. The gym was calling her name, and she really wanted to blow up some targets.

Tony watched her go, his eyes narrowed a little. He could have finished the phone and given it to her the next day, he knew that. He didn't have to rush to complete it right then, especially half-way through a cup of coffee. He filed those uncomfortable observations away to be examined, hmm, maybe never.

Avery didn't notice. She was a bit too preoccupied with figuring out how to get everyone in the tower to coexist peacefully. Hopefully, when Kerry came back with Clint and Natasha, things would go a little more smoothly.

By the time Kerry got back with Clint and Natasha, Coulson was also back, and the two agents were more relaxed. Kerry was just glad things had gone smoothly and she'd made the right call.

Avery had already told Coulson what was going on and shooed FitzSimmons down into Tony's workshop by the time Kerry got back with Clint and Natasha. She and Coulson were sitting in the kitchen discussing the potential for opening communications with Alfheimr when they got back.

"Dammit, how did you still beat us back?" Kerry grumbled when she saw Coulson, going to heat up water for tea. Natasha just sat on the counter to watch.

"Good engines and an excellent tailwind," Coulson replied, glancing over. Natasha didn't seem murderous, so that was a good sign.

"Bah." Kerry picked up one of the remaining cookies and handed one over to Clint before taking one for herself. "Staying for a couple days again?"

"As long as nothing else comes up," Coulson replied, nodding. "I doubt I'll be able to take my science team back before then."

"Yeah, good luck," Kerry said with a snort. "You might need a few crowbars."

Coulson just rolled his eyes, but didn't deny it. He knew the dangers of letting Stark at FitzSimmons, and he'd done it anyways.

Everything was quiet for a few weeks, and then Doom decided to send Doombots to New York to trash the place while he looked for something.

"I hate these things," Tony said with vehemence as he shot two down.

"Agreed," Kerry muttered. She and Avery were both down on the field helping out.

"Four more coming from behind you," Clint warned through the comms as he shot down a fifth.

"Why would anyone think these are a good idea?" Avery said as she blasted another Doombot with magic.

"Because he's sadistic," Kerry said as she took one out with extreme prejudice. "Clint, keep an eye out behind you." It was times like this she really loved her minor precog.

Tony swore as he blasted down two more. "This isn't working, someone needs to find the son of a bitch and stop him."

"Got it," Clint said, turning and shooting the Doombot that was just coming into view.

"We're a little busy at the moment, if you haven't noticed," Avery snapped at Tony.

Kerry nodded and moved to a better spot, continuing to take down the Doombots when she could.

"Oh, well, sorry sunshine, I didn't necessarily mean you," Tony snarked right back at Avery as he cut a turn almost too sharp and blasted a few more out of her way on his circuit around the whole area trying to find Doom.

"On your six, Kerry," Clint said as he scanned the area again. "Watch your back."

Avery ducked out of the way of another pair of robots and blasted a hole through them both.

"They just don't end," she said as she skipped back a bit.