The capture of Ben Grimm had been clean and relatively easy. At least it had been quick, as had his rampage, but that… that had been beyond brutal.
The room was covered in bodies, some still alive but hurt, many completely unmoving. Blood covered the shattered remains of the marble flooring.
It wasn't a pretty sight, and worse yet, everyone, everyone knew it was The Thing who was behind it, and Germany wanted its pound of flesh, rocky or not.
Natasha and the others had no choice but to flee quickly, getting out of dodge before anyone could try to arrest them.
Even Johnny didn't have much to say as they flew back towards the Helicarrier. There was nothing fun about what had happened in Germany.
The weight of the situation felt all the more real. Ben, that idiot, he would never have done something like that… hurt innocent people? Never. Ben had a heart of gold… yet clearly, that didn't mean anything in front of alien mind control.
They flew in silence, none having anything to say.
Arriving back, they were greeted by a large team of SHIELD agents ready to take Ben into custody.
The cell door clanged shut with a sound like final judgment.
Ben Grimm sat chained to the reinforced platform, thick restraints locking his rocky wrists and ankles. They weren't ordinary cuffs — Steve could tell that much. The alloy shimmered faintly with a violet sheen, something Banner had muttered was "Hulk-proof, in theory."
Ben didn't struggle. He didn't speak. His eyes still burned faintly blue in the dim light, a reminder that whatever was left of their friend, it wasn't in charge anymore.
Sue stood just beyond the barrier, her hands pressed to the glass. "Ben," she whispered, as if saying his name enough times could call him back. "Please, just look at me."
He didn't blink.
"Storm." Fury's voice cut across the silence, firm but not unkind. "I know what this looks like. But we can't risk him loose on this ship until we know how to break him free."
"You are treating him like a monster, like an enemy!" she snapped, spinning on him. "But he is not, he is a man, he is my friend."
Fury didn't answer her right away. His jaw tightened, the weight of command pressing heavier than the eyepatch ever did. "That's why I called in outside help," he said at last. "SHIELD has plenty of tech, but this isn't wires and circuits. We need people who've dealt with things like this before."
The door to the containment level hissed open, and four figures stepped through.
The first was a strange sight, and one that most people were easily shocked by: a blue-skinned man who looked like some kind of demon or monster. Well, more teens than men. Kurt Wagner — Nightcrawler — bowed his head nervously, golden eyes catching the low light.
Beside him, all leather and scowl, came Logan. No introductions needed; his reputation preceded him. Claws or no claws, the man radiated danger. He lit a cigar despite the "No Smoking" signs plastered across the walls, earning a glare from Coulson that he ignored entirely.
Behind them walked the twins, Manon and Maxime. They looked even younger than Kurt, little more than two children.
Though Steve's eyes remained on Logan, recognition filled his eyes. "I know you," he said quietly.
Logan frowned, the cigar between his teeth shifting. "Do you now?"
"World War Two," Steve said. His voice was steady, but his eyes held something more — the ghost of old battlefields. "France. The forests outside Rouen. You fought with us. With the Howling Commandos. You saved Dum Dum Dugan's life when the tanks broke through the line."
For a moment, Logan just stared at him, smoke curling from the end of his cigar. There was no spark of memory in his eyes, only a faint irritation at being studied so closely. "Can't say I remember, you must have the wrong guy." He muttered at last.
Steve's jaw tightened, but he gave a nod. Indeed, it couldn't be the same guy… that had been decades ago, and this guy looked like he hadn't aged a day; clearly, he was just a grandson or something. "Right, my bad."
Fury cleared his throat. "As I said, to help us hopefully break Grimm out of the mind control, I reached out to someone I knew to send some support."
"And Xavior sends a bunch of kids?" Came another voice, as Tony Stark came swaggering into the room as if he owned it. "Really, that guy has fallen on hard times since he lost the crown, hasn't he?" He joked.
"We aren't kids!" Maxime was quick to defend himself.
"Don't bother, Stark is as dense as the metal he wears as a suit." Natasha said with a roll of her eyes.
"Very funny, but you still all came running as soon as you had a problem on your hands." He said, and he wasn't wrong.
"Enough, we need to try to do something about Grimm, before he starts to struggle. I would rather not have him damage anything, even if his cell was built for something far stronger than him." Fury once more tried to get the situation under control.
"Someone like me, you mean." Banner's voice hung in the air, quiet but heavy. Everyone looked at him, some with sympathy, others with unease.
"Exactly," Fury said. No apology, no softening — just the blunt truth.
Banner shoved his hands in his pockets, eyes flicking to the restrained Thing. But he said nothing.
Sue's jaw tightened. She turned to the twins. She agreed with Stark that they were young, but she had no choice but to rely on them to help Ben, and then Reed. "Please, if you can, help Ben." She pleaded.
Manon and Maxime exchanged a look. For all their youth, there was a kind of gravity in their eyes that belied it — the same eerie poise they had shown in Lyon. They stepped forward in unison, hands lifting toward the glass.
Sue started to speak, but Maxime's voice was already steady, calm. "We can reach him."
The glass wall hissed aside at Fury's nod. Alarms primed in the chamber as if ready for a breach, guards stiffening with weapons raised. Logan growled low. "You fry the kids, one eye, and I'm taking a piece of your ship with me."
"Just keep your claws sheathed," Fury shot back, though he didn't call off the safeties.
The twins pressed their palms against Ben's rocky skin. Their eyes fluttered closed, and the air around them seemed to shimmer.
Their powers weren't the same as Xavior's; they couldn't read people's thoughts, which is why Fury had asked for them. He didn't like mind readers.
No, their powers were over memories and emotions, about how one felt the world, perceived it. This was their domain, this was what they targeted. And where their confidence came from, because they could feel Ben's emotions.
His thoughts were muted, muted by a fake layer of memories, emotions, and thoughts. It wasn't as much mind control as shifting allegiances. Ben fought for the enemy because to him, the alien who attacked him was someone he followed and obeyed.
They both reached out, their powers combining as they reached beyond what was fake, and awoke what was real, that which slept under illusions and control.
"Ben," Manon whispered aloud, her voice echoing in the chamber. "This isn't you. Remember who you are."
Memories flickered — poker nights at the Baxter Building, Reed's dry voice lecturing, Johnny's pranks, Sue's quiet faith in him. The laughter, the warmth, the endless loyalty.
The memories rushed like a flood. Baseball games on rooftops. Pizza boxes stacked in their living room. Reed rambling on about science until Ben threw a pillow at him to shut him up. Sue steadying him after every transformation, every nightmare. Johnny's relentless teasing, and Ben's grumbled but genuine affection beneath it.
Family.
The blue glow behind his eyes flickered. His rocky frame trembled against the restraints, the chains straining. The air filled with the sound of stone grinding against stone as his breath quickened.
Maxime's voice pressed harder, cutting through the false layer Maw had built like a knife. "You are Ben Grimm. You chose who you fight for. No one chooses for you."
The glow cracked like glass.
With a roar that shook the cell, Ben's body arched forward, veins of light spiderwebbing across his stone skin — then breaking apart, shattering like shards of ice under pressure.
The restraints rattled violently. Agents screamed warnings. Guns clicked into readiness.
And then… silence.
Ben slumped, chest heaving, sweat dripping in rivulets between the cracks of his rocky skin. His eyes, brown again, lifted weakly toward Sue. "...Susie?"
She didn't hesitate. She was through the barrier in an instant, arms wrapping around him as tightly as she could manage. "It's you. You're back."
"God…" His voice broke as he looked at his hands, at the memory of blood smeared across them. "What did I do?"
Sue gripped his face, forcing his gaze back to hers. "That wasn't you. None of that was you."
Fury finally gave a short nod, and the guards lowered their weapons by inches, though their eyes stayed locked on Ben. Stark muttered under his breath, "Hell of a group therapy session. Could've billed it as a Disney+ special."
Logan exhaled smoke through his nose, unimpressed. "He's back. Leave it there."
But the reprieve lasted only seconds.
The Helicarrier shook beneath their feet, a deep tremor running through the metal like a beast had clawed its belly. Red lights strobed across the walls, alarms keening.
"Impact on the starboard side!" a voice barked over comms. "Multiple breaches!"
"Sabotage," Natasha snapped, already drawing her sidearm.
The chamber lights flickered. At first, it was a small thing — a pulse, a hiccup in the Helicarrier's steady hum. Then came the shudder, a groan of stressed metal that vibrated through the deck.
"Report!" Fury barked.
The comms flared with overlapping voices:
"Starboard engine hit—"
"Containment levels destabilizing—"
"Sabotage, Director, this was no accident—"
The floor lurched under them as alarms blared red. Sue clutched the glass for balance; Coulson grabbed the railing.
Banner's face drained of color. "That wasn't turbulence. Something just tore into the engines."
Steve steadied himself against the console, already scanning the room. "This wasn't random. Someone planned this."
Natasha's eyes narrowed. Her voice was cold steel. "It's Barton. Has to be."
Tony, gripping the edge of the cell barrier, snorted. "Whoever it is just turned your flying battleship into a giant paperweight."
Fury's jaw set hard. "Everyone, we can talk later, we need to stop them, and keep this thing in the air, or we are all dead!"
Another shudder ripped through the Helicarrier, lights cutting in and out. The cell restraints around Ben sparked under the stress.
Ben groaned, his rocky hands straining against the cuffs. "Uh… maybe now's not the best time to keep me chained up?"
(End of chapter)
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