Pushing buttons.

Finally prepared and making their way to the hanger over top the Baxter building by the elevator, the doors open for them to find the remaining SHIELD **** present gathered what they could from HERBIE’s shipment and flew off to load the Helicarrier, now coming in from the Manhattan bay. By the time the Fantastic Four were all top side, the two SHIELD transports were on their way out and heading to the flying fortress. Seeing the Fantastic Four arrive from the elevator, the lead SHIELD agent turned and approached them, stopping the group before they could enter the Fantasticar.

"Ah Professor," A SHIELD agent saluted Reed before turning back to watch a group of vessels leaving, “Your shipment of the chemical is being sent up to the Helicarrier now. Everything should be ready for distribution in just half an hour once you arrive to oversee its distribution to the city, Professor Richards.”

Reed noticed the agent turning his full attention back to the Fantastic Four and the four alien creatures with them.

“Good, good.” Nodded Reed, holding a cannister snaked around his arm and tapping a button on his belt that opened the walk ramp of the Fantasticar, “But we are not heading to the SHIELD Helicarrier, we’re heading to the Avenger’s mansion to stop Lilith.”

Reed was stepping forward to enter her personal vessel but stopped in his tracks when the man stepped to the side and stood between him and the walk ramp of the Fantasticar.

“I’m afraid I must insist Professor Richards, your wife’s… Demonstration at the entertainment venue and Mr. Stark’s arrival shows that the target is aware of your presence. Director Fury has made it clear that your wife and the other… Creatures are to be kept under tight surveillance at the Helicarrier until the city inhabitants have been protected,” The SHIELD agent held up a hand.

“The FUCK did you just call me?” Asked the Wasp coldly, giving the man a dirty look.

“We can’t just douse the city with the gene trigger without making sure she hasn’t left the city, or this planet!” Explained Reed. “Her target was never the city of New York, as of now the Avengers are the true threat and we need to get to them now!”

Lifting his hand in an aggressive gesture and barking out a quick command, the remaining SHIELD agents with the man quickly raised their weapons and aimed them at the Fantastic Four and the blue creatures with them.

“Please, we have to go!” Pleaded Susan, stepping up to stand shoulder to shoulder with her husband and convince the SHIELD agent of the situation. “I know how she thinks, the intelligence driving this species, it’s looking for the strongest hosts to spread and consume. If we do not go to the mansion now, they’ll escape, they’ll leave Earth!”

“They will be dealt with when the compound is released over the city. Please do not make me repeat myself, you will board your vessel and return to the SHIELD helicarrier for processing and for THAT one…” He gestured to the alien woman Susan freed from the empathic swarm link. “She will be fitted a collar like yourself until we can determine that either of you are not compromised.”

“Oh, come ON!” Scoffed Johnny, getting the same agreement with the others. The SHIELD agents present thumbed the safeties around to fire on their weapons and aimed at the group, forcing the Human Torch to raise his hands.

“This is bullshit,” Johnny muttered.

Pulling out the detonator from his pocket and raising it up to eye level for Susan to see, the man left his thumb over the trigger to make his point.

“Give me an answer now.”

Hissing under her breath and eyeing the group of agents threatening her friends and loved ones, Susan stepped forward to keep the man’s focus on her. “I’m getting really tired of this, we don’t have time for Fury’s power plays here, LIVES are at stake, now you can either get out of our way or I will take you out of the way!”

Stepping back, the man kept the detonator up and brought his thumb down to press the trigger, causing everyone to panic… Until he struggled to bring his thumb down completely. There was something obstructing his thumb from the button, something he could not see. Looking back up to Susan’s reptilian eyes, she gave him a cold glare before raising her hand and flicking her wrist in a gesture with her finger, pointing up to the ceiling. Instantly everyone’s weapons were plucked from their hands and encased in bubbles of invisible hard light, forcefields created by the Invisible Woman without them even knowing it. Looking up at the floating weapons and back at the slithering creature smirking back at him, the man made to unholster his side arm just when Susan made a crushing gesture with her hand and trapped the man and remaining SHIELD agents in forcefields that bound them tight.

“Suzie?”

“I’ve got this Reed, get everyone inside, I’ll be right with you.”

Struggling impotently against his binds, the man squirmed and thrashed, unable to stop the Fantastic Four and their Avenger allies from boarding their ship. With her four hands at her hips, Susan gave the man a murderous stare, as did Alicia and Janet who stood behind the woman as she made a gesture with her talon and flicked the remote detonator out of his hand with her powers and into her own.

“GET ME OUT OF THIS! BY ORDER OF SHIELD, YOU WILL CEASE THIS ACTIVITY NOW OR ELSE!”

Ignoring the man spitting threats at her and her friends and the cries of the rest of the SHIELD agents held high in the air by her forcefields, Susan observed the remote to her collar in her claws and found the ‘release’ button, freeing her and the others as their collars unlatched and slipped off their necks. Turning to leave.

“You will not get away with this.” Threatened the SHIELD agent as he watched them leave. “Director Fury will have you all arrested and YOU three destroyed! Your husband and brother and stone chiselled friend will be detained as traitors to the U.S. and your two children stored away to be studied like lab rats!”

Stopping in her tracks, Susan’s stinger tail snapped behind her and stretched out far enough to point right at the man’s forehead just a millimeter from his skin, the rifles floating overhead suddenly came together and were crushed into a heap the size of a basketball before dropped to the ground, sending her prisoners into a panic. Her long flowing tentacles bristling at the threat as she gave off a low hiss that could be heard by everyone. Turning to look over her shoulder, she gave the man a look of such unbridled rage it made everyone else floating overhead feel uneasy. Then her demeanor changed when she turned to face him, recoiling her tail away from the man’s scalp. Sauntering up to the floating man bound by her will, Susan circled him, tracing a talon across his shoulder, back and other shoulder before looking him in the eye again. Her face had become calm, inviting, alluring with her eyes half lidded and her lips pursed. Leaning forward, she draped her lower set of hands over his shoulders while her upper pair cupped at his cheeks, the look on her face hinting she was going to kiss him before she darted to the right and whispered directly into his ear.

“You didn’t MEAN that did you? You wouldn’t do something so heinous as to harm my loved ones just to get me to obey? Would you?” Her voice was so smooth, and sweet like honey, the man shivered, a mixture of fear and excitement

“N-no… I… I was bluff...” Seeing her return her gaze directly back to his, she pressed a talon against his lip and shushed him, her tentacles flowing over her shoulders and coiling up his arms and shoulders while she kept close to him.

“Of course, you were, but you don’t have to fear me, all I want to do is get to know you better, so you can get to know me, don’t you want to know me better?” She husked, moving closer and pressing her chest against his. Looking down, he could see her tentacles slither around his shoulders and up his neck, feeling up under his chin and the back of his head while she continued to give him a smouldering look and bat her reptilian eyes back at him. Despite it all, his eyes darted nervously, aroused by the intimate attention despite the danger he felt he was in. Leaning closer to his lips, she closed her eyes, the act making him do the same as he too puckered his lips… Until he heard a metallic click and the hum of a bomb arming. Her eyes opening wide with a hateful gaze into his eyes, her lips pulled back into a toothy sneer as she pulled away to reveal the bomb collar around the man’s neck and hissed.

“NEVER threaten me through my children again! EVER!!!”

Turning sharply, she tossed the detonator to Sara, who caught the device in her hands, looking between Susan and the man squirming in the air. “If Fury calls on his radio, tell him we went to face the Avengers and tell him to spray the city down.” Turning to look over her shoulder, the alien woman growled back at the man hovering a foot off the ground with his hands at his sides, frozen in place. “And if this fucker says anything about you, my family or ESPECIALLY my kids, the detonator is the little red button on the top there.”

“Uhm… okay…”

Stepping into the Fantasticar, Susan, Janet and Alicia joined the others inside. The door closing behind them as the vessel hovered a foot off the landing pad and turned to fly out the hanger bay, leaving over a dozen SHIELD agent floating overhead and their leader floating helplessly with an alien woman with her clawed thumb over the detonator. Very quickly regretting everything he said over the last 5 minutes.