Remember how I said Rue was fast?

Well, years of practice and training had made Felix fast too. Not just physically, but having lied himself out of countless situations had made him mentally fast.

So when C1 burst out of the bushes and straight towards him, he was able to formulate a plan within moments.

"You again!" he snarled at Calypso1, the hairs on his back standing up straight.

Rue's eyes went wide.

"Calypso..." she breathed, and both Ravenpaws, ears back and eyes wide, turned to her.

"What... is... that...?"

"Tigerclaw," Felix growled, his eyes not turning aside from C1, "get Ruepaw and the Ravenpaws to safety. I can handle this one alone."

"They can take care of themselves," Tigerclaw replied coldly, "I won't run away from a fight. Ever."

Felix smiled.

"I know that. And I'm not asking you to run away, I'm asking you to get Ruepaw to safety. This is my fight."

Their eyes met, and Tigerclaw nodded sharply.

"Follow me, kits," he sneered, gesturing with his tail for Rue and the Ravenpaws to follow him. The three ThunderClan cats dashed off, Rue hesitating for a moment.

"Go with them," Felix instructed, "and pretend to be terrified, okay?"

Rue grinned.

"No need to pretend," she replied.

"Go," Felix ordered gently, and Rue turned around, running to catch up with the others.

"So," Felix began, turning back to C1, "did you find them?"

C1 beeped a few times, before turning around.

"I'll take that as 'follow me'," Felix decided, before following the small rounded droid into the bushes.

-

Felix broke through the bushes in Calypso1's wake, almost tripping as he walked onto the sandy path.

C1 beeped excitedly.

"There... [pant] you... [pant] are!" a very familiar voice exclaimed, gasping for breath.

Calypso rolled up to Bruce, bumping against his legs.

"Which way now?" Bruce enquired, wiping his forehead.

Calypso beeped a few more times, and Felix trotted up to Bruce, sitting down in front of him. He dissolved the illusion that was hiding his ring, and stared straight at Bruce.

Bruce blinked a couple of times, before lowering himself to his haunches and reaching out his hand to the ring around Felix's neck, which was glowing lightly. He took Loki's green ring out of his pocket, and both rings glowed brightly.

"Felix?"

"The one and only."

"You... I can understand you."

"Good for you. Otherwise this would get even more complicated. And trust me, I've had enough complications to last me a lifetime."

"Where... where's Sam?"

"Where's the rest of the Avengers?"

"In the Tower. Well, most of them, anyway."

"Sam's in the ThunderClan camp," Felix replied.

"The ThunderClan camp?"

"It's complicated. Like everything else has been, recently."

"How... how long have you been here? And where'd you get C1?"

"Star Wars," Felix replied, "I told you, complicated. And we've been here a couple of days now."

"And before..."

"Other dimensions," Felix replied.

"Let me guess, it's complicated?" Bruce mumbled, sitting down cross-legged on the floor and putting Loki's ring back into his pocket.

"Yep."

"Do you have a plan?"

Felix shrugged.

"Not really. I was sort of hoping you and Stark could invent some sort of machiney majig that could turn us back into humans."

"Mmm... Maybe we can come up with something. It'll take a while, though."

Felix shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll do it as fast as possible."

"You certainly have a lot of faith in us," Bruce commented, and Felix smirked.

"Actually, I have a lot of faith in my dad murdering you guys if you take any longer than strictly possible."

"Fair enough."

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"He misses you, you know."

Felix smiled a little.

"I've missed him too."

Bruce got up slowly.

"I suppose I'd better get back, so we can get started."

"Rue will be waiting for me."

"Rue? Calypso mentioned a Rue too. Clint went completely Hunger Games."

Felix grinned.

"In that case, I have a little surprise for him. He'll love Val and Rue."

"Val?"

"Valóra," Felix elaborated, "we brought her with from Middle Earth."

"Wait, how many people are coming with you?"

"Well, there's me, Sam, Rue, Valóra, and Calypso1. And then... where's my backpack?"

Calypso rolled off, returning moments later with Felix's backpack.

"You didn't take that to the Tower?" Felix enquired.

"Nope," Bruce replied for the droid.

"Then... how did you know to follow her and track my ring?"

"Jarvis translated for her."

"That's helpful... did she swear a lot?"

"What makes you think that?"

Felix shrugged.

"She's a bit of a Rebel... I think she's spent too much time in Star Wars."

"Her word choice was very alike to your father's."

"Really?"

A wistful look lingered in Felix's eyes for a moment.

"Well, I think I really need to get back now. Say hello to my dad for me."

"About that... we've decided not to tell him until we're sure we can get you back."

"How doesn't he know already?"

"He and Wanda were out."

"Mmmm... I leave for a few weeks and I miss everything. Who's angrier, Vision or Pietro?"

"No no, they're not on a date or anything," Bruce corrected hurriedly, "just... well... we think not."

"I suppose we'll find out soon enough," Felix mused, "Sam will be able to pry the truth from them."

"How's Sam doing?" Bruce asked.

"Oh... she's... fine."

You're lucky cats can't blush.

Shut up.

Awwww, you're so cute when you're angry.

Felix shook off his thoughts, and began to turn around.

"I really need to go, before Tigerclaw gets suspicious. Meet me here the day after tomorrow, when the sun's at its highest point."

"Got it," Bruce replied, glancing at C1.

"Should I take her?"

"C1? Go ahead," Felix dismissed, "she'll scare the other cats to death and she's a pain anyway."

"Okay," Bruce replied uncertainly, "well then... are you coming C1?"

C1 beeped a few times, turning to Felix.

"Go Calypso," Felix ordered, "I need to go back to camp."

C1 beeped a few times, and then followed Bruce.

Felix grinned, and began running back to the ThunderClan camp.

-

Along the way, Felix forced himself through some bramble bushes, earning him a few scratches so he looked like he'd been in some sort of fight. He rubbed his fur so that it stood up, giving him a wild look. Then he disguised his ring again with a camouflaging illusion.

"That should be good enough," he muttered to himself, before trotting back to the Camp at a slower pace.

He just needed to survive a few more days in the ThunderClan camp. Easy enough, right? And then Bruce and Tony would get them all back to humans, and their whole adventure would be over.

Wouldn't it?