Avenger’s Mansion,
Central meeting room

The mansion was quiet today. That was working in James’ favor. He was having a non-Avenger in and didn't want to be overheard anyway. Captain America set two briefing files out on the table and waited for Dinah Grayson and Walter West to show.

A few minutes later, JARVIS alerted him to the presence of his guests. Cap slung his shield over his back and walked to the door, opening it for Dinah. James gave her a smile. “Dinah, thanks for coming. We'll meet in the big room. I know you're busy these days with the impending baby so we'll keep it short. Just waiting on Walt.” He looked down at her belly for a moment.

“Do we know the sex yet or is that a secret?”

The news that she was going to have twins made James miss a step. “I'm sorry. Did you just tell me you have two terrors in there?” His face blanched a little. “Wow. That's going to be fun. Payback for all the horrors that Herald had to endure.” He was suddenly glad that he and Ginnie had never gone much further than agreeing to date. There was no way that he would be able to do that. He was sure of it.

“Well, since we're waiting on the Flash, which is something I've always found ironic about them, I'll give you a peak at the plan.” He slid a pair of SHIELD badges and passports over to Dinah. “Simple retrieval operation.”

A flash of red energy and the newest Avenger showed up. James nodded to Walt. “Nice to see you close to on time, Flash.” James slid his badge and passport over to him.

“The mission is simple. An asset was discovered in South America. We weren't sure it was him. The locals call him “The Ghost who Walks. Loosely translated of course.” James punched some keys and blurry pictures of a long haired man with a beard came up.

“There was a disturbance near one of the League of Assassins bases near there. Your girlfriend and her pal were involved, Walter.” James tapped a few buttons and the image zoomed in and cleared up. “SHIELD was aware of Owen Merlowe’s activities in Gotham and Central City. They never bothered with him, because he kept the criminals at bay.”

The photo finally rendered a picture of long haired Owen. “It seems that Mr. Merlowe didn't feel the need to stay dead. Your brother asked me to sit on this information and report it to him. I decided to pass it on to you instead.”

“There are airline tickets in the folders. You two can go get him back. Walter, you're on protection detail. I trust you to keep her and the babies safe. Also, I know she means a lot to a girl in your life. Consider this me being a wingman.”

Getting summoned to the Avenger's Mansion wasn't something that happened every day, but it was definitely an interesting way to cap off her week. She’d had to go into the office, because people were beginning to question whether she was coming back at all. Wondering if they should replace her. Oh, they’d say it would be temporary, but it would be one hell of a fight to get her label back from whoever they thought could do better. So she had gone in to the board meeting, thanks to a tip off from her assistant. They were very surprised to see her, trying to be very understanding of her “time off” after her recent kidnapping and torture. But she wasn’t going to let them use that as an excuse to push her out.

And at five and a half months, she had thrown on the baggiest clothes she owned to go outside, just in case anyone with a camera decided they wanted a picture. She wasn't ready to announce to the world, at least officially, she was pregnant. And everyone who did know, knew how to keep a secret. Still, she kept her bag in front of her stomach as she followed Jarvis' directions to where James was waiting.

"Impending babies, fending off hostile board members, you know, the usual. Don't know the sex yet as they're blocking each other and the doc can't get a clear look at either of them." Dinah waited a beat before nodding, as James picked up on the plural usage. "Yes, twins. Runs in my family, obviously. And don't even say it's a punishment or you're getting training duty. Especially if they are metas." she pointed at him as she sat down. Picking up the badge and passport curiously, she wondered what the hell she'd be doing on a retrieval operation. Especially in her condition.

She waved at Walt as he showed up, putting her bag down and settling in as James seemed ready to tell them what was going on. She looked at some of the fuzzy pictures he put up, then back at James, slightly confused. The League of Assassins was in her wheelhouse though currently they should have been her brothers. Her eyes slid over to Walt at the mention of his "girlfriend" and all the pieces slammed together moments before the next picture materialized. James' next words were drowned out by the ringing in her ears. She simply stared at the picture of Owen up on the screen, her hands gripping the arms of the chair, her mind trying to wrap around this new information. It took a few seconds for the second piece of information to trickle through, that her brother had known. She tamped that down, trying to focus on what James was saying. They were going to get Owen. That's why they were here.

She snatched the folder off the table. "When do we leave?"

A few months had been more than enough time to master his new powers, and as a consequence of being able to move at nearly the speed he could before, Walt also felt nearly up to his old standards of mirth. Being called to Avenger's Mansion for a new gig was also the perfect opportunity to exercise his new loadout.

He responded to each of the greetings issued to him by the others, nodding shortly at both of them, smirking at James's comment on his tardiness.

"James. Dinah." He beamed goofily at Dinah's belly, hands on his hips. "Gosh, you just look fit as a fiddle. Mother Gaia herself, I'm looking at." He spoke rapidly, only pausing when he realized that James was prepared to speak. His impatience grew during the seconds-long briefing, but he stopped tapping his foot at the mention of Mal. His mind starting whirring at the mention of the League of Assassins. And before James displayed the picture of Owen, Walt knew. His heart stopped for a full second.

Oh, no.

He realized that his discussion with Mal didn't take, and that she still intended to retrieve Owen, or whatever had replaced him.

Walt, uncharacteristically, remained silent as James claimed his wingman creds, speaking only when Dinah showed her eagerness to depart. He had meant to discuss the mission in a little more depth- also uncharacteristically- but enough of his old temperament was still intact that he was almost as excited as Dinah.

"Alright, then." He flipped a hand in a there-you-have-it gesture. "One sasquatch-zombie-hitman, coming up." He grabbed his documents from James's desk and held the door open for Dinah.