A/N: It took me a few days longer than it should've (winces) BUT now I'm finally back with an update. Yosh…?

THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, for your absolutely AWESOME reviews, listings and support! This is something totally new for me – and the first story from me with 'Mission Impossible' on board – so it's AWESOME that you're all taking this journey with me. I really hope that you'll keep having a good ride.

Because stalling is just rude… LET'S RUMBLE! Team encounters ahoy.

Great Many Introductions

So, considering everything that'd just been revealed – all the lies that'd been brought out into the open – maybe the rooftop of an extremely high building wasn't the smartest place to go.

Ethan Hunt didn't do sitting down and talking. Especially when he was… displeased, and confused. When he got angry he punched people or shot someone, sometimes both. How was he supposed to do that when the one responsible for the inner turmoil was a friend? Even if it was possible that said friend would've come back from a gunshot wound to the head.

"You know… It'd make me feel a lot more comfortable if your hand stopped twitching above your concealed gun." William shrugged. "Just a thought." At least the man appeared to feel as uncomfortable as Ethan did. It was a small comfort.

Ethan's eyes narrowed, turning towards the direction from which the silhouette of an aircraft was approaching. His head ticked a million miles per hour, processing. "So no one from the IMF knows?"

William shook his head firmly. The man's expression tightened to a painful extend. "Nope. It was the kind of a risk I wasn't interested in taking." The agent looked away, folding his arms over his chest. "I told the wrong person everything once. I'm not going to make the same mistake again."

Ethan frowned. Although he was still trying to swallow everything he felt a twinge of sadness and dread. He could only imagine…

There were so many things Ethan would've wanted to ask. And he figured that he deserved some answers. But they'd have to wait. Because just then the jet they'd been observing landed and three people emerged. To Ethan's surprise he recognized them all.

Tony Stark, a billionaire. There was once a party to which he went posing as the genius, planning on getting some information out of a… rather interesting woman. The second arrival was Steve Rogers, or Captain America as he better remembered from childhood stories. A living legend, brought back to life from ice. The third person… The IMF-agent's eyebrow arched. "It's been a while." The great Black Widow. He expected to never meet her again, even after hearing rumors that she'd swapped sides since their previous encounter. Which wasn't his proudest moment.

Natasha shrugged. "We've both been busy. I'm sorry about Dublin." Sincere enough, although no emotions were visible or audible.

Ethan shrugged. "It wasn't the first time I've been poisoned." The first time it was done via lipstick, though. Quite the St. Patrick's Day…

That was when a fourth person appeared from the jet. Such Ethan didn't remember seeing or hearing from before. She was significantly younger than the others and looked around with suspicion until she noticed William. The two of them exchanged a few words, nods and brief smiles. The agent was able to read the name 'Wanda' from William's lips.

"So." Tony stepped forward, focusing on William. There was tension that didn't seem to belong there on the billionaire's face. "Funny thing? I saw this really creepy YouTube video of a man falling down a building a couple of minutes before it was removed. And that guy kind of looked like you. Does that have anything to do with why we're here?"

The introductions were brief and stiff. One might've said quiet if Benji and Tony weren't involved. Neither side was sure if the other could be trusted and the only thing – only person – linking them had, apparently, been keeping massive secrets. For people who'd always had trust issues that wasn't an excellent place to start from.

They were told a story that sounded like a silly movie or a fantasy book meant for teenagers. Of siblings who once hunted witches for a living. Of a man who'd been walking the Earth for centuries because his sister couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

"So…" Tony frowned. "You're seriously telling me that you're", a finger pointed at Steve. "older than this guy here?"

Well. If that was the easiest bit about the informational overload to grasp… "Yup."

"How many times have you died, anyway?" Whatever amusement there may have been faded away like a switch had been flicked. "Okay, sorry. That was…"

"I have no idea." A pair of usually bright eyes darkened significantly, the shadows of several lifetimes and countless of deaths flooding past them. "I… tried to keep track, at first. But then I decided that it wasn't a good idea."

The silence that followed lasted for a long time. None of them was quite sure what to think or say. "Is that woman who attacked you a witch?" Natasha asked at last, always practical and ready for a mission. She went on after a brief nod. "Who is she? And what does she want?"

"I don't know her original name. These days she's known as Phoenix." The apparently immortal man gritted his teeth. "I'm pretty sure that she was checking if the rumors she may have heard about me were true." He shivered visibly, his eyes shifting towards the room's window. "I've barely even aged, since…" He swallowed. "She wants to become invincible. What better way to ensure that than to make sure that even death won't stop her?"

"What will she do if she obtains that power?" Ethan inquired sharply, obviously already preparing himself for a fight. The man didn't ask what it'd do to him. They could all guess entirely too well.

A single dark look confirmed that it was an option which didn't bear further thinking on. There was a heavy sigh. "Her plan just has a tiny problem she doesn't know about." The practically interrogated man looked away, focusing on his restlessly twitching fingers. "I'm not immortal. I can only die a certain amount of times before… well, it's a permanent deal. And I have no idea how many lives I have left. Whenever I die… There's no telling if I'll come back."

That shocked the whole room into a long silence. "So… We go after a witch that has… who knows what powers? And we're supposed to destroy her?" Benji's eyes were wide and his hands were moving animatedly. "Will, it's usually your job to point out how insane the things we do are!"

Everything froze for a while. Several eyebrows rose. "'Will'?" Steve repeated slowly, trying to figure it out.

The unwilling center of attention shrugged. "When you've been around as long as I have… Well, it's a good idea to go by several names. I've pretended to be my own son, grandson and… You get the picture."

"How many IDs do you have right now?" Natasha asked. She sounded genuinely curious. In the middle of all the… witch hunting stuff this had to be comfortingly normal.

They really needed to check their definition of 'normal', the man with many names mused. He counted briefly in his head. "Three that I use frequently. A few more for emergency situations."

The others processed for a few moments. Tony pursed his lips. "This is getting just too confusing. We're gonna have to settle on one name. What's the original?"

There was a long pause. The answer that eventually came did so reluctantly. "Hansel."

For a couple of seconds the rest of them stared. Laughter then erupted. "Seriously? Hansel, as in that kid from that fairytale?"

The man in question shrugged. "Some people I met started telling my story forward. And all of a sudden it was in a book." He winced. "I've always hated my name."

"Aww, you shouldn't. It's cute", Tony protested with a smirk. Then clapped his hands together. "Now, children! We have some work to do. Phoenix to find."

"I managed to get a tracking device on her before she dropped me", Hansel pointed out. "Latest IMF-technology. It should be active by now."

"'IMF'?" Natasha inquired before the other Avengers got the chance to.

"Let's… just save that story for later, yeah?"

Tony seemed genuinely excited. "How about that, we're getting somewhere!" His eyes darted around the room's computers and filled with disapproval. "You guys have better toys around here somewhere, right?"

Benji shook his head to clear it. Too shocked to be insulted. "Sure, sure. I'll come with." The smaller man was still shaking his head as the two headed out of the room. Nothing more was spoken until Benji seemed to imagine that the rest of them wouldn't hear. "This… This is like meeting that bloke from 'Doctor Who'. What was his name…? Harkness… something."

Tony's eyes filled with excitement. The man grinned. "You're a 'Who' fan, too?"

There was a faint smile on Hansel's face as he watched the two leave. Then, far more solemn, he focused on the others and sighed. "Thanks, for doing this. I wasn't sure…" He trailed off.

Steve smiled a bit. "We all have our secrets." The Captain shrugged. "There'll be a lot of questions, later. But for now I'm glad that Tony may finally stop teasing me about my age."

While the others tried to digest everything that'd just been revealed Wanda found Clint – or perhaps rather Hansel – from a room which turned out to contain a massive amount of weapons. Instead of the rather chilling items she focused on her friend and shifted. "I've… been trying to understand why you invited me here as well. I'm not ready for missions yet."

Clint swallowed and gritted his teeth. He glanced her way but couldn't quite bring himself to look properly. "You'll have to be for this one." He sighed, clearly wondering how to set his words. "If things get as bad as I suspect they will… You may be the only one who can stop her. Because right now you're the most powerful White Witch in the world."

Wanda stared. Then burst into laughter. This had to be some sort of a weird and stupid joke. "I was experimented on. My powers…"

"… weren't something scientists granted you. They were always there, hiding and waiting." Clint's eyes were full of sorrow. He knew that her life would never be quite the same after this. "What do you imagine kept the mortar shell from going off when you and Pietro were waiting to be rescued?" He tried to offer a small, comforting smile, knowing how much those memories hurt. "HYDRA… They were interested because they already suspected that you were special."

Wanda had no idea what to think. Her head was spinning. She tried to focus on breathing to control the hurricane of thoughts and emotions.

She felt that she was different, even before. And everyone saw it. That's why she and Pietro never made a lot of friends. It was alright with them, just the two of them against the rest of the world. Their parents were always so very protective of them. Now, finally, it all made sense. Wanda wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh, cry, scream or all of those simultaneously.

So much for being Scarlet Witch…

"Wanda." Clint's voice was sad and gentle. "I know that this is a lot to take in…"

"How does Phoenix know what I am?" Because she felt like there was still a part of the story missing. She searched her friend's gaze, preparing herself for something absolutely horrible. "Who told her?"

"No one had to." Clint paused for a few seconds, setting his words. "She… was adopted to States when she was just a little girl, barely old enough to remember her birth family. Those fragments of memories she had… She held on to them tightly. And when she was old and powerful enough she began to search for them. To discover that she had a niece and a nephew."

Wanda's eyes widened and her heartrate sped up considerably. "How did you find out about me, then?" She didn't mean to sound accusative. But under the circumstances… Could she really be blamed?

Clint didn't seem offended. "I kept an eye on your mom, long before the two of you were born. I'd already… met her sister and wanted to see what her intentions were. I had my suspicions since I saw your powers. Still it was a surprise to have her name linked to you." He sighed. "I… wanted to tell you alone because I know that this is a lot to take in." His soft tone provided much needed comfort. "I needed you to know because I want you to be prepared. This isn't going to be easy. And I think we should tell the others but it's your call."

Wanda shrugged. "Since when have I ever wanted it easy?" She lifted her chin and met the archer's eyes. "We tell them. Then we find Phoenix and destroy her."

Of course they both knew that it wouldn't be quite that easy. But where was the harm in being optimistic for a moment? Clint grinned. "Sounds like a plan." He nodded towards the room's door. "Now let's back before the others start throwing punches. Or worse."

At around the same time Phoenix was approaching a massive building in one of the city's most expensive corners. She now knew for certain that she found the right person. Watching the man gasp back to life… She couldn't remember the last time she would've smiled like that.

A solid plan was already forming in her mind.

Then she entered the building's main hall to discover that she wasn't alone. A man was occupying her favorite armchair, flipping through a book. He was admittedly quite attractive with his dark hair and bizarre eyes that lingered between blue and green. The clearly expensive clothes and his general aura helped enforce the impact.

Still, he was an intruder. Her eyes narrowed. "Unless you have a death wish I'd suggest explaining right now what you're doing here."

The man looked up at her with a charming smile only a fool would've trusted. "I've heard a lot about you, Phoenix. And it seems that we have some… common interests."

She folded her arms. She was certainly still entertaining the idea of killing him. But perhaps he'd be of some use first. "You may have heard about me. But I can honestly say that I've never had the good fortune of hearing about you." It was meant to be an insult and sounded like one. She had an inkling feeling that she'd seen his face somewhere, though.

The man chuckled, then got up and put away the book. As he took two steps towards her his eyes seemed a great deal greener than before. It was almost as if he was… glowing. "I'm Loki."

TBC

A/N: And here we go. All players are in their places. And now we've got Loki along, whatever HIS plan may be… Things are about to get messy, messy. (winces) Let's hope that our extended group of heroes manages to keep it together and beat this new threat.

Soooo… Was that any good, at all? Or a hopeless case? The comment box down below would like to know. (BTW, don't be alarmed if it takes a while before your reviews show up! seems to have some problems which they're currently hopefully fixing. All reviews will pop up once the problem's sorted. Until then they're safe in my mailbox.)

Until next time, folks! I really hope that I'll see ya all there. Take care!

Ande: Now how could I say 'no' to that? (smiles) I REALLY hope that you'll enjoy what's to come as much.

HUGE thank yous for the review!

Occea: I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the first bit so! We'll see what's to come next. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much!

Colossal thank yous for the review!

Guest: I just couldn't resist this idea when it came to me. (grins) I'm REALLY glad that you liked it so. Hopefully what's to come manages to deliver as well.

Massive thank yous for the review!