Hey guys. First, I'd like to say that I'm writing this fic after Infinity War's release, but before Avengers 4's release. Thus, it's canon divergent after Infinity War. Another thing is that this fic assumes that a lot of the snap's effects have been reversed, and some of the heroes had to be sacrificed in order to save the ones that died. Hence, the people that would be dead now are: Steve Rogers, Rhodey, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton. The only ORIGINAL Avengers that are still alive are Tony and Thor.
Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable Marvel characters. Their rights belong to Marvel and their parent company.
He flipped through the array of documents, sighing. A look of confusion and incredulity came on his face. "This is insane." He sounded exasperated as he threw the papers across the table.
A man with an eyepatch, who took the papers and reorganized them. "That's surprising, coming from you, Stark."
"Surprising?" Stark scoffed. He stood up from his chair. "What's surprising is that the former director of a dead organization decided that they'd show up on my doorstep with this kind of bullshit."
"Yeah, I'm not a director anymore, but S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't dead."
The look of anger on Tony's face softened. His body relaxed, sitting back down, and his eyes slowly widened. "What?"
Fury locked his eyes on Tony as he got up. He paced around the table. "S.H.I.E.L.D.'s been working underground for a long time. Thought you'd realize that when I talked to you before Sokovia."
Tony stayed silent for a moment. He grasped his chin trying to understand. "So you mean all this time, we could've just reached out, and you'd be there?"
"Maybe not like that, but yeah."
Tony shook his head. "God." He paused, taking in the realization. He placed himself back in reality, talking slowly. "This still doesn't do anything to the fact that what you just showed me is bullshit. I mean, is this even legal?"
"I imagine that the Justice Department giving us their blessing is a sign it's legal." Fury watched Stark's fiery demeanor appear again. "And I think you and I both know why we need this program."
"Yeah," Tony spat. "And I just completely agree that you should pick the destiny of all these kids, some of them way before they can even add 1+1. Infuse their DNA with superpowered DNA. Totally fine."
"This is a precaution."
"This is a moral issue."
"That never came across your mind when you made Ultron."
Tony sprang up once again and nearly yelled. "That was a mistake." He lowered his voice and looked disgusted. "I'm not gonna make the same one again."
"Mistake or not, we've already done it." Fury took a file and opened it to the last page. His one eye looked down on its contents before showing it to Tony. Red writing sat on all of the lines; each one was followed by a signature and a date. All the dates were from the past week.
"You guys are idiots." Tony sounded bitter as he crossed his arms. "You know that being an enhanced means nothing."
"Maybe. But I think we need to have the powers we know work with the heroes of the future."
"Their personalities are gonna everything. Fuck, the only reason Cap was chosen was because he was Mr. Nice Guy." Tony walked up to Fury and took the file out of his hands. His eyes glossed over the kid's name. "A total hero in his personality," he emphasized. He glanced at Fury again and closed the file. "Not to be a debbie downer, but for all you know, these kids could grow up to be awful. How do you know you're not making a villain instead of a hero?"
"Keep an eye on them." Fury took the file back. "Make sure they stay good. That'll be your job."
"My job? I'm sorry, I thought you were the director."
"I was." Fury took the rest of the files on the table. "It would've been my job, but like you and I agreed, I no longer fill that position. I had to appoint a new director." He handed them to Tony. "So now, it's yours, Director Stark."
Stark's jaw hung open. "Are you for real?" He grabbed ahold of all the documents again and returned to his chair.
Nick started heading towards the door but stopped halfway. "I'm gonna stick around S.H.I.E.L.D. for a little while to help the transition in leadership, but I think you should get started by fully debriefing yourself." He stared at the man for a little while before turning back around and making his exit.
Stark stayed, in awe, as he cleared his mind and looked through all the documents without the intent to reject. The children in the files came from all sorts of backgrounds, ranging from age 3 to 6. Each kid seemed to be assigned the DNA of an existing or now deceased Avenger, much to his dismay. The enormity of the task at hand suddenly became apparent to him, as did the weight of his new title as director.
"There was a reason why I made Pepper the CEO." He took out his phone and turned it on. He swiped through his contacts to get to Pepper's number.
He stared at the face of his wife, smiling and excited. In her arms was their child. He pressed call.
The ringing was answered. "Hello darling," he sighed. Stark bit his lip. "I need to talk to you about the kid. The kid's fine, it's just that I need them to be safe..."
He walked away from the table.
Hey. This is my take on a possible 'next generation Avengers' scenario after Infinity War. I want to make this story feel first and foremost like a coming-of-age, character-based piece that's focused on the growth of the characters. There will be action, with hopefully high stakes, but I'm going to focus on their formation and dynamics first.
I won't be using HYDRA as a main villain in this story. I think it's overused as an idea, and I have a different idea that I think is more 'grounded.' I'm going to use a collection of OCs (which will have the powers of some of the current Avengers) and canon characters from the comics to give a balance between old and new. I'm thinking of having a total of 6 or 7 characters at the most, and I won't reveal the powers of the OCs immediately, though I think you'll be able to tell very easily. The canon characters will be self explanatory, I hope!
Follow, Favorite, Review, do whatever you want, and stay tuned!
