Post Captain America: Civil War. Contains some spoilers and OCs. I do not own the Avengers.
It started out small.
Twenty years after Stark's tower was hacked, his programs stolen and used to make something sinister, people were always afraid. Always terrified of everything. The world was destroyed, what was left of humanity stayed in large companies in their countries. There was little hope. There was nobody to blame. The people who twisted Stark's programs and changed them into what they were never supposed to be, they were killed by their own creations. Tony Stark himself, as well as Clint Barton and Steven Rogers, they were dead, saved so many people as they went. They hid themselves in shelters that Stark and Banner had worked together to make, ones that made it impossible to be found, were bomb proof, everything proof.
All people could do was hide.
Then one day, there was a patrol, for the enemy, that came too close for comfort to one of the safe areas, an impenetrable fortress to them. But the patrol was torn apart, scorched and destroyed.
There was a mark burned into the ground - A bird, three stars above its raised head and stretched wings.
It happened again, a week later. A patrol, a little further out, taken down, and the mark this time burned into the wall of a crumbling building.
The third time, someone saw it happen. People had gone out, trying to see if it was safe enough to get out there and travel to another base with vaccinations for another base, after a breakout. They were starting to leave, and suddenly there was a patrol. No sooner had the first robot lifted its hand to fire a burning repulsor at the leader's chest then suddenly its head was rolling away.
A shield, one that hadn't been seen for a long time, lodged itself into another, and then the people showed themselves. Two soldiers, one man and one woman, who worked in perfect harmony, taking down the patrol of ten. The girl fired white repulsor rays, as opposed to the blue that was so familiar, and it melted right through metal. The boy threw a punch and there was a dent in the solid chestplate.
They paused for a bit after they tore the head off the last robot. The girl aimed one of her repulsors at the ground, and fired, burning an all-too-familiar symbol into the ground.
They came out after that. Started fighting publicly, and not bothering to hide their identities. People were safe outside their impenetrable base. Everyone knew who they were, but they kept their masks and armour. Rumours spread that they were gods, sent down by the heavens to fight for people, that they were secretly spies for an organisation that was trying to save humanity. That was among the children anyway, the ones who waved and shook hands with the uncomfortable pair. But the adults simply knew them as the younger Avengers.
Maya Stark and Danny Rogers.
Over time, as their publicity grew, more people showed up, fighting with them. Steven Barnes was there for one of the earlier fights, joining in with his best friends. Pietro and Kara Maximoff showed up with Callum Barton and Thomas Banner. Laura, daughter of Thor, and Kyle Parker also reared up their heads, and they fought as well, side by side with people they accepted as family. Cassie Lang, Dana Wilson and Jake T'Challa took longer, showing up after finding a semi-safe way to get overseas. Natasha Romanoff was seen around the bass more often, training and helping the younger people whenever she could. The rest of the living Avengers, most too injured and old to be able to fight, also came up, subtly helping. People saw them walking through the halls of the expanding base and patted their backs, placed hands on their shoulders. Wanda Maximoff was seen teaching her daughter how to harness her power while her son raced about, blurring as he sped from one place to another.
People started to see the new generation as a team. The Avengers, the older ones, they were the mentors, and they were already so well known. But they couldn't really fight. Their kids could.
Sparrow, who fought for her father as much as she fought for her lover, and Shield, the one who had her back when she didn't watch it herself. They were the leaders, the most steady, the first, but not the oldest. Quicksilver, Witch, Bullet and Archer, taking so easily after their bloodlines. Whitestrike, the caller of thunder, and Leviathan, the shapeshifter. Sergeant, who fought so well with Shield, like their fathers had fought together before them, and Huntsman, the new spider with the bigger bite. Peregrine and Wolf, who were inseparable, the pair almost as well-known as Sparrow and Shield.
The Resurgence.
One day, Wanda Maximoff found a way to make everything better. Everyone got a vote.
Send the Resurgence back, before everyone died.
Every single one of the two million people who still remained alive in the part of the world that wasn't scorched and torn agreed to it. It was one shot and one shot only. Wanda was dying, and they only had one chance to do it.
If it didn't work, if the Resurgence died, then they would return to this time, and nothing would happen. No change. If it worked, then everything...
Everything might be okay again.
The Resurgence and the remnants of the Avengers stood alone in a room. Nobody wanted to watch. It was just a chance. They had long since learned to never expect anything. They were too tired to blame them if they failed. The world was fallen, how could anything possibly be worse than this?
They closed their eyes.
An hour passed. Two. And that timeline weakened. The people felt it, the sinking feeling in their guts telling them that yes, the Resurgence had managed to do something truly incredible.
A few days later everything they knew was gone.
In the dead of night, the streets of New York were cold. The city that never sleeps, of course, would never be silent, but people payed less attention to their surroundings. Nobody noticed the surge of red light as a large group of people dropped to the ground. But they were silent, everyone landing with precision and ease, none making a sound aside from the beating of their hearts. Two of the figures started moving, creeping carefully along. The taller of the two, the man, tilted his masked head and listened to the bustling city. The girl, however, tapped twice on the matte grey armour on her thighs, her silver gauntlets ringing slightly with the metal-on-metal dings.
Immediately, they moved. As if as one, they sank into the shadows, unseen and undetected, climbing walls and creeping silently through the night. They made it to the roof, and formed a circle around one of them, who knelt on the ground with her eyes closed.
"We have two hours," the accented voice informed the group. A collective nod came, and they were on the move once more, racing soundlessly along the roofs. Much practice and training from professionals allowed even the metal armour to be silent along the conveniently flat roofs as they leaped from building to building.
It was fifteen minutes before they reached their destination. They had long since gone back to the ground, reaching the taller buildings with the harder roofs as they passed through the richer streets. At the side of one building, they all grouped together, regarding the large building with steel in their eyes. The youngest of the group slapped his thigh lightly, and the whole group turned to him. He moved his hands.
Plan? he signed.
The oldest slung his bow over his shoulder, allowing him to sign with both hands. It's bigger than we thought. Laura, is he there?
He is, a woman signed, I can sense it. Are we sure this will work? We need a better plan.
Either it works or it doesn't, another signed, face grim, I for one am not going home until we fix this. Sparrow, Shield, what is the plan?
The metal-armoured girl and the tallest boy shared a look, before the man started signing, We go in. Look, we can take them down. Whitestrike, Thor. Leviathan, Bruce. Archer, Quicksilver, you'll have to take Natasha and Clint. Your skills have to match theirs. We can fight. We don't have to win, just buy Sparrow enough time to wipe that memory. We gotta destroy it. All of it. They may be reunited once more, but that will not protect them.
I have the stick, Iron Sparrow pulled out a black device, then placed it back in its crevice in her armour, It will plant the virus and destroy everything. Every backup, every copy. Witch helped. The stick cannot be removed until its work is done.
You made that?
My father was a genius. He taught me everything he knew before he went and got himself killed, Huntsman.
Sorry.
Never mind. We must hurry. Dawn approaches.
They broke the circle.
Witch closed her eyes, holding out a hand that one by one the others touched. A red mist spread around them, circling them and rendering them invisible to the human eye. It would render machines useless, but only as long as the mist was there. Witch was dropping it as soon as they got inside.
They hesitated, and Sergeant turned, speaking softly.
"We go in as the Resurgence. For the home we never got." He placed his fist out. The rest of the group curled their hands and placed them in as well, ready for a fight.
"For the home we never got."
Call him paranoid. Whatever. In all honesty, he probably was. But this time, he was lucky that he was so paranoid or he wouldn't have run into a bunch of people breaking into the tower.
He wasn't ashamed to say that he was ready for the fight.
He must have surprised them. They were in his lab, and all but one of them just snapped around and stood stock still. He raised his eyebrow and prepared his special portable gauntlet that he refused to take off because hey - you can never be too careful. They were all similar ages, from a glance going from a minimum of 18 to maybe 25. One of them had a bow and arrow, which was aimed steadily at Tony's head, which he thought was rather rude.
"We got company, Sparrow," one of the guys said. The girl - who was hunched over his computer tapping away at the speed of light - huffed and kept going, not sparing Tony a glance. The speaker huffed, and nudged her with... a round shield. Very original, these villains. "It's Stark, Sparrow."
'Sparrow' groaned and replied so bluntly that it took a little longer to set in. "Damn. Forget stealth. Sergeant!"
Immediately, one of the taller guys leapt into action, lunging for Tony. Before his fist could strike though, a metal arm seemingly popped into existence right in front, catching the guy's hand. Bucky Barnes was there, and Tony nodded to him in silent thanks. After the fight nearly three years ago now, the Avengers had done their best to fix themselves.
"You know," Steve's voice came in, and half of the group turned around, facing the ridiculously tall man in the opposite doorway, "Breaking and entering can get you in trouble."
"Makes sense," a guy in jeans and a kevlar shrugged, the accent leaking through his words, "It's very rude. Witch?"
"Fifteen seconds," a girl replied sharply, the same accent there. Huh. Siblings?
"Good. Shield!"
The first one of the group to speak jumped, flying toward Captain America with surprising speed. But you can't really out-run a super soldier. Steve caught the fist thrown his way, but he seemed surprised at something, taking a step back. Tony had no more time to watch, because suddenly the entire team was there. The intruders responded, pairing off with the Avengers in one-on-one combat. Tony ended up face to face with a guy in black spandex, the youngest of the lot. He would have scoffed at it if the kid Hadn't tossed him across the room.
After that it was a blur. Tony was just trying to fight them in the confined space without destroying absolutely everything. He caught glimpses of the rest of his team as he went, and realized he wasn't the only one having a hard time. Thor was fighting against some woman who seemed to be taking the lightning perfectly fine. Natasha and Clint had teamed up, and were fighting the archer and a really fast guy, the first of the twins, who reminded Tony painfully of Pietro. Banner was trying not to hulk out, but his training with Natasha had helped, and he was holding his own against some other guy. Steve and Bucky had paired up like Natasha and Clint, and their respective opponents seemed to just meld. Wanda seemed to be facing... another Wanda. Vision was trying to get to the computer girl, but he was held up by the multitasking witch. Then there was the newer members of the team - Scott, Peter and Sam. They faced opponents with similar skill sets. Heck, Sam was trying to beat another guy with a falcon, zooming around the room.
The girl at the computer - Tony was assuming she was a woman, judging from the feminine shape - cried out in victory, shoving a weird USB into the computer. Almost immediately, the computer started to glitch, the screen flickering. And she turned around.
As she did, there was a dramatic change. Well, a change. Natasha somehow managed to get the fast guy off, and she knocked him out with a swift blow to the back of his head. The surprise in the Archer's stance allowed Clint the upper hand as well, and he took out an electric arrow from his quiver and tased the younger man. Tony fired a surprise stun ray at his opponent, sending him flying and knocking him well and truly out.
'Sparrow' cried out in outrage, raising a hand to fire at them. Clint only just ducked in time, avoiding the blue ray that Tony could tell was only meant for stunning. At the same time, Thor seemed to find a weak spot in the lightning-girl's defences, taking her down with a swift blow.
There were only eight left. All of them suddenly pulled away from their opponents, either jumping, rolling, or taking a step towards 'Sparrow' and 'Shield'. They stood together, effectively covering each other's backs and leaving no room for anyone to slip between them. The Avengers regrouped as well, surrounding the remains of the group and covering the exits.
"What did you do?" Tony growled. 'Sparrow' turned a masked face towards him, and there was a dark tone even through the mechanical mouthpiece as she replied.
"What we had to."
"And you had to... what, glitch my computer? You realise I can fix anything, right?"
"Yeah. That is true," There was a smirk in her tone when she continued, "But I had a good teacher."
As Tony gaped at her in disbelief, lightning girl suddenly spoke, staring at one of her fallen comrades.
"Sparrow..."
Sparrow glanced at the same person. Everyone did, staring at the barely exposed mark on Archer's wrist that went from hardly noticeable to deep black. Sparrow tensed, then relaxed, and he voice when she spoke was full of confusing happiness.
"We won," she said.
"What?" Clint asked, frowning.
No answer came.
The entire group was gone.
Steve was walking down the street toward his favourite coffee shop.
Not that the Avengers couldn't make good coffee. Steve liked coffee at the Avengers tower. It's just... He found it nice when he got to go for a walk in the crisp morning air. He liked to watch people for a little while.
That and they could make better coffee than Steve.
The little shop was on the corner of a street, and in the mornings it had maybe six or seven people in it. Steve was a little surprised at an extra person. The young man looked strangely familiar, and he was waiting by the counter as he was handed two cups of coffee. Then three more. And another four. He placed them on a skateboard, lining them up evenly, and picking it up with steady hands. He turned around, and his eyes fixed with Steve's. A spark of recognition flashed through them, and Steve sighed inwardly, bracing for the flood of You're Captain America and Wow you're Steve Rogers!
The young man did none of that. He just smiled and inclined his head.
"Morning," he greeted. Steve smiled.
"That's a lot of caffeine there," Steve said. The man shrugged.
"I lost a bet. I got the coffee run this morning."
"They're all just waiting for you to come back with coffee?" Steve asked amusedly, placing his usual order.
"Nah," he replied, smiling sadly, "Cal's comin' soon with the car. He's takin' it back home. I'm visiting a friend."
Steve nodded and picked up his coffee, dropping the money on the counter and moving to open the door for the younger man. He nodded in thanks, and Steve walked out with him, leaning against the wall and starting to talk.
"Got a name, stranger?" Steve asked. He smiled, ducking his head.
"Danny Stevenson. Well, that's what Maya calls me. Dan and Daniel, they work too."
"Well, Danny," Steve said, "I'm Steve. You guys do this often? One person getting ten coffees?"
"Twelve," Danny corrected, grinning, "And yeah. Usually we compete. A challenge. I made a bet that Maya couldn't judo-flip me when we visited her last night. She showed me. I actually had to tell the guards it was fine so many times, they were not convinced."
Steve laughed a little, then frowned.
"Guards?"
"Yeah," Danny shrugged, "Mental Institution. Ever since... Well, she was visiting overseas, couple of years ago," Steve went still, realising what must have happened, "The explosion that took out that building, the one that sparked the accords... It kind of... I don't know, it knocked her out. She... wasn't the same. She kind of started attacking people in her sleep - and she's paraplegic. There's just something scary about it. I don't know how she manages. She wasn't allowed outside until a few months ago."
"I'm sorry," Steve said sincerely, guilt barely staying out of his tone. Danny shot him a look, then faced him fully.
"Not your fault," Danny said, "Nothing you could do. Any of you. But... stuff happens. Sometimes it's bad. We tend not to just, shout it to the world. But it's no big secret, there's no shame in finding the best way to hold on. We're fine with it. One because she's getting discharged today," Steve smiled, seeing the joy in Danny's eyes, "The other that we try to see it as something like a joke. Maya seems to find it endlessly funny that she's in a psychiatric ward after all the weird stuff we've done."
"Like what?" Steve said, interested. Danny grinned widely, shifting to face Steve fully to share his story.
"Like, I dragged everyone to the Himalayas to climb Everest."
"Seriously?" Steve asked, wondering why someone would force his friends to go overseas. Danny shrugged.
"Burst of inspiration. Let Maya lead the way to the top. I proposed to her there," Steve only just noticed the simple gold band around Danny's finger, "Something special about asking her to be mine on top of the world, you know?"
"And so he tells his tale to he who asks," a voice piped up. Steve and Danny turned to face the tall brown-haired man, who was grinning crookedly. Danny smiled, walking forward and promptly dumping the skateboard into the new guy's arms, taking two of the coffees while the taller tried to make sure nothing spilled. His sleeve slipped up a little, exposing a black tattoo on his wrist before he pulled the cloth back down. Steve didn't pay too much attention to it, though, not wanting to pry.
"Took you a while, Cal," Danny chuckled, turning to Steve, "Steve, this is Callumette Beckett. Cal, Steve."
"Callum," Cal said, rolling his eyes at the younger's antics. Steve smiled, shaking the offered hand with a firm grip, "Pleasure, Captain America. Danny, Thomas and Kyle are intent on kicking you for taking so long."
"I have to face my fiancee first, Cal," Danny shuddered, "So I should go... like now. Before she's ready to kill me. Thank you for the company, Steve. I appreciate it."
With that, Danny was off at a brisk pace down the street, Steve watching with amusement as Callum almost dropped the coffees again. The Captain carefully fixed up the almost-falling coffees, and Callum gave him a grateful smile.
"Maybe we'll see you around, Captain," Callum smiled crookedly, "But I should get back before they decide I'm fit to eat. Have a good day, Steve!"
Steve walked home sipping absently at his coffee, wondering why on earth Danny and Callum seemed so darn familiar.
Maya hated this cover.
Hated it with a passion.
For one, in meant that she had to take off the armour, which was the only thing that allowed her to walk. Of course she always had the option of putting them back on - she still had the implants in her spine - but they were special legs! She spent two years working on them until they were perfect, she didn't like taking them off!
At least the others visited her in the Mental Hospital. Seriously, having to act insane because she had to protect the secret Shield outpost beneath the facility was a burden. She was always annoyed when people spoke to her like a child, tried to do everything for her. She had to have a wheelchair and everything, but that was cool. She liked to go as fast as possible down the halls to see who would bother to catch her.
Luckily, she only had to stay here a little longer.
Kara had some in with her at first, and she managed to put a few thoughts in the minds of the staff members. As far as they were concerned, Maya had been with them for two years and her condition had improved.
"Maya?"
Maya smiled and turned her wheelchair away from the window, giving Danny a small smile. She could leave - she'd been here for only three days, but she wanted to be back home with her family. Danny grinned at her, knowing what her mind was on, and came forward to place a kiss on her lips. Maya rolled her eyes and took the offered coffee. She was only allowed coffee because she was leaving. She was all up in jeans and a tee, thankful to be out of the drab psych clothing.
Thank God for Kara Maximoff.
"You ready, Maya?" Danny asked her gently. Maya nodded.
"You know it," she said, "Not let's go home."
It took about fifteen minutes to sign out of everything - gotta make sure it's official and everything, seeing as there was no way to go back to their time because it didn't exist anymore. Danny pushed her out of the hospital, and as they started walking the short way to the main city. Maya and Danny shared stories. According to Danny, they had managed to acquire an actual home, but everyone was staying in a motel until Maya and Danny came back from the psych ward. They would get to the new place - old place, since it was in the same area the official entrance to their base had been back in their timeline. It had been the orders of one Wanda Maximoff, telling them that that was the safest naturally protected place because of the positioning. There was a magnetic pull in the area that had stuffed up the murderous robots when they came close.
There was a reason the base was built there.
In turn, Maya informed Danny that she had effectively utterly destroyed the bit of technology that the guys who made the deadly program were going to steak next. The reactor, which they'd used to power the first robot, was made specially for their kind of bot - and it was lying in individual pieces scattered all around the room.
They were just walking along the street, the motel in sight. Then someone opened a door and popped their head out.
Then another person.
Another couple of doors.
Suddenly a horde of people were racing towards the couple, whooping and laughing, surrounding Maya and punching Danny happily on the shoulder. Thomas, Kyle, Laura, Jake and Pietro were laughing at Maya, who grunted at them that next time they could be nutcases. Kara, Callum, Steven, Dana, and Cassie, they just laughed and backed her up, deciding that Pietro could do it. Callum and Casse seemed pale, leaning against one another for support, and Maya's eyes softened as she took their hands.
That night, they watched the news, seeing the twelve intruders to the mental hospital arrested and sent to prison for breaking and entering and attempting to steal from a mental institution. They were then charged with breaking into Stark Tower. They all cuddled, the eldest of the group curled around each other as everyone pressed against them. Callum raised his beer, and everyone followed, celebrating the end of a war before it began. Celebrating the time they had had together, as a team. Mourning the fact that now everything was going to change.
Come the morning, ten people left the motel.
Their house was beautiful, a large building with just enough rooms for everyone. Well, if they were with their respective partners. Danny and Maya, of course, had the master bedroom. Steve and Kara took the one opposite, best friends across from best friends. Nobody really cared to argue. Pietro, Kyle, and Thomas, however, had decided to share, and Laura was glad to get the last room to herself instead of having to bunk with one of the others. One room was left unoccupied, the door closed and locked.
Right now, though, they were just hanging out. Laughing at terrible jokes, picking excessively on Maya, reminiscing pranks pulled when they had that prank war a few years back, the one that had every child nearby joining in, trying to push away the heavy cloud of grief that hung in the air. Somehow Kara and Pietro ended up singing the Australian National Anthem, Jake was hanging upside down from the rafters, and the rest of the team was either laughing, crying, drinking, or passed out on the floor.
Danny made a bet that he could beat Steven in hand-to-combat. He ended up face first on the floor and stuck with the task of getting the coffee again tomorrow.
He took up the job easily enough. If there was anything his father had taught him, it was to be a good leader. Be a team player, play it right. Be a good loser. The guys took pity on him, though, agreeing to help out.
Which was how the group of five men ended up in that little coffee shop once more. Danny ordered the same as he had, and the men sort of just... stood around, waiting for their coffees to go back home to the girls, who were most likely finding a way to make on of the rooms toasty and warm. Knowing Laura, there would be Pop Tarts and movies and pillows would be strewn everywhere.
They were exactly correct.
All was quiet that day. And the day after. For the rest of the week, they basked in their victory, felt content that they'd made the world a better place. They could see a life where there wasn't an army after them.
They could have a while to mourn.
Three months passed, and old wounds ached on.
"They're not there!" Tony exclaimed, frustrated. In the time since the break-in, he'd been searching relentlessly for something on the intruders. He'd had some help from an irritated Natasha, who was annoyed that it was taking so long with her help, to build some vague profiles - heights, ages maybe? Right now, Clint and Steve looked up from the table, where Steve was sipping at a coffee from that little shop down the road.
"Where?" Steve asked.
"In the database," Tony stalked away from his computer, running his hands through his hair, "There's no sign. No voice recognition, no previous data on possible criminal profiles, nothing."
"Nothing on the tattoos either," Natasha said. Steve frowned suddenly, his gaze fixing on something only he could see.
"You remember what that tattoo looked like?" he asked suddenly. Natasha's eyebrow shot up, but she sat down next to the Captain and pulled out a drawing pad, sketching out a rough copy of what she'd seen.
Steve stared at what she'd drawn. A drawn bow, the tip of the arrow pointed up as the limbs of the weapon stretched out like half a bracelet. The super soldier leaned back, dragging a hand down his face and thinking of the marks he'd seen on the arms of both men he met before. "Do you think it could have been one everyone in the group? Maybe a... an initiation?"
"Cap," Natasha's eyes narrowed, "You've seen someone with that tattoo?"
"Yeah," Steve replied, "Couple of guys I met down getting coffee after the break-in. Maybe two or three days."
"You got their names?" Tony asked, running to his computer and ready to search in the SHIELD database for anything that might help. Steve nodded.
"One was Danny Stevenson," Steve said, frowning a little as he remembered the other guy's name, "And... Callum Beckett, I think. Danny said Callumette, so I'm guessing Callum. I'm assuming Danny had a tattoo, I saw the corners of the ink under his hoodie."
"Yeah," Tony pulled up two profiles, scanning them with sharp eyes, "Uh, Daniel Stevenson. Says he's got a girlfriend..." He pulled up another profile, "Maya Summers. She's just been released from a hospital? Yeah, her x-rays after the... thing that happened to her are here. Paraplegic, so she's out. Stevenson's your average guy. Went to college and everything, got a degree in medicine with Maya. His buddy Callum, though... Callum apparently, he's a professional." Tony scoffed and turned around, giving everyone amused looks, "Guess what he does?"
"What, Tony," Clint snapped impatiently. Tony raised his hands, smirking.
"He's a trainer," the billionaire replied, "For the police force. Apparently he's been reported missing since about two months ago. They filed a report. Haven't found him or his wife... Cassie."
"Danny got a dozen coffees. That's enough for all the people that broke in, right?" Steve asked, getting up. Wanda, Vision and Thos walked in, staring in confusion at the scene. They listened intently as the Avengers already in the room started pacing and piecing together the little pieces of the puzzle that they had.
"You think they all have the same tattoo?"
"Possible. I mean, if two of them have the same one, it's actually likely that the rest of the team will also have it. Wait a minute, if Maya Summers if paraplegic, and she is, you can't really fool x-rays, how would she be there?"
"Maybe it's not Maya Summers. We're going off the coffees, maybe some of the members don't drink coffee. Maybe some of those drinks were for associates or something."
"Then we have an even bigger group to worry about."
There was silence. Then Natasha frowned, speaking up.
"Cap," she pointed at Danny, "Didn't you land a hit on your opponent's shoulder?"
Everyone turned to look. Sure enough, there was a faint sign of a dark bruise poking out from beneath Danny's shirt in a photo taken in the street. Steve frowned and looked closer.
"End of that's too thin to be from a fist," he said, "That's from my shield."
"Stark," Clint said, "Get an address. We're out."
They couldn't ever be too careful. Natasha and Clint were tasked with scouting out the area. They knocked on the front door of the large house, waiting tensely to see who would open the door. They were surprised by the call from within that said to hang on a second, and the struggle it seemed to be to open the door.
Before them was a young woman in a wheelchair. Her legs, useless, were covered by a fluffy grey blanket, and there was a book sitting in her lap, and when Natasha looked more closely at it the words Oliver Twist made her almost - almost - smile in amusement. The woman brushed a strand of black hair behind her almost elf-like ears, and she gave a bright smile to the two Avengers.
"Natasha and Clint. Mind if we talk to you?" Clint asked.
"Hi," she said, "Um… Would you like to come in?"
"If that's alright," Natasha smiled. Clint eyed Maya's wheelchair with concern as she backed up quickly. But she seemed to be relatively used to the contraption, for she manoevered herself around with relative ease. She asked Natasha to close the door behind them, leading them through an empty living room to a clean, homey kitchen with a fireplace.
"Are you Maya Summers?"
"I am," Maya replied, turning around and frowning a little, "Is there a problem?"
"Do you know Danny Stevenson?"
Maya's face paled slightly and she shifted herself using only her arms. "Did something happen?"
"He's a suspect for a break-in that happened not long ago," Natasha explained, "We have information that Callum Beckett was last seen with him. His tattoo was seen on one of the intruders before they escaped. Do you know what he was doing on May 17th?"
"Uh, no. I'm sorry, I was only… I was discharged on the 20th," Maya looked significantly uncomfortable, and she was fidgeting with the strings of her black hoodie, "Um… I was recuperating. After an accident. And are you talking about Callum?"
Natasha and Clint nodded, and didn't push the subject of the accident, already knowing the details of the accident from Steve.
"Cal hasn't been around," she said softly.
"Do you know anything about the tattoo, Maya?" Natasha pressed.
"Only that I have one too," Maya smiled, holding out her left arm with a fond smile. Clint and Natasha looked at the black symbol, but were confused by the difference. Instead of a bow, a pair of black wings formed a half-bracelet on the inside of the wrist. The bird had its beak pointing up toward the palm just like the arrow had pointed up, but three stars formed a shallow v, one at the end of the tail feathers, and one on either side. Maya looked at the two agents.
"Everyone does," she said, "They're kind of... special."
"Who else lives here, Maya?" Clint asked her seriously. Maya opened her mouth, but then frowned, tilting her head. Natasha followed suit, wondering what she was hearing, but her eyes widened at the beeping.
"DOWN!" she yelled, grabbing her partner and forcing him down. She pulled Maya out of the chair, and just as the woman hit the floor the wall exploded, small silver shards flying out and hitting everything. They embedded themselves in the walls and some flew at the three occupants of the room. Unfortunately, one of them wasn't wearing kevlar. Maya cried out in surprise more than pain as one of the larger bits of metal stabbed suddenly into her thigh. Clint was there immediately, gathering the slim woman into his arms and starting to leave as Natasha prepared to defend them all. In his earpiece, Clint listened to the team's frantic yelling.
"No casualties!" Clint yelled, leaving the house, "Nat and me are fine. We got an injured civil-"
At that moment, there was a greater explosion, throwing them to the ground. Natasha cried out, landing hard on her side and feeling a few ribs crack. Clint slammed down hard as well, turning around so that the bleeding woman landed on top of him. Maya's eyes were wide, and she was staring at the massive pillar of flame where her home used to be. She dragged herself away on her elbows, allowing Clint to roll over and push himself to his feet.
There were people here.
A large group of men, aiming guns right at the trio, training the barrels warily onto the woman who was pulling herself away from the assassins.
"Miss Summers!" he shouted over the roar of the flames. Maya rolled back over onto her back, face scrunching into a grimace. As Clint watched, she raised one hand and formed a fist, twisting it and pulling it down to thump against her thigh - the one that wasn't bleeding. Nothing happened for a bit. Clint just watched her warily.
Then metal plating started to spread.
It wrapped around her waist, forming a point in the middle, then spread down to her legs. It continued, forming a layer of wires and self-assembling machinery around her useless limbs until they were fully encased. The metal sharp seemingly fell out and the mesh seemed to tighten slightly over that area. Then, from the fire, plates of metal that glowed faintly with heat shot forward, latching on and covering the wiring and machinery.
It took all of two and a half seconds.
The guns started to fire them. They were all aimed at the woman who suddenly seemed a lot more threatening as she stood, the armour covering her legs. It wasn't the same matte grey it had been when Clint and Natasha had seen it before. It was gleaming silver, and it looked like designs had been engraved on it. The bullets that were headed for her should have ripped right through her chest and stopped her heart beating, but instead there was someone behind her, holding a circular shield up over her torso and shielding himself behind the temporary impenetrable wall.
They stopped firing.
The man stepped away from Maya, the armour spreading over the rest of her torso and then down her arms, forming gauntlets at her fists. A metal mask snapped down over her face as the armour shot up to protect her neck, and she assumed a defensive position. The guy followed suit, perfectly mimicking her stance. His outfit, which Clint noted was fairly similar to the Captain's except for the fact that it was completely black and had three silver stars on the chest.
"Plan B?" the man asked. Maya - Sparrow - laughed, which sounded more ominous through the mask, holding her palms out and making them power up with white light.
"There's a genius," she said.
Clint and Natasha were up by now, completely ready for all combat. The Avengers were arriving as well. Iron Man landed on the ground, aiming his repulsors threateningly. Thor did the same, raising Mjolnir. Wanda and Vision were there, as were Captain America and The Winter Soldier. Spiderman and The Hulk were there, as well as Ant Man, Black Panther, and Falcon. All of them seemed slightly shocked by the fact that two of the intruders had shown up.
The leader of the black-clothed men laughed, signalling to the trees. More people spilled out, aiming many weapons of varying power at the large compilation of strangely-garbed people. "You are outnumbered, Avengers," he cackled.
"Maybe," someone said from behind the first group. Everyone looked there, seeing a familiar pair standing side by side, the fast man and the mini-Wanda. It was the woman who was speaking, a smirk visible beneath her mask, "You have guns, too," All at once, the cartridges fell from the guns, clattering to the ground as the man beside her suddenly appeared next to Sparrow, smirking, "But we have Quicksilver."
"Come near us," one of the men said darkly, holding up a remote, "And we'll blow this entire area sky-high."
"One," Sergeant called out, leaning against a tree, "That was bad phrasing considering who you're up against. Two, no, no you can't. We're not the kind to show up unprepared for every eventuality. And Three," A knife soared through the air, sinking into the man's forehead, a man in a grey suit much like Black Panther's emerging just next to the speaker, "Next time you threaten people make sure we don't know them."
The fight was short. With both teams fighting against the offenders, it was short work, only a matter of minutes before every single one of fifty men was taken down. Thomas enjoyed fighting alongside his father and the legendary Avengers, even if he didn't use his abilities to their full extent. None of his team did.
Right now, the Resurgence was standing across from the Avengers, each side measuring the other up, wondering if it was going to be a fight or a talk. Maya and Danny had taken their masks down, and in response so had Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Danny inclined his head slightly toward the captain in recognition, a gesture which the good captain returned.
"Exchange of information?" Tony suggested, the casual tone covering his readiness for combat, "One question, everyone answers?"
"Seems fair," Dana said through her mask. Scott Lang was searching for the other suit like his, the dark green one who he'd fought with before, but it was nowhere to be seen. Dana took note of this with sadness, continuing and trying to ignore the pang in her chest. "I'm assuming you want to know who we are, seeing as that seems to be the first question on everybody's mind when they meet new people."
"Yeah, that would be awesome," Sam Wilson replied warily.
It was Kyle Parker who spoke up.
"Sparrow and Shield," he gestured at Maya and Danny, who nodded at him, "Sergeant," Steven Barnes saluted jauntily, "Whitestrike, Witch and Quicksilver," Laura and the twins drew themselves up, "Leviathan and Peregrine," Thomas Banner and Dana Wilson responded to their respective titles, "Wolf," Jake T'Challa raised one hand, "And I'm Huntsman."
"The Resurgence," Laura said.
"And we know who you are," Dana gestured at the other group, "Your titles. You're the Avengers."
"Where did you come from?" Steve Rogers asked, "You weren't known to anyone. Then you just popped up. And where are the others? Aren't there twelve of you?"
"Archer and Bullet," Thomas's head dropped a little, "They... They did good."
"What do you mean?" T'Challa asked suspiciously.
"What a story we have to tell," Thomas smiled slightly, running a hand through his hair.
"Not here," Laura said sternly, "There is too little privacy."
The large group ended up not far away from the burning building. The armour around Maya's arms and torso had receded, the machinery surrounding her legs compacting in on itself to become thinner and almost looking completely solid. Everybody had removed their masks, which kind of had them on more even ground. The Avengers were lead by the younger group towards a well in the middle of the surrounding woodland.
Wolf and Sergeant went to either side of the round structure and kicked at two of the bricks, which caused a grinding sound to echo up from the depths.
"One person at a time," Peregrine said, perched precariously on the edge on the well, "The ones with the broader shoulders needn't worry, they'll fit. You must be facing this way," she pointed behind her, "For your first time down the chute. I will be down there placing pillows against the wall seing as you probably won't be able to stop until you've been down a few times."
"Peregrine's right," Sparrow rolled her eyes, "I nearly cracked my skull open. Anyway, don't scream or shout, it echoes, and just keep straight. Like a plank. Shield will go last, he's gonna close the chute after us. If someone still doesn't trust us you can stay with him until he goes down. Whatever you do, it's hard to get hurt. Trust me. Peregrine?"
The young woman saluted and stood, jumping feet first into the well as though she were bouncing off the bottom step. She let out a whoop as she dropped, and then there was the sound of impact and joyful laughter that echoed up out of the darkness. There was a few seconds, and then Sparrow to the hoodie that Shield offered her, tying it around her waist to cover her thighs, then jumped over the edge of the well, diving headfirst into the dark.
Then it was one of the Avengers' turn. Steve was going to go forward, but it was Tony who took the spot, following Shield's directions and sitting on the edge. Steve was going to lecture him, but Tony just grinned and slid off, falling down the well with a small cry of exhilaration. Steve went next, unwilling to leave his friend alone, and Bucky, of course, followed. Huntsman and Leviathan raced to go, and judging from the muffled shouts and laughter coming from below, they'd collided together at the bottom.
By the time Shield got down there, everyone was up, dusting off. The pillows lining the back wall were messed up, and the fact that Huntsman and Leviathan were walking away from them reinforced the idea that they had continued to slide and crashed hard into that wall. The two were messing around.
Shield fixed that, catching Huntsman and digging his knuckles into the boy's thick brown hair. Huntsman cried out in surprise, trying to get out of the older's grip, but Shield just started singing the national anthem. Laughing, the rest of their team joined in, parading around and filing out of the room, Huntsman now being carried by arms and legs, everyone's heads thrown back, singing at the top of their lungs. The Avengers followed the bizarre spectacle into a large area, then into another room, which had a slightly low ceiling and a lit pool.
They swung Huntsman back and forth for a bit, now bellowing the words, and let him go on the third. Huntsman only saved himself from falling into the water with a web that shot from his wrist. He dangled upside down, an inch above the water, in the middle of the pool.
The Avengers were shocked. Were these really the same people?
Nobody said anything. Huntsman climbed to the ceiling, crawling along it until he reached the side, and he fell into the net the Resurgence had formed with their arms. As he rested there for a moment, the lights flickered. Maya sighed, walking away as the youngest Resurgent was lowered to the ground. She kicked at the wall, and a pulse expanded out from the sole of her metal boot, stabilising the power in the room.
She turned back around, clapping her hands once.
"All explanations will be done in Main. Fifteen minutes, clean up some, then meet in Main. Laura, you're on lunch."
Whitestrike, whose name is apparently Laura, groaned then nodded her head reluctantly. They filed out.
Steve and Tony, as usual, led the way. Laura gestured for them to follow her, Leviathan, Witch and Quicksilver into the big room, while the rest of her team headed towards another doorway. Laura started talking, gesturing at the large couches in the middle. One by one, the Avengers sat down, surprised that there was enough room for all of them to have a seat.
"We've had this base for about two months. Still working out the kinks, but there are wonders you can do with a Witch and a Sparrow. Uh, Tom, could you fill them in some? I'm making sandwiches."
Leviathan nodded, shaking his head a little to flip his hair out of his face. He gave the Avengers a small, diplomatic smile, and sat cross-legged on a pillow.
"Anything in particular you want me to talk about?" he asked evenly after a couple of minutes in which the Avengers examined the room. Bruce was the one who spoke up.
"Are you gonna tell us your actual names?" he asked.
"In here we're safe," Thomas said, "So it's fine. Out there there's too much chance to be overheard. And we electrify the vents every minute or so, kills any possible listening devices. All the ventilation is hidden, but you can't take chances. I'm Thomas. Whitestrike is, as you know, Laura."
Witch raised a hand, "Kara."
"Pietro," Quicksilver said, giving Wanda a sad look when she flinched a little.
"I'm Maya, but you knew that!" Sparrow called, coming into the room, looking fresh in black tracks and ugg boots over her mechanical legs and a grey sweater and black hoodie. Shield came in after her, smiling, and stood behind her, hands around her waist.
"Danny," he said.
Huntsman, Peregrine, Wolf and Sergeant came in together, grinning and flicking wet hair out of their faces. They were all dressed similarly, but their ugg boots were the most ridiculous colours. Sergeant seemed to be very proud of his bright pink ugg boots with white fluff.
"Kyle," Huntsman waved.
Peregrine rolled her eyes and smacked him upside the head, "Dana."
"Jakob," Wolf inclined his head, "But mostly Jake."
"Yeah," Sergeant grinned, "I'm Stefan."
"Stefan!" The girls immediately cried out in unison, in the most ridiculously exaggerated girly voices, batting their eyelashes. The people in the room chuckled, the Avengers more out of surprise and amusement than at the inside joke that was evidently going on here.
"Nah, I'm Steven," Sergeant said, "Just... Yeah, Steve."
Just then Laura came back in with a plate stacked high with sandwiches. "Lunch!" she called happily, proud of her neat, fresh creations.
The large group ate in silence for a bit. Some of the Resurgence dragged chairs into the room from a dining room that was apparently kitchen-adjacent.
There was silence. Tony noticed that nothing would be said unless he - since he was Tony Stark it probably fell to him to do these kinds of things. So he opened his mouth.
"So," he said, "What's your story?"
Kara and Laura exchange an amused look, then burst out laughing. Maya looked annoyed.
"Say anything and I'll stab you both," she threatened halfheartedly.
Steve - mini Steve, not Rogers - cleared his throat, looking to the others for confirmation. Danny gestured for him to begin, leaning back on his beanbag and letting Maya curl into his side.
"Please don't interrupt. It'll be hard enough to recount it, answering your questions will just… make it worse. When we were kids," he began, "Someone did something bad. See, a couple of years beforehand, someone broke into a very important facility and stole a lot of files. They were just energy sources, totally innocent, and even then they were just random ideas that came to the inventor's mind. But the men who stole these things, they also took something from a secret base, another energy source, for a prototype. They built a machine, kind of like Ultron, intending to take credit for the real inventor's ideas. But this one wasn't like Ultron. It saw no point. Its programming was corrupted by a virus, and it just started killing."
"Billions of people died," Laura said, "Only around seven million were left alive. Australia was scorched and not livable, there was no life there. A lot of Europe was gone, too, and great big chunks of America and Asia. People died and died and died, kept dying."
"You guys were there," Kyle said, "You fought. Tony, you and Rogers, you two came up with ideas for bases. You came up with plans for advanced bases, and with help from everybody, you built them. It was pure genius, impenetrable fortresses. Damn near impossible to find, and if they were found then there was no way the Apocalypse Program - that's what we called it, the Apocalypse Program - could get in. Electric pulses at all entries and ventilation areas that kept machines with that influence getting in. You saved millions, the majority of the remaining population got to bases before they were hunted down."
"But there was a fight," Maya said, quiet from her place on the floor, "Right above our base. I was nine. You guys saw a way to take down the Apocalypse Program. All the Avengers fought, all of you went out. But…"
"Maya-" Danny tried,but she glared at him.
"How are you supposed to tell it, Danny," she asked, "I was there, you weren't, just… listen, okay? Anyway, The Avengers went out. A lot of civilians went with you, ready to cover you so that they could take the program down. It was supposed to be the last fight. But… Someone had made a deal. Their life and the life of their family and friends for the plans to take down the program. What they didn't count on was that the program was smart. That it would… That it would strike them down. I snuck out with the forces, I wanted to help, I didn't… I didn't want my dad to get hurt. I wanted to protect him. A thousand men and women went to fight that battle, all of them and then the Avengers."
She fell silent, eyes closed, and her pallor paler than before as she shivered and pushed closer to her beloved. Danny squeezed her shoulder. She shook her head at whatever he whispered to her, and looked right at Tony.
"I watched you die," she said sadly, "I watched you get your head torn clean off your body, because of one… One man. He gave everything away. You were dead. Steve was next. You got mad, America. You got so mad, you just fought like a freaking whirlwind. Bucky was with him, you two fought hard. You got to Tony's body and you fought over him. You must have taken down thousands of those damned robots. Tony's head was lying… a couple of meters away. Steve you lost your concentration for one… one fraction of a second. I couldn't do anything, I was fighting, too. I mean, you don't grow up like we did and not learn to fight to protect yourself. But I looked away, and next thing I know there's Captain America's body knocking me down with a big pole through its head. Clint fell pretty soon after. He got dropped in a meat grinder."
Clint winced a little. Everyone was watching her, transfixed and horrified with the detail she seemed to remember the fight with. Her eyes were sparkling with tears.
"They called a retreat," she said, "And everyone was leaving. I was trying, and some of the adults had taken it upon themselves to make sure I got out okay. They knew who I was, apparently. And so did the program, as it turns out. Next thing I know, there's a big stone column falling on me and I'm just screaming and begging for help because I felt something snap and I couldn't move my legs. I was terrified. There were only two adults from my protective group who were still alive. They got hurt, but they managed to call a bunch of others to help push the damn big rock off me. I had to get carried out of there."
Maya closed her eyes, went silent for a few minutes, and Danny seemed to conclude that she was done talking. "She came back to base, I was there, wondering why my friend Maya was lying on a stretcher and covered in blood that I really hoped wasn't her own. I was with my best friend, Steven, and his dad just comes over and kneels in front of me. Maya got hurt. He says my dad was a hero, that he saved a lot of lives. That Maya's dad was a jerk but he was the same. He said they were dead. Anyway, me and Steve and all our friends, we went in to see Maya when she woke up."
Pietro took over the story, leaning forward and clasping his hands before him.
"We were all hurt," he said, "And we ended up being the ones that pushed Maya around in a wheelchair. One day I go in, because it's my turn to push her, and she's stumbling around with metal legs. I catch her, and it goes on. As we all grew up, we started fighting better, we fought and fought and taught ourselves. Always the same. For the fallen. For the Avengers. Over and over, the fallen, the Avengers."
"It was Danny's idea, according to them," Kara said, "But they were the first. They went out when people tried to collect supplies or get things to other defended them from the attacks that the robots staged. They fought. Steve joined in next, then everyone in this room, we all started to fight. We fought as a team, coming from other bases just to help our friends, because really, we didn't know everyone. The people called us the Resurgence. The new Avengers."
"One day," Kyle sighed, "Someone turned off the defenses in one of the big bases. One of the main bases. They turned it off so that they could, I don't know, clean out the vents or something. Stupid mistake, because they forgot to turn it back on. That afternoon, the smoke went high enough that we could see it from hundreds of miles away. The Resurgence raced there, we tried to get survivors, but there was nobody left alive. California Base was dead."
"About a year later Wanda Maximoff comes to the people with a new suggestion. She can send us back to before everything went wrong. She's dying of cancer," Wanda looked confused as Jake continued solemnly, "She only has enough power for a one way trip. Everyone agrees. Even a small shot at saving everyone, even that has to be better than just… waiting to make a mistake so small that would get people killed. She sent us back, used every last ounce of her power, and before we disappeared from that timeline, we saw her drop. She died to send us back. When we destroyed those files in your database, Mr Stark?" Tony nodded, frowning slightly, "The timeline disappeared. The marks on our arms were put there before to turn black when we knew we'd changed the fate of our world."
"We destroyed an energy source in the Shield base beneath the mental hospital," Dana smiled, "No chances to be taken. That timeline was still… existent, just way less likely. But when we did that, we erased that series of events completely, it was gone. Gone forever. Archer and Bullet, though..."
"Your partners?" Bucky asked. Dana nodded.
"They were already born in this time," she said, "And the fact that that which they were anchored to, that timeline in which they had grown up, since that didn't exist any more, the people they became disappeared. They exist still, but they're just kids. Babies."
"But the people they became?" Peter Parker asked, tilting his head a little in question. Maya smiled, drawing a necklace from beneath her shirt. The glass vial danced with faint silver light, thin, delicate ropes twisting and wrapping around one another within the confines of their prison. The top and bottom of the vial were gilded gold, and the bottom was slightly longer, engraved with small symbols - a drawn bow and a tiny winged ant.
"These are their memories," Maya said, tucking the vial back away, "The rest of our team has spent enough time in this world without our past selves being conceived to anchor ourselves here if we so desire. When we're born, we can choose whether or not to disappear. But with the pull coming from their current selves and the fact that they didn't have enough time to hold themselves here, they've gone on minus the choice. You'll find that their past selves will have felt like a part of themselves returned."
"But there is more to it."
Everyone turned to look at Jake, who had turned his head towards Kara. The younger twin looked down.
"We have to choose," she said, "We can stay as we are right now, just our own selves, but we cannot protect our younger selves. Callum and Cassie returning, they will subconsciously remember how to protect themselves. If we don't merge with our own younger selves, they will not be able to fight. If they die, we would simply cease to exist. Think of it like, if those children were to be attacked, they'd know to fight like an adult. Callum would be able to draw his bow and shoot any target. Cassie could probably do some interesting things - her strength increased while she had the suit."
There was silence for a bit, and then Dana took as deep breath. "We decided ages ago. This base is for protection. But we're all gonna be the people we were meant to be. None of us really know how to live in a world like this one. One without war, without conflict. We'll at least have a chance at normalcy if we just… grow up how we were supposed to. Plus a few extra bits."
"Well," Scott frowned, "What would you be able to do?"
"Respectively?" Jake asked, amusement clear in his tone, "I believe I would most likely be attuned to my surroundings. It is natural for me now, it would be natural for a childish form."
"Danny would be one of those leader types. He'd probably be, like, a really good runner as well."
"Well I bet you ten that Laura would know how the stars work," Kyle grinned. Laura replied with all the nonchalance in the world.
"And Kyle would climb all over everything," Kyle let out an indignant squawk at that, which had everyone chuckling.
"Dana would throw knives."
"Yeah, Thomas, and you would randomly turn into a bird every time you got scared."
"Oh, you know what's gonna happen?" Thomas exclaimed, "Callum! Callum will run around singing that song!"
"Oh yeah!" Danny sat up a little, his eyes lighting up, "God, I've memorised it!"
"Sound of silence!" Kara cried happily, "What a song!"
"Yeah, oh my god, he will just never stop with that song. And he's put that emphasis on those random words!"
"And in the naked light I saaaaaw!" Steven sang, not even singing one of the words, just moaning it in a way that made most of the other occupants of the room look at him with surprise and discomfort. His friends, however, laughed and joined.
"Fools said I you do not knooooow!" Pietro sang.
"Because a vision softly creeeeeeeping," Kara pulled a ridiculous face, which made the resurgence fall over laughing. Danny rolled away, getting to his feet and holding his hands out to the sides.
"And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said "The words of the prophets
Are written on subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence"
The room broke into applause. Maya was shaking her head, talking about his he was truly a Callum B.
Danny flopped back down, settling next to his fiancee, who tucked herself into his side. All was quiet for a while. The Avengers, as a whole, they had learned the difference between a story made up and a story that was true in every word. Steve and Tony, in particular, had worked on getting all facets of a story before judging whether it was true or not.
The Avengers and Resurgence talked for hours. Most of them had eased up a little, but nobody trusted everybody completely. Tony and Maya disappeared for a bit, and came back talking animatedly about the layout of the underground facility that the Resurgence had created and discussing energy sources. They were just in the background while everybody else talked about things like alternate events and further details about the post-apocalyptic world. Danny and Steve got along famously, and Kyle happily told Scott about Bullet and how she'd acquired her suit. As afternoon dragged on to evening, Maya brought out several bottles of bourbon, handing one to everyone except Kyle, who she teased relentlessly about being just a baby.
Kyle got orange juice.
They piled themselves back into their positions from before, much more at ease with one another than they had been when they'd entered the hideout. Throughout the next hour, they drifted from subject to subject, occasionally talking over one another in attempts to emphasise their points.
The Avengers went back to the tower with far less weight on their shoulders.
Throughout the next couple of months, the Avengers and the Resurgence met up a lot. While neither trusted the other completely, both teams had learned the hard way that they had to listen before they decided who to forgive and who to judge.
So they treated each other like one would any new friend.
Maybe a couple of the Avengers would meet up with a couple of the Resurgence over coffee or lunch. Maybe talk about something that broke and offer some help to fix it. Every now and then the whole group would meet up, mostly a day off that was spent in what they affectionately referred to as The Bunker. After a while the Avengers got up and Maya and Danny randomly popped up for breakfast, talking as though they did this all the time.
September came and went. Then November. In December, Tony proposed to Pepper, who he'd started dating again. Not long after, in early January, Steve got the guts to ask his own girlfriend to marry him.
In February, Pepper announced her pregnancy.
At that, Maya and Danny had burst out laughing, and the others followed suit.
Nobody was prepared when disaster struck.
"I got nothing," Tony said. His voice sounded tight, even through the comms, and Steve found himself nodding a little.
"Same here," he said, "So why did we get the alert?"
"Avengers?" A new, unexpected voice chimed in, crackling onto their communication channel. Steve jumped, directing all his attention to his earpiece.
"Laura?"
"Let me guess," Pietro's voice sounded, "You got nothing either?"
"Damn straight," Tony growled, "Alright, watch your backs, this reeks trap smell."
"Tony," Natasha said slowly, "There's someone on your six."
"Stark!" Maya screamed into the comms, making Steve jump slightly and whip around to face the armoured figure sprinting for his friend, "Get down now!"
Steve could see the glint of red and gold as Tony ducked suddenly, opening the guy behind him for attack. No sooner had Tony gotten down than there was a white bolt of light shooting from Maya's gauntlet. It slammed into the man's chest, sending him flying several feet. Maya reached Tony, who Steve was relieved to see was in one piece, and hauled him to his feet. She placed two fingers to her helmet and her voice came through the comms, strained and tinged a little with fear.
"Resurgence," She growled, "You better be watching their backs like goddam hawks because there is no way he was the only one."
"Roger, Sparrow," Four other voices chimed as one, and Steve heard someone thump down behind him. He nodded at Thomas, who returned the gesture, and then looked to everyone else. Kara and Wanda were standing close together. Pietro seemed to have taken it upon himself to watch out for both Clint and Natasha. Laura was currently next to an indignant Thor, guarding his nine and scanning the darkness sharply. The only other member of the Avengers present, T'Challa, was adjusting his stance so that his back was entrusted almost entirely to Wolf.
"Are there any others here, Leviathan?" Steve asked tensely. Thomas shook his head.
"They're at the bunker. You?"
"No. Most of them went to visit families for a while."
Steve nodded, hefting his shield. He noted with amusement that Leviathan's eyes had turned black, which gave him an advantage in the darkness. The shapeshifting had freaked Steve out a little at first, but he got used to the random instances where he turned into a moose for no real good reason. It proved handy in fights against criminals, who seemed to be surprised when a panda popped into existence before another Resurgent took them down.
"Nocturnal," Steve said amiably, less of a question and more of a statement.
Thomas smiled a little. "Oh yeah, they're the best in the darker environments."
"Okay lovebirds," Tony said tensely, "Regroup. I've got multiple heat signatures."
"I can sense them," Wanda and Kara said, almost at the same time. As the now expanded group met up, making sure everyone was good, Steve stiffened. There was a weirdly cold feeling in the air, something that both he felt was familiar but couldn't pinpoint. None of the others seemed to notice, but Wanda and Kara seemed to be a little more on edge, almost literally back to back and searching the darkness with sharp gazes.
"Panther!" Leviathan cried out suddenly, "On your seven!"
Both T'Challa and Jake whipped around, tackling the figure who had appeared behind them to the ground. Just with that, all hell broke loose.
Several people appeared, materialising seemingly from nothing. They struck out with odd, gleaming blades of silver and gold. As one, the Avengers and the Resurgence faced their opponents, whipping out their weapons and lashing out at the threatening figures. They engaged in combat, the shadowy men blocking and striking out with deadly grace and accuracy. It took everything they had to hold the new threats at bay, but despite that, more showed up. The Avengers were slowly forced away from each other, their Resurgent counterparts trying desperately to stay by their sides.
Somehow Steve and Tony managed to get back together, screaming into the comms whenever one of the others cried out in pain as a sharp knife sliced through their skin. Maya, covering Tony's flank, whipped around, and Steve could only watch what happened next.
One of the figures appeared behind her, placing a palm to her forehead. She froze, all the shadowy figures turning to face the one who held Maya's head in a steely grip. Nobody moved, the Avengers and Resurgence frozen with horror and their opponents staring at the scene.
A bright, blue light burned beneath its hood, and the woman screamed as the same blaze erupted from her eyes and mouth. Her back arched, and every human present was thrown back, pinned against the walls of the facility by a blast of energy and heat.
"May!" Pietro cried, the first to recover. He rushed towards the young woman who lay in the middle of the room, crumpled on the floor. As the rest of the group gathered themselves, shaking their heads and glancing around warily for the reappearance of their enemies, Pietro gently picked her up, turning to the others with a hard expression.
"I'm taking her to the tower," he said, "Hopefully Danny was smart enough to listen to the comms."
Just like that, he was off, taking the limp form of his friend with him and leaving an air of unease in his wake.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2
~~~*~~~
A/N Alright. This is a piece that I've been working on for school. I need feedback - tell me if it sucks, if it's great, anything. I just need feedback. I hope you enjoyed, and if you think it's okay leave a comment and I'll continue. If you don't then let me know and we'll see. I'm currently struggling through some personal issues, so there will be slow updates to all stories - the ones that I have, anyway.
Stay sane, stay safe.
Sid.