I wrote most of this at 1 in the morning when I should have been sleeping whooooops.
This is a remarkably self-indulgent story that I started, even though I should really be finishing any of the four other stories I'm writing. I let myself get away with it, though, because this isn't a super in-depth, complicated story; it's going to be a series of connected drabbles that will eventually all come together.
Some of this is slightly AU. For example, where the MCU is at this point, I'm fairly certain Wanda does not actually have children. In this story, she had them young, and then...well, you'll see.
However, some of it is the same. For example, Clint Barton. I really, really hate what they did to him in AoU and usually I'd ignore that thing about him having a wife and kids, but I'm trying to keep this story as close to the movies as possible. Basically, it's how I'd write the characters in if I had control of the movies as they are right now.
The Young Avengers have au backstories because there's only so much I can bend. Sorry.
These stories take place at different times, and the characters are all of varying ages. This story will have more chapters, each cycling through the Young Avengers one by one. Rounds, if you will. This is just the first round.
Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy!
Cassie
Cassie loves her dad. She loves him a whole lot. Even when Mommy said he was a fallen man, and Paxton called him a good-for-nothing son-of-a-word-she's-not-supposed-to-know when he didn't think she was listening, she knew they were wrong. Her daddy is awesome.
One day Daddy shows up with an army of ants to save the day and Cassie just wants to jump around yelling "I knew it!"
Unfortunately, she is too busy trying not to get killed by the scary Yellowjacket guy.
(After everything is over, Cassie holds her daddy tight and whispers in his ear that she always knew he was awesome. He squeezes her and smiles.)
Kate
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," growls Kate, dress bunched up in one hand as she storms through Central Park in the middle of the night.
Why is she storming through Central Park in the middle of the night? Because her dad sucks and she hates this place and she's trying to make herself get over it.
Kate hears an 'oomph' sound and stops dead in her tracks, hands sweating and muscles tensing. She's tough now; she can handle whatever creeps are lurking in the shadows, waiting to grab defenseless girls in purple party dresses—
—a blond guy in a purple t-shirt gets hurled across the path and lands in the bushes on the other side. He's quickly followed by a dude in a tracksuit who storms after him, fists clenched.
"It's okay, ma'am!" yells the blonde guy, sticking his head out of the bushes and spotting her. "I'm an Avenger!"
Then he gets punched in the face.
Kate shrugs and picks up the bow that the guy dropped on the path.
Billy (and Tommy)
The sky is falling. Dirt fills the air and coats his skin and fills his mouth and Billy is scared.
"Mama!" he screams, and then doubles over in a coughing fit so strong that it brings him to his knees. He blinks his eyes against the dust and cries out as a piece of flying rubble knicks his cheek.
There is the sound of an explosion in the distance, followed by another, and then another.
"Mama!" he cries again, but no one answers and the world is falling apart around him.
Somebody dashes up beside him and hands grasp his arms, pulling him upwards until he's staring into his brother's pale face, so close that their noses are almost bumping. "Tommy," gasps Billy, tears dripping down his face.
Tommy's crying too, but he's trying to be brave about it. "Billy, we have to run," he chokes out. "We can find Mama and Uncle Pietro after the bombs stop, but we have to go now!"
"Tommy, where are they?" sobs Billy, hands reaching out to clutch at his brother like a lifeline. "Why did they leave us?"
The sound of an explosion cuts off whatever Tommy was about to say, and then their ears are filled with the roaring whir of a helicopter. Billy's grimy hair is in his eyes and his arms hurt from how hard Tommy's squeezing them, but he's pretty sure he's squeezing Tommy's hands just as hard and the connection is comforting so he doesn't make any attempt to pull away.
The helicopter lands in a torn-up nearby parking lot and men in black combat uniforms pile out, faces masked and guns held at the ready. One of them points at the twins and shouts, and then the men are surging towards them and Tommy is tugging on Billy's hand and they're running—
They're not fast enough. The men catch them in a matter of moments, and Tommy is pulled from Billy's grasp.
Billy screams, tears dripping down his face, and everything shifts sideways, the rubble rising into the air and the wind swirling around him and—
A man hits him with the butt end of his gun and everything goes black.
Teddy
"Mom."
She looks at him with sad eyes and squeezes his hand."Teddy, I'm really, really sorry but I couldn't keep lying to you about this."
"Mom, no. You can't—you're my mom!"
"No, Teddy, I'm not. I raised you, but your mother was the princess of the Skrull, and you should have been our prince. But your father's people the Kree came to take you from us and you needed to be safe, so I took you and hid you. I'm sorry."
"That's why we're always running?"
She sighs, reaching out a trembling hand to touch his cheek. "Yes, Teddy, that's why. But now...now the Kree are waging war on the universe. Ronan the Accuser is gone, but his army is not and they're out for blood, and when they finds out that you're still alive, they'll come for you. They're already coming for you."
"Me?! Mom, I'm just—"
"Your real name is Dorrek VIII and you are the prince of both the Skrull and Kree empires. You are the only mutual link between two warring peoples, and one day you will fulfill your destiny as the Unifier."
Teddy shakes his head violently. "No, I can't. I...I'm just me! I'm just Teddy, and I'm just a kid, and you're my mom! I don't want—"
"Teddy, I'm sorry."
There are shouts in the distance and his mother (not his mother) straightens abruptly. "They're coming. Teddy, you have to run! Now!"
"What? You're not coming with me?"
"I'll hold them off, but you have to go now! Remember what I told you! Stay out of sight, never use your true form, and be safe! Find—"
A laser whizzes through the air between them, barely missing Teddy's nose. Mom grabs his arms and shoves him.
"Find the Guardians! I love you!"
There's another blast and a scream and the air fills with the scent of charred flesh. "Mom!" yells Teddy, and then has to dodge a third blast.
"Get him!"
Teddy turns tail and runs.
Eli
There's an expression that people use to describe puberty. They'll say "puberty hit me like a ton of bricks" and they'll laugh about it.
It's not funny for Eli, because puberty really did hit him like a ton of bricks.
One day he's normal. Maybe his voice cracks a little, maybe he gets some hair on his chin, but it's nothing out of the ordinary. But one day he goes to sleep and he wakes up in pain.
Blinding, terrible pain. Everything pinching and stretching and aching.
Eli screams.
There's a bang as the door flies open and hits the wall, and Grandma is standing at the doorway. She takes one look at him at yells for Grandpa.
Not five seconds later, Grandpa rushes in like a bulldozer and joins Grandma by the bed. Eli feels strong arms lifting him up and squeezing him against a broad chest, the steady beat of a heart in his ears.
That's how they spend the night. Grandma whispering gentle, reassuring words and running her hands through his curls, and Grandpa holding him tight and not saying a word.
The next day, Eli gets to his feet, trembling from exhaustion, and walks to the mirror.
He's huge.
Eli glances back at his grandparents. Grandma looks worried. Grandpa looks sad.
"What—" his voice comes out dry, cracking like a whip. Grandma silently hands him the glass of water that he keeps by his bedside. He takes a long, slow drink.
"What happened?"
Grandma and Grandpa share a look. Then they look back at him.
"Eli," says Grandma. "I think it's time we told you about your grandfather."
Noh-Varr
It starts out like any normal day.
Ever since the Guardians destroyed Ronan the Accuser, the Kree have been sending out various new overlords to conquer various worlds as part of the empire, and Noh-Varr is one of them. Sure, he's young and inexperienced, and yeah, okay, maybe his heart isn't totally in it, but the Kree don't seem to care. He's a fit, healthy, skilled warrior, so they send him to the Sol system with a fleet of soldiers and tell him to take Terra.
It doesn't go quite as planned.
They're conquering every world in their path on the way to Sol, but one of the worlds happens to get a distress beacon out and the Guardians just happen to receive it. The minute Noh-Varr lands his ship on Beta-Five, the Guardians swoop in with music blasting from their speakers and demand that Noh-Varr stop his crusade or face the consequences.
Noh-Varr says no and prepares for a fight.
And then Star-Lord challenges him to a duel. He says he wants to avoid unnecessary casualties. Noh-Varr's soldiers urge him not to accept, but he does it anyway.
He walks out of his ship, guns loaded and ready, and finds out that this isn't any ordinary duel.
It's a dance-off.
Now, Noh-Varr's not really sure what a dance-off is, but it sounds fairly harmless and it's not even to the death. So he puts down his guns (to the dismay of the soldiers behind him) and prepares himself.
Star-Lord begins to dance.
After a few moments, Noh-Varr joins him.
They dance for hours. Noh-Varr's heart fills with joy, beating along to the rhythm of the drums. He's exhausted, and he can tell that Star-Lord's exhausted, but they're both smiling.
Finally they stop as Beta-Five's sun sinks below the horizon. Star-Lord walks towards him and offers his hand. Noh-Varr takes it.
"This...dancing," he says. "It is a human custom?"
Star-Lord shrugs. "Not just human, but that music was definitely Terran. Best music in the galaxy, if I do say so myself."
"Hmm," ponders Noh-Varr. "Maybe I won't conquer Terra after all."
Character ages and time placement:
Cassie—8 (during/after Ant-Man)
Kate—14 (after Age of Ultron)
Billy and Tommy—5 (right before Cap woke up in the First Avenger)
Teddy—9 11 (right before Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2)
Eli—10 (before the Winter Soldier)
Noh-Varr—16 (before Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, but after Teddy was introduced)
Boy was that hard to figure out. Also, for the sake of Billy and Tommy, Wanda is slightly older than we're supposed to believe she is in the movies. As I am writing this, Elizabeth Olsen is 28, so that's the age we're giving Wanda in March 2017. Sue me.
Those of you with eagle eyes will notice that our favorite red-white-and-blue dimension traveler is missing. Don't worry, she'll show up eventually. Just not yet.
Drop a review and tell me what you think!
