Clint Barton heard the news of a mighty man's passing. The man he had known to secretly be the one to wield Thor's hammer. Other familiar faces are also seen at the funeral. A Stan Lee Tribute. Sequel to my story Worthy of the Hammer.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters mentioned. They all belong to their respective owners.
Side note: The title was inspired by reviewer Cornax357
He cut a deal. That was why he was able to come here today, right? Or rather, someone made this particular deal for him and he agreed to it instantly. That under his house arrest, his patrol officer would accompany he and his two older children to New York for a special occasion while his wife and youngest son stayed home. Prevention of him attempting to run or "do something stupid", Clint suspected for reasoning.
Clint Barton received notice of the news of the passing of a man who he had grown fond in the past couple of years. Stan Lee. The thin mustached old man with shaded glasses who had been a part of SHIELD for years and Clint himself had not even realized. He knew upon really meeting the man at the Avengers training base, that he had a strong sense of familiarity about him.
Stan was one of Nick Fury's original spies who had a special way of observation and gathering intel without ever being suspected. He picked up on that from the Director himself after seeing the two converse like old friends while having the air of confidentiality that only a closely trained operative under Fury would catch.
Although highly intriguing, that was not the thing that made Clint's eyebrows raise in disbelief to this day.
When Clint Barton first met Stan, it was when he was visiting the new Avengers training base. Stan was serving as the janitor there. Clint was the only witness to see the mighty hammer Thor left on the coffee table, be lifted by this small old man with little effort. That moment left the archer in complete shock for days, rather weeks.
Then, when Clint saw the man again during his next training visit, he actually started to get to know the man and learned that he lived a highly intriguing life throughout his years. Stan worked many jobs, knew many people and would tell the most interesting stories. From a bald man in a wheelchair who ran a special school for gifted youngsters to a powerful woman who flew off into space to continue her missions. He even mentioned a couple of encounters with Bruce Banner years ago while working as a delivery guy before the doctor became the Hulk.
Clint sighed in memory as the car finally stopped. He opened the door and led his children, Cooper and Lila, out. The two timidly looked around the cemetery, Cooper giving a side glance and frown to the patrol officer staring them down as the stocky bearded man in shades leaned against the car. Clint ushered his children forward to the crowd circled ahead. He had hoped that his children would have been able to meet this man when he had been around. Unfortunately, hero work got in the way and choices were made that resulted him under house arrest.
Letting bygones be bygones, Clint shifted his attention to the solemn group gathered. Instantly, he recognized the man with a goatee who looked up at him. Tony Stark gave a nod in greeting, letting his eyes linger on him for a moment before shifting his attention back to the priest speaking.
Clint let his gaze roam out of instinct to the people around him. A couple stood close together, his arm wrapped around his blonde wife. As a tear rolled down her cheek, her husband's arm seemed to completely stretch across the front of his wife with ease to reach into his own pocket and retrieve a tissue for her. Behind them, a bulky man in a trench coat and hat stood massively behind them with his head down, his skin looking suspiciously rock like. Clint shrugged off the oddity, not surprised of other powered individuals anymore. He worked with the Avengers. Superpowered people or high-tech gadgets and suits came with the job.
To his left, his daughter Lila gave a small smile to a little girl next to her clutching tightly to a black stuffed black animal that looked cat-like. Possibly a panther.
The speaker ended and stepped back. A middle-aged woman solely came forward to place a rose on top of the casket. She gently patted the furnished dark wood. "Love you dad," She whispered. Others slowly followed suit.
A man in dark shades tentatively made his way to the closed casket. He bowed his head in respect and whispered a few words and turned away before extending his metal walking stick in front of him to see where he was going.
People around began to disperse. Out of the corner of his eye, Clint noticed a sophisticated dark-haired man separate himself completely from everyone else before looking around and moving his hands around in a circular motion. A ring of light briefly appeared in front of him, disappearing after he stepped through it. A portal of some kind. Clint paused in awe, wondering just how many kinds of people Stan Lee truly knew.
"Barton," a voice said from behind him. Clint was wondering how long it would take for the billionaire to approach him.
"Stark," He retorted back in a neutral manner.
"Good to see you made it. And with your junior agents." Tony added, looking down at Cooper and Lila. Clint gave a slight smile at the memory of their first meeting so long ago. The HOW he and his kids were there in New York and paid for while he was still technically under house arrest finally clicked.
"Thank you, Tony," Clint said it with great meaning as he shook his hand. Stark tensed and took it stiffly before pulling away.
"You and Lee were semi-close as I recall. Thought it only polite to let you know and get you here." Clint's smile faded as Stark continued, "Although, you would let me know if you happened to hear anything from Rogers or—"
Clint cut him off with a warning tone. "Don't push it, Tony."
The man shrugged. "Eh. Worth a shot."
The billionaire put in his shades, pausing to bow his head in respect towards the old man. As he began to walk away, Tony turned back to add while waving his hand in emphasis, "Did you know that the reason why Stan was working at the Avengers training base, was that he was hired by Fury to keep tabs on the Avengers?"
The archer chuckled. "I'm not surprised."
"Next time I see Fury, he's going to get an earful."
Hawkeye shook his head in disbelief as Tony walked off. Sighing, he looked at the gravestone off to the side. 'His wife', Clint mused with a smile. 'Finally reunited.'
Cooper pulled something out of his pocket and set it on top of the coffin. "It was Lila's idea." The nearly teenage aged youngster offered.
Clint's smile deepened as he pulled his son and daughter close into each side of him in an embrace. "I'm so proud of you both."
The trio began to make their way to the car where the patrol officer still stood looking incredibly bored.
"You're the bow and arrow guy, aren't you?" Clint stopped in his tracks to be greeted by a fairly scrawny teenager with dark brown hair. "The one from the airport that helped Cap and—" The teen stopped, cringing at his little outburst.
"Sorry, sir." He stammered, "I didn't mean…"
Clint studied the boy who only looked a few years older than his own son. "And you're Tony's little friend. The spider guy."
"Spider-Man," He mumbled in correction. "Look, I'm sorry for that little spiel there. I was visiting my uncle's grave when I saw Mr. Stark attending a funeral nearby and I thought I recognized some people like you—"
Clint held his hand up. The kid certainly liked to ramble. "No need to apologize kid."
The teenager slumped his shoulders. 'To heck with it,' Clint thought. He held out his hand. "Clint Barton." He gestured beside him. "And my agents in training."
Cooper gave his dad a look that he obviously learned from his mother. "Cooper," The preteen offered.
"Lila," His sister added in enthusiasm.
The teenager laughed as he stared at the man's extended hand for a moment, unsure what to do. He took it and with a firm shake and confidence answered, "Peter Parker."
The teen relaxed a bit as he looked towards where the funeral was held. "Must have been a pretty great guy." Peter mentioned.
Lila piped up with a grin. "He really was from all the cool stories he told dad."
Clint nodded in agreement. "That he was. You all would have really liked him. Stan always knew what to say and gave inspiration to believe in yourself and never give up." The archer looked up at the young hero as he said that. Peter gave a small smile.
In that moment, Clint imagined Stan echoing one of his favorite phrases. 'Nuff said.' That's just the kind of man Stan Lee was.
"See you… around, Peter."
Peter Parker stood up straight and grinned. "You too, Mr. Barton."
Clint shook his head. "Take off the mister and we're good. Later kid," Clint and his kids left the teenager behind and continued their direction.
Peter watched after the archer and his family for a moment, intrigued. The guy wasn't half bad at all. That whole fight thing at the airport with Captain America and the rest of them must have been a misunderstanding of sorts. That was at least what Peter gathered.
He thought about what Clint Barton had to say. After another moment of pondering, the teenager walked over to where the funeral took place. A couple of guys were nearby, waiting to put the coffin into the ground. Peter surveyed the area, wondering why he came over there at all.
As he turned to leave, he noticed something interesting sitting right on the top of the coffin. Unable to resist, Peter picked up what looked like a hand-crafted miniature block like hammer with messy symbols drawn on them. Attached to the handle was a strip of paper that read:
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."
The young Spider-Man was taken back by the notion and wondered the story behind it. "You must have been something really spectacular Mr. Lee."
From afar, a bearded man in a baseball cap watched everyone take their leave. Shifting his eyes side to side for any witnesses, Steve carefully took off his cap and gave a small salute.
"Farewell, Stan."
I hope that you enjoyed reading. I tried to include many of Stan's creations as I could, even if they were mentions or nods. Catch them all? Hope they made sense. And of course, Spider Man was a given. Spidey was Stan's child in a sense.
Stan Lee will be forever missed, but I hope that now and for years to come, that many will continue to be inspired by what this man and others like him brought for us. To let our imaginations run wild and creativity blossom to something simply super and magical.
For me personally, I was never able to read actual comics growing up, but when they were brought to life on screen, what first caught my interest out of it all, was the X-Men. I was called X-Geek for crying out loud! That brought such wonder to my young mind and continues to do so in so many other forms. It ultimately led me to want to read and develop a great love of writing. You never know the type of influence and inspiration you can bring to others, especially in doing something that you are passionate about. Stan Lee was one of those big inspirations for me.
December 28, 2018. Happy 96th birthday Stan the Man Lee. You will always be remembered. And thank you for everything.
Excelsior!