AN: Well... here we go. I'm so nervous posting this, haha :/ First of all I don't own any of The Avengers (obviously), but I do own my own original character Rena. Second of all this story will have mature themes such as sex and language. Each chapter will be told through one of the characters POVs, their name will be at the top so you'll be able to see who's pov your reading. Anywaaay... be gentle with me... this is my first story after all :)

Chapter 1

Ren:

I'm flying through the city. And I'm not even close to being the most shocking thing the people below are seeing today. This is understandable though, considering the fact that the blurred image of a young woman flying in and out of buildings like a ghost isn't quite as horrifying as the aliens that are currently falling out of the sky. If I wasn't pretty sure that this was a sign that the world was ending then this would be the best day of my life, since this is after all the first time I've ever not been the reason people are screaming in horror.

My mixed emotions take a back seat when I hear a child crying for their mother. I stop for a split second, my eyes scanning the streets for the kid.

Bingo.

I spot the little girl when one of aliens does as well, and it's heading right for her. Anger burns me up, helping me fly downwards at a ridiculously fast speed. I'm not good at dealing with innocent people getting hurt. Especially when it's a child.

I reach her just as the alien gets ready to swipe at her. She's in my arms, sobbing over the blow that never even touched her. This is the moment where I realize these aliens aren't mindless, because it's glaring at me, eyes shining with the annoyed realization that I'm not a typical human. Probably because the "typical" humans it's met today don't stand there un-phased after such an attack. They don't smirk arrogantly in his face. And they sure as hell don't have the mutant ability of having his claws go through them, literally like a ghost.

The little girl seems to have realized all of the same things, her sobs having stopped and are now being replaced with a wide eyed look of wonder directed towards me. I push off the ground, flying upwards just a little above our attacker.

"Let's go find your mommy, squirt." I try to say in the must comforting voice I can muster at the moment. I feel relieved when she nods, smiling a little at me. For the first time all day I laugh when she glances down at the alien and sticks her tongue out at him. Then we're off.

It only takes a few minutes to find her mother. Lily, as she'd so calmly introduced herself to me, points her out among the rubble of the street below. I can't ignore the pain in my chest when I see Lily's mother. I don't even have to look at her face to know that she's heartbroken, screaming Lily's name, most likely assuming she's lost her daughter forever.

"Mommy!" Lily squeals happily as we land next to her. The woman looks up at us, seeming to not know if this is real or not. Can't say I blame her seeing as how I just swooped down from the sky with her little girl in my arms.

Mother and daughter are hugging, and crying, both so happy to be reunited. I'm smiling until I realize that I know Lily's mother. Her name is Victoria, Vickie for short. She's a single mom who works two jobs, and who comes to the diner I work at for coffee just about every day. We've become good acquaintances over the past year. She complains to me about her dead-beat ex, how she loathes her shitty jobs, and adores her baby girl, Lily.

Vickie's smile fades, much like mine, when she realizes who I am. We're both horrified.

Taking a step towards me she asks, "Ren…. You're 'The Ghost'?".

I cringe instantly. I hate that nickname. My friends call me "Ghost", which sounds so much better to me without the "The" added. I'm a favorite lowly tabloid story among many people though. In fact I've become a bit of an urban myth, or a scary story to tell your kids when you don't want them sneaking out of the house late at night.
Most of the stories I've read about myself have been true though. I'm well known in bad neighborhoods, stopping rapes and muggings almost every night. There are a few differences between those days and today though.

1. I'm not wearing my mask (Which I'm embarrassed to admit is the Ghostface mask from the Scream movies…. I hate myself a little for never learning to sew).

2. I'm not wearing my usual black jacket and gloves that help hide the fact that I'm a woman.

3. The muggers and rapists who I usually terrorize aren't out today. Which leads to number four….

4. There are still aliens falling out of the sky.

Before I fly off again though I need to know that Lily and Vickie will be safe after I leave them.

"Look, Vickie, I know you're probably terrified of me now that you know I'm a freak. But you––" my words catch in my throat when Vickie throws herself at me, hugging me tightly.

"You're a hero, Ren. You are not a freak." I adore how she emphasizes 'not', "I owe you everything. " she whispers against me.

My voice cracks a little when I ask, "Please keep me a secret? Please." I want to cry. But now isn't the time. Vickie nods, her eyes promising more than any words could that "The Ghost" will stay a secret as long as I want.

I point to an empty coffee shop just a few feet away from us.

"You and Lily hide in there for as long as you can. Stay quiet and hide in the back away from the windows."

She nods again in agreement. We both turn to look at Lily who has been surprisingly quiet this whole time. She's staring off into the distance with an almost daydreamy look in her eyes.

"Baby, what are you sta…" Vickie and I both now see what Lily sees.

It's a beautiful blue light shooting up into the sky.

Even from this far away I can see that it's coming from Stark Tower.

At this point Vickie has picked Lily up and they're backing up towards the coffee shop. I hug them both goodbye and take off towards the tower, looking back just long enough to catch Lily giving me a thumbs up.

I'd overheard the people running for cover on the streets saying something about Iron Man (or as I like to call him, "That disgustingly rich playboy with the cool suit") and other super heroes fighting the aliens as I flew above them. I knew what Iron Man looked like, of course, but I had no idea who these other heroes were, or what they looked like. I knew one thing though, they must've been doing a better job fighting the aliens than me since the closer I flew to Stark's tower the more fallen creatures I came across.

I had to admit that I'd secretly become a fan of Stark over the last few years after hearing about the surprisingly selfless and heroic things he'd done to help people. However, I still felt that at the end of the day that if it really came down to choosing between himself and others Stark would always choose himself.

Just then I see something flying past me out of the corner of my eye.
"Ha, speak of the devil" I mumble to myself as I see that Iron Man was the object that caught my attention. Maybe I'm imagining it but it looks like he's carrying something…. I squint, trying to see what it is. I can't be sure but it looks like a torpedo, or something similar… maybe a bomb. And it looks like he's taking it towards the blue light that I was headed towards.

With his suit Stark is way faster than I am, and at this point I'm pretty far behind him when I stop flying, letting myself float in mid-air. I'm horrified as it all clicks as to what he's doing. The blue light has seemed to open some portal in the sky, Stark's destination. I'm frozen, too shocked to go forward any further. Everything happens so quickly, and even though I'm not sure of all the details, I know that Tony Stark has just sacrificed himself to save all of us. The man I had believed cared about no one except himself has just died to save the human race. With still no sign of Stark the portal starts to close, right as the tears I've been fighting all day escape my eyes and make trails down my cheeks.

No… he shouldn't have died…

Then I see him. Falling out from what I had thought was his death. I scream triumphantly, flying upwards in a happy spiral, my body needing to express how relieved I am. My happy laughter dies out though when I realize he's literallyfalling. That's all it takes to send me soaring his way. I know I won't reach him in time, I know that even if I did I wouldn't be able to hold him in that heavy suit, and I know that I am a freak not a super hero who can do amazing things. But damn it. I have to try.

I'm too far away to be of use, but close enough to see what happens. Someone catches Stark. Someone has leapt into the air, almost destroying a building like it was nothing more than a house of cards in the process, and caught Stark in his gigantic green arms. And when I say gigantic I really truly mean gigantic.

I phase myself through a near-by building, walking over to a large window once I've let myself become solid again. Below me I see that all of the aliens have dropped like flies, and that two men along with my new gigantic green hero are standing around an unmoving Tony Stark.

Pressing my hands to my mouth I let out soft sobs.

I let him die. I couldn't save him.

Suddenly my hands cover my ears instead of my mouth. It seems unbelievable, so much so that I blink several times to make sure I'm not imagining it, but the green guy literally roared Tony Stark back to life.

I've decided two things in the last few seconds.

1. If I ever meet Tony Stark in person I will admit that everything I ever thought about him was so incredibly wrong, and then give him the hug of his life. Unless some bodyguards stop me, assuming he has some.

2. That green guy… creature… thing…. Well, whatever he is, he's my new hero.