Gave Iron Man a speech to throw away. Inadvertently saved the world.
Discovered a relic of a long-lost hero. Inadvertently saved the world.
Called up the consultant. Inadvertently saved the world.
Found it. Inadvertently saved the world.
Reminded the hero out of time that sometimes, we need a little old fashioned. Inadvertently saved the world.
Stood up to a conviction-less god and gave his life in the process.
Gave the Avengers something to avenge.
And inadvertently saved the world.
I believe in heroes.
I believe in the idea that one person can hold the weight of an entire world, country, state, or city on their shoulders- and not be crushed by it.
I believe that no matter how much evil is thrown at the human race, good will always find a way to climb its way to the top. Or, at the very least, it will die trying.
I drew in a shallow breath.
His name was Billy. Billy the Bully. Or Billy the Kid, I guess.
He was that one kid that had to start using deodorant in the third grade and liked to tip littler kids over just for fun. And for lunch money, of course.
He usually didn't bother me much, at least, not any more than the other kids. For the majority of my life, the events of that day were a blur. But strangely enough, they came into focus now.
A shadow was cast over the book that I was reading. I looked up, crinkling my nose slightly at the sudden wave of odor that had washed over the area where I was sitting. I had a gut feeling about what was facing me.
My suspicions were confirmed.
"Billy."
"Shrimp," he replied, with the same tone that I had greeted him with. "Money."
In a sudden rush of defiance, I stood up, my hands clenched into white-knuckled fists.
"No."
His hairy eyebrows lifted slightly in faint surprise and amusement. He reached for the cards in my hand.
"No!"
I uttered the word with a very different tone this time around.
I leapt forward, watching as my cards passed into his grimy hands.
"No?"
A wicked grin spread across his face as his hands slowly moved away from each other. A faint rip was heard, and I felt like a stone dropped in my stomach.
Then the stone began to burn. It burned away my calm front, it burned away my inhibitions, it burned away my humanity.
-x-
The next thing I could remember was sitting on the blue cushioned chair outside of the principal's office. My feet dangled above the ground, and my hands were folded in my lap.
The timidness was back, the nervousness had returned. I stared at my shoes blankly. A million scenarios ran through my head, each one progressively worse than the first. It started with my television privileges revoked. It escalated to a scolding. And then my comics taken away. And then- burned. And then being thrown out. And then...
My eyes were wide with fright.
… a paddling.
The principal's voice startled me out of my stupor.
"Phil?" He called again.
Shaking, I pushed myself off of the seat and started toward the door that he was holding open for me. I sat down in the chair that was obviously meant for me. I looked at the walls around me. Certificates, awards, pictures... and then.
The paddle.
My eyes immediately snapped back down to my shoes as a heavy feeling settled in my stomach. I heard him sit down across from me and I timidly moved my eyes up to meet his.
He took his glasses off, folded his hands on top of the desk, and leaned forward slightly to make his face a little more level with mine.
"Phil?" he asked in a kind tone. "Why did you punch Billy?"
"He's a bully."
"It's not your job to take care of bullies," he replied, smiling, unfazed.
"Captain America doesn't like bullies. I don't either."
"You're not Captain America," he said gently, as if he were afraid of crushing the vision of the little boy.
"Just because I'm not doesn't mean that I can't try to be."
At the time, I had taken the expression he gave me as acceptance. Looking back, I realize that it was the unmistakable look of a grown man tired of arguing with a child who simply will not give up.
I smiled at the memory, glad that I could conjure it up now, after I had seemingly blocked it from my mind.
Breathing wasn't coming to me as easily as it had before. My hands felt cold. The colors began to blur together in front of my eyes.
I felt a hand on mine. I struggled to focus and saw Fury in front of me, kneeling on the floor.
"I'm sorry, boss. The god rabbited."
"Just stay awake. Eyes on me."
My thoughts fled before me and I struggled to keep them together.
"No. I'm clocked out here."
With those words, I was hit with the cold realization that this was it. My heart began a frantic, final desperate attempt to stay alive. Every pulse rippled through my entire body.
"Not an option."
I smiled when those words left his mouth. It was an order, just like any other order he had given me over the years. Yet somehow, this one was different. Behind the words were something else.
The breaths came in short gasps as my heart began to lose the battle.
"It's okay, boss."
I choked back a sob.
"This was never going to work..."
I struggled to finish the sentence.
"...if they didn't have something..."
The colors swam before my eyes.
"...to..."
I heard a faraway voice.
"Agent Coulson is down."
I struggled weakly to answer the call, but I found that I couldn't move.
Oh, well.
Just another day at the office.