This was not how today was meant to go and he was pretty sure everyone else would agree as well. Everything was going really well for once. The whole team was up in the morning and ate breakfast as a team… without arguing with one another.
Then everyone went off and did their thing. T'challa was sparing with Steve in the Gym. Hulk and Thor played video games. Clint went off to play with his arrows down in the range. Jan went off to talk to Hank. He himself got in some really productive hours in the lab, even managing to finish a few of his projects for Stark Industries.
Then the call came in.
The Avengers were assembled to stop the 'Masters of Evil'… or… whatever was left and trying to stick together after the whole Norn Stone nonsense. Chemistro, Wonderman, Abomination and Crimson Dynamo.
It was meant to be a walk in the park...
Tony turned at Thor's scream. Normally he wouldn't. Nurse Gods were as vocal and loud as you would expect them to be. But it was not the normal battle cry... the deafening roar of 'no' drew everyone's attention. Tony felt his stomach sink at the cry as his head snaps round to find his Asgardian teammate.
The battle seemed to come to a halt at the cry, and everyone, even the 'Masters of Evil', stopped to look. Thor ran forward a series of quieter 'no's falling from his lips. He used his hammer to move everything out of his path to get to... to...
A sombre disbelief seemed to permeate everyone as they saw what had upset Thor.
This was not meant to happen, not like this. Not by some lucky shot that had nothing to do with skill.
The man who seemed to have everyone's respect regardless of side. A man who however mortal people believe would never fall. Laid in a sickeningly crumpled heap on the cracked road. Cap… Captain America was down.
Tony stumbled as he tried to land his suit. His legs feeling weak and numb. He did not try to get closer or back away. He stayed riveted to the spot as he watched. Everyone else seemed to have the same problem as well. No one seemed to be able to move, except Thor who now kneels by Cap's side.
Thor carefully straightens Cap out and pulls him into to his lap. Demanding he hold on, keep going. To fight as he always does.
Tony can tell even with the distance between them that Cap's injuries are bad. Really bad. Most of Cap's suit now seemed to be dark and red... not a bad look per say. But not like this. Not like this, it's not.
He feels as if he is going to be sick as he watches Cap choke on his own blood, his eyes cold and distant. The light that seems to always shine in them is already dulling, making the blue look more like grey. He cannot look away, no matter how much he really wants to right now. It is like one of those wrongs that you must stay and watch, no matter how much it hurts.
However much if feels wrong to do so, Tony closes his eyes as he hears Thor whisper "please, no…" then an even softer cry that seems to go against all that he knows of the loud god, "Rest well, my friend".
He is gone.
Tony opens he eyes to watch as Thor carefully lay him out flat on the ground. There are tears in his eyes, in all of their eyes. Heroes, Villains and bystanders alike.
'Went out doing what he always done best, uniting people' Tony thinks to himself.
Thor picks up his hammer from where he put it on the ground and looks over to the 'Masters of Evil'. 'He seems to have shaken the numbness' Tony thinks to himself. He doesn't really feel like fighting just yet, he feels more up to hiding himself away in his lab, but he knows he will be right behind Thor in a few moments – when reality kicks in. He will be right there making the 'Masters of Evil' really regret what they have done. For now, he will settle for watching Thor as he reaps vengeance for Cap.
Tony shakes his head and moves forward a few steps, 'May as well get in before Thor leaves nothing for the rest of us'
Suddenly dark thunderous clouds manifest overhead, and going by Thor's expression, this is probably not a good thing.
A chilling laugh splits though the air as a flash of green lighting strikes the ground. A woman clad in a formfitting black outfit wrapped with green bindings to the wrists and hips stands tall where the lightning had struck seconds before. On her back there are wings that look like the tattered curtains you see in horror films about haunted houses. Her green painted lips are pulled into a self-assured smile.
"Hela" Thor's voice booms across the battleground, "What is your business here?"
Tony turns back to Thor, "You know her?" he asks. He would hope that this was good news, however Thor's tone spoke otherwise.
"Aye," Thor says, not taking his eyes off Hela for a single second. "She is the goddess of death. Ruler of Niflheim… Land of the dishonoured dead"
Tony stares at the woman in shocked horror, "The dishonoured dead?" He exclaims "What? No!" but he is ignored seemingly by both Hela and Thor.
"Listen here, Hela. You haveth no claim over Steven Rogers. He wast a warrior, true of heart and metal." Thor grounds out darkly, he points his hammer at her warningly.
Hela laughs at that, seeming fining it amusing. "Oh, but you will find that I do" she says, and Tony feels like there is something hot and sickening pooling in his gut. "You see, when your 'Avengers' broke the Norn Stones, Steven Rogers was deposited into my realm. He bargained with me for his freedom. He sacrificed his soul to be able to save you all. Now that the deal has come to an end, I am here to collect" He strides up to Thor, her grin turning darker.
Thor's face pales, "no" he whispers. He takes a step forward and tries again, voice stronger "No, he wast in thy realm by unnatural happenings. You haveth no claim over him".
"You'll find that I do in fact, have claim of him, Thor Son of Odin" She says with slow pleasure. "He may not have fallen into Niflheim by natural means, but that doesn't change the fact that when I bargained with him, he agreed. He did not know what I did was unjust, knowing nothing beyond the laws of his own realm, but it no longer mattered after he agreed to my terms. He is mine now"
Thor growled darkly, but stepped aside sullenly. Tony felt like screaming. No, it was not fair, she said so herself! How can Thor just step aside?
Hela raises her right hand, a cloud of dark smoke surrounding it. "Come to me, Steven Rogers" she commands, and Cap's body, were it had been laid on the ground shifts, a similar dark cloud is surrounding him too.
Cap raises up into standing and his eyes shoot open. However the blue of his eyes are gone, replaced by a harsh green glow. The dark smoke disappears as he moves stiffly to stand before her, his back to them.
"Oh, you will be fun." Hela says, pleased with her prize. She looks him over critically and her expression changes to one of shock. Then suddenly she gives him a huge grin that would make even a Cheshire Cat envious.
Tony feels the dread inside him grow even more. He does not think he can handle much more of today.
"Why Steven, you didn't tell me you have been touched by the arcane arts before" Hela drawls sweetly, "What a gift you are! Let's see what you are hiding". She waves over his form and takes a careful step back.
Cap falls to his knees with a scream that gives way to body shaking coughs, sounding as if someone made him swallow sand paper and he is trying to force it back up. His hands claw at his uniform as if it were choking him, the uniform that Tony himself upgraded for him. Made to be stronger and more versatile. And now suddenly it starts falling away in shreds in the way it absolutely should not, as if it were simply cotton.
Cap falls forward and digs his fingers into the hard ground below him. His bones are visibly shifting under his skin and tattered uniform as agonised moans and sobs are ripped from Cap's lips.
Tony fights back the compulsion to run over there to Cap's side… or to attack Hela for this. Neither seem a practically wise move at this point in time. He sees that he is not the only one tormented by this.
Thor is gripping his hammer tightly, jaw clenched tight. Hawkeye from his position has his bow drawn and ready to strike, his eyes narrowed and his lower lip caught between his teeth anxiously. Jan is standing stock still with her hands clenched tightly by her side, worry and hurt clearly written across her face. Black Panther is stalking silently around the scene, his seemingly endless patience worn near none-existent. Hulk is… somewhere, he has not actually seen him since Cap's death, Tony realises.
Tony is shaken from his thoughts when he notices Cap's skin is slowly getting darker and more of a golden honey colour. Now that his attention is now fully back to Cap, he also realises that his proportions are all wrong, he seems thinned and stretched. His legs seem to have an unnatural bend to them.
His fingers look longer too, from where they are tugging at his lengthened hair. His spine seems to be trying to escape his back, if the huge ridge it is making is any indicator.
"What a handsome boy" Hela croons at Cap. Tony really wants to get her with his repulsers.
Cap's hands fall away from his head at the sound of her voice, revealing large pointed ears that are twitching manically.
"What?" Tony asks out loud to himself in disbelief, "ears?". Cap turns around at this, reviling he now very canine face, full of large fangs. He notices his now golden skin is actually a coat of fur.
'Werewolf!' Tony realises, 'Captain America is now an undead werewolf!'
Suddenly his vision is blocked by Thor. "We must make haste, Iron Man! Now!" he commands in a loud shout, "Tis no longer safe" He bounds off to warn off the others as well.
Before he leaves, the last thing he hears is a very deep guttural growl and Hela's mocking voice "I hope the Avengers like their new adversary, my pup"
END
.
.
.
Notes: Based on the deal we see in Season 1 Episode 26 "A Day Unlike Any Other" of 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' with a twist from Captain America Vol.1 #402-408 (Earth 616). I liked the idea of Hela having both her Wolf, Fenris, and Capwolf.
I read in another fan story Niflheim being referred to as the land of the dishonored dead, and I really liked that. I don't know if it had any substance to it though.
... I'm thinking that Cap would have been given lycanthropy in this either: A) During the War, B) Maybe part of the Super Soldier Serum, or C) when doing his own stuff outside of his Avengers duties.