Author's Note: THIS IS MY BRAINCHILD. THIS IS THE RESULT OF DREAMS, MEEKAKITTY, AND AN EXCEEDING LOVE FOR THE AVENGERS. What makes this different then other FFs? Well, the next generation is nothing like their parents. Because quite frankly, most kids aren't exactly like their moms and dads! Secondly, there's LOKI. Yup, that's right. LOKI. So uh, yeah. FYI, Lupe's name is pronounced "loop" not "loo-peh" "Loo-peh" is a Spanish woman's name. "Loop" is a beast name. AAAANYWAY. Expect updates whenever I feels like it. Please review! ~Jazzy
Avengers: Next Gen
Prologue:
~5 years after Loki's attempted world takeover~
1. & 7.
Clint sat on a chair next to the table, two cups of steaming coffee set on top. Natasha sat on the opposite side, watching the children in the living room intently. Her long curly red hair was restrained by a ponytail holder. Even though she had been out of commission for 3 years, she hadn't changed a bit physically. Still muscular and lithe, perfect figure and all. She reached over and grabbed her mug, taking a sip of coffee.
"Hey babe," she turned to look at him. "what's Everest playing with?" Clint moved his gaze towards his oldest child. Everest was almost 3 years old, with blazing red hair like his mother. He had hazel eyes and thin features. He sat on the rug playing with his toys. Right now he was playing with a fake knife set, plastic. It was a humorous gift from Tony Stark for the child.
"Don't worry, dear." Clint laughed. "It's just that plastic knife set Tony gave him."
"Oh good." She closed her eyes, taking another drink of coffee. Clint still stared at Everest. His eyes widened.
"Uh dear… those aren't the plastic knives…" At that, both ex-agents jumped up and ran for their son, taking Natasha's knives away from him.
"How did he even get those?" Natasha yelled, holding up Everest.
"I don't know! I thought you locked up all your gear!" Clint bellowed, picking up all the knives. He shoved them all on the kitchen cabinet with a sigh. Natasha sat the 3 year old on the large couch.
"Don't do that ever again, Ev." She reprimanded him. "Don't play with mommy's knives."
"But mommy!" Everest protested. He was adorable, Clint thought. Big eyes, red hair. "I just wanted to be like you!"
"Yeah, mommy." Clint smirked. "He just wanted to be like you."
"Stay out of this, Barton." Natasha scowled. "I don't want our son to be like me." She shuddered. "You know how that would end."
"You're right…" Clint admitted. He leaned closer to his son. "Maybe when you're older, kid."
No one noticed the little brown haired 1 year old in the corner. Her eyes were not just blue, they were intensely blue, not at all a normal shade. Both her parents were fixated on Everest, not her, just as she had planned. She smiled as she reached for her daddy's bow and arrow set. She plucked a large arrow and began chewing on the middle part contentedly.
2.
The woman sat in the rocking chair, holding her 3 year old son carefully. No matter how much she tried, he simply would not fall asleep. Long black strands of hair fell in his face. Deep emerald green eyes refused to close. "Mommy?" he asked.
"Yes, Lupe?" She smiled wearily.
"Tell me a story, please?" He spoke exceedingly well for a child his age, she noticed.
"Sure dear, what kind of story?" Maybe this would get the child to finally fall asleep. She had experienced way too many sleepness nights lately. Every time Lupe fell asleep, he woke up screaming from 'nightmares.' She had once asked him what kind of nightmares. All he revealed was that they were taking place in some other world. She hoped he wasn't seeing his father. There would be too much to explain.
"Tell me a story about daddy, mommy!" He pleaded, adjusting his seat in her lap. She sighed audibly.
"You know mommy doesn't like talking about daddy, Lupe." She brushed some of his hair out of his face.
"But mommy, I want to know about him. Just a little. Please? I'll go to bed then!" He must really want to hear a story about him, she figured, if he's offering to sleep for it.
"Fine, baby. But just one." He smiled, and looked expectantly at her. "Once upon a time there was a man named Loki…"
"That's like my last name!" Lupe exclaimed. "Lokison!"
"Baby, don't interrupt."
"Sorry." He said quietly.
"And this man was very powerful. He had friends, but even more enemies-"
"Why?"
"Lupe, what did I say about interrupting?"
"Sorry."
She began again. "So Loki had to run away. But one day, he hid in a house. And this house had a woman named Lila in it-"
"That's you, mommy!" She didn't bother to reprimand him this time. It was futile anyway.
"Mhm. And he ended up staying at Lila's house much longer then he planned. Because Loki liked Lila. And after a couple of months, they fell in love."
"And then they had me, right mommy?" Lupe interjected.
"That's right sweetie." She kissed the top of his head. "Now it's bedtime."
He let her tuck him into his bed without a word. But as soon as she started to leave, he stopped her. "Mommy?"
"Yes dear?"
"What happened to daddy?"
Lila stared at the floor for a second. "Daddy had to leave."
"But why?"
The question hurt, it brought back memories she'd rather forget. "You remember the enemies mommy mentioned?" Lupe nodded silently. Thank goodness he's silent for once… "Well they found daddy, and daddy had to go back home."
"Where's home for daddy?"
She laughed a little. "Far away, Lupe. Far away."
"Will he come back?"
Lila kneeled down next to the bed. "I think so."
3.
Steve sat in the restaurant, absent mindedly looking through the menu. The restaurant wasn't very busy today, a normal Thursday. Across the table was a young 3 year old girl. Like her father, she held the menu in front of her face. He could just see her light brown hair pigtails sticking out of the side of the menu. It was much smaller than his, and came with crayons.
"Amelia, what are you going to eat?" Steve smiled as he asked her. The menu fell down to the table. Amy had light brown hair, light grey eyes, and a few small freckles. She was tall for her age, and Steve could already see small muscles on her arms. It looked like the genetic enhancement had spread to her…
"I wanna burger!" She smiled lopsidedly. The menu went right back up to obscure her face.
"Okay Amy, we'll order next time the waiter comes over."
"Daddy, when's mommy coming?" She asked.
"Mommy's on her way. She sent me a text." He'd gotten more used to modern technology, but Steve was far from an expert. His 3 year old daughter could use it better than him!
The door of the restaurant opened to reveal his wife. "Hey babe!" She called out, running to join him.
"Hello Teresa." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. She sat down across from him, next to Amy.
"Eww," said the large menu that was his daughter.
"Oh hello there, mr. menu," Teresa said. She immediately began tickling their daughter, who laughed and dropped the menu. "Oh! There was an Amelia back behind there!" Amy laughed and giggled.
The waitress came over. "What can I get you today? Oh my god- you're Captain America!" She dropped her notebook. It fell on the floor with a thud.
Steve smiled sheepishly. "I'm one of your biggest fans!" The waitress admitted. She pulled out her necklace chain to reveal a dogtag with Captain America's logo on it.
"He's not Cap'n 'Merica!" Amy protested. "He's my daddy!" The menu was still on the floor, underneath the table. A few crayons had fallen as well.
"Oh, I didn't know you had a daughter," The waitress' smiled flickered a bit. She pushed blonde hair back out of her face.
"And he has a wife too," Teresa said with a smirk. The waitress awkwardly picked up her notebook.
"What would you like to order?" She asked, her face twitching a bit.
"I'll have the burger and fries," Steve said.
"House salad," Teresa ordered.
"I wanna burger too!" Amelia grinned, holding the green crayon in one hand. She reached over to Teresa and began to furiously color her arm. The waitress left, while writing a few things on her notebook.
"Was that jealousy I saw?" Steve asked his wife with a chuckle.
"Not at all," Teresa said with a perfect poker face. Amy rested her head against her mother with a small smile.
"I love you daddy…"
4.
"He's going to die!" Tony sighed as Pepper shouted at him.
"And why is it my problem, Pepper?" He asked, placing a few ice cubes in his drink. They sloshed around as he spun the cup in his hand.
"Because you can save him, Tony! You can save his life, isn't that a big deal?" She walked over to the window. It overlooked all of New York. It had been repaired rather well in 5 years…
"I save a lot of lives. Why does this one matter so much?"
"He's two years old, Tony. He will die if he can't get a heart."
"Do I look like a heart donor to you?" He snorted.
"He's past the stage of getting a heart donated. None of them worked. What they need Tony," she turned to look at him. She was probably the most beautiful woman Tony had ever seen. He even considered proposing to her. Never gone through with it, but he could've. If he wanted to. "What they need is an arc reactor."
"What? They want me to implant an arc reactor in some toddler's chest?"
"That's the idea," Pepper said dryly.
"And they expect that to… power him?"
"He doesn't have a heart, he needs something to keep him going."
"And no machine will work?"
"His body keeps on rejecting things. Ever since he was born." Pepper stared at him, her eyes locked with his. "His parents gave him up. The hospital can't afford him anymore." She sat down next to him. "And who do I know that's a rich billionaire with incredible technology that could save him?"
"You flatter me, Pepper."
"Will you do it then?"
Tony breathed deeply. "It's not a one time thing, Pepper. He'll eventually outgrow it if I implant it while he's two. It'll need to be powered more and more until he stops growing. Too much power and he'll die…" He paused to think. It's not like he had any kids. Well, kids that he knew about. Pepper wasn't able to have one anyway… Maybe he could…
"I'll keep him." Tony stated.
"What?" Pepper looked at him like he was insane.
"I'll fix the boy, and I'll keep him. He needs parents, right?" He nudged her.
"Are you sure this isn't one of those rash decisions you make and then later regret? It's a kid, you can't just toss him out and get a new one later-" Tony started to speak, but Pepper stopped him. "I mean it, Tony."
"Do you want me to save him or not?"
"Yes."
They sat down on the couch for a while. Probably 30 minutes at least. Finally, Tony broke the silence.
"What's this kid's name anyway?"
Pepper smiled. "Neo."
"Hm… Neo Stark. Has a nice ring to it…"
5.
"Tryst WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Jane Foster yelled. The toddler sat in the living room, holding a bent fork. She jabbed the fork right into the electric socket. "NO!" She dived towards her daughter but fell short.
Electricity jolted around her, covering her form. The lights flickered in the house, on and off. The clocks started beeping. The TV turned the channels. The radio changed stations and volume.
"Mommy?" Tryst asked, pulling out the fork. The building suddenly lost all power.
"Baby! Don't EVER do that again!" Jane said, pulling her daughter into her lap. Tryst was unusually warm and shocked her at the touch. Thor said it would happen eventually, Jane thought. I just didn't think it'd be this soon.
"Jane?" The voice bellowed into the room. Thor flew in from the ceiling, right through the open skylight. "What has occurred? I have heard your screams from the other side of this town!" He walked over to her and her daughter. Tryst looked strikingly like her father. She had long blonde hair and light blue eyes.
"Tryst here decided to put a fork in the electric socket. She could have killed herself!" Thor just laughed. Loudly.
"What? What are you laughing at? Our daughter is suicidal!" Jane shouted.
"No, no she is not eager to take her own life." Thor chuckled again, setting his hammer on the table. "But instead she has revealed her gifts to us! And at such a young age. I was 50…." He drifted off.
"What do you mean?" Jane asked, still clutching her daughter for dear life.
"In Asgard, citizens of higher standing all get… gifts. And when they are revealed, they get titles. I am, as you know, the God of Thunder." He reached to Tryst and held her in his large arms. "I believe Tryst here is the Goddess of Lightning." He smiled, and Jane felt better. Thor's smile was gorgeous. It was partly what made her fall in love in the first place. "I thought I was God of both Thunder and Lightning, but this is interesting…"
"So what do we do about it now?" Tryst began playing with her father's beard.
"We must take her to Asgard, to her dedication ceremony, naturally. Odin will want to see her…"
6.
The boy sat alone in the pure white room. Dark brown curls fell into his face. He had chocolate brown eyes. He was on a white shag rug. Small toy action figures were in the room. The Avengers action figures, with bonus figure: Loki! Someone had a sense of irony.
"Why does he have to be in that room, it's so cold and white. No place for a child…" A female agent said to Fury. Fury gazed into the room's window. It was one-sided.
"We don't yet know if the transformation worked. The genetics are tricky. We don't want to set him off until we know how strong he is…" He replied evenly.
"I think this was a bad idea. You know Banner didn't want any more of… him out there."
"He didn't have a choice. Besides, this isn't his 'son.' Technically it's his clone."
"But, sir, he still didn't want any more hulks out there." She protested.
"Because he thought they couldn't be controlled. We're to prove him wrong. Bane here will be our weapon." Fury paced around the control room.
"Sir, children shouldn't be weapons!"
"Did I ask you for your opinion, Agent Yvonne?" Fury snarled.
"No sir."
"Then don't give it to me. I will reassign you if you cannot perform your mission appropriately."
"I will perform it, sir."
"You understand what you must do, Agent?"
"Yes sir," She replied. "I must take Bane under my wing and raise him."
"Good. Now go meet him."
Agent Yvonne walked into the white room, shielding her eyes for a minute. It was so bright. So pure. The child looked up at her, wordless.
"Who are you?" He asked. His words were slightly slurred because of his age.
"I'm going to be your new mommy, Bane." She smiled and crouched down to his level. He didn't say anything. "Whatcha got there, buddy?" He held on to his action figures tightly.
"They're my heroes." He said stubbornly.
"Which one's your favorite, Bane?" It was awkward talking to him. She had known his "father" quite well. And now she had to watch his clone.
"I like this one the best." He held up the biggest figure. The Hulk.
"I like that one the best too," Yvonne grinned.