Author's Note: Hello to all my readers, both old and new! Welcome to another installment of the ChristyVerse!
If you're asking, "What the heck is the ChristyVerse?" then I would direct you to my profile, to the story entitled "We Can Be Found." After that, I would direct you toward either "I Dream Things that Never Were (And Ask Why Not)" or "Never Meant For You to Fix Yourself," depending on where your interests lie.
The basic summary of my 'Verse is this: about 5 months after the Battle of Manhattan, all the Avengers are living in the Tower. Steve Rogers adopts a seven-year-old girl named Christy. Life ensues. Other major differences include: Loki having a redemption arc, Bucky getting found soon after the events of Winter Soldier, and Pietro NOT DYING!
But to actually understand this story, you need to go back and at least read "We Can Be Found," "Never Meant For You To Fix Yourself," and probably some of "The War Outside Our Door Keeps Ragin' On." Otherwise you'll probably be very confused.
As with my other stories, there may be instances of MILD profanity in some chapters. (No f-word, no s-word). This is only because, with these characters, low-level profanity is sometimes needed for accuracy, but no more than you would hear in an actual Marvel movie.
To everyone who's been following my stuff: welcome back. This fic came about because of the number of "Avengers go to Disney World" fics that I found. I love Disney World and have been there several times with my family over the course of my growing up. So I was slightly disappointed that most of the "Disney" fics were very cracky and totally for humor's sake. Now, granted, this fic isn't going to have anywhere near the angst level of something like "Never Meant...", but I have developed these characters to a certain point, and I'm not going to sacrifice all that development for a bunch of cheap laughs. Basically, since I have a fairly good knowledge of what goes into a Disney trip, I just apply the characters to those situations and BAM! Instant story.
I don't know how long this story is going to be, but it might end up as my shortest yet. I'm mostly writing it for personal enjoyment and to give all the characters a "break". Hope you enjoy everything.
A World of Hope
Chapter One
"Rogers, have you completely lost your mind?"
Steve couldn't help but smirk at Natasha's very annoyed expression. "Well, I wouldn't say completely…" The skewering look the spy gave him indicated that semantics wasn't the biggest issue right now. "Besides, it's been a tense month. Christy needs a break. I need a break. And with Stark knee-deep in base-building plans…there's not a whole lot I can do right now. We're not training until the base is built. And we'll only be gone a week."
Natasha gave a huffing sigh. "But seriously…Disney World?"
She might as well have said "Mars".
Steve shrugged. "She asked to go there."
"When?"
"When were all holed up at Barton's place…" Steve paused, shaking his head. "That still sounds weird. Nice, but weird."
"She asked to go to Disney World while we were in the middle of fighting a megalomaniac robot?"
"No!" Steve looked suitably affronted on his daughter's behalf. "I said that when all that was over, I'd take her somewhere far away. She suggested Disney World. Now, she's out of school and we're taking a bit of a reprieve. I don't see why I can't take her."
"Because you're Captain America?"
"People see what they expect to see." Steve said patiently. "You taught me that one. Nobody expects to see Captain America at Disney World with his ten-year-old daughter and two best friends. Besides, we'll dress casual and lay low."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Barnes, I'm not surprised, but you managed to talk Wilson into this hare-brained scheme?"
"Officially, he's coming to 'keep us out of trouble'. Unofficially…he hasn't been since he was kid and wanted to go again. And, of course, Bucky's never been at all…"
"Bozhe moy…" Natasha muttered
"You could come too, y'know…" Steve said, giving his best persuasive smile, the kind that had always gone over well when selling war bonds.
Natasha glanced out the window and muttered something inaudible.
"I'm thinkin' about asking Clint if he wants to go, take his family…" Steve pushed.
"You do know that Laura just had a baby recently…?"
Steve shrugged. "You can take babies. I checked. And she wouldn't be short of sitters…"
Despite herself, Natasha couldn't help smiling. "You really have thought this all out, haven't you?"
Steve sighed. "I haven't had a real vacation since that ill-fated motorcycle trip after the Battle of New York. And certainly not a real vacation with Christy. I always wanted to travel, but I never had the money for anything but occasional ferry rides or trips to Coney Island—and I don't count being in the army as a 'trip'!"
"No, I wouldn't count it either…" Natasha said musingly. "Look, Steve, if you wanna go, I can't stop you. Obviously."
"You should come." Steve repeated. "When's the last time you had a vacation?
Natasha opened her mouth to retort, and then slowly shut it.
"Thought so." Steve once more gave that incredibly persuasive grin. "C'mon…you need a break. Have some fun. Steal back your childhood…"
Natasha sighed. "Alright, alright, you incorrigible idiot! I'll think about it!" she paused. "What about the twins?"
"Well, they're with Clint this week, so I'll ask them when I call him." Steve smiled a bit. "I wonder how they're enjoying 'life on the farm'."
"If they're anything like I was, they'll think it's both the strangest and most wonderful place in the world." Natasha said, completely honest.
"Disney World might rival you for that claim." Steve said, straight-faced. When Natasha looked confused, he added. "Apparently it's called 'The Happiest Place on Earth.'"
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Well, that's debatable…but I'll give them a chance to prove themselves."
Steve nodded calmly, but inwardly, he was cheering.
One down…
Clint walked in the front door and back into the kitchen. He'd been out in the backyard taking care of a few minor things that needed fixing.
Laura was unloading the dishwasher, so he snuck up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. She tensed at the sudden pressure, and then leaned back onto him. "Hey."
Clint smiled; he loved being home. "Where're the kids?"
Laura turned around and smirked. "Well, let's see. Nathaniel's napping, Cooper's hiding out with a book somewhere, Lila managed to talk Wanda into coloring with her, and Pietro's…running."
"Running where?"
"I told him anywhere as long as he stays away from roads and doesn't run anyone over."
Clint nodded. "Good advice."
"You know, I wasn't exactly sure what to think when you said you were bringing home the two kids you told me about, but…" Laura shrugged. "It's worked out pretty well."
"They're good kids. And they needed a break away from the land of giant skyscrapers." Clint said quietly. He took a deep breath. "Speaking of breaks…"
Laura gave her husband an amused smile. "Yes?" Clint was so cute when he tried to ask her something 'on the sly'.
"Well, uh, Steve called me earlier…"
"Another mission? So soon?"
"No, no; not a mission, not exactly. Just, ah…"
"Yes…?"
"Steve's takin' Christy to Disney World and wanted to know if we wanted to come." The sentence rushed out in one breathless streak. Clint's hazel eyes were slightly bugged out.
"And what did you tell him?" Laura asked, keeping her tone carefully calm and the inner smirk off of her lips.
"I said I'd ask you…?" Clint trailed off, like a child in school guessing at the right answer.
Laura sighed. "It's fine, Clint." she said, putting him out of his misery. "You can go. Take the kids; have fun. We haven't taken a vacation for a couple years; there's enough money saved."
"What about you?" he asked, brow crinkling up.
"I…don't think it would be the best idea to take a one month old to Disney. I guess it's possible…"
"It is!" Clint assured hastily. "Steve actually looked that up."
"He did?" Laura looked slightly startled.
Clint shrugged. "He's like that. Likes to cover all his bases and know all the facts. Guess it's a good habit to get into if you wake up seventy years out of time."
"I guess so. Look, Clint, how long is this trip gonna be?"
"A week, just a week. I don't know where we'd stay, but Stark probably has a deal he could get us somewhere…"
"And who all would go?"
"Rogers, the kid, Barnes, Wilson…and from the sound of it, he managed to con Natasha into coming, too. Oh, and he said to ask the twins."
Laura raised an eyebrow. "They have enough money?"
"Uh…Steve may have offered to pay for one or both of them. Both, if we didn't come."
"Pay for what?" Pietro sauntered into the kitchen. He gave Laura a shy smile hello and then turned a more determined face on Clint. "I thought we had money."
"You do." Clint said patiently. Ever since Wanda and Pietro had been given their SHIELD salary, for being Avengers (as well as a start-up fund anonymously donated to by all the rest of the team), they had been very stubborn about letting anyone else buy them anything. "But it probably isn't enough for a vacation trip."
"Vacation trip?" Pietro cocked his head and looked extremely interested. "Where?"
Clint plastered a giant, exaggerated smile on his face, and said excitedly, "Disney World!"
Looking torn between excitement, amusement, and confusion, Pietro asked, "Disney World? Like…Mickey Mouse and princesses?"
"Well, yeah…and also roller coasters, dark rides, and really good food—from what I've heard."
Pietro nodded slowly. "Okay…"
"We're going to Disney World?!"
Lila's voice, which sounded even higher due to excitement, came tumbling down the stairs. He body soon followed, dragging Wanda behind her. The Sokovian gave an amused grin and managed to extricate her hand from the six-year-old's grip, before leaning against her brother.
"Have a good run? And what's going on?" she asked Pietro.
"Yes, I did. It's nice to have space. And, I have no idea. Something about going to Disney World?"
"Disney World?" Wanda frowned. She had heard of the place before, mainly from American TV shows, but… "Isn't that place for kids?"
"Apparently not…"
"You two would enjoy it." Laura said quietly. Both twins jumped. "Sorry, but I figured that's what you were…discussing. However you do it."
Wanda blushed a little. "How did you tell?"
"Your eyes fade out, both of you. And Pietro stops making jokes."
Now it was Pietro's turn to look sheepish.
"But really, I think you would enjoy yourselves. I…" she sighed. "I don't mean to sound like a terrible person, but I don't think you two had much of a childhood."
"We had a good childhood!" Pietro protested.
"It just ended when we were ten." Wanda added.
"Exactly." Laura gave a sad smile. "So go, if you want. Have some fun before you start training. I went when I was a teenager and still enjoyed myself."
"Fun…" Pietro muttered, tasting the word like forbidden fruit.
Meanwhile, Clint was explaining the situation to a very wound-up Lila. "Mr. Steve called me; he and Mr. Bucky and Mr. Sam are gonna take Christy, so he asked if we wanted to go. I said I'd ask your mom…"
Lila suddenly looked worried. "What about Nathaniel? He's too little, right?"
"I'm going to stay home with Nathaniel and have my own vacation." Laura said, giving Clint a 'don't worry' look. "You two will go with your dad."
Lila let out a happy shriek and rushed into the living room, where Cooper was curled up with a book on the couch. "Cooper, we're gonna go to Disney World!"
Cooper dropped the book. "I know, I heard them talking!"
Lila huffed slightly. "How come you're so sneaky and know everything?"
"'Cause I'm quiet and I listen!" Cooper shot back, standing up. "'C'mon!"
The kids raced into the kitchen and Clint found himself barraged by questions that moved as fast as his arrows.
"Can we ride the one roller coaster that goes really fast? My friend at school told me about it."
"Can we meet Elsa?"
"Can we ride everything?"
"Can I get a Mickey hat?"
"Can…?"
Clint finally managed to stave off the tide. "Yes, yes to everything! I'll have to measure you two to make sure you're both tall enough, but yes, we'll ride everything we can! Why else would we go to an amusement park?"
"They have rides that go fast?" Pietro interjected, looking extremely interested.
Cooper nodded. "My friend told me they have one ride that goes from zero to sixty in three seconds! And it gets faster!"
"That's zero to sixty miles." Clint clarified. "That's…about a hundred kilometers."
Pietro pretended to yawn. Wanda elbowed him in the ribs.
"You're coming, right?" Cooper asked.
The twins both turned and gave each other furtive looks that signified a mental conversation.
"Money's not a problem…" Clint started.
"We're paying." Wanda said bluntly.
Clint sighed. He had a feeling that there would be a lot of "I'm paying" "No, I am" on this trip.
"What if you two buy tickets and let someone else pay for food?" Laura asked smoothly.
Clint leaned over and gave Laura a smacking kiss. "You are a genius." he whispered.
Disney tickets were expensive…but so was Disney food. It would also be required more often.
Another quick glance later, Wanda hesitantly replied, "Okay."
The trilling sound of a Skype call being made drifted in from the living room. In the midst of all the grown-up discussion, Lila and Cooper had snuck off to contact their cousin.
"Christy!" Lila cried, as soon as the call went through. But instead of Christy, Bucky's grinning face appeared in the camera.
"One minute, okay?" he said. "Christy! Come out!" he yelled in the direction of Christy's room. "I guess you guys found out?" he added.
Cooper nodded. "Are you coming?"
Bucky scoffed. "'Course. You think I'd miss this? My first vacation in seventy years."
Christy came streaking out of her room like a cheetah. "What's up, Uncle Bucky?"
Bucky cocked his head towards the camera. "Your computer was ringing."
Christy grabbed the device. "Hi Lila, hi Cooper."
"Hi…" Cooper started, before Lila burst out with, "We're going to Disney!"
Christy shrieked. "You're coming? Yes! Are the twins gonna come too?"
"Yes. I think so." Cooper said. "They were talking with mom and dad about it. But mom's not gonna come, 'cause Nathaniel's too little."
"Oh." Christy looked mildly disappointed. She liked Aunt Laura. She loved her dad and uncles, but it was nice having another girl around who wasn't a fighter like Aunt Tasha.
"Are we gonna see princesses?" Lila asked.
Cooper looked slightly annoyed, but Christy just shrugged. "If you wanna."
"Okay! 'Cause I wanna see Elsa and Anna and Tiana and…"
A couple days later, Clint's phone rang. Upon seeing Steve's number, he picked up and answered. "Hey, Steve; what's up."
"Clint…" Steve's voice sounded oddly strained, which sent Clint into a moment of panic.
"You alright there, Cap? Rough night?" he asked, trying to sound calm.
"No, no; nothing like that!" Steve said immediately, guilt creeping into his tone. "Look, it's fine, forget I called."
"Cap, what's eating you?" Clint asked sternly. "Don't even try pulling one over on me; I dealt with you after Manhattan!"
AKA: before Christy, Sam, or Bucky's return. AKA: when Steve was still a flaming wreck who tried to hide it.
Steve sighed. "I don't know what money's worth anymore."
It was a struggle not to burst out laughing, but Steve's borderline dejected tone was enough to make Clint put up a valiant effort.
"Steve, you're in this time for three-plus years and you've just now figured that out?" he asked.
"Don't snark at me, Barton. I looked it up. One of these…park-hopper things?"
"Yeah?"
"$196. Each. And that's with a military discount, otherwise, it'd be more. Wanna know what that was in my time?"
No. Not really. "Yeah…" Clint trailed off uncertainly.
"$2,585.57!"
Clint couldn't help wincing. "That bad, huh?" Man, inflation really does suck…
Steve sighed heavily. "Yeah…"
"Look, Steve…why did you wanna do this, again?"
"For Christy…" Steve mumbled.
"Yeah, and for yourself, right? To have a break. Because I can't think of anyone who deserves it more."
"But it feels like such a waste…"
"So…really good memories are a waste? 'Cause that's what you're buying—good memories. Christy's gonna remember this for the rest of her life."
Steve sighed again. "Alright. You're right."
"I'm always right."
"Don't." Steve moaned. "We don't need another Tony Stark. Oh, did you talk to the twins…?"
"Yeah. They wanna go. They also both insisted on paying for their own tickets."
Steve winced. "I'm gonna talk to Stark…see if he can get them some kinda deal without them knowing. They could afford it, but…"
"It's pretty steep." Clint finished.
"Basically. But it'll have to be discreet. They're terrible about letting people buy stuff for them."
"Oh, and you're not?"
Steve's blush could be felt through the phone.
"Laura said they could buy their tickets, but you or I or someone else would buy their meals."
"That should work. I checked some of these restaurants…"
Steve's voice trailed off in a disbelieving decrescendo.
"For the kid, remember?" Clint said firmly. "And it's just a week."
"Yeah…" Steve sighed. "One week."
"No way, Rogers, you're not driving all the way to Florida!" Tony's face was set in a disbelieving gape.
"But air tickets are so expensive…" Steve muttered. At the word "expensive," Tony's face grew animatedly insulted.
"Expensive! What part of billionaire do you not understand?"
"Tony, I'm not gonna keep mooching off you…"
"It's not mooching if I'm giving it to you! Now, I have two choices: my vast wealth could sit in the bank and create more vast wealth, or, I could give it to people I actually care about and let them have a vacation for once in their lives. Let's see, which one shall I pick?"
Despite Tony's heavy sarcasm, Steve didn't miss the sentiment behind the words. It would probably be more of an insult to the billionaire if he didn't accept the offer than if he refused to "cost him" something.
Besides, it would be nice not to have to drive all the way to Florida.
"I'll arrange for you guys to fly out in my plane. Now, what about hotels? I assume you were going to try and pay for that yourself, too?"
"We're not broke, Tony…" Steve tried, but Tony was having none of it.
"Oh, no, I'm making reservations at the Grand Vista. Jarvis, make a note of that."
"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied. "Oh, and Captain Rogers? It's best just not to argue."
Slightly annoyed at being told off by an AI, Steve just sighed.
"He's right." Tony said, slightly smug. "Now, who all is going on this little joy-trip?"
"Me and Christy, Bucky, Sam, Clint and his two older kids, and Natasha—shock of shocks. And the twins."
"So…ten. Okay, that's…three units. Roughly. Maybe four."
"Units?"
"Yeah, uh, like tiny apartments, but at a resort. They usually have two bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen and a sitting area."
"Tony!" Steve cried, exasperated.
"Aw, enjoy yourself for once in your life, Rogers! You deserve it."
That's twice I've been told that… Steve thought wearily. Now, could my brain please believe it?
"Oh, I almost forgot…" he said. "The twins…they wanna pay for their own tickets, but…"
Tony nodded sagely. "Y'know…I think the Avengers all get bonuses this month. And there might be a small transferring error into their accounts. $2000 each. No biggie."
Steve groaned. "Fine. Your money. Your life."
Tony smirked. "I know. And it's fabulous!"
"Jarvis?" Christy called out.
"Yes, Miss Rogers?" the AI responded promptly, as always.
"Uh…does Uncle Tony like any Disney characters?"
Jarvis was a highly intelligent AI. And even though he was just a program, technically, Tony had done his work. He was capable of almost human-like emotions.
Like amusement, for instance.
"Sir would probably tell you that enjoyment of animated cartoon characters is beneath his dignity. However…I have it on good authority that Sir was very fond of Mickey Mouse as a child."
Christy smirked. "Thanks. What about Aunt Pepper and Mr. Rhodey?"
"Miss Potts is terribly fond of Minnie Mouse, ironically. And Colonel Rhodes…enjoys Star Wars."
"Star Wars is Disney?"
"The Walt Disney Company recently aquired Lucasfilm, the company which produced the Star Wars movies."
Christy nodded. "Okay…good to know. Thanks Jarvis. I can find out what everybody else likes from…everybody else." She sighed. "I wish Uncle Bruce was here."
There was silence for a brief moment. Christy bit her lip and hugged her legs to her chest. "I wish he would come back."
"I happen to know that Dr. Banner is fond of the movie Lady and the Tramp." Jarvis said quietly. "When he returns, he will be pleased you thought of him."
"Yeah, you're right…okay, I'll get him something anyway." The girl's wistful expression slowly grew happy again. "I'm going to Disney World!" she whispered. "This is gonna be awesome!"
If Jarvis had had a mouth, he would have been smiling. As it was…he felt a soft contentment.
So that's that. Hope you enjoyed Chapter One, even if it was mostly set-up. Next chapter should be up sometime this week, before I head back to school on Saturday.
If there's anything you'd like to see the gang do at Disney World, let me know.
Reviews are wonderful things...