Not Another Superhero Fanfic

Deadpool burst into Stark Tower, a large cardboard box balanced in his arms. "I present," He dropped the box ceremoniously onto the table. "A working ATARI gaming system, everybody!"

Everyone crowded around the box, in awe of the practically antique device.

"Hey, I remember those!" Natasha Romanoff exclaimed as she pulled out a bundle of wires from the box. Tony Stark removed the gaming device, smiling widely as he examined it. Steve Rogers and Kitty Vics were the only confused ones in the room as the others began setting up the system, looking as happy as children on Christmas.

"I have Alien Vs. Predator and Pitfall II, who wants to play?!" Deadpool held up two games and Bruce Banner snatched the first one out of his gloved hands.

"Fuck, I'm surrounded by old people." Kitty laughed as Deadpool put in the game and booted up the ATARI.

Tony turned around and gave Kitty an odd look. "You're six months older than Natasha." He stated.

Kitty Vics scoffed, "No, I'm-" Her face dropped as she realized the problem and whispered, "Oh, fuck."

Steve decided to ignore the profanity. "What?"

"Well…Uh, it's actually a really funny story," Kitty smiled nervously. "Not funny, ha-ha, but funny-"

"Kitty." Tony warned.

"Well, when you said you had my birth certificate, I figured… I think you guys have...uh…" Kitty glanced down at the floor and whispered, "A...Fake birth certificate." She looked up and was startled to see everyone in the room staring at her. "My fake birth certificate."

Bruce was the first one to break the silence. "Why would you have a fake birth certificate?"

Kitty laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "That's a boring story. You guys don't want to hear it when you have an ANARI to play with." She waved her hand at the pile of metal and plastic on the floor.

"ATARI." Deadpool corrected quietly as everyone continued staring at Kitty in varying degrees of confusion and anger.

"Why don't you tell us, anyway." Tony commanded as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You guys want the long story or the shorter one?" Kitty asked, hopeful to get this over with. A short lie she could come up with on the spot; If they asked for the long one, she might actually have to tell the truth.

"How about the full story, Vics." Deadpool interjected. Kitty glared at him as hard as she could. He knew her too well to let her lie her way out of it.

Finally, she closed her eyes and took a very deep breath. "My parents kicked me out of the house when I was thirteen." Kitty confessed. "And I didn't know what else to do." Everyone in the room was stunned. This was not what they were expecting, especially since, in all the time she's been an Avenger, she had never once mentioned anything this personal.

Steve looked the most aghast. "Why?" He couldn't even imagine being kicked out of the house at that age.

"I was thirteen when my brother died." Kitty explained. "My parents were out at dinner and we were home alone. Our house was broken into. I don't think they knew anyone was home…" She trailed off, her eyes locked on the ground as she cleared her throat. "Anyways, they...uh...They beat my brother and I pretty badly. I was rushed to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead at the scene." She took a big breath. It felt as if a golf ball sized lump had settled in her throat, making it hard to speak.

"My parents never really liked me, definitely not like, well, they loved Ethan. I think they always wanted boys and they saw me as just another disappointment. And…" She snorted in disgust. "Well, let's just say that it wasn't the first time I had been in the hospital for broken bones and in need of some stitches." Kitty began to pick at her fingernails. "This time, I was in ICU for two weeks. My parents only came once, and that was to the sign the insurance paperwork. While I was there, I made friends with my nurse. Her name was Cynthia and she was wonderful," Kitty smiled softly at the memory of the dark-haired woman. "She's what I imagine a mother is supposed to be. When I was discharged, my parents didn't show up to get me so she drove me home. She even gave me her phone number. Said to call her if I had any problems at home. I think she suspected the abuse going on," Kitty bit her lip and saw that Tony was gripping his coffee mug tight enough to whiten his knuckles.

"When I walked in the door, my parents handed me a backpack. Told me to pack anythin' I didn't want burned and if I wasn't out of the house in an hour, they'd call the police. So I left." Kitty shrugged. "I didn't call Cynthia. I didn't want to bother her and if half the things my parents screamed at me were true, I didn't deserve her. Sometimes I think about how different things would have been if I had called." Kitty sighed. "I hid out in the library and the park long enough for some of the obvious bruises on my face to heal, one of the churches would give me granola bars-"

"You were homeless." Bruce rightfully concluded.

"Well, I wasn't really allowed to have friends," Kitty shrugged. "So I didn't really have anywhere to go. Made a fake birth certificate and ID that said I was eighteen. I was at the Army recruiting office within a month." Kitty darted her eyes around nervously, gauging her audience. Now came the seriously illegal, Leavenworth part of her backstory.

Steve nodded mutely, prompting her to continue her depressing story.

"I was in basic for less than a week. It was sheer-hate driving me forward and they recognized it. They moved me to specialized training, the How-To-Be-A-Mercenary type training. By age fifteen, I was put in the Untitled Black Unit, where I met Deadpool." She nodded to the black and red figure, who was now sitting down.

"...You were...Wait…" Deadpool started counting on his fingers. "That means you were fifteen when I tried to kill you." Deadpool mused. His eyes widened and he started breathing harder under his mask.

"You succeeded, too. John had to resuscitate me." Kitty said jokingly. The humor fell short when she saw everyone's faces. "Sarge, you didn't know…" She tried.

"I tried to kill a fifteen year old girl..."

"Continue," Bruce requested as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Please."

Kitty looked at the group sadly. "I got out of Special Forces after six years, when I turned twenty-one. I hunted down the people who murdered my brother. Found out one of them was in prison for the rape and murder of four teenagers. He was the most satisfying to rip apart." Deadpool quietly cleared his throat and Kitty snapped out of her daze. "Then, you guys recruited me when I was twenty two…"

"Wait," Bruce interrupted, shaking his head slightly. "You're only twenty three?"

"She's a child," groaned Natasha. Clint nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm not a child!" Kitty argued. She turned to Tony. "You guys said you knew all about me, you knew where I was born and everythin'. How was I supposed to know you had the fake!?"

"Well, maybe if you'd told us there was a fake, we wouldn't be having this issue!" Tony roared. Steve put his arm on Tony's arm to try to calm him down.

"I made the birth certificate to fool the Army, not smart people!" Kitty pointed out.