Hello to all my loyal readers. I am back with a new chapter.
My reviewers have been begging for a new chapter to this story. I didn't realize how long it's been since I last updated this story. I've been concentrating on finishing the Jurassic Avengers and getting my first Harry Potter fanfiction going.
This chapter ought to be a good one. I will say no more. Let's get this started.
Chapter 7- Reunion
Emily sat on the branch, looking up the sky. A breeze blew through the trees, causing her hair to wave. The sunlight glinted off her vibranium arm.
It had been about 5½ months since Ultron found their home and taken James. Oh. No, not James. Bucky, the Winter Soldier, and her father.
Emily still could not believe that she had been raised by her father her whole life and she hadn't known. She couldn't believe she hadn't figured it out on her own. She felt betrayed, angry that her dad had hidden his identity from her for all those years. But, at the same time, she felt kinda glad he had. Since learning James, or rather Bucky, was really Emily's dad, most of her "siblings" had gotten a little bit distant from her. She thought they were jealous of her and the fact her dad was still alive when their parents were dead. Only Ivan seemed to not be bothered at all by the fact. He said he actually had known who Bucky was for several years, but had promised to keep Bucky's secret.
Ever since the team had come to the secondary home in the Savage Land, Ivan had taken over the role of "parent". He had increased the amount of training they did, as well as how difficult their training was. He was determined that, when the time was right, they go after Ultron, rescue Bucky if he was still alive, and destroy Ultron.
However, Emily had become slightly depressed. Despite her slight bitterness at her father's silence as to his identity, she hated the fact that she had lost him just minutes after learning he was her dad. That had pushed her to train even harder, but, when she wasn't training, she liked to spend a lot of time alone.
She had also become closer to Gunther. She had had a slight crush on Gunther since she was younger, even though they fought so much. He had become nicer to her lately, helping her when she was feeling down about her dad. He had almost helped her a lot with her training.
As she sat on the branch, Emily heard a voice. "Emily!"
She looked down. Gunther was standing below her. "Ivan wants to see you," he yelled up to her.
Emily nodded to show she understood, then hurriedly climbed down from the tree. Once she was on the ground, she and Gunther set off for the control center, which was just a few minutes away.
They walked in silence most of the way. As they got near the control center, Emily asked, "What does he want me for?" "Not sure," Gunther said. Emily nodded, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.
When they reached the control center, they found Ivan twiddling with a small device. He looked up when the two entered the room. "Oh, hello, Emily. Glad you came. I wanted to discuss something with you."
Emily sat down in front of him. Then, Ivan said, "I've been monitoring Ultra City. I've noticed that city is almost entirely empty. I decided it's time to go see if Bucky is still alive. I've decided to send a small team to Ultra City to see if he's alive, and I wanted you to lead the team."
Emily smiled. "Of course. I'll do it." Ivan gave a rare grin.
Suddenly, alarms started going off. An instant later, Ivan was at the control panel, fingers dancing over the controls as he looked at various displays. After a few moments, Ivan said, "We have an incoming radar contact! ETA, 2 minutes." He turned to face Emily and Gunther. "Go out to the courtyard. I'll meet you out there with everyone else." He rushed out of the room, his green cape flapping behind him. Emily and Gunther looked at each other, then hurried out.
Nowadays, they always carried their weapons with them. So, they didn't have to run to their rooms to get their gear. They headed straight for the courtyard.
A minute later, Ivan ran into the courtyard, with Lillian, Nathan, Adam, Derek and Eddie following him, all decked out for combat.
Right as he reached Emily and Gunther, a plane appeared in the distance, streaking towards them. Everyone formed ranks and faced the aircraft, ready for a fight. Derek floated above them on his glider.
They watched the aircraft intently as it came in and landed. They settled into a crouched position, ready to fight, as the ramp lowered from the aircraft.
Then, humans came walking down the ramp. They all formed into a group and came around to the front of the aircraft, facing the Next Thunderbolts.
The two groups looked at each other intently, studying each other. Then, an older man pushed through to the front. Instantly, Emily's eyes lit up. It was Bucky.
"DAAAADDD!" she screamed. She ran across the no-man's land and flung herself at her father. For the next several moments, the two embraced for the first time as father and daughter.
When she pulled away from him, Emily's eyes were filled with tears. "You came back," she said. Bucky smiled and said, "Always. And you have these nice people to thank for rescuing me."
Emily faced the other people, all but one of whom were teenagers. "Thank you for rescuing my dad." One of them, a boy in a navy blue suit with a round shield on his back, nodded and said, "You're welcome."
Bucky motioned the Next Thunderbolts forward. When the two teams were just a few yards apart, Bucky said, "Next Thunderbolts, meet the children of the Avengers." Except for Ivan, all of them looked shocked.
"This is Tony Stark, the Iron Man," said Bucky, indicating Tony, "Their caretaker. And these are the children of the Avengers. I'll let them introduce themselves." Each of the Next Avengers introduced themselves, stating their name and parentage. Then, the Next Thunderbolts introduced themselves.
"Well, let's take this inside," Bucky said, and he led them all into the compound, leading them to a big meeting room.
"Well, first, I think I'll let the Next Avengers tell their story," said Bucky. Tony and James then told their story, of where they had lived, what they had been doing their whole lives, and finishing with their defeat of Ultron.
"Ultron's gone?" Eddie asked in amazement when James shared that piece of information. "Yes, he is," said James.
"But," James said before pausing for a moment. Then, he continued.
"Ultron's armies are still functioning. Even without Ultron to guide them, they're still a threat. We could really use help destroying all of Ultron's armies," James said.
There was a few moments of silence, then Gunther grinned. "You bet," he said. The rest of the Next Thunderbolts quickly followed suit.
Bucky smiled. "Yes, our teams are finally together."
The Next Thunderbolts and Next Avengers had finally come together.
(1 hour later)
It had been an hour since the Next Avengers arrived at the home of the Next Thunderbolts. During that time, the two teams had been working on getting to know each other.
Emily, however, had quickly left the two teams, bringing her father with her. She wanted some alone time with him.
The two of them sat on the roof of the control center, looking at the sky, which was dyed orange from the setting sun. For the most part, they had just stayed silent, other than Bucky telling Emily a little about her mother.
Emily sat with her head on her dad's shoulder. She had a question she was dying to ask him, but she couldn't gather the courage to ask.
All of a sudden, after almost half an hour of complete silence, Bucky finally spoke.
"You want to know why I didn't tell you I'm your father, don't you?" Emily lifted her head off his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. After a few seconds, she said, "Yes."
Bucky smiled, but looked a little ashamed.
"I had several reasons. One was for the sake of your siblings. If they knew you still had your dad, when all their parents were dead, and most of them couldn't even remember their parents, it would crush them. I wanted to protect them until they were old enough.
"Then, I also did it for you. You hadn't seen me in years when Ultron took over, and I brought you all into hiding. When you didn't recognize it, I figured I should keep it that way.
"Then, over the years, I realized that you trained harder than anyone else. And Ivan and Gunther were able to help me figure out you were training so hard because you wanted to go and find your dad one day. I knew that if you figured your dad was still out there and alive, it would inspire you to train harder.
"Trust me, it was the hardest thing I've ever done to not tell you I was your father. Even now, I'm not sure I made the right choice, or I think I should've told you a long time ago. But, you pushing yourself to be better so you could find me one day has turned into an amazing young woman, one I could not be more proud to have as my daughter."
Emily looked at him, then punched him in the chest. "That's for not telling me you're my dad until Ultron took you." Then, she hugged him tightly, and said, "And this is to start making up for all the hugs we should've shared over all these years."
Bucky smiled and hugged Emily back. They fell back into silence, just content to sit there, together as father and daughter at last.
Okay, I'll stop right there.
The main purpose of this chapter was to introduce the two teams to each other. It's not the best chapter I've ever written.
I think you guys should have recognized the hint at the possible romance in this story besides James and Torunn.
I have nothing else to chat about. So, please review, and have a good summer.
Raptor2216 out.
