*UNEDITED*


Anna POV

Charlie sent me a message when Ellie was off the carrier. My plan was to hide out in the gym so if Nick wanted to talk I'd have weapons in easy reach.

Way back when, before I met Dr. Erskine and still lived with my dad and brothers, we used to visit the Xaviers every few weekends; both fathers liked booze a bit too much. My brothers would skeet shoot off the back porch. I would end up babysitting Charlie.

After the war, I stopped by around Christmas and Charles' and Raven's birthdays. One time I brought them to a lab I had in a city. I gave Raven a bunny rabbit that I'd genetically engineered to turn bright pink when it was awake (it returned to fluffy white when it slept). Charlie, though...He said that trip was what solidified his interest in genetics.

After he was shot in the back in '69, I came back. I explained how I never really died in 1952, and offered my help. I used my frequent travels for Stark Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D. to help him find young mutants in need of guidance. Ellie was one of the first full-time students. I brought her there in the late '70s and she lived there still.

I didn't know who Charlie sent to get Ellie, and honestly, right now, I didn't care.

I hadn't rewrapped my hands since my sat. call; I was going at a different bag with bare knuckles. Every punch gave me a flash of what Loki brought out.

Hearing half of HYDRA wasn't captured, and that my work was far from done.

The face of Carlos as he was dragged away after I promised him and his family safety.

Penny's crying face when Martin backhanded her.

The one time I saw Kára cry.

Rebecca's face when the twins enlisted; after I told her they would never be forced to serve.

Tommy's unresponsive body in Vietnam, and Jimmy screaming both in pain and horror for his best friend.

Telling their parents how they died.

When I looked over my shoulder and saw 23 men with gunshot wounds to the head; all my doing.

Leaving Alexi in Siberia.

Finally getting Alexi's body back from Siberia.

Holding Rebecca's shaking hand at Penny's funeral and knowing it was my fault.

The look on Tony's face as he stood over his parent's graves in the rain.

The last time I saw Bucky.

I let out half a roar as I gave the punching bag a final hit.

I grabbed it with my bloody hands and pressed my forehead to it.

"Don't cry." I whispered to myself, grabbing his dog tags with one hand. "C'mon Brightman...Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry."

"Annie."

I jolted away from the punching bag, and spun to see Steve. I sniffled sharply, and used my shoulder to wipe my eyes; my hands were bloody.

"What Steve?" I asked, walking to my bag.

"We're goin' after Loki." He said, taking a few steps slower.

"You found him?" I asked, wiping blood off my hands with a towel; Steve nodded.

"I'm in."


I didn't know Phil had input on my suit like he had on Steve's. It was just like Natasha's or anyone else's, but there was a blue 8-pointed star on the back. The topmost point was at the top of my suit, the bottom point ended at the bottom of my spine. The other points curved around my shoulders and sides. He was always a little dramatic.

There was nothing wrong with my normal suit, but I was going to wear it. For Phil.

Phil started out in data analysis. On a mission in Russia, I requested he be my eyes and ears since he'd been working on that region for a few years. After that, he was the voice in my earpiece for almost half a decade. I gave him the well-deserved promotion six years in; he was a top level field agent for years. When he got his own team, I made him a cake. I tried to get him on as many missions as I could; he was one of my best friends.

I'd never go on a mission with Phil again; I knew that one would take years to sink in.

Fifteen minutes later, I was walking with Clint, Tasha and Steve.

"I like the new outfit, Brightman."

"Can it, Barton." I said, struggling not to smile. Barely took any effort to get a plane; no one wanted to mess with Captain America. Clint and Tasha were about to take off, when someone yelled 'Hey! Wait for me!'

Kára hopped into the plane. I rolled my eyes, and the rest of the people in the plane looked at Kára in shock. She smiled. "Hey, I was fighting things like this before you people were even an idea in your parent's heads. You need me."

"She's right," I smiled, pulling on a pair of fingerless gloves. "We do need her."

While the assassins flew, I put together my backpack.

"When did PX become standard on planes?" I asked, grabbing a brick of the blue plastic explosive. Howard and I came up with PX in the 50s; one brick had the same power as 18 bricks of C4. Steve gave me a bit on an odd look, but I guess I earned it. I was throwing plastic explosives and blasting caps into a backpack.

"Three years ago, give or take." Natasha called over her shoulder.

"Stark, we're on your 3 headed north east." Natasha said through coms.

"What? Did you stop for drive through?" Tony half-yelled at her. "Swing up Park. I'm gonna lay'em out for 'ya."

"That's my que." I said, hoisting the backpack onto my shoulders.

"Where do you want us to drop you?" Clint asked.

"Surprise me." I said, smiling. This was the exciting part.

"Anna, what are you doing?" Steve asked in that authoritative voice of his.

"One thing you still have to figure out about the new me, Steve." I said, walking towards the opening bay door. I gave him a smile over my shoulder, and jumped.

"Don't worry when I go off on my own." I said, in midair, through coms.


Omniscient POV

Anna lept from the plane as it dipped over a rooftop. She rolled twice when she hit the ground, and slid to a stop a few inches from the edge of the roof. She grinned again and started running.

"Annie, are you alright?"

"Just a sec Stevie." Anna said, leaping from one building to the next. She landed hard, and quickly righted herself. "All good."

She paused for a second. "And don't call me Annie! We're on a mission, Steve. Codenames. Use code names on a mission."

"Do you even have a code name?"

"Nope!" Anna said, smirking slightly. "One a'ya better think of one soon though..." She trailed off and looked towards the sky. "Cause we gotta problem here."

"Blondie's right." Tony chipped in, weaving through the buildings expertly. "We gotta big problem."

Chitauri were on Tony's tail.

"I need 50 seconds, Tony." Anna said, taking six bricks of PX out. Expertly, she took out six round, metallic black disks, about three inches long. She pressed the red button on one end, and four spokes shot out the other end. She jammed it into the PX and threw them back in her bag.

"Coming your way." Tony said.

Anna had a brick in each hand. "I need them within 20 yards."

"On it."

The first alien that was in throwing distance was her target. Anna wound an arm back, and pressed the red button on the blasting cap the moment she threw it. The brick grazed the alien's flying...thing, and the blastings cap gave it's final beep. It exploded, taking another one down with it.

"Nice work, Brightman." Tony complimented as he pulled up quick, sending one of the Chitauri into a stone wall.

"Not a problem, Stark." Anna responded, already throwing the next brick.

"Do you always throw explosives?" Steve asked, chuckling slightly.

"Only when I have them on hand." Anna grunted the last word, throwing another brick. "I'm resourceful."

"And she likes blowing crap up." Kára put in.

"Uh, who doesn't like blowing crap up?" Anna countered, readying more bricks.

Anna went through her explosives fairly quickly, and turned her attention to the fire escape. She paused on a platform outside a window, and put two fingers to her ear; her earbud was coming loose.

"I'm out of PX." She said, continuing her decent. "Gonna see what the deal is with civilians."

"Have your gun?" Natasha asked.

"Aw, I knew there was something I forgot!" Anna huffed, smiling as she landed on the ground.

"You're going into this unarmed?" Steve demanded.

"Just a sec Rogers." Anna dismissed. One alien was flying low; she'd be an idiot to miss the opportunity. She grabbed the lid of a trashcan, and readied herself.

"Tony, I need you." She said.

"That's flattering, but I don't think now is the time." Tony said, distracted, as he flew towards Anna. Once he was in her line of sight (less than two seconds after she asked) Anna threw the trash can lid. It nailed the Chitauri in the head, and knocked it off course.

Tony's Iron Man suit lifted a taxi up, and acted like a backboard for the alien. Then, Iron Man crushed the thing with the taxi.

"Sorry," Anna said, directing her words to Steve. "You were saying?"

"Be careful." Was all she got in response.

Anna grinned, and took off running. "Kára, I need you as soon as I can."

"I'm flattered Annie, but now really isn't the time." Kára said, mimicking Tony's words.

Anna was behind an overturned bus, taking cover as she caught her breath. "One'a these days..." She trailed off, thinking about a nice little cottage in the Swiss Alps.

Once, she'd made the mistake of saying 'I'm too old for this' while on a mission. TJ didn't want to let it go, but Anna made him. But, not before the little smartass told Coulson, who refused to let it go.

A massive crash snapped Anna out of her daze. She ran towards it, and met up with the four others exiting the crashed Quinjet. Wasting no time, she ran with them; Anna smoothly caught the gun Tasha tossed her way.

There was a loud groan. It was somewhere between metal bending and a humpback whale, to Kára's ear, at least. The five heroes stopped, and watched the black hole in the sky.

It was the size of a battleship, with skeletal armor over it's fish-like body. It swam through the air, shooting off more Chitauri warriors.

"Stark, you seein' this?" Steve asked, watching the creature.

"Seeing." Tony confirmed. "Still working on believing."

"Lindworm." Kara breathed.

Anna looked between her best friend, and the creature that she was staring at. "Do you know what that thing is?" She asked.

Kára watched the sky in horror. "I...I thought they were all dead. Asgard fought them and their keepers centuries ago...Before I was born."

"How do we kill it?" Natasha asked.

Kára snapped out of her trance, and shook her head. "Only Odin had the power to harm them." She said with a frown. "Earth could be on fire, and the All-Father wouldn't bat an eye...He won't get out of bed for a lindworm."

"Where's Banner?" Tony asked.

"Banner?" Anna asked, a little confused. Didn't Bruce fall out of the Helicarrier? Sure, he was the Other Guy when he fell, but could he survive falling 60,000 feet?

"Keep me posted." Tony demanded.

Chitturi flew over their heads. Not three seconds after, a subway stop exploded.

"We got civilians trapped." Clint yelled.

"We got them," Anna said, glancing at Kára. Steve, even though he tried not to, sent her a worried look.

"Hey," Anna half-yelled as a car flew over their heads. She stared into Steve's eyes and nodded once. "I got this." Steve nodded once, and the blondes turned and ran.

Between the two of them, they forced bus doors open, shuffled people into underground spaces, and threw whatever they could at the flying aliens.

"Just like the Kremlin, huh?" Kára groaned.

"Which time?" Anna asked, helping a child out of a car.

"When did you take all those files?" Kára asked, using a discarded jacket to mop up blood from a man's face.

"Pretty sure I did that more than once." Anna admitted.

"You stole files from the Kremlin more than once?" Tony asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." Anna said with a shrug.

"C'mon!" Kára yelled, waving people to a intact subway station. They should be pretty safe underground. "Anna! I need you to keep them off my back!"

She was already putting a round in the chamber. "Consider it done."


Secretaries can type without looking, because the action is so repetitive and mind numbing they don't have to think about it.

To Anna, that's what happened when she fought. It was repetitive and mind numbing.

Other people who fought tried to think seven moves ahead. They fought to win.

Anna had a much more basic motive. She fought to survive, and to help others survive.

Winning was just a bonus.

And it was pretty fun sometimes.

Like when she lept from a second story balcony and landed on a Chitauri's shoulders. Anna wrapped her legs around it's neck, locking her knees under the chin. As it flew, she grabbed hold of a sign (for Bob's All Night Bodega) and left momentum do the rest.

There was a loud snap, the Chitauri's neck, and the little ship it was flying went wild and crashed to the ground. Anna swung from the sign like an expert gymnast, and landed on her feet. She rolled under a car, and used a pocket knife to pry the gas tank out.

She's told a few cops to do the same; the last thing they needed was a bunch of gas explosions on the ground. Anna rolled out from under the car and took off running. Anna threw the gas tank at a passing alien.

"Tasha! Got hot one comin' your way!"

"See it." Natasha said, taking aim. She fired one shot; it just grazed the alien's flying thing and ignited the gas. It burst into flames with a sickening screech and lost control of the flying thing; it flew into another alien.

Anna sighed. "I love that one."

"You love any plan that let's you light stuff on fire." Natasha countered.

"You know what? You're right!" Anna admitted. "Think these bitches can take a Molotov Cocktail?"

"A what?" Steve asked. He paused to fling his shield at a Chitturi warrier, knocking it over the edge of the overpass. "Annie what's a malitove cocktail?"

"It's Mol-o-tov, Steve." Anna corrected. "The Finns came up with it during the Winter War. A poor man's grenade."

"Yeah, but what is it?" Steve asked again, bringing a finger to his ear.

"You'll see," Clint said from his spot on a roof. "You'll smell it first, but you'll see."

Anna, a few blocks away, ducked into a bar. She took a second to right herself, and took in the dark wood paneled bar. It was mostly men in the bar; they were all huddled behind the counter.

"You guys alright?" Anna asked, yanking the hair-tie from her blonde ponytail; one of the Chitauri had yanked it pretty hard.

None of the men said anything. "Hellooooo?" She asked, waving her arms slightly; a few snapped out of the daze. "Any of you hurt?" Anna asked slowly.

They shook their heads.

"Good," Anna nodded, taking the pocket knife from her belt and flicking it open. A few men flinched, making Anna roll her eyes.

"I need all the bottles of hard liquor you got." She half-yelled, beginning to use her knife to rip the table cloths into strips. "Vodka is best. Absinthe and bourbon are alright...A bottle of whisky too. The older the better."

No one moved.

"Hey, now." She ordered them.

One man in a black t-shirt, the bartender, shakily brought a few guys to the back room and started grabbing cases of liquor. The other men started with the opened bottles, bringing them to the table Anna was in front of.

"H-Here," a younger man said, holding out a bottle of 45-year-old whisky to Anna.

She took the bottle, and gave him a suspicious look. "How old are you?"

He swallowed. "N-Nineteen."

Anna took a long swig from the bottle and held it out to the 19-year-old. "That's old enough, here. It'll take the edge off."

Anna began stuffing strips of table cloth into the mouths of the bottles, and a few guys started doing the same. She noticed a lot of the guys had the same bracelet; a braided lanyard thing with a clay bead painted blue with a purple J in the middle. She also noticed they weren't too smart; stuffed wallets in back pockets and t-shirts with their first and last names on the back, under another purple J.

"So, whatcha guys doin' in the city?" She asked, trying to get them to calm down. They just looked at Anna, confused. "Clearly, you're not from here," Anna elaborated.

"Our-Our friend Jason died." One of the guys, the one with the tattoo, said as he pulled Grey Goose bottles from a cardboard box and yanked tops off. "He's from the city...Talked 'bout this place all the time."

"Sorry," Anna said off-handedly. "You guys all grow up here?"

"No." Another guys said. "We go to the same community college in Maine...Met on the baseball team."

Anna put down the pocket knife and bottle. "You're all baseball players?"

All nine men in the bar, including the bartender, nodded.

They all looked confused as Anna began smiling and giggling. "Aliens are raining down from the sky and it's still my lucky goddamn day!"


"Tony! Bring as many as you can down 28th. Fly low."

"On it Twinkles." Tony responded, making a hairpin turn towards 28th.

"Twinkles?" Anna repeated flatly.

"Yeah, you know, 'cause Brightman is your last name." Tomy said, smiling to himself.

"That is terribly uncreative."

"Short notice." Tony said dismissively. "Turning onto 28th now."

"We'll be ready."

"'We?'" Tony asked.

"Yup," Anna smiled, tying a blue bandanna around her nose and mouth. She'd raided an overturned tourist stand for a bandanna for the guys too; the smoke was gonna get pretty thick. "Me and the starting players for the Kennebec Valley Community College baseball team."

"What are you and a do-nothing baseball team gunna do?" Tony asked.

"Set shit on fire." Anna said simply.

When Tony brought the Chitauri to the small bar on 28th, he heard Anna yell 'NOW!'

Bottles flew from the street to the aliens, and exploded into fire. Sick screeching, not unlike nails on a chalkboard, came from behind Tony as one 90+ year old spy/chemist, eight community college baseball players and one bartender threw Molotov Cocktails at the Chitauri.


All the Avengers could hear Anna laugh and give a triumphant Woo!

Kára, watching the block Anna and the baseball team, smirked as she saw her emerge from the smoke. Like a action hero, Anna walked confidently out of the fire-filled block. Without looking, Anna lit the rag in the bottle of bright green Absinthe and threw it at an incoming Chitauri. The second it was in the air, she took her gun from the thigh holster and fired at a burning alien, bringing it down.

"A bit dramatic, don't'cha think Annie?" Kára asked once she was in earshot.

All Kára could see were lines wrinkle around Anna's eyes and what she could see of her nose wrinkle as well; she was smiling. "Hey, I'm old enough to be dramatic," Anna countered from under her blue bandanna.

Kára was about to laugh, but it was cut off in a sharp gasp. The former Valkyrie fell to her knees, a hand to her side while the other kept her off the ground.

"Kára!" Anna screamed, running towards her best friend. She ducked the blue beams from the Chitauris' guns and skidded to a stop next to Kára. "Hey! Hey, what happened?"

"Stupid, low creatures," Kára spit out, gritting her teeth. She didn't wear the S.H.I.E.L.D. issue suits like Natasha and Anna (though theirs had personalized touches); Kára wore black jeans, boots and a tank top. She said more layers gave her more to move around when fighting, which Anna doubted, since she'd never seen Kára come close to losing a fight.

"Get me Thor!" Kára ground out.

"What?" Anna asked, her eyebrows raising; Kára had demanded to be 100 feet from the god at all times back on the helicarrier.

Anna was flung back by a bright yellow light. She skidded across the ground on her back, and was looking at the sky wide wide eyes; she was unable to move or speak from the massive amount of pain she was in. Anna had been trying desperately to show Steve that he didn't need to worry about or protect her.

And now, he was helping her up. Steve wouldn't let go of her; his arm was locked around her shoulders and Anna knew that there wasn't a way to squirm out of it unless she shot Steve three or ten times in the ribs.

The yellow light was still pulsing. Anna looked over her shoulder (and Steve's) and saw Thor standing with his hammer thrust towards Kára. The yellow light was coming from Mjölnir.

"What are you doing to her?" Anna screamed from under her bandanna. A scream pierced the air before the god could answer.

Windows shattered.

Chitauri fell from the air.

Steve finally let go of Anna and pressed his hands to his ears; the sound must have been at least three or four times worse for him than for her. Heightened senses and all.

The scream finally stopped, and the light disappeared. Thor swung his hammer, and flew into the air.

"What the hell was that?" Clint asked through coms; he was still up on the roof.

Kára got up, and stood on the debris.

"Did she always have those?" Steve asked. He was referring to the massive, golden wings on Kára's back.

Anna didn't have time to speak, before a high pitched crack, paired with a bright flash made everyone flinch (and about 16 Chitauri fall from the sky). Kára was gone.

Steve hadn't noticed Anna had gone until he heard her voice in coms.

"We got a Valkyrie on our side now. You can do all that stupid crap you used to, 'cause we got someone to bring you back."


Anna POV

After Kára got her wings back, the first thing I did was run to Stark Tower to help Tasha with the portal. The elevators were busted, so I had to take the stairs. When I made it to the penthouse, I stopped dead.

The Hulk.

The Hulk was in the Stark Tower penthouse, staring down at Loki, who was in a large divot on the floor. I couldn't hold in a smile; someone finally taught him some manners.

I stopped smiling when the massive green guy turned to me with grunt. As I took a stumbling step back, the Other Guy's brows furrowed and his small black eyes narrowed. His lip curled as he leaned towards me.

I held my hands out like I was trying to calm a wild animal. "Hey now...Take it easy big guy," I said slowly.

He took one lunging step forward and gave a sound somewhere between a snarl and a growl.

"Hey!" I yelped. I still had one hand out towards the Hulk while the other fought with the knot of my bandanna. I gave up and yanked it down over my nose and mouth.

"You know me!" I insisted desperately.

In a calmer voice, I repeated the statement. "You know me."

I glanced at Loki, still painfully on the floor. I slowly pulled the dagger Loki stabbed me with earlier and held it in the air. "I showed this to Banner earlier." I stated, then nodded towards the window.

"Go smash."

Like when Captain America said it, the green guy grunted and gave his equivalent of a smile before leaping from the window.

I lazily went to Loki, and gave a light kick to his foot. He groaned in pain, and opened his eyes. Weakly, one side of his mouth tugged up. His chest briefly rose and fell quicker; I think he was laughing.

"My Valkyrie...Come to take me to the fields of Valhalla?" Loki breathed.

I scoffed. "There's a Valkyrie around here, but I'm not her."

Loki's expression changed. His brows raised and his eyes widened. "Do you truly feel nothing for me?" He said softly.

"Oh, I feel stuff," I said, crossing my arms and cocking my hip. I saw a flicker of hope in his eyes. "Hatred. Anger. Disgust. Pity."

"You care for me." Loki insisted, his voice firmer. "When you first came to Asgard, I could see it in your eyes...You cared for me."

I flipped the dagger in my hand, and squatted down by Loki's side. "Yeah...I care."

He smiled, his eyes and face welling with relief and some twisted form of love.

"I care for the man who made my paper bird fly." I clarified, making his brows draw together. "I do not have any good feelings about the man who brainwashed me and one of my closest friends, made me kill S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and say-say awful things to a man who didn't deserve it."

"Now," I said, standing and pulling my bandanna over my mouth and nose again. "If you so much as lift your head, I'll shove your own dagger through your throat."

The beaten god looked up at me like the sun rose and set over my head.

I gave him a harsh slap to the face, and grabbed his chin so he was facing me. "And don't look at me like that."

He chuckled as best he could. "This is why I love you, Lady Anna...You have been through death and destruction, more of it than any person should...And you've beaten it."

His dagger embedded itself in his stomach. He whimpered, and closed his hands over the dagger. Blood pooled over his hands as he looked up at me with yet another expression; betrayal and shock.

"I hope you die." I said thickly.

I wanted to yell at him more, but voices through coms. got my attention.

"Clint!" I yelled, two fingers to my ear. "What-What the hell is Tony doing?" I asked, wiping my face with my free hand just incase tears came out.

Clint answered right away. "They were going to nuke Manhattan...Tony's flying it through the portal."

"What?" I yelled, eyes wide. "Where is he now? Who ordered the nuclear strike?" I asked anyone who was listening as I ran down the steps.

I skidded to a halt when I passed a tech room.


"Tony, do you read me?" I asked, running down the steps with a massive box under one arm.

"Brightman?" Tony asked. He didn't sound good at all. "How-How the hell-?"

"I knew your dad for thirty-plus years, you may hate me but I'm pretty smart," I paused and adjusted the grip on the large black box, a signal booster. "I wanted to make sure you're ok."

"I have a nuke in space and I can't reach Pepper. How do you think I'm doing?" Tony snapped; his voice wavered at the end.

"Once upon a time there was a princess named Belle." I said, finally getting out of Stark Tower and onto the street.

"What?" Tony asked, getting more and more anxious.

"Her father, the king, liked her brothers better. He sent her away to a far off land." I continued.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tony half-yelled.

"I haven't seen you in almost 40 years, Tony. The last time I saw you, you were four years old; you had the flu, remember? I told you a bedtime story? You said it was your favorite...Iwrote it down so your mother could tell it to you?" I asked, leaned on the wall of Stark Tower. I had cover from an overturned bus and my gun at the ready.

There was silence. "Tony?" I said desperately, looking at the signal booster.

"You made me chicken soup."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah...Tony I haven't been there, ok? I haven't done what I should have, and this is all I can do, so let me do it, alright?"

He paused. "So...What about the princess?"


January 1974

7:45 am

"What's his name?" Tony blurted out.

"Hm?"

"What's the very good man's name?"

I paused, and took a shakey breath.

"They very good man who rescued the princess, his name is Bucky."

"Hm." Tony mumbled, hutting the stuffed koala.

"Want me to start over?' I asked, smiling.

"Yes please Abie." Tony said sweetly, grinning up at me; he knew I couldn't say no to him when he used real manners.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess named Belle. Her father, the king, liked her brothers better, and sent her away to a far off land." I started again.

_-~0O0~-_

"...Belle and Bucky lived a long and happy life together...and-"

"They lived happily ever after!" Tony yawned.


"And..." I trailed off.

Silence.

"And..." I said again.

"C'mon Tony! Answer me!" I yelled, pointing my gun to to left to fire two shots at a Chitauri. "Damnit-Tony!"

A deafening roar from the Hulk made me look up. The massive green man was scaling the buildings roughly, leaping closer to a bright light falling from the closed portal. The Hulk jumped up and grabbed the light from the air. He held the light in one arm, and used the other to slow himself on the tall building.

I was by Steve when the Hulk dropped the light onto the ground. Kára groaned and rolled away from the other person once she hit the ground. I raised my eyebrows. "Nice outfit." I commented weakly.

Kára wasn't in her black-on-black attire anymore; she was in some amazingly well crafted gold, armored dress. "If you're nice I'll let you try it on later." She sounded distracted, her eyes on something else.

Steve grabbed me out of the way when Thor flung something behind him. A shaky breath left my mouth as I saw who else the Hulk had saved.

Tony.

"I-I tried to save him." Kára insisted, wide eyed. "I-I'm not-I'm used to the wings yet...They-They're weak." She stammered, pressing a hand to Tony's head; her palm over his forehead and fingers under the Iron Man suit that covered his head.

The Hulk suddenly stamped one foot like a small child and let out a loud roar.

Tony jolted awake with a gasp. Kára grinned, and close her eyes. Tony abruptly stopped gasping, and calmly looked around.

"What happened?" He asked, looking around. "Please tell me nobody kissed me!"

I smiled, a hand over my mouth. I was fighting tears by this point.

Steve smiled slightly before answering him.

"We won."


Well, sorry for the wait. I've been goin' through some stuff...For the last few weeks, I've been on some anti-depression meds, which really messed my head up. I'm off those, and on different ones which are really helping me. I'm ok now. I promise. :)

I've written a few different versions of this chapter, and since I was feeling so much better, I sat down and wrote this in one go. It's not my favorite, but all six versions I wrote were pretty difficult.

Now, two things:

~The fairy tale Anna told 4-year-old Tony; I kinda wrote the whole thing. It's kinda like a fairy tale AU with pretty much all the Avengers in it. You guys wanna read it?

~I'm going to have one more chapter following the Avengers plot, then I'm going to have a few to fill in some gaps before I get into the Winter Soldier. So, I was thinking; are there any sorta-kinda crossovers you guys would like to see? Like, Anna kicking ass with Sam and Dean Winchester, Anna showing up at 221B Baker Street early in the morning, Anna showing up in the White Collar division of the FBI and 'borrowing' Neal Caffery-Literally any TV show or movie. Once I get into the Winter Soldier, it's gonna get pretty angsty and sad, so I thought I'd put in some fun stuff first. Thoughts?

~Anna's superhero name?

GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS MY LITTLE CUPCAKES! Review! ;)

~Christianne