Notes: A little bit of everyone again today. Enjoy!
Nullify
Their victories were becoming less and less exciting. The Avengers were slowly learning that defeating Loki and the Chitauri did not act so much as a deterrent for other galactic tyrants, but rather an invitation. Sure there were still pats on the back and smiles for cameras at the end of the battle. But there was also a sinking feeling in the pits of stomachs, because they all knew it meant a new countdown was starting for the next attack. It was becoming quite clear that Earth may not see peace ever again, at least not in the near future.
Edition
What little free time Phil Coulson could find in his schedule, he spent it on eBay, craigslist, and various collectors' internet forums. He didn't know how long or how much of his savings it would take him to rebuild his complete collection of vintage, limited edition Captain America trading cards. Especially since the reemergence of the superhero from the ice had caused prices for quality condition cards to skyrocket.
Coulson could gouge out Fury's remaining eye and make him eat it for destroying his mint set of cards that was safely tucked away in his locker when Loki attacked him.
Vitality
The first major injury was Barton. He'd taken a hit that, thankfully, knocked him backwards and slammed him into service door. He had a severe concussion (nothing new), two broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a head wound that was spilling blood at an alarming rate. Twenty minutes between injury and getting him off the roof. Another fifteen before his unconscious body was brought into medical. Sixteen hours before he woke up. None of them left his side. They silently took turns pacing at the foot his bed, except Natasha who sat next to him threatening him in whispered Russian.
Loyalties
"You've reached the life—"
"Tony, I know it's you," Pepper sighed.
"How did you even break through my 'do not disturb' protocols?"
"Jarvis helped."
Tony turned his eyes to the ceiling of his workshop. "Traitor."
"You have to come in to work today. The board—"
"Nope, better stuff to do. Sorry. I'll make it up to you later. But for now, the board can suck it." He heard Pepper emit a cross between a whine and a sigh. "You have me on speaker phone, don't you?"
"Yes," she moaned.
"You should know better than that."
"I really should."
Skylines
Steve was grateful to have the Chrysler Building in plain sight. The building, clearly visible from his quarters, was an anchor that helped him reason the greatly changed city layout. So much had changed and grown and expanded that there were days where it hard to believe that his was still in New York. He was thankful the city street layout was on a grid system so he couldn't get lost when out.
Buildings had come and gone during the seventy years in the ice, but the steel, sparkling beauty was a constant that tied Steve's past to his present.
