A/N: So I also made an Instagram account for this story because I had a feeling it would be a lot easier to find and follow that for some. The username is creation_city_street and I would love for people to check it out! I have already added a lot of cool things there to enhance the story, and I made an edit of a few pictures of the characters that I posted there today as well! Please check it out and tell me your thoughts!
Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window
I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold
Hey Stephen, boy you might have me believing
I don't always have to be alone
'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain, so
Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you
Can't help it if there's no one else
Mmm I can't help myself
-"Hey Stephen" by Taylor Swift
May 17, 2012
"Let's talk about Jennifer O'Neill, I mean it's very interesting that we haven't heard much from her since Tony Stark's disappearance and she was running Stark Industry."
"Oh yes, that was definitely a scandal, I think the amount of backlash she received from that pushed her to hide for a while. I've heard she just works in Stark Industries' charity division now."
"Well then we can all agree that it's weird she's all of a sudden part of Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"
"Oh yes, there is definitely more to the story than we can find out. But let's talk about what we do know. Her suit is similar to Iron Man's, which makes sense considering her connection to Tony Stark, but it's also very different from anything we've seen from his usual suits."
"Several hero names have been going around, including Iron Woman, Supergirl, and Miss Americana."
"She does remind me of supergirl, the colors of her suit led me to like that one, but she's missing the cape."
"Well the colors are what brought up Miss Americana, and that one seems to be the most popular one online right now, it'll be interesting to see if anything else comes in first, but I'm betting on Miss Americana being the one to stick. She has that all American southern energy, and you just don't come out in red and blue and not have a name that represents our country. I recommend she adds a little white to complete the look, maybe a star like Captain America?"
"Oh don't even get me started on that man. Every woman in the world, including me, wants to be the woman on his arm. Do you think he's single?"
"Well he's apparently been in ice for almost 70 years, he probably hasn't had time to date. That man certainly could have any girl he wants though, just look at those arms."
The TV turned off before any of the broadcast journalists could continue their conversation. "You should really take a break from watching all of this Mads, it's not going to bring you anything you want to hear," Steve said as he put the remote down and sat next to me on the sofa in his apartment.
"They want to call me Miss Americana," I said with disdain. "Where's the creativity?" I asked.
"I don't think there's ever been much creativity when it comes to hero naming. Whatever sticks is what we end up with. Besides, maybe they'll latch on to something else."
"Once they find out who I really am, I doubt that," I knew they were going to link me with Steve and Captain America. They already had a name picked that would work, they would have a field day knowing Captain America and Miss Americana were once married. "Did you hear? You've been chosen as the Avengers' most eligible bachelor," I slightly shifted the subject with a smirk. Steve's face went a little pink and he shook his head.
"I told you, all of that stuff on TV and the internet is just nonsense."
"I know, I know," I laughed. "Just think of all the poor women once they find out about us. They'll have to move on because I liked you first." I gave him a wink and he laughed back.
"Of course, you're the only one for me. Have you decided when you're going to let everyone know?"
I gave a sigh knowing this would come soon. I spent most of the last two weeks hiding in Steve's apartment. Nobody really knew where I was and I was scared to finally tell the world my true identity. I knew sooner was better, it was bound to get out one way or another so it was better coming directly from me. "Tony and I spoke on the phone about it, he wants to set up a press meeting for me next week in LA. He thought it would be the perfect time around his birthday to come visit, obviously I wasn't going to turn that down."
"Alright, do you want me to come with you? I don't want you to feel like you have to go through any of this alone."
"Thank you, I would really appreciate that. I don't need you up there with me, but just having you there in the room will make me feel better." He leaned in and gave me a reassuring kiss.
"Of course."
May 27, 2012
"Are you ready?" Tony asked me as we stood in the private room behind Stark Industries conference room.
"Hey give her a minute okay?" Steve told him as he was previously trying to calm me down before Tony walked into the room.
"No no, I'm alright Steve," I tell him while taking one last deep breath. "Really, I'm ready." I looked at both of them to make sure they knew I was okay.
"Okay, then I'll introduce you, and you can come up and address everyone. I'll stand by you if you need anything. If you want to take questions you can, but don't feel like you have to answer any of them. This is the easiest way for you to have control over what information goes out there, it'll be better than going on some talk show that can corner you into a trap.
I nodded and He went out to welcome the reporters that were there waiting for some announcement. I stood and turned back to Steve. "You know, you can back out right now if you want. We can come up with something else to keep your cover," he told me as he put his hands lightly on my arms. They slid down to grab my hands and I squeezed them tightly.
"I know, but this is what I want to do. I'm tired of running, I'm tired of hiding. If people saw us out together as a couple, it could lead them more easily back to who I am. I don't want to make you lie to stop them from finding out. I promise Steve, I'm ready."
He kissed me quickly as we heard Tony wrap up his introduction. "Alright, I'll be here watching and waiting for you when you're done. Let Tony take over if it gets too overwhelming for you. I love you."
"I love you too," I said before walking out to the podium that has changed our lives so many times. When I first made my current alias public, when Tony came back from being kidnapped, when he announced he was Iron Man. Here I was changing my life forever again.
"Here she is to give you the news you were all waiting for. Please refrain from asking questions unless she indicates she'll be taking any," Tony steps to the side after his final words and I step up with my note card in front of me. Unlike Tony, these words I spent days going over and over to get perfect were my lifeline, I wasn't going to stray from them during this address.
"Good morning everyone," I started with a deep breath. "At the beginning of this month, I participated in the Battle of New York, which was an event that has changed the course of our history. Information of aliens and advanced human capabilities have become public knowledge, and what we do with that information is still being discussed by all of us every day. I know many people have speculated about my involvement, additionally the suit I used. I'll first confirm the woman flying in those pictures found is indeed me, I don't think there were many questions involved there. Tony did make my suit, and it was something I chose to use because our planet was in desperate need of all the help it could get. I was not going to stand on the sidelines any longer when I had the ability to help, especially in the suit Tony made for me." I gave him a smile and he smiled back at me to encourage me to continue.
"Speaking of Tony, there are some things I have kept from the public in order to protect myself in the past. I have felt it is best to come forward and explain everything I can to you all here today. My real name is not Jennifer O'Neill. I was born as Madeline Bennett on June 25, 1918 in Tennessee." There was immediate chatter from the reporters from my news and I decided to continue through my speech before letting them get any words in. "I was married to Steve Rogers, Captain America, in 1944, and in 1958, I faked my own death with the help of Howard Stark. This was in order to protect myself because we had found out I was given capabilities beyond human years before. I had stopped aging, any injuries I gained healed with increasing speed, and I never could never get sick. The nature of me gaining these abilities are still mostly unknown, I wish I could explain more, but the point is that I have been in hiding ever since. I was scared to be used by others and my life would no longer be my own. However, I now feel comfortable with the people I trust to help protect my rights. I trust that I will not be forced into experimentation or other public use without my consent. I hope that I will not face ridicule from the world in coming clean with my true identity. I want to help our planet in any way I can, but I do not want to be feared or controlled by others. I will now take a few questions if you have any."
The room erupted in reporters trying to get their question in and I was able to pick out a couple to ask first. The first question I received was "Why did you decide to become public with Jennifer O'Neill as an alias if you were trying to hide?"
"It was Tony's idea. One of my previous fake identities was a part of his mother's family. Howard and Maria Stark were kind enough to keep me in their house and a part of their family for quite a while. I may not be biologically related to Tony, but I've watched him grow up. He is every part of my family than anyone who ever was legally. I wanted to be in his life again, and he felt this was the best way while he continued to work towards reversing my anti-aging. He was able to erase any record of my image as Madeline from online, and most hard copies did not contain my face. He will be releasing those back for public knowledge as they have much to do with the history of our country."
I took another question. "Along those lines, you were married to Steve Rogers, who is now back from the dead as well. Are you two still together, have you seen him any other time than in the Battle of New York?"
This was a question I was prepared for and discussed with Steve on how to handle it. I didn't want to release anything about him he didn't approve of others knowing. "Yes. We reconnected when he was recovered from the ice, SHIELD was able to find me and tell me of his return. It had been decades since I saw him. It took time, but we are currently together again."
"Does that make you married again?" A reporter's question rang out without me calling on them but I decided to address it anyway.
"For now we are just together. We both legally died, I think our vows were released then. It's all a lot for the two of us to take in, so we are taking it one day at a time. Married is a bit much for now." I hesitated before continuing. The questions asked so far weren't too bad, but I didn't want to give an opportunity to let them get worse. I decided this was enough information to give for now. "With that I want to say thank you all for coming today. I hope to become more transparent in the future, for now this is the most I am comfortable with."
As I was stepping away, reporters started throwing more questions at me. I tried to drown them out but I heard some of the harsher ones:
"How can we trust you now after you lied to everyone for so long?"
"Can American's feel safe with someone enhanced like you just walking without consequence on the streets?"
I quickly walked back to the private room with Steve in it as Tony said final remarks to send everyone home. I opened and closed the door with myself inside and immediately found myself wrapped in Steve's comforting arms. He rubbed my back as I closed my eyes with my head on his chest. "You did great out there, Maddi. I'm really proud of you."
"Get ready for the media to follow us for a while," I told him. "Trust me, I've seen Tony after his many scandals, they will not leave either of us alone until they get more information for their stories."
"It's alright," he said back to me. "We're going to get through all of it together. The good and the bad, I'm not leaving your side."
I looked up at him and kissed him softly. "Thank you," I said as we pulled away. "For everything, thank you, Steve. I love you so much."
"I love you, darling."
June 8, 2012
"So here we actually have a lawyer to discuss the biggest question we've all had about Steven Rogers and Madeline Bennett. Mr. Wright, please give us your expertise on the marriage status of America's current most talked about couple."
"Well Diana, I've taken a look at their marriage certificate and it is true they were married in Italy on January 5, 1944. Now obviously in a normal marriage, Madeline would have been released of those marriage obligations upon his death in 1945. I'm sure she went on some dates before her 'death' in 58, she probably had relationships in her multiple fake identities."
"Oh yes, we've heard many stories of people claiming they knew her in the 60s, 80s, etc. Obviously they aren't all true but some seem to be a bit more believable than others. We'd love to find out more about those lives she had."
"Well in regards to her statement on the 27th last month, she claimed her and Steve were no longer married. If either of them were still actually dead, then this would be a true fact. However, neither of them actually died. Steve Rogers has recently received 4 million dollars from the United State Government in Military backpay, so it has already been decided that his 'death' doesn't legally count. Madeline admitted to faking her own death, which has a lot of legal issues I'm sure she is dealing with right now including the idea of tax evasion, but the one we're all focused on right now is her marriage. NYU has decided that her PhD is still standing, which means so is her marriage. Madeline Bennett is in fact still Madeline Rogers, they'd have to go through a legal divorce at this point to say their marriage is no more."
"There you have it everyone, Captain America and Miss Americana are still married. What are your thoughts Marie?"
"Well maybe her name will evolve now to Mrs. Americana."
"Perhaps Dr. Americana would be more appropriate from all the work she put into her schooling in the 50s."
I turned off the TV and turned to Tony. We were currently in Stark Tower as it was being rebuilt and he was there for the week to help with the design. Steve was there with us and I was showing Tony the news segment about our marital status. "So, is he right?" I asked him.
"Well his logic isn't all that bad. I'll get some of my own lawyers to look into it and confirm it for you, I don't want to just trust some TV lawyer with this conclusion. Would you want to get a divorce lawyer if this turns out to be true?" he asked us.
"Divorce lawyer?" Steve questioned with his eyes furrowed.
"Maddi didn't even want to be in a relationship with you a few months ago, and now she's finding out she's still married. You don't think she'd consider a divorce?" Tony replied.
"No," I immediately cut in. "No, I don't want a divorce lawyer. If we're still married, then we're still married. Sure it's not at all what I expected, but it wouldn't be such a bad thing." I turned towards Steve who was trying to hide the worry in his eyes. "So what if we're still legally married? We can still take things at the pace we want to right now. Who knows, the idea of wearing those rings again someday sounds kind of nice." He smiled at my words and I smiled back at him.
"Alright, if that's what you two hopeless romantics want. I'll still have our own lawyers look into it just to make sure it's real."
"Thank you, Tony," Steve told him.
"So, it sounds like you've been dubbed Miss Americana, or Mrs. or Dr." Tony joked with a smirk.
"It's all absurd," I told him as I rolled my eyes. "I knew they wouldn't resist that silly name when they found out who I really was. I don't really care what they throw in front of it, I don't intend on using the suit again anytime soon." Aliens in New York was one thing, but I wasn't about to start using it as often as Tony used his own suits.
"You know my plan was to get out the name 'The Red Immortal' to go along with the color scheme, but it really was my fault for not having the entire thing planned out. If I'm gonna be honest with you, I hadn't actually finished the design yet. You having to wear a blue SHIELD suit was me putting off finishing the real one. But I now have a better one in mind that will be more protective than what you wore. I still haven't picked the color, we could make it red and I could get people to start using a different name."
"I kinda like that name. It feels more unique and individual than all the ideas people have been throwing around online and on TV. But I doubt we'll be able to make that work now. They've latched onto the red and blue. We don't get to pick our superhero names, that's not how it's ever worked and you know it."
"Tony didn't pick Iron man?" Steve asked.
"It's made of gold titanium alloy so I would have never suggested the name, but I kinda liked it, but Maddi's right. She told me you were given Captain America when you didn't even have Captain status. Bruce was stuck with Hulk, Thor get's to just use his name because humans aren't even creative enough to give him anything else. Miss Americana just might be what you're stuck with."
"I don't want to give them any more reason to dislike me. If they want their perfect American couple, that's what we'll give them. We were always pretty good at separating Captain America's life from Steve and mine back in the day, we can do it again with my new superhero life thrown in," I said.
"Sure but back then not many really cared about Steve and Maddi. They definitely care now, your private non-super life is just as interesting to the vultures as the rest of it. But that'll get better eventually when they feel they have all the information out of you two that they want and the novelty of it all will die down," Tony replied.
"It's definitely a lot sometimes, there were people taking our photos the other day as we ate lunch," Steve said with a sigh. "It's crazier than it ever was in the 40s."
"Yeah because some people have nothing better to do now than obsess over your lives and it's everywhere, not just in newspapers. You'll learn to work around it and block it out," Tony reassured us both.
A/N: I really hope you liked the chapter and are looking forward to the upcoming parts of their story! I like using the italics TV talk shows and news shows to update some of the world's perspective on Maddi's life. I think she knows listening/watching/reading all the gossip about her isn't good for mental health, but she also just can't help it sometimes. That might catch up with her in the future. I also had a hard time thinking of a good superhero name for her, but then I began to think that some of the names out there aren't that creative. I thought it would be fun to play with that idea a little and the fact that it doesn't matter if the hero likes the name or not. The Taylor Swift song was fitting for the beginning and the overall feeling of the world loving Steve again. Maddi loved him first, and she loves him with all her heart.
So here's the deal I wanna make with you guys. I really really miss interacting with you all in the comments so I would like to ask for a 5 comment minimum to have a quick update. Trust me, the update will come much faster because your thoughts and ideas on the story motivate me a lot. I'm not saying I'll never update again if I don't get at least 5 comments, because that's kinda crazy, but I know it will take me longer because I tend to put off writing and I promise won't do that for the next chapter in order to hold up my end of the deal.
Thank you so much to new people reading and favoriting/following, and thank you for the people who continue to return since the beginning of it all! I really do appreciate you all so much! Please don't forget to check out my Instagram account, I promise it will enhance the experience of Maddi's story!