Chapter 108
Well here it is the moment you've all been waiting about forty chapters for… or that might be the next chapter depends what you were specifically waiting for. Anyway let me know what you think. Enjoy.
The next morning I woke up in the guestroom of Sam's house to Connor jumping on the bed.
"Morning Buddy." I said.
"Auntie Nora can you make chocolate chip pancakes?" Connor asked.
"Sure, just let me use the bathroom and I'll meet you in the kitchen." I said ruffling his hair. I got up and washed my face before going to the kitchen. Sam and Ellie were still asleep so I got started on breakfast.
By the time they were up the table was set and breakfast was served.
"So what happens now?" Sam asked.
"Not sure, I guess I should probably go see the place first." I said.
"You're going to love it, I love that house." Sam said.
"Wren did always have good taste." I said. "You off today?"
"I get weekends off, taking the kids to the zoo today want to come with?"
"Sure just need to shower and get ready." I said.
After a quick shower I got dressed in a simple raglan tee and dark jeans with some boots and by origami crane necklace.
.
I looked down at my hand and saw my engagement ring and wedding band. Am I supposed to take them off? I decided to keep them on for now, I wasn't ready for that.
We took the kids to the Zoo and had a blast. We had lunch at the boathouse and then I had the brilliant idea to take the kids to the movies, Ellie surprisingly slept through the entire thing. By the time we were back it was six in the afternoon and I decided to take a walk to the house. Sam gave me the key and asked if I would be okay alone.
.
The neighborhood was quiet and safe. It wasn't the ranch but that was the entire point. I walked up the steps to the door and put the key in the key hole. I pushed the door open and turned on the light before walking in, The mud room had tiffany light fixtures. I walked into the day room and saw that there was a perfect spot for reading by the window.
.
The lighting in here was perfect. I walked into the kitchen and saw that it was state of the art. There was a kitchen island with granite counter tops and dark wooden cabinets.
.
I walked further down the hall and saw that there was a study with mahogany wood shelves all over the wall. There was a fireplace with moldings similar to the ones of my fireplace at the ranch had.
This house was everything I always dreamed about.
I looked down at my rings and took them off. I unclasped my necklace and put them on the chain.
"Thank you Wren." I said before kissing the ring and putting the necklace back on. The entire place would need to be furnished but before I started decorating there was one call I had to make. I walked back to the living room and sat at the window seat. I took out my phone and pulled out my contacts.
"Montgomery." He answered.
"Hey Sarge, it's Nora." I said.
"I've been expecting your call, I'm guessing you finally read Wren's will?" Montgomery said.
"He really did think of everything." I said.
"Are you still in Dallas?" He asked.
"No I'm in New York visiting my brother Sam." I said.
"The tall one who Wren talked out of dropping out of law school?" Montgomery asked.
"That's the one." I said.
"Perfect can you do lunch on Monday?" He asked.
"Sure just say where and when." I said
"I'll check my schedule and text you the details." Montgomery said.
"Perfect thank you." I said.
"See you then." He said before ending the call.
April 27th 2015-
I got dressed in a pair of fitted black slacks, a light blue button up top with a sweater vest and a grey blazer.
.
I teleported close by and walked the rest of the way to the bistro. I walked in and was taken to the table where Henry Montgomery was sitting down. As soon as he saw me he stood up.
"Nora, you look great." Montgomery said pulling me into a hug.
"Not as great as you, may I say sarge you are rocking the suit." I said.
"Oh I hate this monkey suit but the missus insisted, weekly department meeting with the board." He said. "You'll find out about those soon enough."
"I doubt I will, it's only the department heads.' I said.
"Wren didn't tell you." He said.
"Tell me what?" I asked.
"Due to our location and our ranking as the best Level one trauma center in the state we recently received a grant to open up a second Emergency room in the hospital. You wouldn't just be hired as a surgeon you'd be head of the ER." He said.
"What? How I'm only twenty-two? Your board would never go for it." I said.
"Actually they're all for it. Your reputation precedes you. Youngest person to ever graduate from Harvard Medical school's dual degree program at the top of your class and a year early, Outstanding service in the army, no one we've called who knows you has a single bad thing to say, you're published, you're an excellent teacher, some of your past residents work for us, you're program has increased test results anywhere its been implemented and you're the youngest double board certified surgeon in history. You turn us down there will be people knocking at your door to get you to work for them. So what do I have to do to get you to say yes?" He said.
"Let's talk logistics and transition." I said.
By the end of lunch I was not only getting paid double what Dallas Presbyterian but I now set another record, youngest head of an ER in the world. Damn I am awesome.
April 28th, 2015- Third Person POV
Tony few into the fortress and took out the remaining guards with Thor's help before he flew off.
"Clint's hit pretty bad guys." Natasha told the team over the coms.
"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better." Thor said. "You and Stark secure the scepter." He told Steve.
Tony walked into the fortress and the guards pointing their weapons at him. "Guys, stop, we gotta talk about this." He said before shooting them down with his suit.
"Good talk." Tony said walking past them.
The only soldier that was still conscious said, "No it wasn't."
Tony walked into the room and saw Doctor List working on a computer probably trying to erase all the data they had. Tony walked up to him in the suit and knocked him out.
Tony stepped out of the suit and looked around. "Sentry mode." He said activating the suit.
He walked over to the computers. "Okay, JARVIS. You know I want it all. Make sure you copy and send it Hill at HQ.
"I know you're hiding more than files." He said to himself. "Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick."
"The wall to your left...I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current." Jarvis replied.
Tony walked to the wall and said to himself, "be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..." He pushes a brick and the wall opens up. "Yay!"
He walked in and was shocked with what he found. Memories of New York flashed before his eyes.
"Guys I got Strucker." Steve notified them.
"Yeah, I got...something bigger." Tony replied looking up at the Gigantic Leviathan. Lying around the room were other recovered Chitauri artifacts and even scraps of his armor. Finally he spotted what they had spent the past couple of months searching for.
"Thor, I got eyes on the prize." He communicated through the coms. Suddenly he started seeing a strange red mist. The Leviathan hanging above him started moving. He was no longer in the fortress of the Hydra base. There was rubble everywhere and the Avengers are all dead. Tony walked over to Steve's body to check his pulse when suddenly he grabs him.
"You could've saved us." Steve said with his last breath before he died.
Steve's voice echoed in his head. "Why didn't you do more?" He heard a girls screaming.
"Dad!" He heard Nora in the distance.
"Nora!" He called out. A Chitauri soldier came up behind her and stabbed her with the scepter. She collapsed dead on the ground.
"Why didn't you do more?" he heard her say.
Then everything shifted and Tony saw what he saw when he flew through the portal and he snapped back. He stepped forward and grabbed the scepter.
April 29th2015- Third Person's POV
"What's the rumpus?" Bruce said walking into the lab where Tony was waiting.
"Well, the scepter. You see, we were wondering how Strucker got so inventive. So, I've been analyzing the gem inside you may recognize." He said bringing up a hologram of Jarvis' consciousness
"Jarvis." Bruce said getting a closer look.
"Doctor." Jarvis replied.
"Started out, JARVIS was just a natural language UI. Now he runs the Iron Legion. He runs more of the business than anyone besides Pepper." Tony explained.
"Oh." Bruce said slightly impressed.
"Top of the line." Tony said bragging slightly.
"Yes." Bruce responded trying to see where he was going.
"I suspect not for long." Jarvis said getting to the point.
"Meet the competition." Tony said bringing up a hologram of what was inside the scepter.
"It's beautiful." Bruce said amazed at what he was seeing.
"If you had to guess, what's it look like it's doing?" Tony said with a smirk.
"Like it's thinking. I mean this could be a...it's not a human mind, it..." Bruce said curious as to how that was a possibility.
"Um-um." Tony said trying to find the right words to make his point.
"I mean, look at this! They're like neurons firing." Bruce said with a grin.
"Down in Strucker's lab I saw some fairly advanced robotics work. They deep-sixed the data, but...I gotta guess he was knocking on a very particular door." Tony said.
"Artificial intelligence." Bruce said understanding.
"This could be it, Bruce. This could be the key to creating Ultron." Tony said.
"I thought Ultron was a fantasy." Bruce said not liking where the conversation was heading.
"Yesterday it was. If we can harness this power, apply it to my Iron Legion protocol." Tony suggested.
"That's a mad-sized if." Bruce pointed out.
"Our job is "if." What if you were sipping margaritas on a sun-drenched beach turning brown instead of green? Not looking over your shoulder for VERONICA." Tony said striking a cord with Bruce.
"Don't hate, I helped design VERONICA." Bruce pointed out.
"As a worst-case measure, right? How about a best-case? What if the world was safe? What if next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they couldn't get past the bouncer?" Tony said making his point.
"The only people threatening the planet would be people?" Bruce said liking the idea.
"I want to apply this to the Ultron program. But JARVIS can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, that's three days, give me three days." Tony asked.
"So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the team." Bruce seeing what the real issue was.
"Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley. I see a suit of armor around the world."
"Sounds like a cold world, Tony." Bruce said.
"I've seen colder." Tony said thinking of his short visit to space and his vision. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that."
"I need to shower and get a few hours of sleep, get a head start and I'll come back later." Bruce said.
"Yay!" Tony cheered.
After Bruce left he pulled out his phone and looked through his photos. He found the one of Nora and him during her first time in New York. There was no way that vision would ever come true.
He opened his contacts and for the first time in months he called her.
"Hey it's Nora, you know what to do." Her recording said before the beep.
"Hey kid, it's been a while I just got back and wanted to check in." He said. "I'm working on a new project, you'd love it. Well I gotta get back."
With that he ended the call.
Third Person's POV-
"Are you sure there isn't any way I could convince you to stay?" Chief Matthews asked.
"Chief it's not about the money or the promotion. I need a change. Every time I walk in here you want to know what I see. I see my best friend dead in a hospital room. I see Wren giving the interns a lecture on the importance of triaging and time management. Everywhere I look I see people that are gone and it breaks me a little more each time." I said.
"It's not going to be the same without you." He said.
"I know I'm going to miss you chief." I said.
"Can I just say how proud of you I am? You're not the same kid that walked into my office two years ago. I consider you the daughter I never had." He said.
"Thank you for giving that kid a chance even though everyone told you I was a lawsuit waiting to happen." I said.
"I had a good feeling about you and I wasn't wrong." He said with a smile before giving me a hug and walking off to find his wife.
I had told my tech friends I was moving and they started a Facebook event to throw me a going away party. I found out about it half an hour before it started.
I only had time to pick up Sam and the kids and to get dressed in a Beige Maxi dress I found in the back of my closet.
.
"This is a great party." Sam said.
"I know, I didn't think I knew this many people." I said.
"You make a lasting impression." Sam said. "So you going to tell them?"
"You mean about the Name change?" I asked.
"Its not technically a name change if its always been your name." Sam said.
"Still butt hurt about that?" I asked.
"I understand why you didn't say anything but if you're getting a fresh start you may want to start off on the right foot." Sam asked.
"I will tell them all but I kind of have to talk to the sperm donor before I do." I said.
"When was the last time you talked to him?" Sam asked.
"Last year when I called him crying and he put me on hold but hung up instead." I said. Then my phone lit up and I saw I had a message. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear or leave a message." I put the phone on speaker and played the message.
"Hey kid, it's been a while I just got back and wanted to check in." He said. "I'm working on a new project, you'd love it. Well I gotta get back."
"That was… short." Sam said. "You going to call him back?"
"I will but not right now. He put me on hold for seven months I think he can wait till I'm ready." I said. "Let's go help Connor reach the last cake pop."
May 2nd, 2015- Third Person's POV
After days of working nonstop Bruce and Tony had accomplished nothing or so it seemed.
"I'll continue to run variations on the interface, but you should probably prepare for your guests. I'll notify you if there are any developments." Jarvis said.
"Thanks, buddy." Tony said shutting of the lights.
"Enjoy yourself, sir." Jarvis said.
"I always do." He said leaving.
The party was in full swing when he walked in. He and Thor bragged about their significant others. Natasha and Bruce were by the bar. Clint was talking to some girls that had seen him playing darts and were adding handicaps to test his accuracy.
Steve was up on the balcony catching up with Sam who was in town visiting family.
"Sounds like a hell of a fight, sorry I missed it." Sam said.
" If I had known it was going to be a firefight I absolutely would have called you." Steve said reassuring his friend.
"No, I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy." Sam said very relieve he didn't have to deal with Steve's battles.
"Be it ever so humble." Steve said with a smirk.
"You find a place in Brooklyn yet or did you finally decided to move in with Sharon?" Sam asked and Steve sighed.
"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn and I'm not ready to move in with Sharon. I told her it wasn't what was done in my time. Then she pointed out I moved in with Nora three days after meeting her and we fought." Steve said.
"I'm sorry." Sam said. He looked down and saw Sharon looking up at them with a huge smile and she blew a kiss to Steve.
"Then we ended up sleeping together." Steve said awkwardly waving to his girlfriend.
"Make up or break up?" Sam asked.
"I know I need to end things but every time we're about to I can't go through with it. Steve said. "I feel guilty."
"Look man, if you're not happy then you have to do what's best for you. You can't keep leading her on. Just sit her down and tell her the truth. She'll be hurt and mad but it's better now than in the far future." Sam said
"You're right. I'm going to do this." Steve said starting to move forward but Sam stopped him.
"Not right now man, we're at a party." Sam said.
After the party was over the Avengers and a few of the people closest to them were sitting around joking around.
"But, it's a trick!" Clint said referring to Thor's hammer.
"Oh, no. It's much more than that and it is not impossible there are three people alive that can wield Mjolnir." Thor said.
"Uh, "Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Whatever man! It's a trick." Clint taunted.
"Well please, be my guest." Thor said giving Clint the go ahead.
"Come on." Tony said waiting to see Clint make a fool of himself.
"Really?" Clint asked.
"Yeah!" Thor said casually. Clint stood up and walked to the other side of the table.
"Oh this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey said.
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony joked making everyone laugh at the double meaning.
"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint said before grabbing the hammer and trying to lift it but there was no movement. "I still don't know how you do it."
"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony taunted.
"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint said. Tony got up and walked over.
"Oh, here we go." Natasha said rolling her eyes and smirking.
"Okay."
"Uh-oh." Rhodey said.
"Um-hmm." Clint hummed in agreement.
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony said readying himself.
"Get after it." Clint said.
"Here we go." Natasha said when it seemed the billionaire was finally going to give it a shot but was annoyed when Tony kept stalling.
"It's physics." Tony said.
"Physics!" Bruce said realizing how that could be a possibility.
"Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony asked.
"Yes, of course." Thor said knowing that would never happen.
"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." Tony said before giving it a go and failing. "I'll be right back." He came back with an armored hand and still nothing. Then Rhodey decided to help him and partially suited up.
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked.
"Are you on my team?" Tony said annoyed.
"Just represent! Pull!" Rhodey said with a groan.
"Alright, let's go!" Tony said and they both pulled as hard as they could but failed.
Bruce tried giving it a go and roared pretending to change into the hulk but everyone just stared at him. "Huh?"
Finally Steve got up.
"You can do it sweetie." Sharon cheered making Natasha roll her eyes in annoyance.
"Let's go, Steve, no pressure." Tony said.
"Come on, Cap." Rhodey cheered. Steve pulled on the hammer and managed to get it to budge a little making Thor look a bit alarmed but he couldn't lift it. Thor chuckled relieved.
"Nothing." Thor said.
"And?" Tony asked.
"Widow?" Bruce asked.
"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." Natasha declined.
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony said.
"You bet your ass." Clint agreed.
"Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria said mockingly.
"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asked Tony annoyed.
"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is, I think, the literal translation?" Tony said trying to explain his failure.
"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." Thor said lifting his hammer. "You're all not worthy."
Suddenly there was a loud screeching sound making everyone cover their ears until it stopped.
"Worthy... No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers." A robotic voice said.
"Stark." Steve said looking at the suit coming towards them.
"JARVIS." Tony said pulling his phone out trying to hack into the syatem.
"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a-dream?" the robot said.
"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit." Tony said rapidly tapping his phone.
"There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in... in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." The robot said.
"You killed someone?" Steve asked.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices." The robot said.
"Who sent you?" thor said with his hammer in his hand.
"'I see a suit of armor around the world' the robot said playing a recording of Tony's voice.
"Ultron!" Bruce said realizing what was going on.
"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission." Ultron said.
"What mission?" Natasha asked.
"Peace in our time." Ultron declared before the iron legion smashed through the walls and attacked them.
The team scattered and fought them off until only one was left.
"That was dramatic! I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" the last robot said picking up a robot before throwing it to the side. "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction." He said before Thor threw his hammer at it.
"I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me." The robot said before it shut off.
Third Person's POV-
I was in Sam's house helping Connor with his Homework when my phone started ringing. I looked at who it was and immediately sent it to voicemail.
"Why didn't you answer Auntie?" Connor asked.
"It was someone I'm not ready to face sweetheart. Besides I promised you my full and undivided attention." I said.
"No where were we?" I asked.
"I can't read that." Connor said.
"It's okay bud just sound it out slowly." I said.
"When we were finally done Connor was in bed and so was Ellie. Sam had a deposition in the morning he was finishing some things up for and needed someone to watch the kids.
I was catching up with the real House Wives of New Jersey when I saw I had a message notification. I listened to the voicemail.
"Hey kid, It's me. I kinda screwed up." Dad said and I could tell he was drunk. At least he was finally admitting about forgetting about me. "I lost Jarvis." Or not. "I gotta go fix this."
I picked up my phone and texted Rhodey.
Tell dad to stop drunk dialing me.
"Hey." Sam said walking in.
"Hey, the kids are in bed." I said.
"Thanks for watching them, Did Connor finish his homework?" Sam asked.
"All of it and I did a bit of review with him. He's doing really well. I left you a plate in the warmer." I said standing up.
"You heading back?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, need to pack at least a box so I don't feel guilty about lagging it. Night Sam." I said before teleporting back to the house.
"You should call your father." Aya said appearing for the first time since I got back from 1980.
"Butt out.' I said walking past her.
"I thought we were past this." She said. "I thought you learned your lesson."
"Just because I learned my lesson doesn't mean I have to like it. Unless you're going to help get the hell out." I said.
"Nora…"
"Now!" I said and without a word she disappeared.
May 3rd 2015- Third Person's POV
Somewhere in the cost of Africa in a salvage Yard Ulysses Klaue was in his office talking to a potential buyer on the phone.
"Don't tell me your man swindled you. I sent you six short range heat seekers and got a boat full of rusted parts. Now, you will make it right, or the next missile I send you will come very much faster." He said ending the call and switching to another. "Now, minister, where were we?"
Suddenly the lights went out and there was a commotion in the salvage yard and a young man and woman entered.
"Yeah. The enhanced. Strucker's prize pupils." Klaue said picking up a plate from his desk. "Want a candy? Oh, sorry to hear about Strucker. But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life, not a growth market."
The twins looked at each other confused.
"You...you didn't know? Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid that I'm not that afraid." Klaue taunted.
"Everybody's afraid of something." Wanda said her eyes starting to glow red.
"Cuttlefish. Deep sea fish. They make lights. disco lights. Whoom, whoom, whoom! to hypnotize their prey, then whoom! I saw a documentary, it was terrifying." He taunted. Pietro speeded over to pick up a piece of candy making Klaue jerk back. "So if you're going to fiddle with my brain, and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business, and I know you're not in charge, and I only deal with the man in charge.
Ultron crashed into the office knocking Klaue off his chair.
"There is no "man" in charge. Let's talk business." Ultron said. Klaue handed over some vibranium. "Upon this rock I will build my church. Vibranium."
"You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." Klaue stated.
"Now, so are you. It's all under your dummy holdings? Finance is so weird. But I always say, "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which."' Ultron stated Quoting someone very familiar to Klaue.
"Stark." Klaue said in realization.
"What?" Ultron said confused.
"Tony Stark used to say that...to me. You're one of his." Klaue said.
"What?! I'm not...!" Ultron said grabbing him. "I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!" Ultron said dropping him. "I'm sorry. I am sor... Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!" Ultron said kicking Klaue down the stairs. "It's a thing with me. Stark is, he's a sickness!
Just then Tony appeared with Thor and Steve behind him. "Ahh, Junior gonna break your old man's heart." Tony joked.
"If I have to." Ultron said,
"We don't have to break anything." Thor said calmly.
"Clearly you've never made an omelet." Ultron retorted.
"He beat me by one second." Tony said earning a glare from Steve.
"Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" Pietro said resentfully.
"This was never my life." Tony stated.
"You two can still walk away from this." Steve told the twins.
"Oh, we will." Wanda said.
"I know you've suffered." Steve started but was interrupted by Ultron.
"Uuughh! Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..." Then Ultron was interrupted by Thor.
"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor said.
"I think you're confusing peace with quiet." Ultron retorted.
"Yuh-huh. What's the Vibranium for?" Tony asked.
"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!" Ultron exclaimed as the Iron Legion started attacking.
"Shoot them!" Klaue ordered his men.
"Which ones?" one of them asked.
"All of them!" klaue shouted.
Pietro came after Steve and Steve knocked him down "Stay down, kid!"
With that Wanda started to put her plan into action. She went up to Thor and used her powers.
"Thor! Status?" Steve asked as he noticed Wanda walk Past Thor.
"The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty." Thor said before suddenly he wasn't at the shipyard.
Wanda then snuck up to Steve and then to Natasha.
"This is going very well." Ultron said. Wanda tried coming up to Clint but he quickly turned and put an electric arrow on her forehead.
"I've done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan." Clint said as Pietro sped in and knocked him down before running away with Wanda. "Yeah, you better run. Whoever's standing, we gotta move! Guys?"
Steve took his helmet off and walked toward the rest of the team.
Natasha flashed back to a familiar facility where girls were being taught ballet.
"Again." The instructor said to her students.
"You'll break them." Natasha said.
"Only the breakable ones." The madame said "You are made of marble. We'll celebrate after the graduation ceremony."
"What if I fail?" Natasha asked before seeing herself being trained.
"You never fail." The Madame responded.
"Sloppy. Pretending to fail. The ceremony is necessary for you to take your place in the world." The madame chastised as Natasha purposely threw a fight.
"I have no place in the world." Natasha said.
"Exactly." The madame said.
Steve suddenly started flashing to a 1940's dance Hall when Bucky and Nora came up to him.
"You owe me a dance soldier." Nora said.
"Careful doll or he'll break your toes." Bucky teased.
Bucky and Nora pull him to the dance floor.
"The war's over, Stevie." Bucky said
"We can finally go home. Find a little farm the three of us. Imagine it!" Nora said before suddenly everything went dark.
"Or we could have if you hadn't gotten her killed." Bucky said.
"You promised Steve, you promised." A four year old Nora said.
Thor flashed back to Asgard. There was some sort of party. He saw someone walking in a black cloak when Heimdall come up to him. Heimdall's eyes were blind.
"Is it him? Is that the first son of Odin?" Heimdall asked.
"Heimdall, your eyes?!" Thor exclaimed.
"Oh, they see everything. They see you leading us to Hell. Wake up!" heimdall said before strangling Thor.
"I can still save you." Thor said.
"We are all dead. Can you not see?" Heimdall said before Thor pushed him off of him. "You're a destroyer, Odinson. See where your power leads." Electricity hits thor and then destroys everything in the room.
Outside Pietro finally stopped and put his sister down.
"What can I do?" He asked his sister.
"Ah, it hurts." Wanda groaned in pain.
"I'm gonna kill him. I'll be right back." Pietro said furious.
"No. I'm over it. I want...I want to finish the plan." Wanda said. "I want the big one." [
Tony finally managed to corner Ultron. "Ah, the Vibranium's getting away." It said.
"And you're not going anywhere." Tony said.
"Of course not, I'm already there. You'll catch on. But first, you might need to catch Dr. Banner." Ultron said before Tony shot him and flew off to find Bruce before he hulked out.
"News or footage, keyword: Hulk." He searched and saw videos of the destruction he was causing to the city. "I could really use a lullaby."
"Well, that's not gonna happen. Not for a while. The whole team is down, you got no back up here." Clint said trying to get through to his soulmate.
"I'm calling in VERONICA." He said. The armor came down from the Stark Industries satellite. "Alright everybody, stand down!"
"You listening? That little witch is messing with your mind. You're stronger than her, you're smarter than her, you're Bruce Banner." Tony said angering Hulk by mentioning Bruce.
"Right, right, right! Don't mention puny Banner." He said before Hulk threw a car at him.
"Okay." Tony said before they started going at it. "In the back? Dick move, Banner."
Tony's arm got caught by the hulk and it was crushed. "VERONICA, gimme a hand." And a replacement was sent as the previous arm disengaged. With the new arm Tony repeatedly punched the Hulk. "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep!"
Finally when he had the upper hand Tony picked up the hulk and tried flying him away from the city. "Okay, pal, we're gonna get you out of town." But he managed to redirect them towards a building. "No, not that way, not that way! Come on, Bruce! You gotta work with me!"
"Everybody out! Going to get ugly!" Tony alerted the civilians in the area. "I'm sorry."
"Damage report." Tony asked but all he got was a buzz. "That's comprehensive. Show me something." Then he saw a building with no civilians.
"How quickly can we buy this building?" He asked
He dropped the hulk on the building completely destroying it. Just as the army arrived the hulk snapped out of it and Tony knocked him out.
Everyone was quickly loaded onto the quinjet and they were off the ground.
"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." Maria notified Tony as he piloted the jet.
"Stark Relief Foundation?" He asked.
"Already on the scene. How's the team?" Maria asked.
"Everyone's...we took a hit. We'll shake it off." Tony said.
"Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here." Maria suggested even though from the tone in her voice Tony could tell it was more like an order.
"So, run and hide?" Tony asked frustrated.
"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer." Maria said.
"Neither do we." He replied before shutting off the monitor.
"Hey, you wanna switch out?" Clint offered
"No, I'm good. If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time, cause we're still a few hours out." Tony said.
"A few hours from where? Clint asked.
"A safe house." Tony replied.
Nora's POV-
I was in the lab packing up my framed posters and vintage rock records when there was suddenly breaking news.
"We just received reports from our colleagues in Johannesburg that the city was under attack by the Hulk. We have footage from the rampage." The reported said.
I put the boxes down and moved closer to the TV. That was the hulk alright and Veronica was working just like it was programmed to.
"What the hell did you do Dad?" I asked.
"This is how it starts." Aya said.
"I thought I made it clear I didn't want to see you." I said not even bothering to look at her.
"You really want to tempt me right now?" She said.
I put an energy field around her and crushed her. "I'm done with your shit, try to time jump me to the past again I'll blast myself, I don't care if it kills me. Stay the hell out of my life." I said as she dissipated.
I teleported upstairs and sat down in the living room. I looked at the urn that hadn't been moved since the morning after the wake.
"The world's gone to hell Wren." I said. "And I'm talking to an urn. You planned every single thing out the one thing you didn't come up with a plan for was where you were supposed to go. What am I supposed to do?"
"I wonder what dad did with Mom's remains?" I asked. I never bothered to ask.
I picked up my phone and dialed number five on my speed dial.
"What?" he answered annoyed.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." I said.
"More like I just got into bed. What do you want?" Aiden said.
"I'm talking to an urn." I said.
"I though that was just what psychotic cat ladies did." He retorted.
"You're not funny. I looked through Wren's will and he didn't say anything about what he wanted me to do with his ashes he ever bring it up to you?" I asked.
"He only said to make sure no one got his hands on his corpse until after it was cremated." Aiden said.
"Any ideas?" I asked.
"Not sure I'm the person you should be asking." He said.
"Who else am I supposed to ask? Sam said Wren set everything up he needed to the rest was for me to decide but I don't know what to do? Do I keep them? Do I spread them?"
"That's morbid." Aiden said. "Look, I really need to get at least a few hours of sleep I'll call you later so you can come pick me up and then we'll figure it out."
"Can you pack up his room while you're at it?"
"I'm an assassin not a mover. Goodnight." He said before hanging up.
May 4th, 2015-
The next morning I woke up early and had a light breakfast. I decided to take the day and relax before packing up Wren's room. I hadn't gone in there since the morning of the day he died and I knew that when I did I was going to breakdown.
"Nora." Aya said.
"Get out." I said.
"You can't ignore me forever." Aya said.
"Watch me." I said.
"What do you want!?" She said.
"I want this to end, I want you to stop controlling my life. I am not your puppet. I don't care if you are all powerful and all knowing. I'm done having you take me where ever you want and ruining my life. Unless you're willing to negotiate like equals we have nothing to talk about." I said stepping out of the house and heading to the pool.
I was wearing a black bikini with cutouts and since I was alone I didn't bother with a cover up.
.
I put a towel on a lounger chair and went for a swim.
Third Person's POV-
Tony landed the quinjet out in front of the ranch, covered by trees so it wouldn't be seen by any neighbors.
"What is this place?" Thor asked.
"A safe house?" Clint said helping his soulmate walk.
"It will be if she doesn't kick me out." Tony said. He walked up the steps and was immediately tackled by a rambunctious husky. "Ah mutt off." Tony struggled as Axl licked and nuzzled him. The Avengers just stood looking at him with confused looks.
"Didn't know you were a dog person Stark." Clint joked.
"He's not, Axl down." A voice from down the hallway said.
"Hey kid" Tony said looking at her.
"Tony." She said.
Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing "Nora." Steve said. Moving to hug her but she teleported away from him.
"Seventy years and you still can't tell us apart" She said.
"Nora what's going on? How did you…" Tony asked suddenly Nora teleported in the middle of all of them dressed in nothing but a bikini.
"Oh shit." She said.
Nora's POV-
I finished my laps around the pool and floated around for a bit before getting out of the pool. I used my powers to get myself dry before teleporting back to the house. But when I got there I was surrounded by the Avengers and my dad and Steve were staring at me with wide eyes and their mouths open.
"Oh shit." I said.
Standing next to them was Aya.
"I did try to tell you." She said.
"Leave now." I said sternly.
"Actually…" She started when suddenly there was another flash of light and I saw myself and someone I thought I was never going to see again.
"Whoa." He said. "That was odd."
"Uhuh." Past me said staring right at me.
"Do I have a concussion or are there really three of them?" Bruce said.
"There's definitely three of them." Clint answered.
"Aya, what are you doing?" I asked.
"This is supposed to happen." She answered.
"Can someone explain to me how I went from having one daughter to suddenly having triplets?" Tony said.
"Daughter?" Bruce, Natasha, Clint and Thor said at the same time.
"Cliff notes version, I'm the me from present day, that's Wren and Me from, I'm guessing by that dress and those bangs New Years Eve 2013, and that's the bitch responsible for all of this." I said.
"What?" Tony said.
"I'm the time stone." Aya said.
"Dad, everyone else meet Aya, the time stone. Aya fuck off." I said sending an energy blast her way making her disappear.
"Whoa." Past me said.
"Time stone?" dad said.
"I'm a time traveler and I just realized I'm in my underwear, I'm gonna go change now." I said teleporting to the downstairs closet and started putting on some clothes I had set up just for this situation.
"Time traveling? That's physically impossible." Dad said.
"Impossible is just a word for something that hasn't been explained yet." Past me said.
"I've seen her do it." Steve said. "She's not lying."
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Stark has a kid?" Clint said.
"The fact that you two lived under his roof and never figured it out is astounding and you call yourselves spies." Wren deadpanned.
"Your w-" Clint started before he suddenly stopped talking.
"I'm just going to say this once they're from the past they haven't gotten to a lot of what's already happened so shut up." Aya said.
"I thought I said to leave." I shouted.
"I'm not your Aya, I'm from 2013." 2013 Aya said.
"When did this become my life?" I groaned before finishing up lacing my boots and continuing with the trainwreck happening in my house. Then as if things couldn't get any worse…
"Nora, I'm here but we have to make this quick." Aiden said walking in but stopping when he saw everyone. "Oh shit."
"You!" Wren said before lunging at Aiden. The room broke out into talking and shouting.
"Damn it." I said running over I put a temporal field around them and froze them. "Everyone is going to shut up and do as I say." I unfroze Aiden and Wren and moved them to separate sides of the room.
"Wonder twins." I said talking about 2013 Wren and me. "Go wait in the day room and stay there."
"But…" Past me started.
"Shut up and go." I said throwing them into the room before closing the sliding doors.
"Aiden…" I said.
"Why is he here?" Natasha said.
"He's reformed." I said. I turned to Aiden. I grabbed a box and handed it to him. "Game room in the attic go pack it up while you wait. And if you could think of an answer to what I asked yesterday I'd really appreciate it."
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"I'm going to go talk to my father for the first time in almost a year and my soulmate for the first time in seventy."
"Your life sucks." Aiden said before walking up the stairs.
"Soulmate?" dad said. "What do you mean soulmate Nora? You don't have any marks."
"Well…" I said taking my holosleeves off. "I have two." I lifted my arms up so he could see my wrist.
"Y-you and … And spangles?!" Dad said freaking out.
"Yup." I said moving past him to check on Natasha.
"Hey you okay?" I asked
"Uh yeah, I'm fine." Natasha answered.
"Okay. Clint, you're looking well." I said.
"Nora," he said with a nod.
"Thor!" I exclaimed.
"Nora!" He said pulling me into a bear hug. "It has been far too long old friend."
"It really has, How's Jane?" I asked.
"She is very well, she received the letter and you were right, it did make all the difference." Thor said.
"That's good." I said.
"I'm sorry you two know each other?" dad asked.
"I have Asgardian citizenship" I said.
"That's a thing?" Clint asked.
"She's my sister in arms." Thor said.
"Okay let me see if I've got this straight, you have not one but two soulmarks. One of them happens to be Spangles, you and Thor have known each other since…" dad started.
"1943." I said.
"Since I was a child over a millennia ago." Thor said.
"Time's a matter of perspective." I said with a shrug.
"Right and you're a time traveler with a double personality?" dad said.
"Aya's a sentient being that predates the universe, an infinity stone." I said. "I'm her host. Think of her as an annoying parasite that won't leave."
"I grew up hearing stories about them, never thought you were one. That does explain why Father allowed you to stay on Asgard." Thor said.
"Everything happens for a reason." I said.
"How long has this been going on for?" dad asked.
"Geneva." I said.
"Four years! You've been traveling through time and have had powers for four years and you didn't say anything!" Dad shouted.
"Stop shouting" Aya said appearing again. "You have any idea how many time Nora was going to tell you until I sent her back in time or kept her away from you both. The bloody tantrums I've had to put up with?" Aya started.
"My tantrums, I've had to put up with you screaming in the back of my head for thirty four years! I had to live through Bucky and Steve dying then coming back from the dead and having to stay away. You kept me in the past for thirty years. I had to live through disco Aya!" I shouted.
"You expect me to apologize for that? I did what I had to do." She said.
"That's not up to you anymore like I told you before unless you want to negotiate like equals, I don't want to hear or see you. Now get in there and send them back." I said.
"No, they're here to help explain everything to them, now get in there before they finish raiding your bar." Aya said disappearing.
"AH!" I groaned. "Let's get this over with." I said opening the doors to the day room and sitting down in one of the couches. Sure enough Past me and Wren were taking shots.
"Really guys it's not even eight in the morning." I said.
"It's New Years Eve." Past me said.
"I'm getting shipped back to Afghanistan tomorrow." Wren said. "I need this."
"You're the one that willingly signed up for an extra tour." I said.
"I had no where else to go." Wren said.
"For fucks sake just move in already." Past me said.
"I'm not free loading." Wren argued.
"You'd have to put up with us, that is your rent." I said.
"Fine I'll move in after I get back." Wren said.
"Now that that's settle, I need you to tell dad about the past two years and all the time jumps." I said getting up and walking to the mantle. I removed one of the false panels and pulled out the red journal.
"Oh, I forgot about that thing." Past me said. "Too bad this thing is spoiler proof."
"Nora focus, the quicker you finish up here the faster you can go get black out drunk with Jess and Sam." I said sitting the book down.
"You may want to sit down, this is going to take a while." I told dad and the rest of the Avengers.
Dad sat down and looked at past me then at me. "You got a hair cut."
"I did six months ago." I deadpanned. "We should start at the beginning," I told past me.
"Geneva." Dad said.
"Dublin actually." Past me said.
"Dublin?" He asked confused.
"March 2011, You had just told us that you were dying as a result of the palladium poisoning and we were a wreck." I said.
"So we did what we always do when shit like this happens, we left the country. We had that presentation in Geneva but we decided to visit Sam and Jess. Of course Jess broke the news that she was pregnant with Connor and I took her shopping, Her morning sickness was pretty bad so she found this special tea in this shop and she dragged me with her. We were looking around when this old lady appeared out of nowhere and gave me a bracelet with a strange inscription and green stone. Said green stone ended up being Aya." Past me said before taking another shot.
"I just didn't know at the time. So we show up to Geneva and the collider starts malfunctioning there's a giant blast and I start glowing. Next thing I know I'm in this factory with Red banners and Swastikas on them then I keep walking and I see this banner with a skull and tentacles on it and I've heard enough stories from Peggy and Nana to know I was at a Hydra base. The grunts find us we get knocked out and wake up strapped to a lab table with the creepy dwarf with harry potter glasses who starts experimenting on us." I said.
"That went on for about a day or two before they brought Bucky in." Past me said. "Totally did not see that coming. More torture followed by injections… then I started healing and Zola wanted to dissect me while I was awake to see how I worked."
"What do you mean healing fast?" Doctor banner asked.
I reached under the coffee table and pulled out a knife. I slide the knife across my hand and lifted it up so everyone could see how fast it healed.
"Whoa." Dad said.
"Yeah, Steve showed up, destroyed the base we go back to London where apparently my blood results showed I was Grandpa Howard's granddaughter. You have any idea how awkward explaining that was? So we started running tests and the hydra weapons had an energy signature similar to the Stone and it triggered a jump." I said.
"And that's how we showed up in Asgard for the first time." Past me explained.
"Didn't meet Thor and Loki until a few visits later. I worked with the Commandos for a year until Bucky fell off the train and that moron" I said looking at Steve "decided it would be a good idea to pull a Titanic and go down with the ship."
"He didn't have a choice." Clint said.
"He did, isn't that right Steve?" I said giving him a glare.
"I didn't know any of this would happen." Steve said.
"Would it have made a difference? How many times did I warn you? What did I tell you in France? You willingly made a choice without thinking about the consequences. You left me alone in 1945 not knowing what would happen to me and not caring. You weren't the only one that lost a soulmate you self centered jerk." I said.
"After that Aya sent us back to Geneva about a minute before Dad got into the room. Next couple of months I spent more time on Asgard," I said getting up. "Frigga taught me how to control my powers among other things." I said picking up Mjolnir from the floor and putting it up on the table. Everyone just stared at me in shock "Someone was going to trip over it."
"There's got to be some trick." Clint said.
"Dude face it you're not worthy move on." I said.
"Anyway, I time traveled here and there while I finished up my last year of medical School then I enlisted for six months in Afghanistan. Met this guy." Past me said nodding her head towards Wren.
"We saved his life." I said.
"He saved ours." Past me said. "And he's moving in."
"And that's all we're going to get out of you. Aya send them back." I said.
Aya appeared and set a vile down in front of past me.
"Drink that." Aya said.
"What is it?" She asked.
"You can't remember anything that happened here, that's essentially the Asgardian version of a ruffie." Aya said. "Drink, you're not supposed to find out about this for a few years."
"Interfering timelines and all that drink it." I said.
"Can I just do one last thing?" Past me said.
"As long as it doesn't change the timeline go for it." I said.
Past me got up and walked over to Steve. She stood on her tippy toes and kissed him. They were really into it. Then they parted and past me slapped him.
"Ouch." Dad cringed.
"I love you but you're an idiot that put me through hell." She said before walking over to the table and picking up the vile. She drank it all in one go but started to sway. She started falling but Wren teleported over and put her on the couch.
"I slipped in a sedative, It'll make it easier to explain why she can't remember anything." Aya said.
"I never argue when I black out." I said.
"Good to know." Wren said. "Are you going to send us back? We left Sam and Jess in Times Square."
"I will but there's just some things that need to be said." Aya said giving me a look.
"So you're probably wondering what Aiden being here means." I said.
"The thought had crossed my mind, he's dangerous Nora." Wren said.
"You once told me that Regimes rise and fall every day. Alliances are made and broken constantly. Some one that's your enemy one day can be an ally the next. That's exactly what happened here. I'm not saying I trust him, that has to be earned, but he's not a threat he's actually a pretty okay friend. Things aren't always what they seem." I said.
"I never told you that." Wren said.
"Not yet you haven't. You had a rough life and you're trying to keep me and Sam and Jess at arms length because you think it's too good to be true but it's not you just have to give yourself a chance." I said.
"You really think Nora being assigned to you was a coincidence? This was always going to happen Wren because she needs someone to teacher her, to get her ready for everything that's coming her way just like you need someone to keep you grounded. That's your job." Aya said.
"It's not going to be easy and there are going to be days I'll drive you crazy. We're going to fight and get on each other's last nerve but at the end of the day we're still family. I got your six if you have mine" I said.
"So this is why you asked me to move in?" He asked.
"No I'm not going to remember any of this. I asked you to move in because you've spent years fighting other people's battles and it's time you settled down. You've made amends everyday since Budapest and you deserve a second chance, you deserve to be happy." I said.
"You know about Budapest?" Wren said and Natasha and Clint looked at me shocked.
"You told me and I'm still here. Stop being so afraid and be happy." I said hugging him and kissing his cheek. Wren surprisingly hugged me back.
"It's time." Aya said.
"I'll guess I'll see you in a few years." Wren said.
"Of course you will roomie." I said tearing up.
With that Aya sent them back to their time.
"He wasn't just your friend or roommate was he?" Steve said.
"No." I said pulling my origami crane necklace with my rings through it and put it on the coffee table.
"They're married." Dad said. Steve just looked at me completely heartbroken and I didn't say anything.
"None of this is possible, It can't be." Dad said.
"When you were seven Howard promised to take you to see Star Wars but instead had to go to a board meeting and sent Jarvis on an errand. Your aunt showed up and gave you a bunch of quarters to go buy her a snack from the vending machine. By the time you came back she said she was taking you for the night and to go wish him luck at his meeting. You went in and Howard was picking up all the scattered papers on the floor. She took you to the theater in midtown because they were the only one's that had the snacks you liked. The first time Carrie Fischer showed up on the screen you said, She's so pretty and She said Wait till you see her in a bikini." I said.
"How did you know that?" Dad said.
"Because you don't have an Aunt Nora, you have a daughter named Nora." I said.
"Where's Wren?" Dad asked. "I'd like a word."
I teleported to the living room and grabbed the urn before teleporting back to the day room and putting the urn down on the table.
"W-when?" Dad asked.
"Three weeks ago." I answered.
"I'm sorry." Dad said.
"Sure you are." I said and then my phone started ringing.
"Go for Nora." I said.
"Hey you okay?" Sam asked.
"I'm fine." I said.
"No you're not.' Sam said.
"I'm not but I'm dealing what's up?" I asked.
"The kid's Nanny had a doctor's appointment and can't make it, can you pick Connor and Ellie up after soccer practice?" Sam asked.
"Sure I can swing it, He get's out at noon right?" I asked.
"Yeah, you sure you're all right?" Sam asked.
"I'm sitting in front of my dad and Steve and a past version of me and Wren just left so I could be better." I said.
"I can get someone else to take the kids." Sam said.
"No I'll get them, I need Connor to pick out the toys he wants to keep and which ones he's giving away." I said.
"Okay, I'll get out of the office as soon as I can."
"Take your time, I'll see you later." I said before hanging up.
"How's Jess?" dad said.
"Dead." I deadpanned.
"What?!" dad said.
"Aneurysm bursted after childbirth." I said.
"I-I'm sorry." Dad said running a hand over his face. "Why the hell didn't you say anything kid?"
"Excuse me? You think I didn't try to tell you? You remember the last time I called you? You know when I was crying over the phone and you put me on hold but ended up hanging up on me instead. A month later when I called to tell you I found out Wren had an inoperable brain tumor you sent me straight to voice mail and never called me back. Or three weeks when I had to go sign release forms at the morgue and I had a panic attack when I was looking my husband's corpse and I called you I got a text from Jarvis saying you were out of reach and he could help if I needed it." I said making dad tear up. "How old am I?"
"What?" he asked.
"How old am I?" I asked.
"Twenty one." Dad said.
"I'm twenty two dad. Last November I turned twenty two, that's also the day I got a haircut, Same day Wren got his diagnosis. Did you like your Christmas present? I called but again I got sent to voicemail. Pepper called, hell the former brainwashed assassin upstairs wished me a happy Christmas but I didn't hear a single word from you. But when the world's crashing down and you need something you call, drunk but you call. For someone who grew up resenting their father for neglecting them you did a bang up job following his example. Congrats Tony, you turned into Howard." I said
"I'm sorry." He said.
"I'm sure you are." I said "I'm done, Aya can fill you in with the rest. I need to pack."
"You're so mad at me what about you? You always make promises about always being honest or finally going by Stark? Were those all lies?!" he shouted.
I teleported to the study and grabbed the manila envelope before teleporting back to the day room and slamming it on the coffee table.
"Unlike some of us I actually keep my promises." I said before teleporting upstairs.
Third Person's POV-
Tony picked up the manila folder Nora had slammed on the table and opened it. He took out a large certificate signed by a judge in New York.
This Document certifies that from this day forward Nora Eliana Spencer shall now be known as Nora Eliana Stark.
"What's in the envelope?" Steve asked.
"Nora keeping her promise." Tony said. He felt something else in the envelope and took it out. It was a deed to a townhouse in New York. "Multiple promises. I'm a horrible father."
"Yeah well at least you didn't abandon her in 1945." Steve said taking a seat.
"Starting to see why Fury had me shadow her." Clint said.
"You were stalking my daughter?" Tony said.
"I had orders, she's a good kid." Clint said.
"Wren adored her." Natasha said.
"How do you know Wren?" Tony asked.
"Budapest, He was a trained assassin similar program as the red room I was trained in. He was sent to take out a target. He was brainwashed and after I knocked him out he realized what he'd done and helped take down the people he worked for." Natasha explained.
"So when I asked you to look him up you covered for him." Tony said feeling betrayed.
"Wren wanted a fresh start, he became a doctor to help people and make amends. If he had been a danger to your daughter I would have taken care of it." Natasha said.
"Why didn't you ever say anything about Nora?" Steve said.
"She didn't want anyone to know and for good reason. I tried getting he to move to New York a few years ago and I thought she was going for it but she back out at the last minute. Now I know why." He said angrily.
"Of course you kept her a secret just like you keep everything a secret. It's why we're in this mess in the first place." Steve said.
"You're not one to talk." Aya said appearing out of nowhere.
"This is all you're fault." Tony said.
"I kept Nora from telling you or seeing you," She told Tony and Steve "I never stopped either of you from looking for her. Hell I dropped her off in your apartment and you couldn't bother to look for her. Nora and I have had our difference and probably always will but if there's one thing that kid does not deserve it's the way you two idiots have treated her. That kid has been through hell and the only thing you two have done since you got here is blame one another. So I'm going to say this once, get your heads out of your asses and fix this. If either of you break that girl's heart again, I'll break you. That's not a threat that's a promise now get up there and fix this NOW!" Aya yelled.
"So game room." Tony said. Aya pointed at the stairs and Tony went upstairs hoping there was still a way his relationship with his daughter could be salvaged.
Nora's POV-
"How'd the talk go?" Aiden asked as he heard me come in.
"About as well as you'd expect it to go. Apparently I have abandonment issues." I said.
"With everything you've been through the past nine months who could blame you." He said hesitating for a moment before finally asking. "Is Wren still downstairs?"
"He got sent back already which brings is to why you're here." I said.
"Right," Aiden said. "I thought of a few places one that park you and him would take the kids to every Saturday."
"Too many kids, people don't clean up after their dogs, and also I think their turning that place into a parking structure." I said.
"Second option here at the ranch, it's the only place Wren ever truly considered a home." Aiden said.
"But I'm leaving and it'll be like I'm leaving him behind." I said crying.
"Not the ranch then. There's one last place, Wren had this photo of him and his parents when he was a tot. They were in this meadow near where his parents owned a cottage in England. They were buried there and you could spread his ashes." Aiden suggested.
"I think I know which one you're talking about." I said. "It's beautiful. Wren said he could never go back there he should be with his parents."
112502/Yorkshire_England_flowers_poppies_wild_cress_trees_
"That's settles then. I'm off, call me when you're doing it and I'll meet you there or You'll come and get me." Aiden said grabbing his jacket.
"Can you by chance…" I asked.
"You have to face it at some point Nora. I'm not going to coddle you. If you want to pack his things you'll have to do it yourself." Aiden said. "Be careful, if they're all here it means trouble."
"You know for a second it almost sounded like you cared?" I said.
"What can I say, you've grown on me." He said before walking away.
I looked around and saw that he had packed up most of the room.
"Was this part of the remodel?" Dad asked.
"No it was later on, one of Wren's pet projects. He wanted to install a panic room without me knowing" I said not bothering to look in his direction
"So you married an assassin." Dad said. "Did you know when you married him?"
"Nope, found out after." I said as I packed up some more board games.
"The scrabble can wait." Dad said. "You still have a year to catch me up on."
"That's all written down in the journal." I said.
"Nora I'm trying here." Dad said.
"It's a little late don't you think. I've given you so many chances over the years but each time I give you a chance it goes well until it doesn't. I don't have anything left to give dad. You've seen how bad it can get and believe it or not this was a pretty light day." I said.
"How'd you do it, all these years?" dad asked.
"In the 1940's I had Steve and Bucky and when they couldn't do it I had Gramps. When I got back I was on my own and you saw how screwed up I was on the surface Jess and Sam saw everything else. Then I met Wren and that was it. He saw the good and the bad and always knew exactly what to say and do. I didn't deserve him." I said. "I have to go."
"Where are you going?" dad asked.
"Have to go pick up the kids." I said before teleporting to New York.
Third Person's POV-
"She left." Tony said walking into the day room.
"What do you mean she left?" Steve asked.
"She said she was picking up the kids. She'll be back soon." Tony said mostly to reassure himself. Nora was a teleporter, she could literally be anywhere on the planet.
"How'd she seem?" Clint asked.
"Passive aggressive, that's progress." Tony said suddenly there was a bright light and Nora was sitting in front of them except she was dressed in a tailored dress and her hair was longer.
"dad?" She seemed confused to see him.
"Nora." Tony said seething. He didn't know why he was so angry it was taking everything in him not to go over to her side and shake some sense into her.
She looked around the room and said. "Guys, Nat." So she had already met them all. She looked at him and knew something was wrong. "Whatever it is I didn't do it. At least I haven't done it yet."
Tony took the red notebook and set it down on the table before sliding it over to her. She immediately recognized it and froze.
"Oh Crap. So maybe I already did it." He said.
"Yeah start talking." Tony demanded.
"I'm a time traveler." She said.
"Really" Tony said sarcastically.
"But you already knew that." She said. "uh what else… I met Gramps. He was complicated. Life of the party. One time we got so hammered we ended up in Scotland. Ended up on Asgard and met Thor as a kid, got Asgardian citizenship, went to the far future then back lived my life made two million dollars for a presentation and ended up here."
"That's all you're going to say?" Tony said processing all the new information he had received. This Nora seemed a lot more cheerful, more snarky and not at all passive aggressive.
"Yeah I don't know what you what to tell you dad and I don't know what you know. You've read it all and honestly it doesn't matter what I say you're still going to be mad and there's not a single thing I can do about it. Well that's that. I'm starving. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." She said before teleporting away.
"How does the Nora we just talked to turn into the Nora that's mad at the world?" Bruce asked.
"She's not mad she's mourning and she's bottling it all up." Natasha said. "That's why she's snapping at the two of you though I do have to say you deserved it."
"I'll go talk to her." Clint said. "She saved my life, she wouldn't have done that if she was going to kill me later on."
Clint walked down the hallway to the kitchen and saw that Nora was already heating something up and whipping together some batter.
"So you're a time traveler?" Clint said walking in.
"For the past three years, well kind of three years, time is kind of a matter of perspective." She said pulling out a waffle iron. "Back to the Future and Doctor Who did not really explain how complicated it really was."
"You seem to be doing okay." He pointed out.
"That's funny." She said with a sad smile. "I lied to my dad for three years probably more by the look of things, one of my soulmates didn't figure out I was alive and moved on with his life. My other soulmate was brainwashed into becoming an assassin for a Nazi organization and my best friend who also happens to be husband is a former assassin for a secret British Organization that uses child soldiers. I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A time jump was the last thing I needed today. You have no idea the shit storm that's waiting for me when I get back." She finished as she slammed the waffle iron shut.
"I'm starting to see the family resemblance." Clint said trying to lighten the mood.
"Took you long enough. You stalked me for how long and you never picked up on it?" Nora retorted.
"I bought the whole mentor alibi." Clint said.
"We did know how to sell it." She said with a smile
"Legolas, I need a minute." Tony said.
"I'll go check on Nat." He said before walking out.
"Is this all a joke to you?" Tony asked.
"What part of this is funny? My life is a train wreck. Every night I go to sleep I'm not sure if I'll even wake up in the same bed let alone the same year. Yeah I admit I should have told you and believe me I wanted to but I didn't get a choice." Nora said standing her ground.
"You lied to my face Nora for years." Tony said.
"This isn't about time traveling is it?" She asked.
"Almost ten years kid, why the hell didn't you tell me?" Tony asked.
"I had the names of two dead guys on my wrists dad. There wasn't anything to talk about. I spent years hiding them because they were a reminder of what I could never have and from what I've learned recently it's still not happening. Then I met them and they died. I was a wreck but I couldn't tell you because I got threatened with being sent so far back and never seeing you again. So I did what I had to do."
"How did I never notice?" Tony asked himself feeling his eyes water out of frustration
"You really need me to answer that?" Nora retorted.
"I did what I thought was best for you." Tony said.
"I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest. Did you stay away from me because you wanted me safe or was it because I look too much like mom?" Nora asked him already knowing the answer.
"Nora..." Tony said trying to keep himself together.
"I know you dad, I know your schedule and I can figure out that the reason I can't find any pictures of the two of us together before I turned three is because there aren't any. So answer the question." She insisted.
"Kid."
"Answer the question. I deserve to know the answer." Nora said.
"I wanted you safe, not just from people who would hurt you but from me. I was a trainwreck and honestly I still am. You look so much like her and my mom and it was hard for me to look at you and not remember how much it hurt to lose them. I wanted to forget so I stayed away." He said.
"okay." She said grabbing the chicken and frying it.
"Nora, look at me." He said.
"I'm busy right now." Nora said pouring batter into the waffle iron. She refused to look up and let him see how hard that was to hear
"Kid, look at me." He said.
Nora wiped her eyes and turned to look at him. "I was a kid when I became a dad. Your age right now and I wasn't half as mature as you are. I lost everyone I cared about in less than a year and suddenly I was responsible for another person. I could barely take care of myself but I knew I had to do right by you. So I stayed away until I knew I could be the father you deserved and it hasn't always worked out but I tried my god damn best, which is what I would have wanted from Howard." Tony said.
"For the record, he did love you, even before you were born. He kept trying to get me to tell him about you. I couldn't tell him much but what I did tell him he did like." Nora said. "he was looking forward to meeting you."
"At least he did right by you." Tony said.
"Yeah, he did." Nora said.
"Um sorry, I didn't know you two were in here." Steve said awkwardly. Tony knew he was lying but decided to cut him a break.
"We were just talking. I'll leave you to it." Tony said patting Nora's shoulder before walking out of the kitchen.
She went back to cooking ignoring the looks Steve was giving her.
"What are you making?" He asked.
"You really want to talk about fried chicken?" She deadpanned.
"No I just don't know how to start this conversation." He said.
"If I were you I'd think fast, I'm not sure how long I'm sticking around this time." Nora said turning the chicken over and taking the waffle out of the iron.
"You've been here this entire time." Steve said.
"No shit." She said.
"Why are you so mad?" He said.
"Because you willingly crashed a plane in the Atlantic and left me alone in 1945 without even considering for a second what would happen to me. I'm mad that you came back from the dead and didn't even consider looking for me even though I literally showed up in your kitchen dressed in modern day clothing delirious from a neurotoxin a Russian assassin injected me with in 1946."
"Nora I…" He said before she held her hand up to keep him quiet. That's when he notice the rings on her left ring finger and shut up.
"I'm not done. I'm pissed off that I've spent the past four years waiting for you to one day show up on my doorstep thinking that you would have waited for me. Imagine my surprise when I go to one of my dad's parties and see you making out with some random blonde, or the fact that my other soulmate who by the way can barely remember who he is managed to find me in a matter of weeks just from minor flashes of his memories. If he could do that why the hell didn't you." Nora said.
"Bucky found you?" Steve said shocked.
"Yup, he's waiting back in 2014. We're dealing with a minor set back at the moment." She said.
"Minor setback?" Steve asked.
"The authorities received a tip that he's in town and now I have to figure out how to make it look like he's not in town and how the hell they found out. The guy's a master assassin and was a ghost story to other spies, he doesn't slip up." Nora said.
"You think it may be Hydra?" Steve suggested.
"That's the most likely outcome. The only other person who could possibly know about him is buried in the backyard so…" Nora said awkwardly and immediately regretting her words.
"You buried a body in the back yard?!" Steve shouted.
"Technically he killed me. Bucky snapped his neck and Wren buried him in the forest somewhere in the backyard." Nora said.
"What the hell Nora?" he said.
"Language." She retorted.
"Is Tony telling everyone?" Steve said annoyed.
"Dad didn't say anything about you." Nora said confused about what he was talking about. She pulled out a plate and served him a plate before putting the rest on another plate in case anyone else wanted some.
She put another plate together before teleporting to the lab where She was sure Tony was. Lo and behold he was enjoying some scotch.
"Isn't it a bit early for that." She said putting the plate down in front of him.
"It's five pm somewhere." He said.
"I get that you've had a rough couple of days and you just got bombarded with a bunch of information that you're still processing but if you're here with you're entire band of merry men then it means something big's going on. So I say this with all the love in the world get your head out of your ass and deal with it. I like the world and I'd prefer it keep existing so figure it out." She said. Nora grabbed the scotch out of his hand and teleported back upstairs.
Steve was just staring shocked. Nora took a sip from the scotch. "Wow that's smooth." She said. "Where were we?"
First Person's POV-
I quickly showed up just as Connor's practice was wrapping up. He got his snacks some of the parents had set up before we went to Stark Tower. I went to the day care center and picked up Ellie. Then I teleported back to the ranch.
"Auntie Nora!" Connor said running to Past Me.
"Hi bud." She said.
"You're not supposed to be here, you'll rip a hole in the universe." Connor said trying to pull her away.
"How does he know that?" She asked me.
"We had to explain why sometimes we looked different when he saw us." I said putting the Ellie in the high chair. She took a close look at me. She was trying to see how much we've changed. Then there was another glow.
"You two can relax this is a one time thing. Just have to make sure no one spills the beans and we're golden." Aya said.
"Get the hell out of my sight, you've done enough." I snarled at Aya.
"Uh can I just say she's not you're Aya she's mine." Past me said making me glare at her.
"I'm going to make one thing clear to you this isn't your time this isn't your life." I said.
"Well not yet anyway." She pointed out.
"Yeah but until then, zip it." I said giving her a glare.
"Hey bud why don't you go wash up I'll make you a plate." I said giving Connor a small smile.
"Okay Auntie." He said before walking to his room.
I started moving around the kitchen putting a plate together for Connor and pulling out baby food for Ellie.
Past me moved closer to the high chair. "Hi sweetie," She said tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. She happily gurgled and smiled. "You look just like your mom." Past me said making me sad thinking about what was coming Past me's way.
"You mind feeding her. I have to go deal with him." I said pointing at Steve.
"Sure and just a heads up, I kind of blew up on him and told him Bucky was here well back in 2014. Go easy on him. He's an idiot but he's our idiot." She said.
"Remember what I said about zipping it? This is why!" I said before pushing Steve into the living room and closing the door.
"Why didn't you tell me Bucky's here?" Steve demanded.
"Because he's not, he was here but he chose to leave." I said.
"Where is he?" Steve said.
"I don't know. He said he needed time to figure things out. Considering the seventy years of torture and brainwashing I agreed." I said.
"Are you crazy he's lost? He doesn't even remember who he is. He could hurt someone or himself!" Steve shouted.
"You really think I would have let him go if I thought he was a danger to anyone or himself? He may not remember who he is but he's not what Hydra made him anymore." I said.
"How could you do that Nora? You know how much I loved him." Steve said tearing up.
"I do remember and I tried to get him to stay but his mind was made up. There was nothing Wren or I could do. We set him up with some cash and documents he'd need to get by but unless he wants to be found you won't find him I tried." I said.
"I could have helped." Steve said.
"He didn't want to see you, he felt guilty for hurting you." I said.
"Then he does remember." Steve said.
"He remembers you mean something to him he just doesn't remember you or me for that matter. It was just luck that he ended up here."
"We can find him, together." Steve said.
"No, I'm going to give him what he asked for. He wants time and space. Wren gave him a phone that was untraceable and had a way to contact us directly. He'll call when he's ready."
"How can you be so sure?"
"He came back once with only brief flashes." I deadpanned. "Plus his tracking skills are amazing. I need to talk to past me before she goes."
I was about to walk out when Steve stopped me
"If I had known…"
"You did know, and don't blame it on Peggy the woman has dementia." I said teleporting into the kitchen.