"And just what are you hoping to accomplish by loading Madison up with all of these powers?" Steve feared he knew the answer, but part of him was still holding out hope that he wasn't right. There was no way Tony was going to be the type of person who would send a kid out against a mad Titan hell bent on destroying half of all life.
Tony turned to look at his friend, contemplating his answer before speaking. He could be honest with Steve or he could easily lie to him. With Steve Rogers, honesty was almost always the best policy, almost.
"I don't want to use her as a weapon. I know that's what you're thinking. But if this guy is as powerful as everyone is saying then we will need someone who can hold their own against him while the rest of us do the grunt work around him." Tony began marching around the lab picking up item after item to set up his next experiment for Madison with Thor.
"You know these guys never come alone. We'll be the ones trying to hold everything together while Madison is facing off… only when necessary… against Thanos." Tony leaned against his desk, the weight of it all catching him off guard. "I know this is your kid. Trust me, if this were my own child I would be feeling the exact same way you are right now. That is why I'm doing everything I can to prepare her for what is to come. To give her every tool possible so that if she has to…HAS TO…step up against Thanos that she has the best damn shot possible."
Tony faced Steve. "She may be all we have against this guy. Can you even begin to imagine what it may mean if he's successful?"
Steve and Tony stared long and hard at one another, neither able to truly comprehend exactly what a world would look like where half of all existence was gone.
Major religions talk about an apocalypse, an end of the world type event where people just seem to randomly disappear from your life. Not really dead, and not in the present anymore. Just having vanished with no explanation where they disappeared to. The people they've left behind to pick up the pieces and move on but with the knowledge that their loved one is gone.
After a few moments of silence passed Steve turned to Tony once more, "Well then I guess we better do everything we can to be as ready as possible." With that, Steve stood from his seat and left the lab. His intention to retrieve his daughter from her room and bring her back down here so that Tony could try his next experiment.
As Steve made his way to the dormitory hallway Sam came rushing up to him. "Hey Steve. What's up?"
Steve gave Sam a suspicious look before answering, "Nothing much, just thought I'd see if Maddie was ready to start her next trial with Tony." Steve made to walk around Sam only Sam moved to step into his way.
"You might want to give her a little time alone," Sam said, looking anywhere but directly at his friend.
Sam was acting odder than he typically did and so Steve decided to take him at his word. As he passed by Madison's room he turned back to Sam, "would you tell her to come find me once she comes out?"
Sam just saluted his friend in acknowledgement as Steve continued on to the kitchen. When the coast was clear Sam knocked on the wall four times. It only took a second before Bucky's head popped out from Madison's room.
"Boy, hurry your ass up before her daddy comes back," Sam playfully whisper-yelled at his friend. As the door to Madison's room slowly closed all you could hear was Madison giggle from inside and Bucky scurrying around the hall down to his own room to clean up.
"Friends ask you to do the stupidest things," Sam said as he rolled his eyes, walking slowly towards the kitchen.
It didn't take long for Madison to step out of her room freshly dressed and ready for a training session. Walking towards the kitchen she found her dad and Sam talking over a bowl of cereal.
"Hey sweetheart, are you feeling alright?" Steve asked. "Sam seemed to think you needed a little time to rest after this morning's run."
Madison looked between Sam and her dad as she chose her words careful. "Bucky told me about the Winter Soldier."
Steve sat back in his chair releasing a big sigh. "Wow, I knew he wanted to, but had no idea it would happen so soon." Sitting forward, Steve reached for Madison's hand, "How are you feeling about what you heard?"
"I love Bucky, dad. The Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes are not the same man. And even if they were, I can't hold him responsible for things he had no control over."
Steve smiled at his daughter. He just knew she would have a big heart. If she was really anything like him or Nat then there was fierce love to spare for those dearest to her heart.
"He's lucky to have you kiddo," Steve offered, caressing Maddie's cheek tenderly.
"You have no idea," came the soft, deep voice from behind. Bucky found his place beside Maddie before leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"Tony wants to see if you can channel lightening." Steve looked directly at Maddie just waiting for her response.
"Is he expecting me to be able to part the Red Sea as well," came the sarcastic response that never failed to appear.
Laughing to himself, Steve made to get up and get the group headed outside. There would be no lightening wrangling inside the compound. Sure, Thor could do that, but Steve was certain Madison wouldn't be able to control it, if she was able to do it at all on her first try.
Making their way outside the group was met by Thor, Bruce and Tony who were all surrounded by a variety of robots. One in particular was holding a fire extinguisher.
"You are not going to set me on fire," Maddie screeched before turning around ready to high-tail it back inside where it was safe.
"No, no, it's not like that little one," Thor called after Maddie as he tried to contain his laughter. "It is merely a precaution."
"Not making me feel better here Thor," Maddie was visibly shaken by the whole set up. Trying her best to stand her ground and show the group that she was strong, it helped tremendously when she felt Bucky link his pinkie finger with hers in a show of support.
"How exactly do you expect me to be able to control lightning and thunder? I'm not a god." Madison shifted from one foot to the other as she fell under the intense gaze of Thor.
"No little one, you are not a god. But you are more than worthy of being able to accomplish such a feet." Thor walked towards Madison, as he unfolded his large arms. Taking Madison's hands, Thor looked long and hard at her. What he was looking for, Madison wasn't sure. Whatever it was, he must have seen it because he gave Madison a big smile of reassurance.
"You and I are going to do this together. Trust me, you'll love it."
It only took a moment for static electricity around them to begin crackling and popping. Sam, Tony, Steve and Bucky all took large steps back as the energy continued to build. Strands of Madison's hair slowly began to rise from her shoulders as multiple strikes of lightening began crackling around the duo alongside the thunderous rolls that filled the sky.
Bucky watched as Madison's closed eyes slowly opened and turned a vibrant emerald green. She may have been looking right at him, but he wasn't sure if she was actually seeing him or not during all of this.
Thor slowly stepped back from Madison, his arms no longer holding her close but rather at a distance.
"It's your turn little one," Thor could be heard saying over the thunderous noise of the storm. One hand and then the other slowly dropped from gripping Madison's as Thor walked backward away from her. Even with the distance the lightening continued, in fact it grew in intensity.
Thor waved his hand to the group of men to warn them to step further back as he knew what was coming. Just a few feet short of where Tony had previously been standing a thick bolt of lightning landed and blasted a hole in the earth a good two feet deep.
"Begin to calm your mind," Thor yelled above the noise. "Find something that brings you joy or peace to focus on."
Slowly, the lightning began to settle with only an occasional streak dancing across the sky. The darkness and gloom slowly began to peel away to reveal the blue sky and fluffy white clouds.
The group of men slowly stepped closer to Madison, watching as she leaned forward to rest her hands on her knees.
"That was intense," Madison finally spoke as she reached up to smooth down her hair.
Steve stood watching his daughter, in awe and pride of all that she had been able to accomplish so far so quickly. Reaching over to bring her into a hug he couldn't help but jump as a small electric jolt zapped his hand.
"Sorry, dad." Madison smiled Steve's way.
"This little Midgardian has some serious potential," Thor laughed as he thumped Madison on the back sending her stumbling forward a step.
"Sorry," Thor said, looking slightly abashed. "Shall we try it again to see if you might conjure it yourself?"
Thor and Madison spent the sum of an hour calling down the lightning and thunder. At first it took a great deal of concentration, after a while she was able to do it by just thinking of something that made her angry. Either way there was no mistaking it, she now had control of another power.
It was going on lunch time and the whole crew was getting hungry. The timing worked out well because a few minutes later Wanda called from the compound for everyone to come inside for lunch. Spaghetti was a simple meal, but it was also hearty. Bruce had been keeping a close eye on Madison's vitals and found that the more powers she was taking on, coupled with the super soldier serum in her DNA, she was burning an enormous amount of calories every day. So seeing her pile up a third plate of pasta didn't really shock anyone.
After swallowing his bite of food, Tony addressed the table, "We should be hearing from the Guardians any day now regarding their trip to Knowhere. If everything goes according to plan they should be heading back this way with the Reality stone before the end of next week."
Bucky grabbed the last two pieces of barbeque bread, passing one to Madison before digging in to his own food. "So when they get here, we'll have the Mind Stone from Vision, the Space Stone from Loki, and the Time Stone from Strange. Four stones out of six ain't bad. Sounds like we'll be well ahead of the game."
"How are you going to get Dr. Strange to give up the Time Stone, Mr. Stark?" Peter began twirling his noodles around his fork as he waited for a reply.
"I'm just going to appeal to his sense of duty to saving the world of course." One-by-one each person stopped eating to look in Tony's direction. "Come on, he's got to have some sort of a moral compass. He can't say no when it comes to saving half of all living creatures. No one would just not help when it comes time to save the world. Right?"
The room was uncomfortably quiet as everyone began thinking about what it would be like if Dr. Strange did say no to helping them defeat Thanos.
Madison covered her ears trying to block out the overwhelming worry and concern in the room from everyone's mental voices. Most times she could block those voices out…but much like Bucky when it became overwhelming there was little she could do. And right now it sounded as though everyone was dialed up to 11.
"Guys, please. Think of something else, something happy preferably," Nat asked as she wrapped her arm around Madison trying to comfort her.
Bucky was typically the one that ran to Madison's aid at every possible turn, but even he knew right now having a mother's touch helped make the situation better as he watched Madison lay her head on Natasha's shoulder.
The extreme noise was quickly giving Maddie a headache. Little by little the voices began to ease off as everyone's thoughts turned to something more pleasant or more private. Eventually there was only one voice in her head and that was of Bucky who couldn't help but project how concerned he was for Maddie.
Realizing she must be listening to him, Bucky gave Maddie a sad smile before looking back down at his half eaten plate of food. Madison just slid her hand along Bucky's thigh, lightly squeezing before whispering for him to eat up.
Once everyone was finished they all started going their separate ways but agreeing to meet up in the quad in half an hour for some more training demonstrations.
Natasha and Steve took it upon themselves to clear the plates and leftover food while everyone else thanked Wanda for the delicious meal before heading off in their own directions.
Side by side Nat and Steve worked quietly together, neither needing to fill the time with random chatter but rather enjoying the quiet.
Finally Nat just had to ask, "Did it freak you out the first time she called you dad?"
Caught a little off guard by the abruptness of the question Steve couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered his first feelings regarding the subject. "Honestly, the first time she said it all I felt was incredibly old."
Laughter was always easy between the two friends, now was no different. "How about you? What did you think when she called you mom?"
Nat stood still as she gazed out the kitchen window. The scene that was unfolding outside was like a children's story playing out before her eyes. Nat watched as Madison receiving a horseback ride from Bucky out to the middle of the yard. Even as an adult Madison still seemed at times like a child which was nice because it gave Nat a glimpse at what it must have been like to have her as a little girl. She continued to watch as Bucky began to tickle her sides causing her to burst out in laughter, pulling them both to the ground.
Realizing what she was looking at, Steve watched alongside her. His best friend and his daughter. To some that would look very weird, but to him it just seemed normal. Bucky was a good guy and he definitely deserved a woman that loved him unconditionally. If that wasn't Madison then he wasn't sure what a better example could be.
"Bucky told her about the Winter Soldier today," Steve said, still watching the two as they lay on the ground looking up at the sky.
"How did she take it?" Broken from the spell of watching the two young lovers, Nat went back to scrubbing the dish she was holding before passing it over to Steve for rinsing.
"Just as I would have hoped she would…she never batted an eye, just reminded him of the good man he is and how much she loved him no matter what."
Nat smirked Steve's way before saying, "She definitely gets that from you, the ability to see the good in almost everyone."
Steve just smiled, nodding his head as he dried the last of the dishes. "But she has so many of your qualities too. She's fiercely protective of him, me, you, and everyone she loves. Even Loki. You heard her, when she found out he was not the same good guy in this universe as in hers…she just wouldn't believe it."
Nat remained silent again, this time the silence concerned Steve enough to try to prod Natasha along. "Are you going to tell me what's going on in your head right now?"
Nat was quiet a moment longer, "I gave up the idea of ever having children years ago." Turning around, Natasha pulled a chair out from the dining table to sit down. "But now, seeing Madison." Steve pulled out a chair alongside Nat. Gently he rested his hand onto hers and laced their fingers together.
"Do you think Tony could figure it out? How I could have a child of my own, like I did in Maddie's universe?" The heartbreaking look on Natasha's face almost took Steve's breath away. He had never seen his friend this way. So vulnerable and yet so hopeful all at the same moment.
"He's one of the smartest men I know. If he can't figure it out, I'm not sure anyone could." Steve watched as tears began to form in Nat's eyes just before he pulled her into a hug. As he held her close, trying to offer comfort for something he himself hadn't given much of any thought over, he felt he had to lighten the mood. "Just don't tell him I said that, or else he'll never let me forget it." The two friends pulled away laughing with one another, "It will be our secret," Nat said as she wiped the stray tears from under her eyes.
Steve's large hand gently stroked Natasha's cheek, "I have no doubt you'd be an amazing mom."
Nat's cheeks bloomed with color as she made her confession, "I can definitely see how easy it would be to fall in love with you, Steve. Somehow you always seem to find just the right words to say."
Leaning in, Steve kissed Nat's cheek. "No one else in this universe I can think of that I'd be willing to take that journey with, Romanoff."