Broke down, thought that I would drown
Hope that I've been found, 'fore I hit the ground
Sun rays out the corner of my eye, hey
Maria Stark wasn't scared of dying.
Some people said it was because of depression, but Maria never really knew why.
She had a great family and a wonderful best friend.
But, death… It just didn't scare her.
She'd be okay with dying soon.
Saw you weeping, saw you creeping
Saw you sneaking in the shadow's dawn
I feel so strong
Saw you out the corner of my eye
"Lady Stark."
Maria gave a hard swallow; nodding stiffly at the man standing opposite of her.
"Loki?"
"You've heard of me," He said, preening slightly.
She wasn't scared of dying.
If this was what was happening, she was ready.
She'd be with Theresa.
"What do you want?"
"Your world." Loki lifted her chin; that annoyed her a little "But do not worry, Daughter of Stark, all I desire from you is leverage."
That was a bit more worrying.
She could stand dying herself.
Not so much anyone else.
"You're going to use me to stop my dad from fighting you."
"Precisely," Loki said "I won't harm you as long as your father complies."
"Us Starks aren't that great on compliance."
"You will be."
Maria steeled herself as Loki placed the staff on her chest.
Nothing.
He snarled.
"You carry the Midgardian virus."
"What?" Maria asked, unsure how she felt about what just happened.
"The marks and bonds; no Asgardian or otherwise carry those, yet a select group of Migardians do."
An ugly anger that she was usually able to keep down reared its head.
"That doesn't make it a disease."
"A cleanse must come first."
"I don't like the sound of that."
Loki grabbed her wrist, Maria's eyes widening.
No.
She welcomed death.
But, not this.
"Please don't," Maria begged, trying to pull away.
"Shush, child, it won't hurt."
Tears began to run down her cheeks as Loki touched the staff to her wrist.
They didn't fade away.
They flared.
A beautiful flash of silver and red that quickly died away; the marks still intact.
"I don't understand," Loki said, frowning in worry as he released Maria's wrist "They should be gone. The bond should be broken."
"What happened?" Maria asked; unbelievably relieved, but also concerned.
"I don't know," Then Loki looked up at her face with disdain "If I can't cleanse you of the illness, then I'll cleanse this universe of your existence."
And then…
Nothing.
Don't come for me today
I'm feeling good
I'mma savor it
Don't come for me today
I'm feeling good
I remember when
(Reaper)
"Which one?"
"The pink one."
"Good choice," Theresa said, passing Maria the cupcake "Are you gonna eat just the frosting?"
"Duh," Maria said teasingly, Theresa smiling.
They were having a picnic; they'd just finished the sandwiches and watermelon and had moved on to desert.
"Hey, are you okay?" Theresa asked, Maria rubbing her chest.
"Yeah, just hurt for a second," Maria said with a frown, before pushing it away "It was nothing."
"Well, I was thinking, later, we could watch a movie," Theresa offered.
"Ooh, and make popcorn?"
"You just ate," Theresa teased.
"So?" Maria replied with a smile that slipped away.
Her chest really hurt.
Suddenly, the sky faded into black nothingness, the rest of the landscape soon following suit.
All that was left was her and Theresa.
"You don't have to go back," Theresa said, somewhat desperate.
"Back? Back where?"
"Don't you remember?"
Then, it all came flooding back to her.
She was dead.
"I can go back? I can live again?"
"Please," Theresa said "Stay here. You'll never feel pain again. You'll be safe."
"But-."
"Besides, you might not make it; you might get trapped in the darkness."
Maria winced; remembering how before she was with Theresa, there'd been only black.
"Please," Theresa repeated.
She could.
She could stay and be safe and with Theresa.
She'd never be sad again.
Theresa held her hand out.
Maria reached out to take it before she stopped.
Her wrist looked awfully bare.
Maria slowly pulled her hand back against her chest; rubbing her blank wrist.
"I can't."
Theresa looked crestfallen, but she managed a small smile.
"I know."
And then she faded away.
You came to take me away
So close I was to heaven's gates
But no baby, no baby, not today
Oh, you tried to track me down
You followed me like the darkest cloud
Darkness.
She was surrounded by complete darkness.
It wasn't bad, though; it was pretty nice, actually.
There was nothing and all was calm.
She was slowly sinking into the darkness; becoming a part of it.
It was freedom in its truest form; she was ready to become nothing.
But then, she felt something.
The smallest twinge in her heart.
It wasn't her feelings though.
Whoever it was… they were in pain. So much pain.
She felt bad for them; that much pain seemed like agony.
What could she do, though?
It's not like it had anything to do with her.
It's because you're gone.
It all came back to her.
Her soulmates.
They were in pain.
Because she was gone.
She had to get back; she couldn't let them feel that.
She fought against the darkness's hold.
And she won.
But no baby, no baby, not today
(Reaper) Oh reaper
(Reaper) Oh no baby, no baby, not today
(Reaper) Oh reaper
(Reaper) Oh no baby, no baby, not today
From what she could tell; everything was fine. Her vitals were good and her chest was healing. It hurt like a bitch to move, but they had her so hopped up on pain meds she didn't feel much.
About three hours after her reintroduction to the living, a man entered the room.
"Miss Stark, I'm Director Fury with SHIELD."
"Are you going to give me some answers? Nobody will tell me anything."
"I'll answer what I can," Fury said.
"How long was I…?"
"Three days."
Maria gave a shaky sigh; wincing at the pain in her chest when she did that.
Her poor soulmates.
No sooner as she'd felt that, she felt a rush of affection come from their end; they'd been doing that ever since she'd woken up. She could feel the unbelievable relief and love from their end, but when she felt something strong enough to pass, they'd respond with strong affection.
"What happened with…Loki?" The name was choked out, Fury's face softening into what could've been sympathy.
"He opened a portal with the Tesseract and was able to bring an army through it. But, your father, along with five others, was able to hold the army off until they could shut the portal. Loki was apprehended and is going to be taken back to Asgard."
"And my dad? He's okay?" Maria asked.
"He's going to be a lot better when he finds out you're alive," Fury said "And that's why I'm here."
"I can't tell him, can I? That I died," Maria said.
"That information should stay between us for now."
"I understand… Can I see him, though?" Maria asked hopefully.
"Of course," Fury said "But, I need to warn you; your dad did something incredibly heroic and extremely stupid."
"That sounds about right," Maria said "What'd he do?"
"Flew a nuke up through the portal and into space; nearly killed him."
"… Well, I guess we'll have that as a shared experience, then."
Fury chuckled as he headed for the door.
"Oh, Fury?" He turned back to Maria "Thank you."
"All in the line of work, Miss Stark."
But, Maria could tell; he was pleased.
So come back when I'm good to go
I got drinks to drink, and men to hold
I got good things to do with my life, yeah
They'd moved her to an actual hospital; she was still under SHIELD doctors, but it seemed a lot less shady for anyone that wanted to visit her.
She was clicking through daytime TV when there was a knock on the door.
"You have a visitor."
The nurse moved.
"Hi, Dad."
He looked like a mess; he clearly hadn't slept in a few days and probably had been hitting the bottle harder than he should.
"Maria."
She could tell; he hardly believed it.
"How? I… I saw you. You were…"
"Bajillion surgeries," Maria replied.
"It was eight," A doctor said as she entered the hospital room "Mr. Stark, your daughter is recovering beautifully, but she'll need to stay in this hospital for a while. A month at most. Then she'll need lots of bed rest and not to exert herself. Then, of course, comes physical therapy."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Tony said.
"And I need you to look over some paperwork."
"Can we do this later?" Tony asked, obviously annoyed; making Maria giggle.
"Of course," The doctor said, leaving the room again.
"They're all like that," Maria said once she was gone.
"How do you feel?" Tony asked.
Maria considered his question.
How did she feel?
"You know, for the first time in a long time, I think I'm doing okay."
Oh, I wanna dance in the open breeze
Feel the wind in my hair, hear the ocean sing
I got good things to feel in my life, yeah
Tony was out; needed to make sure the reconstruction of New York was going smoothly.
Maria was watching Netflix on her laptop when someone knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Maria pulled her headphones off as Pepper entered; her eyes looking slightly red.
"Hey."
"Are- Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Maria promised, Pepper wiping away more tears that were welling up.
"I would've never been able to forgive myself if…"
"Pepper, I'm fine," Maria repeated, Pepper nodding.
"Um, there's someone who wants to see you, but I thought I should give you a heads up before he came."
"Oh, okay," Maria said, moving her laptop over.
Pepper left the room but who soon replaced her was quite different.
"Lady Stark."
"Hi."
Those arms.
"I am Prince Thor of Asgard and I'm here to beg for your forgiveness. It is my fault that Loki chose to wreak havoc on this planet, thus harming you in the process. I am truly sorry, My Lady."
"Um," Maria fought to get her mind back in order "Thor, I can call you that right?"
"Of course."
"Thor, Loki said that Asgardians believe that marks are a disease. Why?"
"No other species carries them. Did he remove yours?"
"No, but… I want you to know that marks aren't an illness."
"What makes you believe that, Lady?" Thor asked, Maria pleased that he was actually willing to learn.
"Because it doesn't hurt me; I get to feel love all the time. And I get to know that one day I'll find people that'll make me ecstatically happy. Sure, occasionally I'll feel pain, but the benefits far outweigh the cost."
"I never looked at it that way," Thor admitted.
"Who told you they were a disease in the first place?" Maria asked.
"My father, King Odin."
"And you all just accepted it as truth?" Maria asked.
"Yes."
"You should question authority more, Thor; they lie all the time."
"I shall keep that in mind from now on, Lady Stark; thank you for enlightening me," Thor said graciously, Maria smiling.
"No problem… You can call me Maria."
Don't come for me today
I'm feeling good
I'mma savor it
Don't come for me today
I'm feeling good
I remember when
(Reaper)
There was a knock on her door and Maria looked up to see a nurse she'd never met before enter.
"Hey, I'm here to take some blood."
The nurse smiled at Maria's groan.
"Don't worry; I'm fast. I usually work in the ER in a different hospital, but there's so many patients here recently and less there, I'm helping out around here. Besides, how could I pass up a chance to prick a celebrity with a needle?"
Maria laughed as the woman smiled, grabbing her stuff.
"Gotta lot of flowers," The nurse noticed.
"They're from people at my school," Maria replied.
"None from your adoring fans?" The nurse teased.
"There's too many to keep all of them; had to throw them out. I kept the notes, though… I like the notes."
"Okay, arm-."
Maria held out her arm before she could finish.
"An old pro, huh?" The nurse said with a smile, beginning to draw her blood as Maria winced "How do you feel?"
"Pretty good. Kind of tired."
"Well, you should get some rest, then. Sleep is the best thing for you right now."
"Yeah…"
"Are you having trouble sleeping?" The nurse asked, finishing drawing blood.
Maria nodded in response, the nurse smiling sympathetically.
"Maybe the doctor can prescribe something to help; I'll talk to her."
"Okay," Maria said with a small smile.
"Okay," The nurse said with a smile "Do you need anything else?"
"No, thank you…?"
"Claire."
You came to take me away
So close I was to heaven's gates
But no baby, no baby, not today
Oh, you tried to track me down
You followed me like the darkest cloud
"Maria?"
"Yes?" Maria asked the nurse who'd poked her head in.
"You have some visitors."
And in walked three out of six of the Avengers.
But, before Maria could express her shock, she noticed one of them.
"Natalie Rushman?"
The redhead smiled.
"You remember me?"
"I remember you kicking Happy's ass," Maria replied, the redhead smiling wider.
"My real name is Natasha Romanov."
"Are you a spy?"
"I work for SHIELD, do you…?"
"Yeah, I know about SHIELD," Maria looked at the other two men "Who're you guys?"
"I'm Clint Barton; also a spy, but much cooler than Natasha," Clint grunted slightly as Natasha elbowed him in the ribs, her face completely straight.
"And I'm Steve Rogers."
Maria's brow furrowed and Steve smiled.
"Yes, that Steve Rogers."
"How?" Maria asked.
"Seventy years in ice," Steve said, shrugging.
"Okay, honestly, not the weirdest part of this week," Maria said, the three smiling appreciatively "What can I help you guys with?"
"We… We feel bad about what happened and we just wanted to let you know that we'll keep an eye on you. Nothing like that will happen again," Steve promised.
"I… Thanks," Maria said "But, you don't have to feel bad; it's not your fault."
"You were dragged into our fight," Steve replied.
"I've always been a part of the fight, though; it's not your fault," Maria said with a shrug "I'm the daughter of Iron Man and my personal morals often clash against others'. It's just what's going to happen."
"You aren't scared?" Clint asked.
"Well, yeah, but I've gone as far as one could go; there's not much that could surprise me at this point."
"That's an optimistic look at it," Steve said with a small smile.
"What else do I have?" Maria asked.
"… Anyway, we have to head to a rebuilding New York rally," Clint said, Maria smiling and nodding.
"I get the feeling we'll see you again," Natasha said.
"Yeah," Maria said "See you later."
As the Avengers began to leave, Maria called.
"Wait, Natasha?"
The spy paused and looked back.
"When I'm better, can you teach me how to do that leg choke thing?"
Natasha grinned.
"Sure thing."
But no baby, no baby, not today
(Reaper) Oh reaper
(Reaper) Oh no baby, no baby, not today
(Reaper) Oh reaper
(Reaper) Oh no baby, no baby, not today
She was alone in her hospital room; it was mostly quiet as it was midnight, but she couldn't sleep.
She giggled at every burst of affection she received; it was the feelings equivalent of whispering sweet things to her.
She couldn't help but send a wave of love over to them; her soulmates both returning in kind.
Maria yawned and winced at the pain in her chest when she did.
"I've gotta go to sleep" She murmured, hoping they could feel it.
They're random bursts of affection turned into a soothing love as if they wanted to lull her to sleep.
As she drifted off, she was suddenly overcome with worry; what was wrong?
Then she could tell.
"Please don't leave."
Maria felt her heart hurt; they were scared they were going to lose her again.
She did her best to soothe them with affection and comfort.
"Never."
Reaper
Reaper
Reaper
Reaper