Date: 9/30/2026
Location: Shelter 095, New York
He didn't stop with New York.
The list of major cities was declining at a deeply concerning rate.
Los Angeles.
Chicago.
Washington DC.
San Diego.
Las Vegas.
Detroit.
Boston.
He didn't just stop with America either.
London.
Toronto.
Tokyo.
Beijing.
Ottawa.
Seoul.
Mexico City.
Gone. All just, wiped of the map.
Superheroes and armies everywhere were evacuating all major cities. And the scariest thing was, they were following our directions. Ethan and I found that from our computers and the Stark data we had the best view of the world. We were actively finding places for people to go, where they wouldn't cluster, so there could be a chance for fewer casualties. We sent the data to the heroes, they gave it to the armies and the people.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The Avengers had been successful in limiting Loki's original army, but he had found a new one, an army with which he had common goals, his army had a title, one that everyone all ready feared, Hydra.
They knew all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secrets, because they had once been a part of it. And some, probably still were. They had split before I was born, S.H.I.E.L.D was almost destroyed. But Fury, my parents, Coulson and his team were able to preserve bits and pieces. S.H.I.E.L.D became very specific with who can get in, you have to pass all sorts of tests, most of them involve weapons and lie detectors.
Because of the new entrance requirements, S.H.I.E.L.D is now made up of a Hellicarrier full of people, as its base, and some ground teams, about 12, each similar to Coulson's team. 6 people, at least one scientist with medical knowledge, a hacker, a specialist, a leader, and the other three can be whatever the team needs, more scientists, more specialists, a little of both. The teams have more freedom to choose their… activities then the rest of us, but everyone's on a pretty tight leash.
Except one man, Bucky Barnes, codename, Winter Soldier.
Though he is technically employed with S.H.I.E.L.D, passed all the tests, he kinda does whatever he wants, like my Uncle Tony…used to. Fury never trusted him, and that (and the strong recommendation from Uncle Steve) is why my parents trusted the man with the most important things in the world, me and my brother. The Winter Soldier was our Supervising Officer, which is a pretty cool thing to say. Fury had ordered that we have a SO that wasn't an Avenger, and Mr. Barnes is not, therefore, my parents chose him.
He was a good SO, not too tuff on us, very funny, but he didn't treat the serious things as a joke. And perhaps that is why I can't help but wonder where he is. There are no news reports on him, no eyewitnesses, no "OMG I just saw a guy with a metal arm!" Nothing. I had people looking for him, but he isn't with S.H.I.E.L.D, and he didn't go down with the Avengers. He was missing.
And I had to find him.
For Bucky, his namesake, the one he treated and trained as if he was his own son.
For Sam, who was like a (slightly) healthier version of Uncle Steve before the serum, the one who he protected the fiercest.
For Jessie, who is a spitfire, just like him. Who looked at him like he was her second father.
For Apollo and me, who just lost everything else.
And most importantly for himself, because Hydra was running around now, which was not safe for a man who escaped their control.
But I couldn't find him. I had no idea where he went, heck; I don't even know where he was before this whole mess started!
My internal rant stopped as my door opened. I looked up, curious and slightly annoyed that someone disturbed me at 1:00 in the morning. I thought I was safe.
My eyes softened as I saw Sam in the doorway. Glassy-eyed and shaking a little.
"What's up kiddo?"
He looked at me, almost shocked, his eyes spoke volumes, 'What are you doing up? Why are there so many papers on your bed? 1 AM, really Artemis?' But he said nothing.
I gave him a half smile, and respond to his unasked question, "Gotta work sometime. Sure can't do it with everyone arguing and screaming like they do during the day."
His eyes filled with understanding, and he nodded his head, as if to say, 'I know how you feel.' But again, he said nothing.
He didn't usually speak, it wasn't his thing. So long as he spoke when it mattered, I could accept it. I understood him well enough, I'd known him since the day he was born, a preemie, smaller that Bucky had been or Jessie would be. Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce figured the serum hadn't taken full effect by the time he was born, that's why he was different from the other two. I didn't mind though, It's hard to see Sam with all the strength of Bucky or Jessie, the way he is, it's just right.
I looked up, Sam was still looking at me, longing in his eyes, he wanted me to understand something.
"Need something?"
He nodded.
"Come're"
He stepped into my room and shut the door quietly, as not to disturb anyone (most of us are discovering we have become pretty light sleepers, except Ethan, a plane could crash into the base and he'd still be out cold, tip of the plane pressed against his nose.)
I grabbed some of my papers of the edge of the bed, stacking them into a nice pile. I patted the bed, "sit," and put the stack on my night stand.
He sat, and let out a sigh.
"Nightmare?"
He nodded.
"About?"
He looked at me with teary eyes that said, "Who do you think?"
I gave him a sympathetic smile; there wasn't much I could do. It's not like I could bring them back.
"I could call your mom..." I said, a bit uneasy.
He shook his head no.
A weight lifted off my shoulders, I hadn't wanted to anyway.
He looked at me again, this time his expression was unreadable, somewhere between hurt, questioning, and hopeful.
"I can't read your mind Sammy…"
He looked down at his feet, dangling off the edge of my bed, debating with himself weather to speak to me or not.
I was about to try coxing him some more when he spoke, "Why?"
"Why? Why what?"
His voice was barely a whisper, "Why us?"
That didn't need any explaining. I looked at Sam, tears dripping down his face. I wished I had an answer to that question, that simple little question, so innocent. It was a question I had asked myself time and time again before Ethan woke up. I lowered the lid of my laptop, low enough that you can't screen, but high enough for it to stay on. I put it on top of the papers on my nightstand, and put an arm around Sam, who buried his face in my chest.
"I don't know Sammy."
"What… did we… ever do?" he choked out between sobs.
"Nothing. We never did anything."
"Then why… is this… happening?"
"Everything happens for a reason; sometimes we get dealt the harder hand, just so that when we win, it's more significant, more miraculous. It makes us who we are Sammy, if we didn't have challenges, we'd have nothing to overcome, no reason to be who we are. Just think of your dad, if he had no problems, he'd of never became Captain America, never met your mother, and you wouldn't be here."
He looked up at me, and I wiped away some of his tears.
"So what if we have some hurdles, it's nothing we can't overcome right?"
His sad eyes filled with a touch of gratitude, and he nodded again.
"Well then you have nothing to worry about! You've got us and your mom, and all those S.H.I.E.L.D agents and heroes to watch your back. And we're gonna be just fine Sammy, just you wait and see. There's a light at the end of this ridiculously long tunnel, we just have to find it."
He smiled, and the look in his eyes said, 'Thanks Artemis, I guess you're right.'
And I smiled back, crisis averted. One point Artemis, zero points internal self doubt. I'm on a roll.
Then the laptop beeped. And Sam looked at me his eyes asked, 'What was that?'
I grabbed the device and yanked it open. Either another city bit the dust, someone wanted something, or I got a hit on the search I was running to track down anything Winter Soldier related after the deaths of the Avengers. All very important. All warrant my attention, even if it is almost 1:30 in the morning.
It was the search, and there were three results.
The first was a Wikipedia article about the Avengers and their known allies, updated two weeks ago.
The second, a New York Times article stating that a "man with a metal arm" was spotted helping citizens during the first attacks on New York, published a month ago.
The third, another article, this time the Boston Herald, stating that a "mysterious man with a bionic metal arm helping people escape as a gas cloud came over Boston. Published 2 days ago. Bingo.
Sam was peering over my shoulder. He looked at me, eyes filled with hope, gaze screaming 'He's alive?'
I nodded my head, and grabbed my phone.
Sam pulled the laptop off my legs and started to read the article.
"It's early." Johnny Storm said as he answered the phone.
"Where's Mr. Richards?"
"Heck if I know, but he doesn't have his phone."
"Can you find him?" Silence on the other end, "It's really important."
He grunted, probably getting up, "You owe me one kid."
"Thanks" I said half-heartily, not really wanting to know what I'd "owe" him.
"Hello?" Mr. Richard's voice on the other end sounds much more awake than Johnny's, but there was tiredness to it, he probably hadn't slept yet.
"Mr. Richards?"
"Ah, Artemis, What can I do for you?"
"It's the Winter Soldier; he was in Boston two days ago."
"I see."
"I figured, since you were around Boston that…"
"We haven't seen him. Would've told you if we had."
"Oh I know that, I just thought maybe you might be able to look around a bit. Keep your eyes open when you're doing clean up. That sort of thing."
"Artemis, I'm sure if he wanted to be found…"
"He doesn't think he has a reason."
"What?"
"He doesn't know we're alive."
"Haven't you called him?"
"I can't."
"Why?"
"His phone is still on the Hellicarrier…"
Sam face-palmed and I just knew Mr. Richards rolled his eyes.
"I'll see what we can do."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
He hung up the phone, and I looked at Sam, his sad eyes were replaced with hopeful ones, and I couldn't be happier.
At least I could still make someone happy.
I sent Sam back to his room, telling him to get some sleep before the noise begins.
He chuckled, and waved goodnight.
I shut my laptop down, and was just about to close my eyes when my phone rang. I cursed under my breath. Apparently the universe decided that sleep was not important tonight.
I disagreed, but I grabbed my phone anyway. Looking at my caller ID, I answered as soon as I saw who it was.
"Fly?"
"Artemis!" Ger voice sounds desperate, rushed even.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"Like 2 AM, but Artemis, that's not the point!
"Then what…"
"It's not Loki."
"What's not Loki."
"Any of it. That guy who killed you're folks, the one running Earth, it isn't Loki."
"You mean that the guy blowing up cities and killing all these people is not Loki?"
"Yes."