Date: 6/8/2040
Location: Avengers Tower, New York City
I took a deep breath.
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This should be a piece of cake; I did save the world after all. Public speaking should not be this intimidating.
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Today is New York's grand "re-opening"/ the dedication of the Avengers memorial, and they wanted me to speak. Me. And I may be freaking out just a little. After all, this is the first city that is officially "re-opening" after the "Hydra incident." Or at least the first city that's celebrating.
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There was a knock on the door, "Artemis?" Ethan poked his head in, "Any time now. The people…" he glanced at the window, "are kinda restless."
I took a deep breath, glancing at the window. The press was out there, waiting for us to walk to the car. "I know."
He raised an eyebrow, "is Artemis Barton nervous?"
My response was rushed, "No."
The idiot wrapped his arms around me and chuckled. "It's ok to be nervous you know."
"I'm not…"
He raised an eyebrow again, kissing me on the forehead, "Sure you aren't."
I pushed him away, "Let's just go, ok?"
"Hey" he grabbed my arm, "Don't worry. It's not as hard as you think."
"The whole world is going to be watching."
"Just pretend they aren't. Look, you're going to be facing the statue, just talk to them."
I looked at him, I was still scared.
"All you have to do is be yourself." He pulled me into a hug, and he lifted my chin, "You know why?"
I shook my head.
"Because you," he kissed me, "are perfect."
I smiled up at him, "thank you." I whispered.
"You're welcome." he kissed me again.
"Guys it's time to…" Apollo walked up to my door, "Ethan Stark get off my sister!"
We jumped apart.
"Apollo!"
My brother stomped into the room and grabbed my wrist, pulling me out the door.
"You need to stop kissing your boyfriend…"
I smirked, "You realize he has to ride in the car with us, right?"
"Just shut up."
I could hear Ethan laughing from down the hall.
b Date: 6/8/2040
Location: Central Park, New York City /b
This was the big moment. It was not only our first official press conference since the "Hydra incident" but also the first time I've spoken as Artemis Barton, and the leader of the Avengers. Oh and did I mention it's the dedication of the Avengers' memorial that we spent the last 3 months building? Yeah, it's that too.
I took another deep breath, and stepped up to the pedestal, I glanced back at my team sitting behind me, they smiled, and I turned to face the crowd.
I cleared my throat…
"Hello everyone, I'd like to thank you all for coming to the dedication of the Avengers memorial."
I took another breath and looked to the statue. It was beautiful, in part because I designed it. It has a marble Hexagon base, and on each side was a statue of an Avenger. From where I was, I was facing My Dad and Uncle Steve. Ethan's words rang in my head, "Just talk to them."
So I did.
"When I was approached to speak at this ceremony, they asked me to talk about the Avengers. To be honest, I almost said no. You see, I'm not up here to talk about the Avengers. There isn't anything about them that I can tell you that you don't all ready know. They were superheroes that saved the world. So today I'm going to tell you about Thor, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Clint and Natasha Barton. While most of the world looked at them as perfect heroes that could do no wrong, I knew better. My parents were overbearing to say the least, my mom was a perfectionist, and my brother and I got on her nerves every day. My dad, he was hilarious. He loved pulling pranks and being sarcastic. But no family would be complete without a crazy Uncle… or four. Uncle Steve was my Godfather, and my mentor. He was very old-fashioned and had strong ideas that could be hard to live up to. Uncle Tony was his opposite, they argued all the time, literally. I bet they are arguing right now over whether or not they argue or not." I heard everyone laugh, and took another deep breath, I think I was finally getting the hang of this. "My Uncle Thor was loud and he didn't understand a whole lot about our world. But he was never afraid to try anything. Uncle Bruce, well he was more withdrawn. But he was still funny, and he loved to make fun of my Uncle Tony. My family was dysfunctional at best, but that's just it. They were my family, and I would have never changed them, because they were perfect. So do me a favor, next time you think of the Avengers, think of The Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist, the Pop tart loving God, the little guy from Brooklyn, the scientist, the sarcastic archer, and the spy. Not superheroes. Just people. Just my family. Thank you everyone."
I smiled and turned around and sat back with my friends.
Ethan swung an arm around me as Coulson took the podium, he pulled me against him.
As I listened to Coulson speak, I looked up at the statues, and I swear on my magic arrows that I was my Dad wink at me. And I knew that no matter what, we were going to be ok.
And for the first time in seven months, I was happy.