The beginning of the end began a lot sooner than I thought it would. Bucky had been keeping to himself. He still checked in with Aiden and Natasha but as time went on it was just easier to stay focused on the kids and work. My career didn't hold it against me that I didn't want to bring more kids into the world and my kids just loved getting any and all attention I could give them. I was making memories that would stay with them way longer than I would.
Dad on the other hand was still down in the dumps about his breakup with Pepper. It didn't help that he had decided to focus on work and his ex was the CEO of his company. He really didn't think that one through when he promoted her. After his one week of being around he had decided to travel around the country and the world promoting the foundation's new scholarship program and at the same time bragging about his pet projects.
I hadn't heard from him in a while which was not surprising in the slightest. In fact that was probably the one thing he was very consistent about.
Either way things had been going pretty well on the home front. Sam had even gone out on a few dates. None of them went further than the first date but it was still progress.
As for Steve… well there had been a few awkward run ins. With dad away on business whenever Rhodey needed help with the suit I'd step in. It was only a few times but whenever I did end up running into Steve it was… awkward.
The room would just go quiet and Steve would get upset and run out of the room as fast as he could using the dumbest excuses known to man.
My all time favorites were:
"I left the stove on…"
"I got that thing…"
"I'm going to see if Bucky wants to go on a run."
Yeah he actually tried using Bucky as an excuse.
I was washing dinner after dinner catching up Aiden on the awkward run in.
"I know we broke up but not once has he asked about Wren." I said.
"Actually… he has." Aiden said.
"What?" I asked.
"He calls every morning when you're at work to listen to Wren babble. And he asks for the same updates I send you while you're at work." Aiden said. "It's annoying but he does love the little bugger."
"Well shit, now I feel bad for complaining about him." I said.
"You're not giving him shit. You miss him." Sam said.
"It's quieter." I said remembering my date earlier that day with Wren in 2015. There was a street festival in Rio with music and dancing.
"Uhuh." Aiden said giving me a knowing look. One downside of being best friends with a master assassin/spy, he could always tell when there was something going on but Aiden didn't judge.
"Aunie!" Ellie said running to pull on my jeans.
"Hey princess." I said lifting her up before she put a plastic tiara time on my head. "Tea party time?"
"Pincess arty." Ellie said.
"Don't forget the tea and biscuits." Aiden teased.
"Cookie!" Ellie said all but jumping out of my arms and into Aiden's.
"This is why I'm the favorite." Aiden said.
"Remember that when all that sugar keeps her up all night and you're trying to get her to sleep." Sam said.
"Oh please I've ki…" Aiden started.
"Little ears." I reminded him.
"Put scarier guys to sleep." Aiden edited. "With the fishes and one time with crocodiles."
"Florida?" Sam asked.
"Florida." Aiden said with a smile kissing the top of Ellie's head before putting her down and letting her run out.
"Well guys I have a tea party to get to. Don't wait up." I said making them laugh.
"Yeah those tea parties can get really wild." Sam said.
"It does when Twilight Sparkle and Princess Buttercup start getting into it." Aiden said and we both turned to him. "Ellie has a very active imagination."
Sam and I turned to each other before we started laughing.
"Oh shut up." Aiden said going to check on Wren and Connor.
"Aunie Tea!" Ellie insisted.
"Let's not keep princess buttercup and twilight sparkle waiting." I said taking her from Aiden and joining her in the living room.
The Following Morning…
I woke up from my 8 minute temporal field nap with a nagging feeling that something was about to go wrong. I used to think it was just my anxiety or my paranoia but after years of ominous foreboding feelings before shit hit the fan I knew better.
I got up and went to go check on Wren. My adorable baby was standing in his crib waiting for someone to walk in so he could teleport out of his crib.
"Ma!" He cheered.
"Good Morning my little super hero." I said picking him up as soon as he teleported in front of me.
"Ah!" He cheered.
"Ah is right." I said as the smell of his diaper hit me. "It's going to be one of those morning huh?"
Wren didn't say anything just blew a raspberry.
"No morning with you is ever bad buddy. No matter how stinky it gets." I said kissing his cheek before changing his diaper. Once Wren was cleaned up and smelled a lot better we headed downstairs where Aiden was already getting started on breakfast.
"Coffee." He said sliding it to me on the counter before I caught it and at end and took a sip.
"Mhmm just the way I like it." I said. "Did you get any sleep?"
"I slept. There's not really much for me to do with the team in Lagos." Aiden said.
"Yeah…" I said wondering if that was what this feeling I couldn't shake was all about.
"Nora?" he asked.
"Uh sorry, you said something?" I asked.
"You have that look." Aiden said.
"Look it could be nothing but I have this feeling I can't shake and normally when I get these feelings… shit hits the fan." I said.
"The last time you had one of these feelings you got stranded in the future and I died." He said.
"Which is why I'm calling in sick and we're staying put for today." I said.
"I'll call Sam." Aiden said.
Fifteen Minutes Later…
Sam came in with the kids who were still in their pjs and Sam being the workaholic had brought his computer because he was going to work from home that day.
The kids were happy having their all day pajama party.
The adults in the room however were preparing for the worst-case scenario in their own ways.
Sam had locked himself in my study and was preparing a defense in case Aiden or I were arrested or extradited for destroying a Unesco when we blew up Chernobyl. Technically Chernobyl was still under consideration… well it was before us but that wasn't going to help much. He also had a few other ones in case any of skeletons from out past were unburied. Namely any potential war crimes Aiden could have committed while he was under Snow's control, anything I may have done during the cold war, or collectively any dead bodies we left lying around for which the statutes of limitations still hadn't expired.
Aiden was a bit more practical. He was spending his time making sure that there was a weapon within reach in every room. He had sharpened and re sharpened every knife. He had cleaned and made sure that every gun was loaded and would not jam.
I on the other had was meditating. I was staying calm… as I glimpsed through every possible timeline I could trying to figure out what I should be looking out for. So far I had nothing, mostly because I was sure Steve was not Hydra and Bucky wasn't 14 when he got blown up in 1945 and Ultron hadn't exterminated 99% of the planet.
It was about lunch time before I snapped out of it groaning at the migraine I was starting to get.
"Anything?" Aiden said.
"No killer robots or zombie apocalypse." I said.
"Uh guys…" Sam said looking at his laptop. "I think I found the crap and it already hit the fan."
"What?" Aiden and I said before Sam turned his computer so we could see the live newsfeed from Lagos.
WHIH News: OnGoing; Tragic Accident in Lagos, Nigeria, Avengers on site
"Shit." Aiden and I said at the same time.
"Nora…" Aiden started.
"I'll grab my kit. Sam can you…" I started.
"You don't even have to ask. Go." Sam said.
I quickly grabbed my medical kit while Aiden grabbed a few weapons and our jackets.
"Auntie? Uncle? Are we going to the park?" Connor asked.
"Duckies!" Ellie cheered.
"Not this time bugger." Aiden said. "We got called into work."
"It's an emergency." I said. "But your dad is here and he's going to order pizza."
"You can even get pineapple on it." Aiden said sarcastically.
"Don't knock the pineapple." I said. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Be good for your dad and help him with your brother and cousin." Aiden said ruffling Connor's hair.
"Love you kiddos." I said kissing them each on the forehead before teleporting myself and Aiden to Lagos.
It was chaos, people running and screaming. I jumped right in helping people off the floor looking them over before looking for anyone that was in need of immediate attention.
"Nora…" Aiden started.
"Go find Steve and Natasha." I said teleporting a woman lying on the ground while someone else screamed as she put pressure on her abdomen.
I immediate went into doctor mode. Triaging, stabilizing and teleporting the most critically wounded, directing help as it arrived and at one point when the nearest hospitals were reaching capacity I teleported patients to other hospitals that had someone available.
Towards the end I ended up getting dragged into surgery at one of the hospitals that were short staffed and was there until the middle of the night. Aiden was waiting for me in the hallway outside of the operating room holding my bag.
"How'd it go?" Aiden asked.
"He didn't make it." I said taking of my scrub cap, well Wren's favorite scrub cap. I hadn't even realized that was the one I had grabbed out of my kit. I normally just kept it on hand as a reminder of how far I'd come.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Today was a horrible day. It was chaos and people died." I said. "And today was the closest to… normal I've felt in months."
"No one can ever say you're not good in a crisis." Aiden said.
"What's the damage?" I asked.
"Counting your guy…26 dead. Most of them foreign aid workers. The news is not liking the team but they are loving you." Aiden said showing me his phone but I waved him off. I could care less what people were saying about me.
"What exactly happened?" I asked.
"I think he'll be able to explain better." Aiden said nodding down the hall where Steve was standing watching us.
"Bad?" I asked.
"We've done worse." Aiden said. "I'll give you a minute."
"And a coffee?" I asked.
"Triple red eye." Aiden said going in search of whatever coffee they had here.
"Hey." Steve said.
"Hey." I said.
"Things got out of hand." Steve said rubbing the back of his neck.
"That's one word for it." I said crossing my arms. "What the hell happened Steve?"
"Rumlow." He asked.
"He blew up a building?" I asked.
"Yes… no… we had a lead but it was a diversion. He stole a bio-weapon and we chased him into a street market and we had him cornered but he said something about Bucky and I… I got distracted. He was wearing a vest and Wanda…" Steve started and Aya showed me exactly what had happened.
"What was she even doing here in the first place?" I said.
"She's a part of the team." Steve said.
"Yeah but you and I know she is nowhere near ready to deal with something like this. This was way above her paygrade." I said.
"We had less experience than her when started going on missions." Steve said getting defensive.
"Steve the serum gave you bigger muscles and enhanced everything you already had. You don't have the ability to blow things up by just looking at it and waving your hands and Wanda doesn't have a sentient being that controls time living inside of her acting as her training wheels." I said. "Yeah I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning but my abilities aren't completely tied to my emotions. What do you think a blow like this is going to do to Wanda? Have you even checked in on her?"
"N-Natasha's with her." Steve said paling as he realized how much he had screwed up.
"Natasha isn't the one she was saving when she threw that bomb." I said.
"I'm sorry." Steve said.
"Don't apologize. Do better." I said tapping two fingers on his forehead to teleport him to the compound.
Aiden stepped out from where he was listening to us talk.
"All things considered it could have been worse." Aiden said handing me a coffee.
"Doesn't excuse the slip up." I said.
"Are we good to head back?" he asked.
"Yeah. Just let me got out of these scrubs." I said before noticing some of the blood on my shoes and clothes. "And maybe wash off some of the blood so I don't traumatize the kids."
"You mean more than we already have?" Aiden taunted.
"Don't help." I said handing him back my coffee before I went to go change.
An Hour Later…
With the time difference and how busy we got, Aiden and I got home just in time to wake Sam and the kids up for school.
Sam was knocked out on the couch, snoring as he hugged a few files.
"Sammy?" I said shaking his shoulder only for him to wake up with a gasp.
"Wah!" He said.
"Morning." Aiden said. "Rough night?"
"Well it wasn't until Connor woke up and saw the news and started asking questions." Sam said.
"Oh boy." I said.
"Auntie! Uncle!" Connor shouted before he ran down the stairs and immediately tackled Aiden and I into a hug.
"Oh!" Aiden said flinching as he almost reached for a knife. Even after all these years he was still working on keeping work out of the house or at least on pause when the kids were around. Old habits were hard to break.
"Hey you." I said hugging him.
"You were on the news and you went after bad guys but you didn't say anything and people got hurt and you didn't answer your phone and… and… and…" Connor said panting.
"Whoa slow down a bit." I said running my fingers gently through his hair. "Yes your uncle and I had to go to Lagos. The bad guys were already gone but there was an accident and we had to help the people get out of that building. I didn't answer my phone because I had to go into surgery and it went a bit long so we just got back but we're okay."
"Nothing your Aunt and I couldn't handle." Aiden seconded before Connor turned to me.
"Just another Thursday." I seconded.
"Yesterday was Friday." Connor said.
"Just another Friday." I corrected.
"Boss, the kids are awake and Wren has teleported out of his crib." Friday alerted us.
"How about we get started on breakfast?" Aiden asked Connor.
"Can we have waffles?" Connor asked.
"It isn't Saturday if we don't have waffles." Aiden said.
"And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee." Sam seconded.
"I'll get the kids." I said teleporting upstairs.
"Mama!" Wren cheered teleporting into my arms with Ellie running right after him.
"My kiddos." I said picking them both up kissing the top of both of their heads. "Two for one diaper changes huh? Alright lets do this."
Once the kids were freshened up I teleported us all down to help out with breakfast.
Ellie and Wren were running around picking off some of the chopped strawberries we had set out for the kids to munch on while Aiden and Sam cooked breakfast.
"Shouldn't you be asleep right now? I thought you had work?" Sam asked.
"I'm working the late shift besides there's nothing an 8 minute temporal power nap can't fix." I said sipping my coffee.
"Lucky you." Aiden said.
"You're both lucky, do you have any idea how many fires are waiting for me to put out at the office come Monday morning?" Sam asked. "Speaking of have you talked to your dad since this happened?"
"I haven't heard a peep out of him since he went on ego boosting PR tour." I said.
"I thought he was promoting his scholarship fund?" Aiden said.
"Same thing." I said. "Three comma club."
"Ah." Aiden said in understanding.
"Besides this will probably blow over in a few days… two weeks tops." I said.
"Let's hope." Sam said.
Three Weeks Later…
Yeah… Lagos didn't blow over. It didn't blow over at all in fact it was the opposite. It had ignited a debate that I was honestly surprised took this long for the public to start having.
Who should be held responsible for the billions or even trillions of dollars of damages caused when Superheroes try to do their job?
Up until now it's had been Dad via the Stark Foundation with major funding from FEMA. I mean you could technically count an alien invasion as a natural disaster right?
"These so called heroes refuse to take responsibility someone needs to hold them accountable…" Some Senator from I have no idea what corner of the country said.
"I don't know why you bother watching this gossip. This so called news is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention that if they actually got off their asses and did their jobs instead of sitting around talking about what should be done your planet wouldn't be the mess it currently is." Aya said.
"Good morning to you too. Sleep well?" I snarked.
"Aya!" Wren cheered.
"Tiny human." Aya said with a smug smile at the fact that the rest of us only got one syllable of our names but Wren could clearly say hers. I was pretty sure she stayed with him in the middle of the night to squeeze in some private speech tutoring.
I was pretty sure we were a few weeks from Wren calling everyone 'Mortals' condescendingly.
It was the one thing I didn't consider when I made Aya his godmother. Natasha had respectfully bowed out when she realized that being godmother meant she would be the one to raise Wren if I died.
"You're in a mood." I said.
"I don't have moods." Aya said.
"Tell that to someone you haven't been living in for over 30 years." I said.
"Your father is being an idiot." Aya said.
"You call him an idiot at least five times a day." I said.
"He's being even more so today." Aya said.
"I wish I could help but we're not really speaking at the moment. I don't even know what timezone he's in right now." I said. "What's he doing that's pissing you off?"
"You'll find out." Aya said just as my least favorite person in the world appeared on screen.
"Uh." I groaned shutting off the TV before Ross could finish his first word. Wren heard my groan and seconded by blowing a raspberry mockingly. "Alright, Aiden had a late night so this little man is going to daycare until later."
I made sure to leave a plate of breakfast ready for Aiden in the microwave before I headed to work.
It was a pretty slow day in the ER. A few broken bones… flus with high fevers but nothing that required me grabbing a scalpel and cutting someone open. Times like this really made me miss working in warzones.
Aiden had stopped by around lunch to drop off a salad before telling me he was taking Wren for the rest of the day. I wasn't the only one that was feeling cooped up and bored out of his mind. After Lagos there wasn't really much for him to do. There was no real need for intel and the team was on standby until things calmed down.
I had stopped by the compound while Steve was out to check on Wanda. She was understandably a wreck watching the news and footage of the incident over and over again. It wasn't healthy to beat herself up about it. Fortunately Vision had taken it upon himself to look after Wanda and cheering her up. That was also how he had started wearing sweater vests.
I was still getting used to Jarvis being Vision yet at the same time not being Jarvis and just the mind stone using the template that was Jarvis to be this entirely new being that now wore sweater vests.
The sweater vest really threw off Aya.
"That's…" She said staring at Vision. "I… No."
With that she disappeared.
"Is she alright?" Vision asked confused.
"Yeah… she's just… time stuff." I said not knowing what else to say.
Once Vision had left I thought to myself.
"You know if you really liked the vest I could…" I started.
"Don't you dare." Aya snarled making me laugh before I teleported home.
"I'm home." I called out just as I hear and cheer and footsteps running towards me.
"Mama!" Wren cheered running before teleporting the last few steps into my arms.
"There's my little man." I said picking him up and planting a dramatic kiss on his cheek making him laugh. "Did you have fun with your uncle?"
"Heheh." Wren giggled. "Bah!"
"You got in trouble?" I said dramatically.
"That's not what he's trying to tell you." Aya said as soon as Wren saw her he leaped into her arms.
"Aya!" he cheered as Aya caught him amused.
"Bah!" Wren cheered pointing towards the kitchen.
"So you're telling me he can say her name perfectly but all I can get is Bah?" Tony said.
"Dad?" I said surprised to see him.
"Nora your dad dropped by. Unannounced." Aiden said mildly annoyed. Whatever they were talking about beforehand was not pleasant if I had to judge by the look on Aiden's face.
"Seriously? Bah?" Dad said.
"Well he does see Aya every day and he hasn't seen you in… like three months give or take." I said.
"Give, definitely give." Aya said.
"Bah!" Wren shouted pointing at dad again.
Aya smirked before whispering something to Wren about extra cookies. I was going to ask about that later.
"Well this is a surprise." I said.
"I would have called but…" He started.
"You haven't in the last three months and figured why start now?" I retorted.
"I'll just go ahead and butcher these two perfect medium rare steaks into three…" Aiden said less than pleased has he grabbed an exaggeratedly huge knife and slammed it onto the cutting board for dramatic effect. He was a bit of a perfectionist in the kitchen.
"Yeah I thought we could order in and maybe talk… alone." Dad said.
"Whatever you want to say to me you can say Infront of Aiden. There aren't any secrets in this house." I said.
'Ehem.' Aya cleared her throat loudly.
'Secrets that won't screw up the timeline and potentially destroy the universe.' I corrected.
"I'll take this one upstairs and away from the idiot while you talk." Aya said. "Say goodnight."
"Bah! Bah!" Wren said yelling and pointing at dad while Aya smiled before teleporting upstairs.
"It taught Wren that on purpose." Dad said.
"She did. You're not exactly her favorite person." I said emphasizing 'her'.
"It might have to do with the fact that you keep referring to her as a thing and not as a person." Aiden said. "She doesn't like that."
"I don't think anyone does." I said.
"Right, Look something's come up." Dad said before I got up and helped set the table.
"Something always comes up." I said putting the fords and knives at each place setting.
"Nora this is serious." Dad said.
"I know it is because you actually showed up. After 3 months." I said.
"Okay. I'm sorry I got busy with work…" He started.
"You mean ignoring the world because you got dumped." Aiden corrected. "Because you're the first person in the world who got dumped."
"Do you really have to be here?" Dad said.
"I live here and I cooked dinner." Aiden deadpanned as he continued plating.
"Lagos has brought some things up. I don't know if you've been watching the news, but they're not exactly loving us right now." He said.
"You mean the team." I corrected us.
"You may not actively work with them and I may be retired but we're still on the team." Dad said.
"I prefer to think of myself as a consultant, a contracted employee that while affiliated is not actually a part of said organization." I said.
"Same." Aiden seconded before sitting down.
"You're both part of the team and what I'm about to say affects you both no matter what you call yourselves." Tony said.
"If you say so." Aiden said sarcastically before putting the plates down and sitting down.
"This isn't the first time this conversation has come up. After Ultron where an entire country was destroyed, there were whispers but with Lagos those whispers turned into a conversation and laws proposed by the United Nations. The Sokovia Accords will put limits, checks and balances so to speak…" Dad said.
"You mean you're putting us on a leash." Aiden said angrily.
"No, we can still do our jobs there will just be more oversight." Dad said.
"You mean the same idiots that made such a mess of the world heroes had to step up in the first place." I said.
"The same idiots that funded Snow's child soldiers and used to hire me to do their dirty work?" Aiden said.
"That wouldn't happen. The oversight committee…" Dad started.
"A committee of politicians with their own hidden agendas. You're really selling it now dad." I said sarcastically.
"Nora you know that things can't keep going on the way they are. More and more enhanced people are popping out and not all of them are good. If we can keep track of them, register them and have a system of accountability…" he started.
"Are you fucking kidding me? You're going to ask people to register themselves. You want to help the government build a list of targets?" he started.
"That's not… you don't understand…" he started.
"No dad I understand perfectly. I've been at this a lot longer than you have and I can tell you right now nothing good comes out of the government making special lists that makes targets of certain groups of people." I said. "You know like Hitler plotting mass genocide? Christians in Ancient Rome or Hydra two years ago when they almost took all of us out with the gigantic armed Helicarriers you helped them build?"
"And Ultron." Aiden seconded making Dad flinch at the mention of it.
"Those are just the ones you know about because there are a lot more. Ones people like the ones you're helping now tried to pull off in the name of doing the right thing." I said.
"You're blowing this out of proportion." Dad said. "The things that you can do… that you've done.."
"Hey…" Aiden said glaring at him clenching his steak knife. I put a hand on Aiden's stopping him from doing anything rash.
"It's because of what I can do, what I've seen and what I've done that I'm telling you that this plan of yours is not going to work out the way you want it to. You feel guilty but this plan of yours is only going to scare people, and fear makes people desperate and desperate people do desperate things." I said.
"This can be different. If we can work together… Ross can give you…" Dad started.
"Ross? I should have known." I said. "You're working with him."
"He has the experience he knows what he is doing." Dad said.
"That dick hunted one of your best friends down to the ends of the Earth because he tried to weaponize Bruce's research and wanted to cover it up, the same dick that blackmailed my husband and an entire platoon of enhanced people into doing his dirty work in Afghanistan, things that violate the Geneva conventions that were created by the same people who put your accords together. That's the man you're backing." I said. "He wants to put people like Aiden, like me and like your grandson in a cell to poke and prod."
"That's not what this is." Dad said.
"But it's what it will turn into because that's what it always turns into." I said.
"The irony in all of this is that no one on the team has a higher body count than you." Aiden said making Dad stand up abruptly.
"It's going to happen Nora, you either get on board or you retire." Dad said.
"I'm not an avenger so don't worry. Next time aliens invade or you create another killer robot I'll let the world end. The kids will love growing up on Asgard." I said.
"Sounds like a great place to retire." Aiden said.
"Just read them. Give it a chance." Dad said sliding a flash drive to me.
"You already have my answer." I said.
Dad didn't say anything just walked out slamming the door.
"I told you he was an idiot." Aya said popping back in with Wren who reached for me and quickly got comfortable on my lap.
"He's not an idiot. He's guilty and desperate to make things right." I said.
"Sounds like an idiot to me." Aiden said and I kicked his foot making him chuckle. "Guess I'm out of a job… again."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out." I said.
"I always do." Aiden said drinking his beer. "Think we should call everyone and let them know what he's planning?"
"Nah, they'll find out soon enough. Besides we're retired now." I mocked making chuckle.
"How long do you think it'll stick this time?" Aiden said.
"How much damage do you think it'll take before they're knocking at our door asking us to unretire?" I said.
"I give a week." Aiden said before grabbing his phone taking out the sim card and smashing it. "Two tops."
"Sounds about right." Aya said.
"Cookie?" Wren asked Aya who teleported a cookie into her hand before giving it to Wren.
"We need to talk about you bribing my kid." I said.
"You call it bribe, I call it an incentive." Aya said before looking at Wren. "Tony?"
"Bah!" Wren said before blowing a raspberry.
"Remember when everyone was worried I'd be a bad influence?" Aiden said.
"They still are." I said handing him back his steak knife.