Fic - My Mouth Is Open, I See With My Eyes (part II)

[smilingskull.livejournal.com]

This is part two of my previous post. :) I would have put the whole dang thing in one post, but alas, LJ told me my entry was too long when I tried.

Title: My Mouth Is Open, I See With My Eyes
Pairings/Characters: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Teddy Altman/Billy Kaplan, Kate Bishop, Shannon Carter, Sharon Carter, Dr. Strange, Nick Fury, a whole lot of other people in cameo appearances.
Rating: R
Fandom: The Avengers. (All current Marvel cannon applies)
Warnings: Lots of angst, some minor violence. Angst. Also, some vaguely, not really, possibly sexual bits. Did I mention angst?
Word Count: ~ 13,700
Disclaimer: No own, no profit. 'Tis all good.



VI.

It’s cold and wet and grey, and the wind that’s whipping around is making Tony’s hair go every which way. Sharon’s smart enough to have tied her hair back.

As they walk through the muddy, dead grass, Tony gets progressively more and more stoic to the point where he swears that he’s wearing the faceplate, because no human can look this emotionless. Only machines can.

Or maybe he’s become one of the machines. Maybe he lost his humanity a long time ago.

“I didn’t want Shannon to see this.” Sharon whispers, and her words are almost lost in the wind. “I’ll bring her back in the summer, when there are flowers. Real flowers, not those fake ones that people leave.”

They wind their way past headstones, the white of each one standing out against the grays and brown of the ground. Tony knows his way through this part of Arlington unfortunately well. The ground sticks at his feet, and his steps are heavy and leaden, like he’s wearing the boots from the armor. He hasn’t put it on since Kate Bishop’s freak out last year, and before that he hadn’t suited up in at least a year. He misses it, misses fighting Doombots in Central Park, the Mandarin on Park Avenue, A.I.M. on the Helicarrier. He misses flying, misses soaring through the clouds at sunset.

The armor reminds him of Steve. Pretty much everything about the Avengers reminds him of Steve.

“Shannon never sleeps with that shield more than a foot from her.” Sharon says, obviously trying to fill the silence with something.

“Steve did the same thing.” Tony sighs.

“I know.” Sharon looks like she’s trying to say something, a few moments of silence stretch out. “She’s so much like Steve. Everyone says she looks just like me, but I think she looks exactly like Steve, and she acts like him. I got an e-mail from her teacher the other day recommending her for the debate team when she gets to middle school. I even let her start taking martial arts lessons. She’s amazing at it.”

“Did you ever get her tested for the serum?”

“No.”

“You need to. If she’s got even any in her body-“

“I know, I know.”

“But you don’t want to know.”

“Do you?”

Tony presses his lips together, rubs at his forehead. He can feel the cold where his scarf doesn’t quite meet the top of his coat.

“No, honestly, I don’t. But I know that we need to know.”

“I don’t think she does.”

“You just said it yourself, she’s amazing at hand-to-hand, she’s freakishly tall for her age, she could lift the shield at ten.”

“She gets bad colds every winter, they took her tonsils out when she was 8.”

“That could be because half of her chromosomal make-up comes from you.”

“I just don’t think any got passed on to her.”

“You need to get her tested.”

They crest the hill at the far end of the green, and stop. The statue of Captain America is impressive, it always has been. The fact that the flag part of it is an actual American flag probably helps. It’s tall and imposing and is sort of a bit of propaganda, but then, that’s what Cap always was. He was America, and that’s what mattered, what he stood for. A year after Steve had died; someone had hurled a bottle at Tony’s head on his way from the lobby of Stark Tower to his waiting car, screaming that he had killed this country.

Tony couldn’t deny it. He and Sharon, standing on this hill, looking up at their one shared love forever emblazoned in stone. One without freewill, and even worse, one with freewill. At the end, it got down to the fact that he had been so blinded, so much of a politically driven ass, that he had killed Steve. Sharon had pulled the trigger, but he had killed him. Weeks before, when he had fought with Steve at the destroyed mansion, instead of talking, instead of patching things back up and trying to make this work. He had crushed, destroyed, and killed this country, and their hero.

And his lover.

“The one thing we have in common.” He murmurs.

“We have more in common than Steve.” She says softly, looks like she’s trying not to cry.

“What? I’m an industrialist, a grade-A asshole, billionaire, playboy. I don’t think you share any of my finer qualities.” Tony says darkly, staring up at the statue.

“I wasn’t talking about personality. I was talking about people.”

He turns to look at her. Steve was theirs, but no one else. He can’t even think of any friends Sharon and he even had in common. Ok, so they both hated Nick Fury with a sort of love born of necessity. But that didn’t count.

“Shannon.” She says simply, and one tear does slip down her check.

“Shannon’s your daughter. Her father was a man she never knew, but should have. A man much, much better and stronger than me.”

“Who introduced her to the Avengers? To Steve? Gave her the shield? Gave her hope?”

“So I gave your daughter a death wish and an unhealthy obsession with a team that fell apart because of me being a dick.”

Shannon shakes her head sadly; Tony can see that the one tear has been joined by a few more.

“I know I’ll never convince you. But Shannon loves you, because you’re the closest thing to a father, to Steve she’s ever known. You were an Avenger. That automatically makes you more than amazing in her book. And I don’t care if you don’t see yourself that way, if the rest of America doesn’t see you that way, if I don’t always see you that way. See does, and that gives her hope. So let her have her hope, because it’s the only thing that may save her the day she does decide to take up that mantel.” She points in the direction of the stone version of Steve.

“You know she would never actually-“

“Yes, she would. She has a codename picked out, Tony. American Dream. This matters to her. Remember that e-mail I got from her teacher? It also said that I should interest her in other things, because she still wants to be a superhero when all the other kids want to politicians and doctors and firefighters.”

“I’d rather be a superhero than a politician any day.”

“Well I’m not about to crush that dream she’s got going. I was a spy, for Christ’s sake. The kid can be anything she wants.”

“She’s certainly got the contacts.”

Tony takes a few steps forward, cranes his neck up to see the statue. The day this was unveiled, at the funeral, it was raining and grey. Kind of like today. But where there is an expanse of grass today, there was an expanse of black that March morning. The amount of people who came to pay their final respects was truly amazing.

And then Tony had gotten up and made a fool of himself.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

It never was.



VII.

“Why if it isn’t Dorrek, Xavin and… Karolina, your name just does not jive with the rough consonants the other two have going on.” Kate smiles, laughs and gives Karolina a hug.

“Maybe I should change my name? Karrex or something?” She grins back, laughing.

“Nah, Karolina’s good.” Kate says. “You and Billy can be the ones with the normal names.”

“Ok, technically, I have a normal name too.” Teddy grumbles. He and Billy are both looking less than happy, never mind the fact that if Kate knows fashion, they’re both wearing tuxes that should make them extremely happy because they’re so well tailored. People call her Mini-Stark, but Billy is the one who actually looks like him. Right down to the goatee he’s decided is a good idea. And the tux he’s sporting tonight.

“Enjoy the party, boys.” Kate says, tipping Billy’s chin up with one finger, but Billy swats her hand away. Kate just shrugs, and taking Xavin on one arm and Karolina on the other, disappears into the crowd of the party. It’s the opening of the new Superheroes and Fashion exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum, and everyone who is anyone is here. Including the reason for the East Coast Gay Duo’s current moods.

“If every time we run into Jameson he makes snide comments about our relationship, or our being gay, I’m going to start suing him for slander.” Billy mutters.

“No kiddin’.” Teddy agrees. “But look. Let’s put on happy faces to avoid awkward questions about lover’s quarrels. And go enjoy the party. I think I just saw Ms. Marvel.”

“Carol Danvers Ms. Marvel?” Billy asks. “The one whose chest appears to be one of her superpowers?”

“That would be the one. If I was straight, I would totally be lusting after her.”

“Tommy’s with you there. Only, you know. Already straight. Of course, I think he’d just go after anyone with breasts. He had this whole Spiderwoman fetish going on. I never understood it.”

“The woman is as old as Stark. There is no way she has not had plastic surgery.”

“Or, like I said, the chest is a superpower.”

“Probably. Although, evidently, when they had to repower Spiderwoman, they gave her a boob job.”

“What? Where the hell did you read that? Page Six?”

“Oh, probably something like that.”

They move through the crowd, saying hello to and exchanging tidbits with various people. They’re in the middle of a lighthearted conversation with Emma Frost when someone calls their names.

“Billy! Teddy! Oh my god!” They barely have the time to turn about before they’re both being hugged by a very exuberant Cassie Lang. “I haven’t seen you guys in years!”

When Cassie lets them go, they’re amazed to actually see her. She’s tall, gorgeous, wearing an elegant gown and looking absolutely amazing in general. When she had left them five years ago for med school and the west coast, she’d looked a little more like the bubbly, goofy kid they had known as a Young Avengers. She still had the personality, though.

“You look amazing.” Billy says before he can stop himself, and Cassie laughs, a sound like bells chiming.

“Thank you, and so do you. I honestly thought you were Tony Stark for a few seconds – that’s a complement - before it actually occurred to me that you’ve always been short.” She teases. Billy tries to look put out, but he’s still grinning.

“And how about me?” Teddy says, raising his eyebrows and looking as dashing as possible.

“Oh hush, you know I’ve always though you were a hunk.” Cassie says, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “I am honestly so happy to see you two are together still. After living in California – man. I knew a girl who had been married twice and was already shopping for a third husband.”

“Wow.” Teddy says, and Billy looks kind of worried for the whole state.

“Its kind of mind numbing. And people say New York City is crazy.” Cassie laughs.

“Cassandra Eleanor Lang!”

All three turn to see Kate, hands on hips and one hip jutted out, but a giant smile on her face.

“Kate!” Cassie actually runs to the other girl, who catches her in a hug and spins her around before setting her down on wobbly heels. They’re both laughing, and hugging, and Kate looks so happy she could be crying. Billy and Teddy wander up as the two are trading fast paced stories and giggles.

Billy feels like the Young Avengers have just been reborn. The core team – the four who stuck it out though thick and thin – are all back, and there are Xavin and Karolina standing behind Cassie and Kate, introducing a Nico Minoru, and Billy realizes something.

He tugs Teddy down so he can whisper to him.

“Remember how I told you, when we disbanded the team, that Kate and I had said one day maybe we’d start up a new team? And how Tony always tells that story that the New Avengers just sort of came together, and that was the team?” Billy whispers against Teddy’s ear.

“Yeah.” Teddy says, turning to whisper to him. Billy just smiles, and Teddy looks back at the group of five in front of them, a grin creeping across his face. “Yeah, I do remember. I know. You sure we’re ready for this? That the world is ready for this? Us?”

“Yeah, I do. Do you?”

“Absolutely.” Teddy says, kisses Billy’s temple in one quick little motion.

Teddy straightens up, turns to the other five with an arm around Billy, who clears his throat, addresses Xavin, Karolina, Kate, Cassie and Nico.

“Hey guys.” He can’t stop smiling, grinning. “We’re going to restart the Avengers.”



VIII.

Tony’s pushing 50 and he feels it. Old injuries - his chest, the hand that Mallen crushed – twinge sometimes, even with the Extremis. He’s nursing a healthy dose of salt in his pepper hair, his temples went gray quite a while ago. Jan was always surprised, with how stressed he liked being, how much of an adrenaline junkie he was, that he hadn’t started going grey earlier. He’s just happy he’s still got all that hair, gray or not. If he ever starts going bald he’s just going to shave his head.

Like Obadiah. Bad train of though.

He puts his head down on folded arms, resting on top of the blueprints for the new lab facilities on Long Island that are covering his whole desk. He’s supposed to be giving them one last look-over before they start breaking ground, but he’s always found architectural blueprints semi-boring. Especially ones he’s already approved twice. Evidently third time’s the charm.

He hears his door open and one of his assistants – one half of Jillecca– calls into his office, “Mr. Stark? There are two men here to see you.”

“Send them in.” Tony sighs, talking into his desk.

“You don’t want to know who they are?” Jillecca asks, sounding surprised. She knows well enough Tony hates visitors that might trap him in business discussions when he’s trying to escape the office.

“Surprise me.” He mutters, lifting his head up and rubbing at his temple. Jillecca (It’s actually Jill, now that he can see her) gives him a worried look before retreating from the door, and lets two people into the large office.

The moment they walk in, Tony’s 20 years back in time, his breath caught in his throat. One individual is tall, strapping, blonde, and wearing a shirt that happily proclaims “Vote For a Better Tomorrow!” in Pop Art-ish lettering. The other has dark floppy hair, a goatee, and is sporting designer jeans and a pair of overpriced sunglasses (Tony knows because he was looking at the same pair last week) that are perched on his head. They both even have the same bright blue eyes.

But Steve never wore the four earrings that Teddy Altman still has, even though he’s way past teenage rebellion, and Tony had a mustache twenty years ago, not Billy Kaplan’s rock-star goatee. But God, do they ever remind him of Steve and himself from what’s become something of a past life. They always have. In the time it takes the two to walk to Tony’s desk, Tony just barley remembers how to breathe.

“Hey Mr. Stark.” Teddy says cheerily, dropping down into one of the two chairs on the other side of Tony’s desk. Billy perches on the back of the other chair, his arms crossed on his knees.

“Hi guys.” Tony know he sounds like he’s defusing a bomb, but he feels like it. He’s seen Billy and Teddy together a million times, they and Kate were the ones who stuck around, but for some reason his brain isn’t functioning today. Hasn’t been functioning since he’s been having the nightmares again, since Shannon become a part of his life, since he saw Teddy’s scar, since a million and one other things.

Billy gives Tony an odd look, raising one eyebrow.

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” He notes warily. Or two, Tony thinks, almost says it aloud, stops himself just in time.

“Sorry, long day.” He says, tries to look as positive as possible. “What brings you two all the way up here?”

Teddy and Billy exchange a look before looking back at Tony.

“Well, we wanted to present you with an idea, a proposition of sorts. Totally not a demand, just something to think about, I know it’s huge –”

“I am not funding your wedding.” Tony replies warily, cutting Billy off. Teddy actually laughs, although Billy looks profoundly confused.

“We’re not getting married. We want to restart the Avengers.” Teddy says, offering a palms-up-and-out sort of gesture.

Tony’s silent for a second. He knows Teddy and Billy have no idea what they’re doing to Tony’s brain, but he knows it. Knows that Teddy is the exuberant one, wants to get a team started up again, Billy’s the more reserved voice of reason. It’s Steve and him, after the breakout on Rykers, when the new team sort of just came together, formed itself. Over coffee and bagels, and some ‘convincing’ Steve did later, alone with Tony –

He’s not going to think about things that are years in the past, buried six feet under. He does that enough already.

“I’m not going to stop you from doing that.” Tony says slowly, knitting his fingers together under his chin. His goatee is rough against his hands. He knows what they want.

“We know.” Billy says, looking very serious.

“We were hoping you could help us in the funding department. Kate’s helping us a lot already, but we could still use a little extra leverage in the monetary department.” Teddy explains, shrugging at the end of this statement.

“I saw that one coming.” Tony sighs, leans back in his chair. “Who else is onboard?”

“Us and Kate, of course. Xavin and Karolina Dean – used to be part of the Runaways - said they’d join up. Evidently they’re pretty done with being UN ambassadors.” Billy starts ticking people off on his fingers.

“You’re going to need someone on the team besides gay aliens.” Tony says, grinning. Teddy rolls his eyes.

“Luckily, Kate and I fill the non-alien demographic. Plus Cassie Lang and Nico Minoru. And, you know, Vision, if you’ll give the OK to dig him out of storage.” Billy sounds rather sure about all of this.

“If I can find where we stashed him, the Vision is all yours.” Tony says, feeling vaguely guilty that he can’t actually remember where the android is in storage.

“And, uh. Well.” Billy clears his throat, “I’m assuming you still have a strict no kids rule?”

“Why?” Tony asks.

“You know the Carter girl? Cap and Sharon’s kid?” Teddy looks unsure about the whole thing.

Tony, however, feels like his mind is being fed through a blender. Of course he knows Shannon Carter. Knows that he sees her practically every weekend, at birthdays, on Christmas, knows her as if she was his daughter somehow. American Dream. Sharon calls her Dreamer jokingly, says she has her head in the clouds. She is the Dream.

“Yeah.” He says quietly, just a murmur. “I know Shannon. However, she’s only 14. And while she’s the most lethal 14-year-old I have ever met, she’s too young.”

“Cassie was 14 when we got her. Wasn’t Peter all of like 15 when he took on the streets of New York City? Alone?” Teddy points out, quirking his head to one side.

“Shannon’s… no.” Tony gets up from his chair as an image of Shannon swims into his head, morphs into an image of her father. Captain America. All patriotism and justice for all. All Tony had. He turns around, faces the window, crosses his arms. New York City spreads out at his feet. In the old, old days, this would have been a nice time for a drink. In the old days, this would have been a nice time to take the suit out for a spin. Now, all he can do is glare down at the millions of people who are the move and jive and beat of the city. “This isn’t the Young Avengers again, it’s the Avengers.” He says softly. “Shannon’s too young.”

“She’s not your kid, you know.” Teddy says, which is followed up by an ‘ow!’, Billy must have elbowed him.

“You can’t protect her forever. You should know that personality of hers better than anyone. Stubborn to a fault, honor and duty?” Billy sounds like he’s trying to be soothing, and there’s a smile in his voice. “We all knew Cap, but no one knew him like you did. And his daughter most certainly inherited his ideas and personality.”

“I know. I know that well.” Tony’s speaking to the window. “You have my blessing, the Maria Stark Foundation, to start up a new team. I can ever do logistics and communications for you. But no Shannon Carter.”

“Thank you.” Billy says, and Tony hears him get up, walk around the desk so he’s standing next to Tony, staring out the window. The sun is starting to set.

He hears Teddy softly leave, the door clicking shut behind him.

“You did see a ghost when we walked in, didn’t you?” Billy asks after a moment, tracing some unknown shape on the window, not looking at Tony. “Two of them, in fact. You’ve been seeing them for years.”

“Talk about inheriting things from parents. You seem to have Wanda’s empathy down pat.” Tony mutters, leaning his head against the glass.

“Just simple intuition. You and I do look alike in a weird way.”

“Same coloring.”

“Probably didn’t help that I walked in with 240 pounds of blonde muscle, did it?”

“No, not really.”

They’re silent for a second, two generations staring out at the city they’ve spent the better part of their lives protecting.

“The Avengers were always about you guys, you know. It’s a hard legacy to follow up. Captain America and Iron Man.” Billy shakes his head, smiles.

“The Avengers were about the city. They were about Jan and Hank and Bruce and Thor, too. They were about Clint and your mom and her brother. They were about protecting the world from foes no lone hero could overcome. They were about doing what was right when everything else seemed lost, when all you could do was cobble together some sense of self and go out there and protect the people you loved. The Avengers were about Steve. Never about me. Especially when at the proverbial moment of truth I failed miserably and went the wrong way. Put the people I loved in harm’s way, destroyed the only relationships in my life that meant something. The Avengers were about living with hope and fighting for hope.”

Billy doesn’t say anything right away after this, just turns to look at Tony, a sad smile on his face.

“Nice speech, Cap.” He says gently. Tony turns away, sighs, wants to curl up in a little ball under his desk. Instead he puts his palms against the glass of the windows, spreads his fingers as far as they’ll go. The Extremis is running wild, unchecked in his head. News reports, databases, searches, TV channels, radio frequencies go shooting by, blazing through his brain.

“Don’t do something stupid like that, ok?” Tony says finally, his eyes screwed closed, his fingers curling into fists against the class. “Teddy’s worth more than anything else you could possibly find in this world.”

“I know.” Billy says, reaches out and traces a star into the glass in front of Tony’s chest, which glows softly with his magic. “I always have known.”

“Good.” Tony chokes out, staring at the star on the window. He places a hand against it, and it’s warm under the skin of his palm.

“Did you still love him even through all of that?”

“Through all of that and through all of the aftermath. I still do. I wake up every morning hoping he’ll be right back in bed with me.”

“I didn’t know you were an idealist.”

“Steve rubbed off on me.”

“That I did know.”

“Make sure Shannon’s safe, ok? I know Sharon will give her approval.”

“I will.”

“That’s what the Avengers are about. Fighting for what you believe in. I don’t think anyone can do that better than Shannon.”

“We’ll make sure, all of us, to do that. We always have.”

“I know. I knew that from the first time we tried to stop you guys and you handed Kang his ass on a silver platter.”

“Well, now you won’t have to stop us.”

“No. I won’t.”

Billy turns to leave, and then stops for a second, placing his hand over Tony’s where it’s covering the star.

“He loved you through all of that, too.”

And then he’s gone, and Tony slides down the window, fists balled on either side of his head, forehead pressed to the glass. He hasn’t cried in years, he won’t now, he can’t – he calls the helmet from it’s permanent place on his desk, and it lands in his hands, staring up at him. He clutches it, like it’s a lifeline, red and gold glowing in the setting light of the sun.

A single tear splashes against the emotionless gold of the faceplate. The star still glows above his head, standing out against the last rays of the sun.



IX.

They’re all assembled in the main conference room on the 92nd floor of Stark Tower, all in costume. Wiccan, Hulkling, Karolina, Xavin, Nico, Stature, Hawkeye, The Vision and American Dream.

The doors opens and Tony Stark strides in, every the in-control CEO, flanked by Carol Danvers, Sharon Carter, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne. Tony has a press release in his hands, and is reading it over.

“Karolina and Nico. You guys need codenames.” He says, looking up from the document.

“Ah. We kind of have them.” Karolina grins sheepishly.

“Lucy in the Sky and Sister Grimm.” Nico points to Karolina and then herself.

“Wow, that’s almost as bad as One Woman Pride Parade and Hot Topic Girl. You need new codenames.” Tony says.

“Can I get a new one too?” Teddy asks, actually raises his hand like a kid in a classroom.

“What’s wrong with Hulkling? It’s pretty much to the point.” Tony shrugs.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna win this battle. Coming from Iron Man, who’s flanked by the Wasp and Ant-Man. See, this is problem. You guys got all the good, normal names. There were none left by the time we rolled around.” Teddy complains.

“I like mine.” Shannon points out, from where she’s sitting at the head of the table, the shield in her lap. Her costume is almost an exact replica of Steve’s, except she has slightly more functional and protective boots and gloves. The corset is also new.

“Can I be Dorrek instead? That might as well be a codename.” Teddy asks, leaning back in his chair. It squeaks in protest under the weight – he’s hulked out.

“I could be Solar.” Karolina offers up.

“I… have no ideas.” Nico mutters.

“Enchantress?” Jan suggests, sitting down at the table.

“There’s an Enchantress already, and she’s on the wrong side of Good vs. Evil.” Teddy points out.

“Yes, but Amora’s current whereabouts are unknown. I believe that is how Hawkeye got her codename.” The Vision says from where he’s standing by the windows, keeping an eye on the growing sea of press out front of Stark Tower. It’s been almost a decade without an Avengers team, so the press is having a field day.

“Oh sure, I’ll be Enchantress. It’ll probably change at least six times, though. I’ll be like the new Tabitha Smith.” Nico laughs.

“She has had way more than her fair share of names. And none of them were very good.” Billy rolls his eyes.

“Alright, so we have Wiccan, Dorrek, Solar, Xavin, Enchantress, Hawkeye, Stature, The Vision and American Dream. We all good?” Tony asks, after having rattled the names off on his fingers. “I’ll go get this retyped and hand it to the PR girl to read. Luke Cage and Clint Barton are down on stage waiting for you, and so is Peter Parker, so not only will you not get shot, but Jameson will be distracted long enough to pick on Parker and not you. It is now three minutes to noon, so whenever you’re ready, the stage is all yours.”

And with that Tony Stark and his entourage leave. Sharon sticks around a bit to give Shannon a kiss.

“Be careful.” Sharon says, deadly serious.

“Of course, mom.” Shannon grins.

“Do not get shot, maimed, killed, disemboweled, or stabbed with knives. Or blown up, eviscerated, brainwashed or injected with questionable nanobots.” Sharon orders, crossing her arms.

“Tony told you to tell me the last one, didn’t he?” Shannon laughs, stands up to give her mother a hug. Sharon hangs on a moment longer than she needs to, then lets Shannon go.

“I’m proud of you, Dreamer.” She says, and then places a kiss on Shannon’s forehead before leaving the way the others went.

“Alright boys and girls, are we ready to lock and load?” Shannon asks, moving to the door.

“Hell yes. Let’s get this damn thing over with.” Cassie cracks her knuckles, her neck, rolls out her shoulder. “Let’s go face the world and tell them that we’re back, baby.”

“Dream, would you do the honors?” Billy asks, as they all stand up.

“Me?” She asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“It’s tradition.” Vision says solemnly.

American Dream takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, then thrusts the shield above her head with a cry she’s wanted to say her whole life and mean it.

“Avengers Assemble!”



X.

Tony stands behind where the Avengers are waving, answering questions, posing for the thousands of flashbulbs that are going off. He’s been in their shoes before, up on that stage, announcing to the world that the Avengers are back. He just hopes that this team will stay around longer, make it, never have to deal with anything like the SHRA, a divided team. They look ready to do this, ready to take on anything that comes their way.

“I never thought I’d see this again.” Carol muses, from where she’s standing on Tony’s right.

“Me neither. I especially never predicted being behind the scenes, not in front of them.” Tony answers.

“No kidding. I kind of like it though. It’s relaxing.”

“Compared to what normally happens, yeah.”

“When was the last time you put on the Iron Man armor?”

“Too long ago. What about that costume of yours?”

“Also way too long ago. Think we can form the Geriatric Avengers?”

Tony actually laughs, breaks into a grin, his first real one in ages. It feels good; it feels right to be back here, standing with the men and women that first built the Avengers. His friends, everyone who’s still in his life, even after anything. He leans left and smiles at Sharon.

“So, she’s turning 16 next year.” He says nonchalantly.

“You are not getting her a car.” Sharon glares at him, as if daring him to contradict her. “The shield was bad enough.”

“No, I was thinking more along the lines of a Quinjet.”

“Are you out of your mind!?”

“Hey, they’re gonna need one.”

“A jet for the team, yes. For our daughter, absolutely not.”

Tony stares at her, an odd look on his face. She looks back at him, confused.

“‘Our’ daughter?” He asks quietly, raising an eyebrow.

“Ok, my daughter. Your Dreamer.”

He looks back up at the stage. Shannon is standing in the middle, flanked by Billy and Teddy on either side. The shield is strapped to her back, smack-dab in the center of Tony’s line of vision. Tony can’t help it, he smiles.

The PR girl on the far side of the stage says something, and the Avengers turn to leave the stage, American Dream jumping right off the middle where she was standing. She jogs back to where Tony and Sharon are, and captures them both in a hug. She, at the ripe old age of 15, is only an inch shorter than Tony.

“I’m going to be looking up at you before the end of the year rolls around, beanstalk.” He laughs when Shannon backs up to give them both breathing room.

“That’s the plan.” She grins back at him, hitches the shield a bit higher up on her back. A totally simple gesture, but Tony’s seen it a million times before. He presses his lips together, tries to stay calm. The costume is crazy enough.

Billy and Teddy come up to the trio, arms around each other’s waists. Tony feels like he’s about to crack, having them together like this, with Dreamer, Billy and Teddy, in the same place. It feels like everything around him is just screaming Steve. Images dart through his head, tangled in the Extremis, Steve in the back of the Quinjet, after they pulled him out of the ice, Shannon at her 10th birthday party, Billy and Teddy on Dr. Strange’s roof, Steve running through a battle, shield held high, sparing with Steve, working with Steve to try to disband the Young Avengers, Tony peeling Steve out of his uniform, the armor dropping away, a wall against his back, kissing Steve lazily in bed one morning, hugs, kisses, sex, sharing a bed, wrapped around each other in a tangle of sheets, saying ‘I love you’.

Tony blinks a few times, trying to clear the tears that he knows are going to show up any second now. He stares skyward, at the flag on the end of the flagpole out front of the building. It whips in the wind, dancing against the sky. Tony has a sudden urge to untie it, set it free.

Set it free.

He looks back down at Shannon and Billy and Teddy, where they’re standing a few feet from him. Remembers the conversation with Billy in his office scarcely a year ago. Remembers Steve, everything about him, how much he loved him. And how much Steve loved him back.

“Hey Shannon.” He says, and she turns, looks worried when she notices he looks like he’s on the brink of crying, walks over to where he is.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, frowning.

“Nothing’s wrong.” He smiles, even though he feels like he’s about to cry. “Nothing’s wrong. Steve would be so proud of you. Worried out of his thick skull, but so proud, too. You’re more than an honor to his memory. I know you’ll do an amazing job, Shannon.”

“You’re sure you’re alright?” She asks, reaches up and brushes a tear away. His vision goes foggy, and damn, now he is crying.

“Yeah, for once.” His voice chokes up, catches. “For once, I totally am. I know I don’t seem it – but. I am. If you love something—”

“Set it free.” Shannon quotes right back, then smiles. “And if it comes back, it’s yours forever.” Her eyes sparkle, and she takes Tony’s hands in her own. “I know he loved you. I’m sure he still does, wherever he is. In fact, I know it. And if you set him free, I’d say he’d most certainly came back.”

Tony takes a deep breath, closes his eyes for a second, before opening them again.

“Steve once said ‘It is the Dream, the hope, that makes reality worth living.’”

Shannon smiles, clutches at his hands a little tighter.

“Talk about fate in picking a codename.”

“I wouldn’t call that fate.”

“What would you call it then?”

“I’d call it something worth living for.” He says, and there’s joy in his voice he hasn’t heard from himself in years. He wraps Shannon in a hug; smiles when she hugs right back, gives him a reassuring squeeze. “Definitely worth living for.”