All Your Tomorrows (1/?) (R)

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

Title: All Your Tomorrows (1/?)
Author: Kijikun
Rating: R
Betas: ellyr_in_ink and pandanoai
Word count: 5119
Series: Some Assembly Required
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Tony (eventually), Steve/Jan
Universe/Timeline: Ultimates, takes place after Ultimates 2 and Ultimate Human. Events take place three months after All That Remains.
Warnings: Minor violence, children in confinement
A/N: This isn't the direct sequel to All That Remains, but don't worry that's coming (and takes place before this story). This is a bit of a What If story.



Inside the Triskelion, base of operations for the organization known as SHIELD, in one of the many monitoring rooms, an alarm went off.

"What do we have?" A woman in uniform asked, hurrying over to the monitors.

"A power surge -- midtown New York. Whatever it is - it's getting bigger and leaking power like crazy," the young man seated in front of it told her. "Last time we saw something like this, it was Chitauri…"

"Someone call General Fury!"

"How quickly can we get people down there?"

"Are the Fantastic Four in the area? Can we get them?"

***

Maria landed unsteadily on her feet, nausea rolling through her. The last thing she could remember was a glowing cube appearing in the middle of the room they'd been in, and Val grabbing for it. She'd been playing with Franklin while Reed and Tony were in the lab. She was pretty sure that what they were doing in the lab was 'super hero' related, but some things she knew not to ask about.

There was an odd purple energy field around them. She couldn't see what was on the other side of it, but the fact that there was blacktop under her feet and not carpet said they weren't in the Baxter Building anymore.

"Whoa, that was some ride!" Franklin said, shaking his head as he picked himself up off the ground. "Hey, where's Val? Val?!"

Val was sitting a few feet away on a patch of grass playing with some dandelions. Franklin hurried over to her, hugging his little sister. "Hi, Franklin," the toddler said, cheerfully.

Franklin hugged her again, and then frowned at her. "I told you not to touch the cube, Val! We don't know what that was. It could have been anything-- okay it could have been one thing but still -- you don't just grab glowing cubes that appear out of nowhere."

Maria turned her head to look at them. "Franklin."

Val looked about ready to cry. Maria could understand the feeling but this really wasn't the time.

"I mean, we're probably just a few blocks from the Baxter Building or something. This isn't a big deal. I'm sure even if we aren't in New York anymore, we're still on earth. This looks like earth after all. I’ve never seen an alien planet with pavement," Franklin went on.

"Franklin," Maria repeated. The first thing they needed to do was to assess the situation and find out where Tony was, and where Franklin's parents were. Maria was sure things would be fine if she could find Tony. Or he'd find her. He'd found her during that battle, hadn't he? When she'd gotten separated from Jan, and there had been so much yelling and shooting -- then there was Tony scooping her up and keeping her safe -- like she was supposed to keep him.

Her hands started to shake.

Franklin picked up Val, and walked towards her. "What?"

"Don't panic," Maria told him, trying to smile. She wanted to throw herself at the energy field and scream to be let out.

Franklin rolled his eyes as Maria bent down to pick up a piece of paper that caught her eye. "I think sometimes I liked you better before you started making references like that." He walked over and poked at the energy field. It fluctuated under his touch with a flash of light which made Val hide her head.

Maria sighed and looked back to the newspaper she'd found. Something was wrong with it --

She frowned and tried to place it. "Franklin --" she started to say, lifting her head. Then she froze for a second, staring at the combat boots that were visible under the energy field. Now she was looking at green military pants. "Franklin!"

Maria grabbed Franklin's arm and pulling him back. "We're about to be surrounded by soldiers. Why are we about to be surrounded by soldiers? Why aren't we in the Baxter Building? We should be there! Did we do something wrong?"

Franklin's eyes widened and his arms tightened around Val. "I--I don't know. I can try scanning -- ahh!" He almost dropped Val as his knees threatened to buckle.

Val let out a wail and Maria gripped his arms to keep him steady. "Franklin?"

"Okay, not doing that again. Scanning, bad idea. I'm being blocked by something. It might be this force field but --" Franklin shook his head.

Maria chewed on her bottom lip. "What do we do, Franklin? Where's Tony?"

Franklin, for the first time since she'd met him almost a year ago, looked -- scared. Maria bit the inside of her cheek, watching as more of the soldiers became visible. "Franklin ---"

The force field disappeared completely. Encircling them were uniformed men and women, guns and rifles trained on them. Maria wanted to scream at the sight of the weapons and she didn't know why. The symbol on their uniforms looked familiar. She'd seen it before.

"We're going to have to run," Franklin’s voice spoke in her head. "Fight -- anything. We need to get someplace where we can try and contact my parents or yours. Or -- or anybody. Do you have that cell phone Tony gave you?"

Maria kept her head still. She wasn't going to give them any body language. This might be a test -- but Tony didn't test her like this. Not even in the Complex had she had tests like this. "Yeah, but -- they're soldiers. I-- they might have orders. We -- I should listen to them. I'm supposed to."

"Listen to me, Maria, something isn't right and I don't think being… whatever is going to help. You go right, I'll go left?"

The soldiers seemed to be waiting for orders and Maria could read on several of them that they were surprised. What had they expected to find behind the force field? She tilted her head slightly at Franklin, and then they were both off - Franklin still carrying Val.

She didn't let herself look back towards Franklin -- he could take care of himself, she knew he could -- instead she did a neat tumble under the legs of a few stunned soldiers then up on the shoulders of the ones behind them. She used his shoulder as a quick leap off point, giving her more height.

Instinctively, she knew they were trying to grab her. She could hear their voices -- people yelling -- but she kept going. She pushed, scrambled, kicked, elbowed -- she used every evasive move she'd ever learned at the Complex and a few quick tumbles Steve had taught her. Maria could see her goal. If she could just get clear towards the jeeps… Beyond that she could see people -- civilians -- just glimpses but they were there.

Had they blocked the area off to keep people from seeing this? Why?

A hand grabbed her arm and she slammed her foot into the person's leg and heard a snap. She wanted Tony. She wanted Tony. She wanted Tony.

The first impact hit her a few feet from the first jeep. It broke her stride for a moment. Then a sharp pain like a needle in her back, but she kept going. Another hit and things started going fuzzy. Maria tried to push forward, hand reaching out to grab at the jeep. If she could just get over it -- so the civilians could see her -- maybe someone would know her -- know Tony.

Her hands missed as she went down, hitting the ground hard. She tried to push herself up, but couldn't. Maria could only curl around herself as her face grew wet. "Tony," she whispered as if he could hear her.

He would -- he'd come --

"How many trancs did you hit her with? She's just a kid!"

"She broke Mitchell's leg -- kid or not she wasn't going down --"

Her vision blurred as boots came into view.

Maybe if she just closed her eyes, she'd open them and Tony would be there or Steve -- everything went dark.

***

General Nick Fury looked at the girl through the glass. She was awake, unlike the boy.

She was sitting in the middle of her glass enclosure, her knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around them, staring back at him.

"How long has she been sitting there like that?" he asked the doctor standing next to him.

"For a while now, General. When she first woke up she was walking the perimeter of the room, running her hand against the glass." The doctor paused, looking at something on his clip board. "Correction -- that was when she woke the second time. When she woke up the first time, she started trying to break the walls with her fists, while screaming and crying." He shifted uncomfortably, eyes darting to the eerily still child.

Dr. Manuel cleared his throat and continued. "As far as we can tell from the preliminary tests we've ran on her and her blood samples before she woke, she isn't a mutant. So we're not really sure what she was trying to do," Dr. Manuel told him. "We're running more tests on her blood as we speak."

Fury turned his head to glare at the doctor. Damnit, sometimes he missed Banner. "She broke one of my men's legs and broke the ribs of another -- and you're telling me she isn't a mutant?"

"She might be a Meta, but as I said, sir, preliminary tests aren't showing anything out of the ordinary --" Dr. Manuel started.

Fury cut him off. "Did you check her blood for any known version of the super-serum?"

"General Fury?"

Fury sighed and rubbed his forehead. "A -- what, eight year old? Caused injury to several highly trained soldiers, it took three trancs to take her down, and she woke up faster than she should have given her body mass -- the first thing you should have checked for was super-serum."

"We'll start testing for that right away, General Fury. Should we start running DNA profiles on all three of the children?" Dr. Manuel asked.

"Run her against Tony Stark's. According to the backpack we recovered, her name is 'Maria Stark'," Fury told him, watching the girl. She shifted her head at the sound of her name. "Whether it's true or not, it's a starting point. What have you found out on the boy?"

"Nothing other than he and Val are both mutants. From what Captain Danvers has discovered from Val, we know Val and the boy, Franklin, are brother and sister." Dr. Manuel shifted uneasily. "General, some of my people are -- uncomfortable doing so much testing on such young children."

"And if these 'young children,' two of whom have displayed quite a bit of power--need I remind you that 'Franklin' knocked five men unconscious by looking at them -- if they turn out to be sleeper agents, shape shifters, or some other threat, do we really want to just shrug our shoulders and say 'oh, they looked like harmless children?" Fury snapped.

"No, sir," Dr. Manuel stammered.

"Go run your tests, Doctor. Let me know when we have something or when the boy is awake." Fury told him.

As soon as the Doctor had left the area, the girl got to her feet and walked over to the glass. She was looking carefully at his uniform.

"General Fury, permission to speak?" the girl asked. Her voice was steady, and if Fury hadn't been a trained soldier who'd seen and studied a hell of a lot of body language, he wouldn't have noticed the way she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Permission granted," Fury told her. "It's Maria, isn't it?"

She nodded solemnly. "I want to see Tony, please, sir. I am aware I must have failed-- " Her voice cracked and she bit her lip. "Must have done something wrong -- but Tony said I didn't have to go back to the Complex. Tony won't make me stay here."

Her body language was odd -- like she had two different instincts pulling at her. She was trying to hide it - - that was obvious. Fury was curious as to why. "Elaborate, solider," he told her. "Who is this Tony you think will get you out of here?"

Her chin went up. "Tony Stark, Director of SHIELD and Iron Man," Maria said, pointedly. "My name is Maria Stark, previously I was F-12, and I am in the care of Tony Stark."

"Is that so? Then we'll just call him up and see what he has to say about that. How does that sound?" He didn't even want to touch the idea of someone letting Stark run SHIELD. Plus, he didn't like the way this was starting to sound.

The girl looked hopeful. "Please, sir, call Tony. He'll come and get me."

Fury regarded her for a moment. She had both her hands pressed against the glass now, eyes wide. Any trace of the child soldier was gone -- replaced by the almost normal reactions of a child her age. He'd seen that before, the child soldier part at least. "I'll make you a deal, Maria Stark. You answer our questions, cooperate with our tests, and I'll call Tony to come get you."

Maria nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

*General, the boy is awake and is requesting someone call Reed Richards from the Fantastic Four.*

He turned back and looked at the girl. "Maria, what is the name of the boy you were with?"

"Franklin Richards, sir."

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. He really didn't need this. "I really don't need this."

***

There were few things that annoyed Tony more than being stonewalled by politicians, but being stonewalled by SHEILD was fast climbing his short list. If General Fury thought he was going to buy that 'training exercise' bit SHIELD had fed to the public about the incident earlier that day in midtown -- well, he had some lovely stocks in Enron to sell him.

Fury had just been lucky the Ultimates had been tied up in other matters and that the Fantastic Four had been conveniently elsewhere. It made him almost want to ask Wanda if she'd been messing with any interesting probabilities recently, because what were the odds that only SHIELD would be around to respond, and it 'only' be a 'training exercise'.

"Anything you want to share with the rest of the class, Fury?" Tony asked, swirling his scotch in its glass. Fury's image filled the video screen, but Tony barely glanced at him.

"Nothing you or your team need to worry about, Stark," Fury told him, sounding and looking -- from Tony's sidelong glances – as though he wanted to be doing something other than talking to Tony.

Tony was almost hurt. Almost. "I'd say a power reading of that scale, followed by the appearance of a very interesting energy field in mid-town Manhattan, is something my team does need to worry about." He downed the scotch and reached for the decanter to refill his glass. The ice had barely melted.

"Don't you trust me?" Fury asked with a chuckle.

"Not particularly, sometimes, but you knew that," Tony commented dryly. He was trying very hard not to think about how stupid it was that filling up his own scotch glass made him miss Jarvis. "What happened out there today, Fury? And please don't tell me 'training exercise'."

"It's a favorite and the public always believes it."

Tony took a long drink before he answered. "Except when they don't. Whatever it is, you know you won't be able to keep a lid on it long. There was a sizeable crowd around that perimeter your people set up -- though you would think the public masses would have learned by now to go the other way when SHIELD or the Ultimates show up --"

"Do you have a point?"

"I always have a point," Tony told him, putting his feet on his desk. "The point is that someone saw something. And it will get out. So you might as well tell me now."

If Fury hadn't been Fury, Tony was certain he would have rolled his eyes. "You can keep on believing that all you want. Good day, Tony." The screen went blank.

"Yeah, you too, asshole," Tony muttered, swinging his feet off his desk. He sat down his glass and pinched the bridge of his nose before opening his desk and pulling out his pills.

He'd just tossed them in his mouth when Steve walked in. He'd been around more lately, not that Tony was complaining -- he counted Steve among his few friends and he genuinely liked the guy. In a different world, he wouldn't have minded being more than friends, but things were what they were.

"What did General Fury say?" Steve asked, watching Tony wash the pills down with more scotch.

Tony waved his hand. "Blah, blah, blah, can't tell you, blah, blah, blah sticking with the training exercise excuse, blah blah, don't call us we'll call you," he said, then shrugged. "It's what I expected."

Steve frowned, and Tony wasn't sure if it was the news or the way Tony was talking about a General. "Do you think we should be worried?"

Tony shrugged again, getting to his feet. "Fury didn't seem to be. Whatever it is, he thinks they have it under control." He studied Steve carefully, looking for the slightest twitch in his face. "Do you think we should be worried?"

"I think -- I think if General Fury isn't worried, we should see how things play out," he told Tony, then cocked his head to the side, smiling slightly. "Though I assume you're working on getting us more intel to work with."

"You assume correctly." Tony finished off the last of the scotch. "What are you doing here, anyway? I could have called you with what I learned from Fury."

Steve shrugged and looked almost bashful. He was studying a watercolor on the wall very carefully. "I thought you might like to practice those hand-to-hand combat moves I was showing you. It never hurts to be prepared."

"You just like beating the shit out of me," Tony corrected with a laugh. "Where's Jan, by the way?"

Steve’s jaw clenched for a moment. "She's busy."

Tony translated that as: She's visiting Hank again. "Ah. Well then, I guess it wouldn't hurt to practice them. I don't plan on being caught without my armor in a fight but it might impress the ladies."

As he'd planned, that got Steve to smile slightly. "I don't think you need any help in impressing women, Tony." Steve told him as they left the office.

"True, but I can make them even more impressed --"

***

"Hi Hank," Jan greeted her ex-husband through the glass. She appreciated the certain amount of privacy they seemed to allow her for these visits.

Hank pushed his fingers through his hair and gave her a small smile. "Nice of you to visit. No one really comes and talks to me."

Jan rolled her eyes at him. "I can't imagine why. Maybe something to do with trying to help foreign powers take over the U.S.”

"I was working against them from the inside," Hank protested.

She rolled her eyes again. "Just keep saying that, Hank. Maybe it'll make it truer."

Hank rubbed the back of his head, not meeting her eyes. "How's Ultron?"

"Ultron?" Jan repeated then blinked. "Oh, your robot. It's sort of -- well, Tony has it – as his employee. It and Wanda went to the Natural History Museum."

"At least someone is having some kind of good luck," Hank muttered. "Any idea when they're going to let me out?"

"Another decade, or until they need the cell?" Jan tried to keep her tone light. She wasn't even sure why she kept visiting Hank. She missed him, sure, they'd been together for so long that of course she missed him. It had nothing to do with her feelings for Steve or anything to do with Steve. It was just…

Hank shrugged. "Fury has other cells. They've got kids in them right now. At least they look like kids. Could be shape-shifting aliens."

Jan blinked. "I'm sorry did you say --"

"Kids. At least two of them," Hank said, softly. "A girl and a boy. I've seen the girl at least twice now. They take her by this way up to the labs."

Jan crossed her arms over her chest, frowning slightly. "Why are you telling me this?" she hissed. "I can't get you out of here. You know that."

Hank frowned back. "I'm simply telling you that there are two blonde-haired, blue-eyed children in lock up. Don't you find that interesting?" Hank asked. "I do. Other people might, as well."

***
Franklin sat with his back against one of the glass walls, watching Val play. She didn't stay with him all the time but the woman that looked like Ms. Marvel -- and probably was this universes' Carol Danvers, (but she never told Frank her name and he'd never asked) -- brought her into see him at least once a day.

He had no idea where Maria was, though he assumed she was somewhere in the same complex. Several times since he'd first woken up in his glass cell he'd tried to mentally find her, but he kept running into walls. In fact, he couldn't 'read' anyone. They must have some sort of psychic blocking technology.

Once or twice, he'd thought about asking for Professor Xavier over asking for his father, but he didn't know the status quo of this universe. Mutants obviously existed given the comments he'd overheard, but he didn't know their legal status or even if Professor Xavier was alive.

He hated alternate universes. This might be his first one -- if you didn't count the one he created or one of the alternate timelines he could remember -- but he didn’t like it so far. Nick Fury looked like Samuel L. Jackson and this world's Reed Richards had yet to make an appearance. His dad would have been all over this and he would already have figured out how to send them home.

"Franklin?" Val asked, holding out a stuffed rabbit she'd gotten from somewhere to him. "Play with me?"
He shook his head. "Not right now, Val. I'm thinking," he told her.

Val frowned at him and came back a moment later with a book. "Read to me?"

Franklin sighed. "Val, please…"

She made a soft sound and Franklin looked up. Val was holding the book to her chest and looked ready to cry. "I want Mommy. I want Daddy," she whimpered.

He felt a stab of guilt and gathered his younger sister into his arms. "I do too, Val. But they'll be here soon."

Their dad had to be looking for them. The Fantastic Four --theirFantastic Four-- would be there soon to take them home. They had too.

***

Steve bit the inside of his cheek, looking at Jan's back as they lay in bed. She'd gone to talk to Tony again, but she didn't want to tell Steve about it.

He should be at least slightly jealous. Tony was a very handsome and charming man, and Jan had spent quite a bit of time with Tony over the last few days.

He suspected it was something to do with Hank, and how naïve did she think he was that he didn't know she visited Hank at least twice a week. He didn't want to even contemplate that it could be something else, something Tony didn't want Steve to know yet.

"How was Tony?" He hadn't asked that earlier, they'd been too busy arguing. All he had asked was what she'd wanted to talk to Tony about and she'd blown up at him about how she was allowed to talk to other people if she wanted.

It had gone kind of downhill from there.

Jan shifted to look back over her shoulder at him. "The same as he usually is these days," she told him, she looked sad for a moment and shook her head. "He spends a lot of time at the new Mansion, I think."

"It's a better distraction than drinking," Steve muttered.

"He says hello, by the way. Though I don't know why," she laughed. "He sees you more than I do sometimes. Is he still trying to get you to move into the Mansion?"

Tony had been, but Steve didn't like to bring it up. It had upset Jan the first few times he'd mentioned Tony's offer. "You've been over to talk to him three times over the last few days," Steve pointed out.

Jan rolled over and sighed. "So? He's my friend, too." she pointed out.

Steve frowned, sitting up. Not really, he doesn't like you very much, he thought. "What, so he can talk to you and not me about whatever is bothering him? I know something has been eating him."

Tony hadn't wanted to tell him, and Steve had found himself angrier than he had a right to be at the idea that Tony could talk to – trust-- Jan but not him.

Jan started to laugh, shaking her head at him. "Steve, you sound so jealous," she teased, reaching out and touching his shoulder. "I promise I won't steal Tony away from you. He'll still let you throw him about the gym."

Steve rubbed the back of his head. "Don't be silly, Jan," he told her. "I just don't like being left in the dark by Tony."

Her hand dropped away and she curled her knees up to her chest. "There are children being held in the Triskelion," she said, softly. "That's what I've been talking to Tony about."

"What? Why would SHIELD --"

"I don't know." She chewed on her bottom lip and then sighed. "Hank doesn't know either. He thinks there are at least three. There's a girl they keep taking up to the labs, her hands and arms in restraints. The way goes right by his cell, apparently. Very light blonde hair, blue eyes."

Steve frowned, trying to come up with some legitimate reason that General Fury would have children held in the Triskelion. "They could be Chitauri."

Jan looked at him side-long. "Why hasn't Fury told us then? We're the ones that brought those bastards down last time."

"Has Tony talked to General Fury about this?" Steve asked, rubbing his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on.

She shook her head. "He wants to bide his time about it, see if Fury lets us in on it himself."

"Someone should have told me," Steve pointed out sharply. "I should have been working with Tony on this issue."

"Tony didn't want you to worry if it was nothing," Jan said, quietly.

Steve snorted and climbed out of bed. "You mean you didn't want me to know you've been visiting Hank." He yanked open a drawer and pulled out sweat pants and a sweat shirt. "I'm going for a run."

"It's the middle of the night, Steve," Jan protested.

"I'll be careful," he told her, but didn't turn around as he left the room.

While Steve never really lost track of his surrounding -- he was too well trained for that -- he did lose some track of time and just where he was going. So when he came to a stop and found himself in front of Tony's current residence, it was a bit of a surprise.

He stood outside the building for several moments debating if he wanted to go in or not. Tony was either asleep or out at a party. Finally, he sighed and headed up the steps. The young man at the door didn't seem fazed by his appearance at all.

"Mr. Stark is expecting you," he was told by the smiling young man. "You can take the elevator up, Captain."

Steve wondered how Tony knew he was there, though for all he knew Jan had called him and Tony had thought he'd wind up there or more likely that the young man at the door had recognized him and called up.

If he wanted to be paranoid he could wonder if Tony really did have cameras everywhere and had seen Steve run up. That, or a tracking device.

He rode the elevator up, feeling a little foolish. When the doors slid open he had his apology and retreat planned out.

"Steve," Tony greeted him with a smile and a bottle of Steve's favorite beer. "You look like a man that could use a drink."

Steve took the beer gratefully, and belatedly remembered that Jan kept buying the wrong kind. Tony led Steve to the living room. "Sorry to drop in like this…"

Tony shook his head and took a drink from his own glass. "But you were in the neighborhood," he finished for Steve.

He took a swig of his beer. "Something to that effect." He sank into a chair, suddenly at a loss for words. Why had he come here, anyway?

"Jan called. She said she'd told you about Hank's information," Tony said causally, like he was talking about the weather.

Steve nodded, still at a loss for words.

A hand settled on his shoulder. "We'll see Fury tomorrow," Tony told him. "We'll find out why that little girl is there, why any children are there -- if there really are children being held." Tony's glass was practically hanging off his fingers, and Steve wasn't sure anyone else could hold a glass like that and not drop it.

Steve bowed his head slightly, feeling drained -- and relieved. Tony had known what was really bothering him and he hadn't even had to say it. "I can't imagine General Fury holding children," Steve said, half-heartedly.

Tony's arm settled around Steve's shoulder in a companionable way. "Of course not, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation." Tony assured him.

The beer in Steve's hands shook, and it took him a second to realize it was because his hands were shaking. When he started speaking his voice was strained and he barely recognized it. "In one of the camps we found, they were performing medical experiments--" his voice broke and he didn't want to be talking about this. He didn't want to remember this. "--on children. They were shackled together, half-dead…"

Tony’s arm was strong around his shoulders. "That wouldn't happen here."

They both knew it was a lie.

TBC

Comments

[dorcas-gustine.livejournal.com]

IT IS HERE! TODAY IS A GLORIOUS DAY!
*rushes off to read*

EDIT: Ok, now that I've actually read it... I'm intrigued. Also, LOL, can't stop wondering about Tony&Steve's faces when Fury tells them about Maria.

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

You can be honest if you don't like it. It's an odd concept that might have best been left unwritten.

[dorcas-gustine.livejournal.com]

LOL! No, I'm really intrigued, the '...' part was there for suspence! XD

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

Oh. *hides face* I think I'm as paranoid as Tony sometimes.

[dorcas-gustine.livejournal.com]

It's all this internet stuff! You can't really write voice tones, I guess! We need emotion HTML tags!

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

Well Ultimates aren't everyone's cup of tea and I'm pretty much doing a What If of an au. So part of me wibbling going 'Fool! You should have written the arrange marriage au!' Which I'm uh working on today.

[jwaneeta.livejournal.com]

Wow! This is great. I'm already hooked. You write kids really well, and you have great descriptive skills.

In a different world, he wouldn't have minded being more than friends, but things were what they were.

Hee, I loved that. :D

[pensive]

ULTRONNNNNNNNNNNN

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

Why are we yelling Ultron like Khan?

[20thcenturyvole.livejournal.com]

Wooo. The Ultimates universe is such an unhappy one, and the thought of Maria and the F4 kids being dropped in there without explanation is deeply unpleasant. Especially for poor Maria, who hasn't figured it out yet... D:

[royalneptune.livejournal.com]

I'm so confused. lol. They got transported to an alternate universe, yes?

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

Or so it appears yes.

[m-steelgrave.livejournal.com]

Oh! I really like this idea!

"Is that so? Then we'll just call him up and see what he has to say about that. How does that sound?"

Liar liar, General Fury. *shakes fist*

frabjous day!

[gooligan.livejournal.com]

I was all ready to grieve over having to wait but you're taking pity and posting right away! Callou calay!
Goo

[sdblaine.livejournal.com]

So glad I managed to drag my computer out for a quick look see and saw this posted.

Ah! Poor Maria Val and Franklin. Steve being a jealous man-thing (!!!). and the Samuel L. Jackson dig made me giggle. Yay yay yay.

Eagerly awaiting the next segment <3

[morgulq.livejournal.com]

Maria was sure things would be fine if she could find Tony. Or he'd find her. He'd found her during that battle, hadn't he? When she'd gotten separated from Jan, and there had been so much yelling and shooting -- then there was Tony scooping her up and keeping her safe -- like she was supposed to keep him.

*pouts* Tease.

[eternalblue.livejournal.com]

I was pretty confused when I saw Steve/Jan (and also Steve/Tony as being eventual) in the header but reading about Maria in the beginning until I realized the kids wind up transported to the Ultimates universe. I admittedly don't know much about the Ultimates verse, but I can't wait to see everyone's reactions when they find out a few of their differences! :D

[valtyr]

I'm liking it very much. I look forward to Epic Scenes. And Ult!Fury is such a git. And Tony pestering him!

"In one of the camps we found, they were performing medical experiments--"

Oh Steve. :( Ult! Steve is really kind of an asshole but I like him anyway and I always feel so bad for him.

[tresa-cho.livejournal.com]

\o/

[kijikun.livejournal.com]

*G* Does that mean you liked?

I'm really liking the Ultimates more and more

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

This;
Tony’s arm was strong around his shoulders. "That wouldn't happen here."

They both knew it was a lie.

They might fight and bicker and be so very harsh, but they are still the good guys.

[foxestacado.livejournal.com]

I really, really love this. Did you continue with this story?