𝙎𝙋𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙀𝙍 ¹ | 𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙈𝙖𝙭𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙛𝙛 (𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵)

[14] - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴

NEARLY A MONTH after the Ultron offensive, the New Avengers Facility in upstate New York opened. Some of the Avengers were sure going to miss hanging out at the tower, but the new facility was a good upgrade.

Agents and scientists roamed the halls of the building. Natasha was on her phone, watching a video of Clint and Laura's new baby boy, Nathaniel Pietro Barton.

"Say hi to Auntie Nat!" Laura exclaimed as the baby gurgled.

Y/N walked into the room in is tactical suit, hearing Laura's voice through the phone. He walked over to Natasha and saw the baby on the screen.

"Wow, he even looks like Clint." Y/N remarked.

"Yeah. Fat." Natasha replied and put the phone back in her pocket.

Clint Barton retired after the Battle of Sokovia, and the two former S.H.I.E.L.D agents missed him. But they were also happy that Clint got to be with his family.

Nick Fury walked into the room and began speaking, "One of our tech-boys flagged this. Splashed down in the Banda Sea."

Fury showed the two a tablet, showcasing a map. "Could be the Quinjet. But with Stark's stealth tech, we still can't track the damn thing."

Natasha has been trying to track down Bruce Banner for the last twenty days. After he saved her, he simply ran away. Y/N knew Natasha and Bruce had a thing for each other, and she just wanted to see him again.

"Right." Natasha replied.

"He probably jumped out and went to Fiji. He'll send a postcard."

Somewhere else in the facility, Steve, Thor, and Tony walk down a hallway while conversing.

"The rules have changed." Steve began.

"We're dealing with something new." Tony added.

"Oh, the Vision is artificial intelligence."

"A machine."

"So, it doesn't count?"

"No, it's not like a person lifting the hammer."

Steve gestured toward Tony. "Right, different rules for us."

"Nice guy. Artificial." Tony responded.

"Thank you."

Thor decided to speak, "He can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone. It's safe with the Vision. And in these days, safe is in short supply."

Steve began to think of Mjölnir again, "But if you put the hammer in an elevator..."

"It would still go up." Tony finished.

"Elevator's not worthy." Steve added.

Thor patted Tony on the back. "I'm going to miss these little talks of ours."

Tony looked at Thor, "Not if you don't leave."

"I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. It's not a coincidence."

The three walked out into the lawn of the facility as Thor continued explaining.

"Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. And once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony asked.

Steve turned to Thor, "You think you can find out what's coming?"

"I do." Thor turned to Tony and slapped him on the chest. "Besides this one. There's nothing that can't be explained."

Thor gave a nod, and lifted his hammer to activate the bifrost, transporting him out of Earth. Tony looked down at the singed grass on the lawn.

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance."

The two men walked away.

"I'm gonna miss him, though." Tony added. "And you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."

Tony called over his exotic car.

"I will miss you, Tony. We all will." Steve said.

"Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book. Build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up."

"The simple life."

"You'll get there one day."

"I don't know. Family, stability...the guy who wanted all that went in the ice 75 years ago." Steve paused, "I think someone else came out."

Tony nodded and walked over to his car. He opened the door and looked over at Steve before getting in.

"You all right?"

Steve looked over at the agents doing their training exercises. He thought of the team had right now, his friends, and the mission. 

"I'm home."

• • •

TONY LEFT THE FACILITY, prepared to enjoy the retired life he talked about.

Natasha stood in the room, staring at the wall in front of her. Y/N had just left to join the others.

"You want to keep staring at the wall or do you want to get to work?" Steve asked as he walked in. "I mean it's a pretty interesting wall."

"I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes." Natasha turned around and walked towards Steve. "How do we look?"

Steve handed Natasha a tablet, displaying the roster of the New Avengers team. They started walking out of the room.

"Well, we're not the '27 Yankees."

"We got some hitters."

"They're good. They're not a team."

"Let's beat them into shape."

Captain America and Black Widow walked through the double doors and stood on the platform overlooking the open training area.

James Rhodes, the War Machine, opened up his mask to reveal his face.

The Vision turned around and looked up at the two team leaders.

Sam Wilson, the Falcon, flew into the area, landing on a pad.

Wanda Maximoff, used her magic to glide into the room. She wore a black leather suit with a maroon corset and red leather jacket.

Y/N L/N, the Specter, spun his karambit around his finger and sheathed it beside his leg. He looked around at his new teammates, and smiled.

Steve and Natasha looked at the new recruits, the only veteran being Y/N. Him along with Steve and Natasha were going to make them into better heroes.

Steve stood proud and tall as he called out.

"Avengers..."

• • •

This marks the end of the Age of Ultron storyline, but not for the book itself!

For the next several parts I'm going to go into the lives of Y/N and the Avengers after AoU, and also further develop Y/N and Wanda's relationship.

Hope you guys are enjoying the book so far!