Boundaries of Battle, a YouTuber Marvel Alternate Universe Story

Fire

Matt awoke that morning to find Ollie's face staring down at him.

"Hey bud," Matt grumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He rolled over to see that his alarm clock read 10:00 AM. "Where's Momma?"

"She's making breakfast," Ollie explained, launching himself backward and off the bed.

Matt shot up and grabbed Ollie before he could hit his head. Ollie's giggles filled the air as Matt's chest heaved. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as Ollie slowly lowered himself out of his grasp.

"I'll tell Momma you'll be down in a few minutes," Ollie cheerfully said, shooting out the door a moment later. Matt could already hear him shouting for Stephanie as he thudded down the stairs.

It took Matt a moment to remember where he was- the drive from California had taken a lot out of him in the last couple of days. It didn't seem so bad with Stephanie being back, though. Stephanie and Ollie spent most of the drive sleeping- especially considering that Stephanie couldn't drive at the moment with no license. The time Stephanie remained awake was time researching how to essentially get her life back, or finding places for the family to eat, or catching up on the last five years. She had to be as exhausted as Matt was.

Matt rolled out of bed, attempting to smooth down his hair. His back gave off a twinge of pain as he stood, but nothing more than that. Matt stretched until he felt just right, then began to follow the smell of pancakes.

As he predicted, Stephanie was downstairs making a small stack of pancakes. Ollie already sat at the table with syrup dripping from his chin. Matt chucked a little, approaching Stephanie and hugging her from behind. As he rested his head on her shoulder, Matt could feel Stephanie smile.

"Good morning," Matt grumbled, looking at the pancakes she was in the midst of making. Cooked to the perfect golden-brown that only she seemed to achieve.

He realized suddenly just how long it had been since he had pancakes. Matt tried once just after Stephanie had passed, but had failed horribly. He hadn't tried since. Ollie had asked hundreds of times over the years, but Matt didn't have the courage. With that realization in mind, Matt squeezed Stephanie a little tighter. She's home now. It's okay.

"I'm almost done with your chocolate chip pancakes. I made myself and Ollie regular pancakes, he's getting fruit on his don't worry," Stephanie muttered out, flipping the pancake one last time. Matt watched chocolate ooze out of the top of the pancake.

He gently kissed the side of her neck, "I love you."

"I love you too," Stephanie kissed his cheek, one hand sliding over the pair he had wrapped around her waist.

"Hello!" Ollie said cheerfully. Matt's stomach and heart swapped places as he whirled around. Ollie sat in his chair, cheerfully waving to the doorway. A man stood there, dressed in all black and holding something in his hand.

Matt's mind didn't have time to react before the man rolled something into the room. As he looked at the thing, his mind registered it as a bomb- specifically an incendiary type. They had about 5 seconds and counting before it went off- assuming the man waited until he dropped it to pull the pin. Stephanie could survive the blast with minor injuries, Ollie wouldn't.

Matt jumped over the bomb, grabbing Ollie and hugging him close as he heard the blast. Heat laced up his back, and Ollie cried from the sudden motion. He could hear Stephanie shout in pain as well.

When Matt and Ollie landed, Matt looked down to check on him. Ollie looked fine, no visible wounds and already crying- which was a good sign. Very low probability of a concussion, since Matt had cradled his head. So Matt stood up and whirled around, looking for the man responsible for the blast.

The man ran across the hall, seeing that the family had gone down. Matt took off after him, chasing him through the hallway. Stupidly, the man ran for the front door. Matt was able to catch him and throw him onto the ground, getting on top of him like the self-defense trainings he and Stephanie went to had the attacker.

Matt's mind flashed to the trip into North Carolina. Matt had grown tired of talking, and so he had gently forced some of his knowledge of what had happened in the last five years into Stephanie so she could understand some more of what happened.

What if he could do more to this man?

Matt grabbed the attacker's head, trying to force himself to not look at the man's eyes. He was shouting, trying to hit Matt, but Matt didn't care. He began to think of anything and everything, just transferring everything he knew over to the man. Slowly, Matt watched his ears begin to bleed, and then his eyes. Blood rolled down his face like tears. Part of Matt wanted to stop- it really did. But he knew that he needed to protect his family.

The man gave one final shout, and fell limp. Matt ripped his hands away from the man's forehead, panting.

"Matt?" Stephanie's voice floated into Matt's consciousness. As the smell of a dead body filled the air, it suddenly hit Matt.

He had just killed someone. The man probably had a family- at least a mother and father to return to.

A scream tumbled out of Matt before he could stop it. Arms lifted him up, "It's okay, you had to. You did what you had to."

Matt could barely breathe. His vision clouded with unshed tears, and he watched the door slam open. Searle stood in the doorway, gun drawn. Agents filled in around him.

"Where's Ollie?" Matt rushed out, trying to stand. His back burned, but he needed to find his son. He looked around the room, seeing flamed crawling from the kitchen. God, Matt just left him there to burn-!

"I pulled him out, he's right here," Stephanie opened her right arm. How had Matt not seen the small body clinging to his wife. Ollie had tears tracing down his cheeks- had he seen what Matt did?

The next several hours were a large blur for Matt. Searle insisted that they be taken to the helicarrier, and Stephanie agreed. The kitchen was put out, and Stephanie and Matt gathered as many belongings as they could fit into bags. Matt noticed that one of the agents had put out the fire with water from his hands- Matt would have to ask her later how she did that.

When they arrived to their room, Matt noticed they had a queen-sized bed and one toddler sized bed. They must have a special accommodation for families. Matt sighed, plopping onto the bed as Stephanie gently put a sleeping Ollie onto his bed.

"You did what you could," Stephanie whispered, coming to sit next to Matt.

That was all it took. "I was supposed to protect you guys!" Matt shouted, running his hands through his hair. He could feel the terror from earlier coming back to wash over him. He was supposed to go see the nurse, but now he didn't even feel like moving.

Stephanie gave him a small sideways glance, "Matt, you're probably best suited as the man in the chair."

"You're not seeing my point." He turned to his wife, running a hand down his face. "I don't care where I'm put in a fight as long as you two are safe."

Stephanie grabbed his hands, "Matt, we're safe now. As long as we stay here, at S.W.O.R.D, we'll be okay."

Matt nodded. He couldn't help but feel off about the whole thing though. Maybe he just really needed to see the nurse.