Next Avengers: The Flight of the Hawk

Chicago

People who died back in my dad's time fighting for another were considered immortal heroes. I'm considered that dead kid who helped kill off the mutants. There are so many things wrong with that assumption. For starters, I'm not dead. For seconds, the mutants can't be killed off. Heck, one sleeps next to me. I don't remember much about my old life, since most of that was sort of wiped out when I died. I know I just said I'm not dead; I was revived. All I remember is I was madly head-over-heels in love with a spider named Penny. I'm mildly concerned about my past self's mental state. I do remember everything that happened before Ultron was overthrown. I remember my dad teaching me to shoot a bow and arrow back at the farm. I remember playing with my sister, Jean, and baby brother, Nathaniel. I remember the time we had the Avengers and Nick Fury in our house for, like, a week. I remember when Ultron took over. I remember my dad telling me to not look back as we ran away from the farm. I remember the shot that almost killed me, turning my hair white. I remember him telling me to take over the rebellion as he died. Then it fast-forwards to the part where Kier wakes me up. He told me there's stuff in between the two events, that I'll never remember them. I believe him. I sigh and sit up in bed, rubbing my tired eyes. Reptil looks up at me from his bed next to me.
"Can't sleep?" he asks drowsily.
"Can I ever?" I reply.
"True," Reptil replies, sitting up. "Everything okay?"
"I dunno," I mumble back, rubbing my forehead. "I'm so mixed up."
"We all are," Reptil replies. "We have no world to live in. Everyone we knew is dead or trying to hunt us down. HYDRA got stabbed in the heart, SHIELD and SWORD got broken. There's no order, but this is probably the most peaceful earth has ever been since before life existed."
"And you would know," Kier replies, sitting up on my left. "You're half dinosaur."
"I would," Reptil says, looking out the window. "Since we're all up, and there's sort of a moon, we might as well eat." I look out the window as well. There's no stars. The moon is a white smudge of paint on a canvas of black. Pollution had corrupted nature here just months after the Age started. Kier groans and falls back into his mattress.
"Why?" he asks. "It's the middle of the night."
"It's always a good time for a hunt," Reptil says brightly. "You coming, France?" My real name is Francis, but we all hate it, so I just go by France or Hawkeye.
"Nah," I reply. "I'll just slow you down."
"Suit yourself," Reptil says, climbing out of bed and morphing into his half-dino state. "I'll tell you if any of the robots wake up."
"Mkay," I reply. There are these giant robots that we found, not working and destroyed, scattered across the city. Kier says they're Transformers, but Transformers don't exist. They're just stories that Cap and Spidey used to tell us kids when we wouldn't sleep. Besides, there's only three people who have supposedly seen a Transformer: Cap, Spidey, and that Sam kid who hung out with them. They're just a myth, like a lot of other things told about the past. I mean, seriously, who actually believes that the Nova Corps and the Guardians of the Galaxy actually existed? There's no life in space. Everyone knows that.

Reptil comes back a couple hours later, carrying a large mass on his back.
"I'm back," he calls, walking into the warehouse we call home.
"Hey," Kier and I chorus, watching the fire that Kier conjured. I look over at Reptil, eyeing the mass.
"What'd you grab?" I ask.
"A lot," Reptil replies, walking over and setting down a large sack. "Enough for a week."
"Like what?" I ask, opening up the sack.
"Like noodles," Reptil replies. "And sausage. Little bit of ice cream and a couple jugs of milk."
"Shouldn't it all be spoiled?" I ask, pulling out a tub of ice cream.
"Uh, yeah," Reptil replies. "But we've all got fast metabolisms. We should be able to handle it."
"Maybe you do," I say, pulling out the clumpy milk. "But I'm still a human."
"You'll be fine," Reptil replies, taking the milk from me. "Okay, I admit the milk was sort of stupid." He pulls out two more jugs and throws them all out the window, dragging the sack over.
"France, go get the pot," Kier says. "Fire's finally ready."
"On it," I reply, standing up and walking over to our store of objects. I pull out a pot and knock over a bunch of other things, hefting the pot over to Kier and onto the fire.
"What's for breakfast?" Kier asks Reptil, looking over at him as he starts filling up the pot with a hose.
"Frozen sausage," Reptil replies, pulling out a pack and slicing it open with his talons, dropping in the sausages. They were slightly green. I wrinkle my nose at them and walk away, slightly sickened.
"At least it's food," Kier mumbles.
"It's just mold," Reptil replies. "Little bit of greens to add to our diet. Besides, most of the bacteria should boil off."
"You're disgusting," I mumble, sitting down in my hammock.
"I'm a carnivore," Reptil replies. "I eat whatever meat I find."
"Well, I'm an omnivore," I snap back. "And I only eat things that don't make me sick."
"Well, this is the only food I can find," Reptil snaps, walking up to me. "So eat it or find your own."
"I'll have one," I reply grudgingly. Reptil snorts and walks back over to the fire beside Kier, leaving me alone. I sigh and lean back, setting my hands under my head. Sometimes I really miss my dad.

I hate sausage.