The Captain's Husband

67. Avengers Reserve Unit (Steve)

"Good morning, everyone," Tony chimes as he walks into the team meeting room, "How are we today?"

Bucky smiles and presses a kiss to my cheek. Meri, Zander, and Niko bounce up into our arms. Nat ruffles my hair. Peter presses a kiss to the top of her head. Wade rests his hand on Peter's shoulder. Ana smiles bright. Adam takes her hand in his. Wanda tucks a lock of Ana's hair behind her ear. Vision sighs happily, enjoying his brand-new human form. Thor and Bruce reach for each other, lacing their fingers together. Clint snuggles up in Pietro's arms, Pietro's chin on top of his head. Rhodey sits down with a cup of coffee, breathing in the steam with a relaxed sigh. Carol wanders over toward Bucky and I, and Zander jumps up into her arms, giggling as she puts him up onto her shoulders. Shuri walks in with T'Challa and Sam on her heels, the two of them walking hand in hand.

As we all settle, Tony goes to the front of the room and Jarvis projects the image of our new Avengers complex in front of us.

"Steve, Bucky," Tony says, "This is all your doing, so I'll give the floor to you."

Meri and Niko climb over us and when they jump, Carol catches them with ease.

Bucky and I move to join Tony at the front.

"It's a bittersweet, but Bucky and I made the decision to officially retire," I tell the team. "But, what makes this worth it is something we've decided to call the Avengers Reserve Unit, which we will lead. The ARU will function as support to the core Avengers team, providing assistance to and consulting with team members as needed. We will also be the liaison between the Avengers and the outside world, so the government, media, other organizations, other planets, etcetera."

"This hologram shows the design of the new ARU complex, which consists of a central compound and a number of different housing units," Bucky tells them. "As of five minutes ago, the ARU roster was finalized, and if Tony would be so kind and project the list for us, we'll announce who else is retiring and who will be carrying on the Avengers."

Tony smiles as he changes the hologram being projected, and the kids gasp when they see the names.

"The following Avengers are retiring and transferring to the Avengers Reserve Unit," Tony says. "Captain America, Winter Soldier, Hulk, Thor, War Machine, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Quicksilver, Hawkeye, Deadpool, Black Panther, Iron Man, and Black Widow. Strange will remain an Avenger, but will not be based here in the main compound in New York. He'll stay at the Sanctum."

"With that said, this is the new roster for the Avengers," Bucky says as the list changes. "Spider-Man, Aphelion, Meridian, Zenith, Nadir, the new Black Panther, Warlock, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel."

"Aunt Shuri is an Avenger?" Merida gasps, lighting up with a smile.

"I'll spend Summer and Winter here in New York and Spring and Fall in Wakanda," Shuri explains. "My darling big brother wants to settle down."

T'Challa smiles and tucks his arm around Sam's shoulders, saying, "I've wanted to settle down for far too long."

Sam grins, "It's about time you admit it."

T'Challa's smile softens and he pulls Sam closer to his side.

"Because of this major roster change and the development of the ARU," Tony tells the group, "The Avengers compound here in New York will undergo major renovations, starting next week, and the retiring members will begin moving out. The ARU will then operate on a bi-monthly schedule, where a group of members will return to the compound for two months at a time to assist the new Avengers team with training, missions, and so on and so forth. The ARU will operate on that schedule until the triplets are 6 chronological and 18 biological years old, which is just under five years from now."

"After five years," Bucky chimes, "All ARU members will stay at the ARU compound, and will only travel to the Avengers compound when necessary, or in the event of someone's birthday or holidays. We're a tight-knit group, and we'd like to keep it that way."

Tony and Bucky look at me.

"As for other special developments and topics of interest," I say, "We are recreating SHIELD under the Avengers and have named Natasha as the new director of SHIELD. We have also set plans in motion for an espionage and spycraft academy to be created, which Natasha will explain even further."

Natasha stands from her chair and walks up to the front of the room where, Tony, Bucky and I are. The hologram changes, showing the new SHIELD compound.

"SHIELD's collapse was an incredible loss and a failure that the world would still like to forget, even after all this time," Natasha tells the group. "But, because of the success we've had in the years since, the UN has given the Avengers and the ARU permission to relaunch SHIELD, and for me to create WIDOW. WIDOW will operate under Ana, Wanda, Carol, and I, and is meant to give young women the opportunity to excel in the world that we are experts in."

Ana stands as she says, "WIDOW stands for World Involvement and Development Organization for Women. On the surface, we will function as an outreach and support network for women across the planet, but internally, we will function as an academy for young women and girls that want to pursue careers in espionage, stealth, disguise, infiltration, demolitions, interrogation, hacking, etcetera. It will also function as a safe haven and academy for young women and girls with superhuman abilities and powers."

Nat nods and smiles, "Well said."

"And the director of WIDOW?" Wanda teases with a smirk. "Don't forget about the best news we've had in a while, Tasha!"

"The Director of WIDOW is none other than our dear Natasha," Tony beams, pride bursting from him.

The room comes alive with applause and cheers. Nat slides under Tony's arm and he squeezes her shoulders and presses a kiss to her cheek, the smile on her face sending him over the moon with joy.

After a few minutes of happy chatter and celebration, Peter chimes in, asking, "So, with over half of the team retiring, what renovations will be happening? And where exactly will the ARU, SHIELD, and WIDOW headquarters be located?"

Tony shows the renovations plan, and then he says, "We'll get to that later on, Peter. What I really want to go over is the compound renovation. Each of the Avenger's current floors will have two bedrooms, both with an en suite bathroom, two offices, one personal gym, and an open kitchen, dining, and living area."

The hologram changes.

"The first floor will be updated with Shuri's tech," Tony explains. "The first floor will have the main compound entrance, garage, air hangar, lab and medbay, patio and balcony overlooking the ocean, press room, and our memorabilia and artifacts vault."

"The second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth floors will each have a unique theme based on one of the original six Avengers," I tell the group.

"The second floor will be Hulk themed, the third floor will be Black Widow themed, the fourth floor will be Hawkeye themed, the sixth floor will be Captain America themed, the seventh floor will be Iron Man themed, and the eighth floor will be Thor themed," Tony says. "The fifth floor will be the team lounge and kitchen, and it will include an all-new game room, dance studio, music and recording studio, art studio, team gym, and team theatre. The ninth floor will be converted to an observatory and rooftop patio with a larger helicopter and Quinjet pad. The runway out of the hangar will be widened and upgraded."

"Do we have specific assignments yet?" Peter asks. "Or is it a free for all?"

"Floor assignments have been finalized and we're made based on abilities, personalities, and habits," Bucky answers.

Tony shows off the new floor assignments.

"Shuri is on two, Merida is on three, Nikolai and Zander are on four, Ana and Carol are on six, Peter is on seven, and Adam is on eight," Tony explains.

"Sounds good to me," Peter smiles.

Ana grins, "Let's get to work!" She turns to the group. "Avengers -"

We all smile as we answer with a loud, "ASSEMBLE!"