Chapter 39- Dead? Not Yet

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The room when silent at the name of the supposedly dead Avenger.
"I only fought her in Berlin, but I did ask Mr. Stark about her. He explained that she was apart of some experiment with the Tesseract, but she refused to go into detail," Peter replied, putting his suit away.
Rose noticed Peter seemed upset at something.
"Everything alright?" Rose asked.
"Mr. Stark blames himself for her death. I tried to talk to him, but who would talk to a 15 year old about their problems? I just wish that there was something I could do to convince him that it wasn't his fault. Someone kidnapped her, he couldn't have prevented it," Peter said, a sad look spreading across his face.
Rose suddenly felt sick to her stomach, her shoulders feeling heavier. Sure she and Tony had plenty of disagreements, but he didn't deserve to blame himself for the death of a teenager.
"T-thanks, I'll get going then," Rose said walking towards the door.
"Thanks for the whole suit thing again," Peter replied.
"Anytime, just ask," Rose said with a wave.

Rose left just as rain began to fall from the sky. She ran down the sidewalk, the pit in her stomach getting worse with each step. Her breathing began to quicken, her heart feeling like an entire drum set pounding in her chest. She reached Aaron's apartment, but ran to the rooftop instead. Rose knew Aaron was probably back from work, and didn't want to bother him when he was relaxing. She reached the roof and laid down on the concrete edge. She felt every rain drop hit her body, the cooling feeling helping to slow her breaths. She covered her eyes with her sleeve, she felt her eyes stinging indicating that tears were threatening to fall.
"I shouldn't have told Stark it was his fault, nobody should have to live with that guilt. What do I do? I can't just waltz back, I'm a wanted criminal after all," Rose thought as she rubbed her eyes.

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"Shadow can I ask you something?"
The woman in black looked up at Spider-Man.
"Yeah," she replied.
"What do you think about the NA? Y'know, the dead Avenger," Peter asked.
"Dead? Not yet," Shadow answered adjusting her black hat.
"What do you mean not yet?" Peter questioned.
"I believe someone is truly dead when they are completely forgotten. Why do you ask?" She questioned in return.
"One of my friends asked about her recently, and now I've been thinking a lot about her," he explained.
"Oh I see. What would you do if you met her face to face right now?" Shadow asked.
"Ask her to talk to Mr. Stark," he said after thinking for a second.
"Didn't he say on TV that he took full responsibility for her death?"
"Yeah, yeah he did."
"Jeez, that's a pretty big burden to carry."
"Yeah, it is."
"Well Spidey, did they ever find a body?"
"I don't think so."
"Then there's no way to confirm she's dead right?"
"I guess you're right, but if she was alive why wouldn't she tell anyone?"
"That's not a question for me."
Peter let out a sigh and nodded, realizing Shadow probably didn't have an answer. Still the idea that the Nameless Avenger could be alive haunted him.

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Tony Stark walked outside onto his balcony with a glass of scotch in hand. He leaned against the railing and took in the breath of fresh air, it relieving some of the stress from overseeing the current changes of Stark Industries. As he put the glass to his lips, he heard an obviously intentional cough to his right. On the other side of the balcony, someone in a familiar black uniform was also leaning against the railing. They also wore a black baseball cap, covering their eyes.
"Really Stark? Scotch is disgusting," they teased.
"Excuse me? Who the hell are you and why are you in Rose's uniform?" Stark demanded to know.
They chuckled (their laugh convincing Tony they were a girl) a little before responding.
"I'll let you answer that one," she replied.
"Rose is dead."
"You sure about that? Stark I have a question, why did they declare her to be dead after just 2 weeks?"
Tony froze and stared at the girl with wide eyes. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the stress, but Tony felt like he owed it to this girl to explain.
"She was one of the strongest Avengers, if she was scared of someone they had to have been strong. And for her to just disappear off the face of the earth-," Tony said, his thoughts feeling too loud for his own head causing him to stop.
"She must've died," the girl replied finishing his sentence.
Tony nodded, but the girl still looked like she had more questions
"Who is they?"
"We aren't sure, but we have our suspicions. Now you can tell me who you are or get thrown into a prison cell for breaking and entering," he said.

The girl looked up at him, and Tony could finally see her eyes. Those familiar bright blue eyes, such an unnatural shade for a human. They always looked like they were almost glowing, like a dim light sat behind the colored iris. Despite the brown hair, the black mask, and the overall darkness of the night sky, Tony knew who this was. The glass in his hand fell to the ground and shattered, the ice from his drink sliding away leaving trails of water behind them. Tony tried to speak, but no words left his mouth.
"A little birdy, or should I say spider, told me you blamed yourself for the NA's death. I mean it wasn't your fault, but what do I know?" She shrugged.
Tony could only stare with wide eyes. Was this the result of his guilt? Was he hallucinating? Was this an entirely different person who once knew Rose?
"Dying sucks, you watch as people move on and forget about you. They go back to living their lives like you never existed, they go back to their routines as best they can, they just carry on. Even though a part of you wishes they didn't, you know it's for the best, it's for their happiness. Yet I can't help but notice you haven't moved on yet," the girl said with pity in her eyes.
"You're not real, you can't be," Tony finally said.
"Maybe you're right, maybe this is just your mind playing tricks on you. Either way, the message is the same. It wasn't your fault, and I'm sorry for saying it was back in Berlin. I'm sorry Stark, and I don't say that often. Plus, you have a new stubborn teen to worry about," she said taking a step back closer the railing.
"How do you know about Peter?"
"If I'm a hallucination or dream I have access to your mind and thoughts. If I'm real, well then that's a long story," she said as she got up onto the railing and sat on it.

Tony didn't know what to do, but his partially intoxicated mind wanted to simply put a hand on her shoulder to see if she was real. When he reached out, she put a hand up to stop him.
"No touching, you don't get the easy answer to this one," she teased.
"Why are you here? Just to haunt me or some bullshit?"
"Oh Stark, you poor poor soul. Think about it when you're sober," she said removing her hands from the railing and leaning back.
"Wait!" Tony yelled, but she was already falling.
When he looked over the railing in a panic, she was gone without a trace. He looked back at the shattered glass, and sighed as he walked back inside. He really needed to stop drinking.

The Nameless Avenger (MCU oc-insert) DISCONTINUED!!!Where stories live. Discover now