Gangster Child

Countdown

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT GOING BACK IN TIME?!" Tony hung his head as I stewed across the table. Bad enough that I'd had to assemble the freaking Avengers when it wasn't even my job, now I didn't even get to do the one cool part of the mission!
"You aren't trained, and you're actually a civillian if memory serves me corre-
"It doesn't, you're an old man."
"Rude. Another reason why you're not going on the super cool and dangerous mission." I groaned and stormed out of Tony's workshop, going to seek out someone who might be more sympathetic to my troubles. Almost immediately I bumped into Steve who took one look at me and kept walking.
"Traitor," I muttered before making my way to the living room and settling onto the couch under a comfy blanket.
"Stupid Avengers and their stupid missions," I grumbled, curling under my blanket to continue my silent rant.
"You humans and your sulking." I smiled a little when I heard Nebula's voice behind me.
"It's five bucks to stare, ten to feed me a sandwich," I retorted, watching as she walked slowly and deliberately to sit on the other end of the couch.
"I thought you would be like my sister Gamora when I met you," she said quietly. "You seemed confident and she has also called Rocket a jackass on multiple occasions."
"And now?"
"Now, I think you're me. You trust no one, you loathe yourself and your family and you have a family member who broke you."
"Well I like to think my brother was kind of a kicking off point for better things. My life is considerably better now that he's dead after all." The tiniest of smiles quirked in the corner of her mouth.
"I could say the same about my father."


"Alright Sadie, if anything goes wrong, what are you NOT going to do?"
"...go back in time."
"Bingo." Tony smiled as he gave me a hug. "Ten seconds and we'll be back. Love ya Kiddo."
" Love you too Dad." I turned around and saw Natasha hovering by the control panel. "If you cry, I'll stab you." She laughed weakly and pulled me into a tight hug.
"I'm still 1% mad at you," I mumbled.
"I'm so sorry Sweetheart," she whispered. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, taking my own advice and refusing to cry.
"I love you Mom." Natasha took a shaky breath and kissed the top of my head.
"I love you too." We broke away and I watched as she joined everyone else on the platform. Ten seconds. That's how long it would take for me to know if anything had gone wrong. I took a deep breath as I watched them disappear and I started the silent countdown.

Ten... Tony's arc reactor failed.

Nine... Natasha lost a fight.

Eight... Steve's shield broke.

Seven... Clint ran out of arrows.

Six... Scott couldn't shrink fast enough.

Five... Nebula wasn't strong enough.

Four... Bruce wasn't smart enough.

Three... Rhodey's suit failed.

Two...Rocket wasn't fast enough.

One... I just lost my whole family.

Zero...

"Dad, where's Natasha?"