Wither Wings [DISCONTINUED]

Epilogue

Epilogue

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The cold seeped through the thin denim pants on Max's legs as she sat on the park bench outside the SHIELD headquarters building, sipping coffee from a paper travel cup. A gust of wind whipped her hair forwards, blinding her to the blue sky and the bare trees for a second. When the wind calmed two people stood in front of her. The captain and his hero, a wheelchair between them.

"Are you coming to the debriefing?" Steve asked, one mittened hand resting on the push handles for the chair, the other holding Tony's hand.

"No," Max said.

"Let's go for a walk," Tony said, tapping Steve's arm to tell him to turn them around. Max stood up from the bench and followed, keeping pace with Steve.

"You knew, didn't you?" Steve asked, his blue eyes scanning the path in front of them.

"About what?" Max feigned innocence.

"That it wasn't just a monster."

Max hesitated. "Yes."

Steve sighed, closing his eyes. "When you were at the School did you kno-"

"No," she said sharply, taking a sip of coffee. "I never knew him."

There was a pregnant pause, the only sounds the chirping of birds in the frozen trees as their feet hit the hard ground and Tony's wheels against the pavement.

"Enough of that stuff, I have more important things to tell you," Tony said, breaking the silence.

"Like what?" Max asked, throwing away her coffee in a nearby trashcan.

"First things first, you need a new name."

"A new name?" Max laughed. "What's wrong with my old one?"

"No, a super name," Tony explained. "Steve is Captain America, I'm Iron Man, you can't stay Maximum Ride, you have to have something else. Like...the Avenging Angel!" He looked proud of himself for coming up with that.

"That is possibly the least inspired super hero name I have ever heard of." Max rolled her eyes.

"What about just changing your last name to something else?" Steve offered. "Instead of Max Ride you could be Max Stark-Rogers."

"What?" Max looked up, startled.

"We want to adopt you," Tony said. "We'll do all of that fatherly stuff. Buy you notebooks, beat up your boyfriend, make pancakes, save the world." He shrugged. "Normal family things."

"Will I have to call you dad?" she asked meekly.

"Not if you don't want to," Steve said.

"I prefer grand overlord, but dad will do," Tony said offhandedly.

The sun was beginning to set over SHIELD HQ and New York looked as if it was on fire, a blaze stretching from east to west and igniting the latest home that Max has come to know, and perhaps a more permanent one. She looked at the two men were were about to become her family, a new family, and for a moment suspended in time she felt like nothing could spoil what was on the cusp of reality ever again.

"What's wrong with Avenging Angel? I like Avenging Angel!"

"Tony..."

"No! I want to know what's wrong. She's an angel and she avenges, it makes perfect sense!"

"Tony."

"Steve!"

"Max."

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So now you're probably wondering what I'm going to do with my life after this. Well ta-da, I made a sequel! It is called Avians and Arachnids and it should be up on my profile page if you want to go and take a look. Here's a preview into the first chapter.

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"She's too happy." Tony crossed his arms with a scowl as Max collapsed on the couch in the living room of the mansion with a dreamy sigh.

"So it's better if she's not happy?" Steve asked as he chunked tomatoes and threw them into the pan to cook for dinner this evening.

"It's a boy." Tony stared at the back of Max's head through the arched doors separating the two rooms as she turned the television on, completely disregarding Steve's question.

"Huh," Steve glanced up from the cutting board. "So that's what a love struck girl looks like. Who knew?"

"I did." Tony wrapped his arms around Steve's waist, resting his head on the back for his soft, light grey t-shirt. "It's what I look like every morning I wake up next to you."

"Perfect answer," Steve twisted around and planted a kiss on Tony's lips, the tomatoes and knife forgotten on the counter top.

The kiss was sweet, like they always were, Tony gaining the upperhand by pressing Steve against the edge of the counters. Their lips were locked firmly for thirty seconds before a pillow was launched at their conjoined faces. They continued to kiss, Tony snatching the pillow out of the air with his eyes closed.

"You two are disgusting," Max said with a horrified look on her face, opening the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water. "I have to eat that food you're fornicating over."

"Just makes it taste better," Tony said, pulling away from a blushing Steve.

Max walked out of the kitchen shaking her head. "I'm ordering takeout!" She hollered back at them.