October 17th, 2023
"Do this again."
Katya frowned, looking at Tony. She didn't do anything. She told everyone about Vormir and Melina's sacrifice a few minutes ago, accepted all the condolences and now stood between Stark and Rocket and observed as Tony operated the six robotic arms, each holding an Infinity Stone.
"Do what?"
"Scratch your head. Or just lift your arm, whatever."
Rocket frowned too, looking at him completely confused. "What are you on?"
"Just do it."
Shrugging, Katya did as told. She lifted her arm and waved.
And one of the stones burst out of the grip and followed her movements. She felt her eyes widened as she tracked the stone, her gaze flicking between it and her hand.
"What the hell...?"
"Which stone is it, again?" Bruce asked. It was the blue one.
"Space." Rocket said, eyeing Katya. "Is there something you want to tell us?"
"Like what?" Katya opened her arms. The stone kept following. "I have no idea why is it doing that!"
"Yeah, I might have an idea." Tony interrupted. "Stop moving and step away, better safe than sorry." Katya rolled her eyes but did as told. "This little guy." he said, catching the wandering Stone and guided all six towards the gauntlet, where six recesses showed, ready to accept the stones. "It was inside the Tesseract. Pop Quiz, in whose possesion was it for decades?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s" Bruce answered. The Stones locked inside the gauntlet.
"And who was infiltrating Nick Fury and friends for about as long?"
The puzzles clicked in place in Katya's head. "Hydra."
"The very same that experimented on you." Tony concluded. "Have you ever wondered how did you get your powers, little miss Nostradamus?"
"I did, but..."
"No buts, unless you have a better theory."
"Okay, can we leave the conspiracies for later?" Rocket suggested. "I would rather we check if that Stone won't pop out if she blinks near it. 'Cause that would complicate things, you know. And we still have to decide who's gonna snap their freaking fingers."
"I volunteer as a tribute." Katya said, lifting her arm.
"First, no sudden movements from you." Tony warned, getting the gauntlet out and carrying it to an another table. The rest was waiting near. "Second, absolutely not."
"But one stone already likes me!" she protested. Clint looked at her, confused.
"Likes you, or wants to kill you. We don't know if what you have was given or taken. Maybe it wants it back."
"I don't think foundation of the universe would let anything be taken from it but-"
"I'll do it." Thor interrupted. For a brief moment, when the rest started bickering and the god tried to convince them he was the right chose, Katya thought about snatching the gauntlet. But only for a second. It wasn't what Melina died for. Although she understood Thor, when he pleaded to let him do something right, something good. She felt the same.
"It's gotta be me." Bruce said. "You saw what those Stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive.
"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.
"We don't. But the radiation is mostly gamma. I was made for this."
"Quick question." Katya raised her arm. "Hypothetically, what if we split the Stones? Like one person each so the power divides and maybe doesn't fry anyone as much? Didn't you do something like that?" she pointed at Rocket.
"Yeah, but it was one stone."
"Too risky." Bruce shook his head, crossing his arm, eyeing the gauntlet. "Too many variables, one wrong thought from one person and everything goes to... You know."
"Okay, remember. Everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago, you're just bringing them back to now, today." Tony instructed when they all agreed it should be Banner who would do the honors. "Don't change anything from the last five years."
"Got it."
"Suit up, kid." Tony nudged Katya, reminding her of the Widow Bite.
She nodded and tapped the button and the suit started to cover her, simulatnouesly with the Iron Man covering him. He pushed her gently behind himself. Clint also stood a step behind him.
"Friday, do me a favour and activate Barn Door Protocol, will ya?"
"Yes, boss."
All the doors started closing. The windows got covered by reinforced, outdoor blinds. The area they were in also got cut off from the rest of the Compound. Katya breathed out. This was it. A moment she never even dreamed of. She was about to get her parents back. Just a few more minutes and she will hear them again.
"Everybody comes home." the gauntlet grew, adjusting to fit Bruce's hand.
And then the raw power started coursing through him, bringing him to his knees, making him scream and groan in pain as his sleeve started to melt and skin to burn.
"Take it off! Take it off!" Thor panicked.
"No, wait! Bruce, are you okay?" Steve checked.
"Talk to me, Banner." Tony asked.
"I'm okay." Bruce assured, fighting against the power of the stones, trying his best to steady his arm and bring his fingers together. The more he struggled, the louder his screams got.
Finally, he snapped.
And then he toppled to the floor, gauntlet falling off his completely scorched arm. Clint kicked it away. Him, Tony and Steve gathered around Banner. The doors started to opens, the blinds went up. Scott took a few steps, approaching a window. Katya stood completely frozen with shock, unsure what she should do. Then a phone rang, on the table next to her. It was Clint's. She got to it first and felt tears well up in her eyes when she read the caller I.D.
Laura.
Before Barton could react, she picked it up and crossed the room, handing it to him.
"Told you." she grinned at him and chuckled, the happines taking over her. Clint's eyes started shimmering with tears, he didn't even try to stop his chin from quivering as he took the phone from her and answered the call. "Honey?"
Not bothered that she might be interrupting, Katya threw her arms around Clint. He embraced her with his free arm.
Then the first missile hit.
The blast sent them flying, while still holding onto each other. Another blow brought the Compound down on their heads.
When Katya managed to wrap her mind around what just happened, and took first breath after the air got knocked out of her lungs, she pushed herself up, the rubble falling off her. She looked around, assessing the surroundings. She noticed a quiver sticking out of the ruins, just a few feet away. She stood up and made her way over to the archer.
"Clint." Katya started brushing the debris of him. "Are you with me? Are you okay?"
The man groaned in answer and tried to moved but lost his balance. She helped him up and did a quick search for injuries. No bones sticking out, no blood. Seemed like they were fine.
"You good?" she asked, when he staggered.
"I think so. You?"
"I'm alive." Katya shrugged.
Clint looked around and turned on a small flashlight, attached to his wrist. He aimed it up, searching for a way out. Meanwhile Katya noticed something in the rubble. The Gauntlet. She dug it up as something reached her ears.
"You hear that?" she glanced at Clint who was already drawing an arrow.
"Yeah, and I don't like it." cautiously, he stepped toward a corridor where red light kept flickering, but weren't strong enough to lit the space up. He freed the arrow. It revealed the source of the growling. Four legged creatures. "RUN!"
Katya adjusted her hold on the gauntlet and took off, looking over her shoulder to made sure Clint was right behind her. They ran through the dimly lit, flooded corridor. She tried to match her pace with Barton so he wouldn't get left behind. The creatures hot on their heels, until Clint shot one of the explosive arrows. The force of it threw them forward but at least the narrow space collapsed, trapping the aliens and burning them down.
Once again, she helped Clint up and then they started climbing, just as another creature found its way through the rubble. Barton shoot a line upwards, hook at its end attaching somewhere at the upper level. Before Katya could react, he grabbed her by the arm, and they both got pulled up by the ascender. Their new extraterrestrial companions seemed unbothered as they climbed the walls around them. Katya got a few of them with the Widow Bites, Clint slashed others with his sword.
Barton landed on his back after being pulled out, Katya just inches next to him, but on her knees. Her head snapped to the side when she heard footsteps. Nebula came from around the corner.
"I've got this." Katya muttered, catching her breath when she reached for the Gauntlet. The alien tried again. "I said I've-"
The words got stuck in her throat when she suddenly felt a gun against her forehead.
"What the hell?!" Clint scrambled to his legs, reaching for an arrow.
"Stop." another voice joined them. A green skinned woman stepped slowly toward them. Nebula moved away, stepping behind Katya and Clint, using them as a shield, the gun still fixed on Katya who never loosend her grip on the Stones.
"You're betraying us?"
Even more footsteps and... Another Nebula? Katya frowned looking at Clint who used the moment to move out of the line of fire. She followed suit. They both hid behind the remains of a wall while Nebula changed her aim to... herself.
"You don't have to do this."
"I am this."
"No, you're not." the green one said. Katya wondered if that could be the sister Nebula mentioned earlier.
"You've seen what we become." one of the Nebulas said. "You can change."
"He won't let me." she said, as Gamora lowered her gun. As soon as Nebula aimed at her, the other shot her, sending her staggering backwards, with a gaping wound in her chest.
Clint tapped Katya on the shoulder and nodded, suggesting they should get going. She nodded and followed suit.
"Go, I've got this." he assured when the first sounds of battle reached them, just below the surface. They almost made it out of the rubble. Trusting he gauntlet would be safe with Clint, Katya sprinted forward.
She got out just in time to see Thor being thrown around like a ragdoll by Thanos. Tony lay against a rock, he seemed unconscious. Steve was flat on the ground. He moved but barely. Katya assessed her surroundings, weighting her options and chances, trying to decide who should she help first. Then she noticed Thor's hammer, abandoned nearby. Just a few meters away. She remembered Mama telling her about it. About having to be worthy to lift it.
It won't hurt to try, won't it? Katya tought, stepping down the rubble. She stopped by the hammer, and reached for it. She grasped the handle.
And lifted Mjolnir like it weighed no more than a feather.
She took a moment to also pick up her own jaw from the ground and looked over to Thor who still struggled against Thanos. The titan had him pinned to a rock and caught the axe mid-air. He pushed it against the god's chest and Katya took a swing.
The hammer flew out of her hand, straight at Thanos, hitting his shoulder and catching his attention. Mjolnir turned around and came back to her. Thor let out a whoop of excitement when he realized what happened.
As if it granted her new found strength and even more courage, Katya grinned wickedly and started charging at the titan, whirling the hammer around once again. The blow send Thanos backwards. Katya didn't bother with approaching him and threw Mjolnir at him again. When coming back, it met with Captain America's shield, which bounced off of it and smacked Thanos at the back of the head.
The shield wasn't the only thing that went flying back to Steve. Mjolnir did too.
"Hey, it was my five minutes!" Katya joked, when Rogers joined her. He smiled and nodded at Thanos. He gave her the hammer back, and together, just like five years before, they clashed with the titan.
The shield and hammer made a great duo, creating shockwaves and chains of blows and hits. The weapons seemed to have minds of their own. Remembering that Mjolnir belongs to the god of thunder, Katya reached for the sky, and soon the hammer crackled with electricity. They exchanged blows for a while, for a moment she even though she and Steve may have an advantage over Thanos.
But all good things come to an end. Suddenly she was thrown across the battlefield, and her left arm felt weird. Numb. While struggling to move her fingers, she saw Steve's shield crack. The titan seemed to fight with doubled strength, as the send Captain flying too with ease. Steve landed quite far away from her, but close enough that Katya could see his struggle to get up. When he stilled for a moment, she started to worry that he lost consciousness.
Her first attempt to get up failed. She landed face first on the ground. Spitting out dirt, she tried again. Managing to get herself on her knees, she straightened her right arm. Left one was still numb, she must've injured it. Mjolnir wooshed across the battlefield, straight to her hand.
Katya glanced at Thanos. He didn't seem to be in a hurry.
"In all my years of conquer...." if it wasn't for the super soldier serum, she suspected she wouldn't even hear him. "Violence, slaughter... It was never personal."
She pushed up. Leaning on the hammer, she found enough strength to stand up.
"But I'll tell you now what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet. I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."
Standing on shaking legs, Katya saw Thanos' army as it stepped out of space ships, let creatures off chains. Smaller aircrafts kept landing around, making the ground shake. Adjusting her grip on Mjolnir, she took a first step. Her left arm hanged limply, it took a great effort to move it at all.
"Earth's mightest heroes. And all that's left of them is a mere child."
In other circumstances, Katya would've given up. She would've faced the truth, and realized she had no chance. That against this army she was no more than a particle of dust against a hurricane.
But she didn't have anything to lose.
So she could try at least.
Also, mama didn't raise her to be quitter.
"Zvezdochka." her earpiece suddenly crackled to life with distorted voice. But even like that, Katya would recognize it anywhere. Even after not hearing it for five years. "Katya, can you hear me?"
Mama.
Katya forced herself to rise the injured arm and put it to her ear so she could hear better. Words got stuck in her throat, she couldn't bring herself to answer, tears pooled in the corner of her eyes.
"You could at least recognize me." Natasha chuckled in her ear and then Katya heard crackling on her left.
She saw a growing circle, sending sparks all around. It was bright, almost blindingly, made her squint. Three people stepped out. When her eyes got used to the light, she recognized the Wakandans. T'Challa, Shuri and Okoye. Then something swished above their heads. Seeing wings, Katya realized it was Sam.
And then even more portals started to grow. Dozens, scattered around the clouded sky and the ground, covered with ruins. Katya saw familiar faces and strangers. Some people she knew from stories, other she loved and missed dearily. Single figures and armies. Jet and spaceships, small, big and huge. Everything and everyone she could ever imagine was there.
Suddenly there was debris flying all around when Scott, now a giant, broke through what was left of the Compound. Katya noticed that Thor stood up and Tony was awake. Steve was approaching her. War cries from all around the world send shivers down her spine. She summoned Mjolnir back to her hand. In all this chaos she didn't see her parents yet, but she knew they were here. They were back. They were alive. It was all that mattered.
"Avengers!" Captain America called out, standing arm in arm with her. "Assemble."
With that, they threw themselves into a chaos of the battle of their lives. Everyone clashed with enemies. Some charging, the other flying above them. Katya didn't hear her own thoughts, her instincts taking control and the surrounding cacophony cut her off completely.
Tony and Pepper fought back to back, just above her head. A pegasus flew by as suddenly Mjolnir escaped Katya's hand, only to get replaced with Stormbreaker.
"Looks like we need one more of these." Thor assessed. "Little Romanoff gets the little one for now, sorry Cap."
They switched weapons. Steve ducked under the hammer and swayed his hand, letting them know it was fine with him. Katya let go of Mjolnir, sending it through a bunch of aliens, aiding Rocket who was close to getting surrounded. Another creature clawed at her back, when she didn't duck in time. Two more charged at her, but suddenly went limp, after getting a full round of ammo fired at them.
She turned around, stunning the alien one more time just to be safe, as she looked for whoever came to her rescue. Her eyes widened. James lowered his rifle.
"Papa." she muttered, her weak voice getting completely lost between other noises.
His expression was similar, shocked, like if he didn't realize at first who was he helping. Then the shock turned to relief, as Katya sprinted toward him and threw her arms around his neck. He needed a moment to comprehend what was happening, before he embraced her too, as strongly as he could.
"You have no idea how much I missed you." she said, pulling away. It didn't last long, it wasn't the right time for long and heartfelt reunion. James looked at her, tears glimmering in his eyes. He couldn't find the right words.
For him it was minutes since he saw her last. But the person who stood in front of him was the living proof it was much more. He remembered a teen, with some traces of a child still left in her, and now saw a young woman. A proof that he lost her again, for another five years he would never get back.
"Mama, where's she? Have you seen her?" Katya pulled him away from his thoughts, from the brief moment of grief. She kept looking around, tasing an alien here and there in the meantime.
Sudden explosion nearby stopped James from answering. Chunk of a remaining wall got torn apart, sending shrapnel all around. And revealing Natasha.
"Mama!" Katya yelled, stepping away from James, after looking at him one more time. He smiled encouraginly, hiding his own pain. Despite the chaos, her voice reached Natasha. But she looked straight at her, and continued searching. She didn't recognize her, until Katya yelled again and came even closer. Then her gaze returned, and focused on her.
They met halfway, Natasha took Katya's face between her hands. Katya covered her left with her own, lump growing in her throat. Natasha caressed her cheek, shaking her head with disbelief.
"You've grown so much, you're so big..." she uttered with shaky voice. "You're taller than me."
Katya let out a chuckle, despite tears rolling down her face.
"I missed you so much."
"I know, zvezdochka. But we've got a battle to win."
Neither of them cared about the battle at that moment. Katya wanted to stay like that, to hold her mom closer for the first time in five years, for as long as it would take for her to believe it was real. But if they did that then, that would also be the last time.
Katya looked at James over her shoulder, when he approached them. One more quick hug, all three of them, and then they split, each one in different direction, right back into the battle.
Soon Clint's voice crackled through the comms, asking what do to with the Stones. Katya found herself near Tony when he informed that Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel. She couldn't hold back a snort when La Cucaracha sounded through the battlefield, even gaining the attention of a few from Thanos' army. She used the moment to get rid of them.
"Hey, you said one out of fourteen million we win." Tony reminded Strange who landed just between her and Stark. "Tell me this is it."
"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen."
"It doesn't work like that." Katya chimed in, getting irritated look from Strange.
"Listen, kid, I don't know who-"
"You're not the only seer here, Doc. I'm still not sure how that works exactly, but some things are certain. This is it. I have no idea how this will end, but I know that we will come on top. What I don't know is the cost of it."
"Well, if you ask me, she was never wrong." Tony shrugged.
"Yet." Strange said, glaring at her.
"Well, first time for everything, but I'm hoping it won't be today." Stark summed up. "Alright, kid you wanna lift?"
Katya nodded. Tony embraced her with one arm and took off, looking for a place to drop her, where she could be of use. Eventually, she landed between some Wakandan warriors. For a while she fought arm in arm with them, occasionally borrowing a spear, Mjolnir accompanying her, thunder crackling wherever she went. Suddenly something else reached her ears. Crack and deafening hum of running water. The Hudson River, right above her. It was blocked by rubble, just until now.
"Guys, I could use a hand here." she informed, just as the water broke through the last restraints, the small streams growing abruptly and cascading straight at her and the Wakandans.
She closed her eyes, trying to brace herself for the impact, for being washed away through the battlefield. But it never came.
The only thing she felt was a bone chilling cold, spreading through her whole body, just like when she held the Soul Stone. And just as unsure and confused as then, she slowly opened her eyes, only to see not a running river but a wall of ice.
"Katya, are you okay? What just happened over there?" Pepper asked, through the earpiece, flying just above.
"I have no idea." she shook her head and looked down at her hands. They looked completely normal.
"Heads up, Queen Elsa." someone warned.
Before Katya could match the voice to the owner, she was in the air once again, this time held up by Rhodey who took her out of the line of fire. Missile hit just where she stood seconds ago. He transported her off where it seemed safer. She nodded, but Rhodes didn't make it far. The impact of another hit, brought him down as it started to rain fire all around.
"Watch out!" she yelled, noticing Natasha nearby. Just in time, she reached her and pushed them both away. Holding onto each other, they made it to a nearby debris, hoping it would provide at least a bit of shelter.
"Your hands, zvezdochka." Natasha said, between heavy breathts and took them in hers. "They're like ice. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I feel fine" Katya assured, frowning and looking around. "It's gotten weirdly quiet, don't you think?"
The cannonade still continued, but not around them, only above.
"What are they firing at?" Natasha wondered, taking a step forward.
Few seconds later they saw only a fast moving glow in the sky. It went straight through the massive spaceship as if it was made of clouds, not extraterrestrial metals. It started exploding in multiple spots and more kept showing.
"Took you long enough, Powerpuff." Katya grinned.
Natasha glanced at her, confused. "Who?"
"Meet Carol Danvers." she explained. "Come on!" she hurried and took off through the battlefield, Romanoff just behind her. Katya headed for the same direction she saw Danvers fly at.
"I don't know how are you gonna get through all that." Peter said with concern, glancing at the enemy's troops. He handed the Gauntlet to Carol just as the Romanoffs approached them. Wanda landed near, so did the woman riding the pegasus. Katya didn't have the occasion to catch her name. Okoye was near. Pepper landed in front of them with a clank of her armor.
"Don't worry." Katya assured, smiling at Shuri. The princess returned it.
"She's not alone." Natasha added, as even more women joined them, most of which Katya didn't recognize, aside from Gamora. There was one with antennae, one showed up suddenly, she suspected it must have been Hope.
They all shot, cut, slained and hit, no one spared ammunition nor strength. Wanda's powers glimmered with red all around, Pepper's beams blinded while coursing all around and taking the enemy down one by one. Carol went straight through dozens of aliens like through puppets, still holding onto the gauntlet. Explosions followed wherever she went.
Remembering what happened with the river, Katya tried to replicate it, despite having no idea what she was doing. In the end, intention seemed to be enough as one of the four legged creatures went stiff, covered with frost as soon as she touched it.
Suddenly the battlefield disappeared. It all went black for a moment and then started flashing in front of Katya's eyes. Battlefield, Steve's cracked shield, Infinity Stones, one by one, the Avengers symbol barely hanging on the remainings of the Compound. Ash and dust from disintegrating people, Wakandan wilderness. Iron Man. Burnt, completely scorched right side.
The drawing.
The vision from 2015.
And for the first time there was a feeling accompanying the vision. So strong, filling her whole, crushing her heart. Grief, anger, fear, blame. Overwhelming guilt. And her own scream, echoing through her mind.
As abruptly as it started, it also ended and Katya realized it couldn't have been more than a second. Shuri was still just behind her, Gamora's blade still stuck in the chest of a broad alien.
"Don't let the Stones get to Tony!" she yelled through the earpiece. "Everybody, listen, it can't get to Stark!"
"What are you talking about?" Tony asked.
"Just trust me on this one-"
She wanted to add a plead at the end, she was ready to beg, but at the same moment a shockwave came across the battlefield, sweeping everyone of their feet. Katya lost Danvers from her sight and that meant the gauntlet too.
Mjolnir came whoosing to her hand. Remembering that Thor used it to fly, she started spinning it, hoping it would work and bring her up, granting her a better view. She yelped when the hammer took her up. It took a moment to gain control, more than it did to locate the Stones. Almost as if they were calling to her, she immediately knew where to look and where to aim Mjolnir.
She landed with a thud, in a pose that would make Yelena proud and just in time to snatch the Gauntlet right from under Thanos' nose.
"You're fierce, little one."
"Yeah, you've said that before." Katya clutched the Stones and spinned the hammer, ready to throw it but Thor landed in front of her, coming at the titan with his axe. Rogers joined soon, attacking from behind.
Katya started to back away when the god called Mjolnir to himself and tried to think of a way to help them. For a moment she considered trying freezing the ground, hoping to immobilize Thanos but it was all too new for her, she didn't want to risk doing it to Thor or Steve instead.
The two Avengers didn't put up as much fight as she thought they would. She had no idea what to do and for the first time since she could remember, she started to panic, her programming not enough anymore to guide her when there was no one between her and Thanos.
One look at the titan.
Another at the Stones.
One more at her own hand, as it hoovered above the Stones and she begged them to react, as they did before. She muttered to herself, as if she wanted to encourage them to move faster when the Space Stone budged and started to slip out of its place.
"Don't you dare, kid." she heard Tony through the earpiece, but his voice seemed distant. Completely insignificant.
Thanos was getting closer and closer to her. There was no way to get the Stones away safely. Both quantum tunnels were gone. And if Thanos reached her...
Suddenly the gauntlet was snatched from her grip. But not by the Titan, who seemed as confused as she was. Katya heard a clatter. It was thrown aside, useless. Stones gone.
"NO!" she hollered, when she noticed Tony kneeling on the other side, his whole arm crackling with power, illuminated in blue.
"I trust you." he said, bringing his fingers together. "But I need you to trust me too."
And then he snapped and Katya could see only white.
Her throat was already sore, voice cracking with the force of another scream that echoed all around. Barely keeping her balance, she tried to get as fast to Tony as she could, not caring at all about Thanos' troops turning into dust all around her.
She saw him stagger and fall back, leaning on the rubble. "No, no, no, you can't do this, you can't die, I promised Morgan, no-" Katya cried. She heard someone land near her, Pepper or Rhodey, she didn't care. She made him do this. She forced him to figure out Time Travel, she made him change his mind, she brought this all on them.
And if he dies, it would be on her.
It would be her fault.
Katya fell to her knees by his side and reached to tear the face plate off the burnt armor.
She did, only to realize the armor was empty. There was no face behind the mask. Only wires.
Tony wasn't inside.
She looked around, meeting Rhodey's confused gaze. Pepper was just behind them, looking absolutely terrified. Tears were streaming down Peter's face.
"You really thought you'd get rid of me that easily?" suddenly reached her ears. Katya spun around, in the direction of the voice. Tony stumbled from around the corner, clearly weak but alive, without visible injuries and without any armor on. Just plain clothes.
The only armor around, was the ruined one nearby, until five more showed, flying out from around the debris. Each one crackling with a power of one stone, glowing with its color. And soon, just like the first, they clattered to the ground, falling apart into separate pieces, some of them dissapperaing as the nanotech stopped working.
It was too risky to divide the stones between many people. Between many minds. But dividing them between many vessels with only one mind to control them all? That's a whole other story.
After taking in the scene around her and realizing what just happened, Katya turned back to Tony and run straight to him, before anyone else.
"I hate you." she muttered after throwing her arms around him and hiding her face in the crook of his neck. Her impact made him stumble.
"Love you too, kid." he returned the hug.
Katya helped Tony sit down and stepped away, making room for all the others.
"Hi." Peter greeted, extending a hand to her when Pepper took his place by Stark's side. Katya shook it. "I'm Peter, and, um, who are you?"
"I know who you are. Heard quite a lot about you." Katya admitted, his eyes widened. "I'm Katya."
"Wow, really? I mean, did you really hear about me? Not if your name really is, Katya- Did, did Mr. Stark talk about me?"
"Stop drooling, Pete, she's out of your league." Tony chimed in. Katya snorted and Peter blushed. And then Stark's head fell forward as he lost consciousness.
"Friday?" there was already an audible panic in Pepper's voice, as she tried to hold him up. "What's wrong?"
"Non life threatening injuries detetcted. Mr. Stark appears completely stable. Although the suits took the biggest hit, it was impossible for Boss not to get affected. The fainting might be a result of radiation sickness. He should awake soon." the AI explained calmly. Katya could swear everyone around breathed out in relief. "I'll keep monitoring him and I will update you if anything changes."
"Thank you, Friday." Pepper rested her head on Tony's shoulder.
In the meantime, everyone gathered around them and Katya didn't even notice until then, too absorbed with Tony and the fear that's something's gonna happen to him.
She forgot about her own parents, until Natasha's arms pulled her closer, into a tightest embrace. And for the first time since it all started, Katya let the emotions have the better of her. She started crying, tears streaming down her cheeks, sobs shaking her whole. Natasha caressed her back as she cried too, the weight of the lost years finally getting to her.
James joined them soon, breaking their hug only to take Katya into his own arms. When he lifted her, taking her feet of the ground, she felt like a little girl once again. One that deserved to be hugged like that by him, but never got a chance to.
Other familiar faces joined too. Katya stepped away to briefly hug Shuri and even T'Challa. Sam patted her on the back while walking by. She saw Clint, for the first time since they separated still inside the ruins. He hugged her tightly too but didn't miss his chance to scold her for trying to be a hero and then greeted Natasha too. Steve said that there's no doubt that she's their daughter, while reuniting with Natasha with a brief hug and clasping James on the back. Katya didn't expect much from Rocket, a high five at best, so her surprise when he clung to her, more like a koala than a raccoon, was huge. Thor picked her up and spinned around, saying he always knew she was worthy.
Some time passed. Most people wandered around, checking on others, helping wounded, some sat down wherever they stood, too tired to do anything else, as adrenaline levels started to lower. Many tears were shed during the long overdue reunions. Pepper and Rhodey kept an eye Tony, waiting for him to wake up. Katya sat down near, Natasha and James never left her side. She leaned on her father's shoulder while her mother held her hand, like she used to when she was a little girl.
Tony came around soon, with a gasp.
"What happened?"
"You fainted." Pepper explained, smiling softly at him, relieved to see him awake.
"And gave us all heart attack." Katya added.
"Yeah, I've expected that." Stark admitted, trying to adjust his position.
"A warning would be nice next time."
"Jesus, you sound like me. Good thing you have your folks back or that could end badly" Tony's laughed turned to a short fit of cough. "Hey, Romanoff." he called out to Natasha, forcing her to look away from Katya. She couldn't stop staring at her daughter. Taking in the woman she had become. "You owe me five years of free babysitting."
Katya snorted, Tony chuckled, Natasha even if confused, laughed too. Soon the laugh spread, infectious as it was, leaving everyone giggling even if most didn't know what they were even laughing about.
"I missed quite a lot, didn't I?" Natasha asked, reaching to stroke her daughter's cheek. James smiled sadly, but with compassion. What she felt then, he felt for years and would still feel, with another five years lost.
"Nah, just a little bit." Katya shrugged. "I'll tell you all about it. But later"
She looked around, her gaze stoping at each person, more or less familiar face for at least a short moment, feeling grateful for every single one, and remembering the ones that never made it to this moment. They sat together, gathered all around, taking the moment in. Katya closed her eyes, squished between her parents, and let out a content sigh.
They did it.
They won.
How I love looking for loopholes and as I said, no dying on my watch
have I mentioned before that I suck at writing fight/battle scenes? yeah, I do.
don't worry, the powers will be explained and let me know what you think about Katya lifting Mjolnir, what makes her worthy? what doesn't?