The Last Avenger [What If...? x DCAMU Crossover]

17. It's Hammer Time

Indiana Stark, A.K.A. Tony Stark's little sister, became the deadliest woman known to man.

And there came a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, she joined the Avengers.

This is what she does now that they're gone.

It's hammer time! (Somebody had to say it.)

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After that night at the diner, I settled into the rhythms of life working with the Wayne's. My acceptance by the kids and, more importantly, by Bruce made me feel slightly at ease. I was invited to the manor more often and got to know Alfred, if I wasn't helping Bruce, I would help him around the house. And Alfred acted like I was one of his own. In Crime Alley, I'd seen gangs protect their members, but this was different. There was none of the fear and manipulation.

It was kind of nice - when it wasn't excruciatingly boring. Darkseid was yet to attack and yet to send an assassin after me.

"It's a family," said Tim. We were working on the Arc Reactor prototype together.

"But we're not family," I protested.

Tim looked at me, an expression on his face that was almost hurt. I had seen families before. I had saved families before. And I had also killed them before. But it had been a while since I had been part of one. The Avenger's were more friends from work, with a couple of exceptions. But it seemed so long ago that all I had was the feeling of it.

"There's two kinds of family," Tim said after a moment. "There's the kind like you and Tony, where you get born into the right place with the right people and you're stuck with each other. If you're lucky, it turns out okay. The other kind of family is the kind you find."

I thought about how Thor and I defaulted to calling each other 'brother' and 'sister'. It had become a running joke because I looked more like Thor, and Loki looked more like Tony. And, of course, Nat and Clint were clearly way better friends than everyone else.

"Dick, Jason and I, we were alone," Tim continued. "But then Bruce took us in. He didn't have to. But he did. All sorts of bad things could've happened to us, but instead we got a new family."

I considered this.

"You don't have to tell me anything," Tim went on. "But something happened. So now you got us."

Tim was so determined that I couldn't bring myself to correct him. I wasn't looking for family, but Aunt Peggy had taught me that sometimes you found things you weren't expecting, and it only made sense to use them when you did. The Batfamily protected their own. Maybe it was a good idea to take advantage of it, even though thinking about using my friends on those terms made me uncomfortable. I looked at Tim, who was installing the final part of the reactor.

It began to hum and glow as it powered up. This was Tony's legacy, and I would make sure it lived on.

Tim and I high fived.

"Isn't that unfair?" I asked. They didn't even know my real name. "I mean, I just show up and you guys take me on?"

"Well," Tim said, "it's not like you aren't useful to have around. You're really helping out, and that keeps Bruce's head from getting too big."

I laughed. I supposed that was true.

"You two still burning the midnight oil?" Alfred asked. "It's almost eleven-thirty."