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

23. Another Day, Another Migraine

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.

After being kidnapped by her tracksuit-wearing, bro-using, vaguely eastern-European, completely crap-sack enemies; she is now causing problems from them.

There is a 100% completeand total van outside - but she's been a little... overzealous in shooing peopleoff from the building lately. She might have been asked by the police to maybe- kinda stop scaring folks away.

***********************************************************************************************

Gotham City,
December 18, 2015

[Bruce Wayne]

It was odd, how easy a routine was slipped into. Without a spoken word or instruction, their presents in each other's lives had quietly become the norm. A morning meeting at the dinner for coffee. A shared meal, sometimes accompanied by quiet conversation, sometimes not. She teasingly called him Brucie, sometimes B. But more often than not she just called him Bruce.

Especially when she was in subdued mood, lost in her on personal hell like the night Batman assisted her escape from the Tracksuits. She never talked to him about it, as if it was another side of her that she shared with nobody. He had no grounds to judge her on how she coped with her issues, only suspect that she had almost certain been a vigilante once. He recognised the mask she wore, the charming smile, open personality, but never truly hide the pain in her eyes from someone how knew that same pain of loss well.

The December nights were fridged, not-so gently hinting that snow was coming, the smell was in the air too. The day grew short, the light creeping behind the clouds quickly in the afternoons. Crime dropped with the cold weather, but never fully stopped. Years ago, when Dick was still Robin, the Joker had escaped from Arkham on Christmas Eve they'd talked about this.

"Come on, Batman! It's Christmas Eve. Let's kick back and get into the spirit."

A younger, but no less brood Batman had grunted in response. "The Joker's escaped from Arkham Asylum, Robin."

Dick shrugged, still a teenager, still naive and hopeful. "And you really think he's gonna make his move on Christmas Eve? Even scum spend the holidays with their families."

"He has no family."

"Okay, I'll make a deal with you. If we go out on patrol and Gotham is quiet, with no sign of the Joker, we come back here, have Christmas dinner and watch "It's A Wonderful Life"."

"You know, I've never seen that. I could never get past the title," Batman said.

"It's a deal, then?"

"Deal."

Dick made him watch the movie every Christmas Eve religiously, and it would be no different, but he couldn't help but wonder if Jane might join them this year since he didn't think he had any other family. He couldn't quite make himself stop thinking about it even as it grew late in the afternoon, the hours inching towards the nighttime hours he preferred. Closer to the hour he could don the mask that allowed him to be himself, stepping out to prowl the twisting streets of this city for crime, though not there yet. "Give a man a mask, and he will tell the true," Jason had said once.