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

29. Rio Bravo

The fire had died, and I stood across the roof from Bruce. His expression changed from stern to relief. I closed the distance between us as fast as I could. Once I stood in front of him, he reached of my hands, but at the last second pulled back, almost as if my touch would burn.

You're a killer, a small voice in the back of my mind reminded me, but I pushed it down. I shook my head dropping Mjolnir and positioned his hands to hold my own. "I'm sorry." Bruce looked down at me. Took a deep breath and placed my left hand on the side of his face. "I'm not exactly great at feelings and I'll explain everything later, just-" I was cut off by him pulling me into a kiss. His arms circled around me, mindful of my injuries and I relaxed in his arms.

Warmth stirred inside me, and I hummed in content. He pulled back a second later and I could see how much he'd lightened up. In the distance the Saint Mathew's bell tolled three times signalling midnight.

I kissed Bruce again. "Merry Christmas, Batsy."

"Oh, yuck that's rank, Ma," Jason said. All three boys had joined us. He had his hood off and pretended to gag. Then he wrapped an arm over my shoulder in a half hug. "You're way too vanilla for him."

I scoffed and punched him in the shoulder. "You wouldn't have a rabies shot, would you?"

I heard Bruce groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jane!" Dick ran into me, lifting me clear off the ground and spun me around. He hugged me tightly and I grimaced. "What happened? There was thunder and lightning. And that cold feeling... what was that?"

"Ribs," I wheezed, and Dick pulled back.

I looked over at Tim. He shrugged. "I think it was cool."

I certainly didn't feel cool. I was tired and sore and completely drained of energy. "That was Death. She was pissed off I cheated her and wasn't doing anything with my life," I explained.

Jason frowned at me, but Tim asked the question they were all asking. "Jason died too, why hasn't she gone after him?"

I had some explaining to do. They all looked at me expectantly. This was going to be easy. "My real name is Indiana Stark," I said. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."

I always found it best to start with the apology and then work backwards to the explanation from there. It was something Tony never mastered.

"I'm from another dimension. And for the last four years, I've been an Avenger. Jason knows most of the rest. I jumped on a grenade to save a bunch of people in the Battle of New York. I died and was resurrected using T.A.H.I.T.I. A project that was designed to revive a fallen Avenger. That's how it got started. Then a couple a couple years passed, I fell in love, saved the city some more, maybe too much, Steve and I joined S.H.I.E.L.D, then became fugitives along with Nat and Sam because S.H.I.E.L.D. was secretly run by a Nazi cult - HYDRA."

"That's lot," Dick said.

"That's just the big stuff - don't even get me started on the time Tony threatened a terrorist, or Kingpin, going to Asgard that one time, or the Frank Castle case, there was the stuff I did in between with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and my job as a P.I. and then there were the ninjas."

"How did you get here Ja-Indiana?" Bruce asked.

He didn't ask it in an angry way, but still felt like he'd struck me across the face. "Earlier this year while mopping up HYDRA, we found something they were working on... artificial intelligence. Tony... he didn't even hesitate."

"He made a decision that would affect the team," Bruce said.

"Why would he do that? Has he watched no American movies from the 80's? Robots always attack," Dick said.

"That would end the team," I corrected harshly, and chose to ignore Dick. "Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the 'why we fight'? So we get to go home?" I took a deep breathe. The next part was the hardest. "Tony created Ultron to be a suit of armour around the world, so next time aliens roll up to the club, and they will, they can't get past the bouncer. Only Ultron couldn't see the difference between saving the world and destroying it."

Bruce took my hand and squeezed it. I closed my eyes and finished telling them what happened. I told them how the Avengers died, how Steve told me to live, how I went to Eternity and wish to start over. "So imagine my surprise when I woke up in Gotham."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"Back on my earth, this is all fiction. Comic books and movies," I said and watched their faces carefully. "If I had known it was all real, I never would've intruded."

Bruce didn't let go of my hand. He hadn't the entire time. "It's okay. You're home now."

I pulled all four of them into a group hug. Considering the circumstances, I was happier than I had been in a long time. I had people around me that understood the toll this job took. People like us needed to stick together for the better or worse.

"Hey, if you are from a different dimension, why did you change your name?" Dick asked.

I laughed nervously. "That's a funny story. Since I didn't exist, I was gonna call myself Jane Doe or Dole or something, but it seemed a little on the nose."

"You're a dork," Bruce said. "Welcome to the family."

"I love you."