Avengers: Legacies

Prologue I: The End of the End

Avengers Mansion, Manhattan, New York

The room buzzed with tension as the table at its center remained quiet, those seated there, filling every chair, eyed one another with uncertainty. The Avengers, with Captain America, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye on one side, the Hulk, Ant-Man, Wasp, and Thor on the other casted their eyes back and forth at the heads of the table. Iron Man and Black Widow sat at the opposing ends, staring each other down, but no one seemed inclined to say anything until Tony set the Iron Man helmet onto the table in front of him.

"Leave it all behind? Just like that, huh?"

Tony glanced around the room at each of his team mates, his eyes lingering on Cap's the longest. The super soldier lowered his gaze to the tabletop in front of him and then darted his eyes over to Natasha. No one stirred at Tony's tone, at the sense of betrayal in it, and he scoffed to himself, knowing that that was how it always was with these friends of his. They knew him too well to know that it was best not to engage in his dramatic behavior.

T'Challa cleared his throat. "Ororo and I are expecting our first child, Tony. I wish to be there with her in this joyous occasion for myself and for her, and for our people. We have discussed this possibility before when we first started the Avengers together, and I propose it is time we make good on our promises to one another. The Avengers must come to an end, and it must be a mutual decision." T'Challa reclined back into his chair, his clawed gloves and panther mask also placed in front of him on the table. He appeared calm and collected, undeterred by the tension in the room.

Thor leaned forward into Tony's line of sight, him sitting closest to Tony's left. The Norse god appeared to be the only one in a reasoning mood, full of optimism and good spirits as always, as he rested his forearm on the table and faced himself towards Tony, turning his back on the others, trying to block them out.

"You did not expect us to do this forever, did you, Man of Iron?" he said. Then he rolled his eyes. "Well, at least, I didn't expect any of you to do so, although an honorable pursuit on your part with being mortals and all. I knew that the time I spent with you would be momentary and fleeting, but I know now that my memories with all of you will be recalled warmly as I share our mighty tales with my fellow Asgardians. You are all legends, and therefore will be revered on Asgard once I return."

"So you're willing to leave too? To a whole other place lightyears away no less."

Thor scrambled to find the right words, but failed. Tony shook his head and scoffed at him. He looked over at the TV monitors on the right side of the meeting room, row upon row taking up the whole wall. News coverage from all over the world discussed various disasters happening and highlighting some of the Avengers' allies in the middle of the action. Didn't anyone else see what Tony saw? The world still needed them, and it always would no matter what they did.

"We're not abandoning you, Stark, if that's what you're thinking. We just want to head forward with our lives, pursue some of the things we've been putting off because of the Avengers," Clint said. "As our friend, you would want that for us the same way we want it for you. Right?"

Natasha cut in. "I'm not so sure about that, Clint. You know Tony has a hard time existing outside of that suit of his. With us gone, he'd have less of an excuse to don the role of Iron Man and be forced to face the things he's unwilling to focus on, like, for example, his crumpling relationship with Pepper or that Stark Industries has hit a new low in the stock market recently. The list could go on as to why he doesn't want this whole circus to end."

Tony snapped his focus back to her. "You really are heartless, aren't you, Romanoff?"

"Emotion clouds judgment. You should know that by now. These three are right though. Life is passing us by, by remaining within these walls, dedicating our lives like it's the only thing destined for us. Some of us . . . some of us dream of other things. Normal wants and desires. None of us may be normal, but we all deserve those things just like everybody else. We deserve lives of our own." She glanced in the direction of Cap, and Cap returned her gaze with a soft, thoughtful smile.

Cap sat back with his elbows propped up on the armrests of his chair, and he tapped away at the tabletop with gloved fingers in a basic rhythm, one finger flowing, following after the other. "Natasha and I are planning to move in together . . . I might even convince her to marry me someday if all goes well. But we can't do this if all we do is save the world. I want to be with Nat, Tony, for forever if possible, and I can't even do that because everyone expects me to do the selfless thing. As much as this change in our lives may scare you, we all have been ready for something new for a long time. It's much overdue, and very much needed."

Cap's words had a magic quality to them, as they always did, and it made for a visible shift in the room.

Wanda cleared her throat and placed her hands squarely on the table, her eyes not leaving her red-painted fingernails. "I could ease your fear of what's to come by making this decision easier for you. You know how great my power is. Making the world forget it has superheroes and villains would not be that difficult of me to conjure. If that is the reality you want, Stark."

"What would happen to you, Wanda? If you released that much power, you could hurt yourself or worse, get killed," Janet argued, shooting to her feet. She glanced around the room, her dark eyes shining, silently pleading with the others to voice their objections. It was a lot to expect of someone, no matter how powerful. But when Tony met Janet's gaze, the reason for her objection spelled itself out. He was not the only person in this room who wished to continue the work they had been doing, but he couldn't count on her support in the matter. Not with the rest already prepared to hand their resignations in, not when Hank worried and fretted over every little thing Janet did and the decision for her. Tony didn't really care for Hank at that very moment.

Wanda calmly waved her hand at Janet to ease her back into her seat. "I would only have to cast one spell, and then mend it once a year so nothing out of the ordinary breaks through. How much normalcy you want to maintain will depend on you in whatever way you can think of. For T'Challa, he and his queen may need to think of an X-gene repressor or antidote for their future child, or children, if they inherit Ororo's mutant gene. For Thor, he would never be able to return to Earth ever again for many obvious reasons. One fracture in the spell from an outlier that doesn't fit the norm, and it would all come crashing down on us. Whatever plan for the future you might have would then have to contend with your past coming back to haunt you. It's a very intricate, delicate thing, but I'd be happy to do it if it meant we could all live in peace."

Tony raised his eyebrows at that, inwardly scoffing at the idea of "living in peace". Peace did not exist. He knew this from the countless nights staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom, alone and shrouded in shadow and silk sheets, trying to solve all the world's problems by himself and inevitably torturing himself. It wasn't until the Avengers were formed that he had felt any hope for the future. The Avengers were the closest he had ever got to peace, closest thing he ever got to a family. But it was over, all his hard work was crashing down around him, and nobody realized it. No one cared.

Tony sighed and stood with the help of his chair's armrests. He stared around the table, at everyone's resigned faces, and nodded in the direction of Wanda.

"Fine. Do what you want. I wish you all the best. None of you better forget to call me on major holidays or my birthday. Otherwise, I'm writing you out of my will."

He walked out of the room with his helmet tucked beneath his arm, his suit whirring as he moved along. He had made a horrible decision not putting up a fight. He felt it in the pit of his stomach, but it would be okay. He had a plan, and a failsafe. And if neither one worked, there was always a deal to make. With someone, something. The Avengers would fight side by side again one day. He just had to give them the best reason to.

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A/N: Please enjoy this book's playlist as you continue reading: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2o0el5loHCE2lU3iTZru7Q?si=fe5fa307933c4da6

I'll include the character playlists in the following chapters as I revise the next several ones.

I hope you're liking what you've read so far and are excited to meet the Legacies! Now, go on, get out of here. Escape the world for a little while.