Next Avengers: James Love Story

Preparing to Let Go

"Bruce," Tony said once we found him, "James has something to tell you." The rest of us were trailing slowly behind, slightly excited, slightly terrified about how this will go down.

"What is it, boy?" He said coldly.

"Uh, we kinda may have powered up the ship, and Ultron is on his way here right now," James said quickly. Yep, this was definitely a bad idea.

"You did what?!" Bruce yelled. The next few seconds passed slowly, although what happened passed quickly. Bruce forcefully grabbed James' shirt collar and violently pushed him to the wall.

"Bruce, stop!" Tony demanded. He tried to get him off.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Azari asked.

"Dude, it was his plan," Hawkeye responded. I finally decided that none of this was going to improve the situation and had to get in there and break them up.

"That's enough," I said, grabbing James by the jacket and pulling him away with me to another part of the cave, away from Bruce and Tony, and away from the others.

"Thanks," he told me, but I didn't say anything back. He didn't try to pry anything out of me. He knows I will tell him when I believe the time is right to do so. I kept walking until I had found a rather dark, but well enough lit part of the cave to where I could still tell what eye color James had if we were a few feet apart. I began to fumble around in my pocket when James decided to make his curiosity audible. "What are you doing?"

I grabbed the bundle of papers in my pocket and pulled out my bunch of drawings. I found the one of James and the group one, separating them from the rest and handing them to him.

"I want you to have these. It's about time I give them to their inspirations. I've been looking for the right time, but no time is really right anymore. And if something happens to me out there, I know they're safe," I told him. I handed the drawings over to him and he looked over them for a few moments.

"But Alex-" I couldn't look up from the floor. I couldn't look at him in the eye knowing that I've accepted the possibility of my fate.

"Promise me you'll keep them safe. Please. Remember me when you look at them. Remember all of us. How we're a family. How you're the best friend I've ever had, how I-" I stopped myself before I could continue and say something I regret, but when I met his eyes again, I couldn't help but notice he was much closer than before.

What better time to tell him than now?

When I may never see him again after this ends?

"How I feel about you," I finished in a whisper, my voice betraying me in the seconds following my confession.

He didn't say anything. It scared me.

"Do you feel the same way I do?" He asked in a deep, sensual voice that made my knees weak and my guard melt like butter under the summer sun. I'm not all entirely sure how I'm still standing. Did he get closer?

"You tell me," I managed to whisper back. My heart was beating a thousand times per second, and I'm almost positive he could hear it too. But rather than tell me, he decided to show me instead, his fingers ghosting over my jawline and nape of my neck, finally closing the gap completely, pressing his own lips to mine.

The papers in my hand dropped to the floor.

I wasn't sure how to respond at first; my brain was sent into overdrive in a way that almost felt like a high, and yet heightened my senses off the charts. Our kiss grew feverous, hungrier and ravening as we grew more desperate by the moment. My hands are snaked in the strands of his fiery red hair, and his own hands snake their way tighter around my waist as if laying claim to me for himself and himself alone. I'm driven by his sweet taste, his heavy breathing, and our matching heartbeats that defy the fact we may lose our lives today. But we are still breathing, and with each other we will stay until death do us part.

And yet we still had to breathe.

As the kiss slowed and eventually died out, neither of us said anything for several moments, just standing in each other's arms and soaking up the feeling we may never get to feel again.

For the first time in my life, I felt whole.

It didn't last very long.

James broke the silence after placing a feather of a kiss on my forehead, a habit almost that he has seemed to develop. "Thank you for the drawings. And I promise you, nothing bad will happen to any of us. Alright? I can't let that happen, I won't." I nodded in response. When we were sure that our swollen lips had gone down to normal and our hair was fixed, we finally made our way back to the main area, where Tony was already waiting, hand in hand. We started to adjust our gear and weapons while Tony gave us a briefing, and I could feel my cheeks heating up as the stares lingered long after we let go.

"The Iron Avengers are tough, but not invincible. Go for exposed joints. Try to surprise them, trip up their programming. Don't get locked down to one opponent," he began.

"What about Ultron?" Pym asked.

"Ultron is a different story."

"This plan seemed a lot better when Torunn and the Hulk were involved," Azari commented. My sister, how could I forget about my sister so easily?

"Weather you know it or not, you've prepared for this your whole life," Tony said.

"Aye, we did. And today we meet our destinies." Torunn declared, her sword raised in the air. Her sword!

"She means that in a good way, right?" Hawkeye asked to no one in particular.

"Probably better if we don't know," Azari answered.

"Welcome back, sis," I told her warmly.

"You know I wouldn't miss a fight," she stated matter-of-factly. If there was anything I knew about my sister, it was that she never stepped down from a challenge. Been like that ever since I could remember.

"This is one hell of a time to decide to get your girl, dude," Hawkeye advised James, seemingly against it.

"Well, I wanted to take that chance before something could potentially happen to either one of us. So why don't you do the same?" James approached Hawkeye tauntingly, whispering the last part to where Torunn couldn't hear them, but I could.

As I looked at all I've ever known, it hurt to imagine the fact that some of us, or none of us won't make it out of this alive. My family, my friends, my world, my love. They are all I am, and all I need. Though it's probably the hardest thing I will ever have to do, I am prepared to let go.

For the sake of the world, and its future.

Just then, the ground shook, knocking all of us to the ground. We quickly scrambled to our feet and ran outside, the Iron Avengers appearing in the midst. Iron Giant Man hit the base of the cliff below us, causing us to fall off the edge of the cliff completely. Pym shrunk down and started shooting lasers at him while Torunn and I quickly flew to the the boys, her taking Azari and me taking James, catching them before they hit the ground. We flew them away from Iron Giant Man as the rest of the Iron Avengers were landing, setting them gently on the ground. This is it.

Let the battle begin.

Yay, another chapter finished! The time has finally come, just one more chapter and the book will reach completion. This particular chapter I was very excited to write, and I know you all were probably looking forward to it as well. Hope I finally eased some of the frustration.

Thank you so much for everyone who has read, and I wrote this not only because I love the fandom and franchise, but because I never saw another one like it. I hope that with this story you can find some satisfaction in hopefully finding what you were looking for, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

~G.D.