Marvel One-shots

Ancient Avengers

The Shawarma restaurant was crowded that evening. Captain Steve Rogers stopped at the door, glancing up at the skyline of New York. The city had not changed much in the past hundred years. He winced at the pain that shot through his back and stepped inside, breathing in the spicy aroma of the Turkish eatery. He glanced around and saw them, sitting in a table corner, giving orders to the robot waiter. Steve strode over and smiled. The hundredth anniversary reunion of the Battle of New York was in full swing.

Steve sat down slowly and glanced around at the familiar faces. Anthony Stark was wedged against the window. He was wearing his iron man armor. But Stark had to wear it these days. He was nearly 150 years old and his health was not the best. He had designed a suit that monitored his vital signs and carried all his medical equipment. It would even shock him if he went into cardiac arrest. But Stark was still perky. He glanced up, fixing a cybernetic eye on Steve. "Hey, the old man made it. You look good for 200." It was true. Steve's skin might be a little wrinkled, his frame a little thinner, but he still carried himself tall.

The robot turned to Steve. "What shall it be Mr.Rogers?" Steve started, he was still not used to how they knew his name just by scanning his bio-metrics. "Uh, the usual." The robot instantly recalled Steve's profile and ordering history. "Shawarma? Very good sir." A old man across from Rogers spoke through a bushy white beard. "Hey, Steve. Earn any medals lately?" Steve smiled, that old easy smile of his. After New York he had stuck with S.H.I.E.L.D. but eventually rejoined the U.S. army and served for four tours in the Middle East. He had quickly become the most decorated soldier in the service, earning several Purple Hearts, the Medal of Honor and the Silver Star, as well as several medals from other nations. He had saved the lives of countless soldiers and personally captured or killed hundreds of enemies. Soldiers had written books full of his exploits. Finally the army promoted him to major general and stuck him behind a desk, reluctant to lose their most valuable soldier. Steve had had enough of the army anyway and had retired, married an old friend from S.H.I.E.L.D. and settled down. But he still made the headlines when he stopped a armed robbery and was given the keys to the city of Brooklyn by the mayor. "No medals these days. How about you Dr. Banner, they run out of awards to give you yet?"

Banner stroked his white beard and adjusted his glasses, which he still preferred even though ultra-compact contact lenses were now available. "Well, they gave me my second Nobel Prize last year. For physics of course. I just published this paper on radiation effects on the Mars colony and the consequences for communication. And they drag me to Switzerland and give me a little gold man for it." Stark broke in. He was always the center of attention. "Of course you would have been spared that if I hadn't built that colony ship for Mars Industries and practically gave it away to them."

Banner looked around at the patrons enjoying their meals, people from every walk of life. "I don't enjoy thinking about the battle of New York, but if it had never happened, if we had never become a team, the world would be much worse off." Stark grinned. "Yeah, when everybody in the universe saw what we could do, they got real quiet. This guy called Aldreich Killian came to my place a week after the battle and asked if I would please help him with this radical treatment called Extremis. The guy was a nut, the stuff was unstable but he had given it to a bunch of ex-army guys. But he couldn't make a move, knowing we would all show up and trash his party. We managed to stabilize a mild form of Extremis, practically cured cancer." Steve nodded. "Thanks for helping me out when H.Y.D.R.A. activated project Insight. If it wasn't for Stark those helicarriers would have gotten airborne." Stark nodded modestly, which was hard for him to do.

Steve took a drink of water. "They offered me a cameo appearance in our movie." Banner looked up. "What movie?" Stark took up the slack. "You know all those documentaries they did, about how we saved the world? Well now they are making a 4D movie about it. They just finished picking the cast. It's called "Earth's Mightiest Heroes". Don't worry guys, our rights are well protected, we get a dollar every time someone goes to see it."

The robot arrived and served their Shawarma. Steve looked up from the saucy meat pastry. "So, is Clint showing up this year?" Stark suddenly looked older. "You still don't follow the news, do you Steve? Clint Barton died last month in Ontario, from a heart attack."

They all sat silent for a moment, First Natasha Romanov, now Barton. Even Colonel Rhodes was dead, killed in a hovercar collision in D.C. Every year it seemed, another familiar face was gone.

The silence was broken by a rumble outside. A beam of pure energy struck the ground outside. Dust billowed into the street. Then, as suddenly as it had come the beam vanished and Thor Odinson, king of Asgard, breezed into the restaurant and dropped his hammer by the table. The Asgardian looked much the same as ever. A majestic golden beard spilled over his silver armor. "So my mortal friends, another of our company has gone to Valhalla. This is a grim day, but we should be happy for them." The robot came over as Thor sat down. "What shall it be today Mr. Thor?" For a moment the king was confused, curiously examining the machine. "Bring us tankards of strong ale, mechanical servant." Now it was the robot's turn to be confused, it hurried off to consult the owner on the best course of action.

Banner took off his glasses and polished them. "So Stark, how is miss Potts doing?" "You mean Mrs. Stark." Tony replied. "She is doing O.K.  She had to have a artificial spine implant last year. Now her arthritis is much better." Thor nodded. "Be sure to treasure your years with her my friend. I remember every moment with Jane Foster, from the moment I met her to when she died in my arms. For the good of the realm I had to marry Lady Sif, and we love each other. But when I am troubled the memories of Jane comfort me." Steve sighed. Thor had always been good at talking about emotional subjects.

The robot came back to the table with four steel cups of beer. Steve took his and sank back in his chair. "So, what are you doing tomorrow Stark?" The multi-trilionaire adjusted his glove. "I'm working on a quantum computing algorithm." He waved it away. "You probably wouldn't understand it." Bruce Banner slowly straightened in his chair. "I have to fly to Malaysia. There is a new super-flu outbreak there." Thor shrugged. "The work of a ruler goes on as usual. What about you Captain?" Steve opened his mouth to answer and his phone rang, a metallic male voice echoed through the restaurant. "Steve Rogers, you are late for the veteran's reunion, repeat, you are late for the veteran's reunion." Everyone erupted into laughter as Steve silenced his phone reminder.

Thor raised his cup of beer in a toast. "To our friends, those still with us, and those who have moved on." They all drank. Dr. Banner began hiccuping. Steve finished his Shawarma and stood. "So long then. See you all next year."

One by one they all left. Steve roared off on his ancient motorcycle. Doctor Banner called in a hovercar taxi with his phone. Stark clicked his helmet in place and roared away. Thor stood carefully in a parking space and vanished in a beam of light as the Bifrost launched him back to Asgard at the speed of light.