The Fall of Cronus
“...is he waking up?”
The doctor turned around. “He ought to be, Mr. Rogers. Give it time.”
Matt opened his eyes. One of the nurses began fiddling with his IV.
Steve stepped past the doctor just as he seemed to be about to ask a question. “You alright, kid?” he said, slight concern in his voice. Matt nodded.
“What happened? Where is everyone?” he asked.
Steve sat down next to the hospital bed. “I asked if you’re feeling alright.” Steve said. “I’m sure the doctor wants to know too.”
Matt looked at the doctor. “A bit groggy. What happened to me?”
The doctor stepped forward. “Do you remember the fall?” he said.
He did. Violently. “Yes.” he said.
“You suffered a head injury; you were unconscious briefly, then you woke up right around the time we were putting you under for surgery. Fortunately, Dr. Strange volunteered as soon as he heard the news and you got immediate treatment. Frankly, the low severity of your injury is nothing short of miraculous. I’m told you struck the pavement at unsafe speeds even despite Colonel Rhodes’s intervention.” the doctor said. Matt looked at Steve, who waved his hand slightly and mouthed “Later.”
“We also went in and treated the damage to your ribs and lungs, but you’ll be in care for weeks to a month while you recover, and, well, if you were anyone else I’d say your range of movement would be limited for some time, but… Just don’t overexert yourself physically.” The doctor made some notes on the clipboard as Matt began to speak.
“Who’s Doctor Strange?” he said.
“A famed neurosurgeon. He said the damage could have been much more severe if he weren’t around to help you. I doubt you’ll get an opportunity to thank him, though.” The doctor hesitated a moment before finishing. “He’s hard at work treating other patients.”
“Doctor, if you don’t mind…” Steve said.
The doctor nodded. “Vitals are normal, and he’s lucid. That’s all I needed to see. We’ll be running more tests, but those can wait a moment.” He and the nurses filed out of the room, leaving Steve and Matt alone.
“Rhodes is dead, right?” Matt said.
“He is.” Steve said. “The official story is that Rhodes was KIA in the invasion, that he fought in the battle and saved you from the fall. The public doesn’t know Loki controlled his mind.”
“So, wait, did Wick catch me?” Matt asked.
“If you could call it that.” Steve said. “From where I was standing, it looked pretty rough. You’re a tough kid. Glad you’re alright.”
Matt sat up a little more in the bed. “What happened to everyone? Are they alright?”
“Thor took Loki and the cube back to his home planet,” Steve said. Matt looked a little disappointed. “Banner’s okay, he’s been moved to Stark Tower to do R&D. The Council took Vahlen and the scepter back to their headquarters in DC. I’m going up there to work for SHIELD with Agents Barton and Romanoff.”
“What about Mr. Stark?” Matt said.
“He’s at the funeral.” Steve replied.
The sky was a gunmetal grey. Wick was used to being surrounded by black suits, but this was something altogether different, something unpleasantly familiar. The man he was standing next to wore the dress uniform of an Air Force lieutenant colonel. His face was stony. Wick heard quiet sobbing on the other side of him. His skin crawled. The space was too open. There were too many people around. He was a sitting duck. But he could feel Bradford’s disapproving gaze on him from near the podium above the coffin. It held him transfixed in this hellish moment. He’d have to endure a little more suffering yet before he was free.
“Is this thing on?” Tony said, his voice echoing out across the cemetery. There was a pause, then he continued. “I’ve had a rough week, so I’m gonna keep this short. Rhodey always got to the point, and he’d never forgive me for some long-ass speech.” Tony took a drink of water. Wick saw eyebrows being raised in the crowd. “Colonel James Rhodes was a hero. He lived a hero and he died a hero. When I went low, he went high. When I made a mistake, he called me out on it.” He paused. “And now he’s gone. And the world’s a little darker for it. He was the best of us. No hangups, no ego. Rhodes died because we weren’t ready; because I wasn’t ready. Because SHIELD and the Avengers weren’t working closely enough. Because we didn’t understand what we were fighting. Not anymore. Things are going to change. I’m going to avenge you, buddy.”
He paused again and looked at the coffin. For a moment, it almost seemed like he was going to start talking again; then, he adjusted his suit jacket and walked off the stage. Bradford looked stunned, but snapped out of it in time to take control of the murmuring crowd. “Everyone. Everyone, Mr. Stark has had a difficult week. Let me tell you about my friend James Rhodes. It started back when I was a Lieutenant Colonel in Virginia…”
Twenty minutes later, when the speeches were over, Bradford gathered Wick up like a hawk grabbing a mouse and pulled him aside.
“You mind telling me why Tony insisted I come here, and then left?” Wick said.
“I have a hunch.” Bradford said. “Power does that to you. You want to kill a decent man, give him power. He sees a problem and he can’t sit still until he fixes it.”
Wick shook his head.
“Maybe it’s a fool’s errand, but who’ll stop him from doing his work, bring him under control? SHIELD? Fury would never give that order, and I’m glad to have him watching over us for the time being. He’s proven himself.” Bradford said.
“If anyone’s still following me, I could have been killed today.” Wick said.
Bradford nodded, looking regretful. “They should have stopped pursuing you. Even if they didn’t, we have more work. You’ve done everything we asked of you, and you did it well. Catching that kid… You didn’t have to do that. In the video I saw, it looked damn near impossible. And I appreciate it. Enough, in fact, to offer you a job. Beyond the Avengers. Stark, he doesn’t even want you on the team.” Bradford said.
“Because of Rhodes.” Wick said.
Bradford nodded. “How does ‘Iron Patriot’ sound to you? It’s the codename we’re considering for the redesign of the War Machine armour. The armour that, out of all the people in the world, only you have experience with. You’d be a ghost. Serving at the pleasure of the President and the Department of Defense. Working with SHIELD. No one would ever know it was you.” he said.
“Do I have a choice?” Wick said.
Bradford’s expression hardened. “Stark’s right about one thing. He said to me… we ran out of time two days ago. We also ran out of options. Sure, you could go. Head back to ground. Take your dog. Wait for someone to grapple you back into killing. But is that the life you want to live, John? Could you do it, knowing what you know? And will they let you?” he said.
“No.” Wick said.
“So, what do we do now? What happens to us?” Matt’s questions just kept coming.
“You can go home, if you want. There’s no reason for us to stay together, for now. We won. It’s over.” Steve said.
“Loki said something about… the end of the world. That our future depended on him, and his master, taking over now. Did you get any answers from him about that?” Matt asked.
Steve shook his head. “He was probably lying,” he said. “or too far gone to realize what he was doing. I’ve seen a lot of people like that.”
Matt nodded, but looked uncertain. “And, there’s this other thing… Vahlen did something, up on the roof. Thor said she was… a sorcerer. That she used magic. Do you know anything about that?” he said.
“As far as I can tell, magic isn’t real. That said, last week, as far as I could tell, aliens weren’t real.” Steve said, smiling. “It sure would explain a lot. Everything she does looks like magic to me, after all. I’ll ask her about it when I’m in Washington and get back to you. Thanks for telling me. Is there anything else you wanted to know?”
“Yeah. Did Thor say anything before he left?” Matt said.
“He said he had to bring Loki to justice, but that he’d be back once they fixed their… ‘Bifrost’. He also said to tell you that you did a good job.” Steve said. “We’re all proud of you. Even if a lot of the others couldn’t be here today.”
“Thanks.” Matt said.
“You should rest up. Take a break. They’ll call on you again one day, or someone will. Stark thinks things are going to change in a big way, he’s going back home to work on… something. But you deserve some downtime.” He leaned in closer. “When you’re ready, you’ve got some visitors. They’re just being told you’re awake now.”
Matt took a deep breath. It still hurt a little. He wondered how he was going to explain any of this to his mother.
Four days later, in Washington...
“Retiring?” Fury said. “Retiring from what?”
“XCOM. The project’s being officially shut down. Pierce offered to take another look, but I gave notice today that I wasn’t interested.” Bradford said.
The distant drone of a helicopter’s rotors faded into background noise. Fury stood up from his desk.
“I’m sorry, John.” he said.
“Don’t be. You won fair and square.” Bradford said. “We’d never get XCOM off the ground until the aliens were on our doorstep. And at that point, what chance would we have? But the Avengers, they’re something else. People look up to them. They saved the island of Manhattan, by themselves. They destroyed an alien invasion force. I have to hand it to you, Fury, your team knows how to make an entrance.”
“Gods and monsters.” Fury said in acknowledgement. There was a pause. “So, what now?” he asked.
“Project Insight. Top secret work for SHIELD. Something to do with the new Helicarrier fleet. The Minerva is a wonderful ship, but it looks like I’m needed elsewhere.” Bradford said.
Fury shook his hand. “Good luck.” he said.
As Bradford was leaving, he turned back to Fury. “I don’t need luck,” he said. “I learned from the best.”