The Ant and the Boot

“You know, not all of us like being the center of attention. I preferred being a doctor in India to this publicity.”

“I know.”

“If you know that, why did you expose her publicly? She would have been happier if she remained anonymous. Now there won’t be a person alive who doesn’t know her name, her face. She won’t be able to go to the grocery store without someone recognizing her.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you do it, Tony?”

Bruce sat next to me in my lab, staring at his own computer screen. I was doing the same on my computer, clicking away as we tried to remodel the transistor of the Mark 13 that had been so badly ruined. Bruce was working on a Gamma radiation device that monitored the levels within Dove’s skin, since the Tesseract seemed to give off very faint gamma radiation. It was difficult to make a device that read such minute levels, but if anyone could do it Bruce could.

“It didn’t have to do with her, Bruce. It had to do with Loki,” I explained, sighing and turning away from my screen.

“That seems cold for you,” Bruce replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Some attention you’ve just got to take if you wanna win,” I replied, feeling a little defensive. It was the life I’d always had, though not the one I would have chosen if I had the choice when I was a kid. Still, albeit an uncomfortable life it was a survivable one.

“Bruce, we need Loki to show his face – sooner rather than later. I think that if he’s seeing Dove’s face everywhere he’s going to go crazy and will force his hand early. I want to get this thing over with before –“

“Before the baby,” Bruce finished. I stopped and nodded.

“Yeah,” I replied, “both mine and Dove’s. I don’t want to put my kid in harm’s way.”

“And you’re not sure what Dove will do if forced to choose between us and the father of her child.”

“I know she’ll choose us. I’m just worried about what sacrifices she’ll make to keep her baby safe. People do crazy things for their kids.”

Bruce nodded, leaning back in his chair. He rested his hands on the back of his head, mulling over some thought in his quiet mind. He was a hard person to read, which was unusual: most people I could read like books, even some of the Avengers. But Bruce and a handful of the other guys – Natasha, sometimes Dove, and Clint – I never really knew what they were thinking.

“You’re planning to tell the world about the pregnancies, aren’t you?” Bruce said finally, looking at me. “You know Loki won’t be able to stay away from his kid, even if he can resist coming after Dove.”

“Not immediately. The public might not take too kindly to the fact that our new Avenger is carrying the child of the man who slaughtered hundreds,” I replied, shaking my head. “However… If it comes to that, yeah. First I wanna see if Dove alone can draw him out, though.”

“You figured it out, too, then.”

“The Tesseract?” I laughed, “Yeah. I did readings on it. Breaking it seriously messed with its power levels. They used to be off the charts, now… “- I waved a hand.

“They need at least the half of the Tesseract we have to stage an attack, if not the power Dove has, also. They need her.”

“And Loki wants her. If he saw what I did last night with her he’s going to be furious. I’m hoping that’ll be enough to get him to show his face.”

Bruce laughed. “Do you think he’s really that sentimental? He seemed pretty cold to me.”

“Bruce, he tried to enslave our world because he was jealous of his brother. He drips with sentiment.”

We both laughed.

“But you know, Dove is going to be afraid to leave the house now, right?” Bruce replied jokingly, still smiling. I nodded.

“Yeah, but even if the press does try to get all over her – which I already know they will, given all the phone calls I blocked this morning – I think Cinderella can scare them off. He’s big enough, and hopefully they’ll be so distracted by his flowing golden hair they’ll just leave her alone.”

“Speaking of brother’s, we need to do something with Dove’s real brother.”

“Already moved him into a safe house. His mother is with some foreign diplomat, so should hopefully be protected by their secret police. I’ll make sure Loki nor that other guy can get close enough to hurt them.”

“Good. And you protected Pepper, too?”

“I always have Pepper protected. People have been after her since she was my secretary. I’ll keep her safe.”

Bruce nodded then stood, patting me on the shoulder.

“I’m going to stretch my legs,” he said. “By the way, when are you and Pepper going to go honeymooning? Did you even talk about that yet?”

“Once things settle down enough we’ll go honeymooning.”

“That might not be for a while.”

“Then we’ll go honeymooning with Jr. It’s happened.”

We both laughed again then fell into a comfortable silence. I enjoyed being around Bruce. He was a genius, like me, and didn’t complain about my loud music. He’d gotten tired of me trying to prod him into turning green, but aside from that we seemed to live rather comfortably together.

Bruce stretched and got up, yawning.

“I think I’m going to make myself breakfast,” Bruce said, straightening his sweater. The only thing he did complain about was my cooling system – apparently where he’s from he’s used to blistering heat and the idea of keeping my computers and engines at a comfortably low temperature is novel to him. He was getting used to it, but he tended to wear sweaters in places I was comfortable wearing t-shirts.

“Hey, can you grab me a beer?” I asked, glancing back at him.

“I’m not giving you a beer before ten in the morning. Besides, we already have two pregnant women in the house that aren’t allowed to drink. You can suffer with them.”

“I’m not staying sober once they get hormonal.”

“When that day comes, I’ll be drinking along with you.”

Banner smiled and left, the door chirping into locked position behind him. I turned back to my screen.

I pulled up some blue prints – not just any blueprints, actually, but the blueprints to the building I was sitting in. I’d been mulling around an idea for a few days ago and I thought I was ready to put it into action.

“Hey, Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How soon could I get the letters off the front of the Tower?”

“Rather quickly. Why, sir?”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, then pressed a few buttons. The word “STARK” across the tower changed, turning to “AVENGER”. I smiled, clicking the submit key.

“I think it’s time for a change in colors. Stark Tower is going to be donated to the greater good,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “How does ‘Avenger’s Mansion’ sound to you?”



I clutched tightly to the railing of my balcony view. My bedroom didn’t have a balcony, only a sheet of glass that stretched the wall, but I’d decided to step out for some fresh air. His hands rested lightly on my shoulders, holding me steady. I closed my eyes, letting his hands hold me fast. It felt like so long since his steady warmth had been next to me. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like.

“So, you’re pregnant, huh?”

“Yeah,” I replied, nodding.

“And you love this guy.”

“Yes, but I don’t want to –“

“But you do anyway.”

“Yeah.”

He chuckled, patting my back and coming up to stand beside me, his arm brushing against mine. His blue eyes filled with a sad smile, his radiant golden hair caught in the sunlight. He whistled, moving a penny between his fingers before flipping it off the edge with his thumb.

“You’re not mad at me?” I asked, watching him.

“What have I got to be mad at you about? I want to kill this Loki guy, but I’m not going after the father of your child if you really don’t want me to. That’s up to you.”

“What if I’m not strong enough?”

“You are.”

“What if I’m not, though?”

“You are,” he said, smiling at me. “You’re my sister, after all.”

I sighed, burying my head in Prosper’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead, letting me sit there like that until my eyes stopped stinging with the threat of tears and my throat loosened.

“I’m worried about you, Prop,” I whispered.

“Hm?”

“I’m a super hero now. I’m afraid someone will use you to hurt me. I – I don’t want that to happen.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, your friend Tony already thought of that. I’ve got my own secret police and everything, I think.”

I sighed, leaning on my brother’s steadiness. Not for the first time since we had been reunited I thought about he was more deserving of the power I was given than I was. He could probably be a real hero with it. He could be really great. He was a lot like Tony, in a way, but nobler – he had a heart as pure as Thor’s. My brother was one of a kind. Even as a god I still felt like to him I was second best.

“So, I was talking to your other brother this morning,” Prosper said, running his fingers through my hair. I looked up at him.

“Thor, you mean?”

“That one. Yeah, he’s pretty great. I think between the two of us we might be able to keep you out of trouble,” Prosper teased, winking at me. I laughed, messing up his perfect hair.

“You’re lame, Prop.”

“So says the pregnant demigod. Would you like some chocolate for the hormones, your highness?”

My brother curtseyed but ducked out of the way as I swung an arm out at him. Laughing he reached for me, but I danced out of the way.

“Maybe I would,” I laughed back. “How would you know?”

I squealed girlishly as I ran from him, evading his arms as he attempted to trap me in a headlock. I sprinted back into Stark Tower, skidding over tiles as he kept close at my heels. I began to laugh again, more than I had in months.

“You know, for a god you’re pretty slow,” my brother teased, narrowly missing my arm as I ran down a flight of stairs. I stuck my tongue out at him as I sprinted down, taking off down a hallway once I hit the bottom step. In the hallway I collided with Thor, his massive form taking up half the hallway.

“What is this jesting?” he asked as I ducked behind his shoulder, trying to escape my brother’s arm. “Is this a game?”

“Yeah, grab her. It’s a rite of big-brotherhood,” Prosper said, trying to edge behind Thor. Thor glanced at me, then at my brother, then smiled broadly and picked me up with one arm, lifting me over one shoulder. I kicked and squealed as they carried me off, both laughing.

I complained loudly as they carried me triumphantly through the house, rousing Natasha and Clint from the bedroom they now shared, but I had to admit: even though it was kind of a stupid game, it made my world a lot less gray. Despite the pressures of pregnancy, of Loki, of being a god and an Avenger, of the members of the press that were now hounding me because of Tony’s stunt – in that moment I was really, truly happy. For that moment I was their little kid sister, stuck between the arms of my two big brothers, laughing and complaining and kicking as they tossed me down on a couch and began to tickle me mercilessly. Prosper finally did catch me in that headlock, grinning as he mussed my hair over my eyes.

“You are so tiny,” Thor laughed, catching me about the waist as I batted away my other brother’s arms.

“She’ll always be our little sister,” Prosper joked. “Just our little baby god.”

They continued teasing me together, clasping hands as they valiantly held me down. I was light headed and couldn’t breathe by the time they stopped, so I sprawled out over both their laps. They stared down at me, grinning, and looking up at them I felt like we were really a family – and a great one, too.

I glanced over toward the hall and froze. Steve stood there watching us, his arms folded over his chest. But he smiled at me a little, chuckling and shaking his head before walking away. I let out a little sigh of relief: even he had given me a little bit of acceptance, despite what I was.

I was home.



I stood alone atop a roof, my back and head still stinging with pain from earlier in the day. Thanos was quickly growing… displeased with my performance – or lack of – and I learned quickly that his fists held within them wrath equal to the beast called the Hulk. I shuddered, staring into the sky to avoid being pulled into a soul walk by that thing that had called upon me to aid it.

I had misjudged Thanos. I was beginning to wonder if I had made not just a dangerous error, but a fatal one. Could I escape from this alliance I had formed? I strongly doubted it. Thanos did not seem the kind to allow those around him to slip away.

He had promised me power once. I was beginning to understand that bargain had only been a ruse – just at the time I was too blind to see it.

Something bright streaked across the sky, moving amongst the stars. I looked up and watched her, as I did every night, as she danced through the sky. She spiraled and turned, her wings cutting through the air like knives through silk. She radiated with the blue warmth of the Tesseract, so different from the icy shades of my power. It filled me with a soft warmth, and my parched lips cracked into a smile.

The weeks had begun to slide by since the wedding. It had been almost a month now – almost a month since I had last seen her, though I saw her face at every screen I turned to. It was killing me inside, more than Thanos’ wrath: to be so close, but to have her so far out of my reach. Every night I knew that it would be so easy to go to her – but I knew that they would catch me before I even reached her hand.

Dove. Persephone. My queen that I might never be able to grant a throne.

She twirled in the air, arcing in front of the bold lettering of the tower. It now read “AVENGERS”, the building dedicated to the sole purpose of housing the protectors of this tiny world. She lived with them, now; was one with them. Jealousy tore at my insides, hours of footage of them with her reeling behind my eyes. What I would give now just to breathe her in again.

She settled onto the rooftop of the Avengers mansion, her wings folding softly against her back. I watched in agony as my brother came up beside her, embracing her before leading her inside.

I would destroy them for taking her from me. If that was the last battle I had left in me – I swore I would win it.

“I’ll win you back, my love,” I promised, closing my eyes as I turned away. “Even if it’s only for a little while – I will bring you back to me.”