Ah. The four most dreaded words a man in a relationship will ever hear in his life.
"We need to talk."
It will either mean the end of something (a break-up), the beginning of something (pregnancy), something trivial (finally putting out the trash as promised) or something terrible (the passing of a family member).
The moment Jessica said those words to me with a drawn expression on her face, I knew that I would inevitability be confronted with at least one (or god forbid, all) of them, it was just a matter of finding out which one.
Not that I was eager to find out, mind you, but Jessica was standing in the doorway of my labs and tough enough that I couldn't simply run past her. I could portal away of course, but I would have to return to Othrys at some point, and Phineas would know the second I did, which meant that Jessica would as well.
Better to do this here and now.
Quick. Like a band aid.
Rolling my chair away from my desk, I slowly come to my feet, towering over Sterns and Jessica, crossing my beefy arms in front of my massive chest, silently underlining who in this room actually holds the power.
Of course, I'm talking to probably the only two people on the planet who are completely immune to my grandstanding.
"Really? What do we need to talk about?"
"Everything! Fuck, Michael! The entire goddamned world is losing its fucking mind because we just got invaded by fucking aliens! Everyone is just panicking, and doesn't have a clue about what they need to do! Everyone! Everyone… except you. You knew that Loki would invade. You knew that New York would be attacked. Fuck Michael, you practically had crews waiting in order to fix the city in your image!" Jessica explodes, clearly unleashing quite a bit of pent up stress.
"Anything else?" I coolly ask, as I raise an eyebrow in her direction, watching as her lips press together to form a thin white line, her eyes narrowing in anger.
I tolerate a lot from Jessica, what with us being in a relationship and all. But (verbally) attacking me in my own labs, my inner sanctum?
That's asking for trouble.
Sterns, immediately reading my mood switch, quickly takes a half-step forwards, placing a restraining palm on Jessica's forearm. Despite the gesture being purely symbolic (even with the augmentations that Sterns has performed on himself, I sincerely doubt that outside of myself, the Hulk and the Abomination, there's a human who's strong enough to restrain Jessica. Thor doesn't count, he's a god), Jessica still backs down, taking a deep breath as her stance becomes less confrontational.
Turning to look towards my oldest friend (who I only met about two and a half years ago, isn't that a sad realization to make) I lift my chin challengingly in his direction.
"And what about you Sam? You feel the same way?"
Sterns only hesitates for a single moment, before he squares his shoulders, giving a firm nod.
"Yes, Michael. I've been with you from the start, I have followed you longer than anyone else here at Othrys. And over the years that I have known you, you have consistently shown an nearly impossible amount of knowledge about the world. You knew that I had Hulk-blood, even when Dr. Banner himself hadn't. You knew that A.I.M. was secretly working on Extremis, even when most people hadn't even heard about their existence. You made a beeline from New York to the hideout of Ulysses Klaue, not for his weapons, but for his stash of Vibranium, which he kept hidden from the entire world, Wakandan War Dogs included, for thirty years, longer than you have been alive. Then you showed that you not only knew that Erik Stevens, a J-SOC Ghost, existed, but that he was secretly Wakandan royalty as well, something Wakanda didn't even know! And then you make a beeline to Noah in order to be made bulletproof, despite Noah never even publishing any part of that particular research of his. Not only do you know that the Hand and Hydra exist, you even managed to trick both of them into attacking the other! And then you anticipate an alien invasion of all things!"
Like Jessica, Sterns needs to take a bit of a breath, before he crosses his arms in front of his chest, his face set in grim determination (though I spot the brief wince of remorse that flits over his face).
"Michael. I have followed you for years. And I want to keep following you, I do. But not like this. Not with you always a hundred steps ahead of everyone, including your own people. You said so yourself, Michael, we are your friends. I'm not asking you to share all of your deepest darkest secrets: I'm just asking that you trust us."
I slowly blink as I take in my friend's words, trying to digest everything he's said. There's only one conclusion that I can make.
'Fuck. What is it with people all up in my business lately? First the Ancient One, now this?'
Giving a deep sigh, I rub my bald head as I frown in thought, trying to figure out the best way to deal with these. Because Sterns is right: these are my friends. It has been so long that I haven't had any of those, actually dealing with the idea of having them again is proving to be somewhat… problematic.
Still, that doesn't mean I'm just going to open up about everything, and especially not about me being an reincarnate. That's not something I'm willing to share with everyone in this universe. Not only would most of them immediately declare me insane, but who knows what it would do to the fabric of the universe if sentient life discovered that (from a certain viewpoint) they weren't real?
At the very least, in-universe societies might collapse due to planet wide mass-panic and debauchery.
Still, that didn't mean that I couldn't reveal some parts of my past and future plans to them.
Or rather, make them believe that I had.
"Fine." I bite out, as I take a seat again, throwing my feet up on my desk.
I pointedly don't offer them a seat as well, forcing them to remain standing in the door opening (the reinforced office chair and heavy solid titanium work-table were the only pieces of 'real' furniture in my lab, everything else needed to be created with hardlight through my voice command, including chairs for visitors).
"Where should I start?"
"Let's start with the goddamned aliens, and then just work from there, yeah? See where this takes us." Jessica offered snidely, but I merely gave a calm nod instead, my mind racing as I thought on what to say.
I had some vague ideas on how to excuse my actions, but it has been well over a week since the invasion. With all that was going on and that needed my personal attention, when nobody challenged me I just of… let it slip to the background of my thoughts.
Thankfully, the Brain Booster made remembering even half-baked idea's a walk in the park.
"Right. The aliens. I suppose that you want to know how I knew that they would attack Earth?"
"That would be a start, yes." Jessica cuts in again, but Sterns subtly nudges her in the side, telling her to cool it.
"Well, I was warned."
"Warned? By whom?"
"Bast."
"Bast? The kitty God-thing that was all up in your face to fight the invasion while she kept sitting on her ass?!"
"Well, I was her champion, so as a God, it's kind of her prerogative to send me into battle while she keeps sitting on her ass, yes."
Before Jessica can continue her incredulous question, Sterns leans forwards a bit, a deep frown on his face.
"Wait. Was?"
Giving a sly grin, I fold my hands behind my head as I lean backwards in my chair.
"Hopefully, yes. Bast had a deal with me: one order, fulfilled in whatever manner she wished. During the Invasion, she ordered me to fight, and I did. If she's a God who follows the rules, then she'll acknowledge that she's used up her orders, but a God following rules is a bit of an oxymoron… well, fingers crossed."
"So, wait, let me get this straight. A drug-fuelled acid trip of the highest caliber allowed you to talk to a literal god, who warned you that aliens were going to attack, making you a deal that you would follow one order in whatever way she wished. And then, when the alien invasion does happen, you claim not to want to fight, forcing the god to use up her one remaining order to get you to fight anyways?"
For a moment, there's silence in my lab as I and Jessica merely stare at each other, before I give a shrug.
"Pretty much, yeah."
Jessica raises her eyebrows a bit as gives me a considering look.
"Huh. Damn."
I grin, but Sterns is quick to jump in and bring the conversation back on track.
"Look, that explains you knowing about the aliens. But how the hell did you know about the rest? Wakanda's existence, obscure and secret research, ancient artefacts and organizations, all of that?"
This time I'm quicker to answer, turning to look Sterns in the eye with the perfect expression of honesty even as I lie through my teeth.
"I know you've read the few documents that Pangborn has written and uploaded to the cloud Sterns, even if he said that you lack the Gift. Tell me, what do you know about the Astral Plane?"
Sterns briefly pauses, clearly somewhat surprised at my sudden question, but he responds nonetheless.
"It's a different dimension from the current one we inhabit. More mental, or spiritual if you prefer, than this material world. Due to being in a metaphysical state, it exist in neither the same time or place as this dimension, though with proper mental focus and the proper application of exotic energy, it can be accessed, though only in mind. The body remains in this dimension." He says, almost quoting Pangborn's written excerpts to the letter, even though it's been well over a month since my Court Magician uploaded that particular file.
"Correct! And there's the explanation for my exotic knowledge! The Astral Plane exists out of time and space. When I was in there, I was forced to undergo Bast's trials. Either I'd pass them and live… or I'd fail them and die an unimaginably painful death. Thankfully, I persevered and was made Bast's Champion. That's when she showed me the future. But I was in the Astral Plan: Earthly concepts of time carry little weight there. I saw beyond the Invasion… and before it as well. And when I returned to my body, that experience, of viewing past, present and future resonated throughout my time in this dimension as well. From when I was young, I have remembered seeing these flashes of insight, of things that I didn't know exist, or when they would happen. I have been living my life from one future memory to the next, never knowing where they came from, until I met Bast in the Astral Plane."
Both Jessica and Sterns stare at me with absolutely stunned expressions on their faces, before Sterns hesitantly starts talking again.
"So the reason you knew where to go, and what to find, and who to contact… was because at a later point in time, you would be rewarded with a vision of time by a goddess who resides in a plane outside of time and space, which resonated back through your life, essentially passing your older memories onto a younger version of yourself?"
Again, all I could do was shrug, trying not to show any relief on my face when it seemed that the two of them would be willing to buy my story.
"The reality of it is probably a hell of a lot more complicated, but as far as I can figure, that's the gist of it, yes."
Jessica speaks up again, her expression somewhat troubled now, though for some reason she seems pretty intent still on challenging me.
"So. You met a god."
"Yes."
"Who showed you the future."
"Yes."
"And during the process, your memories were sent back through time as well."
"Well, back and forwards, but since the future me has yet to exist, that's a bit less impactful than altering the memories of my past self, but basically yes."
"So you knew about Loki's Invasion all along."
"… yes…"
"And you knew that the Staff was crucial."
"… where are you going with this, Jess?"
"Where I'm going with this? I'm starting to wonder why the hell you left that fucking portal open?!" Jessica roared suddenly, her eyes exploding with heat as the air around her starts to shimmer.
Almost reflexively, I stand up tall, my own body also rapidly heating up with Extremis, though I haven't fallen into a combat stance yet. Jessica doesn't seem to care, however, or even notice for that matter.
"What the fuck were you even thinking?! Why the hell did you wait for the Invasion at all?! Why not shut down the portal immediately?! For fuck's sakes, why let it be built at all!? What possible excuse can you have that would justify letting New York City be shot to shit?!" Jessica yells as she approaches me, moving to push against my chest.
My hand lashes out before she can make contact, however, my meaty fist closing around her slim wrist in a flash. I'm exerting a pretty large amount of pressure (given Jessica's sheer strength, I kinda have to) but not enough for it to hurt.
I'm all for equal treatment: a woman hits me, I'll hit right back (though of course factoring in the fact that I can fold a car in half like it was made out of cardboard so I don't take someone's head off. It's bad for business). Still, that doesn't mean that I want to hurt my girlfriend, at least not until she makes the first move.
Even then, between Amber Armor and Extremis, Jessica can take a hit and not even notice it after a few hours.
Still, it's the principle of the thing.
Increasing my hold on Jessica in the slightest amount, just to let her know that I'm not fucking around here, I lower my head until I'm looking her right in her eyes, molten orange meeting orange.
"There's no excuse that would justify all that destruction. Nothing can justify death on such a scale. But in the past, excuses have been made, for higher death-tolls than the Invasion claimed. Specifically, at the end of World War II, when Japan was forced to surrender."
Sterns is a second earlier on the uptake than Jessica (not a surprise, between his sheer intelligence, and Jessica's obvious emotional state) judging by the way his eyes widen, but Jessica wasn't dumb even before I boosted her intelligence, and she cottons on quickly as well.
"The WSC…" she breathes, to which I give a grave nod.
"The flashes that Bast showed me… they were like impressionist paintings, or blurry photographs. A rapid collection of stills, but each one with a clear focus. The aliens invading, the blue beam of the Tesseract… and eventually an all-consuming fireball, leaving only ashes in its wake. Inadvertently also paving the way for the aliens to continue their Invasion undeterred. I had to stop that at all costs. Whatever else happened, the portal had to remain open until the WSC launched their foolish attempt. I just hadn't imagined that they'd wait so long. From what Bast showed me, the Invasion couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes at best, an hour tops."
Jessica is clearly struggling with what I'm saying, carefully going over the words in her head. Judging by the fire in her eyes, I'm not off the hook just yet.
"If you wanted to prevent the WSC from launching a nuke, then why not fucking close that goddamned portal before shit hit the fan in the first place? You know that it could be done, so why not do it? Why wait so fucking long that people thought a fucking nuke was the brightest idea here?"
"I could close it, yes. That's why I told you not to engage in combat with Loki but run off with the Scepter instead. That needed to be in our hands, or who knows how this Invasion would've ended? So, I had the Scepter, I could close the portal… but how could I be sure that it would remain closed? You saw what was waiting on the other side of the portal. They activated the Tesseract once. What was to stop them from doing so again? Even worse, what if I stopped them here, and then they activated the portal at some other point, when my guard was down because I already thought I had won the day? What if the portal was opened inside Othrys? We all know what happens when the edges of a tear in the fabric of space-time interacts with matter, Hansen gave a safety course on it and everything after I cut her examination equipment. I couldn't risk it. The Chitauri had to be destroyed. Once and for all."
From the corner of my eye I can Sterns' expression fall, and Jessica takes a slow step away from me, her eyes wide.
"That's your answer… Manhattan is fucked… because you wanted a military victory?"
I had expected this. I knew that, no matter what I told them, truth or lie, they would have a lot of trouble accepting the fact that I allowed the Invasion to happen. I had accepted that the only thing I could do was make it appear that I had allowed it for the sake of mankind, instead of personal gain.
I had anticipated all of that.
What I hadn't anticipated, however, was how much their betrayed looks would hurt.
"Jessica. The aliens that wanted to turn Earth into a wasteland… that wanted to kill, or enslave, 7 billion people, they are gone now. Forever. New York will be rebuilt, stronger than before. Humanity as a whole is uniting under a single banner, transcending national hang-ups. They look to the stars now, and recognize the dangers and opportunities they truly represent. They look at themselves and decide that they want to be made better. Humanity is moving forwards Jessica. If I had to fight aliens for an entire day, in order to advance my people by a decade, then I would do so." I say, trying my best to show these people that I care a surprising amount for that I'm not a monster.
Judging from Jessica shaking her head, I can tell that I'm not entirely successful.
"Who the hell are you to make that decision, Michael. Just because people call you by a god's name, doesn't make you one. You decided that all the people in Manhattan… the office workers, the street vendors, the school children and stay at home moms… you decided that they were all expendable. I wonder what they think about that decision. Fuck, with the amount of power you´re gaining, I wouldn´t be surprised if in a couple of years you´ll find a way to ask the dead themselves. I don´t think you´ll like their answer." Jessica says softly, before she turns away from me, slowly making her way out of my lab.
"Jess! Jess, wait! Goddammit woman, what was I supposed to do?! I only tried to do what I thought was right! The thing that would benefit the most people, the thing that would advance humanity! Who am I?! Who the hell are you, to act so high and mighty about the decision I made for the good of everybody?! JESSICA! DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"
Jessica freezes in place, and I can spot Sterns hurriedly move between me and the woman who's almost a the door, his face clearly showing his shock. In the silence that rings throughout my lab, I briefly wonder what the hell just happened, before I notice a slight glow coming from the bottom right of my field.
Looking down, dread pooling in my stomach, I see what I was afraid I'd find.
My fist, lit up with Extremis and Chi… holding the Scepter.
As if burned, I throw the Scepter away from me, letting it clatter across the floor of my lab. Turning back to look at Sterns and Jessica, I see that Jessica is now gazing back at me, while Sterns is standing beside her, fingering something in his pocket, though he doesn't pull whatever he's gotten hidden there.
"Jessica… I'm… I'm sorry, I… I just don't, I want to… I want to understand. I understand why you would disagree with my actions. I have been rethinking them, doubting them, and kicking myself over them my entire life, ever since I was a child and I woke up one night with the memories of me two decades later. I have tried to just do… the best I could. And I get it, I really do. I was there during the clean-up, I saw the ruins, help dig out the bodies… what happened there shouldn't have ever happened in the first place. But compared to what would've happened if I hadn't done what I did… who knows what could've happened Jessica? A few for the many, it sucks, and only a bastard like me could call a shot like that… but why does this bother you now? You have me seen do things that are morally even more dubious, for a far less noble purpose. Why are my actions suddenly such an issue for you now?"
For a long moment, Jessica seems to debate whether or not she should answer my hesitantly worded question, or if she should simply keep on storming out of my office, and maybe knock down the door for good measure.
Eventually, she decides on the former, because she lifts her head, chin raised high as she stares me straight in my eyes.
I'm surprised to find… fear, there. But not because of me (thank god).
"Because… I'm pregnant."
(Fun) Fact: In the Marvel comics series "Spider-Man: Reign", set 30 years in the future, it is revealed that Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker's wife, has died from cancer brought on by Peter's radioactive semen.
AN: So, quick explanation as to why this chapter is so damned short: Exams, plain and simple. For the next two weeks, I'll be completely focused on that. I had more written, but I was having trouble actually finishing it, and then I realized that I have been making you guys wait for a while. It would be (what is called in bird culture) a dick-move to not upload for three weeks straight (considering the crash I'll probably have once exams are over, maybe even four). So instead, I cut off this part of the larger chapter, and humbly offer it to you now. An appeasement, so you may find the patience in your gracious hearts to give this writer a few weeks off in order to not fail his education. Thank you for your generosity (if I sound bitchy, it's because I've slept six hours for the last two days. Or maybe three. What date is it?). See you all after the exams!
As awlays, major shout out to my amazing Patrons, AndrewDC_MAC2, Miu, justlovereadin, Carn Krauss, ReapeScythe, Thordur hrafn, Daniel Dorfman and Samuel Carson! Thanks for your support! I cannot thank you guys enough for willing to support me as you do, so thanks again!