Chapter Text
Kate had wished she stayed in her Manhattan apartment. It was safe there, more than safe, actually. Her family did own a security company, so safety was important for Kate.
But you can't really be safe when you have to be a hero. Kate had definitely learned that a few Christmases ago. But now felt different. Kate was still very much a hero, but she was working with others, too.
Sure, Kate had worked with Clint Barton, the Hawkeye, but seriously, this was a lot of heroes!
The room had to have at least sixty of them Vigilantes, Avengers, and Mutants stood and sat all around the newly rebuilt Avengers Compound. The air was stiff, and feeble attempts at conversation struck in between awkward pauses.
Kate felt.. odd. It wasn't that she was different than everyone else here, or the fact that she was lonely, (Clint was very much at her side) but the whole vibe of the place was off.
They were all waiting for a speech from Captain America, so maybe that was it, but then again, people remained in their default groups and teams.
Still, Kate felt as if she needed to meet new people here and get along. She knew Clint well and a few others vaguely such as Yelena, Spider-Man, and Daredevil, but she wanted to learn about the heroes she hadn't even heard of before.
4 people in striking blue uniforms with a ‘4' on their suits stood closest to Kate, so she figured she would start there.
One of them looked about her age. Messy blonde hair, blue eyes, definitely extroverted.
Kate held onto her bravery and made her way over to them, arriving just outside of their conversation to be polite.
"Hi," She began, standing in between the blonde woman and the blonde boy. The group turned to her with blank, but somehow welcoming faces. "I'm Kate Bishop, or well-Hawkeye, kind of." She trailed. "You must be...?"
"The Fantastic Four." The blonde woman stated, offering a toothless smile. Kate gave one back. "Universe 828." The woman offered a hand and Kate shook gladly, then raised a brow.
"So that's what Captain America is going to talk about?" She untwined her hand from the woman's. "Huh."
The woman nodded. "Yeah, and some. well, you'll see." She paused. "I'm Sue Storm. That's Johnny," She gestured to the blonde kid. "That's Ben," She pointed to a man with skin like a rock. Kate nodded along. "And that's my husband, Reed." Kate leaned in and shook their hands individually, muttering a greeting to each of them.
Seeing not much else to do, Kate turned over to Johnny. "Hi," she greeted again.
"Hi?" He responded. Kate noticed his lack of enthusiasm. He looked bored, or at the very least like he was tired.
"Do you wanna meet more people? There's actually a lot of people around our age and I also don't know many of them." Kate suggested to him, gesturing over to the other heroes in the huge gymnasium. He looked like he was debating it, but shook his head in response.
"I'd rather just meet one person at a time." He gave. Kate supposed that was fair. "Uh-where are you from? We're from different Earths, but they're pretty much the same geography wise as far as I can tell." He explained. Kate held onto that thought for a second, then responded.
"Manhattan, you?" Johnny smiled at that response.
"Long Island." He spoke. Kate grinned.
"Uhm-what can you do, exactly?" She asked. "Sorry if that's a weird question." She added. By response, Johnny merely grinned and stepped back, lighting his whole body on fire. Kate yelped at the suddenness of it and her eyes widened. "Woah.." She finished, watching the flames quickly dissipate.
"They call me The Human Torch," Johnny explained. "All of the people in our group gained our powers from cosmic radiation." Kate blinked in awe, nodding.
“huh.." She trailed, somewhat lost in thought. "I don't have powers, but many people here do. Definitely from less crazy situations, though." Kate offered. Johnny nodded. There was a short pause. "What can the rest of your team do?" Kate asked, newfound curiosity striking.
'Sue can turn herself invisible and make forcefields." Johnny said. Susan turned to him at the mention of her name and nodded, a small translucent blue ball appearing in her hand. Kate gaped slightly. "People call her the invisible woman." He moved further away from the group, and Kate followed. "Ben can.. clobber stuff." He almost laughed, and Kate raised a brow. "And Reed can stretch—like a lot. Ben is called The Thing and Reed is Mr. Fantastic."
Kate looked back at the group, still in awe from the mystique of it all. She turned back to Johnny and he began to speak again.
"What can you do?" He asked, a curious yet prideful grin encasing his features. Kate felt oddly basic in comparison to the crazy powers of the Fantastic Four. She didn't want to compare herself, but it was hard not to. Johnny spoke again. "You said you were. Hawkeye? Hm?" He added. Kate snapped back to reality.
"Uh," She paused, pursing her lips. "I'm an archer." Kate said, Johnny blinked at her.
"Okay," He paused, looking utterly confused. Kate internally cursed herself. "I don't mean to offend you, but—do you not have.. guns?"
Kate laughed. "We do, but I don't use them." Kate gave. "For your information, I'm also trained in Martial Arts, Gymnastics, and I don't just use normal arrows."
Johnny was intrigued now. "How are they not normal?" He asked, mimicking her tone on the last word. Kate smiled.
"Well..." Kate went into great detail of all the types of trick arrows and how she used them on her vigilante missions in New York City. Johnny nodded along and actually seemed entertained, asking questions about how the arrows worked.
After a while of back and forth, Captain America walked into the center of the gymnasium and cleared his throat. Most of the room turned to watch.
Kate looked up at Sam Wilson in utter awe. He was carrying the iconic shield on his back; a mandatory stable.
Besides Clint, Kate had respected Wilson the most out of any Avenger. To Kate, and to many others, his bravery was unmatched.
He picked up a microphone and tapped twice; the remainder of the room silenced. With the Captain's gesture, everyone sat down. "Hello," he began. "I'm going to get straight to the point, and it might sound a little crazy, so please, save your questions." Captain America cleared his throat again.
Kate had practically no idea why she was there. From what she had learned, some of the folks here were from other universes. That wasn't necessarily easy to understand, so Kate was glad she had a minor grasp on the Multiverse.
Some background information would be nice. She thought, shifting into a more comfortable position on the floor
Johnny was a few feet away from her, just as focused as Kate was.
"Our world is changing. Well, it always has been, but this time it's different." His tone was so foreign to Kate, but she knew it wasn't exactly cheerful. "So different, in fact, that it is not only our world anymore.”
A few heads in the room turned towards The Fantastic Four and some other people. They all shifted awkwardly at the attention. "It is not only our world anymore, worlds are connected and intertwined and that isn't as much of a horrible thing as you'd think." This pause was quick, but meaningful. "But someone, known as Victor Von Doom, thinks it is."
That sounds serious. Kate thought during Captain America's pause.
"He wants to combine all of us." Kate raised an eyebrow. That would make things confusing. She glanced over to Johnny, who looked anything but excited. Kate frowned, but continued to listen. "But to do this could risk destroying everything, and not only that, but he would also have to massacre trillions to do this."
After that, the room felt way more tense. Kate even hesitated to shift in her position because of the tension.
"So we are here to do what we do best," Wilson pulled the shield of his back and gripped it tightly. "To defend, to fight, and if we are put down," He raised the shield, its trajectory aimed towards the back wall by Kate's calculations. "To avenge."
With a swift throw, Captain America launched the vibranium mass onto the back wall of the gymnasium. Kate turned around and watched the shield indent a vertical line in the wall. Once the shield dismounted and returned to Wilson, the long side of The Avengers 'A' was left. Kate gaped, and so did many of the other heroes in the room.
"So, I suggest you get to know each other better and start training. Good luck." The Captain placed the microphone down, and chatter slowly conversed.
That's... A lot. Kate grimaced, turning to face Johnny. He looked like he knew more than he should; or simply just knew more. Kate knew it was probably the ladder.
"So," she trailed, coiling a strand of her loosely wavy hair. "Do you... wanna meet new people now? We could try Spider-Man." She suggested. Johnny looked like he was debating it, the tense spark slowly dissipating from his vision.
"Sure."
The pair made their way over to the left most side of the gymnasium where Spider-Man was standing. To Kate, he looked less aloof than normal, taller, maybe ever less straight of a spine? Well, time could do a lot to a person. Plus, Kate hadn't personally met Spider-Man. She had only spoken to him a few times in her vigilante duties, choosing to be independent in the work.
"Hey, uh, Spidey?" She greeted him.
The man turned around very quickly, as if sensing her.
"Hello." He paused, blinking at Kate. "You are.?" Kate raised an eyebrow. Spider-Man knew her for being a vigilante, and he certainly didn't forget. But upon closer inspection, this Spider-Man had white highlights on his suit, a deeper voice, and was definitely way older than Kate Spider-Man.
"huh..?" She slipped before straightening out. "Oh, um-I'm Kate Bishop, that's Johnny." The arachnid-esk guy nodded. "Sorry- just thought that you were—"
"Your Spider-Man?" He asked. Kate raised her eyebrow again. The man reached to take off his mask, displaying a middle aged man with brown hair and short facial hair.
"I'm from a different universe, kind of like here, actually." He paused, looking around the huge room. "My name's Peter. I would usually hide my identity, but it kind of doesn't matter here."
Kate nodded. That part made sense, but this whole thing was very confusing in general. Johnny stepped forward.
"I'm Johnny," He started. "Just a quick question—are there any other Spider-men here? It might be a little confusing if so."
Peter looked amused. "Yeah, actually." He turned around, pointing to a man who looked to be in his mid-20s a few yards away. "That's also Peter." Kate scrunched up her face in confusion.
"This is going to get weird," Johnny said. "Do you guys have, like, nicknames? Can we do that?"
Peter looked like he was debating the idea. "Uh, I'll have to consult with them first, but yeah."
Kate and Johnny exchanged a very amused and confused look.
"Spider-Man!" Both the guy in his mid-20s and a third Spider-Man, one with a mask on, came over.
"What, Peter?" The tall one asked.
"We should have nicknames, not just numbers." The two others nodded. Kate recognized the suit from the shortest one-that was from her universe.
"I can be Pete." The tallest one said. The other two nodded.
The one in the mask—616's Spider-Man spoke next. "I'll just be—Spidey, or webs, or something." He shrugged. Kate looked between him and Johnny, watching them exchange hesitant glances.
"And I'm just Peter." The first one finished. "Does that sound good?" Kate nodded, then looked over to Johnny. His eyes were narrowed at her universe's Spidey, it was almost like he could sense something was wrong.
"Uh, you alright, Flame Brain?" Spidey's dumb tease was right; Johnny's hair was flaming now.
"Yeah," He replied, his teeth slightly gritted. "Are you?" Johnny's tone was harsh and challenging, nothing like Kate had seen him before. Kate watched them hesitantly. Spidey looked uncharacteristically nervous. Not that Kate knew too much about him.
"Yeah?" He paused aloofly. "Why wouldn't I be?" Johnny narrowed his eyes and Kate watched them flicker like a candle. Johnny blinked at him, then turned away to walk off.
"Johnny-" Kate trailed.
"I'll be back, just using the restroom." He replied, a grumble in his throat. Kate knew he wasn't. She turned back to Spidey, almost staggering from the encounter.
"Sorry about him." Kate apologized, making eye contact with the mask. Spidey shook his head.
"Don't be, he seems like an angry person in general." Kate knew that wasn't true, but didn't argue. Something was definitely up with Spidey if Johnny was hesitant about him, but that didn't matter right now.
Moving the conversation on did. "So—Uh, Spidey, hm?" she said. "You know me-kinda?" She questioned. He nodded through his mask.
"Yeah, you're a vigilante in Manhattan, we've crossed paths a few times."
"Yep," Kate breathed. "Just—uh, making sure. There's a lot of Spider-Men here. Huh, I'd never think I'd say that plural."
Spidey laughed. "Well, you better get used to it."
Once Kate was done talking to Spider-Man—her Spider-Man (Which was a conversation filled with niche NYC restaurants and spots to search for crime she decided to go find Johnny.
It wasn't too hard, considering Kate's epic abilities to sense people with complicated emotions and problems.
After about 5 minutes of searching, Kate found Johnny lying on a bench in the hallway of The Compound, staring at the expensive artwork on the walls.
Kate sat down next to him quietly, waiting for him to speak first.
It's so—gray." He glowered, looking up at the painting. He was right—the canvas was scattered in a grayscale mixed vith some blue and sparkles of gold and silver. It was pretty boring.
"Was it colorful in your universe?" Kate asked. Johnny didn't avert his gaze from the painting.
"Yeah." He gave. Kate stared at the way heat radiated from his shoulders with every word. She could feel his tone change before she heard it. "It was softer than here, if that makes sense." Johnny paused. "Then again, it's a different year then."
Kate's curiosity took over. "...Different year?"
Johnny finally looked at her, huffing slightly.
"Yeah," He ran a hand through his golden blonde hair. "1964."
Kate nodded, almost visibly shocked by Johnny's answer.
"Well, the architecture was softer then." She admitted. Johnny nodded.
"It makes me think," His eyes flashed gold, before returning to that ice blue. "Will my world turn out this—sharp?
Gray?" That was an interesting question.
Kate thought for a moment. "I don't mean to be poetic, but I think your world turns into what you make it." Johnny snickered.
"Cringy and poetic, but I agree." He admitted. Kate laughed.
There was a beat of silence. Johnny took slow and steady breaths, and Kate watched the stale painting that was probably worth a Manhattan apartment’s rent. Or more.
“You think something’s up with Spidey?” Kate asked. Johnny turned towards her, his brow furrowed like he was accused of something. Well, he was.
“What?” He replied l. “I mean, yeah, but what—do you think something’s up?” Kate shrugged.
“I don’t know, but he’s acting weird I guess.”
“Do you know him?”
Kate had encountered Spidey a few times on her vigilante missions, but nothing crazy. She was surprised by the sheer amount of people in the gymnasium. Heroes, vigilantes, and antihero’s alike. They were all after one threat.
Kate knew that Spidey had been an Avenger, but something didn’t sit right with him now. He was acting kind of strange.
“Not really,” Kate admitted. “I’ve talked to him a few times, but that’s it.” Johnny had a thinking expression on his face. Kate studied it; she had a habit of studying people.
“Something is up with him,” Johnny began. Kate listened. “And usually if something is up, it means they’re not trustworthy.”
Kate took a minute to think about that. Johnny’s logic was right, but she doubted Spidey was hiding anything crazy. Nothing that would harm the mission, anyway. Johnny’s tensity was definitely too much, but instinct was instinct.
“Okay,” Kate breathed. “So.. what do you think he’s hiding?” Kate asked.
Johnny looked at her with a weirdly cryptic expression, then opened his mouth. “I mean, you can’t really tell, but I’m betting it’s something personal.”
Kate took a moment to think. “Well, whatever it is it’s not our business. Unless it directly impacts us, and I doubt it will.”
Johnny looked at her a moment longer, then sighed. “Alright. But that doesn’t mean I have to be nice to him.” He finished.
Kate chuckled. “Alright.” She finished. She knew Johnny would have a hard time finding other people to talk to, considering Spidey was probably around his age.
“Attention all Compound members and guests, dinner will be held in ten minutes.” The intercom announced, a female European accent saying it.
“Well I guess that’s our cue to go.” Kate sighed, standing up from the bench. Johnny followed, eyeing the painting for a second more like a shark of some kind.
“Do you know this place well? It’s a maze.” Johnny asked. Kate shook her head.
“Nope. That’s why I suggest we get going.” She said. Johnny laughed nervously, and the pair made their way through The Compound.