Arc I Battle of NY - After the battle

Three hours later, the sun was slowly going down.

Eli opened his eyes, he was still in the broken penthouse, still alone. He sat up and brought his hands into view.

"Would she be proud of me? Or furious that I showed myself in front of him so soon?" Eli asked himself with unfocused eyes.

Suddenly a phone rang on the couch next to him, his phone, the new one. Brought out of the memories of his late mother, he looked at the screen. It was a message by 'One-Man-Army':

[Hey kid, good that you're up. You hungry? I bought that Shwarma shop I mentioned earlier and we're all here eating something. Come on over. The map will show you the way.]

Eli smiled, but shook his head. He assumed Tony was seeing and hearing him, so instead of texting back he spoke, "Sorry Iron Man, I'll go home and help some people on the way over. Misty must be worried for my safety, as am I for hers."

And so Eli stood up, walked over to a broken window and shot in the direction of Brooklyn. He took a bunch of detours, helped clear out some rubble. Moved a kid to the hospital because the street was blocked and finally arrived home an hour later.

His neighborhood was completely fine, there was no sign of the Chitauri having been here, which calmed his nerves.

Eli tapped his ear as he landed on the roof and his scarf slowly turned back into the green little flag hanging from his piercing.

A tall leaning window that functioned as an access hatch for the top floor to the flat roof was open so he stepped inside.

"Misty! Are you home?" Eli shouted as he looked through every room. Eventually he found her sleeping on the couch in the living room. The news were on and worry was etched on her face.

As the news anchor was talking about the 'Avengers', heroes that saved earth from an alien invasion, they also showed him flying close to the portal decimating the forces that came through it.

This news channel called him 'Emerald Blur', which he hoped would not stick as his hero name. But that was secondary right now.

He kneeled beside the couch and gently shook the sleeping woman.

"Hey Misty, I'm home. I'm safe. Are you alright?"

"Huh? Is it you Eli?" The blonde beauty slowly woke up. When her blurry vision finally made out Eli, she hugged him as tightly as she could manage.

"You have no idea how worried I was little Eli. Are you fine? Any injuries? Have you eaten yet?"

"I'm alright Misty, only tired and a little bruised. The cuts have already healed, mostly. How are you? Were you home when it happened? Did you have to fight?"

"No I wasn't home, I was close to Astoria Park. When I noticed you flying off I stayed behind to guard as many people as I could. But barely any of the invaders reached that far. Especially after you blocked the portal," she released him and put a hand to his cheek.

"You're an idiot for doing that by the way. What if those Leviathans focused on you or they trained their bigger energy cannons on you? You're tough, but you're not invincible."

Eli blushed immediately after getting called out for this recklessness.

"S-sorry. The sword mom gave me was perfect for the lesser enemies. I got so into the rhythm of it all, I blended everything else out... I got a much better grasp over my powers now... so... at least that's good, no?"

Eli turned his gaze downward. He knew he shouldn't have made such a flashy entrance into the world, but he saved so many lives. It was hard to feel bad about it, though Misty managed to make him feel bad anyway.

"Haaa, just keep in mind to always keep yourself save first. I would never be able to look your mother in the eyes in Valhalla if you get hurt recklessly."

They resumed their hug, a hug that conveyed their worry for each other. Moments later Misty whispered in his ear, "how was it meeting him? Did he recognize your origins?"

Eli sighed and whispered back, "no I don't think so. He recognized the sword as Shatterstar, a weapon that once belonged to his mother though. Which means Heimdall might start looking for me, which would mean he will notice mother's magic is at work, hiding us."

"Oh? I didn't know your mother would actually steal such an important treasure for you. Is it really a Valkyrie's weapon? It looks so much different from my dragonfang. Is this really Uru? Looks more like some kind of bone to me," she said as she regarded the pendant in triangle form closely.

"And don't worry. Should Asgard come, we will deal with it together," Misty said as she released the hug and moved towards the kitchen.

"I made falafel and greek salad earlier, your favorite."

Eli smiled, Misty always knew how to cheer him up.

The next morning, Eli sat at the breakfast table on a bench outside on the first floor balcony with an otherworldly-looking, ornate string instrument on his lap. He was playing a few tunes that spoke of longing and love. His gaze was distant and unfocused in the direction of Manhattan.

"Eli, there's someone at the door asking for you? The woman called herself Natasha, red-head, very pretty. Is it the woman you spoke of yesterday? Shall I send her up?" Misty broke him out of his musing, when she appeared behind him in the door.

He nodded in affirmation and a few moments later Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Avenger appeared on the balcony and sat down in front of him. Today she was dressed in an unbuttoned black blouse with a white tank top below and black jeans and black leather boots instead of her combat suit. She looked younger today, but maybe it's because she wasn't exhausted and covered in injuries from battle.

Misty left them alone after pointing to a comfortable chair for Natasha to sit on.

Nat poured herself some juice from a pitcher on the table and helped herself to some of the food that was left. She was smiling at Eli the entire time, but neither of them spoke.

A few minutes later, Eli's song was finished and he rested his hands on the strings to calm them down. He was the first to break the silence.

"Hey Nat, how did the rescuing go yesterday? How badly did we lose?"

"Lose? Didn't you and Tony make sure we won?"

"Hmm, my mom once said that nobody ever truly wins a war. You can only gain advantages."

Natasha turned thoughtful.

"That's a very bleak outlook, but I guess it's appropriate for something as tragic as war. Your mom must have been a very wise woman."

"Yeah, she truly was."

"Well, we're still counting, but we have over 13-thousand confirmed casualties, property damage is in the billions, truckloads of dangerous technology went missing... wow you're not wrong when you say we lost anyway."

Eli gained a faint, sad smile and tried to lift the mood.

"But we didn't lose it all. We managed to stop them before they destroyed all of Manhattan, we contained most of the enemy forces. Earth now knows that humanity is not alone in the world and have been shown a common enemy. Strive among humanity should lessen. The Avengers were formed-"

"Okay okay I get it. Losses and advantages. Are you really 14 years old?"

"Well I was born in 1997..."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, "you didn't answer with a yes."

Eli shook his head with a smile. He wasn't going to answer that, even if Natasha earned his trust yesterday.

"So what brings you here? You're a welcome guest, make no mistake, but you should be busy with clean-up no? Can I help you?"

"There's three things I came here for. First, I wanted to thank you for yesterday once again. I don't mean you defending NY, but the spell." Natasha's eyes turned misty.

"Where I was trained, they would make it so you cannot get pregnant anymore once you 'graduate'. Your spell... it healed the damage they did and made me complete again." Tears were trailing down her face by now. She moved to wipe them away and continued.

"It was one of my biggest regrets, the fact I could never have a family of my own... you somehow defied reality and made it possible once more. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

Eli was stumped. His magics could do something like that? Impossible! Not even his mother at her peak could do that... it had to be the scepter. Should he move to steal it somehow and power-up even more?

He shook his head. He wouldn't even know where to begin, and while he needed strength, he didn't need it at the cost of the lives of others.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Natasha inquired. She had thick skin, but pouring her heart out and crying in front of someone, only to receive silence and a shake of the head did not feel good.

"Sorry, I just had to think of some things. I'm very glad my spell helped as much as it did, but I'm gonna be honest with you, Nat. It wasn't my intention to lift such a heavy burden and I don't think I could do it again. My mother was a much more powerful sorceress with incomparable knowledge in the healing arts... were she alive... she could not have done what I did. I think it was the scepter that gave me that power. You should see to it that it remains out of the hands of those with evil intentions."

Natasha expected such a humble answer from the limited interactions she had with him, but still shook her head. This kid had a good head on his shoulder.

"Noted. I'll also tell noone, that you are the reason why. Some of the Avengers might suspect though." Eli shrugged after Natasha's promise. It didn't really matter, since without the scepter it was impossible to do it again.

"Onto the second thing I came here for. You don't have to answer if you don't want, but the question has been burned in my head ever since I saw your picture. Are you related to Thor? You're super powerful, you apparently have the sword of his mother and you pretty much look like a teenage version of him with green eyes. I'm sure he didn't know you before, but his gaze kept lingering on you after the battle calmed down."

Eli had already dreaded this particular question, but he felt if he would ask, Natasha would keep this entire thing a secret.

He apologized to Natasha with a wry smile, "sorry Nat, I'd like for the answer to that question to be a secret for the time being, it was one of my mother's last wishes."

Naturally she could read between the lines. His answer pretty much admitted to it, but he didn't say it out loud.

"Sure it stays between us. I'll also tell Tony to shut his mouth, he saw your picture too you know."

Eli palmed his face. "I almost forgot. Thanks, I appreciate it."

"Well that leaves me with my last point. You didn't join us for Shwarma yesterday and the guys asked about you. Tomorrow morning Thor will take Loki and the tesseract back to Asgard. Would you like to join us for drinks tonight? Don't worry we'll get some Cola or juice for you," she asked with a wink at the end.

"Thank you very much for the invite, but for the time being I want my secret persona to fade back into obscurity and like I just mentioned my actual identity to remain a secret."

Natasha nodded in approval. "Hmm, good point, I agree. If you change your mind, I had Tony program my number into your phone. Don't hesitate to reach out."

Eli grabbed his new phone from the table and opened up the contacts. And there it was, a second contact called 'Big sis'.

"'Big sis'? I don't mind, but are you sure about it? What if he insists on you calling him uncle or Heavens forbid father once he learns about it?" Eli asked with a smirk.

Natasha's eyes widened for a moment, before her eyes glinted in mischief.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Alright you win," Eli sighed at her shamelessness. "Those were your three points of business, anything else you wanna do or are you gonna take off now?"

"Are you going to kick me out? Am I bothering you this much?" Natasha asked while wiping away a fake tear.

Seeing as she couldn't change his mind about attending the celebrations later and didn't want to, they kept chatting about this and that for two hours until Natasha had to leave.

"I think your mother might approve. Will you give her one of the apples?"

Misty asked him from the other end of the hall, unseen by Natasha.

"No, well not yet anyway. It would take a lot more to fall in love so quickly. She's certainly a capable, beautiful woman, but I'd rather have her as a friend for now. I only have five chances to get it right after all. And imagine I have children with someone not from Asgard, they'd need an apple too to gain our longevity most likely."

"Choosing a significant other as the mortals say is certainly a decision that requires more than just reason and facts."

"Mhm," he intoned in agreement.

"Well you're young anyway. Your body certainly is so you still have plenty of time," Misty added.

"Hey, my mind is barely a few years older, nothing compared to you or my father anyway, even by asgardian standards," Eli said as he turned around. But as soon as he saw Misty's look, he knew he screwed up.

"It's not very nice to talk about a ladies' age now is it little Eli?"

Eli hung his head low. As much as his mother trained him to be strong, taught him how to treat women, she never quite taught him how to win an argument against one.

"Need this 'big sis' to change your diaper then little Eli?"

Ugh, he knew Misty was going to be this petty for a while. But while he wouldn't win an argument, he knew how to distract her, so Eli gave Misty a little private concert with all her favorite songs.

"How did it feel to fight on a battlefield once more, Misty? Any more memories get back to you?" Eli asked in a soft tone as he finished his last song.

Misty who by now had sat next to him closed her eyes.

"Defending others felt nice, but foreign. You know as much as I loved your mother, she was a little selfish. I hadn't moved to fight for truly selfless reasons in centuries," Misty recounted, her eyes closed still.

"Haha, a little selfish," Eli laughed to break out Misty out of her melancholy.

"Hey, don't speak ill of your mother you ungrateful brat!" Misty exlaimed as she slapped Eli's shoulder.

"Come on now, I spent 11 years in a mindscape alone with her teaching me all her knowledge and life lessons. Not even taking you in and healing you was truly selfless of her. I've seen the memory," Eli explained.

Misty sat up from her slouched form on the lounge chair and glared at Eli.

"Yes, of course. I know her death was a truly selfless act to shield me from something I was too young to live through. Nobody knows this fact better than me and I mourn it every day I wake up and see my eyes, her eyes in the mirror," Eli defended weakly as he slouched back into his seat.

"It's good that you know," Misty softly whispered in his ear as she lost her glare and hugged him close.