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VALOR
xv. RILEY'S VILLAGE

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   RILEY O'DAIR KNEW FEAR. She knew it like the back of her hand. Her line of work made her feel it nearly every day. You'd think at some point, she would've learned to become desensitized to her fear by now. Then again, anyone would feel fear if they were awakened by the incredible Hulk roaring in your face, especially an 11-year-old.

   Riley laid on her back, her eyes locked on Hulk. Her entire body trembled with pain after the floor beneath her gave out just a few moments ago. She didn't know what had happened, but it was safe to assume that there was some kind of explosion. Boom.

   Riley rolled to the side as Hulk swung his enlarged fist at her. She pushed herself onto her feet, just barely able to balance herself. Her head spun after she had slammed it against the floor. She probably had a concussion, but that would have to wait. For now, Riley needed to worry about facing off with Hulk.

   They studied each other for a short moment. Hulk's beady eyes were all Bruce's, but the rage inside of them was nothing Riley had seen before. Swallowing her worries, Riley stood tall. Her courage kept her grounded. From behind Hulk, Riley could spot Natasha limping away. She wondered what had happened in the few moments she'd been knocked unconscious.

   Riley pointed her attention to a broken pipe on the floor. She lifted it with a forcefield, moving it toward Hulk and bashing the back of his head in. Instantly, Hulk's rage reignited as he furiously bellowed and sprinted toward her. Riley forged another forcefield beneath her. At the right moment, Riley leaped off of it and struck Hulk from behind once more.

   When Hulk turned to attack her again, he moved faster than Riley could comprehend. She just barely managed to work in a forcefield before he could hit her, but Hulk didn't appreciate that. He slammed his fists against it aggressively, attempting to destroy it. Just when Riley felt herself giving in, Thor went flying through a wall, taking the Hulk down with him.

   Catching her breath, Riley moved without hesitation as she spoke into her comm. "Has anyone reported... reported a Code Green?" she asked. She peered through the new hole in the wall, watching as Thor and Hulk duked it out. "Because if they haven't, I'm reporting it now!"

   "GRENADE!" Maria Hill shouted from her end. Riley flinched at the explosion on their end. She figured she wouldn't get any information from them soon.

   Riley moved to rejoin the fight to restrain Hulk; however, she grew distracted by someone sneaking up on her. She turned to engage with the stranger, only to falter when she realized the stranger was Roman. With a glare, she hissed, "What the hell are you doing?"

   Roman shrugged. "I heard the party was down here. When Riley shot him a pointed look, he snickered and added, "Relax, kid. I've got this."

   "We've got a perimeter breach! Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. We have a situation with Hulk, O'Dair, Thor, and Roman on level 4. Levels 2 and 3 are dark."

   Riley partially ignored the announcement as she spoke to Roman. Her greatest concern was dealing with Hulk for now. Though judging based off of it, it seemed that Thor and Roman had been fighting earlier. Maybe that was why Thor had been thrown through a wall earlier... Was that because of Roman?

   "Are you sure?" inquired Riley. "Hulk's kind of a handful—"

   Roman didn't give her a chance to stop him. Instead, he marched forward with a usual cocky smirk on his face. Though Riley didn't have a real reason to, she was surprisingly worried about Roman. Then again, did she really need to worry? After all, if Roman could take on Thor and Loki, maybe Roman would be fine?

   Roman approached Hulk calmly, not even flinching when Thor was thrown his way. Riley could've laughed at the thought of Hulk using Thor as a weapon, but she was too concerned with the actual problem at hand. She tensed, prepared to protect Roman if she needed to.

   Riley's eyes widened as Hulk's eyes suddenly glossed over with a bright light. Roman's body emitted a similar light. It reminded her of looking up at night and spotting the brightest star in the sky. Hulk froze mid-punch as Roman stared up at the large monster. It was almost like Roman was controlling Hulk. Was that even possible?

   Roman and Riley watched as Hulk flung himself out the window of the Helicarrier, thus taking down one of the attack helicopters hovering outside. Shattered pieces of glass layered the floors.

   "Whoops," mumbled Roman. He turned around to face Riley, an annoyed grimace on his face. "I think I lost brain cells possessing that guy..."

   "Wh... How...?" Riley stammered. She was utterly baffled. She'd never seen anyone do... whatever the hell Roman just did. "What did... you just do? Just now?"

   Roman approached Riley's side, his gaze flickering to the wall where Thor had once been. It seemed like Thor had been thrown through another wall. "I wonder where blondie went," Roman said to himself. "You know, he's quite annoying for someone I grew up idolizing."

   Riley pinched her eyebrows together. "Thor?" she repeated. "What'd you do to him anyway?"

   Roman stuck his hands into his pockets. Riley noticed how nonchalant Roman was about everything. It was fascinating to the girl who was raised to stay on her toes at all times. "Well, after the explosion, I ended up in this tiny ass room with Thor, and we started bickering, as you do," he recited. "I guess I pissed him off. I have a history of doing that. He asked me Who are you anyway? And I replied Wanna find out? Anyway, long story short, I kicked his ass."

   Riley stared at Roman in awe. If Roman could fight off two demigods, then he had to have some kind of ability, right? Roman began to stroll forward, eager to find something else to entertain him. Besides, he was here to help these pathetic Earthlings and gain vengeance for his people. Helping them was a good way to pass the time, wasn't it?

   "C'mon, kid," beckoned Roman, causing Riley to go teetering after him, "I'm sure there are more idiots to fling off this weird ship."

   "Are you seriously not gonna tell me how you did... that to the freaking Hulk?" she demanded. Riley wanted to know more. "It was like you controlled him or something!"

   Roman thought about it momentarily as they sauntered through the Helicarrier. The level they were on seemed to have cleared out after the Hulk began to terrorize everyone. They needed to head to the main floors if they wanted to find the others. "You know what? Fine," Roman decided.

   It was clear that Roman was beginning to warm up to Riley. She wasn't sure how it was possible, but it made her feel victorious. She loved winning people over. It boosted her ego.

   "Listen carefully. I'm not gonna repeat myself," Roman insisted. "On Asteria, some of us are... were born with gifts. Others weren't. Those who were blessed by Asteria herself with a gift was unique in one way or another, no matter how big or small that difference was. Those of us with powers were considered valuable. That's why our Royal Guard was so powerful."

   "So, you have a gift?" theorized Riley, kicking past a piece of debris. Realistically, they probably should have been hurrying to the frontlines, but honestly, Riley needed a second to breathe after nearly getting killed by the Hulk.

   "Exactly. My gift is what we called Soul Searching. I'm the first in Asteria's history to have a power like mine," he elaborated. "I can see into the souls of everyone and see their true essence. I can figure out everything there is to know about someone in a matter of minutes. Once I've seen enough, I can possess their minds and control them. It's temporary and I can only possess one being at a time, but you'd be shocked by the things I've seen and possessed. That, along with my fighting ability, was why I was ranked so highly back home. I was recruited from a young age because of it."

   Riley nodded. She took a minute to absorb this information. Did that mean they could trust Roman? After all, Roman knew everyone's secrets by now. Was that why he was originally so quiet and observant? Wait. "Is that why you said you knew Fury was hiding something earlier?" she queried.

   "Pretty much," confirmed Roman. "Your buddy, Hulk, is simple-minded. That made it easy to take over his soul. It was all just blind rage and fear."

   "Fear?" repeated Riley.

   Roman nodded. "You all act like Bruce and Hulk are separate entities, but they're one and the same," he emphasized. "His rage is stemmed from his fear. When Banner learns to control his fear, he'll be able to control Hulk's rage."

   Astonished, Riley admitted, "Your power is seriously badass."

   Roman snorted. "It's alright," he joked. "The downfall is that in return, my essence is clear to everyone else. My intentions, my life, everything is transparent to everyone."

   Confusion colored Riley. "Then... why couldn't any of the other agents or Fury figure you out when they were interrogating you?" The Helicarrier's engine began to rumble smoothly again. It seemed like Tony had fixed the broken engine.

   "It's simple," Roman answered. "They weren't really looking. They decided who I was before they got to know me because of their fear. They thought I was a target, an enemy, a treat. They never wanted to know who I was, but instead, they wanted me to confirm their concerns. So, they took their fear and let it cloud their judgment. Fear is the only thing that stops us from living truthfully."

   Riley wasn't sure how, but his words made perfect sense to her. Still, she wanted to know more. "But I wasn't afraid of you," she pointed out. "Why couldn't I figure you out?"

   Roman shook his head. "You're right. You weren't afraid. All the pieces are right in front of you. Humans just take forever to figure things out. That's why your lifespan lasts around a century rather than a few Millenium," he elucidated. "You're the only human I've told all of this to because, frankly, you're the only one I can tolerate." He could sense Riley's shit-eating grin, even if he wasn't looking at her. "Yeah, yeah, don't let it go to your head, kid."

   In a way, Riley found herself changing since the Avengers formed. She felt empowered, inflated, happier. She hardly felt understood by people, but now that she was meeting more and more people who were willing to accept her for who she truly was, Riley felt... different. Different in a good way. It made her feel like maybe she could melt away her hard exterior. Maybe not now, but someday soon.

   But before Riley could express that to Roman (though she had a feeling he already knew), everything seemed to snap back into place. Rather than experiencing that blind euphoria, she was suddenly faced with, Riley was back in the real world as Fury made an announcement:

   "Agent Coulson is down."

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   Just like that, Riley O'Dair was reminded of who she was and where she belonged. She was an agent, a ruthless machine bred to become a weapon. She forgot how dangerous it was to create attachments to the people she worked with. They always warned her against it, but Riley always did it without realizing it, and every single time, Riley regretted it. Because she never knew what to do with herself once they were gone.

   Phil Coulson was dead.

   No—Phil Coulson was murdered by Loki.

   Many of Riley's colleagues had died before, and all of them impacted her in one way or another. She'd always shut down for some time before bouncing back twice as strong. But this death, in particular, was different. This time, it was personal. Or, at least, it felt personal.

   This wasn't just another colleague Riley had gone on a random mission with. This was Phil Coulson. This was Phil — the guy who had always been kind to her from the very beginning, the first person to truly believe in her, the only person Riley could never get tired of.

   And just like that, he was gone.

   Riley sat at a round-table with Tony, Steve, and Roman. Before them was Fury, standing and staring off with a distant look in his eye. Everyone was hurt by Coulson's death. Even Roman was somewhat empathetic. Maybe that was because he knew how everyone else was feeling. Riley wondered what it was like to hold the weight of everyone's pain on your shoulders and not be able to do anything about it. That was what Roman dealt with, wasn't it?

   Riley was a cold shell, emotionless. Her whole body was tense, chills running up and down her arms despite the fact that she wasn't cold. She felt sick just thinking about his death. Despite her pain and despite how badly she wanted to find Loki and kill him herself, Riley was a statue. Frozen. Emotionless. She was trained to keep those feelings of vulnerability inside, and that was what she was going to do.

   Her gaze was desolate, even as she stared at the blood-stained papers on the table in front of her that had been in Coulson's pocket. They were adoption papers. Coulson wanted to adopt Riley. He wanted to talk to her about it today.

   And he never got around to it because he was killed.

   It was so sick and twisted to think about. To think that Riley was so close to having a real family, just for it to get taken away from her because Phil was murdered. Her brain almost wasn't processing what had happened. Phil was gone, and so were her hopes of ever feeling like she'd have a family.

   "I guess he never did get you to sign them." Riley's attention shifted from the adoption papers to Phil's bloodied Captain America trading cards.

   She swallowed the knot in her throat. "So what's next?" Riley lowly inquired. She tried to keep her gaze away from Tony. She knew he was staring at her. He was worried about her.

   "We're dead in the air up here," Fury replied. "Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor... I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye." Phil. "Maybe I had that coming." He sighed. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract and eventually, O'Dair's powers. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier."

   Riley clenched her jaw as she glared daggers into the table. Fury continued, "There was an idea, Stark and O'Dair know this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."

   Phil Coulson died believing in you.

   The words echoed in Riley's head. It made the tears so much harder to fight, but she did. She did because that was what was expected of her.

   As Tony walked away, Roman, Steve, Riley, and Fury were left. Maria Hill stood in a corner, still processing what had happened in the span of the last half-hour. Eventually, Maria, Fury, and Steve left, too. And all that remained was Riley, Roman, and the weight of the worlds.

   "You okay?"

   Riley hadn't realized how intensely she'd been staring at the table until Roman spoke up. Her head snapped upward to see his eyes. This time, they were a golden yellow. Curiosity edged his face.

   She released a breath she didn't know she was holding until then. "What do you think? You're the... Soul Searcher, aren't you?" she grumbled.

   Roman hesitated. That much was true. He hadn't been expecting the sudden hostility from her, but maybe that was just a grieving thing. Roman recognized it in himself. Honestly, Roman saw a lot of himself in Riley. Maybe that was another reason why he seemed to trust her.

   Roman decided to go with another approach. "On Asteria... uh, there's this tale I grew up hearing from our elders," he began. "They used to tell us that if you were good your whole life and lived for the sake of others, you'd go to a... special place when you died. It's sorta like Valhalla or heaven, but way more selective. When you die and you manage to get into this higher plane of the universe, you're given the chance to be reborn."

   Riley tilted her head to the side. "That rebirth stuff is real?" she softly wondered.

   "I dunno. I don't believe in that crap, but... if it's real, maybe your friend will come back," Roman said. He hesitated. "I know what it's like to lose. I just thought maybe it'd make you feel better."

   Riley faltered. She was quickly realizing that since Roman already knew everything there was to know about her, she could be honest with him. "...Thanks, Roman," she mumbled. "It kinda helps." Riley sighed. "I wish I would've known that there was someone who wanted me in their family, you know? I've... never had that."

   Roman waved his hand dismissively. "Families are overrated," he opinionated. "It's not about the people you're born from. Those relationships are always forced. I think the people you surround yourself with, the people you can be yourself with, are the people that matter the most."

   Riley pressed her lips together. "Like a village?"

   Roman shrugged. "Sure. Like a village," he reassured. "When you find the people you'd let in your village, hold them close. But between you and me, I think you already know who those people are."

   Riley smiled at the idea of that. It was faint, but it was enough to make her feel a little bit better about her almost-adoption. "Did you have a village on Asteria?" she queried.

   Roman didn't have to think about it. "It's complicated. I knew a lot of Stellites and they knew me, but I never considered them family or anything like that. We all just kind of... existed together."

   Riley sat up straight. "Well, then I'll be the first person in your village," she declared with a soft voice. Roman arched an eyebrow at the child. "I'm serious! I know you like me, asshole."

   Roman snorted. She was right. He did. He didn't have to say that for her to know. It felt nice being understood by someone for once.

   Though it was a population of two (including herself), Riley's village felt so much bigger than it was before. Because now, as Riley was getting older, she was starting to realize that she didn't have to be alone anymore.

   And although everyone seemed to hate each other, Riley liked to think that the Avengers would be her village. It was broken and imperfect, but the Avengers would soon become Riley's village. No matter how small it was, it would soon become Riley's home, and to her, that was more than she deserved.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

wow this chapter makes me feel SO MANY EMOTIONS omgkkjdsjk

riley's at a point in her life where she's beginning to realize that she's not alone, that people care about her, that people will accept her for who she is. seeing those adoption papers is what triggered this realization in her. (also it is SO CRAZY to think that phil could've taken riley in if he hadn't "died")

(yes, i know phil is alive in agents of shield, but i never watched it and i kinda wanna keep this series strictly mcu-related. there's just a lot of content to cover here, i'm sorry!!)

riley's relationship with roman is also very, VERY crucial to her character, as well as roman's. riley's always felt like she could never be vulnerable/herself with anyone and roman's always felt misunderstood by the ppl he surrounds himself with. but because of roman's powers, riley realizes that he accepts her for who she truly is. and vise-versa, riley is the first to truly accept roman for who he is rather than some soldier that was recruited into his planet's royal guard at a young age. this is why we see roman show more kindness to riley and be more open toward her. they have a cute brother-sister friendship, which i love A LOT.

just like nat and tony and any of the other avengers, roman is a big reason as to why riley starts to embrace herself and be more authentic to herself. we're rly starting to see more of that as we continue w/ this book!

and we'll continue to see riley develop her relationship with the avengers as we progress w/ this story! she's starting to get this idea in her head that the avengers were the first "community" that she got to choose, and that's why she begins to grow very attached to them.

it would just...be...such...a...shame....if something.....were....to...happen....to one of the avengers.......lol.