The Ballad of Rick Jones (An MCU One-Shot)

[randomideguy]

My name is Rick Jones.

I live in New York City. When I grow up, I want to be a racecar driver.

My mom says that's too dangerous. I think she's just scared.

After what happened to dad, she's never been the same. We had to move out of our nice big house. I had to give up most of my toys. Our house became a lot smaller.

My mom went to work and I changed schools. At least for me, surprisingly little changed. My dad had never been home that much anyways, ever since he got that government job when I was just a little kid.

Still, everyone else seems to think it's a big deal. Every year on my father's birthday, a present and a card arrives for me.

It says it's from Mr. Green. There is no return address. I like to imagine my father is still out there - saving the world.

2008

I've just finished 7th grade when Tony Stark makes his big announcement. Now I honestly had no clue who he was at the time and I didn't really care to.

But Iron Man? Wow, that was some awesome stuff. It wasn't long before we were all toting our own Iron Man toys and backpacks.

I'm so excited about a real life superhero that my father's birthday comes and goes. It's weeks before I realize no present came for me this year.

Then, a few weeks later, a man with a goofy mustache comes and asks my mom and I questions. Mainly about Mr. Green.

I ask mom if dad is in trouble. She just cries.

But the next year, my present comes like nothing ever happened. I start to wonder if maybe Mr. Green isn't who I think he is.

2010

I was just finishing up my first year of high school when I got the gift of a lifetime : a ticket to the new Stark Expo. I got to take some pictures with Tony Stark; look at a bunch of cool tech. I tried to tell my mother that there hadn't been one since the 70s.

She just seemed tired. I hadn't seen her much lately and I started to suspect that maybe she had been working overtime to get me that ticket.

I started to appreciate my yearly gifts from Mr. Green a lot less. I even tried to anticipate them, checking the doorstep at all hours of the night. I wanted to give Mr. Green a piece of my mind.

Who would leave my mother to a life like this? Why would he leave me behind?

2011

I was nearing 16 when I finally caught him. It was almost four in the morning - I was heading out to our little garage to work on the car I was refurbishing for myself. That's when I saw him.

A gaunt man with curly hair, hunched over and looking every different direction. He was undoubtedly Mr. Green. I chased after him, throwing every curse word I could in his direction for leaving my family in such a bad spot.

I'm sure I must've looked like an idiot to my neighbors. I didn't catch him that day. But I did grab the present he dropped in an alley - it was the exact part I needed to fix my car that I had been working on for nearly a year.

I had been scrounging for free parts in the city dump trying to get this thing up and running so that my mom wouldn't have to buy another car when I turned 16. This free part would put that much closer to my goal.

I went home and told my mom what happened. Finally, she sat me down and told me the truth : my father was dead - long dead. He had been working on a project in Gamma Radiation almost a decade ago when something went horribly wrong.

He went out into the field with his research partner, Doctor Bruce Banner. My father never came back; and Doctor Banner went on the run for years. Based on my description of him, my mom confirmed that Mister Green was not my father.

He was just Doctor Banner and the presents were probably to assuage his guilty conscience.

I sold the part Banner gave me; handed the cash over to my mom. I sold all his presents, and the ones I couldn't sell I threw away.

2012

I was working my delivery route in the city when the Incident happened. My mom had always been nervous about me traveling through the city; but I was careful. Besides, I couldn't let my mom do it all by herself.

Not that she couldn't - I'd seen her do it for years. But she needed a break. And while I couldn't exactly put her on a cruise to Alaska today, I could at least try to make things easier for her. She could never say it, but I think she was relieved to have the extra cash flow.

Of course the Incident had to happen while I was in the middle of my route. One second I'm biking along Fifth Avenue and suddenly there's rock and debris falling everywhere. Thankfully I was able to take shelter with some others in the nearby subway.

It was a tense few hours. One of those things even nearly barged in and caught us; but I slipped away, distracted it and let it chase me down the subway tunnel. At that point, it had seemed like the world was ending.

I was just worried about my mom. Later I found out the full story, about Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor saving the city from an alien invasion.

2013

I was surprised when a present from Mister Green showed up on my doorstep. After the Incident in New York (first the attack on the Stark Expo and then an alien invasion) my mom had decided to move us farther north.

It was really difficult to get used to living in the country up north - people seemed more interested in football than engineering. But my mom seemed happier. Rent was cheaper out here. She even started taking online classes - finally going back to college to get her degree.

Mister Green didn't run when I opened the door. I knew who he was, by now. Bruce Banner, the Incredible Hulk. A hero. A terror. It all just depended on who you talked to.

I surprised even myself when I asked him in for some tea. I told him about all the projects I was working on. He was polite, he engaged. Even shared some insights on what I could do to improve my work.

We talked about my dad a lot. He tried to save Bruce. Ended up getting fried when he took the brunt of the gamma ray attack. Thunderbolt Ross didn't see it as that way. Thought the accident was intentional.

I don't know why, but I believed the guy. He was innocent. After he left, I finally mourned my dad.

2014

I had been in ROTC for nearly a year when the government decided that Captain America was a traitor. I just wish I had found out the government was controlled by Nazis before I signed away four years of my life.

On the other hand, I couldn't have afforded to go to any college without the government aid that came with becoming a soldier. Since joining I had kind of started to look up to the Captain. Our base was even just a few miles from the old base where the Cap went through basic training.

Sometimes the guys and I would head out there, have a few beers. Pour one out for the Cap. I was actually kind of glad when they decided it was SHIELD who was in the wrong and not the Captain.

Still, it made me question my choice to join the military.

But then I sent my paycheck home to my mom every two weeks. When she invited me to her graduation dinner I stopped doubting my path in life. The smile on her face made it all worth it.

2015

That next year, Mister Green disappeared. I only knew because of the news. Despite everything that had happened, I felt kind of sad about it.

2016

I barely made it into MIT by my junior year. It was hard work but since I had been able to fast track part of ROTC studies I had a bit more leeway in where I was allowed to go to school for my last two years.

I'm just damn lucky I was in the room where Tony Stark gave out those scholarships to everyone. Finally, I didn't have to worry about making money, providing for my loved ones. I could take this grant money, finally make my big invention, and become a billionaire.

The euphoria lasted maybe a week. The Lagos happened; and the Sokovia Accords. That's when that old guy with the moustache showed back up in my life.

"How would you like to serve your country," he asked. Like I had a choice, the pay was to good. But why me?

Well, given his connections to the incident where my father died, I had some strong suspicions about him. I maintained my studies online, sent my larger and larger checks back home to my mom.

2017

It was nearly a year doing grunt work in SHIELD when I got the call from my mom's doctor.

Heart attack. Middle of the night.

She went quietly. Felt no pain.

That made one of us, at least. I took the very next field assignment they offered me.

"Are you sure about this?" Ross cautioned. I wanted to get out there, stop this Vulture guy from running around with the tech that belonged to my government. Tech that belonged to my lab.

I very nearly got drowned in New York Bay, crushed under the boat. Thankfully Iron Man showed up just in time to bail my ass out of the water - and save the whole boat.

I"m not sure I wanted to be saved. They took me off of field duty after that.

2018

In lieu of field duty, I found a new place in SHIELD : lab work. Tony Stark and I got to know each other pretty well. He said he didn't recognize me from the boat, but I'm not stupid.

We worked on some old Chitauri tech. Developed something like Stark's repulsor tech, but stronger. I called them Nega Bands.

Besides the lab, I didn't do anything else. I lived in New York City again. Much wealthier than I was when my mom and I moved out. I just wish I could've showed my apartment to her. I think she might've liked it.

I was in the lab when it happened; another alien invasion in New York City. I wasn't as shocked as the first time. You see, we had procedures for this now. As the floor manager when Mister Stark wasn't around, I made sure everyone was bundled up in the bunker.

I should've joined them, of course. But I forgot something at home. It was stupid, really. My cat would be fine without me. And even if he wasn't, he was just a cat.
But I was just sad; conflicted. I didn't want to waste a few hours staring at the ceiling of a bunker when I could be out in the world. So, for whatever reason, I made the trek back into the city to feed my cat.

During an alien invasion.

That's when I saw him. Mister Green. Bruce Banner. Of course I had read the files. I had been apart of SHIELD long enough, and given my special connection I think Mr. Ross took pity on me. Banner was supposed to be dead; disappeared since the "fall" of Sokovia.

And yet here he was, running around New York City like there wasn't an invasion going on. Not like I could judge.

For whatever reason, we ended up in the car together. And he needed a ride out to the Avengers Outpost just up the river. Some would call that chance. But Bruce and I aren't really into chance.

The drive was more eventful than I would've liked. As in any natural disaster, some choice elements had taken the alien invasion as their cue to begin looting like mad. Thankfully I only had to go a little off road. Plus, living around the city for so long meant that I knew some of the lesser traveled roads to use.

It was awkward dropping Bruce off. I can tell he wanted to say something, ask me something. I didn't let the moment linger.

"Go get 'em," I told him. Whatever that meant. Then I sent him on his way. I tried to ignore the image of Captain America stepping out of the Quinjet in my rearview mirror.

I wasn't really into dreams anymore. Whatever did happen, I decided try my apartment again. Maybe this time I would actually feed my cat.

I had barely made it into the city when I got the call.

"Nick who?"

Oh. That Nick Fury. Guess things weren't going as swell as I thought, given that he was requisitioning my Nega-Bands research and anything else sufficiently powerful to do some damage.

I didn't bother to ask Ross. Maybe I should have. But anything to help the Avengers, right?

He never did show up at the meeting spot. Of course, a lot of different people didn't show up to a lot of different meetings that day. I traced backwards from where we were supposed to meet. Found his car.

A pile of ash. And a pager?

Guess these spy types liked to keep it old school. My phone lit up again. Now it was Bruce, said the Avengers needed my help.

I stared at the pile of ash in front of me, the pager in my hand. I looked around the city I grew up in and expected to feel something.

I wish I could say I felt some sense of loss. But I didn't. My family was already dead. I was numb to anything else.

But I do know what my mother would've wanted me to do. And it was her memory I was determined to honor.

"Alright Bruce… tell me what you need."

 

[krahe]

That was nicely done, short and without overburden with a neatly tied ending