118 Promises To Keep

Bokuboy

Being introduced around to all the people I already knew was pretty damn funny, especially when I used their real names and thanked them for proving that they were the heroes everyone needed them to be. The only real holdout was Tony Stark and he begrudgingly admitted that me using Loki's own weapon to close the portal was a smart thing to do.

“Dr. Selvig here also figured out that nothing on Earth could penetrate the energy barrier.” I said and pat the surprised man on the shoulder. “I'm just glad that knock on the head he suffered had succeeded in getting rid of Loki's mind control.”

“HA! Eric here is as hardy as any Midgardian I have ever met!” Thor exclaimed and downed the bottle of beer he held.

“Those bottles are awful small, aren't they?” I asked and the Norse god laughed.

“Barely a mouthful, my friend!” Thor said and tossed the bottle over his shoulder. An agent caught it and put it into a recycle container. I gave the man a thumbs-up and he smiled.

“Hey, Hank!” I shouted and Hank Pym turned from talking with Bruce Banner. “A really thirsty Norse god needs a small favor from you!”

Hank raised his eyebrows at me as I poured out a beer into a mug and set it on the ground. He shook his head and tossed one of his instant devices at it and the mug of beer grew to be nearly three feet tall.

“OOOOOO-HA-HA-HAAA!” Thor yelled and picked it up in both hands and chugged about a quarter of it down, which was quite impressive. “Now THAT'S a drink for the gods!”

Everyone laughed.

“Thanks, Hank!” I said and he waved.

“You Midgardians are the BEST!” Thor shouted and took a more moderate drink from the mug.

“I think I need to humbly withdraw my challenge of drinking everyone under the table, since Thor can drink a table-sized beer without trouble and Tony's pretty much just a walking liver.” I said and that made everyone laugh again.

“Hey, I resemble that comment.” Tony said and took another drink.

“How are you liking the new power output?” I asked and he frowned slightly. “Tony, I'm sorry that I took exception with you when you stole one of my designs. You ruined my get rich plans when you did that and you delayed a lot of what I wanted to do as I tried to get back at you for it.”

“You definitely got me back.” Tony said and lightly touched the glowing Shurinium reactor on his chest.

“I assume Pepper told you I willingly signed over half-ownership of the patent for the new element?”

Tony sighed. “Yes, and she yelled at me for an hour for making you resort to corporate espionage.”

I had to smile after hearing that. “She's such a great woman to forgive us both for it, you know.”

“Yes, I know.” Tony said. “She even dropped everything to come to me when you gave her this.”

I chuckled. “Well, it wasn't like you were going to accept it from me.”

“I don't like being handed things.” Tony responded.

“Oh, I know. Getting you to admit that you might be wrong is like pulling teeth from a tyrannosaur.”

Tony smiled as he got it. “You can still do it, as long as you're willing to get chewed up by an apex predator.”

“Exactly.” I said and looked at Captain America. “Steve, I have a question that might seem a little personal from someone you just met. Can we step over there for a bit of privacy?”

Steve glanced around at the party going on and nodded. We walked over to the spot and he looked at me. “I think I can take a bit more personal after everything that's happened today.”

“You're struggling a lot with being woken up in a time that's not your own.” I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Do you want to reconnect with some of your past?”

Steve frowned at me. “What do you mean?”

I unfolded the piece of paper and handed it to him.

Steve took it and his frown turned sad as he read what the information said. “How did you know?”

“It doesn't matter.” I said and put a hand on his shoulder. “When you finish with that, come to Stark Tower and visit my office. I have something else for you to do after that.”

Steve looked up from the paper at my face. “Why don't you tell me about it now?”

I smiled sadly and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “If you can't handle what you have in your hands, then you're nowhere near ready to handle the next part.”

Steve nodded and looked back at the paper. “How long... I mean...”

I let his shoulder go. “According to my sources, about two years before it's too late.”

Steve jerked as if I had slapped him. “That's all?”

“Technically.” I said with a crooked smile.

“What do you mean by that?” Steve asked.

I nodded over at Vision as he talked with Jennifer Walters. “I sincerely doubt Peggy will want to make a copy of her consciousness into a Life Model Decoy.”

Steve looked over as well. “So, you're saying it will be her and not be her at the same time.”

“That's exactly what I was saying, Steve.” I said and he looked back at me. “The New Peggy will have all of Old Peggy's memories of her entire life, about 90 years of it, and she'll be as normal as a human or as powerful as you. Or more. It's her choice if she wants to join you and your choice if you want a partner.”

Steve looked very conflicted. “Agent Parker...”

“Call me Ben.” I said.

“Why are you offering me this?” Steve asked.

“Because, everyone has that special someone in their life that they connected with. Through no real fault of your own, because you actually were the hero everyone had built you up to be, you missed your connection with Doctor Margaret Carter. If you can dig up the courage to seek her out now, well before she's on her deathbed and asks for you, perhaps you can both reconnect once more.”

“Would she even want to see me?” Steve asked in a whisper.

“I'm not going to lie, Steve. She waited for you for years and she's still waiting. She married and had two children.”

“Wh-what?” Steve asked, surprised.

“I can't tell you who that was, because it was pretty much kept a secret from everyone. I don't even know the names of her children or where they went.”

Steve crumpled the paper in his hand. “What can you tell me?”

“Her brother Micheal Carter had a child and married and had a little girl. Peggy's Grand-Niece is named Sharon Carter and she's an agent of SHIELD, with Peggy's blessing.”

Steve looked surprised. “You're not kidding, are you?”

“No.” I said and took out one of my untraceable cell phones. I brought up her record and handed the phone to him. “She's actually quite capable, thanks to her great aunt helping her. Neither she nor Peggy have ever revealed their familial relationship, so Sharon isn't held to the same ridiculous standards that your love had set before she retired.”

Steve read it for a bit before he spoke. “Can you show me...”

“It's not light reading, Steve.” I said with a smile and tapped the screen to go to the previous file.

“Oh, sweet lord.” Steve whispered as he scrolled down the huge list of missions, solved cases, incidents, and encounters.

“She ended up becoming the Director of SHIELD.” I said and he half-laughed and half sobbed.

“She set them up to keep looking for me, even after she retired.” Steve whispered.

“Like I said, she never gave up on you.” I whispered back. “If you want, I can get you a tablet with everything on it to read later.”

“I'd like that.” Steve said and handed me the phone back. “Thanks, Ben.”

“Don't thank me yet.” I said with a sigh. “If you don't visit her soon, her Alzheimer's will kick in and she might not remember you.”

Steve's eyes widened and he stood up straight. “Why didn't you say that before?”

“I'm already pummelling you with emotional turmoil, Steve. I wasn't going to start out with the worst blow!”

Steve opened his mouth, probably to argue, then he sighed as well. “You're right. If you said that first, I might have punched you.”

I smiled and couldn't stop my next comment. “You could still try.”

Steve smiled back. “No, I think I'll take your advice. I'll try to arrange transportation and...”

“Car, motorcycle, or plane?” I asked and he chuckled. “If you couldn't tell, I was planning on helping you.”

Steve nodded and put a hand on my shoulder. “All right, tell me where to get the motorcycle.”

I took out the keys to a Harley Davidson Sportster and handed them to him. “Stark Tower, basement garage, near the exit door. The door locks automatically when you leave.”

Steve smiled. “Thanks, Ben.”

“Good luck.” I said and watched him quickly walk around and said his goodbyes to everyone, then he walked down the street and entered Stark Tower.

Shuri walked over to me and her automaton cheetah came with her. “Can I ask about that?”

“I was just trying to give him back a meaningful connection like we have, my dear.”

Shuri blushed a little and gave me a kiss. “The party seems to be winding down, so why don't we...”

A cheer rang out and interrupted her. We turned to see Thor as he held up the giant beer mug that was now empty and several people clapped and he bowed.

“You are a terrible liar.” I said with a laugh.

Shuri leaned against me. “Can you blame me for wanting to get you into bed? It's been so long since Valentine's Day.”

Really, really long. I thought and grinned at her. “I suppose this scene isn't really for me, anyway.”

Shuri beamed a smile at me. “Are we going back to your apartment or staying here?”

“We haven't surveyed anything yet, so we're all staying here at Stark Tower while the agents return to the helicarrier and the New York office.” I said and walked with her over to the largest group of people. We made the same excuses as Captain America and went down the street to Stark Tower. Libula, Jubadi, and Val were right behind us.

“I need a good shower!” Val exclaimed as we entered the lobby and the other women nodded.

“Wouldn't you prefer a nice relaxing bath?” I asked her and hit the button for the elevator.

“I've been coming here for months and have never seen a bathtub in the showers, Ben.” Val said with a laugh.

“I guess that is a bit of an oversight on my part.” I said and took out my cell phone. I sent an inquiry to Jarvis. He let me know the sale had gone through just before the invasion and I now owned Wilson Fisk's apartment building. It had been a steal at the time and with the apparent damage from the invasion, the insurance company was going to pay for the restoration.

“I'll have a better place for us to crash in a couple of weeks.” I said and showed them images of Fisk's penthouse apartment that was the entire top floor. It was my penthouse apartment now.

Val whistled. “Damn, Ben! You should save at least some of the money you're raking in!”

I chuckled and we all stepped into the elevator. “I'm not even going to mention the giant bag full of cash I have stashed in my closet at home.”

“That's why we're never allowed to snoop around in there!” Val said and I winked at her.

The elevator dropped us off at floor 60 and we split up. Val, Jubadi, and Libula went to the training area's showers, the automaton cheetah went to the living room, and Shuri and I went into my modest set of rooms. They were utilitarian and spartan, just because it was only a place to nap when I needed it.

We both stripped off and went into the bathroom and the shower. Despite my words, we didn't really have time to lay back and relax, because Shuri really had been desperate to have me like she wanted. It was quick and dirty in the shower, because that was how she liked it. We washed up and dried, and she gave me a lingering kiss before she said to give her a bit of time to get ready for bed.

I almost laughed at that, because she was already naked under the bathrobe. What did she need to get ready for? I asked myself and checked my reflection in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. My hair was getting to be quite long, down to my shoulders, and my muscles were a lot more defined after ten years of intense workouts.

I had thought the progress I was making with my normal workouts was phenomenal. Compared to what The Ancient One thought was a real workout, it had made me laugh my ass off, because I thought she had been joking. She wasn't. It took tremendous power, both magical and physical, to handle the guardianship of an Infinity Stone.

Plus, having access to a Mirror Dimension where you could alter the physical makeup of things on a whim, if you had the proper magical spells and the mental capacity to handle it, really made a workout into the most intense experience anyone could imagine.

The sealed binding with the Dark Dimension had also been stagnant the entire time, because I was locked into an extremely slow time dilation effect with the Eye of Agamotto. Now that I was back in the real world, the effects of the pact were going to be quite pronounced as they were applied. My body had to become physically mature as quickly as possible, so I fully expect to grow several inches over the next few weeks.

I wasn't really sure how I was going to explain that, except to say I hit my growth spurt early. I was sure everyone except Aunt May were going to accept that explanation, which meant I needed to either come up with a better excuse or I was going to have to tell her some of the recent truths that had happened to me, namely spending years inside a time compression field.

I finished my teeth and used the bathroom, washed my hands, and went out into the bedroom... only to stop mid-step because my normal sized bed was completely crowded. Shuri, Jubadi, Val, and Libula were there and they wore damn sexy pieces of lingerie that hinted and teased a view of their bodies that drove me wild, because I hadn't seen anything like it in a very long time.

“I think we broke him.” Val said with a giggle.

“This was a great idea to surprise him, Valerie.” Shuri said and stood up.

The peek-a-boo half-cup bra she wore showed the top half of her nipples and they were already hard and pushed out on the cloth. She must have liked the look of desire on my face, because she stalked over to me as if she wore her armored suit.

Holy hell, it made my erection pop right out of my robe and Shuri made a purr sound from the back of her throat.

“It was very nice of you to invite my trusted pilot and guard to join us, sithandwa.” Shuri said.

I didn't say anything about the misunderstanding, because I had only invited her to join us at the party. She untied my robe and it dropped to the floor.

“You've been working out as hard as I have.” Val said and stood as well. She was damn near as toned and muscular as a Dora Milaje and I had to admit that she looked really good like that. I throbbed for her and she smiled demurely.

“We've agreed to let Libula have the first honor of the night.” Jubadi said and moved off to the side to leave the new woman in the bed alone.

“Praise be to Bast for the gift I am about to receive.” Libula whispered as she stared at my face.

I bowed to her, which made her flush in embarrassment, then I walked over to the bed and knelt at the end. She looked confused until I put her legs over my shoulders and pulled her to the edge of the bed. Her eyes widened as I pulled off her panties and then I dove between her legs.

“I still don't understand why he insists on doing that first.” Shuri said.

“Two reasons.” Val said and knelt beside me. “One, he's making room for himself and letting her relax. Two, he just likes making us come first.”

I paused and turned my head to look at her. “I knew out of everyone, you would understand.”

“Oh, I do.” Val said and licked her lips, then she leaned in and kissed me.

I kissed her back, even though I had Libula's fluids on my lips and tongue.

Val broke the kiss, because she knew I wasn't going to stop her. “Hurry up and fuck her brains out so I can have a turn.”

I gave her a crooked smile. “I'm not sure you can handle it the way they do.”

“I'll decide that after I see it for myself.” Val said.

“Okay.” I said and went back to work and made Libula come as I used my fingers and tongue to widen her entrance. I picked her up and moved her back up on the bed, then asked her if she was ready to do this with me.

Libula looked at Shuri with surprise on her face. “He really does care about how we feel about him.”

“I told you that he did.” Shuri said, proudly. “You really should agree or he won't continue.”

Libula gave her a happy smile and looked up at my face. “Royal Consort, please share with me the love you have for My Princess.”

“As our Princess commands.” I said, which seemed to please her immensely and then I drove myself into her and bottomed out when I was only most of the way in.

“AHHHH!” Libula cried out with pleasure and I felt her spray as she soaked my abs and my balls.

“Wow! She squirted right away!” Val exclaimed, clearly surprised.

I nodded and adjusted my technique to allow for limited movement with her opening that shallow, then I pounded her into the mattress. Her constant screams and sprays lasted for nearly twenty minutes and then I blew my load inside of her. Her grip on my body was like a vise as she seemed to absorb everything that I could give her.

Libula's breathing was very laboured and she gave me a long and lingering kiss before her euphoric face changed into a sleeping one and she fell unconscious.

I pulled out and turned to see a happy Shuri, an approving nod from Jubadi, and a surprised Val.

“You fucked her unconscious.” Val said and sounded impressed. “You really... you... wow.”

“Didn't you say you wanted to be next?” I asked with a smirk.

“Oh, fuck.” Val said and then she laughed. “Move her over and pull the drenched blankets aside.”