Game in Marvel

A few days had gone by since the incident in Siberia. Everyone was back at Stark Tower, which had now been renamed Avengers Tower, though Tony hadn't put up the name on a huge neon board yet, as the Avengers weren't accepted by the government as of yet.

"Nat, how's the kid holding up? Heard she's not keen on the whole 'foster family' gig," Barton asked.

"She's stubborn. Knows how to throw a punch too. But yeah, she refuses counseling. I'm barely home myself, and honestly, I don't think she'd have much of a childhood living with me," Natasha replied.

"Yeah, kids can be a handful," Barton said. Natasha almost made a remark about how he'd know better, but she remembered that Barton had mentioned his family to the team. "And how's the leg?" Barton added.

"It's fine. That bastard apparently shaved a few years off my lifespan. In medical terms, I lost five years," Natasha muttered, irritated. She wasn't thrilled about it—spy or not, she was still a woman, and aging wasn't exactly a topic she liked discussing.

As they talked, Liam entered the room with his oversized, fluffy wolf, and everyone immediately gravitated toward Fenrir first.

Fenrir, basking in the attention, even let them feed him treats. Liam could only shake his head.

"Right. Guess I know my place now," he said. "Clearly, I'm just here to carry Fenrir's stuff."

"Oh, you better believe it," Natasha said without hesitation.

"And just like that, I lose my 'youngest on the team' privilege," Liam lamented.

The mood was light, filled with jokes and laughter. It was rare to see Liam loosen up, and the team appreciated it. He usually carried himself like he bore the weight of the world, so seeing him joke around was a welcome change.

A person under stress would break eventually, so it was good to have Liam open up every now and then.

"Alright, listen up," Fury's voice cut through the chatter. "We've got a lead. We finally found where the Winter Soldiers are kept. Plural. As in, more than one. Right now, they're locked up in Siberia." He paused, then added dryly, "Yeah, I know. Siberia. Again. Boohoo. Cry me a river. We're going anyway."

When they had infiltrated the gulag, Tony had hacked into their systems and pulled every piece of intel that looked remotely useful—and it paid off.

They finally had solid leads on the Winter Soldiers.

"Cap and I are handling this," Tony said. "This one's personal."

Fury didn't argue. He was willing to let them take the lead. Liam debated warning them about Bucky's presence but decided against it. This was their fight.

"If you're going in, you need to lock the place down," Natasha reminded them. "No survivors." Their war against Hydra was still in the shadows.

"Oh, I'm aware," Rogers said firmly. "A good Nazi is a dead Nazi."

"Damn, Cap. That was... dark." Barton blinked. 

"I used to think differently," Rogers admitted. "Then the world changed. I barely recognize it anymore. It's time we tie up loose ends before we're dragged into court."

Nobody disagreed. Then, all eyes turned to Liam. They didn't say anything, but he knew it was his turn to speak.

"I think everyone's wondering what exactly we fought out there," Fury said. "Might be time to clear the air. Humanity can't stay in the dark forever."

"You want the lie or the truth?" Liam sighed.

"Let me guess," Tony cut in. "The 'truth' is something out of a sci-fi horror flick. Some aliens got creative, whipped up some genetic nightmares, and decided Earth was the perfect testing ground."

"That would be the lie," Liam said.

"Oh, fantastic. Because that wasn't terrifying enough." Tony made a face.

"Okay, so... what? Humans did it? We found some aliens and decided to play mad scientist?" Barton guessed.

The fact that their guesses were still off was unsettling. Deep down, they all feared the truth was worse.

"What I'm about to say might blow your mind," Liam warned.

"Buddy, we just found out Satan is real. You'd be surprised how open-minded we've become," Natasha deadpanned.

"They were experimented on by a god," Liam said.

"Oh, great. Is this where Jesus enters the chat?" Barton groaned.

Nobody laughed. Not even Barton himself.

"It's not Jesus. When I say 'god,' I mean an actual god. One that can create and destroy galaxies, one that shapes the universe and decides whether planets live or die," Liam explained. "We call them Celestials."

Fury narrowed his eye. "We?"

"There are others on Earth who know about them," Liam said but didn't elaborate. "These Celestials—"

"Wait—Celestials, plural? As in, more than one?" Tony cut in.

Liam nodded. The room tensed.

"Oh, that's just peachy," Tony muttered. "Always love learning there's a whole club of universe-wrecking deities."

"God help us," Rogers murmured.

"And these Celestials… experimented on people?" Fury asked, his voice controlled but heavy.

"No," Liam corrected. "They experimented on something worse. They created these things—monsters. We call them Deviants. They were thrown into worlds like ours to maintain balance, to keep life from growing unchecked."

There was silence.

"Yeah. That tracks. Gods make life, then decide we're too much of a hassle and hit the kill switch. Real classy." Barton scoffed.

"I was right on being agnostic. Nothing is good." Tony said. 

"Someone once said. If God is all powerful then he can't be good, and if he is all good, then he can't be a God." Liam said. 

"Wise words. I will write it down." Natasha said. 

"So we will face them in the future for saving mankind?" Rogers asked. 

"It depends. There shouldn't be many because from what I know the Celestials had stopped those experiments as in some planets they grew too powerful for their evolutionary traits and they had to scrap the project." Liam said. Everyone was silent as they took their time to soak what Liam had taken in. 

"And you know all of this because of your organization?" Fury stated.