High above the clouds, inside the command bridge of the lead Helicarrier, the heroes gathered for what would prove to be a historic meeting. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and the metallic tang of expended munitions, a palpable mixture of exhaustion and adrenaline. Ben, clad in the black and white of his Prime suit, had taken a seat in the back, away from the central command table. He leaned back, an island of deliberate calm in the sea of weary titans, choosing to be an observer. On the surface, he wasn't the leader of these events, and there was no need to steal the spotlight. It was a power move of a different sort.
"Who remembers," Nick Fury began, his voice a low, gravelly rumble of dark humor, "that initially, we just wanted to eliminate a few Hydra cells?"
"Now that we've destroyed the biggest snake nest of all, what are you complaining about?" Tony quipped, leaning back in his chair. He had produced a bag of gourmet potato chips from somewhere and was munching on them with a noisy crunch that seemed to fill the tense silence.
"Yeah, well, my base is gone too," Fury replied dryly, gesturing vaguely toward the floor.
"You still have dozens of safe houses scattered around the globe…" Maria Hill pointed out, her tone practical as always.
Ben interrupted her, his voice cutting through the chatter. "Most of those were confiscated. The funding sources were deemed suspicious—either embezzled or obtained through means the IRS found… questionable." He turned his head, the white lenses of his mask fixing directly on Nick Fury. "Now do you understand why even embezzlement has to be taxed, Director? It's protection money, pure and simple."
A flicker of something—maybe amusement, maybe grudging respect—crossed Fury's face. "They left me with one thing," he said, reaching into his trench coat. He pulled out a small, heavy metal box, no bigger than a deck of cards, and tossed it to Ben. "Consider it a thank-you gift for putting in a good word and keeping me out of federal prison."
"What's that?" Tony raised an eyebrow, pausing his snacking with genuine curiosity.
"The key to my last remaining safe house," Fury explained. "A small token of appreciation, because he vouched for me with the right people." He stood up then, dusting off his coat in a gesture of finality. He was clearly ready to leave this life behind.
Steve stopped him, his expression serious. "SHIELD's dissolution is inevitable, so what happens to us? I mean, what happens to the Avengers?"
The original Avengers Initiative had been Fury's brainchild, his secret weapon. Now, with the organization in ruins and his own career with it, he could no longer lead them. Honestly, after the betrayals they had all endured, they might not be willing to follow his commands anymore.
"There are plenty of brilliant minds in this room," Fury suggested, his one good eye scanning the faces before him. "Why don't you ask him?"
Tony, ever the narcissist, immediately assumed Fury meant him. He stood up, puffing out his chest with characteristic confidence. "In my opinion, we should just disband the whole thing. The world needs…"
"I wasn't talking about you!" Fury snapped, cutting him off without ceremony. "How dare you even speak up after getting shut down by a simple EMP blast?" He rolled his eye and pointed a finger directly at Ben, who was still sitting quietly in the corner. "I meant this guy."
The room's attention pivoted as one. The former SHIELD director wasn't stupid. In the quiet moments after the battle, he'd started connecting the dots, re-examining the timeline, and had found several inconsistencies.
He'd initially assumed the cyberattacks on SHIELD were Hydra operations, but looking back, the theory was full of holes. Who attacks their own infrastructure? At this point, though, Fury had nothing left to lose. Rather than feeling angry, he felt Ben had done excellent, if terrifyingly efficient, work. He had genuinely cleaned house.
The catalyst for this entire global upheaval had been something as simple as telling a teenager that Hydra had killed his parents. And in the aftermath, the Plumbers, this mysterious organization Ben represented, hadn't tried to seize power. They had shown restraint. That, more than anything, made Fury feel considerably better about the future.
Tony wasn't particularly offended—he recognized Ben's intelligence—but the public dismissal was still irritating. "My new armor has overcome that vulnerability, by the way," he shot back. "And you've got some nerve asking questions when you're the one who prepared those EMP devices! You've been planning contingencies against me for years, haven't you, you paranoid bastard?"
Nick Fury didn't bother with excuses. He just gave a small, weary shake of his head and walked away, disappearing into the corridors of the carrier.
All eyes turned back to Ben, the silent figure in the corner, expecting some kind of grand plan.
"Come on, genius boy, don't leave me unemployed," Natasha said, her voice a low purr as she gave him a flirtatious glance.
Ben remained unmoved. "Unemployed? Aren't you old enough to collect a pension by now, Grandma Natasha?"
She wasn't offended in the slightest, simply shrugging with a casual grace that belied her exhaustion. "I can't help it—I'm Russian. We can't exactly collect American pensions. You know how the game works: when you're paying in, they complain there aren't enough contributors. When you're collecting, they complain there are too many recipients."
"Stop right there!" Ben stood and playfully covered her mouth with a hand. "Who exactly are you referring to? Although that might accurately describe certain countries, you can't just say it out loud like that."
"The Avengers…" Steve interjected, his voice pulling them back to the serious matter at hand.
Ben let his hand drop and took a moment, his masked face turning toward the captain. "I think the Avengers should continue to exist," he said after a thoughtful pause. "Although SHIELD has been disbanded, there will always be a new organization to replace it. I'm telling you in advance that Norman Osborn will establish H.A.M.M.E.R. to fill that role. But just as we saw with this Hydra infiltration, no one can guarantee that H.A.M.M.E.R. will always remain true to its founding principles. No organization is incorruptible."
He let that sink in before continuing. "The Avengers are necessary for that very reason. You're an independent check on power. As a team, you don't have to be together constantly, nor fight side by side in every conflict. But when the world needs you, when the systems fail, you can stand together."
A wave of consensus washed over the room. Steve Rogers, in particular, looked as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. After witnessing the ultimate betrayal from the very organization he served, this was exactly what he needed to hear. He needed something to trust. If not a government, then a team. His team.
"Well, since no one objects," Ben said, taking charge, "I recommend Steve Rogers as team leader and Tony Stark as technical advisor and primary funder. Both have demonstrated exceptional leadership and skills. There are no better choices available."
The praise immediately filled Tony with a glowing satisfaction. He glanced smugly at the others, a silent 'I told you so' in his eyes. "I'll cover all funding for Avengers operations," he declared grandly. "Stark Tower can be officially converted into Avengers Tower. I've been wanting to build two new buildings anyway. We'll need a state-of-the-art hangar, R&D labs, living quarters…"
Everyone readily agreed to this arrangement. Tony Stark clearly understood both technology and resource management.
"Excellent. Everything's settled. Everyone else can register with Natasha." Ben waved a dismissive hand and prepared to leave.
Tony stopped him. "Wait a minute. What about you?"
"What does this have to do with me?" Ben replied, his tone genuinely perplexed. "I'm with the Plumbers." He gestured as if they'd approached the wrong person at the wrong company.
"You could become an Avenger while remaining with the Plumbers," Steve suggested earnestly. "A dual membership."
Tony nodded in agreement. "That's right—we don't discriminate against aliens."
"Peter's membership is sufficient representation for my family. Honestly, I don't want to waste my energy on a public superhero career," Ben declined with a firm shake of his head.
Steve looked disappointed but didn't press the issue. In his opinion, Ben was a true prodigy—a peerless soldier on the battlefield and a brilliant mind in the laboratory. But he respected that everyone had their own aspirations.
"I don't want to be a monster anymore," Dr. Connors also announced, formally declining to join. In the end, Harry also chose to focus on his work with the Plumbers, and Daredevil returned to his street-level operations in Hell's Kitchen. Falcon, however, decided to stay.
After confirming who would remain and who would leave, a mountain of administrative details awaited them. Tony approached Ben privately as the others began to disperse. For a moment, they stood together, looking through the reinforced viewport at the thick, endless sea of clouds below the carrier.
"Have you and Steve made peace?" Ben asked quietly, breaking the silence.
Tony shook his head, the movement slight. "We just avoid discussing certain topics. We pretend certain events never happened. A new team has just formed—we don't want to break up the band over personal matters before our first gig." It was simple, if fragile: don't mention anything that might undermine team unity.
"But have you considered that unrepaired cracks will eventually become weak points?" Ben observed.
Tony didn't answer directly. He watched the clouds swirl for a long moment before asking, "When that day comes, will you stand with me?"
"As long as you don't hurt my cousin."
A small, genuine smile touched Tony's lips. "Actually, I know the person who made the most fundamental mistake was my father. He was the one who betrayed Steve first. It's just… difficult for me to let that go."
"Steve doesn't hold grudges about betrayal," Ben noted.
"You're right." Tony made a swallowing motion, as if forcing down bitter medicine. "He's so damn generous about it that if I remained petty, wouldn't I be the one who loses?" The implication was clear: Tony Stark wouldn't pursue the matter of Bucky Barnes any further. The outcome was inevitable, really. Tony understood who was truly responsible for the tragedy. "Now that Hydra has been destroyed, let's allow everything to end," he said, his voice softer than usual.
"It's not completely destroyed yet," Ben reminded him.
The Hydra agents they had captured were all SHIELD operatives, but countless Hydra officials remained hidden in high-level positions throughout the government. The Anti-Insight algorithm was constantly running, sifting through global data streams, but it couldn't identify everyone at once. Norman had been overseeing the work since the war's end, locating and eliminating Hydra cells one by one. Every day brought new arrests—legislators, corporate executives, military officials. The public was only now realizing how deeply Hydra's roots had grown into their daily lives, and the revelation caused widespread panic. It also generated tremendous admiration for Norman's decisive efforts.
The establishment of H.A.M.M.E.R. was now a foregone conclusion.
Soon enough, Norman arrived on the Helicarrier, flanked by government officials and carrying a portfolio of official documents. He was no longer just a CEO; he was a statesman. "Beginning today, H.A.M.M.E.R. will replace SHIELD, performing all of its functions and assuming responsibility for all previous operations and research projects," he announced to the assembled heroes. "These three Helicarriers will belong to H.A.M.M.E.R., and the Avengers will also fall under our nominal jurisdiction."
He addressed the team with carefully measured diplomacy. "Of course, I have complete faith in all of you. I witnessed your courage in this war firsthand. Therefore, I'm confident you're more than capable of protecting America without interference from H.A.M.M.E.R. or any other organization."
Norman Osborn spoke with such courtesy and respect that Tony and the others found themselves genuinely liking him. Steve, scarred by SHIELD's betrayal, was most concerned about preventing the Avengers from becoming tools of manipulation.
"You're much more reasonable than that paranoid director," Tony said, crossing his arms with an approving nod.
"I hope H.A.M.M.E.R. can establish a cooperative relationship with the Avengers," Norman replied with a diplomatic smile. "Everyone has their own lives to live. H.A.M.M.E.R. will share intelligence with the Avengers, but the team will only be assembled when a threat arises that warrants your unique skills."
Most found Norman's approach more than acceptable, but Natasha raised her hand. "What if I don't have a life of my own? What can I do besides missions?" It was the same question echoing in Steve's mind.
"You can begin building a life anytime you choose. The only question is whether you want to," Norman replied kindly. "Agent Romanoff, and Captain Rogers, I hope you'll consider letting go of the past and starting fresh. Of course, if that proves too difficult, H.A.M.M.E.R. can provide employment opportunities. Any former SHIELD agent who passes our extensive security review can choose to continue working for us." The new organization was just starting up and desperately needed experienced personnel.
"That would be perfect," both Natasha and Steve said, their relief palpable.
Without a mission, neither of them truly knew what they would do with themselves. Natasha had been trained in the Red Room since childhood; the pleasures of ordinary civilian life held little appeal, and downtime was often filled with unpleasant memories. Steve's situation was even more complex. It wasn't that he couldn't integrate into the modern world—he was afraid to try. He feared forming new connections, of putting down roots in an era that felt alien to him. The world he belonged to was gone. His former love was a white-haired woman in a nursing home, lost to time, and his friends had passed away one by one. In this new era, there was Iron Man in his flying armor, a Spider-Man whose reflexes far exceeded his own, and a universe of alien threats. He was just a man with a serum, an ability that felt increasingly small. He often wondered if this era still needed him. But at least there was Bucky. At least, he still had Bucky.
Soon afterward, Norman Osborn was officially appointed as H.A.M.M.E.R.'s director. The members of the World Security Council were more anxious about the appointment than Norman himself. After SHIELD's destruction, America felt like it had lost its shield. Even though that shield had been covered with Hydra thorns, they hadn't known it at the time. Now, they lacked one entirely, while other nations maintained their own intelligence services. The Council felt both inferior and insecure, and they rushed Norman into office almost immediately.
Unlike SHIELD's traditional secrecy, after the very public battle in Times Square, confidentiality was no longer what people wanted. The American citizens who had witnessed Hydra's threat firsthand preferred a visible, tangible organization protecting them. Consequently, H.A.M.M.E.R.'s existence was made completely public.
On his inauguration day, Norman and the superheroes who'd chosen to join the Avengers stood before a sea of cameras and reporters, performing what amounted to a political fashion show. Afterward, two of the three Helicarriers were stationed in the Pacific Ocean, silent guardians watching the horizon. The remaining ship served as H.A.M.M.E.R.'s headquarters, floating prominently in American airspace—a constant, visible promise of protection.
H.A.M.M.E.R. was officially established.
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