The Avengers (2012)
1128th
by elistaire
It all started with a quote. Captain America had been giving his usual post-battle speech to the media, extolling the virtues of his team and the bravery of the general public, and had said, in his matter-of-fact way, “I don’t have any family of my own, but all of America is my family.” He’d gone on like that for another minute or two, but the one quote stuck, and was printed and reprinted in the news, and then on the cover of magazines. The government loved the patriotic quote, the media loved the pathos, and the empathy and sympathy it engendered from the public was heart-sick and heart-felt. The quote sparked an internet sensation: to find at least one relative for Captain America.