the strongest avenger

twenty eight

2013

"Do you know how to do math?"

A young Talia stares at Tony who sits across the kitchen table from her.

"Like counting and shit?" He continues.

"Yes. I'm not a child."

"Well I don't know what you learned over in alien-world."

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"I'm putting you in school."

"No."

"Yes. In order to be successful and get a job when you're older, you have to learn. Let me rephrase that: you have to learn Earth's subjects. I mean what did they even teach you, from wherever you're from?"

She doesn't answer.

"Yep, no answer. Kay then."

"I will do home-schooling. I read about it."

"Okay! I can work with that."

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2013

The girl jerks awake, gasping for air. Lightning crackles around her bedroom. Streaks emitting from her hands, her shoulders, her chest.

She clenches her hands into fists, trying to pull it in. She continues to wheeze, her lungs refusing to take in the air.

The crackling slowly stops, the only sound heard are the girls gasping breaths and the sounds of footsteps swiftly making their way to her room.

The door bursts open, Steve sticking his head in with wide eyes.

Talia jerks back, not used to Steve being the one to come. Tony was the usual person to come to her room when she awoke with a nightmare.

"Nightmare?" He asks.

The girl can only nod, the scenes of her being taken advantage of constantly replaying in her mind.

She fans herself, her shirt sticking to her skin from sweating.

"That's the third one this month. Have you talked to Banner about the sleeping pills?"

Talia shakes her head no.

"Wanna talk about it?"

She grits her teeth. Frustrated at the people that she lives with. They always ask the same questions. If the girl wanted to share, she would.

"No." She spits out.

"Kay well, we're—"

"Look," she interrupts. "if you're really my friend or whatever, then please leave me alone. I don't want to talk about it." Her gaze is focused on her hands, lightning flickering from her finger tips.

"Alright, night Talia."

She stays there until the door closes. Talia wipes the tears that escapes her eyes, and heads over to her book shelf.

Picking up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, she sets off into the Wizarding World as a distraction from the nightmare she calls reality.

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2014

Talia sits at the bar style counter top in the kitchen, her laptop displaying an online text of "Of Mice and Men". She rubs her temples, contemplating throwing the computer across the room.