Beyond Time (Avengers X Reader)

Chapter 4

"Um...(Y/N)?" Bruce's voice came through from the other side of the door. His pitch was so low, it would have gone unnoticed if you hadn't already been up all night, riddled with anxiety.

It was not that you weren't grateful for the team not impeding your mission, but it had been easy. Too easy. They had bought every single lie you told them with minimalistic questions. But why? "(Y/N), it's Bruce." Bruce knocked harder. You took a few deep breaths, ready to slip back into character.

"Bonjour, docteur Banner." You opened the door. "You aren't dressed yet?" He eyed you up and down. You narrowed your eyes. You were already at the brink, you couldn't afford to make any mistakes. "I'm sorry, is there something I'm missing?"

Bruce took off his glasses and gestured with them as he spoke. "Well, Tony called a team meeting so you could put forward the priority issues of your government and together we can come up with solutions which satisfy both the parties."

"Excellent!" You smiled nervously. "I just need to laver up, have breakfast....I'll be there in twenty."

Damn it!

-

"No way she's legit." Tony leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, "And since she's not, she won't have any viable agendas to put up. This meeting is going to be fun." He had assembled the team in the board room, waiting to watch his plan unfold smoothly.

Steve's brow creased. "Why would any government want to double cross us?" "No, you dingus!" Natasha facepalmed, "He means what if she's no government liaison at all? There are hundreds of people who could benefit off of the inside information we have."

"How come she gets to call you the d-word but when I do it I get some random lecture about respecting authority?" Even as Clint asked that question, he knew exactly why. But he had a bet running with Tony about who could get the lovebirds to confess first and well, $500 was a lot. For him, at least.

Steve's cheeks turned pink. "B-because she means well." He stammered. Clint leaned forward. "And how do you know that?"

"Maudire!" A loud explosion accompanied by your scream might possibly have cost Clint his $500. "Now what?" He groaned.

"JARVIS?" Tony looked up. The explosion was loud, it commanded attention. "The kitchen." Apparently Tony's A.I. could read his mind. Time was of the essence, hence instead of waiting for the elevator the team raced down several staircases and through half a dozen corridors to finally reach the kitchen.

Fire. Microwave. These were the two words Tony comprehended at first sight of the situation. 'The microwave is on fire!' His brain informed him. Immediately, he reached for the fire extinguisher while Bruce pulled you away from the blazing flames.

"What happened!?" Natasha had just now noticed that your entire right hand and parts of your neck were severely burnt. You yourself could smell your burning flesh. "I was reheating food I found in the refrigerator for déjeuner  in le microwave when it....I don't know, it suddenly burst into flammes." You cried.

"Yeah they don't usually do that." Tony dug around in the charred remains of the electronic device. A moment later, he pulled out a half molten plastic strawberry from the ashes. "Not unless you put a magnet in it."

Your mouth hung open. "I'm so sorry, Monsieur Stark. It must have been an accident. My country will pay you for your perte." Tony stared at you in bewilderment. 'Pay me for my loss?' He thought. 'I lost a microwave. You, on the other hand, are about to lose an arm woman!' "You don't need to. I can take care of this. At the moment, you need medical attention." He said.

Steve draped a cold towel on your hand and you felt emotions soaring within you. You couldn't say for sure that he had never tended to your wounds, but you certainly couldn't remember one such occasion, even if you tried. "You okay?" He asked, his gentle blue eyes full of worry.

"Yes." You replied in a trance. "No you aren't." Bruce interrupted the moment, if there was one in the first place, "Those are second degree burns! You need to be in the infirmary right now. Come on." He urged. You obediently followed.

-

After ensuring that your burns had been properly cleaned and medicated, ushering you to your room and reassuring that you need not compensate him for the microwave, Tony made his way back to the lab.

Something about the entire ordeal struck him as odd and kept nagging him at the back of his mind but despite all his efforts, he couldn't figure it out.

'Microwaves don't just explode instantly.' His brain felt like it would break. 'And even if it did, it would've sparked for long enough to provide (Y/N) an escape window. So why didn't she run?'

His footsteps moved faster. As soon as he reached the lab, he began searching for the security footage of the kitchen from that morning. A video of you opening the fridge appeared mid air.

When you took the noodle container out of the refrigerator, your hand discreetly pushed a strawberry shaped fridge magnet inside the box. You proceeded to put the box inside the microwave and deliberately waited though all the initial sparks until the blinding explosion took place.

Tony's eyes turned into slits. 'All of this just to avoid the meeting? (Y/N) (L/N)'  He pulled up a holographic screen and grabbed the manilla folder with your name on it. 'Who are you?'