Little Bird {A Marvel Fanifc}

Chapter 2: All the Time in the World

He smirked. "You're on, Avery Grace."

*******

That night, I went to bed, letting myself sink into the pillows and mattress, wrapping my arms around a pillow and stuffing my face into another.

I stretched my wings up to the ceiling, then they fell back around me and I released an annoyed huff and sat up. I turned my head to my dresser where the melatonin sat waiting for me.

I had no interest in reliving my traumas through nightmares, and Steve and I had a run tomorrow morning at five sharp. What was the harm in just... staying up?

I sat up and rubbed at my eyes, grinding my teeth.

I've struggled with insomnia since I was little- something about abandonment issues or some shit like that according to my therapists.

I stood up, picking up one of the many shirts with slits cut through the back that I now owned, and tugged it over my head. It was a size or two too large and I tied a knot on the hem at my waist and pulled my silver hair back into a bun.

I put on my slippers and left my room to wander through the corridors.

I finally came to an area I was unfamiliar with. I dug into my pocket and pulled out my lanyard with my very own key card on it, and tapped it on the lock. To my surprise, it opened. I headed into the room to find it was well-lit, which was strange for nearly one o'clock in the morning.

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked around. There were walls and walls filled with machinery, supplies fit for a chemistry lab, and enough boxes of bolts and screws to build the Titanic all over again, I was sure. And then I saw him.

He was hunched over a piece of machinery, brown hair messed up, and wearing a torn t-shirt. There was a strange blue symbol glowing on his chest. I stopped in my tracks.

"You're not very good at sneaking," he said without looking up.

I raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't trying to be sneaky. I literally had access to this room. What cause would I have to be sneaky?"

He paused, then looked up at me from his work, then did a double take. "Ah. The newbie. You must be the infamous Avery Grace the others won't shut up about."

I ground my teeth and said, "Ah yes. And what did you describe yourself as on the news? Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist?"

He snorted. "You seriously memorized all that?" He shook his head. "At this point, please just call me Tony." 

I walked over to the desk he was working at and sat down on a stool across from him. "So, fellow insomniac, what are you building?"

"I really don't think you'd understand even if I tried to tell you what it was I was building."

I shrugged. "Maybe not, but I am a fast learner."

He gave me a strange look, but merely said, "People usually don't care. People also usually tell me to go to sleep. It never works."

"I was the same way growing up. At the foster home, I'd spend hours reading and re-reading books about animals and science. It got to the point where I had pretty much memorized every book that had to do with science. So they got me more books. There's more interesting things in this world to explore than sleep, and sleep only has nightmares for me at the moment."