From the Ashes

Chapter 1: Introduction / Back in a Flash

"You're hilarious, babe," I said, and sighed, "Right; I suppose we'd better get breakfast on, shouldn't we?"

"Actually, I was thinkin'..."

"Really? That's dangerous."

"Tell me about it," his grin turned crooked, "But since it's a nice day, I was thinkin' that maybe we should eat outside. Make a family thing of it."
I looked out the window. It really was a nice day; with just the occasional wisp of cloud scudding across a clear blue sky. From what I remembered of last nights' weather report, it might be the last 'nice day' in a while, too.

"What're you thinking?" I said, "Barbeque?"

"Barbeque's broken, remember?"

"Oh, right. Need to fix that," I made a mental note, "Firepit?"

"When was the last time we used the firepit?" he said, "'Sides, if we try an' get the kids to clean it we won't see 'em for dust."

"Cook in the oven and pretend it was cooked outside?" I said, with a slight grin, "As long as it's meat, they're not going to give a damn."

"Sausages?"

"Sure, sausages," I said, "You defrost 'em, I'll cook em!"

"It's a deal," he said, and grinned again, "I love it when a plan comes together. Don't you?"

"Another Clint Barton masterpiece. Now get moving. I want another ten minutes snooze!"

By the time I'd roused myself fully, showered, dressed, and come downstairs, the sausages were already laid out on an oven tray, their pale pink flesh glistening in the light. Suddenly I was ravenous, and as I bent to put them in the oven Lila came bounding into the kitchen, almost bowling me over as she made a beeline for the sink.

"Slow down, Lila!" I said sternly, "And watch where you're going!"
"Sorry, Mom!" She said, in a breathless rush, "But Dad said that he was going to give me another archery lesson today and then he said that we were going to have a barbeque and..." she trailed off, and looked at me accusingly, "Wait! You're cooking them in the oven?"

"Barbeque's broken, remember?" I said, raising an eyebrow, "You should do, considering the part you played in it."

"Um..." Lila's cheeks coloured, "It was Coop's fault! He broke it!"

"And as the saying goes, 'Where there's Coop, there's Lila," I said, "So until I get a chance to weld it back together, we're all just going to have to live with the 'Barton Barbeque'. Capiche?"

"Sure, Mom," she said, "Um, is it okay if Maisie comes over later? Only her mom..."

"Of course it is. You know that," I said, "I'll put on some extra sausages for her, too."

"Thanks, Mom!" Lila beamed, and bounded out as quickly as she came in, "You know how hungry she gets!"

"Wait!" I called after her, "Didn't you want a...glass of...oh, nevermind."

"Nevermind what?" Coop's voice echoed from the hallway, and then he shuffled into view. As was increasingly the case these days his nose was buried in his phone, but he looked up to give me a brief nod of acknowledgement before returning to whatever it was he was interested in, "Hey, Mom; you see this? There was a big fight in New York City yesterday!"

"Oh, really?" I said, as I dug around in the freezer for some more sausages.

"Yeah! People're saying they saw Iron Man and...some wizards fighting these aliens! Not sure what happened, but it kinda looks like Stark kicked their ass back into space! You reckon Dad knows about this?"