What Was Once

Chapter 4- Colleen

I walked up to my room after mom told us to go have fun. There wasn't that much to do in an hour so I sat down at my desk and hit the secret button I have underneath it. The top of the desk opened up revealing the blueprints for the suit I'm making. It's supposed to look like a female version of my mother's with some metallic flare from father's. But this is simply for fun. I don't have time to go running out there and saving the world. Not like I could anyway, the stupid Sokovia Accords are still in place.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked, leaning against the doorway that connects our rooms together. Mom and dad thought it would be a good idea if our rooms connected; they thought it would bring us closer together. That idea backfired. We will never be close. The closest we've ever been is the nine months we spent together in the same womb.

"Nothing." I grumbled, hitting the button a second time so the top closed. Michael raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. I shot him a look. "Unless you want a pencil lodged in your forehead, I suggest you leave." He rolled his eyes.

"I saw the blueprints." He stated. I raised an eyebrow. "Let me see."

"I thought you saw it?" I asked. Michael rolled his eyes again, kicking off the wall. "I'm serious Michael, get the Hel out of my room!" He took a step forward. I threw a pencil towards him, making it stop inches from his face with my powers. Michael raised an eyebrow, looking unamused. He swatted the pencil away.

"Give me the damn sheet." He ordered. I narrowed my eyes at him before hitting the button again. The top opened up and I handed the sheet over to him. He looked over it. "And when exactly do you plan on using this?" He questioned. "You're life is already jam-packed as it is. Not to mention that you'll be going against our parents' backs and the Accords!" I balled my fists. "Is your boy-toy going to be helping you save the world? I heard he's got fire powers now. The two of you are quite the pair. Him controlling fire and you being half Frost Giant." I bit my tongue, stopping myself from retaliating. Instead, I grabbed the sheet from him and stuffed it back into my desk, closing the top of it once more.

"Johnny is not my boy-toy." I said through gritted teeth. "We are just friends!" Michael rolled his eyes. "Sure he likes me- he's liked me ever since fifth grade- but that doesn't mean we're fucking at each chance we've got!" I stood up, the chair toppling over at the sudden movement. "As for the suit, it's purely just for fun. I don't plan on doing anything with it! I save the world by standing up for what I believe in. Unlike you." Michael took a step back. "When was the last time you actually did work?" He didn't respond. "Just because you're older and know for a fact you are getting the company doesn't mean you can't do work. Dad didn't get it until he was twenty-one and at the rate you're going, you'll be lucky if you get it before you die!" Michael's eyes widened as he balled his fists. "Dad's not gonna want to give the company to some slacker. So if I were you, I'd grow the fuck up and learn how to do something." Michael turned his back to me. "I'm not asking for your permission to draw something just for the sake of drawing. And if I were planning on using it, I certainly wouldn't ask for your permission then."

"Kids, Uncle Thor is here early!" Mom called from downstairs. Michael and I didn't say anything at first. I could tell he was pissed from what I had said but I was done with him being an asshole. Every chance he gets he finds a way to bring up Johnny.

"We're coming!" I yelled back a moment later, staring at Michael's back. I walked towards my door, purposefully bumping into Michael on my way out. He followed me seconds later. Jessie and Robin were already downstairs, talking with our uncle. Upon seeing the blonde, I smiled wide. "Uncle Thor!" I cheered, jumping down the stairs and wrapping him in a hug. Michael hovered behind us.

"Hello my young niece." Uncle Thor greeted.

"I missed you." I whispered. He rubbed my back.

"I can see that. I have missed you too." I pulled away, still smiling brightly, and let him hug Michael. When they were done, Uncle Thor went over and hugged mom. I glanced at Michael, he was biting his tongue to keep from saying something. Mom and dad have always had this perfect image of the two of us being close and getting along. However, this has never been the case. "I have missed you also, brother. But I bare gifts."

Jessie got very interested in what Uncle Thor had to say. I rolled my eyes. Uncle Thor handed us each a gift as we sat down in the living room.

"I say the oldest goes first." Michael remarked. I rolled my eyes again. That's another thing I don't like about him. He brings up the fact he's older every chance he gets. It gets annoying after a while.

"You are only older than Colleen by ten minutes!" Robin exclaimed. I smirked. "And even then Colleen is more mature than you. So I say Colleen goes. She acts like the older one." I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Michael glared at the both of us. Robin smirked, giving me a high-five. Mom and dad looked between the three of us, waiting for another remark.

"I'm still older." Michael grumbled as he started opening his present. I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning closer to the back on the couch from where I sat on the arm. "This is so cool!" He pulled out a hammer that looked like an exact replica of Uncle Thor's. I looked around the room before I started opening my very long and very thin box.

As I tossed the lid aside, I gasped upon seeing what was inside. Everyone else tried looking to see what was in it. I pulled it out of the box and turned it over in my hands, the cold metal turning my fingers a faint shade of blue. The room fell silent. I looked up at Uncle Thor.

"Is this real?" I asked. "Is this really the one mom's used?" Uncle Thor smiled knowingly, so did mom. I looked down to it again, my eyes wide. Michael was glaring at me, I could sense that but I didn't care. He was still pissed with me.

"Yes it is." Thor answered. I looked up, my lips parted in amazement. "Your mother has no use for it any more so we thought it only right that we pass it down to you." Michael flared his nostrils. I rolled my eyes at put the staff back in the box it came in. 

What exactly do you plan on doing with it? Michael asked. I glared at him.

You mean besides beating you over the head with it? Probably shove it up your ass. Michael rolled his eyes. You already act like there's something lodged up there.

"If your gift is that awesome, I'm opening mine now!" Jessie remarked as she ripped through her box. The smile on her face grew even bigger if that was even possible. She pulled her present out so we could all see it. It was clearly an Iron Man helmet with Asgardian patterns swirling around the sides. Robin leaned against my thigh. I smiled and played with her hair before she began opening her present. Hers wasn't as extraordinary like the rest, she's never like extraordinary things, but hers certainly was beautiful. She received a jade choker with a cursive R dangling from it. She smiled faintly as she brushed her fingers along the R.

"Thank you, Thor." Dad said. "It appears that everyone loves their gifts."

"How come Coleen is the only one that got something that wasn't remade?" Michael asked. I looked up at my twin brother. He didn't look as pissed off as he did earlier. Uncle Thor smirked. It was then that I realized he didn't have Mjolnir attached to his belt. I looked to the hammer inside Michael's box. 

"Who said it was a replica?" Uncle Thor asked. The room fell silent again as Michael's eyes widened. He reached into the box and pulled out the hammer. Jessie gasped. 

"Does that mean. . .?" Michael couldn't form proper words. Like that's new.

"It appears so young nephew." Thor remarked. "Seen as I'm not going to have children of my own anytime soon, I thought it best to pass my hammer down to you. I need it as much as your mother needs his staff." Michael looked up at me, a smirk tugging at his lips. I rolled my eyes. 

"Looks like you're not the only special one." I snorted.

"We already knew you were special, moron." Robin stated. Jessie bit back a laugh. "But props to ya for finally figuring that out." Michael opened his mouth to say something but mom got in the middle of it.

"Enough you two!"