As Darkness Falls Upon Us // MCU

the compound

"There had to be some kind of mistake. She couldn't be Thor."

♦️

Maize and Meaghan were just settling in to their new rooms for the first night they would be spending at the compound. They still had a few questions about the logistics and permanency of it all, but it was made absolutely clear that this is where they would be living and those roles are the roles they would be assuming. Their rooms were spacious and completely furnished but minimalist, the color scheme was black, gray and white. It looked cold; it had never been lived in before. Meaghan looked at the bright side of that and made sure she and Maize would decorate a little bit to add their own personal flair to the rooms and a little bit of color. Meaghan didn't want anything else but to be Captain America; she was rattled from the day but stoked to be there. Maize would definitely need some more time to settle in and get used to everything.

They knew that Tony and Natasha were already with them, but later that week each initiate was asked to introduce themselves to the current Avengers individually, then they would start working with their Avenger in personal sessions. Meaghan was second to last, then Maize was last. Thor was not yet at the compound, leaving her a little further behind the curve than everyone else. 

After her meet-and-greet, Meaghan seemed cheerful. Maize knew that later that night, Meaghan would come into her room and talk about every detail of Captain America, the legendary Steve Rogers. Maize didn't feel the same. Her way of adjusting wasn't doing her any favors, and she had to get used to her new environment before she started enjoying any part of this experience. Maize also knew that she couldn't postpone her meeting time with the Avengers, but she was terrified and nervous to meet the actual people that saved Manhattan not too long ago and are international heroes. 

She didn't feel like she belonged with them yet, or even like she would ever belong with them.

She took the elevator up to the common room where she met all the other initiates and paused before swiping her key card and entering. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and straightened her clothes, gathering her thoughts and preparing herself as much as she could before she had faced Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff, all the Avengers she had not yet met. She walked into the room and their quiet conversations stopped, their eyes turning to her.

"This is our new Thor! I like her already, you know." Clint said, his tone light and friendly. She cracked a little bit of a smile. "She already seems right for it." He added. 

"Hi, I'm Maize, and as Mr. Barton just said, I am Thor's eventual replacement." She greeted generally.

"Say your full name, Maize." Steve requested. "Introduce yourself to Earth's Mightiest Heroes."

"Uh, Maize Grace Leto." She responded. The room went silent. It seemed like every Avenger that didn't know her profile stopped what they were doing and turned towards each other, whispering about her.

She's a Leto?!
I didn't know Anne and David had a kid. Is she a project kid?
I did. Yeah. No one ever was allowed to talk about her. We didn't know why.

"Leto, Leto...... let me see.... and you're not Jared's kid?" Tony said as if he were thinking his thoughts out loud. He had previously asked her if he knew her from somewhere, he was searching his brain for something. He too was piecing the bits of the puzzle together.

"Positive." She answered. "I get that a lot." She also wondered why he was asking this just now when he was with her when she signed the mountains of paper. How did he not know her full name and her entire history already?