Art Deco ▷ Ned Leeds | ✓

1 - KID'S GOT A FUTURE

He pulled out his reading glasses and examined the picture idly, but paused. He stared at the picture, eyes darting between every aspect, glancing at his daughter, then to his wife, minutely gesturing for her to look.

His wife moved to stand behind him, also in a state of slight curiosity but general neutrality, up until she truly saw what her daughter had drawn. Needless to say, the two were floored.

"Wow, pumpkin, this is amazing," her father breathed, moving the picture towards his wife, as if angling it another way would make her see exactly what he saw. "How'd you draw this?"

Brooke, who was beaming under the praise of her parents, began, "Well, our class goes to the library and we get to check out these books and I found some drawing books and we look at a lot of pictures of the Avengers, so I thought that if I drew this then you and mom—"

Before she could continue, Liz came scuttling down the stairs, shouting that she was ready to show them her dance.

"That's great, gumdrop, let's see," her father said, cutting off Brooke who tried to regain his attention to finish her explanation. He tossed the paper onto the table as he stood, following his wife and eldest daughter towards the living room.

Brooke quickly caught the paper just as one corner was about to land in her father's soup. Her smoothed out the page and moved to place it on the counter.

"Brooke!"

She looked up, wondering if she was going to be able to finish her story, tell her mom and dad that they shouldn't argue as much about the superheroes.

"Come watch your sister's dance!"

Her shoulders slumped and she trudged over the living room, seating herself between her father and her mother, leaning back and crossing her arms. She watched, bored, as Liz began to dance. It wasn't anything special; she was only nine, so she wasn't placed with the girls that could do any good dancing. At least, that was what Brooke thought.

Her parents, on the other hand, clapped as if they just watched the original production of the Nutcracker, standing up and cheering loudly as their eldest daughter bowed gracefully.

"I made this dance so that you and dad could see that everyone works together and you take care of us the way the superheroes take care of the world," she explained in that perfectly understandable voice parents and teachers alike praised her for, approaching her parents, telling them that their daughter was so well-versed and that they should be so proud.

"Wow," Adrian said, looking at his wife, "Aren't we just blessed to have the most talented, thoughtful daughter in the whole world? Come here, gumdrop."

Liz grinned and ran over to hug her mother and her father, the three of them laughing.

"Brooke, c'mere," her father said, holding out an arm to bring in his youngest daughter who was sitting on the couch.

Brooke just continued to sit, staring at her sister who just continued to smile.

This was the first time Brooke Allan made a painting that meant something. This was the first time Brooke Allan felt second-best to her sister. This was the first time Brooke Allan forgotten.

º º º

"New York ain't ever gonna be the same now. I mean look at this."

Adrian Toomes stood in front of Stark Tower with his colleague, Mason, holding out his daughter's drawing. She had left it on the table, forgotten, when she went upstairs to sleep and he had taken it with him to show his colleagues, still impressed with the raw talent of his young daughter.

"It's got aliens. You got big green guys tearing up buildings. When I was a kid, I used to draw cowboys and Indians."

"Actually, it's, um, Native American, but—" Mason shook his head, knowing better than to try and get into it with his boss so early in the morning, the older man yawning as a way to prove the point.

"Yeah," Adrian said, still staring at the picture, "Tell you what, though. It's not bad."

"No, yeah, kid's got a future," Mason agreed, nodding; for a child, it was one of the better ones.

"Well," Adrian began, taking off his reading glasses and looking up at Stark Tower—soon to be Avengers Tower.

"We'll see."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 09.15.17 )

I wanted this to be a prologue, but some people don't read the prologue, so I just had this be the first chapter, because while this is the prologue of the movie and of Brooke's life, it's important to see where it all began, in a sense. So I hope you don't mind, it still kind of irks me, if I'm being completely honest, but I'll live with it.

Liz is not the antagonist in this story by any means. Rather, she's the Gamora to Brooke's Nebula, if you will. She's not trying to make her life hard, but it's the internal competition Brooke created in her mind for them that's getting in the way. Liz is just trying to be sweet, she's not trying to undermine her sister or make her feel bad in any way. Just clearing that up.

That's really all I have to say so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!