The Daughter of Tony Stark

Chapter 5

   Despite my feelings at the beginning of the party, it actually turned out pretty great. A few more of the older men became drunk from drinking something Thor kept, I played Clint in pool and eventually won once, and I saw Nat flirting with Bruce out of the corner of my eye. Despite the cold shoulder she was subtly giving me, I could tell that deep down, she had a heart. It was a few hours later when the last partygoer left, and all of us were sitting on the couches joking with one another.

"So, when do we get to pick that thing up?" I questioned, pointing at Thor's hammer resting on the coffee table between all of us. Thor chuckled, leaning back on the couch.

"When you're worthy," he grinned, earning a playful groan from everyone else. "That's the only thing keeping you from picking it up and swinging it around."

"Oh, I call bullshit," Clint smirked to the Asgardian, twirling a drum stick between his fingers as he sat beside me. "If I had your fingerprints, I bet I could lift it up in a second. It's a party trick."

"Oh really?" Thor went along with him, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, 'whosoever he be worthy shall haveth the power,'" Clint mocked his deep voice, dropping his jaw on the vowels before waving his hand. "Whatever, man, it's a trick!"

"Well, please, be my guest," Thor told him, pointing at the hammer and the room went quiet as we looked to Clint for his response. Clint shrugged and stood up, earning a few cheers from his teammates.

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," my father commented from his place on the couch, and we couldn't help but laugh. Clint rolled his eyes, a smile on his face as he placed his hands on the handle.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" His muscles tensed as he gave the hammer a pull, and it didn't budge, causing the archer to laugh. "And I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" my father teased.

"Please, Stark, by all means," Clint encouraged him, sitting back down next to me. Dad took a quick breath, puffing up his chest as he moved from his seat.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," he said out loud with a smirk. "It's physics." I rolled my eyes at the statement, shaking my head at his antics.

"Physics," Bruce repeated sarcastically, watching my father position himself to the left side of the weapon.

"Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?" my father asked Thor, who nodded with a hearty chuckle. He was enjoying this more than the rest of us, knowing internally that there was no chance any of us could even make it budge. "I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." With a grunt, he gave a quick tug, and the movement almost brought him down as the hammer stayed in its place. "I'll be right back," he said, and just minutes later, was trying again to pull it with an armored hand. Nothing. At one point, it was him and Rhodes pulling together with their arms clad in Iron Man armor, but no difference had been made to the hammer's resting position.

"Your turn," Clint said loudly, nudging me with his shoulder. My eyes widened, and I laughed nervously.

"Oh, I don't think so- hey!" I gave a small shout as Clint pushed me from behind and off the couch, taking a few stumbling steps to regain my balance. As soon as my hand made contact with the leather hold, the world froze. All of their comments had been tuned out of existence, and all I could hear were my breaths and a voice.

"Look at them," it whispered to me. It sounded eerily familiar, but I couldn't place it. "They laugh and jeer at each other because they know they don't have the power to do it. Then again, neither do you, but you could pull something else." I felt goosebumps form on my skin as my grip tightened. "You could have so much more power than them... why hide it? Why not embrace the chaotic powers of destruction you pos-"