Heroes Assemble!

I've Got The Power, Man

"That's ... sweet," Bruce said in lieu of something better to say. "What is it that you're hoping for here, Betty?"

She looked down at her hands for a moment before looking back up, her eyes immediately searching out his own, as though willing him to see that she wasn't lying, that everything that she was saying was the total truth.

"I'm not sure. A chance to reconnect, maybe? I'd like to get to know you again. I know that things won't be like they were – too much water under the bridge for that. But I've missed you. You were my best friend, hell, we were more than just friends once."

"You've never ... found someone, married?" Bruce asked tentatively.

"No. Oh, I've dated a couple of times, don't get me wrong," she replied, "and there was more than one that the General set me up with, encouraged me in fact, to marry, if truth be told. But none of them were right for me. No connection, you know?"

"What about your dad? I doubt that he's given up on me, on experimenting on me to find out how I tick? To turn me into some kind of weapon," Bruce commented.

"Oh, don't worry about him," Betty said, waving the suggestion away. "He called off the army ages ago, something about a new project with some ... Thing? I don't know, it was all highly classified and I only caught enough snippets to know that you're safe from him."

"That's good to know," Bruce replied, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders that he didn't even know that he was carrying. "And, for what it's worth, I'd like a chance to get to know you again as well. Perhaps you can tell me more about what you've been up to these last years over dinner?"

"I'd like that," Betty beamed, her eyes shining.

ooo00ooo

Skye landed hard, stumbled, righted herself and instantly shot around, her hand up practically slamming into the startled face of Sam.

"Woah! We're good, right?" Sam asked.

Skye let out a breath she didn't know that she'd been holding.

"Yeah, we're good. You just startled me, is all," she replied.

"I didn't think you S.H.I.E.L.D. types got startled, not like us common folk," Sam replied. And then his demeanour changed as he seemed to get a better look at her. "Are you alright? You're looking a little freaked out about something?"

"Getting kidnapped will do that to you," Skye replied offhandedly. "You seen Harry?"

"Kidnapped?" a startled-sounding Sam replied. "Ah, yeah, I think he's down at that bungalow of his."

"Thanks," Skye threw over her shoulder, ignoring the muttered complaints from Sam about wizards misnaming things, regardless of how they looked on the outside.

It took a few minutes to walk between the main building and where the Black Bungalow was situated on the island. The walk, though, did Skye good. The soothing feel of the breeze on her cheeks, the sound of the birds and the ocean not all that far away, the scent of the flowers and nature all calmed her nerves and by the time that Skye entered the 'house' she was feeling much calmer.

"Harry?" she called, dumping her shopping bag on the floor and not even flinching when it immediately disappeared.

One of the house elves, she determined. She knew that when next she checked, she'd find it in her room. Or more likely, the dress already hung in her wardrobe.

"In here," she heard Harry call and followed the sound of his voice to his study.

"Hey," she said as she entered the room.