Valor ↠ Prequel [0] ✓

01 | Sleepless Nights

   Well, you could see why Riley believed he was on the brink of a mental breakdown.

   Rolling her eyes, Riley scanned the monitor before her and read out some numbers to please the man. Then, she beckoned, "Hey, JARVIS, what time is it?"

   "It's 2:23 AM, Miss O'Dair."

   JARVIS was Tony's personal A.I. It stood for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, which Riley found hilarious. She spoke to him often. It was a little strange at first, but Riley eventually got used to it. Riley made a face. "Didn't I tell you not to call me that?"

   "Yes, but... it feels rather informal."

  She smiled at JARVIS's response, continuing to observe Tony as he worked. This had become a regular thing between the two. Throughout the past year, Riley and Tony's sleeping habits had worsened. Their nightmares kept them up most of the time, and when they realized they both shared the same problem, Tony and Riley decided to simply hang out to kill the time. Riley usually ended up falling asleep in Tony's workspace, but she tried to stay up to keep him company nonetheless.

   "Should I call you Valor, instead?" JARVIS added.

   Riley shrugged as a yawn escaped her mouth. "Whatever floats your boat, Vis," she decided.

   "Very well, Miss Valor."

   Riley still wasn't quite used to being referred to by her newfound superhero counterpart. Sure, it had been a year, but it was strange to her. She was glad she got the chance to name herself. She wasn't given many opportunities to make her own choices in life, so being able to name herself was important to her.

   The Avengers were widely talked about across the globe since the Battle of New York. Everyone wanted to learn more about these so-called defenders of the Earth. Why were the Avengers formed? Can we trust them? Are there others like the Avengers out there? Will there be another war in the future?

   The people also wanted to know more about the youngest Avenger, Valor, but Riley was keen on keeping her identity a secret. She knew that if her coworkers treated her differently because of her past, the world would, too. It was just better this way.

   The greatest question the people had was: Where are they now? Riley couldn't speak for the others in great detail. She hadn't had much contact with the outside world in the past year. Riley filled her days with nonstop training, hoping to further expand her powers and abilities. She threw herself into her work in hopes of distracting herself from her nightmares and the fact that Coulson and Roman were dead.

   She never took deaths well — not after she was old enough to realize that she killed her parents. The guilt ate her alive every day, and she only felt worse knowing that she could have prevented Coulson and Roman's deaths. She wasn't entirely sure how, but she knew she could have made a difference.

   All this to say, Riley had only recently stepped out of her year in isolation a few weeks ago. This was because Tony had basically forced her to visit him when neither of them could sleep one night. Spending time together working on various inventions was the highlight of their week.

   Still, Riley was worried about Tony. They only spoke once about all that Tony had endured this last year, and that was it.

   "So," started Riley, "I know I'm not allowed to ask you about Tennessee..."

   "Uh-huh," replied Tony.

   "Or the Mandarin."

   "Yep."