Just A Normal Kid

Chapter 18

The past week had been rather hectic for all the Avengers and James Rhodes, thanks to the lead they found on Loki's sceptre. It had fallen into HYDRA's hands back in 2012 and getting the damn thing back was a priority, considering the fact that it could be used to mind-control people. The HYDRA base they tracked the sceptre to was in Sokovia. This meant that he, as an active member of the US military couldn't join the team and was forced to stay at HQ and coordinate between the ground team and Maria Hill at SHIELD.

The four days spent discreetly scoping out the area and making plans paid off. The sceptre was back in the hands of the Avengers with only Hawkeye being injured in the firefight. However, everything wasn't all sunshine and roses. The occupants of the base had fought back viciously, with a pair of Sokovians being their ace-in-the-hole.

They were enhanced.

HYDRA had been experimenting on people using the sceptre and had successfully given two people powers. One male, one female. 

Wanda and Pietro Maximoff - twins who had volunteered to be human experiments. From the records Tony had managed to grab before the base went up in flames, they learnt that the twins were the only two to survive the experiments. The male twin had gotten super-speed and the female, telekinesis and mental manipulation, which was deeply disturbing.

Mind-control and mind-reading powers were no joke. Wanda Maximoff could be a major destructive force as an ally of HYDRA, which was not good news. Heck, she might already have done something for those bastards and then wiped the memories of any witnesses! Strucker was a slimy worm and James didn't even want to imagine how useful the twins could have been to the man. He didn't want to bring down the mood of the victory party by stating these opinions, so he stayed quiet - for now.

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James did his best to enjoy the party, which was as grand and as crazy as any others that Tony threw. The massive party room in the Tower was crowded with people and long tables loaded with hors d'oeuvres, champagne and an impressive collection of buffet foods from around the globe. Drinks were freely flowing the entire evening and everyone was beyond tipsy and well on the way to being drunk - including Steve and Thor, who'd been indulging in Asgardian mead - when the party ended.

The core members of the team - Tony, Steve, Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Clint - and the part timers - himself, Sam and Sharon - were among the group that stayed back for the after-party. Helen Cho - the brilliant doctor who Tony had invited to be a part of the Avengers' support staff - Maria Hill, Suzanne Wilson and Rosie rounded out the gathering. The latter two had returned from their road trip just that morning and neither had attended the party, which James was glad for.

The parties that Tony threw were no place for a nineteen-year-old, especially not one as shy of strangers as Rosie. Thankfully for him, she wasn't like most teenagers her age who would have indignantly protested such an opinion. Rosie had just smiled and gone back upstairs, reappearing only when the rest of the guests were gone. The group had relocated to the penthouse and were spread out on the obscenely expensive couches, razzing each other for the fun of it.

James was pleasantly buzzed himself, the alcohol masking his tensions and worries as he lounged on the couch laughing at Clint's drunken antics. The topic soon turned to Thor's hammer.

Clint had declared that it was a trick and was currently being encouraged to try and pick it up. James couldn't help saying, "Oh this is gonna be beautiful." Clint got up from his spot on the floor where he had been absently twirling a chopstick in his hand. There were laughs and mocking comments from the group around him as he walked 'round the table to the hammer.

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony quipped, making everyone laugh again.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint said, wrapping his hands around the hammer's handle. He pulled, and it didn't move an inch. "I still don't know how you do it." He grumbled.