CHAPTER TWO
❝ undercover ❞
"ARE YOU HUNGRY? Being in the ice for that long probably made you hungry, right? I'm kind of hungry too. Fury, let's stop for some McDonald's."
"I am not stopping for McDonald's."
"Oh, cmon, St. Nick. It's the least you could do after you made me sit in the backseat."
Fury was driving Steve and Aster back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, where he would sit the super-soldier down and explain everything that had happened in detail. Steve's face was practically pressed to the passenger's side window, staring at the passing buildings with his eyes as wide as saucers.
While at a red light, Fury turned around and glared at Aster. "Don't call me St. Nick again."
"Fine," Aster sunk back in her seat. She crossed her arms and stayed silent for a moment before a smirk slowly grew on her face. "Only if we stop for McDonald's."
About to drive by the fast-food restaurant, Fury pinched the bridge of his nose before taking a last-minute turn into the parking lot. Aster cheered in the backseat as even Steve cracked a smile, distracted from his stress by the two bickering agents.
"I'm not going through the drive-through, so you can go in yourself."
As the SUV came to a stop, Aster giddily took her seatbelt off, about to jump out of the car until she remembered what she was missing. She slowly turned to Fury, giving him a sickly sweet smile as she held a hand out.
The director looked at her through his rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't have any money?"
Aster opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it and furrowed her brows in confusion. "No, wait... do I have money? Do I get paid for working at S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Trying to hide his smile, Fury shrugged at her. "Maybe."
Gasping, Aster wiggled her fingers. "That was a yes, wasn't it? Where's my money?"
"In your college fund."
"College? Who says I'm going to college? I thought I finished my schooling?"
Aster had been essentially homeschooled by S.H.I.E.L.D., buzzing through the topics with ease until she finished all of the requirements. Not for just her age, though. She had even finished her high-school-level education, giving her the opportunity to enroll in college if she really wanted to.
Steve's eyes flickered between the two as they fought, quickly learning that this must have been a daily occurrence.
"Alright," Fury practically threw his credit card at her. "We'll have this conversation later, just go get your damn McDonald's."
Sending him a smile, Aster took the card and pushed the door open. "Thanks! What do you guys want?"
She didn't even give them a chance to answer before speeding out of the door. "Actually, I'll surprise you. Be right back!"
Watching Aster run through the parking lot and to the restaurant, Steve took in a deep breath. "So... they employ kids as agents now?"
"Nope, just her."
"Oh. Why?"
"Long story," Fury responded. "But to sum it up, she's not from Earth. She fell from the sky a few years ago and showed up on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. We took her under our wing."
Eyes wide, Steve didn't know which part of that sentence to address. "She... She's not from Earth? Where is she from?"
Fury scoffed. "She can't remember, must have lost her memory in the fall. Her DNA isn't human, though. I know it bothers her, but she just likes to throw herself into anything that will distract her."
Things in the new age just kept getting stranger and stranger for Steve. "Wow," he breathed. "Poor kid."
"Yeah, but don't underestimate her just 'cause she's a kid. Trust me."
After that conversation with Fury, Steve had a whole new level of respect for Aster. She had lived through the same experience as he was currently going through. She was thrown into a whole new life, forced to adjust.
The only difference was that she couldn't remember her old life. Now, Steve would never want to forget his life in the past, but maybe, just maybe, it would be easier to not remember.
Steve nodded, the corners of his lips pulling up into a smile. "She seems like a good agent. Has you wrapped around her finger."
"She does not."
Steve just held his hands up in defeat and chuckled. She did have practically all of S.H.I.E.L.D. wrapped around her finger, not that Fury would ever admit it.
Just minutes later, Aster came running back to the car and hopped into the backseat, clearing her throat before reaching into the paper bag. "Okay, so for Steve... A hamburger. Seems old-timey enough for you"
Steve accepted the wrapped-up item with a questioning eyebrow raised. The two men watched as she reached over to the drink tray and snickered to herself, handing Steve a very special cup of coffee. "And this," she snickered. "Get ready for this — an Iced Cappuccino."
It was silent for a moment before Aster threw her hands in the air, disappointed with the lack of reaction in the car. "Get it? Iced Cappuccino, cause you're Captain America and you got frozen in ice—"
"He gets it, Aster."
Steve sighed and took the drink from her, amused. "Thank you, Aster."
"And for you," Aster pointed at Fury before reaching into the bag and pulling out a Happy Meal.
She forced the box into Fury's hands and smiled, her dimples showing as she did so. "You need to smile more, big guy, so I got you a Happy Meal."
"Pain in my ass," Fury mumbled as Steve tried to smother another smile.
Happily pulling out her own food, Aster sunk back into her seat and buckled the seatbelt. "All right, gang! Let's get back on the road."
───
The week had passed at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in a blur, with things being as hectic as ever. With the help of the organization, Steve Rogers had settled into an apartment in Brooklyn, given the idea of the Avengers Initiative to ponder as he began life in the new world.
One minute, Aster was sitting in the debriefing room, waiting for whoever called her there to arrive. The next, she was face down, asleep on the table, and slumped over in the chair.
She had been exhausted the entire week, clearly not getting enough sleep as her little body should have been.
A gentle hand on her back had her shooting upwards, straightening up in her seat while sucking in a deep breath. "I'm up!"
Natasha was standing above her, an amused smirk on her face as she crossed her arms. "Are you now?"
"Mhm," Aster nodded, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with the back of her hand. "I wasn't even sleeping—" She cut herself off when she realized who she was talking to. "You're back!"
Sitting down beside Aster, Natasha hummed. "Mission was easy. Don't change the subject, why are you so tired? Are you sneaking down to train in the middle of the night again?"
Aster tilted her head and frowned, pushing back the memory of sneaking into the training room just the night before. She shook her head in faux innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh, yes you do. Don't act all clueless."
"I am not acting clueless!"
"I taught you how to lie, Aster-"
Fury interrupted the two, pushing the door open as he strode into the room. "Romanoff, I know you just got back, but I've got an assignment for you two."
Aster was grateful for the change of conversation. She slapped her hand down on the table and grinned. "Finally."
Natasha just glared at her, giving her a look that clearly said, we'll talk later.
Aster cleared her throat and averted her gaze, pretending that she didn't see the threat swimming through Natasha's narrowed eyes.
Fury sat down and slid a file over to the two. "Tony Stark."
"Iron Man."
"Egotistical billionaire."
Aster and Natasha spoke at the same time, each raising an eyebrow at the name that Fury had just given them.
The director gave one swift nod and leaned back in his seat. "Both are true. Starting with the Iron Man bit, that's Natasha's part of the assignment. You're going to be keeping an eye on him while working as an assistant to Pepper Potts. See if he has what it takes for our Avengers Initiative."
Natasha sat back and flipped through the file, peeking at her alias. "Natalie Rushman? I could've thought of a better name than that."
Aster snorted. "Yeah, that's like one typo away from Stark finding out everything about her."
"It's temporary," Fury grumbled.
"Hey, why did he hand over his company to his assistant? Don't get me wrong, love the girl power there, but I would've thought that his head was too big for him to step down," Aster wondered out loud.
"That's where you come in," Fury commented. "He's up to something and we don't know what it is. All we know so far is that it sounds like he doesn't plan on sticking around long enough to continue being CEO. You're gonna find out what his problem is and why he's willing to give up his company ."
"Okay," Aster drawled. "But I really don't think he's gonna want to hang around a ten-year-old."
Fury rotated his chair, grasping the edge of his laptop and turning the device towards Aster, pointing to the acceptance letter sitting in his inbox. "Stark Industries just opened up an internship opportunity for young science geeks so they can shadow Tony Stark. You may or may not have gotten accepted."
Aster leaned forward to catch a better look at the email. "You used my real information?"
"I did say that you got accepted, didn't I," Fury remarked. "The only difference is your alias, Miss Aster Morgan."
Aster just stared at him, unimpressed. "That's a lame name — really? You didn't even change my first name."
"Deal with it." Fury stood and walked out of the room. "You'll be leaving tomorrow morning. And Aster," he turned back to her. "I'll pull you off the case if you don't get enough sleep tonight. One yawn and you're benched."
───
The next morning, Aster approached the entrance of the billionaire's Malibu mansion, letting her eyes wander as she surveyed the property. "Impressive."
"Don't let your eyes bug out of your head there, Star," Natasha warned through her comm.
Aster rolled her eyes, making sure that her brunette hair covered her earpiece as she ascended the steps of the house. "It's called good acting, Nattie. I'm some random kid, this is supposed to be mindblowing to me."
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't blow your cover, I'm going to enter five minutes behind you. Also, what did I tell you about calling me Nattie? I hate that nickname."
As Aster reached up and pressed the doorbell, she subtly shrugged. "Deal with it, Nattie."
Natasha's voice was drowned out in the back as the front door swung open, revealing Pepper Potts, the woman she recognized from the files Fury had given her. "Oh! You must be Aster, right?"
Nodding at her undercover name, Aster gave the woman a sickly sweet smile and extended a hand. "It's nice to meet you, ma'am."
"So polite, Attie," Natasha teased.
"Oh, you don't have to call me ma'am, Sweetheart. You can just call me Pepper." She opened the door and waved Aster inside. "Come on in! Tony is down in the gym, but he knows that you're coming."
Aster smiled and followed Pepper inside. She could practically feel the power radiating from Pepper's walk, her strawberry blonde hair falling flawlessly over her shoulders. The woman was perfectly fit for the role of CEO.
Pepper led them into the mansion's gym, holding an iPad in her arms as she turned to Aster. "I'll be sure to give you a full tour later, but here's the gym. You'll probably be spending most of your time in the lab if you're shadowing Tony."
"It's amazing," Aster beamed as she let her eyes flit around the room.
Pepper turned to the boxing ring in the middle of the room. "Tony! Aster is here."
Tony kept fighting the man in the ring with him, who Aster recognized as Happy Hogan. He didn't take his eyes off of Happy as he squinted his eyes, trying to remember who that was. "Is that the woman from a few nights ago? If so, tell her I died or something."
"Anthony!"
Aster had to press her lips together to avoid laughing at both the comment and Pepper's reaction.
Pepper just sighed and rubbed at her forehead. "Aster is your new intern, remember? You chose her."
An alert from the iPad interrupted Pepper's lecture, her tapping on the screen to reveal the surveillance footage for the front door. There stood Natasha, dressed in a white blazer and black dress pants, pressing a set of files to her chest as she waited for the door to open.
Pepper walked to the other side of the room. "And the notary is here, too. Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?"
Tony Stark didn't even take a glance at Pepper, continuing to box with the bulky man in front of him. "I'm on Happy time!"
Aster watched them go back and forth, cringing at both Tony and Happy's form. "Amateurs," she whispered under her breath.
Pepper whirled around, hearing Aster speak but missing the small comment. "What was that?"
"Nothing," Aster chuckled as she shifted on her feet. "I was just saying how I've taken a few boxing classes."
"Wow, that's amazing. Maybe you can watch Tony and Happy for a moment while-"
"What the hell was that?" Happy whined after Tony landed a hard hit on him.
With his gloves still extended out in front of him, Tony kept hopping on his toes. "It's called mixed martial arts. It's been around for... three weeks."
"It's called dirty boxing. There's nothing new about it."
"All right," Tony didn't listen. "Put 'em up. Let's see it."
The sound of heels clicking had the two men turned around, eyes bugging out of their heads as Natasha strutted into the room. Aster rolled her eyes at how easy it was for them to become distracted. Of course, she knew how beautiful Natasha was, but that was just too simple.
Men.
"I promise you," Pepper ignored them as she tried to coax Tony down. "This is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company."
Natasha snuck a quick look at Aster as she stood beside Pepper, opening her booklet and pointing to the paperwork. "I need you to initial each box."
Aster watched as Happy snuck up behind Tony, hitting the man on the head while he wasn't paying attention. "Lesson one: never take your eye off—"
Tony kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into the ropes. Aster snickered as Tony clapped and turned around. "That's it, I'm done." He pointed to Aster first. "Alright, shortcake. What's your name again?"
"Aster Morgan," Aster dryly repeated.
He paused and snapped his fingers, pointing at Pepper. "Hey, you had a weird uncle named Morgan, didn't you?"
Pepper looked stunned. "How did you remember that?"
"I know everything."
"When's my birthday?"
Tony cringed and pretended he didn't hear her question. He turned to Natasha next, asking, "What's your name, lady?"
"Rushman," Natasha lied. "Natalie Rushman."
Tony pointed at the ring he stood in as he stared at Natasha. "Front and center. Come into the church."
Pepper shook her head. "No. You're seriously not gonna ask her-"
"If it pleases the court, which it does," Tony interrupted with a sly shrug.
Natasha gave him a smile, but Aster could see the annoyance seeping through her expression. "Mr. Stark, I'm just here for you to sign some paperwork."
"Can I?" Aster asked, slipping her shoes off and starting towards the ring.
"No!"
"Yes!"
Pepper and Tony spoke at the same time, the former rushing forward. "Tony, she's a child."
"She's a badass!" Tony held the rope up, allowing Aster to step inside. "This is the kind of intern I want. Kid, I'll give you a hundred bucks if you can land a hit on Happy."
"Tony!"
Aster breathed out a laugh. "Deal!"
Natasha sighed and looked down at her paperwork, trying to hide the tiny smile that graced her lips. She knew that would be a piece of cake for Aster.
Tony cringed at Pepper's unamused expression, finally slipping out of the ring to sign the paperwork. "Can you," he beckoned Happy forward and pointed to Aster. "Give her a lesson."
Happy stepped forward and smiled at Aster. "No problem. How old are you, kid?"
"Ten."
"All right," Happy breathed. "You ever boxed before?"
Aster placed her hands on her hips and nodded. "I have, yes."
"Was that part of PE class or something? Or did you sign up for an extracurricular?"
He was underestimating her, Aster noticed. She could tell by the way he looked down at her, clearly thinking that a kid couldn't have many martial arts skills, let alone a girl.
And if Natasha had taught Aster one thing, it was to use that to her advantage. Let them think she was nothing, and then prove to them that she was much more.
"Yeah," Aster shrugged, cracking her knuckles. "You could call it an extracurricular."
She turned around and saw that Tony and Pepper were fighting over something while Natasha awkwardly stood on the sidelines. Natasha raised an eyebrow when Aster winked at her, mouthing, watch this.
"Rule number one," Happy spoke from behind her. "Never take your eye off your opponent—"
In a flash, Aster had Happy's gloved hand in her own, twisting it to the side as she swung her legs up and over the man's neck, using her body weight to slam him on the ground.
"Oh my god!" Pepper yelled, standing and rushing over.
Tony stood and cheered, putting his arms up and laughing. "Whoa! That's what I'm talkin' about!"
Happy scrambled to his feet, exasperated as he stared at Aster in disbelief. "I... I just slipped."
"You did?" Tony teased.
"Yeah-"
Tony cut him off by ringing the bell. "Looks like a TKO to me."
"Like I said," Aster climbed out of the ring and hopped onto the floor. "I've done a few extracurriculars."
"I like her," Tony pointed out, raising his hand to give Aster a high five. "Kid, you passed the test."
Natasha cleared her throat to catch Tony's attention. "Before I go, Mr. Stark. I just need your impression."
Tony narrowed his eyes as he studied her. "You have a quiet reserve... I don't know, you have an old soul—"
"I meant your fingerprint."
"Right." Tony nodded once, taking the paper and pressing his thumb to where Natasha pointed. "Hey, Pep!" He gestured to the paperwork. "You're the boss."
Natasha smiled. "Will that be all Mr. Stark?"
"Yes, that will be all, Ms. Rushman." Pepper thankfully told her.
"No," Tony whined, clearly enamored by Natasha's natural charm.
As Natasha walked out of the room, she subtly tapped her ear, telling Aster that she would be connected to comms again the moment she was outside. Aster responded with a nod and a discreet wink.
Tony's eyes were on the door where Natasha had exited. He leaned over to Pepper, completely forgetting that Aster was in the room. "I want one."
"No," Pepper denied him.
"So," Aster announced, prompting the two adults to turn to her as she bounced on her heels. "This has been fun so far."
Tony waved her towards him as he started out of the room. "Follow me, Tyson. I'll show you the lab. You've earned it."
Aster didn't waste any time in catching up to him, sending a smile towards Pepper as she appeared beside Tony. "Do I get my hundred bucks now?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE!
tony and aster are going to get along really well if you can't already tell by their matching personalities.
also, i hope you can start to see that aster is absolutely attached to natasha's hip.
i can't wait to show you the special relationships she builds with all the avengers.
anyways, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
i'll see you next week!
<3 mal