Mr. Stark gave me a tour that night, only on the avenger's levels. I couldn't risk being seen by workers and interns downstairs, according to him.
Peter left to go on patrol when Mr. Stark collected me, so I didn't talk much after that. I ate dinner alone in my room and then Mr. Stark gave me a new stark-tech phone so I could contact Peter.
I did get a bigger bed, which was much more comfortable. It felt nice to just lay down and relax after the long day, allowing my wings to rest and stretch out from holding them up all day. They took up the entire bed and covered me completely. The feathers were also nice and warm, even though it was only the middle of summer.
I slept well, excluding the dream I'd had about the facility. It wasn't a nightmare, but it was nearing one. I was following a worker around the halls, but it was just a never-ending loop. We kept turning corner and corner, walking deep into a maze. Eventually, the halls became thin enough I couldn't fit my wings, but the man made me continue on. Every step I was crushed more and more. I finally woke up when it all went black.
I rolled over quickly, returning back to the same position almost immediately. My right-wing had been crushed completely, and I bit my tongue hard to keep from shouting out. It didn't break or anything concerning, I just hadn't used the muscles in so long it felt as if someone was ripping them off my back.
I looked around the room once I managed to sit up and lean against a wall, stretching out the wings so they rested on the edge of the mattress.
Glancing at the digital clock on my nightstand, I found it was four forty-seven in the morning. I usually woke at five in the facility, so I was not surprised to find it out.
Instead of going back to sleep, I decided to explore the tower alone. I crept out of my room, cringing hard when my wing slapped the doorframe. I paused, but nobody had stirred.
Sighing silently, I walked down the hall and entered the elevator. The ding was silent, thankfully. I stepped in and picked a random button. I glanced at it as the door closed.
The helipad. Fun.
There was, of course, no one on the helipad at four fifty-four in the morning, and there weren't many lights in the buildings below.
I stepped past the glass doors, onto the actual helipad part of the floor. It was nice to be outside. It was rare, that I went outside. It'd only happened a couple of times, and none were at night.
There was a warm glow on the horizon, marking the rising sun. When I turned around I could see the moon, low by the buildings and setting off a hazy white glow.
I decided to sit on the concert ground. Well, as much a ground is when you're 80 stories above Manhattan.
I sat there for a good hour, just pondering how my life had changed in the past few days. I'd spoken more words yesterday than I had my entire life. I was given my own freedom, and I had a friend.
At six-thirty, a figure stepped out of the double doors.
"Max?" Mr. Stark asked. "What are you doing out here?"
I whipped my head around, locating the sound. I shrugged once I met his eyes.
"Did you sleep okay?"
I nodded.
He nodded in reply. "The kid might be stopping by this morning." He added. "Parker, I mean. If you see him, don't freak out."
I nodded again.
"Well I'm off for a quick fly around the city, don't fall off the edge."
I gave a quick thumbs up, and he tabbed the blue glowing thing on his chest and an iron man suit materialized before my eyes.
"Nanotech." He explained before taking off, leaving a trail of gray smoke.
I raised my eyebrows before glancing away, staring back at the city. The sky in front of me was bright orange, and a small red light was visible just above the top of a specifically tall tower.
I waited another half hour, watching the red light slowly rise above the building until I was bathed in sunlight.
Around seven-ten, a small black figure was swinging through the streets. They leaped through the air, swinging from string shot out of their hands.
As they got closer, I realized it was Spiderman. He had spiderwebs shooting out of his wrists, and he landed on one knee. Once he noticed me, he stood up and walked over, pulling off his mask in the process.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?" He dropped a backpack next to him before sitting across from me.
I shrugged.
"Okay. Is Mr. Stark out?"
I nodded again.
"I guess I'll have to wait for him."
I stayed quiet.
"Okay. Did you sleep better last night?"
For the thirtieth time that morning, I nodded.
"Good." He laid on his back, putting his arms behind his head. "Hey, I forgot to ask yesterday, but can you fly?"
I copied his position, opposite of him so our heads were nearly touching, shaking my head.
"Really?" He sat up and glanced at me. "You spent your whole life with people running tests on you because of your wings and you can't use them?"
"We should totally help you learn how to fly," Peter exclaimed, sitting up to face me. "Would you be up for it?"
I nodded.
"Oh my gosh, this is going to be so fun!" He added. "Okay. When are you free?"
I shrugged.
"All the time. Right. I forgot. We can talk to Mr. Stark about it. If you really do want to do it."
I shook my head.
"No, you don't?" He asked for clarification.
I shook my head again.
"You do?"
I nodded.
"Okay!"
"Oh, he's here," Peter said, standing up. I glanced up, seeing the sun glance off the shiny Ironman suit. "HI MR. STARK!" He shouted, waving.
Mr. Stark landed in front of us, stepping out of his suit as it collapsed back into his chest. "Hey, kid. Hello Max."
"Hi," Peter exclaimed. "Okay first I just wanted to talk to you about my science project in school before it's too late, but also, Max and I had an idea."
"Which is?"
"Can I help her learn to fly?"
"You can't fly?"
I shook my head.
"Sure, there's usually a couple training rooms open every night if you want to do it then." He volunteered.
"Cool!"
"And how's your project going?" He asked Peter.
"Oh! I told you about how I'm working on coding a robot, right?" He waited for his answer before continuing. "Okay, so I took some old robot shells from my school scrap bin and I put all the wiring inside one and I fixed it all up and it looks nice and I started fixing up the wheels I found with Ned and it's going really well!"
"Nice job kid. I'll have to see it sometime. Unfortunately, I have plans scheduled all day but make sure to invite me to the fair."
"Okay!"
"Don't you need to get to school?" Mr. Stark glanced at his watch. "It's seven-fifty."
"Right!" Peter grabbed his mask and backpack, pulling his mask over his head and leaping off the building. All I could hear last was him shouting: "Bye!" as he swung away.
Mr. Stark turned to me. "So you want to fly?"
I nodded.
"Okay. I'll get you a phone so you can keep in contact with Peter. I can clear out training rooms when you need and I'll talk to Sam, see if he could help."
Sam was The Falcon, the man in the elevator. He had wings, which made sense of how he could help me.
He smiled. "You're already warming up here."
I shrugged my shoulders.
"You're already making friends. Nice job." He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket. "I'll have someone deliver your keycard to your room today, and if you want I can put in some more furniture. The basic rooms are boring. Almost everyone has a tv and bookshelves or something. How does that sound?"
I smiled.
"Great. We have a lot to talk about later, but right now I need to go. Stay on the roof as long as you want, E.D.I.T.H. will notify me when you need to come back in. Don't go near the edge, and don't break anything. You can hang out in the commons area or your room after you come in."
I nodded, adding a thumbs up for good measure.