Tek It - Cafuné
I watch the moon, let it run my mood
Can't stop thinking of you
I watch you (And I watch as things play out like)
So long, nice to know you, I'll be moving on
Moving on
When Amara Stark first set out to go on her very first sleepover with her best friend, Michelle, she had no idea how the day would end, but MJ getting to know all of Amara's secrets, including her identity, would not have been her first guess.
"I-" Amara started.
"Am Aura," MJ said confidently.
"Wh-what?"
"That's what you were gonna say, that you're Aura."
Amara blinked in surprise, trying to register what was happening, "H-how did you...?"
"Oh come on, it's obvious! I mean I was sure you were hiding something, I just didn't know what, until today when you walked out and 5 minutes later, Aura appeared just down the street. That was a pretty lousy attempt at hiding the truth."
"We'll I wasn't trying, I already decided that I was gonna tell you, or else, trust me, you would not have figured it out."
"What makes you think that? I'm very observant," MJ challenged.
"And I've had 15 years of experience hiding my powers and my identity. It's not that you wouldn't have realised because you can't, it's because I made it so that I would be the last person anyone would suspect, even you."
"Fair enough... I still think I would've figured it out eventually."
"You know what? Me too."
"So, does that mean you live with Tony Stark?"
Amara laughed, "Considering he's my dad, it would be pretty weird to not live with him."
"Wait so do you guys have like a hidden mansion somewhere in Malibu? Cause Tony Stark's last known address was at Malibu, you know, until the whole Mandarin thing."
"Yeah we used to live in Malibu, then it got destroyed, then my dad and Pepper built the Stark Tower, which ended up as the Avenger's Tower, and now we live there."
MJ's face lit up in incredulity, "Wait, so you live with the Avengers, as well?"
"Yeah," Amara picked up a book off of the shelf in front of them and flipped to the first page, "I'll take you there, one day, maybe introduce you to them?"
MJ stood there in obvious shock, "Really? This is so cool! I can't believe I'm friends with an Avenger, and I'm gonna meet the other Avengers!"
Amara put the book back, deciding she wasn't interested in that one, after all, "Well, not right away! My dad would kill me if he realised I gave up my identity after a few weeks!"
"Yeah, of course!" They walked to the counter to pay for the books they had chosen. "So who else knows?"
"Other than my family? Just you," Amara handed the cashier a fifty-dollar bill to pay for all of their books, "You can keep the change, thank you!" She said as she reached for the bag.
"Amara, you didn't have to do that!"
"I wanted to! As a thank you for being such a good friend that I can confide in. Also, I don't think my dad would mind," Amara said as they walked out of the bookshop and headed towards MJ's home.
"Thank you! Also, did I hear you say that I'm the only person other than your family to know?" Amara nodded and MJ smiled, "Wow! I'm honoured! Thanks for trusting me."
"Of course! I had to, you're my best friend. I couldn't keep lying to you."
"So, Ned and Peter? They don't know?"
Amara turned to her friend, "No, they don't. And you can't tell them, or anyone,"
"Relax, I'm not planning to. So why are you in high school, you know, if you're a superhero and a billionaire, surely you don't need to?"
"Going to school wasn't always the plan. My dad always wanted me to experience regular life, but I had to wait until I could control my powers better, and then when I could, I just didn't want to, I was fine learning from my dad and the Avengers, I didn't see a need for school... I kind of, still don't. But, I'm- well, the real reason is that I have a mission that requires me to be here. My dad getting what he wants is an added bonus... for him."
"Woah! You have a real, Avengers mission?! Are you... allowed to tell me what it is?"
"I don't know... I don't think so. But whatever, it's not like this is the first time I've disobeyed orders. I had to figure out who Spiderman is and then keep an eye on him."
"Wait, you had to, as in, past tense? Does that mean you know who he is?" MJ looked extremely excited at the idea of figuring out the secret identities of two superheroes in one day.
"Yeah... I know who he is- but before you ask, no I can't tell you who he is, it's not my secret to tell. I was given a choice to tell you my identity, it's only fair he gets the same choice."
"Fine, I understand. So who's the Avenger you spend the most time with?"
"Uh, it depends on the day."
"Ok, then who's your crime-fighting best friend?"
"That was very specific, but Pietro. He's my best friend, tied with you, of course!"
"As in, Maximoff? What am I saying? Of course Maximoff, that means you know Wanda Maximoff too, right? Is she as badass in real life as she seems on the news?"
"Wanda is super badass and extremely powerful, she just doesn't know she is. She's super sweet in person, you wouldn't know she's that powerful when you see her stress baking at three in the morning," Amara said fondly.
"That's so cool! Is Tony Stark a good dad, or is he just really busy all the time? Sorry, that was rude."
"No, it's fine! Honestly? He's a really good dad, don't tell him I said that, though. He's busy a lot of the time, but he always makes sure that I'm his priority, and I guess because I've been around him for so long, I kind of understand when he has to do his work and sometimes I help, sometimes I just leave him to it. We have a system, and it works great."
"When did you get your powers? When you're not at school and they tell us you're sick are you really sick or are you on a mission? Do you train in regular combat or just with your powers? Who trains you? Is Pepper Potts your mom? And what are the odds you could show me your powers, right now?"
Amara laughed while they turned the corner, "I discovered my powers when I was five, sometimes I'm on a mission, sometimes I just have the flu, I've been in trained in regular combat with Natasha and Steve and Vision, previously known as JARVIS, and Bruce trained me and my powers, and then I helped to train Wanda on controlling hers, Pepper is not my mom, but we're very close, and as for showing you my powers..."
Amara looked around to make sure no one was watching and she held out her hand, allowing a ball of water to hover just over her palm, she then morphed the water into soil and sprouted a small flower, which she handed to MJ, who held it in shock and awe.
"That was so cool!"
Amara laughed, "I'll show you more later, come on, we have to get to your place soon."
"Right!"
----------
Amara and MJ didn't have to walk far because, as MJ had said earlier, her house was only down the street. When they got to her front door, a middle-aged man answered the door, presumably MJ's father, and said to her, "Hey kiddo!" Then he turned to Amara, "You must Amara."
"Yeah, I am. Hi Mr Jones!"
"Please, Call me Philip." They made their way into the living area, "This is my wife, Mary."
"It's lovely to meet you both!"
MJ spoke up, "We're gonna go upstairs and maybe do some homework before dinner, is that okay?"
Mary smiled and replied, "Of course, yeah, that's fine! I've made lasagna for us all, but don't worry, Amara, MJ's told us that you're a vegetarian, just like her, so I made you both a separate tray."
"Thank you, so much! That's really thoughtful of you."
"Oh, don't be silly! It's nothing! This is Michelle's first sleepover, in fact, I think you're the first friend that she's brought around."
"Mom!" MJ said, looking embarrassed and annoyed at her mother's revelation.
Amara smiled reassuringly at MJ and then replied to Mary, "This is actually my first sleepover, too. I've been homeschooled most of my life. I'm really excited!"
"Oh, that's lovely! You girls go upstairs and I'll call you when dinner's ready."
"Okay, thanks, mom!" MJ said as she led Amara up toward her bedroom.
They set their bags down on the floor and MJ gestured for them to sit down.
Amara could tell that MJ was getting restless. She seemed nervous as she picked at her nails and bounced her leg, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" MJ looked up, quickly.
"MJ..." Amara said, granting a warning. She needed to know what was wrong with her friend.
"It's just... now that I know who you are... does that make me a target, or, whatever?"
Amara sighed, "MJ, I'm not gonna lie to you, there's a possibility. But, no one knows my identity, and hopefully never will, so there would be no visible connection between you and Aura. And I will do everything in my power to protect you because you're my best friend and I would do anything for you! And I need you to know that there is no way that I would have told you if I thought this could pose any kind of danger to you or your family, for even a second."
MJ looked relieved at that and suddenly became much more relaxed. They had both begun talking about the books that they had read recently and MJ gave Amara one of her favourite books to read from her bookshelf which ran along the entirety of her wall.
"So do you have a library at the tower? Cause that would be awesome!"
"Yeah, we do, I had to make a petition to get it in the tower because dad wasn't fully convinced that we needed one. I proved him wrong, obviously."
"I still can't get over that! Your dad is Tony Stark, that's crazy!"
"Now that I'm thinking about it, you should come over to the tower one day. I know I said I wouldn't tell my dad yet, but I doubt he'll be super angry, he doesn't really do that."
"Seriously!? You're gonna take me to Avengers Tower?!"
"I mean if you want?"
"Of course, I want!" Amara laughed at her friend's enthusiasm. Until she felt her phone ring. "Oh my god! Is that an Avenger calling you?"
"I don't know, one second." She took her phone out of her pocket and saw the name "Deadly Russian Lady" pop up on her phone, "Nat? She never calls. Something must be up, can I take this?"
"Yeah, sure!"
Amara picked the phone up, "Nat, are you okay?"
"Hey kid, I need your advice, but I know you have a sleepover, so can we just talk when you get back?" Nat said, and Amara swore she could hear a slight wobble in her voice.
"Nat... what happened?" Amara asked warily.
"Nothing, I just needed some advice, that's all. It's nothing life-threatening and it's not that serious, but it's kind of personal, so I need you."
"Okay... that's not cryptic at all."
"Also, I need you to tell me where you put my guns and my tasers, they're missing and you're that last person who used them."
"Your guns? I didn't use them- oh, wait, I did, and then I gave them to Pietro 'cause he wanted to train with them. That was about three days ago?"
"Okay, I'll ask Pietro, thanks, kid."
"No problem, I'll talk to you tomorrow, bye."
"Bye."
Amara heard the call disconnect and turned back to MJ, "She's fine, I think, you never know with Nat, she's just so hard to read."
"That's so awesome! I want to be able to say that Black Widow is hard to read because I know her well enough to! Is she nice? Or is she terrifying?"
"She can be terrifying when she wants to be, but, most of the time she's great!"
"This is unreal! I can't believe I'm talking about an Avenger to an Avenger who is also my best friend! It's crazy!"
Amara smiled at her friend's excitement, but she was also feeling extra guilty about lying to Ned and Peter, especially now that MJ knows the truth and they don't. She briefly wondered if anything would actually be affected if they were to find out the truth about her. It would definitely be much easier for her, not having to keep secrets from them anymore would be amazing. But then, Amara remembered the sole reason why she was at Midtown: to fulfil her mission. Fulfilling her mission had to be her biggest priority, she can't allow herself to feel guilt over this, because everything that she is doing, is simply a means to achieve her goal. And if there is one thing to know about Amara, it's that she always gets what she wants, and that streak wasn't going to stop now because she's feeling a bit of guilt...
(A/N: Hello! I'm super sorry for all of the delays in updates for this story, but I promise you I am working extremely hard on this story and I will not be giving up on it! Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate you all. And as usual, if you have any ideas for chapters that you want to be written up, then please leave them in the comments. Thank you, again!!)