I stood with Maria Hill and Helen Cho as the Avengers jet landed on the platform, the wings folding in to help make it smaller. The hanger door slowly opened, Doctor Cho ordering her workers to grab the injured Barton, talking to them in Korean as Natasha followed close beside them.
I smiled at her in reassurance as we passed each other, her giving a hopeful nod in response.
"Labs all set up, boss," Maria said
"Oh, actually he's the boss." Tony pointed at Steve. "I just pay for everything, Olivia and I design and make everything."
"And make everyone look cooler," The woman smirked from beside him.
"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked, ignoring the two.
"NATO's got him."
"The two Enhanced?"
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins."
"Hey, Avery." Olivia nodded at me as she followed Steve and Maria off the jet.
"Hey, Oliv. Make sure you get that taken care of." I gestured to her bandaged arm, the smallest bit of blood seeping threw the ragged material.
"I'll be fine. It went right threw." She shrugged me off.
"Olivia Stark." I glared at her, watching her gulp.
"Yes ma'am." She quickly nodded, hurting her pace to catch back up with Rogers and Hill.
"You do that so well. It's kind of scary." Tony said as he came up to me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Thank you." I smiled. "I learned it from being around you for more than 15 years."
"Oh, haha, very funny." He rolled his eyes, leaning in to kiss my forehead.
"Who said I was joking?" I smirked, leading the two of us into the tower.
"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." Tony shook off. "How's Morgan? She having fun with Pepper?"
"And Happy. He's been keeping an eye on her whenever she needs to go into work with Pep." I nodded.
"That's good. She's been making friends her own age though, right? At school? She is still going out for that, right? Pepper hasn't put her in any homeschooled bullshit?"
"She says she's made a friend. Cassie Lang. She was born in San Francisco, but her parents got divorced and her mom moved since her dad was in jail. Nothing horrible, just some Robin Hood type. Got out last week on good behavior. Cassie's mom is now married to a cop, so you don't really have to worry about them in terms of being safe." I told him, knowing he would have asked another hundred questions.
"All right, all right good. Jarvis, take us to Banners Lab." Tony instructed the AI when we got into the elevator. "And how have you been? Your leg treating you well?"
"It's just fine, Tones. And so am I." I smiled, leaning up to give him a quick kiss.
"Could be better though. Think of something you want. Something you want to do. Just name it and we'll do it. Maybe think of something to improve the leg while you're at it."
"Tony-"
"Nope, you think on it. I'll see you later, Peg. You go get to work on the party!" Tony quickly left the now-open elevator, walking to the other Avengers.
I rolled my eyes, a small smile playing on my lips.
What am I going to do with him?
~~
"But, you know, the suit can take the weight, right?" Rhodey rhetorically asked, reaching over to grab something from the bar. He had been telling Maria, Thor, Tony, and me one of his War Machine stories.
"So I take the tank, fly it right up to the general's palace, drop it at his feet. I'm like, "Boom. You looking for this?"
No one said anything when Rhodey finished, but by the look on his face, he expected us to have laughed our asses off. I looked up at Tony beside me, who had a small smile on his face and then to Maria, who was hiding her chuckle behind her drink.
"Boom. Are you looking for..." Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills." My friend complained.
"That's the whole story?" Thor asked, making me chuckle.
"Yeah, it's a War Machine story." Rhodey nodded, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, it's very good, then." Thor chuckled. "It's impressive."
"Quality save, big guy." I nodded.
"So, no Pepper? She and Morgan not coming?" Rhodey looked between Tony and me.
"No." Tony shook his head.
"What about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen? Avery, I thought you would have gotten more to come." Maria complained.
"Natasha and Olivia are here! As well as Doctor Cho!" I shot back. "And Pepper's got a whole company to run, plus has to look after Morgan since she's going to school in Cali. She doesn't really have time to drop everything and come to a little party."
"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Thor smiled.
"And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth." I looked up at the god. "It's pretty exciting."
"There's even talk of Jane getting a, um, Nobel Prize." Thor shot back.
"Yeah, they must be busy, because they would hate missing you guys get together. Children!" Maria poorly coughed out the last word.
"Oh, my goodness."
"Excuse me."
"Want a lozenge?"
"Mmm-hmm"
Thor, Tony, and I all chuckled as Maria and Rhodey walked away.
"But Jane's better."
I quickly used my prosthetic leg to stomp on Thor's foot, effectively shutting him up.
~~
"You're seeing this too, right?" Olivia asked me. I looked up at the Stark in confusion, turning in the direction she was looking and seeing Natasha flirting with Bruce at the bar.
"Oh my god." I chuckled, eyes going wide.
"You go talk to Red, I'll go talk to Doc?"
"You got it," I smirked, walking after Natasha.
"You never told me you had a thing for Banner," I said to the agent as we walked up the stairs together.
"What? Where did this come from?" She asked, a confused look on her face even though her cheeks were turning pink.
"Olivia and I saw you two flirting over at the bar." I nodded over to where the older Stark was talking to Bruce.
"Oh, come on. It's really nothing! And he wasn't even flirting back." She argued.
"So you do admit that you were flirting," I smirked.
"How the hell did you do that?"
"Don't worry about it. We'll only tell Maria. And probably Pepper. And most likely Liv if it ever comes up."
"Oh, so just about all my friends?" The redhead playfully glared.
"No! We won't tell the guys! Okay, well, I might tell Tony, and Olivia might tell Steve. And Clint will probably find out too...
"So yeah, we'll all know."
~~
"But it's a trick!" Clint yelled out, twirling some drumsticks in his hand.
"No, no, it's much more than that," Thor told him.
"Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power," Clint said in a poor medieval accent, making me chuckle. "Whatever, man! It's a trick."
"Please, be my guest." Thor gestured to his hammer, gaining everyone's attention.
"Really?"
"Come on."
"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony joked.
"Avery, keep your man in check." Clint playfully glared at the man beside me.
"Tony, be nice." I poorly scolded.
"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint asked Thor, grabbing the hammer and grunting as he tried and failed to lift it. "I still don't know how you do it!" The archer chuckled, giving up.
"Smell the silent judgment?"
"Please, Stark, by all means."
Tony got up then, making Maria and Rhodey groan as he playfully unbuttoned his suit jacket, slowly walking up to the hammer.
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It's physics."
"Physics." Banner scoffed.
"Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?"
"Yes, of course." Thor agreed.
"I will be reinstituting prima nocta."
"Anthony," I warned, quickly glaring at the man.
"Yikes, okay maybe not," Tony grunted as he, like Clint, failed to lift the hammer.
"I'll be right back."
Tony came back a moment later with his suit's gauntlet, using it to try and lift the weapon.
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodye questioned Tony, who now also had a gauntlet from his suit and was trying to help.
"Are you on my team?"
"Just represent. Pull."
"All right, let's go."
"Okay, this is just sad. Avery, why don't you finish it off for them? See if you're up to the challenge?" Natasha looked over at me as I laughed at the two's failed attempt, stopping the video I was making.
"Oh, um, sure, I guess." I shrugged.
"You've got this, honey." Tony cheered me on, giving me a kiss on the cheek as he and Rhodey walked back to the couch.
I walked up to Mjölnir, glancing at Thor who gave me a nod of reassurance. I took a breath, closing my eyes as I gripped the handle. Slowly, I started to pull, feeling little resistance at first. When I tried again, though, I was unable to lift the hammer.
I quickly gave up at that, shrugging my shoulders with a chuckle and walking back over to Tony. When I sat back down, the man threw his arm over my shoulder, kissing my forehead.
It was sad watching Bruce go. He kept growling as he pretended to Hulk out, trying to lift the hammer. We all looked up at the doctor, our expressions either one of pity or of being unimpressed.
"All right, Olivia and then Steve." Maria motioned for the woman to stand.
Olivia took one last swig of her beer before handing it to Steve, standing and walking to the hammer.
"This is dumb. It's not going to work, you know." She chuckled, placing her hand on the handle.
"Yeah, but it's fun to try anyway." Clint shrugged.
Olivia sighed, tugging the hammer a few times only to be met with resistance.
"Like I thought, didn't work." She shook her head walking back to her spot and grabbing her beer from Steve as he stood from his spot.
"Alright, go ahead, Steve. No pressure." Tony joked as the Captain walked up.
I smirked as Steve playfully rolled his sleeves up, making a small show out of lifting the hammer.
"Come on, Cap." Clint cheered.
Steve started to lift the weapon, and just like with me, it seemed to have lifted just an inch. Thor must have noticed too, as his once cheerful expression had fallen into one of worry. Rogers sighed when he wasn't able to lift the hammer again, lifting his hands up in surrender.
"Nothing." Thor chuckled, taking a sip of his drink.
"Widow?" Banner looked at the women expectantly.
"Oh, no, no. That's not a question I need answered." She shook her head, taking a sip of her beer.
"All deference to the Man Who Wouldn't Be King, but it's rigged," Tony argued.
"You bet your ass." Clint pat his back in agreement.
"Steve, he said a bad language word." Maria pointed, making us all laugh.
"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve shot out, looking between Tony and Olivia.
"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code." Tony ignored the man. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is I think, the literal translation."
"Yes, It's a very, very interesting theory." Thor stood. "I have a simpler one." He grabbed the hammer, flipping it into the air.