As time progressed, so did the long and extensive hours of training, strict rules, accelerated learning, and the constant feeling of sore limbs.
Two weeks had gone by since they'd decided the Next Avengers were to be introduced at Stark Expo, and for two weeks all they did was train.
James's arm healed two days after, the gash leaving behind a faint, thin scar. He tried to wear sleeveless tops often, saying that he looked pretty bad ass now that he had a scar.
Francis's chest pains were a thing of the past now, and he could now shoot from a farther distance. Tony and Clint assigned Luke and Victoria to try and develop new arrows.
Torunn's and Victoria's head injuries were barely anything, and Luke, well he was just extremely exhausted.
Finally, at exactly 10:34, the kids poppled down at the dinner table to try and catch their breath. They'd been at it for almost three hours, currently their longest battle. Out of exhaustion, Steve didn't even bother to tell them who was in first place, even though they pretty much knew. Francis Barton was on fire today. His arrows made their lasting impact on everything their tips' touched.
But now, even he didn't have enough energy to gloat.
"I am going to die", James's said, gulping down his water bottle, the sides caving in as he did.
"You can't. We have Stark Expo in like two more weeks", Luke countered. His skin was no longer green and exposed. He wasn't sweating, but his insides, and his muscles just couldn't go on anymore. His skin was pale and he looked like he was about to pass out at any minute.
"He is right. We must keep on going", Torunn encouraged the group as the adults entered the room.
"Good job, guys", Clint smiled at them as he walked over to Francis. His grin as big as a cat's as Steve explained who was obviously in first place.
Even though they were all tired, sweaty, and irritated, they mustered up enough courage just to clap for Francis.
"Is everything ready yet?", James asked as he reached for another bottle. He popped it open and took a big swing.
"Duh", Tony gave him a funny look. "You guys are the final piece of the puzzle".
Stark Expo was in two more weeks. Just two. And because of their luck, those two weeks were going to go by fast.
The group stayed in silence, not really sure what to say. There was still some slight tension between Steve and Tony, nothing that was unusual.
"Well you better shower and get to bed", Bruce said looking down at his watch. "It's almost 10:38".
Their heads perked up. The lights go off at exactly eleven, and they didn't want to shower in the dark. They bolted up the stairs, ready to take a short yet relaxing shower in their rooms.
"Are you guys nervous?", asked James as he stepped aside to let everyone step on the last step. "I mean, it's going to be pretty huge".
Victoria shrugged. "You get used to it".
"Well you obviously had to. We've never been to Stark Expo", Francis rolled his eyes, teasing her. "She didn't even know what it was", he flicked his chin over at Torunn's direction.
"Whatever this event might be, I am certain I'll do better", she challenged Francis, squinting her eyes.
"Yeah right", he scoffed, crossing his arms at his chest.
"Oh give it up, Francis!", Luke laughed. James and Victoria snickering besides him.
"Give what up?", he asked exasperated, jerking his head from side to side, uncrossing his arms.
"Oh, you know", James exaggeratedly batted his eyelashes at his friend. That made Victoria errupt into giggles.
"No, I don't know", Francis crossed his arms again, refusing to look at anyone at the eyes.
"Ahh but you do", Luke teased. He straightened his position, puffing out his chest like a soldier. Bruce's son bowed slightly at Torunn. "Milady", he gave her his hand. "This fellow here has the hots for you", even Luke couldn't keep a straight face as he carried on his act.
All three of them, James, Victoria, and Luke were full on laughing.
Torunn, very confused by the phrase has the hots for you, became slightly annoyed. "I do not understand", she rolled her eyes.
Francis's eyes practically shot out from their sockets. "What?!", he almost squeaked.
His tone only made them laugh harder.
"Victoria! Can you please explain?", Torunn, now irritated that they were only laughing, puffed.
Victoria sat up from her slightly bent posture, walking over to her friend as she tried to fix her face.
"Um how do I put it...", she glanced at Francis who was staring at his boots.
"Oh God...", he faintly whispered.
"Okay so. He fancies you as in he wants to be more than friends with you...", Victoria raised her brow at her friend, trailing off at her last words. She wasn't exactly sure if she understood.
A look of realization crossed Torunn's face, her eyebrows raising. She quickly looked away, but even at this angle, Victoria noticed her cheeks slightly tinting.
"Aww", she blurted out. By now, all the giggles and hysteria had died down behind them. The hallway was silent as no one said a word.
"You better get your asses up in your rooms!", Tony yelled from downstairs. You could almost see Steve's eyes rolling.
"Stark!", he snapped at him.
"I'm going to kill you all tomorrow", Francis mumbled before scurrying over to his room. He fumbled with the doorknob, slamming his door loudly as he finally entered.
"Ummm", Torunn couldn't even speak as she went for her room.
James, Victoria, and Luke all laughed one last time before parting their ways.
-
Surely enough, Francis did kill them. Well, in a way. Today, much like yesterday, his arrows wouldn't let anyone even come near winning. His aim, as if it weren't already good, was perfecting each day. They didn't need to announce that he held first place yet again. He was the first to be in the lead twice in a row.
And much to everyone's dismay, only the "natural born leaders", hadn't won first place. James and Victoria. They did indeed try, but someone always had a better strategy. James's inability to be first place slightly disappointed his father, who always thought first place was as good as his.
Tony just couldn't wait for Victoria to get first place, he really couldn't.
Everyone was gathered at the dining table. Training was cut an hour short today, due to yesterday's hours being a lot more longer than expected.
"I am so tired", Victoria sighed as she sat down at her place, drawing in a deep breath.
"Tell me about it", Francis winced as his sore legs slid in his chair. The plush material making them feel better already.
Ever since last night, Francis avoided any type of contact with Torunn. She was doing the same. Today, the team was once again divided into girls versus boys, giving each group some needed space. The only bad thing about was that Francis couldn't shoot at either Luke or James, that would only result in injuring his own team. During the whole battle, all they did besides defend their line from Torunn's thunder and Victoria's missiles was taunt and tease at Francis. Anger always was the best motivator.
The girls replayed last night's events in their conversation while they were up in the air. Torunn confessed that she might find Francis the tiniest bit attractive and that maybe she was willing to give it a go. Well, until he actually makes a move.
Victoria slightly raised her eyebrows at Francis's direction as she eyed her friend. Torunn quickly looked away, refusing to look at his direction.
Luke cleared his throat as he and James sat next to the archer and his family.
Francis rolled his eyes as he repositioned himself on the chair.
"Good job today, Francis", Steve congratulated him from across the table, a tiny woman setting a plate of food in front of him.
"Thanks", he nodded at the captain.
Plates of food were arranged at their places, everyone ready to eat.
The adults were engulfed in their own conversations, not even paying attention to what their kids were doing.
James whipped out his phone from beneath the table, being cautious to not let anyone see him.
He opened up his contacts, searching for Victoria's name. As soon as he pressed the icon, he began typing right away.
We need to do something about them right away.
He heard the faint sound of a bell from across the table. The sound went by unheard by the adults, Thor's loud and booming voice being the loudest thing in the room.
Watching her, James noticed as Victoria looked up at him.
I know, but what? They're literally avoiding each other, her text read.
James sighed, he overlooked the obvious. He felt Luke peering over his shoulder and staring at his screen.
"So you text her now?", he nonchalantly tried to ask James as he looked back up. Not that he couldn't of course, but he was still curious.
James could detect the tiniest bit of jealousy in his tone. They have a thing too?
"I guess", the redhead shrugged, typing away. Francis was too intrigued by the topic of conversation that was being made next to him, although his ears did perk up at what his friends were saying. He brushed it off, James was probably texting his girlfriend back home or something.
Ohh yeah. What should we do about that?, he sent. Quickly, he typed in another message. Does she even like him?
This time, the familiar bell sound didn't ring. Victoria must've silenced her phone.
Well yeah. And um, idk. Does Luke have any ideas?
James sighed as he looked back up from his phone.
"So what're you-", he cut off Luke with his own question.
"Do you have any ideas to get them together?", James bluntly asked. Luke cocked his head, caught off guard by the sudden question. Not wanting Francis or Torunn to hear, James moved his head to the side, indicating that they were talking about Francis.
"Ohhh", Luke chuckled. "I might have an idea or two", he shrugged.
James smiled as he began to text Victoria back.
Luke has a plan
Alright. Tell him to meet me up in the living room, she texted back immediately.
Victoria patted her dad's arm, clearing up her throat. "I'm not really hungry, I think I'll just go ahead and go to the living room", she tried to smile.
"Are you alright?", Tony became concerned. Maybe she hit her head too hard again?
"Yeah, I'm fine", she reassured him as she slid out of her chair. She excused herself from the loud group, quickly making her way towards the living room, leaving Luke wondering as to why she cut dinner short.
"Okay, in a about three minutes fake a phone call", James whispered to Luke. He almost choked on his water.
"I'm sorry? What?", he looked at James as if he'd grown another head.
James rolled his eyes. "Go meet up with Victoria and tell her the plan".
"Oh", he looked down at his lap. "Okay".
The three minutes went by, and to Luke their plan still felt kind of staged. He reached into the pockets of his sweats, taking out his phone.
He pretended to accept the call, getting up as he brought the phone to his right ear.
"Hey", he spoke to no one on the other line. His parents looked up at him, confused that someone was calling their son at this hour.
"Um I have to get this", Luke covered his phone. "Excuse me", he weaved his way out of the packed dining room, still pretending to talk to his friend just in case anyone was eavesdropping. He was pretty sure Natasha and Clint taught their kids' their spying ways.
Once of ear shot, he slid his phone back in his the pocket of his sweats.
Victoria had her back to him, staring out into the frozen landscape, her arms crossed at her torso.
"Um hey", he coughed awkwardly.
Almost startled, she whirled around to finally face him.
"Hey", she smiled, making her way towards his taller figure. She stood about two feet in front of Luke, and he could smell the faint smell of her perfume. Her fragrance probably cost more than his shoes.
"So what's the plan?", she asked, getting right to the point.
For a minute, he almost lost track of his thoughts. She was just so close.
"There's this one room upstairs. I think we should lock them in there", now, saying his plan out loud, Luke felt foolish and kind of childish. It sounded so silly.
Victoria giggled. "Okay. How?".
"I don't know, I was hoping-", suddenly Luke's face lit up. "We can tell them that that's the room where they add up our points. So we all go up there, and at the last minute we shut the door and lock them in there!", his words were rushed and loud.
Victoria playfully smacked his arm, bringing her finger up to her lips. "Shh, someone might hear you".
Luke blushed. "You're right", he glanced around the room, seeing as they were still alone. Sometimes the nosey agents lingered a little too long, they haven't really gotten over the "starstruck" feeling.
Just when he was about to make conversation, Victoria motioned for him to look at the door.
"I think they're coming", she whispered as she hurried to take a seat on the couch. Luke heard the familiar steps of Francis's boots echoing down the hall, and Torunn telling James just how much stronger she was.
Hurriedly, and without realizing it, he sat right on the couch. His sudden motion bringing him a lot more closer to Victoria than intended.
"Save your talk. I am stronger", Torunn repeated as she sat at the single chair this time.
"Oh please", James scoffed, sitting across her with Francis at his side.
Victoria tried to ignore the stares from Francis as she absentmindedly scrolled down her screen, checking Twitter.
James whipped out his phone, typing up another text.
What's the plan?
Victoria didn't even look up this time.
You'll see. Just go with it.
Noticing their thumbs typing away, Francis decided to call them out.
"Why are you two texting?", he inquired, sitting at the edge of the couch. Both of them perked their heads up, along with Torunn. Luke became uninterested in the game of Sudoku he was just playing on his phone.
"We're not", Victoria rolled her eyes.
"You're not fooling anyone", Francis responded almost right away. He smiled cockily as he raised his eyebrows at his friend.
"I don't care. I don't have anything to prove to you", James shrugged, locking his phone and shifting in his place to get a better look.
Luke thought about what James just said. His words could be interpreted in two ways. One, they were indeed going out but wanted to maintain it a secret. Two, they were tired of Francis's bitchiness and didn't even bother to argue.
"Shut up", was all Victoria said as she left her phone on the table besides her. "You should be more concerned about the race", she inquired. This was Luke's cue as well.
"I think you, and the redhead here, should be the ones worrying. I'm in first place", he chuckled, finally relaxing on his seat.
Victoria let his comment go by, right now they had other matters to attend.
"I know where they add up our points", Luke brought up the subject.
"Really? Where?", Francis asked a little too eager. If he wasn't concerned, why so much interest?
"It's one of those old rooms upstairs. We can go right now if you guys want", he offered as he was already standing up.
Francis was the first to bolt up, James and Victoria following suit.
Victoria motioned for Torunn to follow them. After all, the plan would fail miserably if she didn't.
The group followed Luke to the right, another staircase coming into view. How come they didn't know about it? They really needed a map of this place. But no one asked the question that was being played in their minds'... How in the world did Luke know the building so well?
They trudged up the stairs, being careful enough not to stomp. Francis's boots were only making that difficult.
"Stop stomping", James grunted behind him. Francis didn't even bother to turn around, he gave James the finger.
At the last step, Luke led them to the left this time.
The hallways were dim in lighting, their path resembling a horror film setting.
They made their way through two more hallways, until Luke stopped at a door marked D34. The lock was damaged.
"I don't get it", James whispered as he eyed the old wooden door. "Why would they keep important information in such a crappy room?".
Torunn nodded next to him. This didn't make sense at all. The whole "follow me to the record room" plan seemed sketchy, but it wasn't like she had more amusing things going on in her life.
Luke lightly pushed open the door with the tip of his finger. The old hinges squeaking loudly as they all slipped inside.
At first, everyone except Victoria turned to give Luke an irritated look. This wasn't a record room. This was a bedroom. And an ugly one at that.
They weren't any projections floating around the room, or file cabinets for that matter.
"What the hell Banner?", Francis frantically turned around, walking right up to Luke. Luke, not wanting any problems today, backed away.
"Trust me, they keep the records around here somewhere. This room is huge", he tried to explain. He glanced around, almost unsure of himself. "We should look around. We'll see whatever's behind that door", he motioned over to a huge wooden door on the opposite side of the entrance.
"You and Torunn should look over to that door", Luke said, gathering Victoria and James.
Except there wasn't another door.
As soon as Torunn and Francis turned to look if there was one, Luke shoved himself and the others out of the room at an alarming speed.
He turned hastily to bolt the door, locking Torunn and Francis inside.
"Hey!", she yelled from the opposite side, her fists slamming on the wood.
"You're dead!", Francis threatened next to her, but it wasn't effective, only funny. The boys and Victoria erupted into obnoxiously loud laughs.
"Sorry!", Victoria yelled back, feeling the tiniest bit of guilt wash over her.
"You guys aren't coming out until you talk", Luke declared. "I'll know if you fake it and you do not want to piss me off", he finished, tapping the door softly with his knuckles. He hoped that was threat enough.
The banging stopped on the other side of the room.
"You think we over did it?", James chuckled, crossing his arms as he leaned on the opposite side of the dull hallway.
Luke shrugged. "Probably".
"They'll be fine", Victoria grinned, joining James.
On the other side of the room, everything was silent. The only thing that made any sound were the steady breaths Francis and Torunn were producing. Things got instantly awkward the moment Luke shut the door.
Francis coughed, sitting down on the stiff mattress. "I'm going to kill them", he huffed kicking at the old rug.
"You already said that", Torunn commented as she settled on the small couch, raising her legs and letting them rest on the other end of the couch. Francis tried not to stare.
"It's just that...", he trailed off.
"That what?", she questioned right away.
He contemplated on what to say. She already knew he liked her, ever since he didn't deny it that first time. Francis also wanted to tell her personally, but she made it so difficult. She was just too damn breathtaking.
"That they shouldn't get in my personal business", he finished off, not finding the courage for the right words.
Torunn's face fell. "Of course".
"Torunn?", Francis voice shook a little. Wow, was he nervous. Immediately, she looked up at him. The dim moonlight that shone through the curtains illuminating her face. Out of all days, Francis was grateful that she pulled her hair back into a braid; it really allowed him to get a good look of her without her long blonde hair getting in the way.
"Um", he fiddled with his thumbs. He drew in a deep breath, letting his tense muscles relax. "Do you like me?", he asked the million dollar question, his heart beating at an alarming speed.
Torunn looked down, she hated to be put on the spot. She took a full minute before responding. Did she actually like him? If so, what did she like about him? Could she change him? Will they actually last?
When she did speak though, she knew she was saying the truth. "I do", was all she said.
The biggest grin made its way present on Francis's lips. He felt his heartbeat slow down dramatically, the difficult part put behind him. A huge weight was lifted off his shoulders.
"Oh, um", he blushed, running a hand over his blonde hair. He didn't think he'd actually get this far.
Francis stood from his seat at the bed, closing the small distance between him and the girl he liked.
Noticing his actions, Torunn slid her legs over the couch, making the little space left available.
She felt her throat tighten as he stepped closer. Francis sat down next to her, turning slightly to look straight at her.
"Hey", he chuckled nervously, introducing himself like if they hadn't just been talking.
Giggling, Torunn kept the act going on. "Hello".
He inched closer, Torunn leaning back just a bit.
"I really wanna kiss you", he blurted out, reaching over her side and resting his arm behind her on the couch's arm.
"Nothing is stopping you", she whispered, eyeing his lips. He was so close, she was trying so hard to just not do it herself.
"You're right", he smirked as he kept his distance. Francis leaned over, and Torunn closed her eyes.
Here it goes...
Torunn stopped leaning back, bracing herself for what was coming. His lips came in contact with the skin at the corner of her lips. She sighed, blowing a bit of air onto the side of his face.
Francis laughed, kissing the other corner of her lips.
He leaned back, taking her hands in his.
"Are you sure you like me?", he asked one more time.
Torunn sighed once again, but nodded as she scoot closer to him.
"Alright...", he breathed in again. "Will you be my girlfriend?".
Her face lit up, her expression coming alive with a bright white smile. Her smile so wide, it created crinkles by her eyes. Francis knew he'd never get enough of that.
"Yes".
Francis's smile grew so wide, it showed off the tiny dents in his cheeks.
And finally he leaned closer until his lips ghosted over her's. She was anticipating the kiss for so long now, and he was stopping at every chance he got. Francis kissed Torunn softly, their lips making the slightest of contact. It was just a slow peck, but it was enough to make both of them blush madly.
Torunn began to giggle, bringing him closer by wrapping an arm around his neck.
His face lit up with idea. He silenced Torunn with another kiss, one she wasn't ready for.
"We can't let them know", Francis whispered to his girlfriend.
A look of confusion washed over her face. "Why not? Was that not the purpose for locking us in here?".
"Well yeah, but that was kind of unfair. I think we should prank them back", his cocky smug returned in a matter of seconds. Torunn was for the idea, it might even be kind of fun.
"Look, we walk out of here and when they ask what happened between us you say that we talked about things but that was all. So then they'll get disappointed and later on we can just say boom", he clapped his hands, "something did happen we just didn't tell you".
"That's payback really", he shrugged.
Torunn nodded. Now she had to prepare herself to lie.
"We can do this", she smiled as she stood up from the couch.
Francis gave her one last bear hug before separating himself from her.
Torunn walked out first, her face reading disappointment.
"Hey, what happened?", Victoria asked her as she walked over to her friend.
Torunn shrugged, nodding over at Francis.
"So?", James inquired.
"I would really appreciate if you stayed out of my business, ginger", Francis "snapped", as he proceeded to stand next to Luke.
"Uh, yeah I don't care", James laughed as he joined them. "Are you two like a thing now?".
Francis rolled his eyes. "No. We decided to stay just friends".
As the words left his lips, Victoria, James, and Luke shared an awkward look. So their plan failed...
"Oh", Victoria responded with a short answer.
While they looked every which way except theirs', Francis and Torunn smiled at each other for just a second. Their plan was working.
"I'm going to bed", Francis spoke in a low tone before leaving the group confused and shocked.