The first part of the ride was in Tony's car.
June got in there after Tony had picked Peter up and the difference in behavior appeared almost immediately. Peter couldn't stop jumping on his seat and let out involuntary squeals every once in a while, but gradually stopped when he noticed June wasn't going to follow him in his excitement. Her mood was particularly shifty that day, and she had spent the whole hour in which she got ready alternating moments of desperation, anger and hysteria.
"You two are gonna be just fine, I promise you," Tony suddenly said, his eyes flicking between the rearview mirror and the road in front of him. He knew he didn't have to worry about Peter at all –if not for the fact that he could have caused mayhem around the airport with his excitement-, but June was making him rethink his decisions. It was her choice to go with them, he knew he didn't force her in any way, but something told him she wasn't particularly thrilled at the thought of fighting Steve and the others.
For the first time that day, Tony wondered how someone with such an amazing and uncontrollable power could be so calm and reasonable. He would have probably freaked out, but most people would have turned downright evil with such a power. He knew it was a danger to put her in the spotlight like that but, as much as he hated to admit it, in that moment he cared more about his personal issues than protecting other people's secrets.
"Did you sleep at all last night?" Peter asked June in the mean time, trying to distract her from the thought that there was no way Tony could assure them they were going to be ok.
June shook her head, a small smile ghosting on her lips. She had huge dark bags under her eyes, which meant she had slept even less than she normally would after a mission. Peter knew it was a pathology, and it was insomnia, probably caused by a hint of depression always present in June's life, but he wanted to pretend to be too naïve and superficial to admit it.
"We're here," Tony stated, the car slowing down and then coming to a stop. The three of them simultaneously sighed in relief for not having to be in that awkward situation and, one after another, they all got out of the car.
Still slightly on the edge, June tripped on her own feet two times before balancing herself to look at her surroundings. She had noticed they had gotten out of town, since the majestic skyscrapers of New York were far in the distance, but what was even more majestic and completely took the two kid's breaths away was the enormous, modern and probably highly functional plane standing in front of them. June was sure it wasn't a plane, and neither a helicopter, but she didn't know how to name it because she had never seen something like that in her whole life.
"Woah," Peter stated, his eyes wide in stupor. The bridge of the 'plane' was open, and June noticed a few people standing inside, too busy to notice the arrival of the three.
"This is a quinjet," Tony stated, patting the two on their backs before hinting them to walk further. Before they could get in the so-called quinjet, though, the people inside noticed the three and anticipated them, crowding on the bridge to observe who the two teenagers were.
"No way!" Peter almost yelled, trying to act cool since, considering how they all were acting, June knew they were quite important people.
Peter would talk about them to June all the time. She knew their names, and could associate them with faces, but the excitement that had increased even more in Peter just couldn't reach her in any way. She was too scared to feel anything else.
"Seriously, Tony? Kids?" the only woman in the group asked. June recognized her as Natasha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow and, just like when Peter had firstly described her, June immediately felt suspicious towards the woman.
Tony wrapped his arms around Peter and June's shoulders and a huge smirk appeared on his face.
"These kids could kick your four asses in a heartbeat, literally," Tony said, making June blush. She definitely wasn't used to compliments, even if saying that she could beat someone up like a pro was a twisted type of compliment. "We've already won with them by our side."
"Well then, why are we even fighting," a man with dark skin and a suit that looked very similar to Tony's said, rolling his eyes. That was James Rhodes, aka Iron Patriot. Next to him were who she thought was Vision, who was observing her like a painting in a museum and it creeped her out, and T'Challa, also known as Black Panther.
"Come on, introduce yourselves," Tony pushed the two forward again and June sent Peter a quick stare to mentally inform him of the level of panic she was at currently. He nodded at her, quickly squeezing her hand before letting go.
"My name is Peter Parker, but I go as Spiderman. And she is June Sullivan, also known as Clessidra. I gained my powers when a spider bit me-"
"Yeah, yeah, we already know all about you, spider kid. But you," Natasha turned towards June, a frown on her face. "what is it that you actually do?"
June opened her mouth to speak, but Vision talked before she could say anything. "She controls time."
Silence fell around the small group, but June felt oddly calm. She was surprised that Vision knew, but she wasn't that bothered on how he did it. Now they knew about it, and they could have decided either to accept it or consider her a freak. Either way, she didn't have to hide for once, and that felt too good to act all shy since everyone was staring at her.
"Really?" T'Challa asked. June simply shrugged, searching for Peter's assurance once again.
No one really knew what to say and, nevertheless, June was starting to feel quite annoyed, when Tony clapped his hands and said it was time to leave.
They all gathered inside the quinjet and June sat down on a seat, securing her bag between her legs before putting her seat belt on. She placed her hands on her knees and, when she raised her head, she noticed that her and Peter were the only ones who had actually sat down and did what was normal before a flight. Natasha was randomly standing next to Tony, who was guiding the quinjet, and was observing the view in front of her. T'Challa was standing still with his arms crossed, Rhodes was checking his tablet and Vision was still staring at her.
"He creeps me out," June whispered towards Peter, who followed her gaze towards the droid.
"Shhh." Peter elbowed her with a panicked expression. "He probably heard you."
He stood still as a statue when he noticed Vision was floating towards them. June hoped he wasn't going to threaten her or anything.
"Are you busy? I want to exchange a few words with you, if you don't mind," he politely said. June nodded without saying a word and he sat down next to her, opposite to where Peter was standing.
"Time is a very peculiar power to hold. Do you know how you acquired it?" he asked, talking about it as if it was one of the most normal conversations in the world.
June shook her head. "It just appeared, one day. No previous signals, no weird accidents, nothing. It was just as if my mind had reached a point of maximum saturation, and then it exploded."
Vision remained silent for a moment, before talking again. "One of the Stones can control time, but you don't seem to hold it. You just... you had it in you, since you were born." Vision nodded to himself, probably finding something that confirmed his hypothesis.
"The Stones?" Peter asked, tilting his head to the side to look at him behind June's head.
"Infinity Stones. Powerful gems that make whoever holds all six of them omnipotent and omniscient. I hold the Mind Stone," he said, pointing to a yellow shining gem resting in the centre of his forehead. June observed it for a moment, but nothing snapped in her.
"One of the Stones has the power of controlling time, past and future, to slow it down, accelerate it or even stop it. But, as I said before, you have nothing to do with the Stones."
"Thank God," June couldn't help but say, gaining a frown from Vision and a chuckle from Peter. She meant it, though. Her life was already quite messed up as it was, she didn't need to be compared to Stones that probably were the object of some evil person's desires.
Vision seemed to ignore her statement, probably not even understanding something like sarcasm. "You're handling your powers very well, I must admit. They're really strong and might overcome you, but they haven't already, which is impressive."
June raised her eyebrows but smiled nonetheless. That android was extremely straight forward and probably had no idea what tact was, but what he had said wasn't news to her. She knew she wasn't controlling her power entirely, and that one day or another it could get too strong and she wouldn't be able to control it in any way. But she didn't worry about it, because she had no idea of what would happen if her powers slipped out of her control.
"Thanks," she muttered.
"I can help you, once this is over. I can teach you how to control it, how to avoid being overpowered by it."
June was taken by surprise and held a breath as Peter almost chocked on his own spit. He had listened to their whole conversation intently, but would have never expected Vision to say something like this, and so didn't June.
The thought of being able to fully control her powers was highly tempting, but June was still in denial since she was thirteen. Going on missions with Peter was one thing, it seemed like a game, but helping Tony Stark had put her situation into a complete different perspective, way more scary and real than the previous one. Accepting to be trained by an android would have meant way too much for her, and she knew she wasn't ready for such a step.
"Thank you, but I have to refuse for now," she politely replied, searching for some kind of reaction in those icy eyes. They flickered for a moment, but that was all she could see.
"I understand. If you need any help or suggestion, don't hesitate on calling me."
June nodded and looked as he stood up to walk towards Tony and Natasha. She stared at him for a moment before turning towards Peter and exchanging with him an expression of pure shock.
June is so rude and I LOVE IT
I'm sorry I'm being so late with updates, I have no excuses lol so just forgive me please I'M SORRY
love you all so much,
Elena.