Once Chloe was asleep, the nurse spoke up.
"It's an abnormally bad case of the stomach flu." she'd said, "You'll probably want to keep her here until her potassium and everything gets back into order." then, she looked to Malissa, who had no doubt told answered all the nurse's questions while you were absent. "Has she been throwing up all day?" she finally asked.
"We haven't been with her all day." You answered, drawing the nurse's attention from Malissa, "We go to different schools, and she has club activities until Micheal or Scarlet can walk her home at four-thirty."
Christine gave you an odd look, but she didn't say anything. She didn't need to start a fight, after all.
"What school does she go to?" a younger-than-thirty voice asked.
"Peter Parker. The spider-man." Micheal deadpanned, "Shouldn't you be at home, with your family?" the malice in his tone was hidden, but everyone could hear it. The teen turned to glare at the superheroes.
"Why are any of you even here, anyway? Since when do you actually care about what happens to the people and not the population, huh?" he glared at Stephen, who didn't show any emotion as he got scolded by the teenager.
"Okay, Micha, that's enough," Malissa spoke up, reaching for his hand, "We don't need to start a fight with the Avengers too."
Micheal angrily pulled his hand away, licking his busted lip as he sneered, "Yeah, sure. Like a punch would actually hurt any of them." he spat, "Thor's practically Luke mother-fucking Cage."
"Who?" Rhodey asked.
"Yeah, Luke Cage. He does half of your job for you. In Harlem." Micheal glared at the War Machine now, "And he's more of a hero than you are if you ask me."
"Yeah, well he didn't." You snapped, swiftly walking up and getting between him and the team of superheroes, "So drop it, Micheal." you practically growled.
The younger teen's gaze shifted from them to the Avengers, slowly forming a puzzle and putting together in his mind.
"They're here for you, aren't they?" he asked, anger seeping into his voice, "They're here to sign you up for their team, adopt you, and forget us, aren't they?" he asked, getting louder, "Aren't they?!" he demanded, his hands balling into fists as he practically yelled.
"Micheal. You're going to wake Chloe up." Scarllet snapped.
The delinquent turned, glaring at her too, "Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say? I couldn't hear you over how much of an anxious mess you are." he scowled, squinting at her, daring her to fight back.
But of course, as always, she never did. Instead, she chose to shrink into herself ever so slightly as she turned her focus back to Chloe.
"Micheal. Ross." You snapped, "that's enough." you told him, your voice stern and honestly reminding Tony of a mother.
"Yeah, right. Whatever you need to say to make yourself feel better." Micheal rolled his eyes, "Besides, what's betraying another family to you, anyway? I'm sure you could kill all of us without hesitation, right–"
One word others could use to describe you: Merciless.
You grabbed Micheal by the hair, bringing his face close to your own, "Watch. Your. Words." You spat. You pulled back on Micheal's hair and let go, sending him flying to the floor.
"I don't blame your situation on you, okay? The least you can do is give me more credit for the fact that I try to help you, despite how royally fucked you are." You sighed, suddenly feeling extremely tired.
Did this happen every day? No.
Did it feel like it did? Yes, very much so.
You started a string of curses under your breath as you saw a small bit of blood on your hands. You'd pushed it too far.
"Y/n?" Katie spoke up, her eyes wide with fear, "Did you just kill Micheal?"
It was an innocent question. Katie was actually concerned about her foster brother, but the question hurt. Is that was she thought of you? A merciless killer? Merciless enough to kill your own brother?
Your features softened as she took a step closer to Katie, who was now being held safely in Thor's arms.
Thor took a step back, and you froze. He thought you were dangerous.
You took a deep breath, trying your best not to cry or let your voice break, "No, sweetie I would never–" your voice broke and she covered her mouth with the back of her closed fist. I Wish I'd left my parents when they told me to.
When an arm landed harshly on your shoulder, you immediately knew what the person was trying to do.
You turned around to see a surprised Captain America. "As much as I wish it would," you whispered, "That doesn't work. None of it does."
A/N: Well, this is a pretty short chapter, and I'm sorry, but I needed to write it and I figured it was nice to end in a semi-suspenseful place. :)