It was after one in the morning, but instead of sleeping (like I should've been) I was trapped in a corridor with a golden circle of light, Stephan Strange and who knows what else on their way.
Stephan stepped out, which I was braced for. My dad came next, which was a little more surprising, but not much. He was pretty overprotective. I expected Strange to close the portal after that, but he didn't. People just kept coming.
Rhodey and Steve and Natasha and Loki and Bruce and Clint and pretty much everybody else who could loosely be considered an Avenger came through the portal one by one, until we were all jam-packed in the hallway like it was Christmas.
"What the hell are all of you doing here?" I demanded once I'd regained my senses.
"Language!" Natasha yelled. Steve pushed her, and I had to stop being frustrated. No matter how tired I was, these people were my family.
I missed them.
"Look, I know this isn't your favorite thing to have happen, but there was a murderer loose in your school a few days ago," started my dad. "I can't just sit at home and not check on you, and neither can anyone else."
Everyone was smiling and nodding at me, and it felt like my heart was actually about to burst.
"Plus, we wanted to see your cool magic school!" yelled Peter, pushing his way through the tall, intimidating superheroes to get to me. Shuri was right behind him, and I wasn't surprised to see Loki pushing through right behind her.
"Well, it's good to see all you guys," I said. "Please keep in mind though, it's going on two am for me. But anyway, Dad, I'm okay. I mean, it is pretty scary that there was a murderer in the castle, but if he shows up I'm pretty sure I can beat him up before he gets the chance to do more than growl."
"Hell yeah you can," said Nat as Clint reached over and gave me a sly high-five.
"Language," added Steve, shooting Natasha a mock glare.
Light laughter made it's way through the group, until my dad got us back on topic.
"Okay, let's go back to focusing on the fact that you could get killed at this school," he said. He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, which I appreciated. "Look, I believe that you can take care of yourself if you need to. And I already had a long talk with that headmaster about his definition of 'safe'..."
"Wait, what? Dad!"
"...so I'm fine with you staying here. I just want you to know you can always come home, anytime you want or need to," he finished.
"I know Dad," I said, stepping forward and giving him a big hug. "I can get you on the phone in 1.3 seconds flat."
"And, if this murderer guy shows his face again, you can call any of us anytime and we'll come take care of him for you," added Uncle Rhodey, putting a hand on my shoulder as I stepped back from my dad.
"Oh, I have no doubt about that," I said with a grin.
"Good. Alright, we'll let you get some sleep. Come on everybody, move out. She'll be back for Christmas." Rhodey started herding everybody back through Strange's glowing portal, slowly but surely. They all grumbled a little bit, in their own ways.
I forgot how much I missed this bunch of lunatics.
"Alexa, next time you're home you're gonna start studying the Mystic Arts," said Strange.
"I mean, I'm cool with that. Any particular reason?"
"I'm tired of being the messenger for your dad. He panics too often for me to keep this up."
I grinned and Strange and I did the secret handshake we made up when I was eleven. I could see my dad rolling his eyes, which honestly just made it better.
"Alright, Alexa, can we get a minute?" asked my dad. Strange, Loki, Peter, and Shuri were all still standing with us, but they politely took a few steps further down the corridor. Loki, Shuri, and Peter clearly wanted to explore, but Strange wouldn't let them.
He looked like an exhausted dad trying to keep them all in one place.
Once we were pretty much alone, I turned back to my dad. He looked nervous, which made me start to feel nervous too.
"Alright, I know we talked about this and I said absolutely not," he started, clearly deciding to dive right in. "But I've been thinking about it and now that you're off on your own in this crazy world with magic and murderers and God know what else... I've been rethinking."
He looked at me expectantly, clearly waiting for a response, but I had no idea what was going on.
"Dad. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, right. Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of technology that looked like his arc reactor. He held it out to me, and I carefully took it. "It's nanotech. A full Iron Man suit that you can wear on you at all times, ready to go at the push of a button."
"Wow, Dad... I don't know what to say." I'd been asking him to make me my own suit for years. Now that I was finally holding one in my hand, it didn't seem real. "Thank you."
I rushed forward to give him a hug, burying my head in his chest like I did when I was little.
"I figured it was time," he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in closer. "It was going to be a Christmas present but with a murderer on the loose..."
I couldn't help it. I laughed.
"Just promise me you'll be responsible with it?" he said as we pulled apart.
"I promise Dad," I said, holding the small circular patch of suit with reverence.
"Alright, I trust you. You've always been more responsible than I was anyway."
I laughed again, smiling at the stupid expression on his face. After a minute, Strange and the others wandered back over.
"Peter, Shuri, look!" I yelled, holding out the suit for them to see. We all geeked out about it for a few minutes, and then Strange declared it was time to go.
"Alright Alexa, we'll see you in a few months," said Strange, reopening the portal.
"See you then." I waved, then had a sudden thought. "Wait! Dad, will this suit work here? Remember how I told you about the segfaults that magic makes?"
"Shit. I forgot about that. Here, let me see if it works."
I passed the suit back, and he tinkered with it for a few seconds before handing it back to me.
"It's not working. If you bring me your laptop, I can use that and fix it."
Now it was my turn to swear.
How the hell was I going to get my laptop out of my dorm and back to my dad without anyone noticing at two in the morning? I tried to think of the best way to do this, and after a minute I came up with a plan.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Dad, come back to this spot tomorrow just after noon my time. I can get my laptop to you then, and we'll go from there for a better place for you to work," I said.
"Alexa, I am done being a taxi service," whined Strange, trying and failing to give me a stern look.
I returned fire with my best 'pretty please' look, complete with puppy dog eyes.
We stayed like that for a minute, locked in a stare down. Finally, Strange broke.
"Ugh, fine." He rolled his eyes. "But you are spending every free minute over break learning to do sling portals on your own."
"Deal! Dad, I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow sweetheart." He pulled me in for another hug, then went back through Strange's portal. I said goodbye to Peter and Shuri, and then I was surprised by Loki coming in for a hug of his own.
"Your father won't be the only one visiting tomorrow if I have anything to say about it," he whispered to me before pulling away. He gave me a wink, I gave him a sly high-five, and then he was gone too.
"I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow too," sighed Strange.
"Yup! You know you love it." Strange rolled his eyes again, but this time he couldn't fully fight down a smile. He disappeared through his own portal before closing it, and then I was alone in the corridor again.
"Time to get the hell to sleep," I grumbled to myself, continuing the trek to Gryffindor tower. I was exhausted, but I was still in a much better mood than when I had started the night. My dad had taken my new suit with him, but just knowing that I would get it back tomorrow had me floating on air.
I finally made it to the Common Room and managed to avoid Percy or any teachers as I made my way up to my dorm. I never changed out of my pajamas to go to astronomy, so I collapsed straight into bed. I was out cold in seconds, confident I would sleep with a smile on my face.
By this time tomorrow, I'd have my arc reactor.