I sit down in the jet, exhausted and hungry. Tony flies us out of there and back to the tower.
"You guys coming back?" Roy asks in my earpiece which I didn't turn off yet.
"Yeah Roy. See you in a couple of hours," I say before turning the earpiece off.
Dad comes over and sits next to me. He puts his arm around me and I lean into him, closing my eyes.
"You okay?" He asks me.
I smile, still keeping my eyes closed. "Yeah I'm just tired and hungry," I say.
"As usual." Everyone says.
I open my eyes and glare at everybody. "Alright I didn't ask." I look at Clint who's laying on a table. "How you holding up Clint?"
He groans. "Never better."
Natasha gets up and walks over to Bruce who has headphones on, listening to music to calm himself down. He takes them off and they converse a bit before Natasha turns to Thor.
"Thor, report on the Hulk?"
"Oh shit." I chuckle, already knowing Thor is gonna fuck this up. Dad slaps the back of my head.
"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims," Thor answers proudly. I hide my laughter and Natasha gives him a 'what the hell' look. Bruce groans and puts his head in his hands. Thor tries to recover, "Uh, but, not the screams of the dead, of course. No no, uh...wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh... and gout."
"Nice save." I sarcastically say to him and chuckle a little.
"Hey Banner, Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony calls from upfront.
"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce answers
"Thanks." Tony then makes his way over to Thor, Dad, and me as we look at the scepter. "It feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..." He says to Thor.
"No, but this...this brings it to a close," Thor says.
"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Dad says. I clear my throat. Jesus I'm just invisible today! Dad looks at me. "N-no... that's not what I meant. From what you told me, he could only give powers to children, so how is he capable of giving powers to those other kids... teenagers I mean? Plus you got your powers from a serum, not the scepter."
"Banner and I'll give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you?" Tony asks Thor who nods. "I mean, just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying right?" Tony asks the god.
"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels." Thor answers.
"Yeah. Who doesn't love revels? Captain? Speedy Gonzales?" Tony asks us.
"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA, so. Yes, revels." Dad answers.
Tony looks at me. "I do what he says," I answer, pointing at Dad.
A few hours later the jet lands at the tower. Once it does Barton is immediately taken away and everyone else walks out of the jet except Dad, Tony, and I. I'm waiting for Dad to finish packing up.
"Lab's all set up, boss," Maria says to Tony as she comes in the jet.
Tony points at Dad. "Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler."
I laugh a little and get up as Dad does too.
"What's the word on Strucker?" Dad asks Maria as we walk over to her.
"NATO's got him." She answers.
"The two enhanced?" Dad asks.
"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins." Maria says as she hands a tablet with a video of them to Dad, and I take a peek at it. "Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building." She continues as we walk out of the jet. "Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special."
"Their abilities?" Dad asks as we walk to the elevator.
"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Maria answers.
I look over at Dad and see him giving her a confused look which I had to laugh at.
"He's fast and she's weird." Maria dumbs it down for him. "The boy is just like (Y/n)."
"Except I have more experience with my powers," I mention.
"Well, they're going to show up again," Dad says as he hands the tablet back to Maria. The elevator dings and opens up.
"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts." Maria says as we step into the elevator.
"Well at least they had a choice," I mutter.
Dad presses the button to the floor where our rooms are as he says, "Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"
"We're not at war, Captain," Maria says.
"They are." He answers as the elevator door closes.
There was a moment of silence until I speak up.
"I still can't believe there's someone else with my abilities," I say.
"Yeah. Don't underestimate him though. No matter how much more experienced you are." He tells me.
I nod. "I won't."
The elevator opens up to the living room where the couch and my pillow, Roy, is waiting for me. I plop on the couch and lay my head on Roy's lap. Dad goes down the hall, most likely to his room.
"You okay?" Roy asks.
"Yeah, just tired and hungry, but mostly tired," I mumble as I get comfortable.
"Get some rest. I can order some pizza when you wake up." He says softly as he strokes my hair and I drift off to sleep.
...
The day of the party came faster than I knew it. This week has been a stressful week at school so a party might help with that stress. I make my way to my room to get ready for the party. I go to pick out a dress when I already see there's one on the bed. I go over to the dress to see it has a note on it.
'Your stylist has you covered.' - Natasha
I smirk at the note. Stylist Natasha strikes again. She knows how to pick out some nice dresses though. It's a royal blue dress that kind of exposes a lot in the back, but still looks really nice. I grab my silver high heels to match it and then I quickly take a shower, washing my hair and shaving, then coming out to dry my hair. I put on the dress and then do my hair, using a curling iron to straighten my hair with little curls at the ends.
Once I finish up I walk out of my room and to the elevator, pushing the button to the floor the party is on. The elevator dings and I walk out and look at the party around me. I walk around trying to find a familiar face.
"And who is this lovely lady?" Tony comes up and puts his arm around me. He has a drink in his other hand and takes a sip from it. I smile and blush a little. "Not sure how Cap is gonna react to the dress. It does expose a lot of skin in the back but I have to say it looks marvelous on you." He compliments me.
"Thanks, Tony," I say as I take his drink and take a few sips.
"I'm gonna let that slide." He says as I hand him his drink back.
"You clean up nicely too," I say and fix his suit and straighten his tie.
Tony looks around and then smirks. "Here comes Capsicle, good luck." He pats my shoulder and walks away.
I look after him. "Tony!" I call to him, wanting him to come back. I look back and see Dad in front of me, smiling. "Hey Dad." I shyly wave.
"You look... wow." He says, becoming speechless. He smiles at me proudly and then gives me a hug.
We pull away from the hug just as Roy comes over to us.
He looks at me with widened eyes. "(Y/n), you look... amazing." He says as he stares at me.
"You don't look so bad yourself," I tell him.
"Look who it is!" A familiar voice exclaims. We all look in the direction of the voice to see it's Sam Wilson.
"Hey Sam." Dad smiles at the man.
"Hey man." They shake hands and go in for a bro hug.
Sam then looks at me. "Why hello beautiful."
"Hey Sam." I smile and give him a hug.
Sam looks at Roy once we pull away. "Who is this?" Sam asks as he looks at Roy.
"Roy Jones." Roy introduces himself to Sam and holds out his hand.
"Sam Wilson. You can call me Sam." He says as he shakes Roy's hand. "So you're the boyfriend the team was telling me about," Sam says as he looks between me and Roy.
"Boyfriend?!" Roy and I both exclaim. Dad and Sam laugh at our flustered faces.
"I don't know who told you that Sammy, but I'm very single," I say to him.
"It was probably Natasha or Clint," Roy mutters.
"Wouldn't put it past them," I say back to him.
I spent most of my time at the party with Roy since we were the only kids at the party. At one point we did watch Sam and Dad play pool which I helped him win by using my speed, all Dad's idea too. Thor offered Dad an Asgardian drink which he didn't like so he let me take a sip since he knows I can't get drunk and it was really good so he let me have it. Thor says it's not meant for 'mortal men', but an old man just thought Thor was trying to scare them and wanted some. He ended up extremely drunk and had to be carried out.
Right now I'm sitting on the couch on the floor below everyone. Roy is sitting on the couch with me too, examining a pair of katanas he found in the weapons room of the tower. Everyone else left, but the Avengers and a few others. I'm staring at the wall ahead of me thinking about that fast Sokovian bastard, his sparkling blue eyes, his soft flowing hair, his smile, and his lovely accent.
"Hey lovebirds, come on up here and join the conversation." Tony interrupts my daydream as he yells at me and Roy from above.
We look up at Tony and glare.
"We're not dating!" We yell in unison, making everyone up there laugh.
Roy and I make our way up the stairs to where the rest of them are. It's three in the morning, but since it's not a school night Dad's not complaining about us being up.
"Where did you get the katanas from?" Maria asks Roy.
"Weapons room. I got bored." He shrugs and starts spinning one of them in his hand.
"Careful where you swing those things," Clint warns.
Roy and I sit on the floor, leaning against the couch that Dad and Thor are sitting on. Everyone was having their own personal conversations so Roy and I started talking to one another.
"But it's a trick!" Clint yells as he twirls his drumstick, causing Roy and I to stop our conversation to see what's going on. I see Clint looking at Thor's hammer so that's what they're probably talking about which interests me even more.
"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor says.
"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick." Clint says.
Thor laughs, "Well please, be my guest." He gestures to the hammer on the coffee table.
At this point everyone was watching what was going on now.
"Come on." Tony encourages.
"Really?" Clint says.
"Yeah!" Thor says.
Barton gets up and makes his way to the hammer.
"Oh this is gonna be beautiful." Tony's friend, James Rhodes, says.
"This is gonna be good," I say.
"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony jokes and we all laugh.
"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint says to Thor and grabs the handle with one hand, grunting as he tries to lift it, but fails. "I still don't know how you do it." Clint laughs.
"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony says, making everyone laugh again.
"Please, Stark, by all means," Clint says to him.
Tony gets up. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge."
"Get after it," Clint says to him as Tony makes his way to the hammer.
"It's physics," Tony says as he puts the strap of the hammer on his wrist.
"Physics!" Bruce says.
"Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony asks Thor.
"Yes, of course." The god answers confidently knowing Tony isn't gonna lift it.
"I will be reinstituting Prima Nocta," Tony says, making Roy and I laugh.
The others look at us, obviously not knowing what it is.
Tony looks at us. "How do you two know about that?"
"School, duh." Roy answers.
"Go on Stark," I say, gesturing to the hammer.
He tries to lift the hammer but fails. "I'll be right back." He says and walks away. He comes back with his armored glove and tries again, but still fails. He then gets Rhodey to get his armored glove to help him lift it.
"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asks him.
"Are you on my team?" Tony asks him.
"Just represent! Pull!"
"Alright, let's go!"
They both tried pulling and still failed. They eventually give up and Bruce goes up next. He tries to lift it but fails and roars. We all look at him.
"Huh?" He questions.
Next it was Dad's turn.
"Come on Dad!" I say to him as he gets up.
"Let's go, Steve, no pressure," Tony says.
"If anybody should lift it, it should be him and (Y/n)," Clint says. "Maybe even Roy."
"Thanks, Clint," Roy says sourly.
Dad rolls up his sleeves as he makes his way to the hammer. He grabs the handle and starts pulling. The hammer creaks as he manages to move it a bit. Thor's smile dropped as it was replaced with a little fear and I couldn't help but laugh. After that the hammer didn't move anymore so Dad lifts his hands up in defeat.
Thor laughs in relief. "Nothing."
Dad sits back down in his spot. I look at him and whisper, "You totally could have lifted that, couldn't you?" I ask him.
He smirks but doesn't answer my question.
"Speedy Gonzales, your turn," Tony says.
"Aw, but I was having fun watching you guys fail," I say.
"Well now you can fail with us," Clint says.
I laugh. "I doubt that thing will budge so no I'm not trying," I tell them. "Roy you go." I gesture to him to go.
"Alright." He says as he gets up.
"Let's go Roy." Tony cheers.
I turn to Dad. "Can I have a sip of that?" I say, referring to his alcohol. He hands it to me and I take a few sips.
"Steve!" Maria says, looking at me as I continue to drink from the bottle. Her and Rhodey look at Dad and then me who's still drinking the alcohol.
I stop drinking and hand the bottle back to Dad. "Relax I can't get drunk," I reassure them.
They look at Dad and he nods. "I wouldn't give it to her if she could get drunk. I'm a good parent." Dad says as he takes a sip from his bottle.
"That's debatable," Tony says.
"Leave Dad alone Tony. He's a good father." I say as I look at Dad.
"Thanks (Y/n)," Dad says and messes up my hair.
We all look as Roy tries, but fails. He comes and takes his seat next to me.
"Widow?" Bruce looks at Nat.
"Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered." She refuses.
"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged," Tony says.
"You bet your ass," Clint says as he pats Tony's back.
Maria points to Clint. "Steve, he said a bad language word."
Dad looks at Tony. "Did you tell everyone about that?"
"The handle's imprinted, right?" Tony says, ignoring Dad. "Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"
"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." Thor says as he gets up, grabs his hammer, and flips it. "You're all not worthy."
"What?! No!" I say in disagreement.
There was a chorus of disagreement from everyone, but it's silenced by a loud screeching noise that makes us cover our ears.
And so the fun begins!
—ASE715