**One-shots, because I'm too lazy to actually write a chapter 12, after it mysteriously vanished. They don't really fit into the story, so don't stress about trying to make sense of them :D For this first one, please remember that red hair is non-existent on Hopea. There's only white, brown, and blond.**
Red Hair
"You know, I still haven't figured out Natasha's hair...." Eloyse mused.
"Really?" Clint looked up from his book at the girl. She was laying in the grass, chin cupped in her hands while she thoughtfully gazed at Natasha. The assassin was training by herself, and her red hair whirled around as she moved. "What's wrong with her hair?" Clint looked away from his friend. Eloyse was still glued on her.
"Nothing. It's beautiful. I've just never seen hair like that. Wavy, short..... red. Mostly the red. We have wavy and short hair, but no red hair." She dreamily sighed. Clint grinned and went back to his book, only to be interrupted by Eloyse again. "If you wash it, will all the red come out?"
He glanced up briefly, amused. "No."
"Was she born with it?"
"Yep."
"Does she like it?"
"I haven't asked. I suppose so."
"Where did she get it originally?"
"She was born with it."
"She didn't dye it?"
"We're going in circles now." Clint attempted to read again. His book, The City of Ember, was in a crisis at the moment.
"Can I have it?"
Startled, he glanced down. "Have what? My book? Because that's a no."
"Naw! Her red hair." Eloyse rolled over, explaining herself. "Not a lot! Just a little piece to see if the color will wash out."
Clint held back a snicker. "Sure. Help yourself. Just be careful; redheads can have a temper."
"So she'll be mad?"
Clint shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe you should ask her first."
Eloyse sighed contentedly and rolled back over to watch Natasha. "Naw. She'd say no."
*~*~*~*~*
"Where's Natasha?"
Eyes glued to his phone, Tony gave a vague wave, and Eloyse nodded her thanks, although the wave had only cut out a quarter of the world. She trotted off in the opposite direction.
Out of boredom, Wanda watched. In a few minutes, Eloyse returned, heading toward where they said Natasha was. Wanda rose and silently followed. Nat was leaning against a tree, reading a book. However, she had dozed off, head tipped against the tree and book open in her lap. Eloyse inched closer to the assassin, keeping behind her. She dropped to her belly, staying behind the small bushes with a ground crawl. Silently, she worked herself closer until she was only a arm's reach from Nat. Pulling something out of her pocket, she leaned forward.
Wanda clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized Eloyse held scissors. Working with infinite care and perfect silence, Eloyse separated a small strand of the red hair and ever so carefully slipped it in the scissors. She gently squeezed. Dropping her hands, she tucked the strand of hair and scissors in her pocket. She had just began crawling backwards when she hit a branch with her foot. Instantly, she froze, but it was too late.
Nat woke with a start, siting straight up and suspiciously looking around. When her glance landed on Eloyse, the dark-haired girl heaved a disappointed sigh and got to her feet. She had both hands behind her back, and a crestfallen look on her face.
"He was right..." She sadly shook her head. Natasha narrowed her eyes, closing the open book on her lap.
"Who? About what?"
"Nobody can sneak up on you and get away with it."
A faint smirk crossed Nat's face. She got to her feet. "See ya later, Healer Girl." Nat wandered away. Clint fell in step beside her, an odd grin on his face.
"She sneak up on ya?"
"No, not quite. She said nobody can sneak-"
"Yea, I heard." he paused, "You happy with her thought process?"
"Glad she thinks she can't do it." Nat responded. "It'll keep her from trying anything. She's way too much like you." Nat gave Clint a last smile before strolling away. Clint watched her go, arms crossed as he leaned against the tree. Glancing where Eloyse had been standing, he wasn't surprised to see her gone. He gave that odd little grin again.
"If only Nat knew."
**By the way, The City of Ember is a real book, and awesome! It's about a group of people who live underground, and how they resurfaced. Worth reading! It's a whole series.**
Play Battle
"Help, guys... please! I just got stabbed!" Eloyse gasped, dragging herself toward her teammates. Natasha glanced at her before turning away.
"Yea? Well Wanda just died, so I have an idea we're all going down." She rather bitterly said.
"Never fear!" Pietro appeared by Eloyse's side. "I'll whisk you a-OW!" He groaned and collapsed on his side. Clint rolled his eyes.
"And now Pietro's dead too."
"Oh, so three are down now?" Wanda piped up from her spot on the floor. She was sprawled on her back.
"Quiet, dead people don't talk." Natasha ordered. "And no, just you are dead. Pietro was just shot in the side and Eloyse is only stabbed." She peeped around the overturned table and aimed her gun. Pietro was still rolling around groaning. Eloyse leaned over and plucked the plastic suction dart from his side.
"There, all healed!"
Pietro instantly brightened. "You know, there's advantages to having a healer on your side!" He enthused a little too loudly.
"I still say it's not fair you guys got all three enhanced!" Tony complained from behind their team's flimsy pillow barricade.
Natasha smirked, calling back, "What's the matter, genius, playboy, philanthropist? Can't function without the suit?"
There was an audible groan from Tony, followed by an odd little noise from Bucky and Steve, who were glaring over their barrier at Natasha.
Steve raised himself a little higher. "New rule! No killing enemies with words!"
Everyone cracked up, especially since Steve had already died. Twice. The first time he had "miraculously recovered from a near fatal bullet wound in the chest" in his own words. The second time, Clint put the suction arrow between his eyes.
"That's for Wanda and Bruce!" He'd shouted, grinning merrily. There was another whimper from the pillow mound.
Iron Man wasn't allowed into the game, only Tony, and so only Tony it was. There was a catch for the rest of the players too, however. Eloyse and Wanda could only use one power each, Pietro couldn't go behind enemy lines, Steve wasn't allowed to have a shield, Clint had only five arrows, and Natasha was given bright pink guns that shot purple, foam bullets. Poor Thor discovered his hammer had been swapped for a fake one, Bucky was distraught to realize he couldn't use his metal arm, and Bruce was outlawed to the kitchen, doomed to make lunch for everyone, since he was the first to 'die'. In truth, they were rather relieved to have the other guy out of the game
Home Alone
Loud music blasting from a room somewhere greeted the three avengers when they walked in. Steve cocked his head, frowning. "JARVIS, turn the music off."
The AI's answer was lost in the sound, and the music continued. A moment later, however, Clint appeared, staring drunkenly at them as he leaned against the doorframe. His drunken gaze gradually changed as the realization sunk in. He kept staring at Steve, Thor, Bruce, Bucky, and Natasha for a few long seconds before saying something. All they could see was his lips moving, but the music suddenly was turned down a bit. Clint shifted uneasily. Steve stepped forward.
"What's going on?"
"Peter's here." Clint mumbled, as if that explained it all.
Natasha recognized the music as Taylor Swift's Blank Spaces. She pushed past her best friend to the room beyond, causing him to stagger sideways. "Oh great." She groaned, ignoring the fact that Thor had just caught Clint before he fell over. "We've got, let's see, a telekinetic mind-reading girl, enhanced speedster boy, a boy who can imitate spiders, and an alien girl who's got all sorts of powers. All teenagers. And all stone drunk from the looks... Did I forget to mention the passed-out billionaire on the couch and the drunk babysitter?"
Eloyse looked up as Nat appeared. She gave the redhead a wide grin, whirling over toward her and singing along with the song.
"Well it's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames!"
She spun by Pietro, touching the boy on the shoulder. Pietro straightened, and the dumb, clouded haze left his face.
"I've got a long lost of ex-lovers."
She flounced over to Peter who was draped over the couch, dropping down close beside him.
"They'll tell you I'm insane."
She brushed her fingertips across Peter's cheek enticingly, leaning closer to him. He drunkenly tipped towards her with a sloppy grin.
"But I got a blank space, baby, and I'll write your name."
She stood up, patting his bare arm before whirling over to Wanda. She gave the older girl a quick hug. Everyone she touched perked up and lost their drunken look. Eloyse didn't seem affected at all by the alcohol. She bounced over to Tony and jumped on him, siting on his chest as she sang,
"Screaming, crying, perfect storm."
She put her hands on Tony's shoulders and leaned down, laying on his chest with her arms crossed and feet kicked up. She paused singing to let a jolt of her power through him. He jerked awake, and Eloyse hopped off. She returned to the fully alert Peter, sinking down beside him.
"If the high was worth the pain."
She leaned in on him again, and he unconsciously leaned into her a little. She had a smile flickering on her face, an odd look in her eye.
Natasha watched in shock. Was she really FLIRTING? Maybe she WAS drunk.
Eloyse teased Peter, drawing him in until their foreheads touched, then suddenly springing away and spinning ballerina-style over to where Clint was. She took his hand, and he got a startled expression. Tony was struggling to sit up, clutching a bottle. His lips were moving, probably mumbling some incoherent phrases. He was so stoned Eloyse couldn't fully sober him.
"JARVIS turn the music off!" Steve bellowed. No change.
"JARVIS, music." Eloyse said, barely audible over the sound. Instant quiet reigned. And in that quiet, five deathly sober people found themselves gazing at five very angry superheroes. Peter shifted, avoiding eye contact. Pietro speeded over to Wanda, and they tensely held hands. Tony blinked like a sleepy owl, then gaped and paled upon seeing everyone home. Clint was unusually set and quiet. After all, he'd been left as the serious one, to keep everyone in line. Eloyse was the only one who didn't seen too concerned. Clint stammeringly tried to explain.
"Uh, Eloyse's never heard Taylor Swift. Neither h-had Wanda or Pietro."
The disciplinary team was silent, digesting this information, then Steve spoke.
"Did you know the security, three floors down, called us to report partying somewhere upstairs? They knew we were out, and wanted to double-check nobody broke in."
"Why would somebody break in and have a party?" Eloyse frowned.
"If somebody actually managed to break into Stark Tower, it would certainly be worth a party." Natasha pointed out. Bucky snorted, nodding. Steve bumped him, since Nat was out of his reach.
"You're not helping."
Bruce finally posed a logical question. "Uh... why won't JARVIS listen?"
"Eloyse hacked into him, uh, it. Him? and made it so it, eh, he'll only answer to certain people." Clint winced. The explanation had sounded a lot better when Eloyse had "gifted" him the opportunity to tell half the Avengers why the AI had hit the terrible twos.
Steve groaned and ran a hand over his face. This was a mess.
"Clint, to your room. Bruce, take Tony to his room. Peter, go home. Now. Wanda, Pietro, rooms." he turned a cold look on them. Pietro swooped up Wanda and they were gone. Steve turned to Eloyse, "And you, miss-" he was cut off as Eloyse abruptly vanished in a blur. Pietro had come back for her. Steve swore softly. Clint opened his mouth to say 'language' them thought better of it and quietly slipped away.
*~*~*~*~*
The next morning posed several interesting questions, seeing as both Clint and Tony were hungover, and the teenagers didn't seem to remember what happened anyway. Steve called it "selective memory."
"What movies did you watch?" Natasha curiously asked.
Tony shrugged. "Dunno. Don't care."
Nat turned to Eloyse, who thoughtfully frowned. "I don't remember the names of them all. There was this one that was really sad for most of it. It was about this girl and her sister, who were locked away in the castle, apart from each other. Even after their parents died, they didn't go out. And when they finally did, one fell in love with this guy who betrayed them both, and almost killed them."
"Huh?" Natasha frowned, "What was it called?"
"Don't remember. But it had a talking snowman, and one of the girls had cool ice powers."
"Frozen?"
"Sounds right."
"And there was another one about a naked kid who grew up with animals and was scared of people."
"Come again?"
"The Jungle Book," Clint grunted, having just come into the kitchen. He sleepily helped himself to coffee. Nat smirked.
"What else did you watch?"
"Uh, How to Train Your Dragon, Rats of Nihm, Supernatural.. I think that's all?"
"Wow, uh... good for you. That's a lot of movies for one night." Nat shook her head thoughtfully, smiling to herself.