James smiled at Torunn. She was waving her sword around as the civilians around them cheered. They all loved her so much. She was the daughter of Thor, and they had grown up together, since his parents were Steve Rogers and Natalia Romanova. She pretty much ignored him.
Once the parade in honor of the young Avengers was over, they all retired back to the Avengers towers. James grabbed Torunn's arm, and pulled her aside to talk to her. She was the one who had saved all of them this time, and he was grateful. He just wanted to tell her that, but she as soon as they were in an empty room, the alarm went off. She ran off with a brief apology.
James slammed his fist into the wall, accidentally punching a hole straight through. It was impossible to get a chance to talk with her, because she was always running off and being a hero. He knew that the same was expected of him, but after that incident last year, he had been told to stay on the sidelines for a while.
Since all the Avengers and their kids were always off fighting crime, leaving him alone, he had found plenty of time to explore the city without getting chewed out. Steve and Natalia were pretty strict about him staying in the tower when they were gone, and even Tony, his
adoptive father, seemed to agree with that.
As soon as the tower was empty, James left as well, and he made his way to the Bronx, where one of his friends lived. He had met her when her brother decided to become an Avenger, and she had decided that they were going to be friends. He knocked politely on her door once he was there, about twenty minutes later.
She answered with a knowing grin, and gestured for James to enter. He did, and made himself comfortable on the big couch. "James. How lovely to see you. What's the occasion?"
He crossed his arms over his chest. "I just need to talk to someone, and you're the first person that came to mind. Sorry."
She handed him a glass of soda, then sat down next to him. "No, it's fine. I just thought that you would rather talk to someone your own age."
James shrugged. He didn't really know anyone his own age who wasn't currently out risking their life for the sake of the city. He sighed. "The thing is, I have a friend, Torunn Thorson, and I don't know when exactly I realized, but I know that I love her. But she doesn't even notice me. She's always too busy off fighting crime and what ever else. I can't… I don't know how to catch her attention."
Wanda Maximoff nodded. "I remember what it's like to be in love with someone who doesn't return your feelings. It can be tough, but you will manage to get over her, and find someone knew to give your heart to."
James shook his head, and kept talking. He didn't notice that his friend suddenly looked dazed. "I just wish that the world was different. Like what if all the heroes were villains and vice versa? Then she wouldn't be too busy saving the world to look my way."
Wanda screamed, and James jumped up in surprise. Her whole body was shaking, and suddenly the room was filled with a red light. He gasped. His friend had lost control of her powers right while he was talking about an alternate reality… oh boy, that wasn't going to end up well.
He reached out, maybe in an attempt to comfort or calm her, but the red light exploded out, and his vision was filled with red, and nothing else.