Erin studied herself in the reflective golden elevator interior. Her hands trembled as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. For the hundredth time she smoothed the skirt of her casual black dress before clutching the thin strap of her satchel so tight that her knuckles turned white. She grimaced and wiggled her toes inside the tight, shiny black heels she only wore to business meetings. Once she'd returned home Erin had received a phone call from Tony inviting her to the partially destroyed Stark Towers although for what he wouldn't say. Secretly she hoped it would be to discuss further employment with him. During her little odd job of collecting Jane, Erin had really got on well with Mr Stark. He was a fun employer and if he hired her – though for what she had no clue – then she could quit her pathetic Starbucks job finally.
With the typical ding the elevator doors slid smoothly open and Erin stepped out. This was evidently one of the levels that had been unaffected by the battle through the city. Through the massive windows she could see the half-destroyed cityscape between the pulley ropes of the teams of builders that swarmed the outside of the building to repair the damage. The TV, which was as wide as her body was tall, had been turned up to maximum volume in order to mask the reconstruction racket outside. Some sort of modern music channel blasted out synthetic beats which were average at best in Erin's opinion. She wasn't really acquainted with modern music as it was all more or less the same song now and that bored her.
Where it was yet to be properly decorated the room was painstakingly white with only sparse splashes of colour provided by the haphazardly placed furniture and holo-screens to alleviate her eyes. A sweep of the room revealed to Erin that there were more people present than she had expected. Dr Banner was in the kitchenette drinking and chatting with Tony and a man she only knew as Hawkeye from her father's stories and news reports. Natasha lazed in one of the many plush cream leather sofas as she flicked through the latest issue of Guns & Ammo. At a round ivory table Pepper sat pouring over pieces of paper and holo-projections of stocks whilst Steve sat opposite her reading a book about the progression of 1970s America. The latter two happened to be closest to the elevator so they were the first to notice her appearance. Together they stood up and came over to welcome Erin, who had forgotten to move.
"I'm so glad you made it!" Pepper greeted her with an air-kiss on the cheek and a hug Erin warmly returned. Since their first meeting where she had been given all the relevant paperwork, Erin hadn't seen Pepper at all. They'd gotten along so well the first time and now she was glad to see the kind face again.
Once she was released Steve offered his hand out which Erin coolly accepted because Pepper was present. Her skin crawled at his touch but she made an effort to conceal her disgust.
"Tony!" Pepper called, gesturing her boyfriend over to them.
He heard and turned to see Erin awkwardly standing there, looking anywhere but at Steve after she'd snatched her hand away. With his usual boyish grin Tony bounded over and hugged Erin too.
"Erin! You made it!"
One of the great things about Tony Stark, Erin decided, was that he was such a good faker that he could make you feel special, important or wanted and you would believe him to be sincere even if part of you knew it was all an act.
With the brightest smile Tony ushered Erin over to the kitchenette. Out of the corner of the eye Erin saw Steve follow them as Pepper returned to her work.
"As I'm sure you know this is the amazingly intelligent Dr Bruce Banner," Tony introduced her. "And this handsome chap here is Agent Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye."
"How do you do?" Bruce smiled, leaning forward and shaking Erin's hand. His hands were warm which Erin liked, especially as hers were always so cold.
Clint nodded in Erin's direction but said nothing which was fine. Erin could understand not wanting to converse with strangers. Most days she felt that way herself.
"So now seems to be as good an opportunity as any to reveal to you all my latest project," Tony announced, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "I have had the most wonderful idea and as such have commissioned Erin here as the Head of Writing and Research for said project."
There were several looks of alarm in Tony's direction and everyone's eyes flitted curiously to Erin who, up until that moment, had been oblivious to this fact.
"What I want, well, what we want seeing as I did briefly talk about this with Erin a couple of days ago, is to turn your histories into stories which we would obviously sell to the public." Tony told them.
As he was met by instant barrages of disapproval Erin cast her mind back to when she first met with Tony. They had been talking about her aspirations in a getting-to-know-you conversation before they had truly gotten down to business. She had mentioned she was a writer and Tony had briefly mentioned her writing his biography but they hadn't dwelled on it much as conversation had naturally veered away from the subject.
"Will you just hear me out?" Tony's voice snapped Erin out of the past and back to the present. "At the moment the public has a very split opinion about us. We can't do our jobs properly if the people we're saving don't want our help. Telling them our origin stories would endear us to them and thus make our lives easier."
"Tony, people can't know my history. It's classified for a reason." Natasha pointed out.
"What about the money?" Hawkeye added. "Who would the profits go to? You, whoever you were writing about or her?" He motioned to Erin with his thumb.
"She has a name you know." Steve said defensively.
Erin glared at both men and folded her arms. She could handle assholes just fine if Clint wanted to be an asshole to her. What she hated was how Steve was so quick to defend her when she was not only a stranger to him but also perfectly capable of defending herself.
"Why does it have to be about us anyway? If we should be telling anyone's story it should be Phil's." Natasha completely ignored the Captain's statement.
"While that's a nice idea getting information would be more difficult considering the fact that he's dead." Bruce pointed out.
Erin's heart skipped a beat.
"Phil?" She looked to Tony for confirmation.
The light vanished from his eyes though his smile was still plastered onto his face. Wordlessly he gave a minute nod just as Clint clarified for her "Agent Phil Coulson."
"I see." Erin said slowly, trying to steady her heart which had switched to the other end of the spectrum and was now racing.
"Did you know him?" Steve asked. She wished that he hadn't.
"No, not at all." She replied, shrugging off whatever she was feeling.
Tony was impressed at how well Erin hid her feelings. If he hadn't known her secret then he would never have had a clue that she was bottling up a magnitude of emotions. But he did know her secrets and not just because JARVIS had pulled up a lot of delicious information on her either. They had gotten to know each other rather well during their first and only meetings before he had Pepper put her on a flight to Norway where S.H.I.E.L.D. had hidden Jane for her own protection.
"Why am I here?" Erin had asked the moment Tony had gestured for her to sit down at their table in a luxurious restaurant. Even from the beginning she hadn't been one to mess around. She got things done, like Pepper only younger and bolder with was more like Tony himself. He liked that about the young woman.
"I know your father," At his words Erin attempted to get up and leave but he grabbed her arm and stopped her from going. "He told me about your interest in Thor and Jane Foster." That made her listen.
Erin sat down again and looked at Tony expectantly.
"I have a job for you if you want it, reuniting them." He told her.
Erin looked him up and down. Despite the high class of the place he was in a T-shirt and she could see the glow of his arc reactor in his chest through it. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being played somehow. Like someone had paid this man a lot of money to humiliate her somehow but who would do it? Peter was the only person she could think of that had reason enough to but he was all the way back in England and hadn't heard from her in seven years.
"I'm not having you on, I swear. Thor is on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier right now and I know how much you want to help." Tony spoke fast to keep her attention. He'd already done some background research on her and knew she had a habit of walking away.
"Why?" Erin kept her response brief and to the point. She didn't trust him. She didn't really trust anyone.
That was an excellent question. Why did it matter to Tony if the Asgardian brute was happy? None of these people really meant anything to Tony. There was no real reason for him to waste his time, money and energy on this venture at all.
"Because as off-hand and self-centred as I make myself seem, I actually like helping people out and so do you." He told her honestly because he recognised himself in her and the girl had barely spoken a word to him.
Erin narrowed her eyes for a second but quickly determined that for once someone was being open with her. She sat back in her seat, careful to keep eye contact with him.
"Do you want to eat dinner and talk here? Because if not I could take you up to the helicarrier. Apparently The Captain makes a mean-" Tony started babbling but a dark look from Erin cut him off.
"Captain America?" She asked to fill the gap.
"Yes." Tony was wary to answer as the look didn't leave her face. "You don't like him?" He finally asked.
"That man ruined my childhood and he wasn't even alive then." Erin stated.
She picked up the menu laid before her and made it clear that they wouldn't be leaving. Tony evaluated the situation for a moment. It was clear Erin wouldn't talk about The Captain anymore so he let the silence resume until the waitress arrived. He would start the conversation there from scratch, making sure to leave out any reference of her father or Steve. Under normal circumstances he would never have been so considerate but they had a lot more in common than hating their fathers and a habit of being bold.
Tony passed Erin a glass of vodka and lemonade which she took gratefully and downed more or less in two swigs. Steve watched her with alarm as she traded her empty glass with Tony for another full one. No one else seemed to notice or care as they broke up into their mini conversations which was just fine by Erin. If she was going to work for Tony writing about these people – and she would end up doing just that despite their protests because Tony Stark always got what he wanted in the end – then she had better start making notes.
Out of her satchel she pulled out an empty notebook and a fountain pen. She hopped up onto the counter and opened the spiral-bound book to its first page. As the afternoon progressed she noted all the little ticks and quirks the Avengers showed that would make them seem as real as they were to readers. For example, Bruce's breathing was too controlled to be a subconscious effort because no one breathed in on every first beat and exhaled every fourth naturally. While he spoke his fingers would trace numbers and letters on his leg or the table surface. The movements were so small though that it was easy to miss and Erin suspected that was the point. It was a private calming technique which she would end up showing the world but only with his permission. Each of these characters would proof her work before it was released. That she was certain of.
Another interesting thing Erin noted was the way Natasha and Clint behaved. Though they never spoke to one another or even looked in the same direction the pair would alternate in sweeping the room with a look that used the reflection of whatever was about ever twenty-three seconds. Natasha also rested her feet on the edge of the coffee table and Erin could imagine her using her feet to flip or kick it at an attacker if the situation came down to it. She also noticed that Clint was standing right next to the magnetic bar where all the kitchen knives were suspended. She knew his preferred weapon was a bow but Erin also knew that an agent like Clint would not have exceptional skills with just one offensive weapon. Had anyone smashed through the window he would be the first to react, throwing a knife with excellent precision at the offender. Erin could picture it in her mind and she had to admit: it was pretty cool.
It wasn't easy though, making those notes. These people spoke of Coulson who had died but he wasn't the only one. Dead bodies were still being found amongst the rubble and they were really only in the first days of rebuilding the city. How many more had they not been able to save? How many innocents had been caught in the crossfire? Thinking about all the dead bodies and the off-handed manner Bruce had mentioned Phil, Erin began to feel ill. She couldn't concentrate and alcohol certainly wouldn't help.
"I'm sorry, I've got to go." Erin apologised suddenly to Tony.
He nodded and the look he sent her showed he understood. Hastily Erin said goodbye to everyone and rushed for the elevator. Out on the street her breathing began to get shallow and she felt light-headed. Before she could flag down a cab she was overwhelmed and sat down on the curb. She was attempting to control her breathing as she'd seen Bruce do upstairs when someone spoke behind her.
"Can I escort you home?" Steve asked, sitting beside Erin.
She groaned. As if she wasn't having a bad enough time already.
"I'm fine thank you." She declined as politely as she could muster.
She closed her eyes and tried to refocus. If she couldn't see him then maybe she would be able to convince herself he wasn't here.
"You seem to be distressed and I couldn't let you go home alone while vulnerable." Steve frowned.
Erin's eyes snapped open and she glared at him.
"Let's get this straight right now. I am not vulnerable, I do not need your help," Erin snapped. "You don't have to let me do anything because you don't own me. You are nothing to me. The fact that you assume every woman sat on the curb is a damsel in distress really angers me because I can hold my own so just leave."
Steve blinked but didn't move. With a frustrated noise Erin got up and flagged down a yellow cab that forced Steve to jump up and move out the way. Still speechless he watched as the aggressive girl got in the cab, slamming the door behind her. Never had he been spoken to by a woman like that. Even when Peggy snapped she didn't have the same menace or hatred that Erin seemed to have for him. It baffled him. He didn't know her after all. What could he have done that was so bad?