Carter leaned back against the elevator wall, "But why do I have to go with you?"

Laynie smirked, "Because you spend too much time in our room watching tv and eating. Some exercise will be good for you."

"I do not!" Carter frowned.

The elevator pinged and the doors slid open on a floor of the tower little-used by either child. It was a large, open space, filled with a strange assortment of gym equipment and training robots. The floor was used often by the Avengers for training and sparring sessions. Whenever Thor and Clint sparred for the TV remote, this is where Tony would send them.

Laynie and Carter burst out of the elevator, giggling and shouting. Carter was determined to get her friend for the couch potato comment. Laynie ran until she reached Natasha, whom she used as a human shield.

Carter folded her arms across her chest. "Just do your stupid training thing." She huffed and went to sit away from the mats.

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned to Wade and Laynie "Enough goofing off."

Wade gave a nod, and Laynie grinned. She'd been working off and on with all of the residents of the household, learning techniques little by little, and was always excited to learn more. Carter, on the other hand, was content leaving the fighting to the heroes. Sitting on the ground just beyond the mats, she watched as Natasha spoke to Wade and Laynie. She was so engrossed in watching them move through warm-ups that she jumped when her phone let out a shrill ring.

She jumped up and walked away from the mats, standing by the windows instead. "Hello?"

"Hey Carter!" A teen exclaimed on the other end.

Carter smiled. "Hey James. What's up?"

"Oh, um, not much. I just wanted to ask you something." He sounded nervous, which was rare for James.

"Yes?"

"Uh well, I just was wondering if maybe, you know if you want to," he stammered, "maybe you'd like to go out with me. Tonight? I mean- if that's too soon we can wait, or if you don't want to go at all, um. Carter?"

She felt her race flush and quickly moved further away from the mats. "Um, sure. I'd like that." A wide grin spread across her face.

"Great!"

Carter giggled. "See you tonight then?"

"Yeah! Pick you up at six?"

"That's fine."

"Okay, cool." James said, "Well, I guess I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah," Carter agreed.

She slowly put her phone away. She tried to wipe the stupid grin off her face, but it seemed it was there to stay. Resuming her place near the mat, she started plotting out how she'd tell her dad.

Laynie shouted as her legs were taken out from under her. She hit the mat in a perfectly executed backfall, but still exclaimed a surprised "OW". As it turned out, Wade's skills were definitely more advanced than hers.

Wade laughed, "Better luck next time."

Carter shook her head, grimacing for what would happen next. Like her late mother and her adoptive father alike, comments like those only spurred Laynie on.

She swung her leg out and grabbed Wade's ankles, sending him tumbling. Swung a few sloppy punches that he barely blocked, and landed a heel in his stomach before Natasha ordered her to stop.

Natasha and Carter both laughed as Wade rolled on the floor, gasping for air.

Stifling her laughter, Carter called,"Laynie, come here."

Laynie groaned and walked over. "What? I was just getting warmed up."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. James just asked me out!" She blurted out.

She scoffed, but cracked a grin. "Finally! I've been waiting for it since he sucked your face off after the Hammer ordeal."

"You and me both." Carter replied. "Anyway, I'm going to go find something to wear for tonight. You can go back to training now." Carter smiled.

"I'll be down when we're done," Laynie said with a smile back.

Carter quickly jumped to her feet and headed for the elevator. A couple of floors down Clint hopped in on his way to the main floor.

Carter desperately tried to wipe the grin off her face, knowing Clint would catch on quickly. She failed miserably.

"What are you so happy about?" Clint question suspiciously.

"Oh, it's nothing." Carter laughed nervously. "Can't a person just be happy? A person doesn't have to be happy for any specific reason, you know"

Clint gave her a completely unconvinced look. "You're worse than that time Thor brought home a puppy under his cape. You're worse than Thor."

"I am not!" Carter frowned.

Clint blinked. "You're at least as bad." As the elevator gave a ping and the doors slid open, he strategically placed his entire body in front of the opening. "What are you up to?

"I'm not up to anything." Carter denied the accusation.

"You're not fooling me."

Carter frowned. "Fine, James asked me out, okay? You happy now?"

"Wait, wait, who said you could date?"

"I'm almost seventeen. I didn't think I needed permission to go out with a friend." Carter huffed

Clint weighed the situation for a moment. On one hand, he could let Carter go and trust her. On the other, he could tag her with a tracking device and a microphone and make sure he knows what she's doing. She's only sixteen, after all.

Either way, he was sending a security detail after her, hand-picked by Happy.

Carter quickly got frustrated as Clint stood in the door to the elevator, practically ignoring her, "Can I go now?" She huffed.

He squinted at her and slowly asked, "Can you, Carter? Can you?"

Carter groaned and shoved him out of the elevator. "You're so weird." The elevator doors shut before he could say anything.

Within minutes, her whole wardrobe was strewn across her room.

Looking over everything, she said, "I probably should go through my closet sometime."

"Knock knock!" Laynie shouted as she entered the room.

She flopped down on the floor, arms spread and panting. Wade followed suit, face down into the carpet.

"Oh, hi!" Carter waved slightly, before turning back to her clothes.

There was silence for a few moments as Carter shuffled around with her clothes.

"Laynie..." Carter whined, "I have too many clothes!"

Wade moaned. "Why do you need more than a pair of pants and a few shirts in the first place?"

"We need bras too," Laynie mumbled.

Carter ignored the both of them and sat down instead. "What did Natasha do to you guys?"

"Wade made a sexist comment!" Laynie moaned. "We got punished for it."

Carter rolled her eyes. "Good job, Wade. Way to go."

He reached out to slap Carter, but missed by a mile. "Your family hates me."

Laynie made a face that indicated she didn't disagree. "C'mon, we have to find you something to wear."

Carter nodded, "Yeah," she picked up a pair of shorts and a pullover hoodie and looked at Laynie. "Too casual?"

She shrugged. "You could do better. Hang on." Laynie ran to her closet and pulled out a light sweater, then plucked a shirt off of her friend's bed.

"Oh, that's kinda cute." Carter smiled.

Laynie laid the partial outfit on the bed and sat down with it. "Is it weird to go on a date with James?"

"Well, I guess it seems a little weird, but I think it'll be okay." Carter shrugged. "And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out."

Laynie nodded. "Well good luck. Do you need any more help getting ready?"

"Hm, no, I think I'm good. Thanks!" Carter grinned.

"Cool, Wade and I are going to go get some tacos from that place down the street. Call me if you need me!"

Laynie peeled Wade off the floor and the two were gone in a moment.

Carter quickly dressed and went to the main floor to wait for James.

She found Bruce sitting, reading a book.

He looked up. "Hey,"he said in surprise, "I just saw Laynie and Wade leave, I thought you'd be hanging out with them."

Carter came to sit next to him, "No, I told James I would hang out with him tonight."

Bruce nodded, "Alright. When do you think you'll be back?"

Carter shrugged, "I dunno. Not too late. Maybe nine, nine thirty."

Before Bruce could respond, JARVIS said, "Miss Carter, Mr. King is here to see you."

"Okay, thanks JARVIS." Carter said, she turned to Bruce, "I'll see you later."

"Alright. Bye." Bruce smiled.

When she got to the lobby she saw James standing near the entrance.

"Hey!" Carter waved.

"Oh hey!" James pulled her into a hug.

Carter laughed and hugged him back. "So, where are we going?" She asked.

He pulled away, "There's a little restaurant a few blocks down from here. And then I thought we could see that new romance movie."

Carter scrunched her nose at that. "Romance? Really?"

"Isn't that what girls like?" James asked awkwardly.

Chuckling, Carter shook her head. "Only certain romance movies for this girl, though I'd take a horror movie over that anyday."

James grinned. "Okay! We can do that!"

"Okay then. Let's get going."

James nodded and led her out to his car.

Once both were buckled properly, he carefully pulled away from the curb and into the flow of downtown traffic. It took about ten minutes to reach their destination, which was quickly passed with Carter's vivid descriptions of Wade.

"I've talked to Peter a few times before, we were in the same photography class last year. I can't imagine him and Wade getting along at all."

"According to Wade they get along pretty well." Carter shrugged, getting out of the car and following James into the restaurant.

"Hm, I would have never guessed." James said.

Pulling the door to the restaurant open, James allowed Carter to enter first before coming in afterwards.

It didn't take long for them to be seated.

They sat in silence for a few moments before James said, "So... excited for homecoming?"

Carter nodded with a smile, "Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah!" James grinned.

And another long stretch of silence followed.

Their food and drinks were brought out and they spent most of their dinner making small talk.

Carter picked at her food, wondering why it was so hard for them to talk all of a sudden.

"Hey, isn't that Clint?" James asked curiously.

That name brought Carter out of her nervous wondering. "What?!" She looked to the door just in time to see Clint slipping into a booth not too far away from them. "I should've expected this." She sighed.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"He was bugging me about going out with you earlier today." She shrugged.

His eyes widened. "He's not gonna hurt me, is he?"

"No promises." Carter replied honestly. She looked around for a moment. "I think I see a back door over near the restrooms, maybe we can sneak away without Clint noticing us."

James snorted. "Yes, the trained spy won't notice us sneaking out the back door."

"Do you want to spend the rest of our date being watched by Clint?"

"No..."

"Then leave the money on the table and get moving." Carter ordered.

"Okay, okay. Geez." James said with a small smile.

Carter waited until Clint gave a glance at the menu, and then they sprinted for the back door. They barely managed to make it out without giggling. Once the door slammed after them, they fell against the walls in the back alley and laughed.

Once they calmed down, they went to the parking lot to get James car.

"What do you think he'll do when he notices that we're gone?" James asked.

"Probably come after us again. Don't be surprised if he shows up at the theater." Carter slid into the passenger seat of the car.

"Great," He sighed.

"Sorry."

James shook his head. "It's not your fault. Let's get to the movie." He smiled.

Carter nodded.

Not long after that, they arrived at the theater and were waiting for their movie to start.

"I hope the movie will be good. Too many horror movies have been bad recently." Carter commented.

"I know. They mostly just rely on cheap scares now. Nothing really creepy anymore." James agreed.

Carter nodded, "I see scarier things back at the tower most days."

James laughed.

Popping a piece of popcorn in her mouth, Carter said, "I was getting a bit worried at dinner when we weren't talking, but I guess Clint showing up was all we needed."

"Yeah, I guess so. I just hope he doesn't show up again, he may kill me if he does."

"Just be ready to run if he does appear suddenly."

They both became hushed as the movie began. The first thirty minutes of it met the expectations of a cheap horror flick, and then it started to pick up the pace.

Creepier things began happening, and the suspense built quickly. Carter was so tense that when her hand met James's in the popcorn bucket, she jumped.

"Just me," he whispered with a laugh.

A second later, there was a huge roar from an on-screen villain and both of them jumped. There was a startled "ah!" in the back of the theater that Carter recognized.

"Clint's in the back," she murmured. "But at least he's leaving us alone."

James nodded in agreement.

They watched the rest of the movie in peace. Well, as much peace as you could have watching a horror movie.

"That was pretty good." Carter said, as the credits rolled.

"It was. I'm glad my money wasn't wasted on a cliche horror movie." James grinned.

Looking at the time on her phone, "Well, I suppose I need to get back to the tower."

"Alright, let's get you home."

They stood and started for the entrance.

Before they left the dark theater, Carter looked over her shoulder, "I hope you enjoyed the movie Clint."

"Oh shut up, you brat." A low growl responded.

Carter giggled and turned back to James, "Come on, let's get going."

The ride back to the tower was mostly spent laughing about Clint's outbursts during the movie.

"Who would've thought Clint would get freaked out at horror movies?" James said.

"I know right?" Carter replied.

"In the scene with the guy with the ax, did you hear him gasp? He gasped through his freakin' nose!" James laughed. "It was the best sound ever."

Carter laughed until tears welled up in her eyes. "I had so much fun."

"Me too," James said, smiling happily.

Once they made it to the tower, a security guard came out of the building to escort Carter inside. James stood beside her at the car and watched the suited man come toward them. "That was really great. Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yeah, of course!" Carter chirped.

"I'm glad." James looked down at his feet, "Maybe, we could do it again sometime?"

Carter smiled gently before leaning up and kissing him on the cheek, "I'd love to."

James flushed all the way to his ears. "I'll talk to you later then?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Anytime you're ready, Miss Carter." The security guard said when he reached the car.

"Thanks," Carter said. "I'll see you later, James."

"Alright," he waved before walking around to the driver's side of the car. "Bye Carter." He said and slid into the car.

Carter followed the security guard inside.

"Have a good night, Miss Carter." The man said, returning to his desk.

"You too." She answered, getting into the elevator.

When the doors slid closed, she leaned against the wall and let a smile spread across her face.

The familiar bing of the elevator signalled for her to compose herself before entering onto the main floor.

She found Wade and Laynie watching TV in a dark living room.

She walked over to the blanket and pillow covered couch, and stood for a moment before flopping on top of both teens.

"Carter!" Laynie exclaimed, completely missing that the prodigal friend had come home. She squished her friend's cheeks together and asked, "Soooo, how was your date?"

Wade leaned over her face. "Call if you ever need me to punch the guy."

Carter rolled her eyes, "It was fun, even after Clint showed up to spy on us. In fact, I think it may have been more fun after that happened."

Laynie let out a surprised laugh. "Clint spied on you? That's pretty priceless. I mean, I would have expected a guard to tail you or something, but Clint?"

"So it's not just me that your family hates?" Wade asked hopefully.

Carter ignored Wade, "Like I said, it was kinda annoying at first, but then became entertaining."

"I'm sure it was." A voice said behind them.

Standing behind the couch was none other than Clint.

"Oh hey." Carter waved from her seat atop Wade and Laynie. "How are you?"

"I don't appreciate the fact that you sneaked off earlier." He frowned.

Carter gave him an incredulous look. "What did you expect, you were spying on us. A huge invasion of privacy by the way."

"I wasn't spying on you. I was... chaperoning."

"You were spying on us." She deadpanned.

"Fine, I was spying! I just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid."

Carter sighed, "Well, now that you've seen that he's a good guy, will you leave us alone?"

Clint smiled slyly. "Maybe. Thanks for putting up with me." He then stuck a few fingers toward his eyeballs and again towards Wade, and left the room.

"He definitely doesn't like me."

"Pff, Carter thought he didn't like her for the first six weeks we lived here. He just takes time with new people." Laynie readjusted in her seat and flipped through the TV channels. "So, the first day of school tomorrow? Raise your hand if you would rather stab your eyeballs out with a pen." Laynie's arm shot up in the air as she said it.

Carter shook her head, "It's not that bad."

"That's what you say now." Laynie scoffed.

Carter stuck out her tongue before grinning widely.

Since becoming daughters of some of the most politically and physically powerful people on earth, the girls no longer had to deal with bullying on a physical level. There was still the occasional nutjob with the guts to pick on them (read: Flash Thompson) but their problems were more centered around academic pursuits. As the daughters of some of the smartest people on earth, they were automatically expected by teachers to understand everything.

School had become easier in some ways, but harder in others.

"I'm excited to meet Peter," Laynie said.

"He's a ball of anxiety and angst. Angstiety!" Wade exclaimed. "All he does is emo and study and worry about his aunt. She's getting paid extremely well by SHIELD, by the way."

Laynie didn't hear anything after "angstiety", she was too busy laughing. Carter could look past the pun.

"He can't be that bad. I mean, Laynie's a pretty big drama queen."

Laynie elbowed her friend in the ribs. "Am not."

"Are too!" Carter slapped her arm.

Before the girls could get into a fight, Bruce walked in.

"No arguing." He said simply, walking past them into the kitchen.

Carter rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed, I will talk to you both tomorrow." She pushed herself off her friends. "Night guys." As she passed the kitchen, she called to Bruce, "Night Bruce!" The elevator closed with a ding behind her.

Wade gave a giant yawn, and then stood up. "I should probably head home."

"Do you need a ride home Wade?" Bruce asked from the kitchen.

"No sir. I can take the subway."

"Bye Wade, see you tomorrow morning!"

He flipped a peace sign at her and disappeared into the elevator.


Author's Notes

WayToDawn: Here's another chapter for you lovely readers. :) Thank you to everyone who's read so far.

Lartovio: Hiiii! Thanks for reading, guys!