Prompt: Superheroes

Rating: T

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

Stupid fucking suit. Why'd he ever think this stupid fucking suit was a good idea?

James pulled at the spandex – spandex, what a stupid fucking idea that had been – and cursed as he tried to peel the red and blue fabric away from his overly sweaty skin. It wasn't usually this difficult, but he was so incredibly tired after tonight's apartment fire that he felt like he barely had the strength to left his head, let alone perform the contortions necessary to get this idiotic disguise off. Not to mention that it wasn't exactly in one complete piece after tonight's little adventures.

When he finally managed to strip off the disgusting material, he threw it to the floor and heaved a sigh of relief, stretching his muscles out before reaching for his sweatpants. Christ, next time he designed a costume he was going to find a way to make it out of sweatpant material. What did they make sweatpants out of? Because it was a lot more comfortable than fucking spandex.

He swiped a towel from the en-suite and wiped off his face before draping it around his neck and leaving his bedroom.

He lived on his own, in his own apartment, and he still crept back in through the bedroom window after his extra-curricular activites. Maybe he ought to work on that. Then again, the neighbours would probably notice Spiderman wondering through their apartment building from time to time.

He'd wonder later how he failed to notice her; it was a testament to her skills he supposed, that she could remain so well-concealed in plain sight.

'Rough night.'

He span around, his eyes skittering all around the apartment until they settled on the outline of a figure, seated neatly in his armchair. The woman pushed herself up from her seat and moved towards him. He couldn't call it walking; it was more like slinking. She moved with an easy grace, but with all the threat of a coiled spring. Her hair was pulled off her face, but the dark red curls were barely tamed; he couldn't make out anything else about her in the dim light, except that she was wearing very tight-fitting jeans and a leather jacket.

'That apartment fire was tough. Fire fighters would never have managed on their own. You must have pulled out what, seventeen people?'

'Eighteen.' James corrected her. 'And a dog.' No point in denying anything; if she'd put it together, there was little he could do about it now, though he'd try to convince her to maintain her silence on the matter. That could actually be fun.

She suppressed her smile and nodded very slightly. 'Of course. Mustn't forget the dog.'

'Well, it might be a tiebreaker someday.' He opened his refrigerator and pulled out a beer. 'Can I interest you in a beer?'

She cocked her head to one side. 'You find me in your apartment, uninvited, and your response is to offer me a beer?'

'Well, kicking your ass would probably be considered rude.'

She raised her eyebrows. 'And impossible.'

'Careful. I like a challenge.'

She actually grinned at that. 'Me too.'

'So. Beer?'

She took the beer he offered, their fingers brushing briefly as it changed hands.

They both took sips in silence for a moment, before the redhead spoke again, her unusually bright green eyes locking onto his. 'My name's Lily. And I know yours is James, so don't bother.'

'There a last name to go with that, Lily?'

'None that you need to concern yourself with.'

He tilted his head to one side and smiled. Quick-witted, sharp and confident.

Perfect.

'Well then, Lily. What was it you wanted? I assume you didn't break into my apartment for a beer?'

'No.' She took another pull of her beer. 'I'm here to talk to you about something that needs people of your talents. Something called the Avenger's Initiative.'

'The Avenger's Initiative.' He repeated incredulously. 'Someone actually thought that was a good name for anything?'

She put her bottle down on the counter. 'The name is irrelevant. The purpose matters.'

'And that would be…?'

'To meet the challenges that others can't. To fight threats that can't be neutralised by conventional means.'

'Government?'

She smiled in a humourless sort of way. 'In a manner of speaking.'

'They're aware of me?'

'Did you honestly think they weren't?'

Well, this was bad. Not just one smart, mysterious woman who had him worked out, but an entire government organisation. Fuck.

'We know about you; we've chosen not to do anything about it because you aren't in anyway a problem of national security. You could, however, be an asset to national security. If you chose to be.'

'So, let me get this straight.' James rested his elbows on his kitchen island. 'You represent a shadowy quasi-governmental agency that is recruiting people with "special talents" for non-specified missions, that are vital to the national security of the nation, and you think I'm going to jump at the chance to join up?'

'No.' She smiled at him in an utterly humourless way, lips set in a thin line. 'I expect you to decline, and then to offer me some tiresome puns and maybe ask me out.'

She moved towards him until her face was just an inch away from his. 'But you should think about this: I know you, James Potter. I know what drives you to do what you do. And I'm going to tell you that you'll achieve more with the Avengers than you ever could on your own. You want to wipe out your mistakes? We'll help you do it; we all have things we want to wipe out ourselves.'

She moved away from him before her words had had time to sink in, and she was halfway through the door by the time he'd found his voice.

'What about you? What do you want to wipe out?'

She turned in the doorway to face him for a moment, the light from the hallway lighting up her hair like a halo of fire, and he could see that she was sizing up whether to answer.

When she spoke, her voice was quiet. 'The red in my ledger.'

Then she was gone.

(J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L) (J&L)

A/N: So I'm sure everyone got that James was Spiderman and Lily was Black Widow here; this one was based partially on a Tumblr gifset.