AN: If anyone is wondering, the chapter title is from Captain Marvel (except she says "there" instead of here). Also, remember when I teased Dr. Whitehall, Dr. List, and Gideon Malick? Well, if anyone remembers, Dr. List is killed off in Age in Ultron. And if anyone watches Agents of SHIELD, Whitehall and Gideon Malick meet their end in the show BUT I won't follow that route. They are alive (except for Whitehall, he stays dead) and the current heads of Hydra in my AU. Also, I want to make clear that Clint and Nat don't know Al used to work as one of the scientists at the base, so therefore Perse still doesn't know. But that will come up eventually. Enjoy this chapter!
Shadows settle on the place, that you left
Our minds are troubled by the emptiness
Destroy the middle, it's a waste of time
From the perfect start to the finish line
And if you're still breathing, you're the lucky ones
'Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs
Setting fire to our insides for fun
Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong
–"Youth" by Daughter
Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff were off on mission. They had found a lead on who was behind the science experiments all those years ago. So, what did Perse do in the meantime? Homework. It seems that it was decided by everybody (excluding her) that she would eventually return to school when she was (more or less) ready. A part of her wished that she would be transferred to a new school, but she knew that no matter where she went, the news of what happened to her would follow her. Maybe she could persuade to be homeschooled, it's not like Stark didn't have the money for it.
"Why do I have to do this?" Perse whined to Steve, who had brought up to her room one morning a large stack of all the lessons, in-class assignments, and homework she has missed in the past week. A week had passed now. That felt strange.
"Because we want you to be caught up by the time you go back." Steve said, amused. He was constantly amused by this 14 year old girl, and he couldn't explain why.
"…What if I don't go back?" Perse finally brought up, glancing up at Steve.
Steve gave her a pointed look. "Perse, we went over this–"
"I know, I know." Perse sighed, pursing her lips. "I just. I'm not looking forward to everyone gawking at me."
"It'll pass. Trust me, the attention span of teenagers is very short. They'll move on to something else to gawk about. Like the Kardashians."
"Kardashians? You know who the Kardashians are?" Perse said bewildered.
"You know, I've been kicking it in the 21st century since 2012." Steve argued, rolling his eyes. Everyone still regarded him as a grandpa, and in many ways he did feel like one, but did everyone had to be so shocked that he had picked up on some pop culture and news since he woke up from the ice?
"I see you've been trying to pick up the slang, too." Perse laughed at Steve. That was strange too. Here Perse was, in the Avengers Compound, making fun of Captain America. This was her new normal.
But Perse didn't mind this new normal. It was the weirdest thing in the world, definitely, but she didn't mind it. She could get used to this (although it will take time for the shock factor to go away). But then she remembered the cost it took to get here.
Ever since Perse had posted that tweet about Al, rumors ran rampant that it was aliens that abducted her, that it was a local cartel, that the government was hiding her, and one that made Perse laugh which was the evil Avengers had something to do with it. She ended up taking down her Twitter, deciding it was probably for the best. She decided to listen to Tony and agree that in order to keep herself alive, she couldn't risk exposing the truth. For now. But she did keep her Instagram for the sole purpose of reaching out to Michelle's countless messages she had left. She could only imagine how much more she had left on her old cell phone. They exchanged numbers and had only texted a few times the past week, all really for Michelle to tell her the latest gossip about Perse and something that happened in Decathlon that annoyed her to death. Michelle never once asked her what happened, and for that, Perse was extremely grateful for.
She still had nightmares almost every night of Al and Jimena, and of the base. She still couldn't remember what happened there when she was young, so her imagination ran wild with what could have happened there. But today was the first morning where she woke up and it didn't take her hours to get out of bed. Usually, she would lay there, staring off into nothing. Today, she could function for once. Their deaths still loomed over her, everything a constant reminder that they were gone, but she got up without having to force herself. She brushed her teeth. She took a shower. Put on a change of clothes. All without having to be reminded by Tony's AI, FRIDAY. So, in face of this triumph, Steve thought it was the day to give her all of this work. She hated him just a little bit for that.
"If you need any help with this stuff…don't ask me." Steve smiled, leaving the door wide open. The door was usually closed, and normally, Perse would have groaned loudly so that Steve could hear her annoyance at him leaving the door open. But she left it that way.
"FRIDAY, open the windows, please." Perse said, rubbing her face. She really didn't want to do all of this work.
"Of course, miss." The Irish-voiced AI responded. The windows had a tint that could let up or completely black out, which was pretty cool. She always had a slight tint to them, not wanting any sunlight to disturb her sleep-ins. But now, the windows were completely tintless and they opened. Fresh air. She breathed in, picked up a pencil, and got to work.
Tony was deeply concentrated on a new prototype for his suit in his lab, blasting classic rock so loud that he didn't hear Perse come in and sit down at one of the tables. She was stuck on an algebra problem, which she was usually good at, but she was a visual learner. Perse was afraid to ask Tony, but he was the only person at the Compound she felt comfortable enough to ask. Wanda was training, Steve already made clear he wasn't good at schoolwork, Colonel Rhodes hadn't been at the Compound since Perse first came there, same for Sam Wilson, Natasha and Clint were still out on their mission, and Vision just plain creeped Perse out. So Tony it was.
The table she sat at was cluttered with random metal pieces that she assumed was parts to his suit. They weren't colored in their infamous gold and red hue yet, just a plain hunk of metal. But some of them had intense wiring, which she examined. Perse was never good at mechanics, but she wanted to be. She actually planned on taking the class at Midtown after her first semester of PE was over.
"Ah, put that down!" Tony exclaimed, shouting over the music. His abruptness startled Perse into dropping one of the scraps on the table, making it clatter. "FRIDAY, pause music." The music stopped playing and the billionaire made his way over to Perse's table while the latter blushed furiously in embarrassment. He picked up the metal scrap, examining it. It didn't have a dent or scratch, he just wanted to mess with the kid. He took it a step further by tossing it in the trash bin. She started at the trash and then at him, mouth agape. "It was on old part, didn't need it." He shrugged. "What do you want?"
Perse swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, slightly irked that he had messed with her and made her feel like she was in trouble, but relieved that it was only a joke. Now, she felt embarrassed for the sole purpose that was coming to Tony Stark for homework help. She didn't have a chance to speak up as he saw the textbook and notebook she had placed on top of the table.
"'X' is 17. 'Y' is 19." He responded, working out the problem in under a second.
"Uh. H-How?" Perse asked, looking back down at the math problem.
"Easy." He said, bending down and snatching Perse's pencil as he wrote down the step by step work of the problem. His writing was chicken scratch, but she could still make it out.
"Oh." She said once he finished. She looked it over and yeah, it made sense. "So this carries over, and that cancels out?"
"Exactly." He grinned, actually seeming impressed by the girl to be able to pick it up just by watching him do it once. "You know, I don't usually let people down here while I'm working. But I'll make an exception for you." At this, Perse grinned back before going back her homework. Tony resumed his music, Led Zeppelin filling up the lab. She actually liked Led Zeppelin, so she didn't mind, and the music didn't distract her from her work. Every now and then she would ask for his help, and he would quickly spew out the answer or show her by writing on his holotable since he became too lazy to walk over to where she sat.
Once Perse finished her algebra homework, she walked over towards Tony and watched him work on something on his holotable. It seemed like a blueprint, with equations scrawled in one corner and sloppy designs of the suit all over the place. Now The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" played over the speakers, a personal favorite of Perse's. Al could play the piano. Mrs. Harrison next door had one, and once in a blue moon Al would play and everyone in the hall would have their doors open to hear him play. Whenever he played Roadhouse Blues, Mr. Harrison would bust out his harmonica. Everyone else would sing the words. Jimena and Perse would dance, twirling around the room and hall. And then Jimena would lift Perse up into the air and she would look over and see Al looking over at them fondly, finishing the final chords of the song.
"Boss, Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton are landing." FRIDAY spoke up, quieting the volume of the music as she spoke.
Tony glanced over at Perse for a moment before turning off the holotable and getting up. Anxiety bubbled up within Perse. She hoped that the mission went well. That they caught the bad guys. Perse never feared that Hydra would come, they wouldn't dare go after the Avengers in their home turf. She feared that once she stepped out of the safe confines of Avengers protection, they would pounce. They were hiding, with teeth bared and claws sharpened. She felt like the bunny that she slept with every night now. She used to feel powerful, carefree. But now Hydra had a grip on her, and she didn't know how to breathe. She never expressed these feelings to anyone, just kept it buried inside.
They walked out of the lab and headed to another portion of the Compound that Perse hadn't ventured into since she came in: the front where Avenger's operations and business took place. She stuck to the upper floors of the back of the Compound which is where most of the Avengers resided if they weren't at the Tower, in mission, or whatever else they did. Wanda, Steve, Vision filed in, with Nat and Clint coming in last. Wanda and Steve were dressed in athletic wear, the former with wisps of hair stuck to her forehead from sweating and the latter's upper lip with a thin layer of sweat. Vision had no cape on, like she had seen in the news before. But he was still very much red and green. And had emotions. Whenever Wanda and Vision were in the same room, she could sense his apprehension. His existence was very confusing and Perse's biology teacher, Mr. Thompson said that they would spend a small unit on covering the mysteries of AIs and alien biology.
"So Gideon Malick is untouchable." Clint sighed, plopping down on one of the rolly chairs. Perse noted that a part of his left eyebrow was singed off, and so was the edges of his hair. Natasha was more graceful in sitting down, and she seemed unharmed.
"He has the president in his back pocket and a whole outfit of ATCU guards with him 24/7." Natasha explained, bringing up a file on the screen in the conference room for everyone to see. There was a picture of Gideon Malick, the first time that Perse has ever seen this picture, but she couldn't shake the sense of deja-vu. There were also general information about his career history, about the Advanced Threat Containment Unit, or the ATCU, that was a (militant and violent in Perse's opinion) group that dealt with the recent discovery of InHumans.
InHumans was a new bag of crazy altogether, press releases indicating that they were a half human, half ancient alien race with powers that somehow manifested when they ingested anything with fish products. Large parts of the world had currently banned fish, fish oils, seaweed, and literally anything that came from the ocean in attempts to contain "outbreak" of InHumans.
"But, me being amazing, I hacked into his email." Nat smirked, pulling up a window to see that she did in fact have access to his email. "There's nothing incriminating here at a first glance, he's too smart for that. But he's been in contact with someone named 'Williamson' and the emails are definitely in a code." She pulled up the said emails, and she was right, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. They were casual emails, asking about each other's wives and speaking of random topics such as food or movies. But the more that Perse looked at them, she did notice they were a little off. For one, when they spoke of their wives, they would misspell their names; Anna would become Anne. And one time when they said May but added an "e" at the end.
"I miss Anne deeply, but I will see her soon." Perse whispered. But every other time, he spells it Anna. We saw the 5 o'clock showing of Amnesia another part of the email read. Her blood ran cold. I will see her soon.
"It's about me." Perse spoke up. Natasha quirked an eyebrow, wanting to know how the young girl was so sure. Everyone shared the same sentiment as they stared at her expectantly. She blushed at the attention, but continued. "Before I escaped from my cell, an agent had called me E-5."
"So Anne is you." Natasha clarified, nodding. She caught on that the "e" in Anne meant Perse. "And the movie he saw may mean that they know you still don't remember your time at the base when you were young."
"It could also be code that he'll be in France." Tony said, on his phone. He pulled up a small window on the screen of the movie Amnesia, a French movie that was recently released.
"Is there anything else you remember?" Natasha asked.
"When they took me, they mentioned a Whitehall and Malick. One asked if I was worth the trouble. And then I don't remember anything else because they knocked me out. And then when I woke up in the cell, the guy spoke into a walkie saying that 'E-5 was still sleeping.' And…and said something about me being their salvation. But he said it as a joke." Perse didn't mention how she had also seen the carving of the word, "Vee" into the wall. She wanted to keep that to herself.
"Salvation." Natasha muttered. That sounded familiar. "FRIDAY, cross reference 'salvation' with any old Hydra operations." When Natasha had internet dumped all of the SHIELD (and Hydra) files, everyone had access to SHIELD's dirty laundry, but also to Hydra's. Sure enough, something came up. It was a redacted file, but a base in Canada and having ten experiments came up in the remaining revealed words. The title on the top was Project Salvation.
"Do we have any headway on this Whitehall and List?" Steve asked, shifting uncomfortably. He didn't like being reminded that this poor girl was subjected to untold torture. In fact everyone was, but the only one who understood was Wanda. Wanda Maximoff had agreed to the experiments. That's what set her and Perse apart.
"Whitehall was a man named Werner Reinhardt, born in 1904. He was a member of Hydra, but was never apprehended. Decades pass and suddenly, Daniel Whitehall is born." Vision spoke up next, leading the conference now. "I have done extensive searching, and nothing explains how Reinhardt survived all of these years without aging."
"Maybe he was stuck under some ice, too." Tony supplied, making Steve give him a deadpan look.
"It seems unlikely unless his body underwent the same procedures as Mr. Rogers to be able to undergo suspended animation and survive." Vision said, the joke going completely over his head. "Also, sightings of Whitehall have been nonexistent since last week. I'm to believe that he is in hiding after we attacked the Canadian base."
"Everyone's favorite doctor has been in hiding since Sokovia." Tony spoke up. Perse didn't miss how Wanda's fist clenched at the mention of List. "We still don't know if List has a connection with Beelzebub, here, but considering he's one of the heads of Hydra and worked alongside Whitehall with powered experiments, there's no doubt that he was involved in this Project Salvation and trying to take Persephone back."
"You're not Beelzebub." Steve quickly said, but Perse wasn't in the least bit offended. In fact, she found it funny and clever.
"Okay, Nat keep an eye out for everything Malick and List. Something is bound to come up in those emails that will give us more information." Steve concluded the meeting.
Everyone dispersed, save for Perse and Clint. The banged up man got up and sat down next to the young girl. She fiddled with the ends of her hair, processing the information from the meeting. I will see her soon.
"Hey, kid." He grinned, and Perse couldn't help but laugh. He really did look banged up. "Come with me to the med bay." She complied and they walked out together, not saying a word to each other but still in a comfortable silence.
Once they got to the med bay, Clint opened up the cabinets to find the burn cream, antiseptic, gauze, medical tape, and aspirin. He took three aspirin and handed Perse a wooden stick and the burn cream.
"So, how did you burn yourself?" Perse inquired, started to apply the cream to Clint's eyebrow and forehead.
"Oh, we don't gotta go into that." Clint brushed off, although he continued to speak, "I mean. Lasers may or may not have been involved, not a big deal."
Perse hummed in response as Clint took his shirt (wincing all the while) and turned around so that Perse could apply cream to a burn mark on his back that was thin and long, like he had touched against a laser.
"Why would air vents have lasers anyways? I didn't think that was possible!" He continued, as Perse stifled a giggle. She finished putting cream on his burns and then he turned back around and took the bottle from Perse and handed her the antiseptic instead. This she put on the cuts he had on his face and arms.
"And this?" She asked, pointing to rather nasty cut.
"Like I said. Air vents." He huffed. She imagined in her head that after the lasers activated and he burned himself, he hastily tried escaping and got caught in the grates. She hadn't known Clint for long, but that seemed like the most likely scenario.
Clint put the gauze on his cuts himself, thanking Perse. She only nodded in response, looking around the room as he put his shirt back on and put everything back where it belonged.
"So, I know you're starting to get comfortable here," Clint started, gaining the girl's attention back, "But how would it sound if we move you to the Tower? And then you can start going back to school next week."
Perse's eyes widened. Back to the city? Back to school? Already? Hydra was still out there, what if they nabbed her? All of the possibilities of danger crept up on Perse, and for a moment, she accidentally directed her powers against herself. Tears sprang up in her eyes as they glowed and she let out a cry. The glow in her eyes faded and returned back to their natural grey hue. Clint wanted to embrace her, but it's been well established that it's best not to do that when she uses her powers. She sat down on the floor, feeling the cool ground on her fingertips. Trying to get a grasp back on reality.
"Sorry–I. I lost control for a second there." Perse got out, trying to calm herself down.
"It's okay," He soothed, crouching down to her level, "You're okay. We would never let anything happen to you. Listen, kid, you may seem very alone in all of this, but you're not. Because I get it, okay? I'm in my 30s and some days I wake up a mess. But I still get up. Just like you have been doing. You're safe with us."
Perse nodded, now looking away from Clint's piercing blue eyes. She wondered what Clint had gone through in the past for him to empathize with Perse, but she knew better than to look into his fears. She could never invade a friend's privacy like that. At that moment, she felt relieved. Because it felt nice to not feel lonely. Perse never had a problem being alone, but being lonely, this was a feeling that she hadn't visited since her days bouncing from foster home to foster home. And maybe going back to the city is what she needed. She missed the life there, she missed being able to fly around (although the Avengers might not want her roaming around by herself). And a part of her missed school, but it was only because she missed Michelle.
"Okay." She said, and got up on her own.
"We wouldn't let you go back to school if we even think there's a risk to it. We'll get them soon." Clint promised, latching an arm around Perse's shoulder as they walked out of the med bay. She leaned into him, grateful for the contact and comfort.
"Thank you." She whispered, before leaving his embrace and walking ahead. Clint didn't respond, just smiled because he was glad that he truly got through to her.
A few days had passed since the conference meeting and Perse was preparing to leave the Compound and move into the Tower. It was decided that today would be the day because Natasha had found List and Malick. She left along with Clint and Sam to go after them and invade their offices and arrest everyone on sight. If anyone tried to shooting, well, Natasha called that fair game if a few got really hurt in kind. Truthfully, Natasha didn't care about seeing them behind bars, being dished out with justice. They could drop dead and she wouldn't bat an eye. As long as they didn't continue to roam the Earth terrorizing innocents, terrorizing children.
Perse still managed to get out of bed with the heavy weight of Jimena and Al on top of her, but this morning, it didn't feel so heavy. She still had nightmares, but when she woke up, she thought of a good memory instead. Usually, she would reflect back on all of the ugly she had seen the past week, nearly two now, but this morning she thought of the barbeque that Clint had hosted. Seeing her dad do those god-awful dance moves as everyone laughed and joined along. The memory felt bittersweet, but it was more sweet than bitter, and that was enough for Perse to feel…excited. She felt like she could brace the day.
In the past couple days, she managed to be all caught up in her work (which was definitely boring, but she did have long days to do the lessons and complete the assignments). She started out doing her schoolwork in her room, but after a couple hours, would make her way over to the dining table or to the small loft area that was adjacent to Tony's lab. Most days, Tony wasn't even in the lab, he would be back in the city. She didn't completely know what Tony did though, especially because his ex-girlfriend was the CEO of Stark Industries, so she did most of the work while he paraded around doing whatever Tony Stark does. That had to be awkward, she thought to herself, working with your ex.
Perse venturing out of her room also meant interacting with the Avengers more. She took a quick liking to Wanda, who was 18, so it was nice to be around someone that close in age to her. Wanda respected Perse's boundaries, she knew what topics to avoid, and when Perse needed quiet time. Sometimes, she would help her cook dinner (which, Wanda is a phenomenal cook much to Perse's pleasure) or watch her train. Perse also got used to Walking Siri, and found that he sometimes had a sense of humor. She taught him about slang and intonation, so that he could pick up on other people's humor and sarcasm better. He was very knowledgeable, being an AI and all, so Perse liked to ask him complicated questions like equations or the explanation of a theory and hear him give out a lecture. Sam Wilson had returned from D.C. the other day and walked in on Vision pretty much giving a lesson on thermodynamics as Perse listened attentively, even writing down notes. Steve was sitting over in the dining room, just staring blankly at Vision and Perse, unable to understand or retain any of the information.
"Ready, Beelze?" Tony came up to Perse's room, putting his shades down to the tip of his nose as he peaked over them. He had taken to calling her after the demon.
"Yeah." She said. She had her hair up in a low bun, wearing a long sleeve and leggings. Tony picked up her duffle while she picked up her two backpacks. She looked back to the bare room, and all she wanted was to stay here. The Compound was like a fantasy; it was literally an isolated space, so in her mind, she didn't have to think about any of her real problems. But she was tired of that. She accepted that her parents are dead. Now, she has to accept that she needs to continue living. "Yeah, I'm ready."
They headed out to the front entrance of the Compound where a black SUV with tinted windows was running and waiting for them. A man came out of the driver's seat, rushing to grab Perse's things from her and putting them in the trunk.
"Beelze, meet Happy." Tony grinned, which Perse couldn't understand why. What Perse didn't know yet, was that Happy is the funniest guy on Earth. Not because he told jokes, though.
"I was having a great time in the sun in LA." He grumbled, shutting the trunk shut. "I agreed to do this because you promised me a raise."
"And I delivered, didn't I?" Tony said, getting into the driver's side now.
"Only to be your glorified chauffeur again!" He exclaimed, getting into the passenger seat. Perse got into the back seat, having to clamber a bit because it was high up. She stifled her laughter as the two continued to banter. I'm willing to bet that Tony gave him the name "Happy," she thought to herself as the car skidded because Stark started hauling ass.
They got to the city in record timing, but no one can get around the city traffic. They got to the Tower two hours later, passing through the security checkpoint and pulling into the underground garage. Once they got out of the car, Perse marveled at the car collection in here. Hot rods, sleek race cars, and a few motorcycles, one of them a Harley Davidson.
"That one there is Cap's." Tony nodded, still wearing his stupid shades. Perse did a double take, looking up to Tony incredulously. "Really! He likes to live a little every once in a while."
Perse laughed, and before Happy could take her things and lug them upstairs with bitter remarks, she beat him to it.
"I got it, Happy, thank you." She smiled, trying to get on his good side (if he even had one).
"You're a sweetheart." He actually smiled down at her, but gave Tony a nasty look. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Thanks, Happs." Tony grinned, although he said it less sincerely. He liked to pull Happy's leg.
When they made it to the elevator, FRIDAY's voice came through again, welcoming everyone back inside the Tower. Tony pushed the button to the 69th floor, the upper level of the building, where they came to an empty hallway. Then, a door, which had to be accessed with a retinal scan.
"Up you go." Tony said, leading her forward. "Gotta put you in the system."
She opened her eye real wide, which made Tony chuckle, and the scan was not pleasant because it was a bright light shining in that momentarily blinded her.
"Name?" FRIDAY spoke.
"Uh. Perse?" She responded.
"Welcome, Perse." The AI said, and then the door slided open and they walked through. To another elevator. Perse looked to Tony, wondering why.
"Added security measure." Tony rolled his eyes, looking to Happy.
"You won't be rolling your eyes when someone tries to break in and can't get to you guys." Happy said, wagging a finger.
"Yeah, sure, of course." Tony nodded, but turned and gave Perse a wink.
Tony pressed the button for the 80th floor. They went up quickly and at the ding, came to another door.
"If this is another security measure…" Perse muttered, but Tony heard and laughed. Tony walked ahead and opened the door to reveal what looked to be a living room. She stepped inside and saw that there was also a kitchenette and a large open doorway that led into what looked to be the bedroom. "Holy shit."
"Language." Tony interjected quickly, although he wasn't really serious, but it still made Perse blush and break a sweat at the "scolding."
"Sorry. Is this…?" Perse asked, doing a spin and taking the whole room in.
"Yup." Tony smiled, popping the "p," "This whole floor is yours. If you go up to the 81st, is the lounge area, with the kitchen and dining room. And party room." He grinned. "The nine floors below are also residential, floor 68 to 66 is the training facility. You like?"
"Y-Yeah." She managed to get out, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. "I think this place is bigger than my apartment!" And it was, without a doubt. And it was all Perse's?
"Well, we'll let you settle in." Tony clapped his hands and started backing out of the room, where Happy was already out and waiting at the elevator, which just then opened to let the men in. "If you need anything, bother Happy."
"What?" Happy said, about to protest, but the elevator closed on the men before he could say anything and Perse was now truly alone. Perse sat down on the white couch, which was extremely comfortable. The coffee table in front of her was metal, and had coasters, a remote, and a decorative display of fake flowers in a red vase. To her left was the large window that took up the wall, letting in all of the natural light. Behind her, the kitchenette that was complete with a regular sized fridge, a countertop, cabinets, microwave, sink, and a mini dishwasher. In front of her was the large flat-screen TV and to the right of the glorious TV, led towards the bedroom and bathroom. Everything was so spaced out, the place really was her own apartment. But out of everything in this room, Perse couldn't stop staring at the large flat screen TV, even though nothing was playing.
"Miss, would you like to watch TV?" FRIDAY spoke, which startled Perse out of her reverie.
"Uh. Sure." She said, and immediately the TV turned on to Keeping Up With the Kardashians. "Can I play something else?"
"Of course. We have every channel available, as well as On Demand, and all streaming services. You may browse with the remote." FRIDAY replied.
"Oh." She said quietly, and picked up the remote that was on the coffee table. It was a sleek remote, with the Stark logo on the upper corner. She started channel surfing, and finally stopped on the Discovery channel. Why not.
While a documentary about Arctic life played, she got up and started getting situated into the room. The walls were the same color as in the living room area, an off-white color mixed with light grey or maybe light green, it was hard for Perse to tell. The bedroom had a king sized bed with a dark gray duvet, fluffy light grey pillows, with a metal bed frame, two nightstands on both sides, a light that could be dimmed and brightened, a lamplight on one of the nightstands, a dresser that was long width-wise and black in color, a walk in closet with plenty of unnecessary shoe space, and the large window that overlooked the city, but like the one in the Compound, could be blacked out. She started unpacking, putting her clothes into hangers and drawers. Her clothes barely took up any space. In fact, everything she owned barely took up any space. The three picture frames on top of the nightstand. Invisible Man and her street art book from Michelle resting inside the nightstand drawer. Her art kit in the other nightstand drawer.
Her bathroom was right across from the bedroom and matched the same modern and minimalistic style as everything else: the off-white walls, shades of dark gray and black. The countertops and sinks were black marble, the floors limestone tiles. The cabinets were a black glass with gold trimming. A separate tub and shower. She put her shampoo and conditioner on the ledge in the shower, admiring how she could only reach from end to end by doing a near-split. She was worried that the toilet would be one of those fancy ones that lit up and cleaned down there, but she was relieved to see that it was a normal toilet.
Stepping back out, she sat back down on the couch and sent out a message to Michelle, telling her about her new abode (while of course not saying it resided inside the Avengers Tower). She knew that Tony or Clint would have disapproved, but she needed to tell someone about everything–even though she couldn't tell the whole truth. She didn't think she could ever feel the same happiness she used to feel with Al and Jimena, but she would be lying if she said she didn't like the view from up here.
AN: Next chapter up so soon! I start my summer classes soon, but I'm going to enjoy this tiny break in between semesters.
Now a quote from one of the best shows ever, The Office:
Clint: Isn't depression just a fancy word for feeling 'bummed out'?
Perse: Clint, you ignorant slut.