No-one had been happy to hear that Camille had been shot but all had been grateful that it wasn't anything too serious.
When Pepper and Steve were on their way back to the Tower, Steve had placed a call to Barton since he knew the archer was quite fond of the mutant in a brotherly way- hell, all of them were. What he hadn't counted on was for Barton to be in the presence of both Coulson and Romanoff, and that the three of them would storm the Tower before he and Pepper even got there.
There had been some yelling- mostly everyone just pissed off that the girls had been in that situation- and then there was a lot of gratefulness that the bullet wound was a through and through, and that Bruce could easily clean and then patch her up.
Once that had been taken care of, they let Camille rinse off her blood and the blood of the men she had on her, and then she was subjected to giving blood samples since she did have the men's blood in her mouth.
Her blood tests came back clean but that didn't stop Bruce from running the tests again a few days later just to be certain.
Tony had then hunted down the two men who attempted to mug Pepper- he using JARVIS to hack into police and hospital files for anything related to a dog attack or wolf attack. And surprisingly, they were found but had been taken into custody all on their own because they spun the wolf story and since no wolves inhabited New York, no-one believed them.
The Doctors then tested the men's blood for narcotics and surprise, surprise, they were positive. Such a shame that Tony couldn't get his hands on them. He had wanted to press charges for them even touching Pepper but then Clint made him realize that if he confessed that his pet did attack in defense of Pepper, it'd just drag Camille back in the spotlight and that's the last place anyone wanted her. So with that out of the way, they all went back to their normal lives and prepared for the upcoming Christmas party.
Camille had then been subjected to wearing shorts while her thigh healed- the jeans rubbing uncomfortably on the wound- and limped around the Tower. She felt a bit guilty for attacking the men- she had never used her ability to actually harm someone- but the team made sure to sit her down and tell her that it was fine. If she hadn't attacked then either she or Pepper could possibly be dead because Pepper wouldn't have given up so easily.
And when Camille still felt guilty, Pepper tried lightening the mood by informing Camille that just because she has a bullet hole in her leg, it didn't mean she was getting out of wearing her dress to the party.
Camille grumbled though her lips faintly twitched in amusement and Pepper beamed before going back to work.
BANG!
Camille shoots up in bed, chest heaving and blanket wrapped around her calves. She usually keeps her room at a cool seventy-two degrees but the nightmare she just had- and has been having- has her sweating up a storm.
"Miss Camille, do you require assistance?"
She flinches at the sudden loudness of JARVIS' voice, heart hammering as she gathers her wits and her eyes adjust to the dark. "N-no, JARV. I'm okay. Just a dream."
The AI takes her word for it and then Camille's left alone in silence once more.
She's been having the nightmares ever since the mugging incident and now that she's awake, she's going to stay awake. Grumbling to herself and climbing out of bed, Camille slightly stretches and yawns before limping towards her desk and bringing her laptop to life from it's sleeping state.
Having to squint at the screen to read the time in the bottom corner, she finds that it's only after four in the morning and grumbles about it being too early to be up. But still, she doesn't have the urge to climb back into bed and since she thinks everyone's asleep, she might as well hit the gym.
Along with the nightmares had also come Natasha's nagging- the redhead telling Camille that she was going to start needing to learn both self defense and to work up her stamina in case she were ever in the need to run away from a bad guy. But first, she needed to slowly start stretching her muscles and work her way up to other things since her thigh was still on the mend.
So with a visit to the gym looking more and more like a good idea, Camille gathers up some clothes from her dresser- a sports bra, an overly large tank top that girl's ran in now-a-days, and a pair of tights in the form of shorts. She takes her time getting dressed and after staring at her hair to try and decide what to do with it, she quickly brushes it out and then ties it in a knot towards the right side of the base of her neck.
She finds her pair of running shoes that she first wore when she came to the Tower and pulls those on before heading out.
The floor is oddly quiet and dimly lit since it's early in the morning, and she makes it to the gym floor in no time. Though when she gets there, she freezes when she hears the tell-tale sign of someone grunting and punching what she can only guess is a punching bag.
Stepping further into the room, it's like a weightlifter's heaven with all the equipment on the floor. There's at least three of every piece of machinery, a boxing ring, numerous racks for various weights, numerous punching bags, bleachers for sitting, restrooms and showers marked at the back wall, and the far right wall is all mirror with a ballet bar.
She doesn't want to bother Steve since it looks like he's working up a good sweat but he sees her anyway as she steps off to the side to walk towards the mirrored wall.
"Hey," he calls out, catching the punching bag from swinging and hitting him. "You're up early."
Camille grimaces at being spotted right away but nods nonetheless. "Yeah. Couldn't sleep."
She keeps her eyes locked on the mirror image of her feet getting closer to the mirrored wall, she then using the bar to help lower herself to the ground so her back's to the mirror. And when she doesn't hear Steve's punching begin again, she spots him walking towards her with a sheepish grin and a towel thrown over his shoulder.
Nose scrunching up at his sweat covered t-shirt, Steve chuckles before taking a seat on the ground next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"Why you're up so early."
Camille frowns, stretching out her legs in front of her in a V-formation. "They're just nightmares, Steve. They'll be gone soon."
It's Steve's turn to frown now, he watching on as Camille stretches, her injured leg twitching when she stretches it a bit too far. "Well, that was easier than expected."
Camille snorts, sitting up and turning to face Steve. "I'm not one to dance around the subject," she shrugs. "At least not anymore." Steve grins at her, eyes darting away a moment later as he leans back against the mirror.
The two sit in silence and since there's not much else to do, Camille goes back to stretching- first her left leg and then her right. She does this for a few minutes before she sighs out in aggravation and whirls on Steve. "If you're going to sit here, will you at least be useful?"
Lips twitching, he shrugs. "What do you need me to do?"
"Sit in front of me," she tells him as she moves so there's no wall at her back. "Legs spread out in a 'V' like mine with the bottoms of your feet touching mine."
"Like making a diamond with our legs," he asks as he crawls into position.
"Exactly."
Steve gets into position fairly quickly, his eyebrows raising when Camille crosses her forearms and holds her hands out to him. "Uh, what?"
"Cross your arms like mine and then grab my hands. You're going to gently pull back and pull me forward so it stretches both my legs at the same time."
He doesn't argue with her and does as he's told, slightly flinching when Camille hisses in pain. "Okay, okay," she grunts as he lets up and she sits up. "Again."
He helps her stretch for a good ten minutes, keeping an eye on her facial expressions for signs that he's hurting her. He doesn't think this stretch is actually helping so when he says as much and Camille pulls back to stretch him forward, his eyes widen. "Okay, okay! It does burn."
She giggles at his grimace, finally deciding to stand and do a few easy yoga poses since it seems that Steve's in a talkative mood now. He asks her why she ended up in the gym of all places and she tells him about Natasha getting on her tail. And when she admits that she wants to start running again and soon, she's caught his attention.
"You run?"
"Used to," she heaves a tired sigh. Boy, she was really out of shape. "Ran track in high school. It helped burn off excess energy when I didn't feel like shifting to run amok."
"Huh," he huffs in thought. "Well, if you want a partner, I run every other morning. You can join me and we'll work your stamina back up, and then we'll see if you can give me a run for my money. No-one else likes to run with me."
"I wonder why, super soldier."
He grins at her playful tone, waiting to hear her answer since it actually looks like she's thinking about it.
After a moment's hesitation and a purse of her lips, she nods. "Yeah, why not. It'd be good to get out of the Tower every now and then."
"Great! Let's start right now."
"Excuse me?"
Steve grins. "Watching you stretch and do-" he trails off, gesturing to her form. "Whatever it is you're doing is making me tired and now I want coffee. And possibly three pastries."
"Okay," she drawls.
"So, yeah. There's a cafe two blocks away that we can jog to. We'll start off easy."
Camille startles at realizing he's being serious and moves to stand straighter. Heaving a sigh, she rolls her eyes when Steve's grin turns into a smirk. "Fine. Lead the way, Captain."
Since their first jog in the AM, Camille starts setting her alarm for five thirty in the morning in case her nightmares didn't wake her up.
She meets Steve in the gym, stretches, and then the two of them hit the streets to jog for an hour or so before hitting up the cafe for a quick breakfast. Sometimes it was just the two of them and other times, Natasha would join them incognito and tell the mutant how proud she was of her that she was taking her workouts seriously.
The early mornings become a habit- a habit in which Camille cherishes because it keeps her sane when she doesn't have time to bake- and all too soon, the day of Tony's Christmas party had arrived.
Steve and Camille decide not to run that morning but they do hit the gym for Steve's usual punching bag routine and Camille's stretches which had started gaining more strenuous yoga poses.
Camille had been surprised with the little to no activity of the Tower and it wasn't until later that she was told the party was to be held in the spacious side lobby of the South tower. She didn't even know there was a South tower and then quickly finds out that Stark Tower was flanked by a 55- story North building and a 35- story South building.
After the hours ticked on by, Natasha finally drags a reluctant Camille away from the couch with Steve and Clint to have a bit of girl time before they started getting ready. She hadn't even expected for the Black Widow to be into such things and it surprised her to learn that she was the cause of Natasha's inner big sister as well as Pepper's to come forward and treat her as a part of the family.
..
..
Everything the women needed had been taken up to Tony and Pepper's personal loft- Pepper banning Tony from his own floor for the evening as the three women got ready.
He hadn't protested too much and chose instead to go annoy Bruce and Clint until the two men donned their own suits for the festivities- something in which greatly amused Camille when she learned Clint loathed tuxes.
The women had prim and pampered each other- the three of them taking a shower one right after the other and lounging around in silk robes while Pepper and Natasha did their hair and makeup.
Camille hadn't known exactly what she was doing but she soon found herself with her hair styled to one side, an added in braid at the back that flowed with the rest of her hair. Foundation hid away any slight blemishes, silver and black eye shadow really made her eyes pop, and her lipstick was kept nude.
Diamond studs adorned her ears, a wrap around bracelet adorned her wrist with both clear and dark crystals, and her nails had been polished and filed down with only a clear coating on them.
Natasha had downright laughed when Camille pulled out her shoes- silver knee high Greek sandals- and Pepper told her the story of why Camille had flats and not any sort of pumps. And then Natasha was absolutely speechless when Camille stepped out from the bathroom in her navy colored cocktail dress- a mid-length halter a-line with silver sequined detailing along the waist and straps that went around her neck.
"Oh, Camille," both Pepper and Natasha breathe in awe.
"What," she nervously tugs at her wavy hair. "It's not too much, is it?"
"No."
"Absolutely not," Pepper beams before directing her to the body length mirror. "Look."
Camille takes in her appearance, her eyes widening before her lips blossom into one of the most genuine smiles they've seen on her.
Pepper and Natasha leave her at the mirror- the two of them directing her to put on her shoes because they were heading down soon. So after Camille's donned her own sandals, she turns around and gets a look at both women finally dressed.
Pepper's in a slinky spaghetti strapped dress, the skirt falling along the floor with giant curls in her hair. She kept her own eye shadow light and opted for the nude lipstick as well.
But Natasha- Natasha opted for a simple black sleeveless lace dress and golden pumps. Her hair is also curled to perfection but her makeup is more sinful and screams dangerous if her facial features are set just right.
The three have just enough time to pose for a picture that Pepper asked for- she assuring them that they'd both get copies before they're riding the elevator down to the communal floor. Bruce, Clint, Steve, and Tony are all waiting for them in tuxes- all the men gaping at the three ladies before the compliments start flowing (Bruce and Steve), and the cat-calls pierce the air (Tony and Clint).
Natasha gestures for Bruce, Steve, and Clint to follow her- the four of them needing to go make sure everything's in order and do a last minute perimeter check- and Tony and Pepper tell Camille to wait with them.
"What's going on," she finally asks when it's just them three waiting for the elevator to make it's drop-off before coming back for them.
Pepper grins and Tony downright smirks. "Since it is Christmas Eve, we figured we'd give you your first present."
"What?!"
"It's a two-in-one, actually," Pepper admits. "From Tony and myself, and Thor."
"Oh my god."
"Fret not, little one," Tony laughs. "You're gonna love it. And besides, don't get too drunk tonight. After everyone leaves, we're heading back up to the family floor to open even more presents."
"You g-guys didn't have to," Camille splutters. "I mean, I only baked you cookies for presents! You didn't need to get me anything."
"But we wanted to," Pepper assures her, her hand smoothing down from Camille's shoulder to squeeze her hand. "Just trust us."
Camille's bewildered gaze darts between Tony and Pepper- both grinning and chuckling at her reaction until the elevator picks them up. From there, they take the elevator to Camille's floor but instead of walking her towards her usual room, they walk her further down the hall to a brand new door with a red bow sticking to it.
"Surprise," Tony chirps. "You've been upgraded from a room to a full blown apartment." Camille gapes and Tony drapes an arm around her shoulders. "But now that you have an apartment, that doesn't mean you can hide away and bake treats only to hide them from us." Pepper snorts but quickly recovers with a glare when Tony's a second away from laughing at her. "Anyway," he drawls and gives Camille back his attention. "Just thought I'd let you know that if you do hoard all the treats, I will waltz in at any time of the day to eat your food."
This time, it's Camille's turn to snort and instead of fighting them on upgrading her room, she surprises them by smiling gratefully. "Thank you- both of you," she makes sure to look each of them in the eye as she says this. She opens her mouth to say more but her eyes suddenly tear up and her voice cracks.
"Don't mention it," Tony waves her off before she can get too emotional. "And now open your door. Thor's gift is waiting for you."
Camille gives a watery chuckle and dabs at her eyes before turning to face her door and reaching for the handle. "But I barely know Thor. What could he have possibly given- Darcy?!"
"Surprise!" Standing just on the inside of her new apartment is one Darcy Lewis- all bright eyed and looking quite sinful in a knee-length golden dress with very detailed red designs and see-through mesh. "Thor was bringing Jane to this shin-dig and the gang suggested I tag along so you'd have a friend here."
"I- wha- oh my god!"
Camille quickly snaps out of her shocked demeanor, a smile quickly blossoming just as Darcy's opening up her arms. "Come on. Come give momma a hug."
Camille throws her head back and laughs before doing as told, hugging her friend for the first time just as Tony loudly whispers to Pepper, "I like her. Can we keep her? She's wearing my colors."
"Hey," Darcy suddenly snaps her attention to Tony. "I am not wearing Iron Man colors, I'm wearing Thor colors."
Tony pouts and Pepper grins. "Well, now that that's out of the way, what do you guys say to joining the party downstairs."
"I say hell yeah," Darcy's suddenly giddy again. "It is my goal to put reindeer antlers on Tall, Lean, and Sculpted."
"Tall, lean, and sculpted," Tony's brows furrow in confusion.
"She means Steve," Camille chuckles. "She's oddly obsessed with all his.. muscle-y goodness. Her words, not mine."
"God bless America."
Pepper, Tony, and Camille all snort- the three of them shaking their heads in amusement as Darcy zones out for a second.
"I definitely like her," Tony smirks. "Tonight's going to be fun."
..
..
The ride down the Tower has Pepper and Tony not so subtly watching as Camille and Darcy interact. Both women have not stopped smiling and Camille asks if she was being serious about the reindeer antlers.
"Uh, yeah," Darcy scoffs. "I have a little santa sack filled with antlers and santa hats. Thor snuck it in."
Camille hides her face in her hands as she laughs- Tony realizing that she's been laughing quite a bit since she's been introduced to her friend. When the elevator opens up to the lobby, Tony and Pepper take the lead as they walk to the South tower and are let in right away since it is Tony's party.
Almost immediately, Thor's ushering Jane to meet them all- introductions being very friendly and quick before Darcy's dragging an amused Camille towards the bar.
"I have a feeling introducing the girls tonight is either going to end in drunken amusement or drunken embarrassment," Pepper grins.
"Depends on what Darcy starts them off with," Jane shrugs as she eyes her friend and Camille. "If it's a normal fruity drink then amusement for sure but if it's shots.."
"It's shots," Tony blurts with a triumphant smirk when he sees the bartender set down the little glasses. "What do shots mean?"
"It means," Jane sighs, torn between horror and amusement. "That they're going to have to be watched. Last time Darcy started off with shots, we were sitting side by side in a jail cell as she ranted about the guy tasering himself in the throat."
Tony cackles and Pepper groans.
They were in for a long night.
..
..
The first two shots were the only alcohol Pepper let the ladies have- she making them eat dinner and sit through a few of the speeches before hitting up the bar once again.
Darcy had pouted her way through Pepper's little speech but Camille happily went along with the blonde's wishes.
So there they sat- the table quite full with Thor, Jane, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Steve keeping the two of them company as Pepper and Tony gave speeches and took pictures and made generous donations. They ate their food, drank the sparkling water, and snickered to one another as they kept themselves amused without drawing too much attention to them.
The others, however, are staring and nearly gaping at the scene.
"What have you created," Barton nudges Jane's elbow.
"I'm not quite sure."
Natasha snorts and quickly averts her gaze when Camille's gaze snaps to her. Darcy- now that Camille's not paying her any attention- reaches down below their table and pulls out a small red satin Santa sack. Reaching in, she pulls free a set of brown felt reindeer antlers on a headband with tiny jingling bells.
"Want a pair," Darcy grins as she slips them on her head.
Nose scrunching up and giggling, Camille shakes her head. "Nah. I think I'm going to need a few more drinks before I don a pair."
Darcy shrugs and pulls out a red Santa hat, tossing it at Thor's face. "Put it on, Big Guy. Help me celebrate all that it is we're supposedly celebrating."
Thor actually beams and pulls the hat atop his head, Jane rolling her eyes but fixing his hat nonetheless.
One Avenger down, five more to go.
..
..
"If you like piña coladas.. and getting caught in the rain."
Tony snorts as he's waiting for his Scotch, his mind catching up a second too late as he realizes he knows that voice and darts his gaze in it's direction.
Camille's standing with Darcy, the both of them giggling and nursing two brand new hourglass shaped glasses with tiny umbrellas spearing pineapple and cherries, and the alcoholic slush of what Tony guesses are their piña coladas.
His mouth doesn't seem to wanna cooperate with him- he having to watch as the two women collect their drinks and slink away only to photobomb Captain America and then book it away before he notices.
"That's attractive," Natasha drawls as she slides up next to him, ordering several shots of Vodka. "What has you gaping like a fool?" Tony splutters, taking a sip of drink that he hadn't known was placed in front of him before pointing in Camille's direction. Natasha grins and follows his gaze, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow raising in amusement. "Ah, the girls," she chuckles. "Clint's keeping an eye on them."
"What? He's not supposed to be working."
"Well, someone had to take Foster's warning to heart," she shrugs. "That and he doesn't want Camille to do something she'll regret in the morning."
"Yeah, like what?"
"Like shifting in a room full of people," the assassin deadpans, turning to face Stark head on. "People make poor judgment calls when consuming alcohol. And given how reluctant Camille was in coming clean about just what her abilities were to us, do you really think she'd ever forgive herself for outing herself to people she has no idea who they are or if they're trustworthy or not?"
Tony takes a moment to think about it, realization dawning fairly quickly to which Natasha pats his cheek with a sardonic grin. "Don't worry. Like I said, Barton's watching them. And it's not really work if he's enjoying it. I've gotten several photos of Camille photobombing Pepper, and Doctors Banner and Foster."
"Pepper?! She photobombed- send it to me, Romanoff!"
Tony's eager expression causes the usually stoic agent to laugh. "JARVIS has all the pictures," she tells him. "He's going to project any and all drunk shenanigans onto her wall when she wakes up hungover in the morning and then Clint's framing all the photobombs for the family floor."
"She's going to be so pissed."
"Serves her right for getting drunk her first time out with the Avengers."
Tony's hysterical laughter is his response as Natasha blends back into the crowd with her shots.
..
..
Steve's trying to keep a straight face now that Camille's sitting down once more- he having watched throughout the evening as numerous men approached her and Dr. Foster's intern only to be shut down and sent on their way. Darcy Lewis was having some quality girl time with her bestest friend and no man was going to interrupt it.
Clint and Tony's combined stifled laughter is enough to shake their table- the bells on their antlers jingling atop their heads- antlers in which Darcy persuaded the men to wear with just a sway of her hips. Natasha's at the table as well, drink in hand with one leg crossed over the other and a Santa hat atop her head as she watches Camille's drunken ramblings continue.
"I just don't get it," she weeps into Darcy's shoulder- Darcy's who's nodding very seriously and patting her friend's back soothingly. "They're just kittens. Just teeny tiny little fur balls of love."
And cue the uncontrollable laughter that Tony and Clint can no longer control, the both of them leaning on each other as they wipe away tears of mirth.
Steve sighs just as Bruce steps up to their table, eyes wide at the scene before him. "Do I even wanna know?"
Shrugging, Natasha sips her drink to hide her grin. "Camille's a weepy drunk."
"What happened?"
"We're still not sure," Steve mutters. "One second they were talking about animals and Camille's abilities, and the next they were talking about the cruelty of animals which got her ranting."
"Here," Camille then practically shouts. "Someone hold my drink. I'll show you how lovable kittens are. How cute they can be."
"No," Steve's quick to jump out of his seat, taking Camille's drink from her. "It's fine. We believe you. Kittens are cute."
Camille blinks owlishly up at him, nodding along. "Right?!"
Tony and Clint continue to laugh but Clint's the first one to get himself together. "Here," he chuckles and passes Steve a bottled water. "Sober her up. She's cut off."
"What?! No!" She quickly reaches for her unfinished drink but Steve holds it up out of her reach. "Please! Piña coladas are so yummy."
"They're supposed to be," Natasha then smirks. "They're delicious but they sneak up on you in the end."
Camille continues to pout but when Steve stupidly asks what he can do to make up for taking her drink, she grins and takes the offered headband of antlers from Darcy and shoves them in his hand.
He should've just kept his mouth shut.
..
..
By the end of the party, Camille's sobered up enough to keep to herself and hide out in the corner with Bruce for some peace and quiet. And it doesn't hurt that Clint's sitting with them, too, he glaring at any newcomer in hopes of pulling Camille aside to dance or talk now that Darcy's not attached to her hip to fend them off.
She had sat on the sidelines as the guests continued to mingle and dance- she laughing into Clint's back as Darcy somehow managed to get Steve on the dance floor and mimed grabbing his ass whenever his back was to Camille. Thankfully none of the invited photographers caught Darcy's little display but luckily for the team, Natasha did.
Tony had found a branch of mistletoe- from where, no-one knew because none had been put up- and followed Pepper around to plant unsuspecting kisses on her. He had even caught Camille when Steve was trying to sober her up, pointing at his cheek and asking for a smack-a-roo to which she had happily obliged.
Everything had been caught on camera and the team knew they were going to have a lot of memories from this particular night.
When the party wrapped up, Thor and Jane dragged a nearly passed out Darcy up to Thor's room and went to bed for the night. But the others, the others all gathered together on the communal floor so Camille could open presents.
They had all come together for Camille, buying presents and laying them under the pure white Christmas tree that was decorated with mini-Avenger ornaments. The team themselves had exchanged gifts the night before- theirs being simple things that ranged from shoes for Pepper, weapons for Clint and Natasha, books for Bruce, art supplies for Steve, boxes upon boxes of poptarts and jars of coffee for Thor, and blazers and sunglasses for Tony.
But for Camille, everyone had come together and put some thought in for the girl. Including S.H.I.E.L.D, if the never before seen stacked black boxes tied up with a white ribbon are anything to go by.
Tony had immediately asked JARVIS where the boxes came from and JARVIS replied that Agent Coulson had dropped by but couldn't stay for the party. He had only explained he was dropping off a present and since Coulson was a regular visitor, JARVIS let him in.
Tony seemed suspicious, hell even Natasha and Clint were suspicious, and they immediately plucked off the card for Camille to read.
For the girl with extraordinary abilities. Should the need ever arise that you want to help out your friends, this will come in handy- N.F
No-one seemed too happy with Fury giving Camille a present but they all put on their happy faces for her and let her open anyway. And they had every right to be suspicious when Camille pulled out what they all eventually dubbed as the Honorary Avenger Outfit- a maroon corset with numerous buckles, a pair of black leather pants, black suede boots, and a eye mask to hide her identity.
Camille had gaped at the outfit but Natasha was quick to pack it away and turn the mutant's attention onto other things.
Bruce and Steve happily complied with starting off showing Camille their gifts to her- the two of them chuckling nervously as they explained that what they got her was the same thing but in different colors. And when Camille opened up their boxes, she couldn't help but laugh at all the plaid shirts they'd gotten her.
Clint and Natasha had went next- the two of them shrugging as Camille's eyes widened at what she saw tucked away under tissue paper. "It's inevitable," Natasha had explained as Camille picked up one of the numerous daggers to examine it more closely. "You need some type of defense."
The mood had turned somber for a minute but Pepper was quick to squash it as she slid another box towards Camille, smiling as she told the girl it was from her. Camille had quickly put her daggers aside, smiling fondly at Pepper and spluttering how she didn't need to get her anything else after letting her stay in the tower but promptly shutup when she saw the brown leather knee-high boots.
As Camille and Natasha cooed over the shoes, Tony was quick to distract Camille from further rambling of shoes with a box that had something clanking around inside and a brand new sleek Stark-phone being held right in front of her face.
"Finally decided it was time you got your own," he'd said as Camille shakily took the phone from him. "All of our numbers plus Coulson, Lewis, and Foster's numbers have been programmed in."
And when Camille turned speechless for a moment, and nearly started crying again, Tony was quick to point out his last gift. She had tried to tell him it wasn't necessary but he assured her this last present was mostly for everyone else's peace of mind.
So when Camille and pretty much everyone turned confused, he told her to open the box. Not needing to be told twice, she opens the box only to reveal several necklaces. Each necklace has a circular pendant and when she takes a closer look, she spots Captain America's shield on one and Tony's arc reactors on the others. There's even a pendent with two arrows forming an 'X' on it, a spider on another, and Mjölnir on the last one.
"They're panic buttons," Tony explained. "A necklace for each Avenger so you can switch it out whenever you want. A phone would be snatched up right away but a necklace can be overlooked. If you're ever in a situation like the mugging again- or worse!- you grip that little circle and you squeeze. We'll find you."
This time- the tears flow and there's no stopping them.
Camille's so grateful for these people- for these gifts that she can't help but cry and blubber out her thanks.
Outfits and presents are on Polyvore. There's two sets for this chapter so be sure to check it out.
Fun fact: Instead of having Camille drunkenly blubber about kittens, I was actually going to have she and Darcy take a trip to the bathroom and then a panicked Darcy rushing out with a cat in her hands, telling Jane and the others she had nothing to do with it- that it was all Camille's idea but that got way too long.