HELLO! :D

Enjoy a new chapter, I'm in a happy mood :3

When Ebony had stumbled into her room, she felt her tense muscles relax a little. Okay, she admitted to herself quietly. Natasha and Wanda were right. I have no idea how to talk to guys.

She stalked through the apartment for a bit, unsure of what to do. The only noise audible in her apartment the entire time was the click of Ebony's heels (which, she admitted proudly, almost got her to a height of 5"4) and the occasional opening and shutting of cabinets. She hadn't really had a chance to have a proper look at... well, anything in her apartment - considering she was getting knocked out and waking up in the lab all the time - so she had decided to have a look now. When she was under 'floor arrest'.

It annoyed her in some ways, really. Ebony never liked being caged up since she ran away from her mom, and now that she had to deal with it again, Ebony jumped, then reassured herself it wasn't her mom whenever something made a noise. As she glanced through the cabinets, she saw she had hardly anything in here. No food, only a dozen bottles of refrigerated water, one book on 'The Geography of the Arctic', which was something that wouldn't interest her anytime soon, and a small box with a Stark Industries pamphlet stuck inside of it. At the end, Ebony concluded the following; this apartment was boring and most likely no one lived in it.

She stalked to the front of the wooden door, touching the smooth, brass doorknob - then hesitated. Am I allowed to go outside of my room? she wondered, like a child, but then turned to brass knob and pushed the door open. The hell I am.

When she walked out of her apartment door, the first thing she noticed was that it was eerily quiet. Was Bucky still on this floor? she wondered absently as she trudged into level seven's common area, where a large, flat-screen TV hung on the wall, accompanied by two, white leather sofas. A birch-wood coffee table occupied the middle, and a plush-looking lavender carpet sat underneath all those pieces of furniture.

The next thing Ebony had noticed was a small cabinet next to an hourglass lamp in a corner. I wonder... she strutted up to it, and opened the cabinet. She was greeted with over two dozen DVDs, cassettes and CDs, and Ebony almost jumped in delight. Jackpot. After contemplating her decisions for a while, with her scrunching up her button-nose in thought, Ebony picked out the first volume of Star Wars, inserted the disk into the player, and sat on one of the couches, her posture still timid.

However, when the opening scene began, she visibly relaxed, her frail-looking body sinking into the smooth material of the couch and grabbing a lilac pillow nearby, holding towards her for comfort. Everything was going well and easing up, when a voice made her jump out of her skin and seat, turn around and hold her hands in a defensive pose.

"What the hell?"

Both her and Bucky said the same thing at the same time, and also simultaneously gave each other strange looks. However, Ebony was the first to recover, lowering her arms slowly and speaking calmly, trying to keep the fire out of her voice.

"What is it, Barnes?" She asked, giving him half of a deadpan look. He almost shot it back, then composed himself.

"You should be in your apartment," he replied, almost as sarcastically, then gestured towards the hallway. But Ebony had been ready for that.

"But you didn't say apartment arrest," she said, emphasising 'apartment'. "You said floor. I'm still on this floor." Then, she put her hands on her small hips, as if she had made her point, which she did.

Bucky looked conflicted with trying to punch her and laughing, but then just relaxed his shoulders. "Whatever," he mumbled, then glanced at the screen. "What are you watching?"

Ebony almost felt herself keel over in shock. Bucky hadn't seen Star Wars?! What the hell are the Avengers doing to this guy?

Voicing her question out loud, she sounded incredulous even to herself. "You haven't seen the best movie in the entire galaxy?" She asked, slight mock-exaggeration in her voice. Bucky looked at her a bit guiltily. She made it sound like it was a good movie, and he did have time...

"Fine," he simply said. "I'll watch it with you."

Ebony felt herself tense a bit, then heat flooded her cheeks, letting her know that her body decided to blush against her will. She blinked a few times, then nodded quickly. "Of- of course!" She said a bit too quickly. "Do you have any, uh, popcorn?"

She did not understand a single thing that was happening to her. Heat was basically pouring through her cheeks, she suddenly felt light-headed and her stomach was tingling. Bucky - which Ebony did not know - was currently feeling the same way, however he knew well enough what was happening. Then, he snapped out of his reverie and nodded slowly.

Ebony smiled quickly, and hesitantly. However, even such a brief smile was enough to get Bucky's heart racing. Add that to the list of severe symptoms of love.

"Great!" She said, somewhat nervously. "I'll go get some."

Then, she raced into the kitchen, but her heart felt like she had just run 20 miles consecutively. What the fuck? she thought desperately, trying to get a grip on herself. It's just a guy, Ebony. You've seen those before. Now calm down. She willed her body and mind to calm itself, then got to readying the popcorn for the movie.

That is how Steve Rogers came into the 7th floor at 5.14 PM, hearing muffled voices which included Bucky.

"The original trilogy was way better," the first voice said. Sounds like a heated discussion, he thought quickly, but listened behind the doorway anyway.

"No way! The new three give some background knowledge, which is good," the second voice replied. That was Bucky's voice.

"Yeah, but, did you not see how awesome the effects were on the original three?" the first voice retorted back, and then Steve had mustered up the courage to walk in.

He was not prepared for the sight.

Ebony and Bucky both sat on the sofa, with Ebony's legs thrown over Bucky's (which were resting on the coffee table), and Bucky's arm around Ebony's shoulder, both facing the screen. The sight almost made Steve fall over. Since when does Bucky ever let someone other than him touch him? Was something happening he wasn't aware of? They didn't seem to notice him, eyes still glued to the screen which was playing something with two men and extremely long glow sticks. He was sure he hadn't seen that movie yet.

Bucky laughed. "Okay, doll, you win. Original three it is." Ebony laughed triumphantly, and punched Bucky lightly into his shoulder. Then, they continued watching, seemingly not noticing that Captain America had walked into the room.

Finally, he cleared his throat. Bucky flung his head around to see Steve smiling sheepishly. How long had he been standing there? he thought absentmindedly as he reached for the remote and paused the movie. Ebony also had her head turned to Steve, and smiled shyly.

"Hey Steve," she said casually, then pulled her legs off of Bucky's. Bucky immediately missed the absence of her legs on his, and his mind wandered places where it probably shouldn't wander. Silently chastising himself, he also got to his feet and returned a smile. "What's up, Stevie?"

"Um," Steve began. He suddenly felt awkward interrupting.. whatever had been happening. However, seeing the duo continuing to gaze at him, he spoke up. "Buck, we need you for a meeting. Just a short one."

Bucky nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Ebony. "I'll be back," he said, then walked around the couch.

"We'll watch Terminator next time!" She shouted after him, then went to clean away the bowl as Bucky walked out of the room and towards the elevator.

When they were alone, Steve burst into a fit of chuckles. Bucky turned to give him a funny look. "What?"

"You like her," Steve jabbed a finger at his flesh shoulder. Bucky gave him a small glare, however couldn't help a small smirk gracing his lips. "The elementary comeback? That's low, punk."

Steve just kept laughing, then turned serious. "But you do," he said, pressing the button for the elevator which arrived within a second. Bucky sighed as they stepped in, running his metal hand through his messy hair.

"I-"

"You do!" Steve laughed again, and Bucky tried his best not to smile.

I'm in some deep shit with Ebony, he thought as the elevator doors popped open.

"No."

That had been Bucky's first answer to the following question Stark had posed; Should Ebony be part of the Avengers? Bucky knew that he couldn't protect her like that. Yeah, he knew she'd be against it, but he was doing it because she was still young and... weak. Not power-wise, that way she was far too strong. In body-wise... he was still afraid he would accidentally snap her in half if he hugged her too hard. He had already been afraid when watching that Star Wars movie... what would happen if she went out into the field?

Stark only scoffed at Bucky's stubborn face, and stood from his chair to impose dominance over this meeting, which he currently lacked. "Oh, come on," he said. "Snow will be fine. No evil queen will give her some apple to bite-"

"Apples?" Thor, the Norse God asked from his seat, which really didn't look much bigger than him. "Whatever do apples have to do with Lady Ebony?"

"Tony is implying she is Snow White," Wanda supplied helpfully, to which Thor nodded eagerly to. "A princess from a fairy tale. She bites a poison apple-"

"We don't need a retelling of Snow White," Steve interrupted, shooting an apologising look to the young woman. "But Stark, I think Bucky's right. She isn't ready yet and-"

Suddenly, Tony slammed his hands down onto the pristine glass table in frustration. "Yes, she is, goddammit!" He yelled, then kicked his chair back, which just wheeled across the room. Then, he stalked over to one of the screens, took his time typing something up, before a hologram appeared in the middle of the table. A picture full of lines and waves to normal people, but when Bruce saw it, he took off his glasses, staring at the readings in amazement.

"Is that-"

"Yes, those are Ebony's power readings from this morning," Stark answered, steering his fingers across one, especially high line in the hologram. "Those were the highest pitching levels."

Bruce ran a hand through his chocolate curls, still gazing at the hologram in front of him. Then, he turned to both Tony and Thor. "Those levels are at the same powers as.. as Thor's hammer."

Thor piped up and raised a questioning eyebrow, getting a good look at the readings in front of him, which slowly began to make sense in his own way.

"Lady Ebony possesses the powers of Mjolnir?" He inquired, glancing at Tony, who was standing triumphantly in front of the hologram.

"Well, sort of," Bruce conceded, shooting a small smile Thor's way. The God merely grinned. "She has the same electricity levels, if not higher. All she needs to do is to make use of them."

"That's exactly my point!" Bucky cried out, throwing his hands in the air. "She hasn't learned to use them yet! How could we guarantee for her safety?"

"Well, with the right equipment and training she could easily be ready," Stark countered. "If it happens by schedule, my guess is a week, at most."

Bucky glared at Stark in shock. Has he lost his mind?! Bucky was about to voice his question, but the Widow interrupted him.

"Fine. Give her a week." Then, she stood and raised an eyebrow at the mad genius. "But don't push her. I will find out about it if you do." With that, the red-head left the conference room, leaving Wanda and the rest of the boys. Wanda also nodded, as if she agreed with Natasha, and also made her leave.

"Well," Steve said finally. "Looks like we have a new Avenger."

Yay, Ebony will be an Avenger! Drinks all around! JK, I don't drink XD.

Follow, fave and review to celebrate with Ebony! :3