New chapter. Note at the end.
Second day was smoother, but Kate couldn't wait to go home, thankfully Sam actually came to pick her up today and she didn't have to wait for the train. So far, other than chemistry, which she understood but was a little behind in, school was just busy work for her. It did give her lots of opportunities to interact and see what the school had to offer. At lunch, Peter and Ned were showing her the list of clubs. She almost laughed when she saw archery club. The decathlon club joined them at lunch today and there had been a strong push for her to join.
Kate dropped her backpack off in her room and took Lucky out before getting her laptop and going to the main area to finish up the last few pages of her essay. She brought Lucky with her just because she knew Tony was in a meeting with Pepper.
Walking in she stopped in surprise seeing Loki sitting in one of the chairs reading a book. Looking around, she realized quickly no one else was close by. After a seconds long internal debate, Kate walked over and sat on the sofa far enough away from Loki to be able to get out of harms way but not so far that she couldn't start a conversation.
Loki glanced at her briefly but then looked back to his book.
Lucky curled up at her feet as she opened her laptop. She tilted her head slightly. "David Copperfield?" She said, curious. "I'm surprised Tony even has that book. I thought it was boring."
Loki didn't really reply, just raised an eyebrow. Not that she could blame him, she would be cautious if the person trying to start a conversation had attempted to kill her twice in less than 72 hours too.
She shrugged and went back to work on her essay.
…
By Friday Kate wasn't sure if she hated school or loved it. She was definitely ready for the weekend plus she was excited to go out with Peter and Ned tonight.
Kate stood in front of her floor length mirror in her bathroom and debated on what to wear. The biggest thing was still blending in. Blending in at school wasn't hard but being out in a main part of Manhattan, especially with the H.Y.D.R.A. threat still very real, she had to be more careful.
Finally settling on jean shorts, dark purple converse high tops, and an AC/DC T-shirt, she straightened her hair out and, though she didn't need them to actually see, she grabbed her black geek chic glasses. No one would suspect an master archer to need glasses. Grabbing her wallet and phone and petting Lucky, she went up to the main living area. Several of the Avengers were out on missions right now, the only ones that were still at the Tower were Tony, Clint, Bruce and Thor. Loki and Bucky were there too but they weren't Avengers currently.
Kate walked over and dropped down on the sofa beside Tony since it was the current open space. Clint and Thor were each taking up space on two couches and Loki, Bucky, and Bruce were in chairs.
"Look at you all ready for your date?" Tony teased to which Clint's head shot up.
Even Bucky looked up curiously.
"It's not a date." Kate replied. "Don't incite Clint like that. I'll never be allowed outside again."
"I'm still considering it." Clint said to which Kate tossed a random stress ball in response, aimed for a sensitive area, but he caught it with a smirk having been expecting it.
Kate rolled her eyes fondly but sat back to watch tv while she waited, curling her legs up on the sofa. Peter was gonna stop at the Tower to keep up appearances that she was new to New York (which she was but she could read a map), and they were going to meet Ned at a hole in the wall burger place and then go to the movie theater. Michelle and a few other Decathlon kids were gonna be at the movie theater too.
Tony couldn't resist poking more fun. "I'm just saying…he's picking you up…you're having dinner— "
"Tony, stop." Kate whined dramatically. In that moment she sounded more like a 15-year-old than any of them had ever heard and it caused all of them to smile.
"Miss." FRIDAY said addressing Kate. "Mr. Parker has arrived."
"Send him up!" Tony called as Kate moved to get up.
Kate narrowed her eyes. "Tony…" She said.
The billionaire just grinned in reply and stood up. The elevator dinged and Peter walked out looking a little wide eyed. "Hey kid." He said.
…
Peter could hardly hide his shock as the elevator opened and security told him to go up. Once inside the elevator with the doors closed, he heard Mr. Stark's AI.
"Welcome Mr. Parker." The Irish accented voice said. "Mr. Stark requested that you come up to the main living area. "
"Oh okay." Peter said. "Thanks." What could Mr. Stark want? He'd be lying if he said his mind didn't go towards a new mission.
Walking out he saw Tony walking over from the living area.
Tony smiled. "Hey kid." He said.
"Hey Mr. Stark." Peter said. He looked past Tony's shoulder to saw Kate walking over and the air caught in his throat. "Hey Kate."
She smiled and walked over to his side. "Hey Pete." She said. "You ready?"
Kate seemed to be eager to leave which made Peter a little suspicious, but Tony was quicker.
"Hang on." Tony said. "Peter hasn't had the chance to meet the rest of the Avengers yet. You guys have a minute. Come on over here."
Peter followed him with Kate walking close to his side.
"Kid, you met Barton and Barnes in Germany." Tony said casually.
Waving sheepishly at the two, Peter said. "Sorry about attacking you guys."
Clint smiled. "Don't worry kid, if we'd been trying to win things would have had a much different outcome." He said confidently.
Kate smiled at her brother.
"Thor and Loki, you saw the other night." Tony said. "And Bruce."
Peter stared at the meek looking man in amazement. "Dr. Banner, I'm a big fan." He said. "You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled."
Bruce seemed surprised that someone as young as Peter was happier about science than the Hulk. "Thank you." He said uncertainly.
"Okay." Kate said looking around. "Can we go now?" She took his hand and started pulling him towards the elevator.
Peter was definitely not blind to Clint and Bucky staring at the way she was holding his hand. He'd be lying if he said his spidey senses weren't going off a little.
"You kids have fun." Tony called going back to the sofa.
Clint looked at his sister. "Kate, remember— "
"I know. I won't forget." Kate said. "Okay? Bye bye!"
She pulled him into the elevator and pressed the button.
…
Kate, Peter, and Ned were all discussing the merits of the rebooted Star Trek movies compared to the old ones as they walked to the theater. Once through the doors, they immediately spotted their group already waiting for them.
"Finally!" Flash calls in annoyance.
"Who invited him?" Kate asked Peter under her breath, knowing he'd catch it.
Peter smiled and replied through his teeth. "I think he invited himself."
Kate tried not to laugh as they joined the group.
"Relax Flash." Cindy said with a roll of her eyes.
They got their tickets and snacks, but they still had about 10 minutes before the movie was gonna start. Once they were in their seats, most began speculating about the movie. Kate, who had claimed the end spot next to Peter, just listened to them with amusement until she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.
Looking at the Caller ID, she frowned, not recognizing the number. It wasn't the craziest thing, sometimes when Clint or Natasha were on a mission, they would call her from a secure line, but she wouldn't recognize the number, however, Clint was at the Tower and Natasha didn't normally call if there was someone there to watch over her.
"Hey, I'll be right back okay?" Kate whispered to Peter, who nodded.
Stepping into the hall, she swiped to answer the call. "Hello?" She said cautiously.
There was a long pause on the other end, Kate strained her ears to hear what was going on in the background. She couldn't tell if it was music or people talking.
"Hello?" Kate said again feeling a pit grow in her stomach as she kept track of how long she was on the line.
Someone took a breath. "Hello Katie."
Feeling all the air leave her lungs, Kate disconnected the call.
Who is it? I'm gonna be honest, it's going to take me a few chapters before we get the payoff from this moment so bare with me. However, guesses are always welcome. Hope you guys enjoy!
As always, please review :)