See Chapter One for Disclaimer

Preparation

"I can't believe this is everyone's last school dance!" Nicole held both hands to her cheeks and watched the girls bustle about, fixing hair and putting on makeup and adjusting their dresses.

"Well, yours anyway." Jane grimaced. "I've got middle schoolers, so I've got all the dances to look forward to."

"And I have a freshman." Pepper grinned. "Though it'll be nice to witness the "dance frenzy" from a female point of view."

"I'm currently witnessing a female dance frenzy," Bucky shuddered, "and I personally never want to witness this again."

"Cheers." Clint clinked his beer with Bucky's. "Why are we here anyway? Why couldn't we have been with the guys, getting ready? I'm sure it's not as bad as…this."

"We're here because we have daughters." Bucky shook his head. "Yay, us."

"I'm sure it's just as frantic at my house as it is here," Nicole rolled her eyes.

"More." Pepper shook her head. "Boys are weird."

Bucky and Clint shared a look.

"Well, you are." Jane pointed out helpfully.

"Mom! This curl won't stay!" Jane sighed and moved into the fray, weaving her way towards Rhiannon, who held up a curl, frantic. Jane soothed her daughter with a few words and a bobby pin.

"Mrs. Rogers, would you help me?" Max's date, Steph, shot Nicole a wide-eyed look, and Nicole nodded and moved to her side.

Steven's date was in the middle of curling Aaron's date's hair and Marco's date was studiously applying makeup.

"Chaos." Clint shook his head. "Utter chaos."

"Watch though." Bucky pointed to the clock. "At exactly 5, when the boys are supposed to arrive, every curl will be in place, all makeup spotless, just watch."

"I believe it." Clint chuckled. "The mysteries of teenagers, right?"

"Speaking of teenagers," Bucky frowned. "The boys will be here in ten minutes. Where's my kid?"

"Yeah." Leila turned, hands on her hips. "Where is she?"

"I've been here the whole time!" JJ burst into her living room, wearing ratty jeans and a dark hoodie. There were leaves in her hair and dirt streaked on her face, and she was panting loudly. "It's fine."

"You've been here the whole time?" Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

JJ made a face. "I'm here now?" She tried.

"And we only have ten minutes to get you prom ready!" Leila's eyes narrowed. "What," She began slowly, "was so important that you had to take care of it on the most important day of senior year?"

"I wouldn't consider prom the MOST important…" JJ trailed off at the look on Leila's face. "Right. I'll just throw my dress on first."

"Wait!" Steph stepped forward, a curling iron in one hand and a brush in the other. "Let me do something with your rat's nest."

"No, that's fine." JJ shook her head. "You finish you, I'll do something with me."

"Not gonna happen." Leila pulled JJ into the middle of the living room, and the girls descended on her. JJ shot her father a helpless look, and Bucky shook his head.

"We're not going to help her then?" Clint watched the scene unfold before him, eyes wide.

"You really want to step in the middle of that?" Bucky shook his head. "I don't think so."

"They have eight minutes." Clint looked at the clock.

"They'll make it." Bucky said firmly.

And 8 minutes and thirty seconds later, when the doorbell rang, every girl was dressed and primped, smiling and ready for the boys.

JJ looked pained, shrugging when she caught Bucky's look.

"I think they pulled my arm out of socket when they shoved me into my dress," She admitted, and Bucky couldn't hide his chuckle.

"It's not funny," She smacked him on the arm, but she was smiling too. "I'm gonna go find my boyfriend. You just…sit here and look pretty."

"Done and done." Bucky clinked bottles with Clint, stepping back so the boys could enter the room.

The boys looked immaculate, suits pressed and faces clean, jaws dropping when they caught sight of their dates.

The men in charge of getting the boys to that point looked decidedly more disheveled.

"How," Steve gasped, falling against the wall next to Bucky, "do boys even cause that much chaos?"

"You'd think we were preparing them for war, not a school dance," Thor shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Was it really that bad?"

"Aaron lost his underwear, Xander was entirely convinced that someone had switched plain white shirts with him," Sherlock raised a finger, "Because everyone one of these boys is wearing a white dress shirt, so mix ups could happen,"

"But it didn't." Bruce shook his head. "Xander had his shirt the whole time: he was freaking out about nothing."

"And Max chose today of all days to be clumsy," Tony pointed at the blonde teen who was sheepishly showing his date his wrapped hand.

"What happened?" Bucky asked, handing his beer to Steve, who finished it in three large gulps.

"He fell down the stairs." John shook his head.

"And landed right on top of Stephen." Dean added, who was was letting his date look at his wrapped knee.

"So was it crazy here, too?" Sam asked dryly.

Clint and Bucky shared a look. "Totally," they nodded.

"Crazy. Girls, you know?" Clint added.

When the other guys looked back to where dates were seeing each other for the first time in all their finery, Bucky and Clint shared a smirk.

Pictures

JJ burst out laughing when she caught sight of Aaron.

He preened. "It's pretty great, right?"

Aaron's suit was periwinkle blue, his bow tie matched perfectly, and his shoes were a bright white.

"You look fabulous." JJ complimented.

"And hey, look," Aaron pulled JJ close and lifted his pant leg, revealing red socks with white stars on them. JJ hooted.

"You're ridiculous." She shook her head.

"Hey, but look at how gorgeous my date is," Aaron pointed at Mikayla, whose dress was the same blue as his suit.

JJ tilted her head. "I just realized," She turned back to Aaron, "this is the first school dance we're not going with each other."

"Oh." Aaron frowned. "You're right."

"Weird." JJ shrugged. "Speaking of dates, I should probably go find mine."

"Yeah, go find your spazz." Aaron patted JJ's shoulder then moved through the crowd to his date, who smiled brightly at him.

"They're cute." JJ's date whispered in her ear.

"You're cute." JJ turned to smile at Xander.

"You're…beautiful." Xander shook his head. "Absolutely stunning."

"Stop it." JJ slipped her hand into Xanders and pulled him towards the front door. "You can continue later," she promised, "but right now, it's," JJ was cut off as Nicole, Jane, and Pepper simultaneously yelled,

"PICTURE TIME!"

The first shot was a general group shot: the girls in a row, the boys standing behind them.

Then came the individual shots; Rhiannon in a red mermaid gown and Grayson wearing a plain black suit and the red tie Rhiannon had gotten him. Then came Leila and Ben, Leila with her blond hair in a side bun and Ben wearing a blue bow tie that matched Leila's dress. Steven and his date Shona went with the color yellow, and it paired beautifully with their dark skin. Aaron in his ridiculous blue suit shot the camera his best half-smile, and his date grinned easily beside him. Marco's date wore a light pink, and Marco wore a tie to match, while Max sported a deep purple bow tie to match his dates deep purple dress.

Last was Xander, in his all white suit, and JJ; wearing a long, form-fitting black dress with a high neckline and sleeves that covered her arms. The dress lacked all embellishments, simple and beautiful. It matched JJ perfectly, and the contrast between Xander's all-white made for a great photo.

Then came the "half-group" shots, as Leila called them. Leila demanded a girls shot with all of the girls, then a picture of just herself, Rhiannon and JJ. Then she had an all-boys shot, then one with just Xander, Steven, and Max. Then she forced everyone who was a part of The Beat, Marco's performance group, to take a shot.

"For our next album cover," Marco had joked, but Leila had shot him an evil look, so he quickly went silent.

After Leila got all the pictures on her list, she took requests.

Rhiannon wanted a picture with her brother, so they took a silly shot.

JJ pulled Aaron to her and demanded they get a picture, so they took a few. Nicole got a little overexcited and kept snapping away of the two of them, only stopping when Steve took the camera from her.

JJ suggested everyone take shots with their parents, so that took a while.

Loki showed up the nick of time, and JJ got a picture with both her parents.

Then, the last shot, was a Supers shot; and Leila, Ben, Rhiannon, Xander, Steven, Max, Marco and Aaron squeezed together with JJ for the picture.

"Avengers on three!" JJ called out. She squeezed Xander's hand and shot Aaron a smile as she began to count down. "Three, two one!"

"AVENGERS!"

Grand Entrance

"Whoo." JJ nodded in approval at the 30th floor of Stark Tower, where the prom was being held. "Classy."

"Yeah, I thought it'd be dumb," Marco shrugged, "Because I live here and all, but it's not bad looking."

"Are your parents here?" Shona asked, and Marco shook his head.

"They're at JJ's moms, where we'll go for the after party." Marco informed, and Max fist bumped.

"The parents are gone, the chaperones are in short supply, and I know the DJ! You know what that means!"

"Cupid Shuffle!" The Supers said together with an eyeroll, and Max beelined towards the DJ.

"That's how we're starting this off then? With the cupid shuffle? Really?" Aaron shook his head.

"What better way to start off?" Mikayla tugged on Aaron's arm. "I love that song!" Aaron rolled his eyes but let himself be pulled onto the dance floor.

"Young love," JJ smiled up at Xander, "Do you remember when we were like them?"

"Sure." Xander grinned. "It was only five minutes ago. My memories not THAT bad."

JJ chuckled and pulled Xander onto the floor. "Well, let's go get our shuffle on then!"

"And the prom king is…" Steven paused as he ripped open the envelope that would tell him who had won the most precious title a male senior could hold.

The Supers and their dates had a prime spot, right in the center of the dance floor.

"Ten bucks says it's Xander," Max called out as they waited, and Rhiannon rolled her eyes.

"I hope not," She said, "His head's so big, that crown wouldn't fit!"

The group laughed, and Xander huffed. "That's so rude." JJ patted him on the chest.

"There, there," she teased. "It'll be all right."

Marco pulled out a wad of ones. "Ten bucks says it's Aaron," he bet.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Really? After I spent the last ten weeks being a total butt?"

"People love butts," Marco shrugged, and JJ snickered.

"Ten bucks says it's JJ." Steph input, and Max brightened.

"Oh it's totally JJ," He agreed enthusiastically.

"What?" JJ reared backwards in supply. "That absolutely makes no sense."

"It's totally Jay." Xander agreed, wincing when JJ hit him in the shoulder.

"It's NOT me," she argued. "Now shut up with your horrid lies, Steven's about to announce."

Steven slowly opened the envelope in his hand, reading the words written on the inside and smiling.

"Our Prom King, Marco Stark!"

"Whoo!" Marco's date was the first to react, raising a fist in the air. "My man's a king!"

Marco was the second to react, a bright grin growing on his face as he bounded towards the stage. He ran straight towards the mic, not even waiting to be crowned.

"I'd like to thank my mom, for raising the punk that is myself, and for my dad, for being smart enough to hideout during all the years of teenage angst,"

"Harsh!" JJ called out. "But accurate," She said after a moment, and Marco pointed a finger at her but continued, "I wanna thank my adopted sister and real sister for putting up with me, and my friends for being my friends."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Max hollered. "But you're welcome!"

"And lastly, I wanna thank Justice Jay Barnes, the coolest person I've ever met, and the only one who could ever keep me in line. Once I'm in California and she can't tell me what to do, the world better watch out!"

JJ rolled her eyes as Marco just held up two fists and stepped away from the mic, finally allowing Steven to crown him. Marco gracefully moved to the side of the stage, and Steven moved up to the mic.

The crowd went silent, eagerly waiting to hear whom their female royalty would be.

"And our prom queen…" Steven began slowly.

"Ten bucks says it's Aaron." Aaron shot JJ a dirty look, and she smiled cheekily at him from where she was tucked protectively underneath Xander's arm.

"Hundred bucks says its JJ."

"You just lost a hundred bucks." JJ crossed her arms with a grin. Xander shot her a look. "What?" She shrugged. "I helped tally the scores, of course I already know the answer."

"So who is it?" Rhiannon asked excitedly. JJ rolled her eyes.

"Wait five seconds and find out." Rhiannon pursed her lips, but Max dutifully counted down.

"Five, four, three, two, one…"

"Leila Barton!"

Leila's mouth dropped open in shock.

It was clear that she hadn't been expecting this. And while the others hadn't either, they could easily get behind the idea of it.

JJ whooped loudly, and Rhiannon clapped excitedly. Ben pulled Leila into a tight hug which she returned after a moment.

The other boys rallied with her name "LEI-LA! LEI-LA! LEI-LA!"

A beautiful, beaming Leila joined Marco on the stage, the two friends hugging each other tightly. Steven proudly placed Leila's crown on her head, and the supers switched their cries from her name to an eager… "SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!"

Leila waved her hands with an eye roll, leaning towards the mic stand in front of her once they'd finally silenced.

"I always knew I was royalty," Leila began with a wistful smile. The crowd let loose a few chuckles, and Leila's smile turned more genuine. "I quite honestly never expected to be picked," she admitted. "I'm hardly the prettiest person in the room, or the nicest, or the most popular. But I gladly accept this crown, and all the responsibilities that go along with it. But before I relinquish this mic, I'd like to thank a few people: My fellow royalty," She shot a smile at Marco, who threw up a thumbs up, "For sharing his mom and his home with me during the worst time of my life." Marco's thumb dropped, and his hands were shoved into his pocket. He shrugged off her thanks, a bashful smile on his face. "I'd also like to thank the entire school, for rallying behind me and helping me deal, for not treating me any more like a nutcase when my dead dad turned out not to be so dead," the room chuckled again, and Leila shrugged, "It was a crazy time for all of us," she admitted, "And lastly, I'd like to thank my friends; for always being there for me, for being the family I never had, and sometimes didn't want, and for making me a better person, specifically JJ," Leila pointed a finger at her friend, "Everyone's conscious and best friend, I love you, but graduation is just around a corner, and it's time to get a life." Leila shook her head. "And mothering us doesn't count." JJ shrugged, smiling.

"I'll see what I can do," she promised, and Leila grinned.

"Again, thank you so much for this honor and this neat crown, and…let's party!" The juniors and seniors of Avengers high cheered loudly, and Leila stepped back from the mic. Marco leaned forward to give her a hug, then led her to the dance floor where the Prom King and Queen danced together for a song before their dates reclaimed them, and the rest of the room quickly joined them on the dance floor.

JJ turned to Xander. "Lay just pretty much gave me permission to be more selfish," she mused.

Xander grinned. "And what are you going to do with this new freedom?" He teased, looking down at his favorite girl.

JJ tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed as she thought. Her hands slid down to twine her fingers through Xanders.

"I think I'll start with…dancing with my super-hot boyfriend." JJ smiled widely, and Xander couldn't help but return her grin. She pulled him towards the dance floor, and he followed quickly with a chuckle.

"I think I can live with that."

After Party

"The night's young, and we're young, so let's drive in the car and go anywhere,

windows down, radio up, let's lose sleep and make memories tonight,"

The Supers entered JJ's house singing. Bucky and the other parents, seated on the back porch, could hear them as they crashed through the front door.

"MOMMY!" JJ yelled loudly, and Bucky, lounging in a chair on his patio, rolled his eyes as Steve and the others chuckled.

"We're in the back!" Bucky called out.

"I see that." JJ was the first through the sliding glass door, her dress wrinkled and her hair falling out of its restraints. But her smile was wide and infections, her hand clasped tightly in her boyfriends. "Did you guys have a good night?"

"It was alright." Clint brightened at his daughter's arrival. "Yo! What's with that sparkly thing on your head!"

"You're looking at the Prom queen!" Leila squealed, and Marco appeared next, throwing his arm around her, he held his crown in one fist.

"And prom king!" Marco beamed.

Pepper and Tony shared a bemused smile.

"Why am I not surprised?" Nicole added.

"I was actually thinking about this on the ride over," JJ plopped into one of the loungers, pulling her boyfriend down with her, "And Leila is beautiful and regal like a princess, so it makes sense," Leila preened, "And Marco's always been a drama king, so," JJ shrugged, and Clint snickered.

"So we're here," Max shot his father a look, who was nursing beer and seated next to Sherlock, "And we're alive. Mr. Barnes can watch us now…the rest of you can go." Max's eyes narrowed. "Especially you, dad." John rolled his eyes and stood, Sherlock doing the same after a moment.

"Jane will be expecting me," He explained, "She stayed back to watch the girls."

"Yeah, I've gotta go inspect the damage done to my tower." Tony stood as well, holding out a hand to help Pepper stand.

"The parents are leaving?" Steven and Aaron shared a grin. "Yes!"

"I have to work in the morning," Bruce stood.

"And I'm your ride," Dean grinned.

"I don't have anywhere to be," Clint grinned at Ben, whose eyes widened.

"Dad!" Leila stomped her foot, and Clint sighed heavily.

"Fine, I'll get outta here."

"You don't have to leave," Aaron smiled at his parents. "You're cool."

"Aww," Nicole moved forward to kiss Aaron's forehead. "Suck-up," she accused, and Aaron's mouth dropped open.

JJ burst out laughing. "Mrs. Aaron's mom!" She said jokingly, "Language!"

"Yeah, Mrs. Aaron's mom," Steve teased, pulling his wife towards him. "There are children present."

"I changed my mind," Aaron grumbled. "You're not cool anymore."

"Fine!" Nicole threw up her hands. "I'm leaving." She smiled at her son. "Have fun…but not too much fun."

"Don't worry," Bucky promised, "I'll make sure you get him back in one piece."

Steve winked at Bucky, then lead his wife towards the front door. "See you later Buck. Have fun, kids."

"We will!" The kids chorused as the parents filed out.

Once the door had closed, Bucky turned to the group of kids in his backyard. "Party!" He threw up his hands, and after a moment, the kids did the same.

Bucky grinned.

That's right.

HE was the cool parent.

Confrontation

When Steve heard the noise in the kitchen, he just assumed it was Aaron.

But then Steve remembered that Aaron had come home two hours previous, the clock just striking two am, and when the noises continued and Aaron was suddenly standing in the doorway asking blearily who was downstairs, Steve shot upright.

He grabbed a baseball bat and Aaron grabbed the plunger from the bathroom. Nicole mumbled something about "idiots" and rolled over and went back to sleep.

Ignoring her for the moment, Aaron and Steve crept down the stairs, listening the creaking of the kitchen floor that meant somebody was definitely in there. Steve paused in the doorway, shooting his son a look.

Aaron nodded slowly, and when his dad jumped out, Aaron had his back.

JJ sat on the countertop, chomping on an apple and blinking slowly at them.

"If I were a real robber," she said seriously. "I would be real scared." She pointed at Aaron. "A plunger? Really?"

Aaron dropped the plunger with a grunt. "It was all I had." He admitted.

"Breaking into my house?" Steve shook his head. "Really? What kind of person does that?"

"Yeah…It's just so rude." JJ rolled her eyes. "But I didn't break in. She held up a hand, where a silver key dangled. "I have a key."

"She has a key?" Steve looked at his son, and Aaron shrugged.

"It's for emergencies," he admitted.

"Anyway," JJ hopped off the countertop. "I'm here for a reason." She examined Steve critically. "You're going to want to change. I'll get ahold of everyone else."

"Wait, why?" Steve rubbed an eye. It was too early for this.

"That meeting I said I'd schedule? Well, they finally got back to me." Steve's eyes widened. "They're ready to meet with us…but we've gotta go now."

"Now?" Steve shook his head. "Wait…now?"

"Are you deaf?" JJ snapped. "Yes, now. Go get dressed."

Steve hurried up the stairs and dressed in record time. Nicole sat up at one point, and Steve had just said "JJ" and she'd huffed and rolled back over.

By the time Steve had made it downstairs, everyone was already there.

"Are we ready?" JJ asked the group with a grin.

"I have to ask one more time," Bruce raised a finger. "Is this smart?"

JJ laughed. "No," she said honestly. "But I have a good feeling about this."

"I'd trust her." Aaron came hopping down the stairs, wrestling a sneaker onto his foot. "She's got those feeling-things down pat." He straightened. "Also…can I come with you guys?"

"No." Steve and JJ answered at the same time.

"It's too dangerous." JJ crossed her arms.

"And you should really be in bed by now. You have school tomorrow." Steve added.

Aaron blinked at his dad. Then he turned to JJ. He blinked a few times at her.

"Fine." JJ caved instantly. "You can come."

"Whoa! No." Steve shook his head. "I'm the dad!"

JJ squinted her eyes, and Steve sighed. "Fine. You can come."

"Yes!" Aaron fist pumped. "Where are we going?"

JJ chuckled evilly.

"We're going," She smiled at the rest of the Avengers, then turned back to Aaron.

"We're going to speak with The Capital."

Because pretty much, yeah, it's the capital. Yay.

To quote Han Solo... "I have a bad feeling about this."

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~CLC~