Chapter 35
Hey everyone! :D I wanted to give you this chapter! And I know some of you probably wanted this to happen so here you go! This chapter shall be a bit long! So I hope you enjoy reading it!
3 WEEKS LATER….
I open one eye, seeing several people. I shrug it off; closing my eyes again.
Wait- there are several people in my room?! Both of my eyes shot open and I sat up; seeing everyone standing in my room. I raise an eyebrow and swallow.
"Uh... hi?" I say. They all smile and I nod slowly. Ok... This is really weird. Pepper was in the middle, Natasha and Tony were to her left and Bruce, Steve and Clint were on her right.
"Ok, you need to wear this." Pepper says; holding up a bandana. I furrow my eyebrows.
"Ok, I'm a little confused here-"
"Don't worry you won't be able to see for only a moment." Pepper says cheerfully. Then my eyebrows shot up.
"Pardon? I can't see!?" I speak up; almost shouting with confusion. She nods; then turns to everyone and starts to shoo them out. She turns back and had a camera in her hand.
"Whoa whoa whoa. What's with the camera?!" I asked.
"Smile!" I frantically pull together a smile, even though I was a bed head and I probably had some dried drool on my face. There was a flash and I dropped the smile.
"Ok, Steve. Do you mind?" She handed him the bandana. He slowly takes it and walks over to me. I smirk.
"Don't run me into a wall." He laughs.
"No promises." He gently put it over my eyes and I subconsciously put my hands out in front of me as he directed me toward the door. Ok, what the hell going on? This is getting really weird.
"Watch out for the window." I hear Clint say.
"Not funny feathers." I mutter.
A few minutes later when we walked out of the elevator I felt the hand on my shoulder disappear. I went to take a step forward.
"Stay there." Pepper says. I look around; still not able to see anything. It was quiet for a quick moment before I let my shoulders slump and I waited for something to happen. "Ok, take it off."
"Thank god." I mumble. I fiddle with the knot on the bandana for a few seconds. I make a face when I can't get it. "Jesus, Steve what kind of knot did you tie?!" I say in an amused tone. I got it off after my comment and pulled the cloth away. Light went right to my eyes and I closed them briefly; letting them adjust.
I opened them again; this time seeing a lay out I had not seen before. It was all... party like!
I look at them with an eyebrow raised when I saw them all standing in front of a collapsible table with a birthday cover on it and streamers were all over the place.
"Happy very, very late birthday Kate." Pepper says with a chuckle. I smile and chuckle a bit.
"You know, you didn't have to make up for the birthday I missed guys." I chuckle; walking over and hugging Pepper.
"Your part of the family now kid, it comes with the package." Tony smirks.
~0~
After hugging everyone Pepper insisted that I open a few presents. And I have to admit. I got some pretty cool stuff.
Besides from a few books that I really wanted to read, I got some punching wraps for my hands, some movies that I also had wanted to see, and an awesome 9mm gun! Haha! You should have seen Pepper's face. It was from Natasha and Clint. But she was like, "what?!" It was funny.
I continued to practice wrapping my hands while Clint was sitting on my far left watching TV. Everyone else was kinda up and about.
"Cake time!" Pepper called over. Both Clint's and my head shot up and we were over in a flash; taking a seat at the table.
After Pepper brought over her beautiful chocolate cake, we had an argument on singing happy birthday.
"No, really, you don't have to sing." I insist.
"Sure we do! It's a birthday party!" Pepper said back. I was forced to sit through it; looking red in the face the whole time. Despite being really really really out of tune... They were ok singers. Natasha had a pretty good voice, and so did Clint! Surprisingly. They finished singing and I smiled down at the cake.
"You have to make a wish." Clint whispers. I rolled my eyes and went into thinking mode. A wish... What do I want exactly...? My smile faded and I went into deep thinking mode.
"What is it?" Natasha asked. I looked up at them.
"I uh, don't know what to wish for." I chuckle. "There's not much less that I could want or ask for." I smirk. They all smiled.
"Well-... Wish for- world peace or somethin." Tony says.
"Then we'd be out of the job." Clint mutters. I laugh softly. A wish popped into my head suddenly and I blew out the 16 candles. There was clapping until Clint spoke up. "What'd ya wish for?"
"I can't tell you! Then it wouldn't come true." I feel my smile go away for a second once I said that. My wish was that my new family would live as long as possible, no matter the enemies they faced. "Yeah." I say more to myself. "I definitely can't tell you." I grin to reassure them.
~0~
After we had cake and ice cream, Natasha, Clint, and Steve spoke up.
"There's one other thing." Natasha says. I raised an eyebrow but followed everyone over to the couch. I sat down and Natasha sat down on one side of me and Steve sat down on the other. Clint stood off to the side and everyone else sat down on the couch diagonal to us.
Clint hands a box to Natasha and she hands it to me. I hesitantly take it; looking it over. It was just a plain clothing box pretty much; a bit bigger in height/width though.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Just a little something." Steve says. I looked back down at the box. I took in a deep breath before removing the lid. There was tissue paper. I carefully removed it before my eyes went down on a-... Shirt?
I pulled it up slightly; seeing it was a suit. I held it out in front of me; still sitting on the couch. It looked kinda like Natasha's black cat suit, but this one was a navy blue.
My mouth was open in awe when Steve handed me a second item.
I looked at it in question. It was a box about the size of my hand. I lye the suit down; taking the box and pulling the silky string of the ribbon off. I carefully took the top of it off and stopped. My heart beat was in my ears and I couldn't breathe for a few seconds.
It was a SHIELD badge.
I couldn't close my mouth as I carefully opened it up and saw my picture in it with s bit of information.
"Welcome to SHIELD, Kate." Clint smirks. I looked at him, then Natasha, and then Steve before looking at the badge again.
"A-are you serious?" My voice squeaked. They nodded. I looked back down at the badge for a minute. "You're sure this isn't a joke?" I demand. That wouldn't be cool.
"No Kate, it's for real." Steve chucked.
I felt like the world stopped for a few seconds. I was officially a SHIELD agent.
Ok- who's closest to me?
I quickly glance around; seeing Natasha was a bit closer than Steve was. I quickly pulled her into a hug which definitely caught her off guard. I heard Clint laughing when Natasha tensed at my enthusiasm. I let go of her; hearing her take in a breath before I turned and pulled Steve into a hug which he saw coming, after Natasha's, and returned it. I let go of him; turning and looking for Clint who was behind the couch. I got up and went to hug him.
I turned; seeing Pepper, Tony, and Bruce over at the other couch. I gave Tony a side hug, Bruce tensed but did hug me back and I got the Pepper. She looked shocked.
"Thanks." I hug her and she gives me a hug back.
"Yeah I uh, wish I could say I knew about this." She chuckled. I raise an eyebrow.
"Yeeaaaahh... We couldn't tell you for... classified reason." Clint mumbles the last part. I laughed, seeing Pepper make a face. I sat back down in my seat and picked up the suit again. I looked closely at the shoulders; seeing a SHIELD symbol on the right shoulder and a star on the left. That seems to be the thing with me for some reason. There's always a star on the left shoulder. Even with my suit that Tony made for me.
"Wanna try it on?" Natasha asked. I looked up and nodded my head widely. Before she could say anything else I had my SHIELD badge in hand with my suit and I ran for the door.
~0~
I looked in the mirror at myself. I was in my suit and I looked like a badass. I'm about the size of Natasha, a bit taller. My suit looked a like hers in a few ways, but it was a dark navy blue with black.
A few minutes later I walked toward the door of my room and stopped. There's gotta be a more interesting way to get on the communal floor. I grin; looking up at the vent.
~0~
I inched farther down the vent and looked through the small gaps of one opening.
"Is uh... She coming down anytime soon?" I hear Clint's voice.
"Just give it a minute Barton." Natasha says. I smirk; looking down into the kitchen. As soon as no one was looking, I slowly removed the top of it and moved it to the side. I quietly lowered myself down and hit the ground with a soft thud. Peeking my head out above the counter; I slowly moved around the edge and slowly stood up.
After about 3 minutes my shoulders slumped and I let out a sigh.
"I've been here for a while now and no one seemed to notice." I say aloud. Everyone looked up; a bit startled.
"Jesus, how long were you standing there?" Clint asked. I give a big smile and a shrug.
"I dunno. Less than five."
"Does it fit well?" Natasha asked. I looked down at my suit; then turn my gaze back up at her.
"Yeah, feels good." I smirk; moving my arms back and forth.
"The material is designed so when you shift there's more durability." Steve says. I nod; looking back down at the suit again before grinning and shifting.
I looked down; seeing I was a Tiger.
I walked around the communal floor a bit before shifting into a different animal; a Bald eagle. Cool.
I flapped my wings a bit before gliding over to my spot on the couch; tucking my wings back on my back and ruffling up my feathers; letting a caw like screech escape my mouth.
"So do you like it?" Steve asked. I cocked my head to the side before bobbing my head.
"We were gonna give you your badge sooner; but since we never got to celebrate your birthday, we figured this way would be more fun." Clint says.
I shift back and put a hand through my hair; looking down at my suit.
I'm an agent of SHIELD. That's freaking awesome!
"Hey guys- holy shit what are you wearing?!" I looked toward the door seeing Sam walk out of the elevator with a small wrapped box in hand.
"Hey!" I jump over the couch and ran up to Sam; pulling her into a hug. She pulled out and looked me over.
"What's with the badass costume?" She laughed. I roll my eyes.
"It's a suit genius. And look-" I pulled my SHIELD badge out and showered her it; her eyes were now wide with excitement.
"Oh my god! You got in?!" I nod; grinning ear to ear. "Omg Kate, that's amazing!" She hugs me with a spare arm. "And here I am with your lame old gift!" She laughs. I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sure your gift is fine!" I laugh. I take it out of her hand and walk back over to my spot on the couch. She walks over; standing behind me. Pulling the bow off; I took the top of the box off and removed the tissue paper. I felt my emotions overflow when I saw what it was. A photo album. I bit my lip and turned the first page.
Suddenly everyone was leaning in to see and I chuckled slightly. I looked at the pages; seeing me and Sam in most of them, and then some of us with my brother and his army friends and some with my parents too.
"Sam-" I looked up at her. "This is amazing, thank you." I stood up and leaned over the couch; pulling her into a hug.
"Least I could do bestie." She grins. I smile before sitting back down; looking through more pictures.
~0~
Today was one of the best days of my life. I guess I really am home now. This is my family. And I need to except that the past is in the past. I'm happy with the way my life has turned out. I really am.
There was an emergency Avenger meeting so everyone had to run; that was a few hours ago. I was in my room now; laying on my bed, still in my suit and staring at my SHIELD badge.
I can't believe I'm an agent! Oh my god, the feeling is overwhelming.
I smiled to myself; then heard a knock at my door. I looked over before placing my badge on my night stand and getting off my bed. I walked to the door and opened it. I looked up; seeing Steve. He stood up a bit straighter and smiled. He was still wearing his suit and everything; he did take off the mask though.
"Hi." I smile. He smirks.
"Hi, uh-" he clears his throat. "So I was talking to Sam a few days ago, and she was telling me about something you used to have before uh-" he trials off. "Well, you know..." He says. I nod; a smirk on my face. Don't know why no one wants to use the word "warehouse" it's not that bad. "Yeah, so... I was out and saw something..." he pulls out a small box and hands it to me. I slowly take it; looking it over. It was the type of box you'd put a piece of jewelry in. I glanced at him before slowly opening the box. I felt my mouth dry and my heart beat was echoing in my ears. I couldn't close my mouth.
It was a cross necklace. My family and I were Christians. And my parents got me a cross necklace that I wore all the time; it was a little similar to this one. The day I was taken I had taken it off for some reason.
"Now I know it's not the original, but-" I had to put a little spring in my step but I manage to jump up and rap my arms around his neck in a hug; making him stumble a little a first.
"Thank you." I say; just barely able to get my words out. I blinked a couple times to keep my eyes from watering.
"So you like it?" He asked. I let go; dropping back down to the floor. Considering he's over 6 feet tall and I'm only 5'5".
"Yes! Of course I do." I just about laugh. "Thank you." I smile up at him. He smiles and nods. I could tell he was relieved. He nods to himself before glancing down the hall.
"That's good." He smirks. I bit my lip and nod; bringing my eyes back down to the little box before looking back up at him. "Ok" he says. I smile again. "Night." I nod.
"Good night" He gives me one last nod before walking back down the hall. I swallow before quickly running after him and quickly hugging him around the waist; feeling him hug me back before I ran back to my room and gave him one more smile and a thank you before shutting my door.
Wow. I can't believe he actually did that. He's an awesome guardian- ok scratch that, he's the best guardian ever. I opened the box again; leaning against my door. It had individual crystals; 7 vertical and 5 across. It was amazing. I carefully took it out of the box and put it on; walking over to my mirror I looked at myself in the reflection; but mostly at the cross necklace.
I smiled to myself before grabbing my pajamas and going to get changed.
Minutes later I turned off my light and got in bed; smiling to myself as I put my hand up and feeling the thin chain of the necklace under my shirt; then glancing at my suit hanging on my closet door, and SHIELD badge and Photo Album on my night table.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
Hope you enjoyed everyone! I know that some of you wanted her birthday to be celebrated so I made sure of having that as a chapter. Also, I want to let you know Fbicupcake that I love seeing your ideas and I will try my best to add them :) Please review everyone, and tell me what ya think! :D