CHAPTER FOUR

"Sorry about Tony," Natasha said. "He's a little rough around the edges but he grows on you."

"He's had three movies, four if you include the Avengers, to grow on me and still hasn't," I said.

Natasha laughed. "Wait so he has three whole movies?"

"Yeah, and Thor and Steve have two," I said. "But the Thor movies are kind of bad. The Captain America ones are the best in my opinion."

Natasha looked pointedly at my shirt. "Oh yeah? You like Mr. America?"

Warmth crept into my cheeks. "I mean, yeah." I shrugged.

Natasha's room was on the bare side. I spotted a couple of framed pictures on the bed side table but I didn't recognize who was in them. The bedding was a fairly generic solid grey with matching pillow cases. There was nothing on the walls, either. Without the pictures, you wouldn't have been able to tell anyone lived there. That was the life of a spy, probably. She probably lived at the tower full time, but those sorts of habits couldn't be easy to kick.

"Here, try this." Natasha handed me a black dress with cupped sleeves. "Might be a little award in some places but it's the only dress I have that's even a little appropriate."

I held the dress up to my body and looked at myself in the full length mirror that hung on the back of the door.

"You can change in there." She pointed toward what could only be the bathroom.

It was bare in there, too. No name brand products, no decorations. Even the towels were grey, like the bedding. Quickly, I changed into the dress and checked myself out in the mirror. It was a little loose in some places, tight in others. The skirt fell to just above my knees and the cap sleeves were almost more like half sleeves, but it looked fine enough. No one was going to be paying attention to me, anyway.

"And you can just leave your old clothes in the hamper," Natasha said through the door. I'll see about washing them tomorrow."

I stepped out of the bathroom and Natasha looked me up and down. She'd changed into a cute black and white dress and some nice heels while I was in the bathroom.

"Not too bad," She said with a smile. "Try these on, too." She handed me a pair of heels and, thankfully, they weren't very tall.

The shoes were a little big but I could walk in them.

Once I was ready, Natasha lead me back out into the main room where the rest of the Avengers were already gathered.

"Don't you look nice," Steve said, looking at Natasha. "And you, too." He said, smiling at me.

"Thanks," I said. Butterflies stirred in my stomach.

"Oh!" Hill said. She was standing behind the bar and staring at something fluttering in the air. "Is that a butterfly?"

It was a butterfly. Bright blue and almost glowing. I spotted another one, and then another one.

"There's one over here, too," Natasha said, staring at another one.

There were a bunch of little butterflies fluttering around the room.

"Where did all these butterflies come from?" Hill asked.

My stomach bottomed out. Did I do that? Did I make those butterflies appear?

"Tony, will you open a window or two?" Hill yelled.

"Why?" Tony yelled back.

"I don't know how they got in here but there are a bunch of butterflies," She said.

"Butterflies?"

Hill walked around the bar and made her way over to where Tony was standing.

"They were pretty, though," I said.

"They were," Steve agreed. "Ready to party?"

"Absolutely not," I said.

"Honestly, me neither," Steve said.

"Party poopers," Natasha teased.

Over the next half hour or so people started to show up. Obviously, pretty much all of them were adults. They looked at me weird, but only for a moment before they got distracted by someone more important. I wandered through the crowd aimlessly, unsure of what I should do with myself.

Most of the couches were full of groups of people having conversations I didn't think I should be a part of so I couldn't sit down anywhere. Walking around and doing nothing made me feel dumb. Sitting at the bar felt wrong. I wondered what Eli might make of it all. He was a lot better at talking to people than me. And he was older than me, old enough to drink, at least, which meant he could probably be part of the adults' conversations. He'd rope me in, too, so I wouldn't feel left out. I wouldn't say much, obviously, but it would be easier to say a few things with Eli there to break the ice. He was hilarious and very good at putting people at ease.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I wanted to go home. I didn't want to be at an Avenger's party. I didn't want to wear someone else's dress and shoes. I didn't want to make butterflies appear out of nowhere.

I wanted to go home.

I scurried around looking for a bathroom. When I finally found one, I locked myself inside, sat down on the toilet, and cried.

Whenever I thought about going to another world, whether that was Narnia or Neverland or wherever, I never thought it'd be like this. Like being torn from one place and dropped in another where you don't know anyone and everything is familiar and strange all at the same time. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be fun. But I was far from having fun.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Mavis, is that you?" Natasha called. "Mavis, open up."

I stood up, wiping at my eyes. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My whole face was red and puffy. I could still see some tears trying their best to escape but I did my best to keep them from falling.

"Are you okay?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah, just," I started. I felt a hot tear roll down my cheek.

"It's a lot," Natasha said. "I get it. I don't know if I believe you or not, honestly, but if you're right and you're from another universe, crying in the bathroom during a party isn't going to make things any better."

"No, but I feel better," I said.

"Well, at least you feel better," Natasha said. "Come on, let me make you a drink."

"I'm not old enough to drink," I said.

"After the day you've had, I think one will be fine." She hooked her arm through mine and tugged me along behind her. "I promise not to make it strong. Just don't tell Steve."

"I won't," I laughed.