CHAPTER FIVE

Natasha barely put a whole shot of alcohol in the drink she made me. She mixed it with sprite and put a little pink umbrella in it.

"Sip it, don't chug it," She said.

I was at the bar swinging my feet as I sat in one of the stools. I almost hadn't been able to get on the stool in the heels I was wearing. I took a sip of the drink. All I tasted was sprite, but when it hit my stomach I felt a little bit of warm spread through me. I'd never had alcohol before, though sometimes Eli offered it to me when he was drinking and playing video games.

"I don't want you going out there and drinking at a party," He would say. "If you drink, I want you drinking here where I know you're safe."

Would he be mad at me for drinking here? Even if it wasn't enough to get me drunk?

Further down the bar Banner took a seat. He glanced at me but looked away when our eyes met. I turned back to my drink.

"Don't go anywhere," Natasha said to me before she made her way down the bar to Banner.

"Please tell me that's just soda in there," Steve asked as he walked up next to me.

"It is," I said. "Just sprite."

Steve leaned against the bar holding a beer. "How you holding up?" He asked. "I heard Romanoff was looking for you a few minutes ago."

"I'm fine," I said. "Or, as fine as I can be considering that I just magically appeared in an alternate universe."

"You're really not going to let that go?" There was no judgment on his face, but maybe a little bit of humor.

"You don't believe me either?" I asked.

"I don't know what to believe," He said. "You weren't wrong about Thor or the aliens or me. How can the rest of it be real but not this?"

I shrugged. "I guess there's a limit."

"I guess there is," Steve said. He glanced over his shoulder at Natasha and Banner talking to each other. "I'm going to get another beer. Make sure that stays soda, okay?" He looked pointedly at my drink.

"Promise," I said, smiling.

Steve walked away and Natasha came back.

"Hungry? There are snack over there and over there," Natasha pointed to a couple different corners of the room. "And you don't have to mingle if you don't want to, just maybe don't disappear into the bathroom again, okay?"

I nodded. I climbed off the stool and carried my drink around the room looking for snacks. People glanced at me with curious expressions on their faces as I passed them. They didn't say anything or even attempted to start a conversation. Maybe they thought I was someone's kid who wanted to meet the Avengers and now didn't know what to do with herself now that she has.

After what felt like forever, people started to leave and it felt like the party was starting to wind down. I made my way over to where some of the Avengers were gathered in a circle of couches. Hill was sitting above Clint who was sitting on the ground and twirling a drumstick around is fingers. Tony was talking to Rhodes and Banner was talking to Natasha. Steve and Thor were sitting next to each other on one of the other couches and I was even surprised to see Dr. Cho there, too.

I sat down on an empty couch still holding my drink. I didn't know where to put it when I was done with it so I'd just been carrying it around with me.

"It's a trick, right?" Clint said as he stared at Mjolnir as it sat on the table. "It has to be a trick."

"It's not a trick," Thor said.

"He soever wields the hammer shall have the power," Clint said dramatically. "Come on man, it's a trick. I'd believe Mavis over there before I believe the hammer thing."

Steve leaned across the couches toward me. "Don't listen to him. I think he's had too much to drink."

"By all means, Barton," Thor said, gesturing toward Mjolnir.

Clint stared at him for a second before standing up and trying to lift the hammer.

Of course, he couldn't do it.

"Put your back into it Barton," Tony said.

"Why don't you give it a shot, huh?" Clint said. "Thing's heavier than it looks."

"Hey, you said we're all movie characters, right?" Hill asked.

"And comic book characters," I said.

"Who can lift the hammer in the movies or books?" Hill asked.

Tony stood up and went to pick up the hammer. He couldn't do it either.

"Give me a sec," He said then walked off.

"Um," I said. "No one in the movies yet, but I know Cap can do it in the comics. And Loki, which is a surprise, honestly. And Superman and Wonder Woman can lift it, but they're not Marvel superheroes so they don't really count."

"Loki?" Tony asked, looking at me. "Really?" He had one of his pulsator cuffs on his hand and was trying to use it to lift Mjolnir with all the might of Iron Man.

I shrugged. "I think it was a trick. Most of the people who lift it do it by being tricked or tricking the hammer."

"Huh," Tony said. "Rhodes, help me with this." Rhodes stood up, grabbed his own pulsator cuff and tried to help Tony lift the hammer.

"I thought you didn't believe her about all that alternate universe stuff?" Steve said.

Tony stopped trying to pick up Mjolnir and looked at Steve. "Why don't you try to pick it up, Boy Scout? She said you were supposed to be able to."

Steve slapped his hands on his legs and stood up.

"If he lifts it, does that mean Mavis is right?" Natasha asked.

"I'll consider it," Tony said.

Steve took hold of Mjolnir's handle and pulled. The hammer didn't lift, but it definitely wiggled a little bit. I glanced over at Thor and he looked worried for a second. Absolutely petrified at the idea that Steve might pick up the hammer. But when Mjolnir stayed put, Thor's face flooded with relief.

He smiled and said, "Nothing. Ha!" But he looked at Mjolnir like he'd been betrayed by a friend.

"He didn't lift it," Tony said. "I think you're wrong, Mavis."

"It wiggled," I said defensively.

Tony looked at me.

"It definitely wiggled," Clint said. "I saw it happen. With my own eyes."

"Maybe that's enough beer for you," Natasha said, taking Clint's drink from his hand.

"Didn't it wiggle?" I leaned over to Steve.

"I don't know. Could have been the table moving," Steve said.

"But how would the table move?" I asked. "Unless Mjolnir moved."

"It's finger printed, right?" Tony said. "He soever has Thor's fingerprint, right?"

"Interesting theory," Thor said. "But I have a better one. "You're all not worthy." He stood up and picked up the hammer.

A terrible, ear splitting screeching noise filled the air.

Author's Note: Sorry for not updating in a while. I got distracted by my own personal writing and I had a pretty intense work week last week, too. IDK how consistent I'm going to be with this so just bare with me. Oh the joys of working fulltime while trying to write my own books and a fanfiction.