Sorry, things got busy and I wasn't able to update. But I have up until chapter 20-something written already!
Heheh. Warning; dramatic irony runs rampant unrepentantly.
I apologize for nothing.
Also. So this story is after my version of Civil War, but Ant Man and the Wasp hasn't happened yet I guess... because I haven't actually seen that movie yet, oops. But Hope is still the Wasp and they occasionally pop over to the Tower for dinner because you know Scott wants to jump on every chance to take advantage of free food.
—*—*—*—*—*
Peter was not stupid. Naive, maybe, but even before being adopted, before Aunt May's death, Tony had called him a genius. Even now that they were family, Tony didn't unnecessarily compliment anyone— not even Peter. He only said what he honestly thought if he wasn't being sarcastic.
So it was only natural that Peter knew that Hebi was not someone to show all her emotions like an open book. Sure, he'd seen her laugh and joke and be ridiculous, but he could tell it wasn't all of her. When certain topics came up, she'd hesitate to speak for a split second and Peter would see an invisible mask slip over her face. She dumbed down her reactions to things, or deflected, or hid her feelings. Peter didn't know why, and he didn't always know what she hid, but he saw her hiding even as she laughed.
So he made it a point to focus on her expression when they got to Avenger's Tower. She didn't slide up against the window of the sleek car Tony had them driven in after Matt left, but her eyes were wide as she took in the massive structure. Pete could see the conscious effort she put into keeping her body casual and still, but the childlike awe in her eyes was something he hadn't seen from her yet. Unsure if he'd get another chance to see this emotion from her again, he made sure to watch it out of the corner of his eye as he rambled to his dad about their day. Hebi looked over as they pulled around the back of the tower, and Peter saw the mask slip down and the awe dim in her eyes behind that invisible veil. She smirked.
"Flash tried to be an ass again," she pitched in when Peter got to talking about their calculus class that day. Tony's gaze switched over to her to show he was listening. Hebi's smirk widened. "It was hilarious because he hasn't spoken to any of us since he screwed up last week, and so he stuck his foot in his mouth trying to apologize and be a jerk at the same time. It was priceless," she told him, Tony snorting in amusement. As Happy, who was driving, parked the car, Steve looked over to her with furrowed brows.
"Screwed up? What did he do? I know he's been bothering Peter for years, but…" he trailed off, and Peter knew Hebi caught what went unsaid. That Peter hadn't mentioned his bully much at all during the new school year, which Hebi would know was because Flash hadn't been bothering him.
Tony frowned, looking over the girl with very well hidden concern. To almost everyone, he would appear relaxed and nonchalant. Peter, however, could see his slight worry for this girl he just met. He didn't mention it.
"Peter told me about that," the philanthropist admitted after he got out, and the kids and supersoldier joined him. Peter watched as Hebi stood outside, looking up at the building towering over her. The teen found himself trying to hide a grin as she actually let her jaw drop a little bit and took in the scene with even more carefully quiet awe than before. Even Steve saw, and hid a chuckle behind one hand.
"Hebi?" Tony asked, making the girl blink and look over to the billionaire who was smirking with smug amusement. "I was asking if you needed me to get that brat kicked out of Midtown for you."
"Oh," Hebi calmed herself down, and Peter sighed when he saw her emotions box themselves away again and only show what she wanted them to see. Honestly, what was with him and getting close to emotionally difficult people? Hebi straightened her back and gave Tony a smirk that was eerily similar to the older man's own. "Don't worry about it, he isn't worth the trouble. Besides, I have a thick skin. Didn't Peter tell you about the three years I spent homeless? In New York City of all places? A teenaged idiot isn't gonna bother me," she assured him before going back to looking up at Avengers Tower. Peter sprung forward, leading her into the building and starting to ramble to her about everything he had planned as he led her through the back entrance.
With the girl suitably distracted, Tony and Steve shared a glance, both of them slightly frowning.
"I like her," Tony said even though his frown didn't lift. "My favorite of Peter's friends, like I said, ten out of ten would probably blow something up with her."
"Tony," Steve said lowly as they walked side by side to follow the kids slowly. "Tell me I'm not the only one that saw a younger, female version of you for a second when she answered your question."
Tony was silent for a moment. "Well, she has more friends now than I ever did back then, and she's not in MIT yet so it's not like a carbon copy or anything."
"Tony."
"Yeah, I know," he admitted softly to the unsaid words Steve had implied with just his name. "But she's got Peter. That's the best medicine for trauma. Now cheer up and let's go embarrass my son."
—*—*—*—*—*
I walked through the building with Peter, which was a nerd's paradise. I found myself smiling as I looked around at the sleek interior and felt the buzzing of technology all around. I was glad I wore my thick-soles shoes, because the whole building was vibrating with energy. Footsteps, electricity— was that an explosion three floors up? Normally I wouldn't have been able to sense something that far away, but the vibrations were pretty distinct.
"Oh no," Peter said with a long suffering sigh before turning his head back. "Dad, George blew something up again!" He told the hero as they all filed into an elevator with… no buttons? I scanned around it with my eyes, wondering how it ran without buttons.
"Really?" Tony asked, wrinkling his nose slightly with a frown. "I swear, the interns just don't know how to operate in the grey area. FRIDAY, is there any damage? The guy's okay, right?"
"That's right boss, George is unharmed. We will have to replace his materials, and you have a new spot mark on the floor of your favorite lab on level three, but nothing else was damaged."
I couldn't hide my large smile as I looked up to the ceiling. "That's the AI I heard about?" I asked, pretty sure my eyes were shining. "That's so cool. Hello, FRIDAY."
"Hello, Miss Teal-Murdock. Are you enjoying the tower?"
I leaned back against the elevator wall. "Absolutely. And call me Hebi, please. Any gossip you can tell the newbie? Pretty please?"
Steve laughed, and Tony snickered.
"Nice try kid, but FRI is—"
"Mister Stark has been making headway into firing Miss Bakely from your school for how she treated you last week. And the Avengers are waiting to meet you, Miss Hebi."
I turned my head to the man, blinking in slight disbelief.
"Traitor," Tony mumbled and shuffled slightly uncomfortably. I turned to Peter.
"Thank you," I breathed. "I mean, it was totally unnecessary, but thank you."
Peter blushes and started to stammer, but Tony interrupted with slight irritation.
"Um, hello? I'm the one making it happen, you know.
"Would you have even known about what happened without Pete?"
Tony couldn't answer before the elevator doors open and I winked at him. "That's what I thought."
Wait. The explosion had happened on level three, and Peter had been able to hear it? I looked over at the boy, hiding my confusion from my face as I examined him. My hearing aids were on, and I hadn't heard it. I had only felt it, but it wasn't anything noticeable so had Peter..?
I was brought out of my thoughts when I walked into what was apparently the Avenger's living room. Sure enough, where was a line of people either standing or leaning on the back of one of the two couches waiting. For me, I guessed. That was a surreal thought.
Peter came up by my side. "So this is everyone, let me introduce you. Guys, this is Hebi, Hebi, this—" he paused when he looked over and saw a certain arched standing on his hands instead of feet like a normal person. He rolled his eyes fondly, lips twitching into a smile. "Uncle Clint, you already met her. Stop showing off."
"No no, it's okay," I said with a wave of my hand. I could feel the challenging smile spreading over my face. "As one of the best street performers in the city, in my own professional opinion, I cannot just leave this uncontested," I could feel Peter's confused gaze on the side of my face as I cracked my knuckles and slid one leg backwards. I slid off my backpack before handing it to Peter, who took it with a sound of confusion.
"Hebi, What..?"
I took a running start before leaping up, careful to keep a perfectly normal height, did a front flip while in the air, and landed on my hands. There were a few gasps, and even a few appreciative claps. I remained on my hands, body perfectly straight, and "walked" over so I was only a foot or two away from Clint's own upside down body. He stared at me, raising an eyebrow. I lifted one hand off the ground, making a small show of pretending to be careful, and used it to flick the guy's nose. He scrunched it at me in response.
"That," I said before returning my hand to the ground, "Was for interrupting our family gym day."
"Nice," a soft but deep voice complimented, and I lifted my head to see who it was.
All it took was registering the glint of a metal arm for it to sink in, and I almost instantly lost my balance and fell. I landed on my back, staring up wide-eyed at Bucky fucking Buchanan Barnes.
"Oh holy shit I'm dead," I whispered, barely realizing I was talking. "I'm dead, I went to hell, and now I'm being tortured with lies."
There was an uproar of laughter, among which was Bucky's soft chuckles.
"Smooth," Peter's voice managed to say through his own laughs. I raised my head to glare at him.
"Careful, Parker-Stark. I can probably coax FRIDAY into showing me footage from your early days of knowing Tony."
"How about their first lab day together, Miss Hebi?"
Peter paled. "You wouldn't."
"Try me."
Peter held up his hands in faux surrender, but was smiling again. "Please don't do that, I'm so sorry for teasing you. Won't happen again."
I rolled my eyes with a snort, knowing that was a lie, but accepted it anyway. "Damn right you're sorry," I grumbled good naturedly, finally standing up and turning to face my still-grinning hero. "Hi, I'm Hebi," I managed to introduce myself, holding out my left hand for a shake on purpose.
To my side, Clint flopped out of his handstand and grinned with his hands on his hips. "Oh he knows. Pete showed us video of your speech about why Bucky was your favorite Avenger."
I froze.
"Uh, Hebi?" That was Peter's tentative voice.
"Pete, give me one good reason not to tackle you," I said softly, turning my head to look at my friend. He gulped, smiling nervously before holding out my backpack like it was a peace offering. A cold hand gripping mine made my gaze shoot back to Bucky, who had grabbed my hand with his metal one after a brief hesitation. He smiled at me. It was a small, frail thing, but that just made it more amazing. I smiled back.
"Don't hold it against him, I needed to hear it," he told me softly. I had a feeling he spoke like that on a regular basis. I gripped his hand firmly, showing I wasn't afraid, and gave it a single shake before we let go. "It made my day, honestly."
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to regain my confidence. After a second, I gave him one of my strong smiles. "Good. But it's the principle of the thing, you know? What was that reason I asked you for, Pete?"
"You still have to give them that mysterious gift you wouldn't tell me about," he said quickly, making me relax. I had forgotten!
"Oh yeah, that's a pretty good reason," I decided with a shrug, walking over and taking the bag from him.
"You brought a gift?" Tony asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Kid, you know I'm a billionaire and nobody here actually needs anything, right? You didn't have to get us a gift," he told me, but I waved him off flippantly with one hand.
"Too late for that. I wanted to, anyway," I pulled out the drawstring bag and let the rest of my backpack drop. I could see Natasha watching me closely, and Clint doing the same thing but while much more relaxed, and walked past everyone to set the bag down on the floating kitchen counter. It was like the one Matt and I had back at the apartment, so it was natural for me to gravitate there. I opened the bag, pulling out the two good sized jars and turning to present them to everyone. "It's tea. I didn't know if any of you would like it, but I figured to give it a shot anyway," I explained.
"Oh wow," a small man with messy brown hair spoke up, who I recognized as Bruce Banner from the picture of him that was up in the school. He walked forward, and I handed him one of the jars without hesitation. He turned it over, and then turned to the others with his eyebrows high on his face. "This is that new indie brand I was telling you guys about!"
"The one you bought five jars from?" The man I recognized as Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon, drawled with one eyebrow raised. "You buy from them too, Hebi?"
I blinked, caught off guard and turned my head to Bruce. "Mister Banner, you like WickedTea?" I asked, surprised. The man nodded, smiling happily.
"I like tea a lot. It helps that it's very calming. This is my favorite blend, actually," he held up the Meditation Blend that I had brought. "But it's fairly expensive since it's a new brand, you didn't have to."
I snorted, suddenly overcome with amusement. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter. "Oh, it's not that big of a deal since I own WickedTea."
"I'm sorry, what?" Tony interrupted, looking up from whatever he had been doing on his StarkPad. "You own a small business?"
"Yup," I said, popping the 'p'. "I am WickedTea's sole owner, tea designer, and only current employee. Actually, I decided just this morning to start a merch line. I'll bring you guys the first couple samples when they're done."
"Oh no," Sam groused. "She's like Stark but with tea instead of technology."
I winked and shot him finger-guns. Peter, who had caught on to my cheesier tells, groaned.
"Hebi, no," he tried, but I ignored him.
"You mean, technolotea," I punned shamelessly, stirring up a mixed reaction of uproarious laughter (Clint) or groans of despair (pretty much everyone else).
"Anyway," Bruce said after a good eye roll, the first to go back to being genuine. "We really appreciate it. I know Bucky likes tea, too. I'll make sure to buy a shirt when you come out with them."
I gave him the most deadpan look I could. "Hell no. Your picture is up in our school, you are not buying shit. I said I'd drop samples off, and I will. Non negotiable. Okay Pete, let's get to legos."
Bruce blinked and I could feel his gaze on the back of my head as I walked over to Peter and let the other teen cheerfully lead me to his room.
"Keep the door open!" Tony called after us teasingly. I was only smiling until I saw how red Peter was after that line, his face making me burst into laughter.
—*—*—*—*—*
Hebi and Peter came out of the room a minute later with a box, which was then soundly opened and dumped out in between the sofa and TV. In other words; in everyone's way.
Some people had left since there just wasn't enough space in the common living room for everybody to stay for long periods of time, but there was still a good assortment. The Originals, minus Thor who was the only one Hebi didn't get to meet since he hadn't been at the tower at all, and Bucky.
Steve furrowed his eyebrows at the set that Peter and Hebi were starting on. "Don't you have five of those already, Peter? I thought you'd want to start working on that new set you got like you and Ned have been planning."
"Nah, this is Hebi's first Lego experience, so I'm starting her out simple," Peter explained as they worked on one wing of the TIE fighter model. Peter shook his head at something Hebi had done, correcting her. She made a small noise of realization, and then continued on.
"First Lego experience?" Tony asked curiously. "You weren't always a nerd like Peter?"
Peter looked up at his dad with a panicked face that had everyone sitting up and paying more attention to what was going on. Except Clint and Natasha, who were interested still but had a feeling they knew what was going on. Peter's gaze shot back down to Hebi, then up at his family again. He made cutting motions across his neck to tell them to stop asking questions.
"I'm not even completely deaf Peter, let alone blind or dumb," Hebi drawled, sounding thoroughly unimpressed. "I can see you."
Sufficiently embarrassed, Peter winced. "I can tell them to shut up for you," he offered. Hebi waved a hand, eyes still focused as she moved another brick into place.
"It's gonna come up eventually," she said. Which, logically, shouldn't have made Peter so happy to hear. But it did, because it insinuated that she planned on being his friend for a long time and coming over more often. He pushed that very out of place joy away.
"My mom drank herself to death when I was six. We were too poor for me to have very many toys anyway," Hebi said flippantly, stubbornly keeping emotion out of her voice as she spoke and worked at the same time. "I think we had legos in my kindergarten class, but I spent much more time in the hospital from various injuries than I did playing. Then my father got custody after Mom died," Hebi frowned, clicking a Lego piece into place to finish one wing. "He was an ass. I didn't see the light outside the house until he died, end of story."
The room went eerily quiet. Peter wasn't even helping Hebi with the set anymore, opting instead to watch her face and make sure she was okay. She caught on, and scoffed.
"I'm not made of glass, Peter, stop looking at me like a wounded puppy," she said, her words harsh but tone soft. "I've said it once, I'll say it again, talking about it isn't going to break me."
Unbeknownst to her, that was the moment three of the six people present decided to keep an eye out for her. Steve was concerned, but he had planned to keep an eye out regardless since the very beginning. It was just who he was. Clint and Natasha were made of sterner stuff, but even they frowned.
"Do you want a hug? Hugs usually help," Peter offered, making Hebi stiffen. "Okay, no hugs," he said after he held up his hands, noticing her distress immediately. Her shoulders slumped.
"Thanks Peter, but I'm not big on hugs. Or anything more than a handshake really."
"That's fine," Bucky was the one who said that, making Hebi turn to look at him. He gave her a lopsided smile. "We all have our quirks."
"So!" Tony interrupted, always the one to steer the discussion away from anything emotional. Peter relaxed and started helping Hebi with the legos again. "What kept you? We planned this whole thing to cheer you up after the Monday fiasco Peter told me about last week. And by 'we,' I mean me and Peter."
Hebi hummed to show that she heard him. "I have an eye condition," she said easily. "Developed it when I was eight or nine I think," Seven, she knew, directly after the whole experimenting thing. "Every now and then my eyes will get really sensitive to light, and I have to wear really thick sunglasses to prevent light damage. You know, the whole reason the teacher thing happened in the first place. I prefer to stay at home until my sight goes back to normal, but that didn't happen until yesterday."
Bruce rose an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound very familiar. I'm kind of the group's go-to doctor, would you want me to take a look? Maybe I can come up with a better result than just sunglasses.
Outwardly, Hebi seemed to tilt her head and ponder it calmly. Inwardly, she was panicking and red lights were going off in her head and the word 'escape' repeated in her head at a near deafening volume. Thankfully, she always did work well under pressure.
"No thanks, Doctor Banner," she said after a moment's pause. "I trust my doctor."
"You should probably let Bruce at it anyway," Tony piped up. "He works with enhanced individuals on a daily basis, he can probably find a way around your weird eye issue."
Hebi straight up laughed at that. "No thanks, really. Trust me when I say that if my doctor hasn't found a way around it, not even Doctor Banner will."
That got everyone's attention. Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah? If he's so great, I should know him. What's his name?" The billionaire brought his phone up, clearly ready to search the guy's name the second Hebi finished saying it. She sighed and opened her mouth, right when a portal opened up and the exact person she had been about to mention walked in. Except he wasn't in a casual suit like the one he had walked to Matt and Hebi's apartment in.
No, he was in full-out Sorcerer garb. Levitating cloak and all.
"Did you sense that I was about to talk about you?" Hebi immediately asked in the most dull voice possible. That made Strangewhip his head over to her, eyebrows high on his forehead.
"Hebi?" He asked, caught off guard. "What the hell are you doing in Avengers Tower? And no, actually—"
"Maybe because I wasn't going to," she deadpanned even though it was a blatant lie. Strange rolled his eyes and continued on.
"Actually," he said firmly. "I'm here to find Thor and tell him that I found a suitable uninhabited planet for New Asgard. Where is he?"
Hebi shrugged. "I'm just here on a visit, don't ask me."
"I think I'm missing something," Steve spoke up, eyebrows furrowed. "Strange, Thor is at the Asgardian settlement and won't be back until tomorrow."
Strange nodded. "You are missing something, actually. And that's fine, I'll just have to go out of my way and come back tomorrow, then," he said with a lot of faked annoyance before turning back to Hebi. "So, since I apparently don't have something to do right now, why are you here?"
Hebi shrugged. "I go to Peter's school. Peter is my friend. Shit happened last Monday after your visit, this is my apparent cheering up party."
"On a scale of one to ten, psychical or emotional?"
"Emotional, solid five and a half."
"Ah."
"Wait wait wait," Bruce held up a hand. "How do you know Hebi? And Hebi, he's the doctor you mentioned?"
"So you were talking about me," Strange drawled, glancing over at the girl with an eyebrow raised as she was caught in her lie. She shrugged unrepentantly.
"So you see what I meant now," she said easily. "If Stephen can't find a way to fix my light-sensitivity issue, I'm not gonna waste your time having you look over me too."
Stephen? Tony mouthed to the three assassins in confusion. For the first time that night, even Nat and Clint her caught off guard. All three assassins just shrugged, not knowing why Hebi would call the impersonal sorcerer by his first name.
"Okay, but how do you know each other? Does this have to do with your many hospital visits as a kid?" Steve wondered. Hebi snorted when she saw how lost Strange looked at that remark.
"Actually, despite the frankly appalling number of surgeries I underwent between the ages three and six, I never actually needed a neurosurgeon. So, no."
"Were you the girl who had a plastic nameplate that the other doctors kept on hand so they could just slide it into the slot outside your hospital room? Because I think I chuckled at your misfortune a few times."
She gave him a finger gun. "You noticed that? My mom was just glad that my name didn't always have to be scrawled out in poor doctor-handwriting every time."
"How?" Peter asked, aghast. "How are you still alive, Hebi?"
"Anyway," she deflected, not wanting to think too hard on that particular question. "I met Strange almost two years ago. Accidentally wandered into the Sanctum looking for a place to sleep."
Strange snorted, not about to let her off that easily despite having caught on to her hints about the Avengers not knowing she was Boa.
"You were thrown through one of the windows."
"I'm sorry, what?" Bruce asked, shocked. Stephen looked over at him, looking decidedly annoyed as he recounted what had happened.
"She was thrown through one of the Sanctum's windows, and landed on and therefore broke one of the cursed pots that was imprisoning a demon army," he said slowly, and Hebi slowly turned around to busy herself with Legos again. "It took me days to kill them all. And then she snuck into the Sanctum during the winter and decided it was a good idea to sleep next to dangerous relics on the floor despite me and Wong offering her a guest room after the fifth surprise visit."
"I didn't know they were dangerous!" The Asian defended herself. "I was cold and they radiated heat, so I slept by them."
"They radiated heat because they were evil, Hebi."
"I know that now!"
"Can we go back to the window thing, now?" Bucky interrupted their banter, looking concerned. He was looking at Hebi as he asked, which was a good strategy on his part since he was her favorite. She looked everywhere but him, knowing her own weakness all too well. Strange scoffed.
"Good luck with that. She's never explained that to me, either," the wizard told the man. "She always comes up with an obvious lie to make me stop asking."
"I'm secretly a man and I was practicing swinging on webs. Spoiler, I like wearing tight red spandex," Hebi deadpanned, face completely straight. Peter choked on air, and Tony straight burst out laughing, closely followed by everyone but Strange, who only groaned in despair and rubbed the area between his eyebrows with two fingers as if willing away a migraine. Even Natasha chuckled.
"Actually," the tower's owner interjected, raising a finger despite the smirk still on his face. "It's not made of spandex. I make the suits Spider-Man uses, it's a complex mix of flexible metal alloys."
Hebi waved her hand at him. "Details," She dismissed flippantly. "The guy's exactly my height though, it's kind of funny. I could probably pretend to be him if I really wanted," she mused out loud. Peter was sent choking on air again, making Hebi turn to him with a raised eyebrow. He avoided her gaze, looking straight down to focus on the Lego set.
"How do you know he's exactly your height?" Bruce asked curiously, apparently in possession of a mean streak that wasn't big and green as he knew he was only making Peter more uncomfortable. From behind Hebi, the teen gave Bruce the most betrayed expression he could muster. Hebi smirked, leaning back on her legs from how she was sitting on her knees.
"Did Peter tell you about how I met Spider-Man a month before school started?" All the heroes, minus Strange, nodded. "I would disappoint myself if I didn't at least memorize his height. But I didn't have hearing aids back then," she tapped the purple devices in her ears, "so, sadly, I probably wouldn't recognize his voice even if I spoke to him out of costume," that made all the older heroes have to practice their poker faces, because everyone but Hebi saw the way Peter sunk in obvious relief at that statement.
Hebi noticed something was going on, but internally sighed and ignored it. She didn't need to know, she was trying to get out of her Assassin habits. Step one was not chasing after every secret she caught a whiff of.
"Well then, I'll get going—" Strange said, starting to raise his sling ring. He never got the chance to open the portal though, because Hebi pounced on him, clinging to his robes like a monkey.
"Noooooo!" She whined, looking up at him with puppy eyes. "I demand you stay."
"You have literally no power over me, Hebi," the former surgeon drawled, looking down at her face without being moved. Considering how he hadn't really reacted to her tackle, everyone else in the room assumed it was something she did often.
Which, actually, it wasn't. It was the first time she had gotten that close to Strange on purpose, actually. But the sorcerer was used to her unpredictable shenanigans, so he knew the best thing to do was pretend he was unbothered.
A very mischievous look came over her face. "Oh? You want to bet, Strange?" She asked, her tone playfully threatening. The doctor thought about it a moment, before his gaze sharpened on her face.
"You didn't."
Her grin only widened. He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You did. Damn it all, Hebi, I'm gonna lock you out of the Sanctum," he groused before peeling her off of him and moving to pull a stool from the kitchen to sit on. Hebi sat back down next to Peter with a very smug look on her face. Her friend looked over at her with equal parts fear and curiosity.
"What did you do? Doctor Strange never agrees to stay at the Tower longer than necessary," Peter asked her in a loud whisper. He got a wink in return, the girl raising a finger to her lips.
"Uh, uh, uh. It's a secret."
"Hebiiiiii," the boy moaned in despair, flopping on the ground dramatically in front of her. "I wanna knowwwwwww!" He whined, looking up at her with his own much more effective puppy dog eyes. Hebi just grinned in amusement.
"Sorry, you're gonna have to try harder than that," she teased before reaching over and clicking the last few pieces of the TIE fighter into place. "Look, we're done."
Distracted, Peter rose his head from his dramatic slumped position to see that the small Lego set was, in fact, complete. "Cool," he said. "Now that you've been officially initiated in the ways of the Lego, wanna watch a movie?"
Hebi shrugged, moving over on the floor before laying down so that she was stretched out next to Peter, their heads pointing towards each other's. Hebi propped her body up on one arm.
"Sure. I haven't had a chance to watch very many Disney movies that came out after I was six. We don't exactly watch very many movies at home. Spoiler alert: having audio description and subtitles on at the same time is really weird."
"You shouldn't have said that," Steve warned the girl, amused. "Now you've just signed your life away to a marathon."
He and Bucky knew that from experience.
"Bring it on."
Turns out, they only got a few minutes into Frozen. Which had been a poor choice on everyone's part, but Hebi was so good at acting normal and hiding her emotions that nobody had quite remembered in time about her trauma.
They made it completely through Elsa's isolation scenes before anyone noticed anything was wrong. Turns out, Strange was the first to pick up on it.
Hebi wasn't much of a fidgeter, unlike Peter, but there was almost always subtle movement with her. An almost unnoticeable swaying side to side, or the occasional twitch of a finger, even just her steady breathing gave her body slight movement.
But she was completely still, eyes fixed on the screen, chest not even moving in the slightest. Every muscle was tensed, and Strange was the first to pick up that she hadn't blinked in five solid minutes.
"Perhaps we should change the movie," he said casually, making everyone look over to him. Seeing he wasn't meeting their eyes, they followed his gaze to the, ironically, frozen teen on the floor.
"Hebi, you need to breath," Tony's voice was surprisingly soft after Steve managed to pause the television. The girl startled, sucking in a surprised breath and blinking a few times as she came out of whatever area of her mind she had been so deeply in. As far as panic attacks went, it had been fairly mild. But still, a panic attack was a panic attack. "Do you want to do something else? Maybe we should watch Moana or something instead," the engineer suggested. There was no abuse or neglect in Moana, and the only character death was natural. It was relatively safe for the girl.
But she shook her head, fire seeming to enter her eyes. "Hell no. A children's movie isn't enough to break me. Take it off pause."
Clint and Natasha shared a glance, coming to a silent agreement. 'Can't break me,' was just a line Hebi said to reassure herself, it wasn't actually what she thought. Tony caught onto it too, frowning in Hebi's direction for a moment. When everything was said and done, it was painfully easy for the billionaire to recognize the same mantra he had repeated to himself on countless occasions and for almost the same reason. 'Can't break me,' was more like a weak 'I won't let it break me.'
But as Tony met Hebi's gaze evenly, he realized that Hebi meant it more firmly that he ever had. She wasn't just telling herself that line as a desperate measure to stay attached to reality, she meant it. She'd fight tooth and nail to not let it break her, and even if it did she'd make sure to pick up all the pieces.
Now all that remained to be seen was if she had a stronger will than Iron Man. Sincerely hoping she did, Tony gave her a small nod and told FRIDAY to resume the movie.
And, to everyone's mild surprise and major relief, she ended the movie more relaxed than she had begun it.
—*—*—*—*—*
After the movie, it was still only around six. Dinner arrived, and everyone took their seats around three large dinner table—including the Avengers who had previously left. Wanda, Vision, Sam, and a new guy—
"Scott? Hope?" Hebi asked, shocked at the familiar form. The electrician and his girlfriend looked up at her in surprise, eyebrows raising.
Conversation stopped.
"You know them, too?" Steve asked, eyebrows furrowed. "How many heroes do you know?"
"The more accurate question is how many important people I know, and you'll have to start a list if you want to figure it out," she said distractedly. Scott opened his mouth, and Hebi met Hope's gaze just in time. She gave the woman a barely noticeable shake of the head, and realization filled the female scientist's eyes. She interrupted her boyfriend just in time, making her way to a seat at the table.
"So, Hebi. What brings you to Avengers Tower?"
Hebi silently thanked any being that was listening for Hope Van Dyne. Scott had almost certainly been about to blow the secret. She gave them the same story she had said to Strange earlier (who had left after Frozen before Hebi could convince him to stay even a minute longer), and thankfully Scott caught on after that.
The man was seriously not good at keeping secrets though, and Hebi had to change the topic almost immediately to keep anyone from getting suspicious about his behavior. Stupid jerk kept making snake jokes throughout dinner though, and Hebi mentally plotted her revenge.
About two hours after dinner, after Hope and Scott left again and in the middle of another Disney movie, Clint and Hebi somehow got into an acrobatics contest that had to be moved down to the gym. Considering Clint had been part of a circus, his teammates all knew what to expect. But all Hebi had told any of them was that she had performed on the streets for money during her homeless years. It took them all of five minutes to realize that part of her street performing had been contortion.
Peter watched, bouncing on his feet, as the two did various tricks to try and one-up each other. Peter was tempted to join them, since he was capable of some pretty awesome feats since the spider bite, but he knew he couldn't or else Hebi would figure out his secret before he could even finish landing his first backflip.
He knew how scarily observant she was, and he knew that the only reason she hadn't figured it out yet was that she decided to ignore clues. He had seen her earlier, during their brief Spider-Man discussion. He had seen the way confusion and curiosity had entered her eyes only to be forcefully pushed away in favor of disinterest.
Maybe he should get lying lessons from Aunt Nat in addition to the combat lessons, just in case.
(He asked the next day, and she just scoffed and said that not even she could improve his overly honest demeanor.)
(In truth, she just didn't want to.)
Hawkeye was standing on one hand, holding his bow with his other and pulling back the string with his foot. The arrow notched on the weapon fired true, hitting the center of the target set up for him.
"Beat that, squirt," he challenged with a smirk. Hebi rolled her eyes, making a show of stretching her arms and yawning. She tilted her head. "You guys got bo staffs?"
Intrigued, Sam confirmed for her that they did, and tossed one to her. She caught it easily, placing one end firmly on the ground. She winked at them.
"Watch me make Birdbrain look like an amateur," she said boldly, both hands wrapped around the staff towards the top. She took a breath, and hopped. The heroes watched as Hebi slowly raised up, face focused as she balanced on the staff. Slowly, she straightened out until her body was completely horizontal, balanced in the air only by her hands gripped around the staff. She made it wobble slightly just to make it look like she was struggling, or else her inhuman balance would have been at risk of being exposed. She stopped once she was perfectly horizontal to the ground, and slowly peeled one hand away from the staff to hold it out to the side of her body.
Nobody made a sound.
After allowing them a moment to soak it in, she replaced her hand and continued forcing herself up until she was balanced completely vertical over the wooden pole. This time she slowly detached her other hand from the prop, raising it dramatically like she had done before.
Finally, after replacing her hands one finally time, she pressed her body low against the staff and pushed, sending herself and the weapon into the air. With a perfect blackflip, she landed soundly and beamed at them before bowing.
"Damn. We don't have trapezes, or I'd challenge you to that," Clint said, sore about being upstaged. He crossed his arms. Hebi stuck her tongue out.
"That's a good thing, trust me, or else I'd beat you there too despite never doing Trapeze before. I'm just that amazing," she sighed as if that was a burden, placing one hand over her heart dramatically. Peter laughed.
"That was awesome!" He complimented her, interrupting the silence from the peanut gallery and waking them up enough to clap. Except Natasha, who was as unmoved as always. Hebi, embarrassed, started swinging the bo staff in a familiar pattern with one hand to keep herself from blushing.
"Yeah, well. Had to make a living on the streets somehow," she dismissed casually. "And I suck at singing, so this was the next best thing."
Peter decided he'd work on improving her self esteem and get her to actually accept a compliment before the school year was over. Without sarcasm or dramatics involved.
—*—*—*—*—*
Ten thirty rolled around, and Hebi knew she had to head back before she risked being late. She sighed, setting down the cards for the game of poker they had decided to play with candy as chips. She and Nat had been dominating the game shamelessly. She sighed, actually sorry to go. "It's about time for me to head back," she admitted.
"Good, give me your candy," Tony said immediately, looking down at his pitifully small pile. Only Peter had less, considering he had lost already.
Hebi snorted. "Yeah right old man, I'm cashing out," she retorted happily, scooping the sweets into her backpack. "I don't live that far away, so I can walk," she said as she zipped up her bag.
"This late at night?" Bucky asked dubiously, concerned. Bruce, who had elected to just watch the card game instead of play, had an identical expression on his face. Hebi rolled her eyes.
"I'll be fine guys. I can take care of myself, did it for years," yeah those words didn't make anyone feel better. Only Nat and Clint looked unconcerned. After all, they knew that Hebi was more dangerous than almost any thug she'd run into on a short walk home. Like a monster in human skin getting attacked by a wild animal— the animal might pose a threat to a normal human, but a monster would come on top. Almost always.
"Yeah, not happening," Tony interjected, frowning. "I have plenty of cars, you're not waking when someone can drive you. Where do you live?"
Hebi gave him an unamused stare. "I'm fine. Cars release harmful emissions, I rather be on the side of planet earth."
"Pete and I just finished a car that runs on Arc tech."
Shit. That was clean energy, no exhaust. Hebi wrinkled her nose, knowing she was beat.
"Fine," She grumbled unhappily. She rattled off her address, making Tony raise an eyebrow after he plugged it in to his GPS.
"That's in Hell's Kitchen," he said, sounding surprised. He looked over her with eyebrows furrowed. She didn't meet his gaze.
"You were gonna walk home after ten to Hell's Kitchen?" Peter asked, aghast. "That's ridiculously dangerous, Hebi!"
The teen huffed, getting up and swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Whatever. Hell's Kitchen has Daredevil, if worse comes to shove, he'll probably show up. Or that Boa guy."
"Girl," Peter corrected without thinking, making Hebi swing her head over to him immediately. Most people still thought Boa was a man, which was why Hebi had phrased it the way she had. Peter flinched at his slip, running the back of his neck. Clint closed his eyes, internally sighing at the kid's inability to keep a secret.
"What?" Hebi asked, looking caught off guard. "How do you know Boa's a girl?"
"Oh, um, Spider-Man is a friend of mine," Peter blurted out, squirming. "He's kinda like a part-time Avenger, so he swings in a lot you know? And I help Dad work on his suits and stuff. He told me about how he met Boa, and said that she was a girl."
Hebi frowned, studying Peter's face for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "Whatever," she said again, having to force herself not to treat her friend like a puzzle to be put together. "This was a really good day, Pete," she said more gently, shifting on her feet with embarrassment as she forced herself to be genuine for a change. Peter's shoulders dropped in surprise, his eyes widening comically. "So, thanks," the girl then turned on her heel and walked to the elevator. "Hurry up, Stark. If the elevator closes before you get in, I'm walking."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Kid, I control when the doors shut," he reminded her before shooting an annoyed glance at his teammates. "Look at that, she's just assuming I'm gonna drive her personally."
"I'll come with you!" Peter volunteered, jogging to catch up to Hebi.
"You know you wouldn't trust anyone else to drive the Reactor run car," Nat quipped. "Hurry up and drive your future daughter-in-Law home, old man."
—*—*—*—*—*
I flopped onto the couch, which was my bed. Matt was slipping his cowl on, having waited for me to get back before dressing for patrol. "Have a good day?"
"So many close calls, but it was fucking great," I admitted. "I met Bucky fucking Barnes."
Matt grinned for a moment before frowning. "You're just as strong as him, you know. Maybe more so."
We both knew he didn't mean physical strength.
"...Agree to disagree," I said softly before closing my eyes. I was too tired for patrol, I'd join him the next night. Matt sighed, but knew he wasn't going to win that argument that night.
"I'll be back by three. Goodnight, Hebi." Call me if you have a nightmare went unsaid, but she understood.
"Don't be an idiot." Stay alive.
It was funny how well they understood each other's complex languages already. The
