Chapter 2

After Luna had finished eating, a call came in that some of the Avengers were needed and Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Miss Marvel, Black Widow, and Hulk headed out while Black Panther and Captain America stayed behind to keep an eye on things.

The young girl looked around as she noticed the Mansion really was huge and she was walking down the hall when she heard a door open and saw someone, a young woman, walk out. Spotting her, the young woman smiled. "Hi!" She said, her voice friendly. "You must be Luna. Black Panther was talking about you last night."

The young girl nodded. "Yeah, I'm Luna," she said. "And thanks to Black Panther, I'm trapped here."

"I'm Wasp," the young woman said, smiling gently. "And I'm sure he has only your well being in mind to have you stay here."

Luna rolled her eyes. "I've been fine on my own for two years," she said. "I don't like being confined."

"Tony did mention something about the foster homes not being nice to you," Wasp said gently before smiling. "Hey, they didn't restrict you to the Mansion totally, did they?"

The girl shook her head. "They just told me not to go outside without one of you guys with me," she said.

The young woman smiled. "Well, I was about to go do some shopping," she said. "Would you like to come?"

Luna looked at her in confusion. "What's...shopping?" She asked.

"Where you go and buy things or just go to try on clothes you like and maybe want to buy," Wasp explained before looking incredulous. "You've never been shopping before?"

"Not that I can remember," the girl said.

"Then you have to come with me," the young woman said. "It's more fun with two people and I don't think you want to hang around the guys all day long, do you?"

Luna looked thoughtful. "Um, well," she said before trailing off. "Are you sure it would be alright?"

"I'm sure," Wasp said before holding out a hand. "Come on. Let's tell the guys and then we'll be off."

The girl looked uncertain, but did take the young woman's hand. "Okay," she said softly as she did want to get out of the mansion.

Wasp cheered happily before looking at Luna's outfit, which was a tattered gray shirt and sweatpants that had a lot of holes in them and sneakers that were ready for the trash heap. "Hmm. First off, I think I might have something you can wear," she said, going to her closet and crying out happily when she found a purple t-shirt, purple-and-white sparkly jeans, and a pair of sneakers that were brand new. "Here, how about you wash up and put these on and then we'll head out," she said.

Black Panther had been wondering where Luna was and had stopped outside of Wasp's room when he heard her squeal happily. "Oh, my word! You look so cute!" She said. "Take a look."

Curious, the black-suited hero knocked and Wasp opened the door. "Oh, hey Black Panther," she said. "I was about to head out and Luna was hoping to come with me."

The hero could see the girl was dressed in her new outfit and she was actually smiling. He smiled and nodded. "Just keep her close to you at all times," he said.

"Oh, don't worry," she said. "We girls know how to stick together."

Luna looked up at her before looking up at Black Panther and he nodded. "Please stay by Wasp at all times," he said to her.

She cocked her head to the side before nodding, deciding that since he had asked nicely, she could do that.

"Come on," Wasp said, grabbing her purse. "I know the best places."

After the two left, Captain America noticed how Black Panther was pacing anxiously. "You're really fond of Luna, aren't you?" He asked.

"Yes," the black-suited hero said. "I was hoping to adopt her, but I need to earn her trust first."

The first Avenger nodded. "Don't worry. I'm sure she and Wasp are having a blast," he said.

Wasp held up a blue shirt. "Oh, this is so cute!" She said, showing it to Luna. "Look, it's got sparkles on it. I bet it would look great on you."

The girl had to admit she liked the shirt. "It is pretty," she said quietly.

"Okay, then we'll get it for you," she said.

Luna looked up at her. "Um, Miss Wasp?" She said. "I...,"

Wasp smiled at her. "Honey, are you okay?" She asked softly. "Am I getting a bit too overzealous?"

The twelve-year-old girl didn't know what to say, but the young woman smiled understandingly. "Sorry, I was just so excited to have someone to shop with, I guess I got a little carried away."

"It's okay," Luna said, a small smiling showing. "I just...I've never been shopping before and...,"

Wasp smiled again. "You don't want to ask for too much, right?" She guessed.

"I...I guess," the girl said.

The young woman smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "How about I get you the clothes you like as a welcome-to-the-family gift?" She said.

Luna blinked. "What?" She asked.

"Oh, I guess you didn't know, but Tony's been working on seeing if you can stay at the Mansion and not have to worry about foster homes again," Wasp explained.

"Well, he did mention that this morning," the young girl said. "But I thought he just meant temporarily."

"No way," the young woman said with a smile. "Tony doesn't do temporary fixes. He does things permanently."

Luna sat down, trying to wrap her head around it all. Wasp smiled and sat down beside her. "Luna, I really shouldn't tell you this, but I think you deserve to know," she said, lowering her voice. "Black Panther is looking to adopt you."

The young girl's head snapped up at that. "What?" She asked in shock.

"Yeah," Wasp said. "He surprised the rest of us when he said he was looking into the process. It seems he didn't like seeing...well, how hurt you were when he found you."

Luna felt panicky again and tried to take a deep breath. Seeing this, the young woman beside her pulled her into a hug. "Luna, I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to stress you out."

Slowly, the young girl hugged Wasp. "But...why would Black Panther want to adopt me?" She asked.

Wasp shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Guess he sees you as a young cub that needs a home and he's a protector, so...I guess he feels that he can't abandon you."

"But he doesn't even know me," Luna protested.

The heroine shrugged. "I guess he wants to, or at least he wants you to have a good home," she said. "One other thing I know about him, once he has someone under his protection, he guards them for life. He does so for his village."

The young girl looked away. "I did hear he's a fierce protector," she said.

"He is, but he's equally someone you can trust," Wasp said gently. "We want you to trust us, though we know you may not do so right away."

Luna looked at her. "Is that why you took me shopping today? To earn my trust?" She asked.

"Well, that was part of it," the heroine admitted. "The other parts were that it's more fun to shop with someone else and I was hoping we could maybe start as friends."

The twelve-year-old looked thoughtful for a bit and could see Wasp was telling the truth. She looked up at her. "Do you really think Black Panther would adopt me?" She asked.

Wasp smiled. "Well, from what I know, he is considering it," she said. "But I think he's waiting to see how you do too."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"Well, like if you like the Mansion, if you're settling in okay, if you're okay around the rest of us, stuff like that," the heroine said, smiling and placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm not saying trust us right away, but...we're willing to earn your trust if you give us a chance." She looked hopeful. "I can be a fun-loving aunt to you."

The young girl blinked and looked down for a moment, giving it some thought. "What is an aunt?" She asked after a moment.

"Well, it's a lady who is your mother's or father's sister," Wasp said gently. "Did your parents not having siblings?"

"I don't know," Luna said. "Grandma never mentioned anyone and I was put in foster care after she died, so...I guess they didn't." She looked back at Wasp. "What do aunts do?"

"Well, an aunt takes her niece, which is her sibling's daughter, out to the mall or someplace fun and she and her niece just do awesome stuff," the heroine said. "Kind of like what we're doing."

The twelve-year-old looked thoughtful before looking up at her. "I think...if I could choose who to have as an aunt...I'd pick you," she said softly.

Wasp smiled and hugged Luna. "I can be, if you want," she said. "Is that okay?"

Luna smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Thanks...Aunt Wasp."

The heroine was squealing on the inside, but she managed to keep it in, thought she did smile hugely. "Come on," she said. "I see some more awesome clothes for my favorite niece."

When they arrived back at the Mansion a couple hours later, Black Panther's eyes nearly bulged out of his head at seeing how many shopping bags Wasp and Luna had and the girls were giggling. "I guess there was a sale at the mall?" The black-suited hero said to Wasp.

She giggled. "Oh, Panther," she said. "Actually, most of this stuff is for Luna." She lowered her voice. "My gift to her, actually," she whispered.

He looked at her as Luna brought some more bags in and looked around. "I think that's everything," she said.

Wasp grinned. "Let's get them to our rooms," she said. "By the way, the room you woke up in this morning? Tony said it can be your room, if you want."

The young girl smiled. "Cool," she said, looking a bit more relaxed, which Black Panther noticed. As the girls were headed down the hall, Luna suddenly stopped and turned to Wasp. "Aunt Wasp?" She said.

"Yes?" The heroine said.

The young girl hugged her, which caught the young woman by surprise, but she hugged her back. "You okay, honey?" She asked softly.

Luna nodded, not saying a word, to which Wasp understood what she was saying. "I love you too, sweetie," she said softly.

Black Panther was surprised to see this, but smiled and nodded, turning to Captain America, who was also smiling. "Looks like she's more relaxed right now," he said.

"Yes," the black-suited hero said. "I was a little worried about her, that she'd run away at the first chance she got."

"Well, let's not push her," the first Avenger said. "It looks like she's bonded to Wasp, which is good. That's a good way to build trust."

Black Panther grew thoughtful. "I'll watch her and see how she interacts with the others," he said. "If everything goes well...I'll get those papers from the judge."

"Kid could use a good home," Captain America said, smiling. "She deserves it."

The black-suited hero agreed.

So Luna has begun to bond with Wasp. Will she decide to stay now that she knows Black Panther wants to adopt her? Stay tuned to find out! :)

And please leave a review, but no flames! Any flames will be used to fire up the barbeque! :)

GoldGuardian2418