Here it is. Day 14 of the 30 day challenge...that I started a year and a half ago. This one was tough. Gender swap. Some of the other writers who have tackled this challenge handled it beautifully. I didn't want to feel like I was copying, plus, I like trying to come up with a little different spin on things. So, I struggled for a different approach. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with it, but I finally decided to just do it and move on.
keamlkntl, this one's for you. Thanks for asking for it. You gave me the push I was needing to get it done. I hope you like it. And maybe get motivated for another chapter of Step, Step, Step. There's just not enough of this pairing.
Day 14: Gender Swap
The day had been a long one. SHIELD sensors had picked up a strange signal coming from somewhere outside the solar system. The intermitten nature of the signal led them to believe that it was traveling through a wormhole of some sort.
To their extreme frustration, they had been unable to determine the source or to make contact, facts that were considered cause for concern after the events with Loki and the Chitauri. After some discussion, it was decided to take the issue to the Avenger's Tower to make use of the resources there.
As JARVIS worked on decoding the signal, Nick and Maria joined the others in the common area for the evening meal. All of the Avengers were there, as well as Pepper, Jane, Betty, and Darcy. When the meal was completed, everyone moved back to the sitting area, working on various things on their laptops or tablets or cleaning and prepearing their weapons. Nick sat on the floor in front of Maria. She expertly rubbed his shoulders and neck while looking at the display he was viewing.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded and everyone jumped, looking around.
"What's going on, JARVIS?" Tony asked.
"I've managed to identify the source of the signal," the AI told them. "They are initiating contact."
No one replied, though, as the entire group had disappeared in a flash of light.
When the flash vanished, they found themselves in a strange room. A throbbing under their feet led them to believe it was a ship of some sort, a belief furthered by the screen showing a massive starfield. A group of armed and armoured soldiers facing them had everyone reaching for their weapons.
Steve hefted his shield, stepping forward as the leader he was.
"What's going on here?"
He barely got the sentence out before one of the soldiers stepped forward slapped him across the face, knocking him to the floor.
Maria studied the opposing soldiers, her gaze noting the details of the weapons and those brandishing them.
She made a quick decision, holding a hand up as she stepped forward.
"Stand down," she ordered the team. She hoped that her deduction had been correct and that the others would pick up what she had. She felt Nick shift behind her and she placed her other hand behind her back, motioning for him to stay still.
The women facing them stood watching, hands on their weapons. In the silence, Maria looked the group over again.
As she thought.
All women.
One finally stepped forward, the others parting to let her pass. She paused a moment as another woman stepped up beside her. She bowed slightly before the leader before turning to face Maria.
"This is Leader Raytara, commanding officer of this scouting expedition. I am Chief Advisor Sodal."
Maria felt someone move up next to her.
Pepper.
"This is Commander Maria and I am Chief Advisor Pepper."
Maria nodded to Raytara.
"My apologies for summoning you this way," the alien explained. "We need to speak with you and were unable to stabilize communications, so we brought you here."
"You will be able to return us, correct?" Maria asked.
"We will," one of the other women affirmed.
Maria noticed several of the others eyeing Steve warily as he regained his feet and looked to her. She stared at him a moment, then jerked her head, ordering him to step back. He lowered his head and silently stepped back.
"And my apologies for the behavior of my...shield bearer," she told the other woman.
Who smiled. "Understood. I'm sure the trip was a bit disconcerting and he IS a male. Regardless of species, it seems, they are ruled by their hormones, aren't they," she saidindulgently.
Next to Maria, Pepper turned, no doubt glaring at Tony to forestall whatever comment he was about to voice. Until they knew more about their hosts, it was better to not cause waves.
Raytara proceeded to introduce the rest of her entourage and Maria did the same.
Medical Advisor Elizabeth.
Scientific Advisor Jane.
Security Advisor Natasha.
Coordinator Darcy.
"And your males?"
"Bruce assists Elizabeth, Tony helps Jane. Those four," she pointed at Nick, Thor, Steve, and Clint, "serve as part of Natasha's security force."
"Your men are able to do these jobs?" she asked in surprise.
"They do. And rather well, for the most part."
The other woman nodded. "I suppose. Simple tasks that the women are too busy for."
"We have refreshments and a meal, if you would care to join us," Sodol told them, leading the way to a room with a large table and a window looking out onto a field of stars. Jane steppet close to the window, attempting to pinpont their location by the points of light. After several moment, she turned to Maria, shaking her head.
She had no idea where they were.
A group of alien men had been setting goblets and dishes of assorted foods on the table. When that was done, some silently left the room while others moved quickly to stand behind the chairs of their women.
The women from the tower took seats at the table, the men looking at one another, not quite sure what to do.
"Would you like your males to be taken to one of the other rooms?" Raytara asked.
Maria shook her head. It would be better to keep their party together since they were still lacking information on their hosts. "I think it would be better for them to stay with us."
"Yours tend to wander off, too?"
"They can get into trouble without proper supervision," Pepper commented. She signaled for Tony to stand behind her and the others quickly followed suit. They verified that the offered refreshments were suitable for human consumtion, then turned to the purpose of the meeting.
The ship had been tracking a fugitive and had lost the trail. Discovering the small spatial anomoly, they decided to explore that possibility. The ladies from the tower looked at the holographic image of the criminal as well as the electronic signature they had been tracing.
SHIELD hadn't detected anything close, nor had any of the systems Jane monitored. They thanked Raytara for the inforamtion and assured her they would be on watch. The conversation shifted to other matters of cosmic security.
Both groups were cautious, appreciating the inforamtion they received, but being careful of what they revealed to the other.
When Tony sighed heavily for the umpteenth time, Maria and Pepper both glared at him. It was clear that their host was becoming irritated with his antics.
"I think your boys are becoming bored with our discussion. Ours are the same. They would much rather be discussing shopping and managing our households, wouldn't they?"
"You mentioned a meal," Pepper mentioned. "Perhaps they could assist your males to prepare and serve? Would you like that, Tony?" she asked with a sweet smile.
They could tell his teeth were clenched and it took him a moment to nod.
"Of course. I'm sure they would much rather serve you themselves than to have other males do so."
Though none of them looked particularly happy as they followed a man Sodol had summoned out of the room.
"Have fun!" Darcy called.
After the light repast, the group retuned to site of their arrival for their return home. As they prepared, Raytara studied the group.
"If you wish, Commander Maria, we might trade males as a remembrance of our meeting?"
"Trade?" Bruce asked, looking her direction.
"One for one. Your choice."
Maria glanced at Pepper, then Tony, a glint of amusement on her face.
"Your offer is appreciated, Leader Raytara, but my advisors and I have devleoped certain fondnesses for these particular males. "
"Ah. Mates as well as servants."
"Yes."
"Even that one?" she asked, poining at Stark.
The agent nodded. "He is a favorite of Chief Advisor Pepper. Bruce of Elizabeth, Thor to Jane, Clint to Natasha, and Steve to Darcy." She hoped that Steve wasn't blushing too intensely.
"And this one?" the leader asked, pointing to Nick with an appreciative eye.
Maria straightened to her full height and forced the next words out. "He is mine."
Saying it that way under these circumstances felt so wrong. She hoped he understood.
The two groups said their goodbyes and, with another bright flash, the Avengers company found themselves back in the tower common area.
Maria turned to wrap her arms around Nick.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled.
"Is everyone okay?" Pepper inquired before he could reply.
They all nodded or mumbled affirmatives.
All but Tony. He stood, arms crossed at his chest, lip poked out, clearly irritated.
"Tony?" his wife asked.
"No. I'm not okay," he told her.
"All vitals are normal," JARVIS told them.
"Yeah, I'm fine physically," Stark replied. "I'm just..."
"Got your feelings hurt?" Darcy suggested with a smirk.
He glared at her. "No. It's not hurt feelings. It's rightous indignation. You just don't understand what it felt like," he huffed at her.
"What what felt like?"
"To be treated like that. Less important. Like..."
"Like a second class citizen?"
"Exactly," he nodded.
"Sorry, Tony," Jane chipped in. "We may have enjoyed it a little more than we should have, but we do know what it's like. It just felt a little odd to be on the other side of it for a little while."
"How could you possibly know what it's like?" the billionaire asked.
"We're women," Nat said simply.
He stared at her, not understanding.
Darcy took over the explanation. "Come on, Stark. Even in the twentyfirst century, there are still places where women are considered little more than property. They can't choose their own clothing, can't own work outside the home, can't vote, can't get an education. Some of them can't even go out in public without a male relative. A woman who's sexually assaulted is put to death for adultry. Hell, a woman can be put to death at the whim of her husband or father or brother or male relative."
"Yeah," Tony admitted, "but you're all living here in the US. None of you have ever worn a burka."
"I have," Maria said.
"Me, too," Natasha told him.
Pepper looked at him. "Remember when you were meeting with those oil executives back when I was your assistant? It wasn't a burka, but I was informed that I needed to wear a long skirt and sleeves, keep my head covered, my eyes down, and speak to no one. Oh, and I was to stay with you or Happy at all times."
Tony looked at her, the incedent forgotten until now. "But that was over there, right? Here in the United States..."
"It's better?" Darcy interrupted. "Yeah. We finally got the right to vote, less than a hundred years ago. Women can work. We make about 70 cents for every dollar a man makes for the same job."
"Yeah, but"
But Darcy kept going.
"You ever wonder why Jane has a poly sci major as an intern? It's because I was the only one who applied. And she was in the student center trying to find someone. The science geeks wanted to work under one of the men because there was more prestige. It didn't matter to me, because I was only interested in covering my advanced science credit. Then, there was the paper."
"Paper?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah. She had finished up this paper and we sent it into one of the journals under the name Dr. Jane Marie Foster. They rejected it. Said it was lacking in research and supporting data and that maybe she should stress the correlation to Dr. Selvig's work more. It just wasn't what they were looking for."
"So?"
"So, we sent the exact same article to the same journal a few months later, but under the name Dr. J.M. Foster. Not only did they accept it for publication, they absolutely raved about how well written and researched was."
They all looked to Jane, who shrugged. "Maybe they just had different needs that month."
"Come on," Darcy scoffed. "You know as well as I do that the scientific community is male dominated. I'd be willing to bet Betty has had a similar experience or two."
Attention turned to Betty. It was her turn to shrug. "I suppose. There was this grant I had applied for. The guy that got it had, in my opinion, a pretty weak proposal. A intern who worked for one of the guys making the decision said that one of the discussion points had been that, as a man, his work would get them more 'bang for their buck.''
"Really?" Bruce asked, his voice low and dangerous.
"But it turned out okay," she hurried to reassure him.. I was only a few days later I found another grant I was elibible for. A bigger one. And I got it, so it worked out for the best."
Darcy turned back to Tony. "You ran Stark Industries for years. How many female CEO's or CFO's or Board Charimen did you deal with?"
Before he could answer, Pepper chimed in.
"None."
"None," he agreed. "But I put you in charge. Surely the board and the businesses we deal with respect that."
Potts snorted. "I still always get the feeling half of them want to pat me on the head and send me out for coffee."
"Only half of them?" Maria asked.
"The others would rather pat my ass," she told the other woman with an eye roll. She turned back to Tony. "Remember a couple of weeks back when I made you sit in on that meeting with Kramalski about the new software you've been working on? Even though it was the first time you've been to a board meeting in ages, he still directed all of his questions to you."
"And I doubt the spy game if any more female friendly," Darcy added, turning towards Maria and Nat.
"Hardly," the redhead commented. "Even though everyone is much too terrified to say anything to my face, there's plenty said behind my back. Which I end up hearing anyway. That I'm not really as good as my reputation. That I get the best assignments or the easiest assignments because I'm either blackmailing Fury or sleeping with him."
Maria glared at her.
"Or sleeping with Maria."
Tony's eyes brightened. He held out a hand.
"Hold on. Let me think on that for a moment."
Pepper looked to Maria, then Natasha. When both nodded, she punched him in the arm.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed, rubbing his arm as he looked at his wife, a look of betrayal on his face.
"Would you rather one of them had done it?"
"Definitely not," he agreed. "Besides, imagining that wasn't nearly as hot as remembering being with you," he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Good save," she mumbled.
"Forgiven?"
"It's a start."
Maria nodded. "I'm supposedly completely unqualified for my position and only got it by sleeping with half the council and Fury. Which I am. Fury, not the council. But that started after. Anyway. Darcy's point was that we do know what it's like not to be valued for who you are and what you have to offer and we know it's not fair or right and we probably shouldn't have gotten such a kick out of it, especially seeing how much it bothered you."
"Didn't seem to bother Fury too much," Tony commented.
"I'm not a woman, but I've certainly had my share of the 'second class citizen' treatment. I've never been much to put up with it and it was hard to do it this time, but the situation required it."
After reminding everyone to write up reporst on what had just happened, Maria and Nick headed to their own quarters. Once the door closed, she wrapped her arms around him and looked up at his face.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"You said that before, sweetheart, but you have nothing to be sorry about. You were the first to pick up on the dynamics of the situation and act on it. It was important to not rock the boat and that meant going along with what they expected of us. There's no reason to feel bad."
"But I do. You've always...well, almost always treated me as an equal in our personal relationship and then to treat you like that...like you were secondary...that I owned you..."
"You do, Maria," he said with a smile. "You own my heart. Which I gave willingly."
"Likewise. But it just felt wrong."
"It's not the first time the job has required that and it won't be the last," he reminded her. "But I'll let you make it up to me if it will make you feel better," he said, his fingers moving to tug at her zipper.
She grinned slyly. "I suppose I might be able to come up with something," she told him, taking hold of his belt buckle and pulling him towards the bedroom."
He chuckled. "I thought you might. And, by the way...if you still have the urge to boss me around a little bit...I wouldn't be entirely opposed to the idea."
Laughing, she wrapped her arms around his neck, then lifted her feet, twining her legs around his waist as she kissed him soundly.
"Bedroom, Jeeves," she commanded. "And step on it."
"Your wish is my command."
And that's another one down. Thank you for reading. I decided to go with more of a gender role swap than a physical gender swap. I had thought it would be a kind of light, fluffy piece. Little did I realize these women would use it to educate on gender inequality. But, part of why I like these characters is because of their strength and support of each other, so... Hope it wasn't too preachy and that you enjoyed it.
Reviews craved. I'd love to know what you thought: good, bad, or indifferent.
Next up: In a different clothing style...
And someone suggested a snowball fight. It wasn't one of the prompts in my list, but I just may find a way to work it in somehow. Cute idea.
