Hi! Thanks to all new followers/favourites/reviews! Hope you enjoy the new chapter! By the way, I am quite fan of Youtube and are subscribed to may Youtubers, including Pewdiepie. If any of you are the same, see if you can find the Pewds reference in this chapter. There's quite a lot of Italian in this chapter, sorry. Also, please tell me if any of it is wrong or incomplete.
Translations:
Figlio - son
Padre - father
Dux Prioris - former leader
Dux - leader
Ciao - hello
La Volpe Rossa - the Red Fox
Signorina - Miss
Signor - Mr
Per favore - please
Sì - yes
Nipote - niece
Capisco - I understand
Grazie - Thank you
Sembra delizioso - It looks delicious
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters used in this story, I only own the plot and my OC's.
Chapter 16 - La Volpe Rossa
The Avengers were confused as to why Paige and Alexia were sitting on a couch crying into each other's shoulder one minute and deviously plotting some kind of revenge plan the next, but it was undeniable that that was exactly what they were doing. Paige had arrived in a hurry with tears spilling from her hazel eyes and shaky breaths escaping from her thoat. Tony, as her boss, had been the first to offer sympathy, though the brunette was more interested in seeing Lexy than conversing with her employer.
The Siren had immediately come sprinting across the reception and flung her arms around Paige, who had quietly sobbed as Alexia tugged her into the elevator. Since then, the two had wept over the madness of Lexy's adoptive brother before becoming angry at her adoptive parents and spent half an hour thinking of ways to create 'justice'. Finally, Steve and Natasha entered the lounge uncertainly, only to be welcomed by the pair, who's tears were now dry and invisible, along with the tense atmosphere.
"Are you two alright?" Steve asked, sounding ever so slightly worried at their swiftly changing behavior.
"We're fine now. I explained the... Situation to Paige and now we're scheming," Lexy giggled.
"... Ok then. We were planning on going out to eat for dinner tonight, do either of you want to join?" Natasha offered.
"Sounds great!" Paige replied happily, a total transformation from her past behavior.
"What are we eating?" Lexy asked.
"There's a new Italian restaurant that opened up down the street. Want to try it out?"
"Dux Prioris! Where is my cousin?" Strazio shouted at the old man as he marched down an opaque, dim corridor.
"Show your elders some respect, figlio!" Antonio barked in response, "If you must know, Maria asked if she could scout in New York. She's undercover and looking to identify the missing children and any other adversaries that might oppose us."
"Why did you let her do that? I am supposed to watch her! She has been quite rebellious lately and needs to be controlled, not sent out alone to spy, padre!" the Dux exclaimed furiously.
"I trust her, even if you do not. Once I am dead, you can do what you like, but until that day you are below me and must follow my orders," the Dux Prioris demanded.
"The Dux Prioris has no power over the Dux, only influence within lower ranks. Do not pretend I am unaware of the order of the Familia, padre. Now, send someone to retrieve her," Strazio ordered.
"Why don't we have a vote in the Hall? I certainly think it's a good idea for her to stay spying," Antonio suggested.
"You would risk her life and the stability of the Familia for a little information on the missing experiments that I have been watching for months?"
"If she is willing to share the information with everyone else instead of keeping everything secret, then sì. The Familia will not fall if she is captured and I trust Maria to know how to return," the Dux Prioris stated, now becoming calm.
Strazio's eyes were drownd in a deep, molten hatred. He opened his mouth to bark at the old man, but, realizing that his power over the people was waning. Antonio smirked and began to walk away.
"Let her be. You never know, she could well be a defining factor come our invasion," he chuckled.
"Ciao! Welcome to La Volpe Rossa," a woman with long golden hair greeted.
She wore a red pencil skirt that reached her knees, a plain white button-up blouse and a small green ribbon tied around her neck with a black apron clinging to her waist. Her hair was in a ponytail and she wore slightly high-heeled, black shoes.
"Hello, table for 8 please?" Natasha requested, smiling weakly as they all ambled in.
"Of course, Signorina. Right this way," the woman directed, "My name is Maria and I will be your waitress this evening."
As the Avengers all took their seat, Alexia glanced at the waitress, who was suddenly oggling at her strangely. None of the others seemed to notice it, and when Lexy's gaze returned to the spot where Maria had once stood, she saw that the woman had quickly retreated to the kitchens. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, our hero grabbed a menu.
"What are you having, Paige?" she questioned.
"I might have the pork and Parmesan ravioli, myself," Paige pondered as her eyes slid down the menu, "But I'm not sure. Everything looks and smells so good!"
It was true. As waiters rushed in and out of the kitchen with grace, their hands balancing trays of divine platters and gourmet meals, a mouth-watering scent had snuck into the air, making every customer's stomach yearn.
"I might have the meatballs," Lexy started started.
"The best meatballs are Swedish meatballs, trust me. Maybe you should wait to have those," Tony advised.
"I'm sure everything is delicious, though," Steve commented.
After a while of tough choices, the team plus Paige were sipping delicate glasses of expensive wine as they ordered.
"I'll have the porcini risotto, por favor," Clint ordered.
"Per favore," Maria corrected.
"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Clint responded cluelessly, causing the blonde to giggle.
"Polpette di pollo, per favore," Tony decided.
After the others had ordered with requests such as lasagne and pizza, with more fancy, long winded names to boot, the team were happily nibbling on sliced baguettes with garlic butter. Little did they know that behind closed doors, a certain undercover spy was muttering into a phone.
"Sì, it is definitely her. That means the other must be close by. Dux Prioris, I beg you to let me capture her now," Maria whined.
"You will do no such thing, nipote, or you will not be welcomed back. Wait until you locate the other and learn all you can. Killing her now could be a fatal move if the other is still close, or if she has any powerful friends," Antonio commanded from the other end.
"Capisco, Dux Prioris," Maria sighed, dropping a small yet lethal knife back into her apron pocket.
"We will be in touch soon, Maria," he promised before the line went dead.
"-and then I replied, 'We have a Hulk,'" Tony retold, much to the laughter of Paige and Lexy.
"I am sorry to interrupt, Signor, but the food is ready," Maria smiled.
"Grazie, Signorina Maria," Bruce said, "Sembra delizioso."
At this, everyone looked at the scientist, surprised. Even Maria was a little taken aback.
"I travelled a lot," he justified.
The team shrugged and began to dig into their apatizing spread, occasionally groaning with delight at the perfection of the food. They also chatted in between bites.
"So, Lexy, how's the new trick coming along?" Natasha enquired.
"Not very well," Alexia sighed, "I'm having trouble concentrating."
"What is it?" Paige asked.
"Well, I thought that, if I was fighting a crowd of enemies, I could use my whip as well as having water duplicates of the weapon on either side, but I can't focus on the whip when I'm thinking about the water and vice versa. I don't know, maybe it was a bad idea."
"Shut up, you know it's an awesome idea. You just... Haven't perfected it yet," Natasha dismissed.
"You can say that again," Alexia snorted.
"I'm sure it'll work, you just need practice," Paige encouraged gently.
"Changing the subject, does that waitress seem slightly off to you?" Lexy queried.
"Maria? She seems sweeter than a bird," Steve commented.
"The Lady Maria does seem considerably polite, what causes such suspicions?" Thor furrowed his eyebrows.
"I don't know, she was staring at me strangely earlier. Maybe it was just my imagination," Alexia said quietly.
"Are you ok, Lexy?" Tony questioned, "You seem very thoughtful, which is obviously never a good thing."
This caused a grin to rise onto the brunette's face, and she waved off the comment. Paige giggled quietly, attracting a slightly confused look from Steve. The conversation continued lightly until they had finished their meals. When they had, Maria returned for dessert orders, to which the Avengers politely declined.
"Per favore, come back any time," she smiled as they walked out and onto the chilly street of Manhattan.
"We are definitely going there again," Tony decided.
"The food was amazing," Paige agreed.
"Better than amazing, and the service was great," Steve added.
"Maria was pretty cool," Clint nodded.
"Ok, we get it," Natasha rolled her eyes playfully, "Best restaurant ever. Can we get back now?"
Bruce chuckled and the group headed back in the direction of the Tower. Paige grabbed Lexy's arm.
"Thanks for the meal, but I think I'm gonna head home now," she announced.
"You sure? You can stay at the Tower whenever you want, you know," Alexia reminded kindly.
"Yeah but I have an apartment that I rented when I first got to New York. I'll be fine," Paige nodded.
"Ok, stay safe!" Lexy called as the woman began to turn and walk down another street.
After her figure was lost behind the labyrinth of concrete walls, the brunette caught up with the others, her shoulder brushing against Tony's as she strolled, laughing as she went.
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