Thanks for the positive reviews, follows and favourites :D I am literally glowing with happiness *flying kisses all around* I am really excited to continue this fanfic!
I might put Peter Parker later in the story *thinking* and Loki's appearance is in the later chapters. I don't really know where Loki should make his grand entrance XD
Disclaimer: I own none of the Avengers, just my wild imagination.
Enjoy your read :D
Chapter 3- Explosion
"So, Mr. Stark, explain to me why you thought activating the fire alarm was the best way to kick-start your little show?" Principal Fury growled.
They were in his slightly slippery and wet office, courtesy of the emergency sprinkler. Confetti stuck on Principal Fury's bald head, making it hard for Tony to take him more seriously than usual. Tony sighed, Pepper had dragged him to Principal's office to as she put it, "Face the consequences" despite his earlier idea to just drive away.
"Well, I need everyone's attention, right?" Tony answered. "That's the best, grand way to get their attention. And besides, I helped them walk out of their classes thirty minutes early."
"Mr. Stark, this is the last chance. I give you two weeks of detention, with cleaning duty. After that, further reckless, insane and stupid incident caused by you, I will put you in probation," Principal Fury glared at Tony with his one good eye.
Tony look surprised. "Just two weeks detention?"
"Why, would you like to extend it to three weeks?"
"I mean, considering previous warnings and the recent one, plus your genuine loathing toward me, I'd guess you take a more serious action," Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "But I guess two weeks detention is fine. I could live with it."
Principal Fury leaned forward, lacing his fingers. "Mr. Stark, you are an intelligent student. This is your last year, so take your responsibility like a man, than expecting Miss Potts to remind you every single thing. I gave you enough chances before, but I won't tolerate anymore."
Tony raised an eyebrow at Principal Fury, taking in the stern voice he used. "I'll try."
"You'd better, Mr. Stark. Now, you may go."
"Thanks, Mr. Fury."
He didn't need to be told twice. Grabbing his red backpack, he met Pepper, who was waiting for him outside. Pepper was sitting on the wooden bench, her daily planner opened on her lap, but her eyes were closed. Her breathing was steady, probably asleep. Tony feel guilty. He caused Pepper so much trouble since he met her. Pepper and Rhodey are the only friends from his childhood who stays. Most of his childhood friends stayed away from him, unable to stand his behaviour but Pepper and Rhodey stays.
"Hey, Pepper," Tony shook her shoulder softly. "Come on, I'll send you home."
Pepper's eyes fluttered open. "Tony. I'm sorry, I fell asleep."
"Come on, I'll send you home," Tony said, picking up Pepper's sling bag. "You must be tired."
"I'm not tired," Pepper replied, as they walked out toward the parking lot, "I'm just bored. So what Mr. Fury told you?"
Tony shrugged. "He warned me, again. I got two weeks detention plus cleaning duty and he said I mess up one more time, I'll be on probation."
"Tony, can you please take your life more seriously?" Pepper shot him a pleading look.
"I am trying to. I promise on my car that I won't cause anymore reckless, insane and stupid incident. Not the one that will get my ass sent to Fury, anyway."
Pepper smacked his arm. "Tony!"
Bruce stepped into his house silently. His house was awfully quiet.
"Mom?" He whispered. "Mom? I'm home."
Mrs. Banner came out from the living room, her face streaked with tears. Her small, fragile body wrapped in an oversized cardigan. She walked toward Bruce and took out some money from her pocket of her cardigan.
"Go out, take a walk at the park or something," she whispered quietly.
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Mom?"
"Dad's home. Go out before he knows you're home," she pushed Bruce out of the doorway.
A horrified look passed Bruce's face. "But mom, what about you?"
"I'll be fine. You go. I'll call you later when it's safe."
Bruce hesitantly went toward his bike. His mom nodded at him, assuring him she will be fine with him gone. He mounted on his bicycle and pedaled slowly, without real destination. He sighed, remembering his mom's tear streaked face and fragile figure. His dad's home. His mom was not going to be fine when his dad was home. Mr. Banner is an alcoholic and there was no time he was really sober, if Bruce remembered correctly. When he's drunk which was most of the time, he would lash out about his past to Mrs. Banner, and it wasn't without some horrible beating. Mrs. Banner was sent to the hospital the last time he beat her up, and it wasn't the first time she was admitted to the hospital.
He wondered what is really terrible about his dad's past that caused him to explode in that kind of anger. He never met his paternal grandparents and his dad never mention about them. His maternal grandparents are nice though. They gave him the best birthday and Christmas presents. But Bruce didn't see him enough. They occasionally talk on the phone, and they love him very much, since he was their only grandson.
Bruce stopped his bike at the local park. After locking his bike, he went to the nearest bench and took out his notebook. Science is the only thing that make him feel better. After Tony, he is the second genius in the group and in the school. He'd never tell anyone that he got in SHIELD Prep on scholarship. His friends assumed that his family could afford his study in SHIELD Prep.
"Can I sit here?" Someone asked him, momentarily disturbing his thoughts.
Bruce looked up to find a thin girl with black hair standing at the other end of the bench. "Sure, sure," he answered, pulling his messenger bag closer so the girl could sit down.
"Thanks," the girl smiled and took out her own notebook from her bag.
Bruce smiled tightly and continued writing in his notebook. His notebook consists of the simplified Science's notes and his ideas. The girl next to him was muttering, thinking aloud. Bruce shook his head, amused. He is used to tuning out the noises around him when he studied. A skill he picked up after hanging out with Tony, whose habit is speaking up his mind. He peeked to girl's book. She was studying Physic, and had a hard time simplifying her note. Her delicate face scrunched up in confusion and frustration.
"Gamma ray radiation consists of photons with a frequency of greater than 1019 Hz. Gamma radiation is composed of photons, which have neither mass nor electric charge. Gamma radiation penetrates much further through matter than either alpha or beta radiation," Bruce suddenly said, much to his and the girl's surprise. "Sorry, didn't mean to peek. I'm rarely impulsive."
The girl looked at him with wide grey eyes. "No, no. It's okay. You're brilliant! I have a major headache trying to pick out the fill material. I am Elizabeth Ross. You are?" She held out a hand.
"Bruce. Bruce Banner," he hesitantly held out his hand. Truth to be told, Bruce is not very much into physical contact. Not even with his friends.
Elizabeth smiled, shaking Bruce's hand politely. "You are from SHIELD Prep, right?"
"How do you know?"
She pointed at the badge on his vest. Bruce chuckled shyly. He swept back his chocolate colored hair that covered his eyes.
"I am from Culver High. And I heard about you, second place in a Science Competition between the prep schools, behind your schoolmate, Anthony Stark. What was your invention?"
Bruce blushed. "Um, some serum that put you into hallucination. It would show you some realistic image of your fears. Unless you overcome it, or face it, the hallucination won't stop."
"Whoa, cool though it's kind of scary. How did Stark challenge that?"
Bruce grinned. "He built an iron suit. You know, it's like a robot with multiple functions but you get to wear it. It's cooler than mine."
"Pfft. Yours sound better," Elizabeth crossed her arms, her notes momentarily forgotten.
"My serum can't make anyone fly."
Elizabeth laughed. "But I like the idea. Facing your fears? It sounds fearless. How does it work?"
"Um," Bruce cleared his throat. "The serum stimulates the amygdala, the part of brain that involves in processing negative emotions, like fear and then it induces a hallucination."
"You tried?"
Bruce shook his head. "I gave one of my friends try it before the competition. And then I gave one of the judges to test."
"You don't want to know what your fear is?"
"I know what my fear is," Bruce answered. "I don't think I'm ready to face it in hallucination."
Elizabeth gave him a smile. "You should try, you know. Maybe then you could overcome your fears in real life. Mine is having my dad send me to a military school. He is a General, you know, and since I am his only child, he wants me to join the army. I told him I want to be a cellular biologist, though I kind of sucks in science."
"I could help you with that, in science I mean," Bruce said. "I want to be a doctor, or a physician. Find a cure for cancer or something."
"Yeah, having SHIELD Prep's student helps me in science sounds good," Elizabeth nodded. "I have a lot to catch up in Physic and Biology. You are a senior?"
Bruce nodded.
"I am a senior too," she exclaimed, grinning. "We could study together, if it's okay with you."
"I'm okay with that," Bruce said.
"Cool," she replied, still smiling. God, did she ever stop smiling? Bruce thought. Suddenly, her cellphone beeped. Elizabeth checked her cellphone and turned to Bruce, "Sorry, I've got to go. My dad's home. Hey, can I have your e-mail?"
"Sure," Bruce wrote down his e-mail on a piece of scrap paper and handed it to her.
Elizabeth smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I'll see you soon!"
Bruce watched as Elizabeth tidied up her stuff and walked away. Then something crossed his mind. "Hey, Elizabeth!"
She turned around, yelling in her soft voice, "What?"
"My friend, Tony has a party this Friday night. Wanna come?"
"Could be fun. Can I bring a friend?"
Bruce laughed. He knew Tony never mind a couple more guests. "Yeah, sure."
"Cool."
Clint and Steve were waiting for Bruce in Clint's '67 Impala. It was finally Friday, and they were excited for Tony's party. The party already started about half an hour ago, but they didn't want to rush. Bruce came out of his house, looking neat in a purple button down tucked in his dark slacks. His chocolate hair was curly and messy as ever. The first two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.
"God, Bruce," Clint muttered as Bruce got in the backseat. "We are going to a party, not some Science Convention. Your fashion sense is just as bad as Steve."
Bruce grimaced. Clint was in a grey T-shirt, layered with a black jacket, dark jeans and biker boots. His dirty blond hair was gelled neatly, like always. Steve wore his dark blue plaid button down tucked in his slacks like Bruce. But that was where the similarities stop. Steve had his brown leather jacket on, and his shirt's was unbuttoned halfway, revealing a white shirt underneath. His blond hair neatly parted on the right, like some guy from the 1940's.
"Can we make stop at the subway station?" Bruce asked as Clint drove. "My friends are coming to the party too."
Steve looked at Bruce. "Does Tony know you're bringing extra guests?"
"Yep," Bruce nodded, "and he said okay. You know Tony, he doesn't mind having extra guests over."
"So, who are your friends?" Clint asked. "I thought you don't have any friends outside the school."
"Just this girl, I met a couple of days ago. She brings her friend too, as a safety measure," Bruce said, leaning forward so his head was between Clint and Steve.
Clint guffawed. "Aww, Bruce has a girlfriend! Our little Brucie have grown up."
Steve smacked Clint's shoulder. "That's not nice. Bruce, she's from prep school or local?"
"Local. Culver High."
"How's she? Nice?"
Bruce shrugged. "She's cool."
"Cool? That's it, cool?" Clint rolled his eyes.
"What can I say?" Bruce snorted.
They made a stop near the subway station while Bruce picked up his friends. Clint and Steve waited at the car. Steve leaned on the car, crossing his arms, looking at his surroundings. Clint sat in the car, blasting some Muse. Bruce came about seven minutes later, with two girls following him. Steve squinted. One of the girls has long black hair that she let loose on her shoulder. She wore a purple boatneck dress and decent black heels. She was talking animatedly to Bruce, waving her hands enthusiastically. The other girl is…beautiful. She has short brown hair, curly like those women from 1940's. Her features were sharp and soft at the same time. She donned a white v-neck T-shirt, tucked in a decent khaki skirt with a brown belt.
"Steve, this is my friend, Elizabeth Ross," Bruce introduced the girl with black hair as they got to the car.
Elizabeth smiled, holding out her hand. "Hi, just call me Elizabeth, or Eliza. Or Beth. Nice to meet you."
Steve shook her hand. "I'm Steven Rogers. Steve for short. Nice to meet you too."
"This is Margaret Carter," Bruce gestured to the girl with short brown hair. "She's Elizabeth's friend."
Margaret rolled her eyes. "I told you, just call me Peggy. Margaret's too long." Was that a British-accent he heard?
"Hi, nice to meet you," Steve held out his hand.
Peggy shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too."
They got in the car. Elizabeth sat between Bruce and Peggy at the backseat. Peggy sat on Steve's side and he couldn't help but glanced at her. Bruce made a quick introduction between the girls and Clint before they made their way to the Stark tower. Clint parked his car at the basement, where Tony had reserved for his friends. Steve saw Natasha's and Thor's cars were already there.
"Your friend is Tony Stark?" Steve heard Elizabeth whispered to Bruce.
Bruce nodded shyly. "I thought you already made a connection."
"Seriously, no. I thought you guys are like huge competitors in science."
Clint snorted. "Bruce and Tony are Science Bros. They are like peas in a pod. Most of the times, they will talk in the scientific language of them and we will just like, ignore them. Besides, Bruce is not competitive. He just wants to learn Science for good."
Steve turned to Peggy, who was behind them. He slowed his pace to match hers. "The accent, you're not from around here, aren't you?"
"I'm from England," she confirmed. "Came here when I was ten years old. My dad is in the military, like Elizabeth."
"My dad's in the military too. And my grandfathers," Steve said relating to Peggy's background.
"What about you?"
Steve frowned. "Huh?"
"You want to join the military, too? Like you dad and grandfathers?" Peggy asked.
"Oh," Steve exhaled. "Yes. It's not because it's in the family, but I really like the military lifestyle. Plain and simple."
Peggy smiled. "It's rare to hear teenagers say such things nowadays. Nobody interested in military lifestyle, they thought it was hard and too challenging. Personally, I love adventures."
"Challenge is good."
The music was loud. Girls and guys dancing on the floor. Some stayed at the corner, chatting and flirting. Various drinks, alcohol included served at the bar.
Tony sipped the liquor in his red cup. His eyes wandered around his penthouse, lingering on the partiers. Since the party started, he hadn't seen any of his friends yet. Clint already informed him that he, Steve and Bruce would be late, picking up a couple of Bruce's friends. Natasha and Thor had arrived but he hadn't seen them. He hadn't heard anything from Pepper.
He sighed. On his way sending Pepper home, they got into an argument. And Pepper hadn't talked to him since then. For two days, Tony had to remind himself that he had club meetings to attend, teachers he had to see, and things he had to buy. It was horrible.
"Tony!" Thor greeted. His arm was around Jane's waist. "This is a great party."
"Thanks," Tony smiled. He looked at Jane. "Have you seen Pepper?"
Jane shrugged. "I heard she came with Natasha."
"Have you seen Natasha then?"
"Nope."
Tony shrugged. "Well, excuse me. I have to find them."
Tony walked away from Thor and Jane. He walked around the penthouse, looking for the familiar strawberry blond hair. After a few minutes lingering around, he found her at the balcony, holding a can of Coke. Pepper rarely drinks alcohol. Mainly because she usually have to handle a drunken Tony after the party.
"Hey, Pep," Tony stood next to her.
Pepper turned to look at him. "Tony."
"I am sorry, okay? I know you are worried about me and everything, but I can take care of myself. And I am saying this not in stay-out-of-my-business way, but in you-shouldn't-worry-about-me way."
Pepper sighed. "I'm sorry too. I am too stressed."
"Yeah, I know. You have like, five clubs to handle," Tony rolled his eyes.
"So, what's the highlight of this party?" Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tony pursed his lips. "How do you know?"
"Knowing you, nothing is without the highlight," Pepper rolled her eyes. "Fireworks?"
Tony smiled. "A grand awesome, handmade one. I know you love fireworks."
Tony and Pepper went back inside after a while and met the rest of their friends. Bruce introduced them to Elizabeth and Peggy. Tony tried to turn on the charm toward Elizabeth and Peggy, but Elizabeth thought Pepper was his girlfriend. Peggy turned him down cold, with her ice-queen look. Closing to midnight, Tony excused himself.
"People, people. Students of SHIELDS Prep and others, now if you may, please gather at the balcony. Do not push around, just sit, back, relax and enjoy for the highlight of the welcome-back party!" Tony's voice rang around the penthouse through speaker. Tony was nowhere to be seen.
Pepper and the rest went to balcony. They were served with a breathtaking view of New York's nightlights. The air was cold and exhilarating. Clint stood next to Natasha, who was slightly wobbled after her third vodka. Thor had Jane's small figure wrapped around his arms. Darcy, Rhodey, Steve and Peggy huddled together, discussing about military lifestyle, well, they were except Darcy. Rhodey's father is with the Air Force so he get along with Peggy well. Bruce and Elizabeth stood behind Thor's massive figure.
"Now, the highlight of the party!" Tony's voice rang once again.
The sound of fireworks pierced through the air. There were so many bright colors, neon orange, red, and other colored the night sky.
Welcome back to school guys! Written across the sky.
And then the fireworks formed various shapes, hearts, a four-leave clover, a diamond and a distinct resemblance of Tony's face. They laughed at that. And there were more to come. An eye patch, SHIELD Prep building, the Empire State building. They had to hand it at Tony, he could make magic with his hands.
Everybody shouted happily. Thor kissed Jane amidst the loud bang of fireworks. Bruce and Elizabeth scooted away from them and joined Steve.
"And lastly, the most sentimental firework!"
Bright fireworks in neon shade of orange flared through the dark night's sky.
I love you
"And that is for…" Tony's voice announced.
As in sync, everyone turned to Pepper, who was blushing as the same color as her red V-neck wrap dress. Everyone waited for Tony's conformation of their guesses.
There was a loud bang, sounded more like an explosion. But there was no fireworks. But they hear Tony's screaming in pain from the speaker.
"God!"
His friends looked at each other in horror. Pepper stepped in the penthouse. "Jarvis! Jarvis!" She called for Tony's built-in artificial intelligence system.
"Yes, Miss Potts?" The voice of an English butler greeted Pepper.
"Where's Tony? Where is he?" Pepper screeched.
"I believe Mr. Stark said he went to the top of the tower earlier," Jarvis answered calmly.
Pepper took off her heels and ran toward the elevator. Steve and Rhodey ran after her. Clint, and Natasha, despite her being wobbly, sprinted after them. Bruce and Thor ran hand in hand with Elizabeth and Jane respectively. Darcy and Peggy close behind them.
Cold and chilly air greeted them at the top floor. Tears escaped Pepper's eyes as she saw Tony lying near the edge of the tower half-consciously. The firework launcher in pieces next to him. She knelt down next to Tony. Blood stained his light-blue button down shirt, on the left side. The blood spread in circle on his shirt.
"Tony!" She cried. "Tony! Can you hear me? Tony!"
"Pepper…" he croaked, his fingers flew to his blood-stained shirt. "It hurts."
She slapped his face softly. "Tony, stay conscious. Anthony Edward Stark!"
Bruce and Elizabeth flanked Pepper. Bruce checked Tony's pulse while Elizabeth assessed the damage. Darcy examined the metal pieces. Jane was sobbing on Thor's chest. Natasha grabbed Clint's hand tightly horrified. Steve took his cellphone out, calling the ambulance and police. Nobody expected to see Tony like that. No one wants to see Tony like that, ever, despite his annoying and obnoxious habits.
"I t-thought I c-c-could take care of m-myself," Tony said, his bloody fingers reached Pepper's, "I'm sorry, Pepper."
His hand fell slack and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Pepper cried louder.
"Tony!"
I try not to make this Tony-centric. And the part of Bruce's fear serum idea is taken from the serum in The Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth.
And that is Chapter 3. Poor Tony, poor Pepper :( will he make it ? *sob sob*
and who is exactly the recipient of the fireworks message ? Will his friends find out ? *gasp*
leave your review, and tell me how my story have been going so far :) and how I can improve it. I really appreciate it. Have a nice day !
xoxo-NHAMS