Author's note: EEEE reviews! A very special thanks to one Narwhal-Riding-Alien, who has been a big supporter for a while now. Just a little heads up; like Tony said, it'll be years before Jarvis's body is up and running. But that doesn't mean you won't see him in, say, the sequel... *hint hint*. Yes, I know. I'm not even done with The Stray and I'm already planning the sequel. Obsessive, but that's me! Anyway, read and review, as always. If you didn't notice, (and maybe you didn't, maybe it was just me) the website was down for a while today, so I couldn't update as early as I could, but... here ya go!
About a month later, I awoke to the sound of the S.H.I.E.L.D buzzer going off somewhere amidst the chaos that is my room. After searching around groggily for a few minutes, I found it in the pocket of one of my pants laying on the floor, and promptly shut it off. Fury could wait. I looked at the clock; it was nine thirty. I had to stop sleeping in. Then I walked over to the closet, and rifled through my clothes. Eventually I settled on a pair of black skinny jeans and black flats, and a black, lacy top over a black camisole. And some electric blue lipstick; just for color. As I was walking out the door, I caught a glimpse of the calendar on the wall; May fifteenth. It was my birthday.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" Tammy sung sarcastically inside my head. "Do you see anyone celebrating?"
"Like anyone here even knows it's my birthday."
"Exactly; because they never asked. Another year of lighting a candle on top of one sad, little cupcake." I tried my best to shut her out. Usually it helps to think of a really catchy song. Not even Tammy can overcome the power of "I Heard a Rumor". Soon I found myself in Fury's office.
"Trescott, you're here." He was in that pose again, looking theatrically out the window with his back turned. He turned to face me. "I've got a little job for you."
"A mission?" I said eagerly.
"Not quite. You see, we'll be landing in Wisconsin soon, picking up a few new recruits. I need the place spic and span by the time they get here, specifically the mess hall."
"And you want me to do the spic-and-spanning?"
"If you want to put it that way, yes. You know where the cleaning supplies are?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." I left the room and headed for the mess hall. But when I opened the door?
"Surprise!" Everyone, and I mean everyone jumped out at once. The place was decorated with streamers and balloons and everything, and music was playing and everyone was smiling, which should have tipped me off, but no. I immediately got into a fighting stance, ready to take down my attackers.
"Whoa, easy there!" I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Bruce. "You act like you've never been to a surprise party before!"
"A party?" I said.
"What's it look like, a wake?" Wade said. I burst out laughing.
"I thought it was an ambush! I was ready to take you all down! How did you even know it's my birthday?"
"You have it circled on your calendar." Bruce said. "I noticed the last time I was in your room."
"Enough talking!" Wade said. "Let's party!" The whole party was basically a mass of concentrated chaos. It seemed like they had rifled through my CD collection; the songs that were playing were from some of my favorite albums, and I danced my heart out in the middle of the crowd.
"You're horrible!" Pete laughed as I flailed my arms around in what might have almost passed for a dance.
"I know!" I said. I didn't care. I smiled when Bruce came up to dance with me. He was just sort of moving side to side, wiggling his arms in this awkward sort of motion. "Bruce?" I said.
"Yeah?"
"That's sad." His face fell.
"I'm sorry, I don't know how to dance."
"It's easy! You just gotta stop worrying about what everyone else thinks of you. Let yourself go and move to the beat!" A smile danced on the corner of his lips, as his moves began to get bigger and more adventurous. When he finally settled into the rhythm, it turned out he was pretty good.
"Whoo!" Clint shouted. "Go, Bruce!" Wait… if Clint was here, then… yup. There she was; Natasha was standing in the corner, watching the festivities. I was glad she had come, but at the same time I really, really wished she hadn't. Now neither of us had any excuse not to talk to each other.
"CAKE!" Wade shouted. Well, except for that. Pete and Wade brought the cake out together, each holding one end; it had to be big to feed the whole party. Everyone sang happy birthday, even Jarvis, and they set it down on one of the tables. The cake… it was something else. They had really done their research, because it was shaped perfectly like a 44. Caliber magnum revolver. Silver.
"It's Cassie!" I said delightedly.
"We thought you'd appreciate it." It was one of the happiest days of my life. Knowing that everyone actually cared enough to help me celebrate that day? Bruce was always trying to convince me that I was liked, but this was proof. I saw Tony studying the cake out of the corner of my eye.
"What're you doing?" I asked.
"Counting the candles." He replied. "You're twenty-six?" I nodded. "Bruce, you're old enough to be her dad!" A red tint spread across Bruce's cheeks. "Ooh, you cradle robber, you!" Pepper came up behind him and pinched his ear. "Gah! Pepper, what?"
"Don't ruin this for her." She said harshly. She turned toward me and smiled. "Go ahead, Wendy! Make a wish!" I smiled, and turned toward the cake. I made my wish, and blew hard. Everyone cheered, and the cake was gone in all of five minutes. As I stood and ate my cake, it brought me back to my eleventh birthday. My pa had made a chocolate cake. I didn't have any friends to invite, so it was just big enough for him and me. I remember tearing apart the wrapping paper on the box he gave me and finding, inside, my very own BB gun.
"Pa, this's amazin'!" I'd said, standing on my tiptoes to give him a hug. We spent the whole day laughing and playing. He'd do this thing, where he'd be my slave for the day. With me, that basically meant he was stuck in a marathon game of hide-and-seek until I decided it was bedtime. The very next day, I decided to go out and give my new gun a try. I tried it out on the neighborhood bully, Kevin. His mom wasn't too happy about that.
"What parent in their right mind gives their daughter a gun and then lets her loose on the world?" She had shouted, trying to comfort her crying son. I remember feeling nothing but hatred for that little tattletale, vowing to make him pay later.
"Now, ma'am, let's look at this rationally. She shot 'im from a safe distance, first of all, all he'll need is a band-aid and a kiss better and he'll be fine. Second, ah reckon he was askin' for it. You've seen the way he beats up on the neighborhood kids like he's got the right. Now, what were you plannin' on doin' about that?" She was speechless. She just left in a huff that day, but that argument eventually led to pa and me having to move out to the new house, the one situated basically in the middle of nowhere. I could tell he wasn't happy about it, but he always stood by his decision to stand up for me. I was never so sure.
"How much cake did you have, Loki?" I heard Rose say after the platter was cleared. She was sitting next to her husband, who was slumped down in a chair, looking a bit worse for wear.
"I don't know, two pieces?" She raised one eyebrow. "Three?" he tried again. She wasn't having any of it. "Five?"
"Oh, that was clever." She said.
"But it was good!" Loki protested.
"I hope you have a plan to burn all that off."
"Oh, I do." I heard her squeak at his tone. Those two…
"Sometimes I think they do it just to annoy everyone else." I turned to see Pete behind me, looking disgusted at the Tyler's banter.
"Oh, like you're any better." I said.
"What do you mean?" As if to prove my point, Wade appeared behind him with his mask pulled up, and pulled him into a kiss. I chuckled. I guess things were better with them, then. I walked over to the snack table and absentmindedly munched on a few oreos. My eyes wandered around the room until they settled on Natasha, still standing with her back against the wall. Clint had tried a few times to drag her into the thick of the party, but she was stubborn. She was looking down at the floor, rubbing her hands. Or, more specifically, her ring finger. So that's it, I thought. I walked over to her.
"Nice ring." I said. She looked up. "When did he propose?"
"Early April." She said. Not too long before our little fling. "I'm sorry." She continued. "I panicked, and I needed to get it out of my system, and I hurt you in the process." She looked me straight in the eye when she said it.
"Hey, s'awright. We both got something out of it, huh?" She looked confused. "I know now that I'm meant to be with Bruce, plain and simple. And you? Still got any doubts?" She shook her head. "You know what to do, then. Get out there!" She straightened up from the wall, and went to join Clint in the party. "Hey!" I said after her. She turned. "Friends?"
"Friends." She said. Then she walked off to find her fiancé. Huh… I made friends with the Black Widow. Go, me!
"Happy birthday, Wendy." I turned and saw Steve standing to my left. He wasn't wearing his suit today, which was a sight in itself. Just jeans and a t-shirt.
"Ooh, street clothes. Bold choice."
"Tony pointed out that I might want to wash the suit once in a while." That didn't sound good.
"Wait… is Tony the one washing the suit?"
"Do I really look that stupid?"
"Well…" He chuckled.
"You don't like me, do you?" He said.
"We're from different worlds, Steve."
"I wouldn't say so. We're both warriors, aren't we?"
"Yeah, but there's one key difference; you do what you do for the good of others. I do it to pay the bills."
"I'm not so sure. How long has it been since you actually got paid for a job?"
"I haven't actually been paid for anything since Fury caught me."
"But do you still take pride in your work?" I thought. Yeah… come to think of it, it had been nice, knowing I was doing some good in the world. "It feels good, doesn't it? Helping others." I smiled.
"Stop making so much sense, dammit." I punched him lightly on the arm, and he smiled back.
"For the record, I don't agree with Fury. Kicking you off the mission wasn't the right decision."
"Thanks, Steve. That means a lot."
"Gotcha!" I was swept off my feet by an eager Bruce, who carried me into the middle of the floor.
"What are you doing?" I half-squealed half-laughed as he plopped me down on the floor and took my hands.
"Dancing with my girlfriend!" He said. The music switched to something a bit more… classic.
"Is this the jitterbug?" I laughed.
"Now that's more my style!" Steve said, moving to the middle of the floor. He took the hand of agent Hill, who, surprisingly, offered no objection. Soon everyone was dancing, some better than others.
"What is that?" Rose laughed at Thor, as she danced with Loki.
"I am not familiar with this particular style of Midgardian dance!" He said, looking completely frazzled by the steps.
"Here." Jane took his hand. "I'll lead, alright Thor?" He nodded, and stumbled along with her. It was a good day, all in all. When the party was finally over and everyone else had either gone home or left to take care of other responsibilities, Bruce and I were the ones left behind, cleaning up.
"You don't have to do this, you know." He said as I gathered up the streamers into one big handful and stuffed them in the trash. "It's your party, you shouldn't have to clean up after it."
"No, I want to help. Besides, we're supposed to be picking up some new recruits soon, right? Unless that was just a lie from Fury to get me in here."
"No, it's true. One sounds really promising. I got a hold of her file; Joan Everwood?"
"Everwood? What is she, an elf?" He chuckled.
"I don't know, maybe."
"Hello, I'm agent Everwood, and this is my partner, agent Legolas!" I said. We both laughed, and I sidled over to the snack table, which still had some food on it, and grabbed a cupcake and a bunch of potato chips.
"Hungry?" He said.
"Yeah, I guess." I stuck one of the chips in the cupcake and took a bite. He looked at me sideways. "What?" I said. "It's good!"
"Can I try?"
"No!" I said, shielding the cupcake. "My cupcake! My precious!" He broke out into another fit of laughter. I grinned at his reaction as I grabbed a pickle.
"Now pickles?" He said when he finally calmed down.
"I wanted a pickle." I said, as if this wasn't blatantly obvious already. Just to annoy him, I dipped the pickle in the frosting and took a bite. "Mmmm, good!"
"You're insane!" He said, still smiling.
"You're just figuring that out now?" I said. "Now kiss my sugary, pickle-y lips!" He did. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.
The next day, I woke up, and immediately ran to the bathroom and puked my guts out. I definitely made the wrong decision in eating all that cake last night. And pickles. And chips.
"Well, at least it didn't go to your thighs." Tammy said. I wiped my mouth off and checked my buzzer; looked like Fury hadn't called lately. So, bored, I went to find Bruce. I checked the lab first; he wasn't there. Then the rec room; nope.
"Hey, Jarvis?" I asked.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Where's Bruce?"
"He is in director Fury's office at the moment." I frowned. What was he doing there? Fury had said he didn't want him on the Charlotte case, it was a stealth operation. I decided to check it out. I walked quickly over to the office. The door was open, and I walked right on through. All the Avengers were gathered in the office, Fury included, around a woman in the middle of the room.
"Ah, Wendy!" She said, smiling. "So glad you could join us." The woman had long black hair. Black eyes. And blood red lips.
"Fury, what is she doing here?" I growled. He looked confused.
"Wendy, this is director Everwood. She's here to replace me."
Author's note: Oooh, cliffhangers! I'll bet you hate me right now, huh? As you can probably tell, we're coming up on some pretty heavy stuff, so hold onto something and come along for the ride!