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Upon Esca's and Pietro's return to Stark Tower, they met up with Clint, Tony, and Steve. Esca declared she'd be out grocery shopping for what she would prepare that night.

"I'll come with you," volunteered Steve, and Esca quickly accepted his company. Then she asked the others, "Any of you three want to come?"

"No, thanks," replied Tony. "I've got something to work on in the lab."

Pietro and Clint also declined, as Pietro said that he needed Clint's help with something.

So Esca and Steve went to the supermarket on their own, buying some fish, white wine, baguettes, apples, chicken, and ginger. Esca planned on making bourride with aïoli (a French soup), grilled chicken with ginger (exactly as it sounded), and an apple croustade (a flaky version of apple pie). As there would be nine people to feed, a lot of each ingredient was purchased, along with some spices and oils that Esca figured she would need.

When she again returned to Stark Tower, she was in high spirits. Steve had proven to be excellent company, as they had similar music tastes—that was to say, Esca enjoyed Frank Sinatra immensely, and Steve knew who that was—and they talked about music for a while. Esca was pleasantly surprised at Steve's accommodating nature towards contemporary music, as it was not her favorite thing. They continued this talk throughout the dinner preparations—even though Esca insisted on Steve sitting down and letting her cook, he just as persistently declared that he could at least help cut the chicken.

Three hours later, the food was ready, and just as Esca asked the voice in the ceiling—it was apparently a program Tony created called FRIDAY—to tell everyone dinner was ready, Tony could be heard bumbling down the steps. "I smell food," he declared, and his eyes practically bugged when he saw what Esca had prepared.

"Well, look at you, new best friend!" exclaimed Tony, clapping in approval. Meanwhile, Esca was pouring a white wine for everyone, and water for herself as she was only twenty.

"Steve helped," grinned Esca, but Steve just good-naturedly waved off the recognition.

"FRIDAY, please get everyone to the commons," said Tony, his eyes still wide.

"I have already done so, sir. Miss Esca Rarity has just made that request."

"So how did you get this FRIDAY program, Tony?" asked Steve.

Tony shrugged. "It only took me three hours to cook up the sequel."

"Speaking of cooking, I smell food," announced Clint's voice as he dazedly stumbled into the kitchen. "And it smells delicious."

"Look at this," exclaimed Tony, throwing his arm over Clint's shoulder. "Our newest, bestest friend is indeed the bestest."

"Steve helped," repeated Esca, but for the second time, Steve waved off her comment.

After a while, the others trickled down to the common area/kitchen/dining room. Esca set the table for nine, as Steve had previously told Esca that "everyone" meant Clint, Tony, Wanda, Pietro, Nat, Vision, Thor, Esca, and himself.

It only took five minutes for eight of the nine to descend. Seeing that they were one woman short, Esca asked, "Where is Miss Romanoff?"

Clint gazed upward and mumbled, "She may or may not come down. She's been searching for Banner nonstop the past couple days…"

Those words made Esca sympathetic for the other woman.

"Leave some food for her, all right?" requested Esca, glancing up worriedly. "If she doesn't come down for dinner, I'll leave some food outside her door."

The others nodded, and Esca was then introduced to Thor and Vision, neither of whom she'd met before. Thor stuck a hand out with a proud grin and announced, "So you are the woman called Esca." His voice was deep and comforting, though Esca could tell that if he raised it, it would be scary.

She smiled and shook his hand, craning her neck a little to look at him, as he was more than a foot taller than her. "Indeed, and you must be Thor."

"You are correct!" Thor's smile grew, and as he gestured to the food aligned before them, he said, "Thank you for preparing this sustenance. It was quite kind of you, and it looks delightful."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Thor," grinned Esca. She decided she liked the god. He was very polite, and he seemed quite friendly too.

Then she met Vision, who gazed at her quizzically, as if he was assessing her. While Esca smiled at him, and he smiled back, it was hesitant, as if he did not quite know what to think of her. He did, however, thank her for her effort with dinner before nodding towards her and moving to sit beside Wanda.

As everyone sat down, Pietro caught Esca's eye and asked, "So is this the little piece of France you were talking about?"

A half-smile came over her face. "It is. If I cannot bring you all to France, I will have to bring a little of France to you."

"You've been to France?" asked Steve, raising an eyebrow.

Esca nodded. "I lived there for three years. It was my favorite place I've lived in."

"Other than Switzerland," muttered Pietro, raising his glass of water to his lips. He only smirked at Esca when she shot him a look.

Clint snorted at Pietro's comment—but, seeing Esca's glare, he sobered afterward.

Everything was quiet for a moment before Steve remarked, "I didn't know you knew France so well. I've been there myself, although it's been about seventy years, so…"

This last part made Esca laugh quietly. "If I were able to tell you what it's like now, I would, but unfortunately I'm not sure I have the words to properly describe it."

"Where else have you lived?" asked Wanda.

"Germany, Russia, London, Sokovia—"

"Switzerland," suggested Pietro.

"Oh, will you stop!" exclaimed Esca. Her exasperation set both Clint and Pietro to laughing, effectively confusing the others.

Once they were quiet, Wanda asked, "What's the significance of Switzerland?"

Pietro was quicker to answer than Esca. "I'm just holding Switzerland over her head."

Steve was no more enlightened. "What do you mean?"

"I—I, uh, lost a bet," muttered Esca, shooting Pietro another evil look before glaring down at her bourride. Clint looked amused, Steve and Wanda confused, Vision was stagnant, and Thor and Tony were busy noming the chicken with ginger.

"What was the bet?" asked Tony through a mouthful of chicken.

Pietro seemed rather smug as he answered. "If I told Esca Rarity a joke and she laughed, she'd owe me a date. If she didn't laugh, I'd leave her alone."

"And she laughed," finished Clint, who was smirking from Esca's other side. As Pietro was across from her and Clint was next to him, Esca was receiving two smirks at one time; to avoid flushing in either anger or embarrassment, she leapt up from her chair and announced, "Steve, they're bullying me!" and ran to his other side.

Steve just laughed and patted her hand as she sat down next to him. "It seems they're being children. Not that that's anything new."

"You'd better get used to it," said Pietro's voice, though Esca didn't look at him. "You'll have to put up with us as long as you're here."

Esca sighed and dropped her head on the table with a clunk!

The others laughed; Steve eventually managed to convince Esca to return to her seat and finish her dinner. As Esca sat down, she grumbled, "You two treat me like a little sister."

"I should hope I do not," replied Pietro, leaning back in his chair, "Seeing as I am taking you to dinner tomorrow, and I already have one little sister to watch over."

Wanda shot Pietro a somewhat irritated look, but that morphed to grim satisfaction as Esca retorted, "If we are anything like siblings, I obviously must be the elder, seeing as I can't take my eyes off you for twenty minutes before you get yourself shot."

Pietro rolled his eyes, but Clint just chuckled and said to Esca, "You will have to forgive me if I see you as a little sister. After all, I saved you from the rubble."

"And I saved you from the robot's attack," said Esca. "I also managed to protect Pietro from the majority of that robot's bullets. Did either of you realize I'd shielded you?"

"What?" asked both Clint and Pietro.

Esca sighed. "Apparently not. Watch this." She extended her hands and, with a flick of her wrist, made a cyan shield surround Pietro's glass. Seeing what she was doing, everyone stared at her. "I've been getting better at it," she gasped, lowering her hands. She had to desist before she lost too much energy. "I'd been trying for years, but my first success was when that robot tried to kill you, Clint. My second was shielding some of you from those bullets, Pietro."

There was another silence before Vision announced, "I think this girl would turn out to be a promising agent."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "She's already got the healing abilities. I'm sure she could learn how to shoot a gun in no—"

"Someone needs training? Well, that's my specialty," said a new, female voice.

Everyone turned around to see Natasha descending the steps, her dark red hair somewhat ruffled and her eyes highlighted with dark circles, as if she wasn't sleeping. Esca's mouth dried when she saw her.

"So who's the new trainee?" Natasha asked. Her gaze landed on Esca; she blinked. "Rarity… is that… you?"

Esca swallowed. So much for hiding who she was. "Hey, Roma," she murmured.

"You two know each other?" asked Clint, glancing between the two.

The women just looked at each other for another moment. "Yes," replied Esca at last. "We do. I, uh—I was raised with her… for a time."

"I thought you were dead," stated Natasha bluntly.

"It would've been better if I was," mumbled Esca. She remembered why she'd been moved from the Red Room to Germany; before she could help it, she shattered the glass in her hand.

Wanda gasped and Steve jumped somewhat at Esca's sudden move. Pietro moved forward as if to help her, but wasn't sure how.

Esca sighed and closed her eyes, aware that everyone was watching her. "Pardon my grip, Tony. I'll clean that up…"

Tony started to say that he'd take care of it, but Esca ignored him. She hadn't remembered that her best friend from the Red Room had been Natasha or, as she called Natasha back then, Roma. She'd wanted to forget all about it. But it appeared that wouldn't be an option anymore.

"Where did you go?" asked Nat, kneeling in front of Esca. "I looked for you for a year."

Esca just shook her head. "Just as it wasn't my design to arrive, it wasn't by my design to leave, if that comforts you."

"But—"

"Nat," said Clint's voice. Everyone's attention moved to him as he added softly, "She'll tell you when she's ready. I'm sure there's a good reason."

After a moment, Natasha nodded. "Sorry, Rarity—I mean… Esca. That's your first name, right?"

Esca nodded. "And yours is Natasha. I remember now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing," she added bitterly.

There was another silence, and Esca looked around the table. Both Pietro and Steve were looking at her in a way that clearly suggested they wanted to help, but didn't know how to. Wanda, Tony, and Thor looked concerned, though a little more detached. Vision was blank, as usual.

"I'm… going to bed," sighed Esca. She finished cleaning up the mess she'd made and announced, "You all leave the dishes for me, I'll take care of them tomorrow." Then she ran up the stairs and didn't look back.