Hello, awesome people! So, this might be the only update for a couple days because I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, a procedure I'm less than excited for. I hope this'll suffice until I can write again! Haha :)

Thanks to everyone for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! You guys are the best! :)

That's really all for now, folks! Have a MARVELous day, alright?

Countdown to end: 2 chapters.

A week later, Esca was three-two-one done with all the press following her around everywhere she went. She couldn't even go grocery shopping without someone wanting a selfie or an autograph. She supposed she should've expected it, but it was still ridiculous.

Tony had finally let slip that Esca had become an Avenger—and now she was getting mobbed by journalists asking what it was like, being under the wing of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. She had tried disguising herself with hats or sunglasses, but to no avail. Nowadays, she refused to leave the Tower with anyone, because she was certain that if she did, the next morning there'd be a tabloid about her dating whoever she'd went out with.

As it was, when there came a newspaper that suggested she and Tony were dating—at which headline Pietro spit out his coffee and Tony started to laugh like a maniac—Esca was ready to face the press head-on and tell them about her place among the Avengers, if only to dispel the rumors.

When she relayed her plans by the others, however, Steve frowned and said, "I'm not sure that's the best idea, Miss Esca. If the wrong ears get wind of what you might mean to us… that could be a problem."

"How so?" contested Esca, placing her hands on her hips.

"You could be kidnapped and used as bait," suggested Tony cheerily, a silly grin on his face.

"Is that funny to you, Stark?" asked Pietro dangerously.

Sensing Pietro's tone of voice, Tony instantly sobered up and cleared his throat. "Oh, no, of course not. Not funny at all. Nope. Not a bit. You can count on it."

Pietro scoffed and rolled his eyes while Esca just giggled.

"Well, that's the thing, isn't it?" questioned Zelda through a mouthful of French toast. She swallowed before continuing because of the mocking look James gave her. "If you prove that you are capable of holding your own—say, on a mission—then no baddies will be tempted to use you as bait, Esca."

Everyone blinked and stared at Zelda as James nodded approvingly.

After a moment, Pietro asked, "How did you come up with that?"

Zelda snorted. "I worked with HYDRA for two years, Pietro. I know what they do. And this old man—" She gestured to James, "has been there for seventy years, so if he thinks it's a good idea, it probably is."

James sighed theatrically and complained, "We've already established that I'm only ninety-seven years old."

"That was two years ago. Now you're ninety-nine. Say, Grandpoppy J, how does it feel knowing you're about to hit the triple digits?"

Steve burst into laughter; he didn't stop when Zelda reminded him that he was only a year younger than James, either.

Esca, however, was looking thoughtful as she mused, "That… might work… if it means the press stops bothering me while I'm shopping…"

Pietro's eyes widened. "Oh, no," he declared, starting to wag a finger at her. "No."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, a beam lighting her face. "If I can prove that I can defend myself, I won't be a target, and maybe the press will give me some space!"

Hearing this, Pietro shot Zelda an exasperated glance as if to say, "Now look what you've done."

Zelda, however, looked delighted. "Makes sense to me!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. She glanced over at Natasha and asked, "What do you think, Nat?"

"I think she needs to get out more," retorted Natasha, grinning sideways. "And I also think that Clint and I have trained Esca up enough so that she can be put on a mission."

Esca thanked Natasha excitedly while Steve and Pietro groaned.

"Oh, we're never going to hear the end of it now," sighed Pietro, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Pietro, you've got to admit it's a good idea," laughed Wanda, who was obviously amused by her brother's reluctance.

He crossed his arms and grumbled, "Technically, I don't have to."

"Oh, lighten up, Maximoff!" exclaimed Tony. "Blondie's capable. She's ready."

At this, Pietro turned to Steve for assistance. Seeing that he was expected to say something, Steve held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, don't look at me. I trust Natasha's training."

Esca grinned and bounced back over to Pietro. "You're literally the only one not on board with me going on a mission," she teased. "Do you know that?"

"Yes, but—"

"If your reluctance is because of a lack of trust in my training—" started Natasha.

"No, it's not, I just—"

"Do you not trust me?" questioned Esca, a defeated look on her face.

"Of course I do!"

"Then why are you—"

"I don't want to lose you!" burst out Pietro angrily. He jerked away from Esca, which made her gasp. Everyone immediately became silent as Pietro continued to rant. "I've lost people I care about before, Esca Rarity! My parents! Wanda almost died when we were experimented on, I almost lost her, too—and you just got hit by a goddamn car! And I watched it happen! Don't ask me to witness something like that again, because I will not! I will not."

Everyone froze at Pietro's rant. They'd always thought that he just didn't want her going in case she got hurt or in case she became addicted to the way the Avengers lived.

They hadn't expected this.

It was Esca and Wanda who approached him first. They both grasped one of his hands in reassurance; it did little to rid him of his ashen face.

After another moment, Steve spoke up. "If it means anything to you, Maximoff, you aren't the only one who's terrified of losing Miss Esca. Look around."

He gestured around the common area—everyone was there.

Pietro looked around and sighed before lightly smiling and tightening his grip around Esca's and Wanda's hands. "Alright," he exhaled. "I just worry."

"I'll be close to you so you do not have to," promised Esca. Then, however, she glanced at Steve and asked, "So… what is the next mission?"

Steve shrugged. "Stark, do you want to expand our perimeters for something?"

Tony grinned a shark's grin. "Happy to, Capsicle," he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in evil eagerness. He then leapt off the couch he was lounging on and skipped over to a nearby computer.

Seeing his exhilaration, Esca sighed. "He seems way too happy about this."

"Humph," grumbled Pietro—but when Esca raised an eyebrow, he just smirked.

Almost immediately, Tony exclaimed, "Got something! There's been a prison break in Queens. We should probably check that out before anyone gets hurt."

"How long ago did that happen?" asked Bruce, a light frown on his face.

"Um… fourteen hours ago," replied Tony, squinting at the computer screen. "That means our targets can't have gotten anywhere fast. It was a light explosion that allowed the three of them to escape—"

"Wait," exclaimed Natasha, her eyebrows furrowed. "An explosion? Prisoners wouldn't be able to get ahold of substances like that. They must've been broken out."

Bruce put a hand to his head. "Why would they be broken out?"

Clicking sounds came from the computer, and then Tony exhaled and declared irritably, "No idea. But it appears these jerks tried to get ahold of a serum created by Hank Pym… they were caught and thrown into jail. Until now, apparently."

Steve frowned. "We'll have to get them before they can attempt to steal the serum again."

"Hold on… it says the serum was mostly destroyed," declared Tony. "There's just a little bit left locked away that remains."

Esca stepped forward and glanced at the computer over Tony's shoulder. "Where is it?"

"No one knows. So you know what that means? They'll find people who can try and recreate the serum."

"HYDRA," snarled Steve, anger in every molecule in his face.

There was dead silence once this was said. Uneasy glances were passed around—when Pietro caught Esca's eye, she nodded in determination to let him know there was no way she'd be left out of this fight.

After another moment, however, Vision spoke up. "I highly doubt these characters would wait for an opportune moment, given their situation. I elect we leave now."

A murmur of consent passed around the room, and everyone stalked off to get ready except Esca, who had no idea what she was to do.

"Here, Esca," said Wanda, a light smile on her face. "Come with me. I have some mission clothes you can borrow."

Relieved, Esca thanked her and did as Wanda said.

Two hours later, the Avengers were scattered throughout New York City. Natasha, Tony, James, Zelda, and Steve were all searching the Queens area. Bruce, Wanda, and Vision were scouting Manhattan. Pepper was keeping an eye on Brooklyn from Stark Tower using cameras, and Thor, Pietro, and Esca were guarding the old HYDRA headquarters from two years ago.

Esca completely understood why Wanda, James, and Zelda wanted to steer clear of the place. If anything, it was expected. Yet despite how antsy Pietro seemed to be close by, he was relentless in his determination to stay by Esca. The reason they were stationed at HYDRA headquarters was because it was common thought that the stationing would be the least dangerous, and therefore a good beginning mission for Esca.

Unfortunately, a few citizens recognized the three—especially Thor—and asked for autographs and the sort.

Luckily, after a time, the people got bored and left. This left Thor, Pietro, and Esca with the job of scouting for suspicious characters…

After an hour of standing around, Pietro sighed. "I'm getting impatient."

"No big surprise," teased Esca, poking his arm and laughing at his noise of indignation. "Maybe it's time you learn some patience."

Thor chuckled at the comment—Pietro glared at him accusingly and exclaimed, "I can't help it! Ever since I got my powers, I just get shit done quickly. Waiting is not my forte."

Esca grinned smugly. "You'll have to learn."

"Oh, riiiight," he muttered lowly, his eyes narrowing as he recalled something she said a few nights past. "You're making me wait to figure out what you're doing for Wanda's and my birthday."

"Yep."

"You won't give me any clues, will you?"

"None whatsoever."

"You know what, Esca Rarity—"

"Incoming!" declared Thor, holding aloft Mjolnir.

Esca and Pietro glanced over to where Thor was glaring; Esca gasped. Three men in smart black suits were charging straight for the HYDRA headquarters, and they all had pistols pointed straight at them.

"Hell," muttered Pietro. With a swift kiss to Esca's forehead, he continued, "I'll take care of them. Be right back."

Hearing this, Esca gaped. "Hey, no, wait a minute!" she exclaimed, but too late. Two of the men had already crumpled to the ground, but the third one was wary of Pietro now. He glanced around and fired swiftly—Esca didn't see the bullet, but she heard Pietro curse loudly.

Thor moved forward and yanked the man up by his suit collar before chucking him back down to the ground. Then he moved to where Pietro was standing and gazing irritably at his left arm. "Are you alright, my friend?" asked the god.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he grumbled. There was a small circle of red in his bicep, and he frowned at it.

Esca, her eyebrows furrowed in worry, flitted over to him before quickly using a dagger Natasha had given her to get the bullet out of his arm.

As she did this and quickly healed the wound, Pietro smiled. "I'm getting an immense feeling of déjà vu here…"

She laughed—but that laughter was short-lived as another gunshot sounded. Thor exhaled and doubled over as Esca glanced around him to see who else was coming.

At the sight, she inhaled sharply and exclaimed into her headset, "Guys, I think we got the majority of the party guests! Might need some backup!"

Standing behind the man who shot Thor were at least a dozen more soldiers. And, naturally, all of them had pistols as well.

"Who the hell are these people?!" she gasped, at which exclamation Pietro stared at her as if she were an alien.

"That," he declared, zooming around and knocking one of the men to the ground, "is the very first time I've heard you curse."

"Oops!" she gasped before aiming her gun and pulling the trigger.

One of the men crumpled underneath himself, clutching his leg in pain. Despite only having shot the man's leg, Esca paled. She didn't necessarily like the feeling of shooting a man.

But if she wanted to be an Avenger, she'd have to get used to it.

And so she aimed again and gave another man a shoulder wound—nothing fatal, she didn't want to seriously maim or injure anybody—before being forced to drop to the ground to avoid a bullet in her own shoulder.

It only took five minutes for the trio to knock the dozen HYDRA men unconscious. Perhaps it had been less; Esca wasn't sure. But she did know that people were starting to swarm around the scene, as the gunfire had attracted their attention like birds were attracted to James's metal arm whenever he went out without a sweatshirt.

Just as she was about to contact the others and let them know they were okay, Steve and Natasha arrived.

Perusing the place, Steve chuckled. "I was going to ask if you needed any help, but it seems like you made short work of them."

Natasha gazed at one of the men's forms on the ground and raised an eyebrow approvingly. "Nice aim, Rarity."

"Thanks!" beamed Esca. She liked getting praise from a master assassin. It was quite gratifying. But then, glancing at the men and seeing how many people were starting to congregate, she asked nervously, "What now?"

Steve looked back. "Now I think we call the police to take all of these gentlemen to jail."

Esca deflated a little. "Oh. Okay."

Both Pietro and Steve noticed. It was Pietro who asked, "What is it, Esca Rarity?"

"It's nothing," she answered quickly, putting on a winning smile. Unfortunately for her, the winning smile wasn't fooling anyone today.

"Esca," smiled Steve, though there was a look in his eyes that just made her sigh and feel compelled to speak her mind.

"Okay, so… maybe I feel like I could've done more," she admitted guiltily, shrugging. "Thor and Pietro took care of most of them, and I feel bad, because I know I could've helped out more."

"Miss Esca," chuckled Steve, placing a hand on her arm. "It's your first mission, and you were partnered with a demigod and a man who could literally race around the world in a day. You held up very well, with those facts taken into consideration."

Surprisingly, she did feel a little better with this. It got better when Pietro and Thor started agreeing, and Thor started reenacting how impressive she looked when she shot, even though it was all dramatic and clearly for her entertainment.

With a giggle, Esca said, "Okay, we should really call—"

She stopped short. Movement caught her attention.

Seeing what it was, she yelped. "No!" Her voice was a strangled cry as she leapt in front of Steve and held her hands up just as a deafening BANG! sounded through the air.

Pietro screamed—a sound Esca wished she would never have to hear in her life again. Thor bellowed in outrage, and Natasha snarled as Steve simply gasped her name.

But Esca didn't feel anything. She didn't see anything, either, as she'd closed her eyes when she'd thrown her hands in front of her.

When she opened them, she gasped.

A translucent shield was sparkling in front of her, freezing a bullet in place, aimed for her ribcage. It would've hit Steve in the stomach if she hadn't moved.

Her gaze landed on the man who'd recuperated enough to shoot the pistol. She didn't even open her mouth before Pietro zoomed over, slapped him hard, and zoomed back. The man was then unconscious again.

After this, the next thing Esca noticed were the bright yellow and white flashes surrounding her. She almost sighed in exasperation upon realizing that they were cameras… but then, she realized this was what she'd wanted.

She'd wanted to prove she wouldn't be bait, that she could hold her own.

And now she'd just proved she'd hold up others in the Avengers, too.

With a lopsided grin, Esca stepped carefully to the side. "Steve, get out of the way," she commanded—the captain did so quickly. Then Esca let her hands drop. The bullet plinked harmlessly to the ground.

Finally, the others released the breath they didn't realize they were holding. Each of them simply stared at the bullet, now just an insignificant piece of metal, until they glanced around at one another.

It was Esca who started to laugh first. Thor soon joined her—then Natasha, and Steve. Pietro was not laughing, but he smiled somewhat as he wrapped an arm around Esca's shoulder and kept a wary lookout, as if to make sure no one else would hurt her.

The five of them ignored the multiple questions from the onlookers as they waited for everyone else to report. Once the others returned and the cops arrived, Tony waved the press and the fans off so that they might return to Stark Tower.

But as they were escaping the montage of citizens and journalists, Pietro leaned close to Esca and murmured, "For the record, what you just did outranks anything the rest of us might ever do in the field of combat."

Esca smiled up at him—but then she laughed as he pleaded, face white, "But don't ever do it again."

With a small smile on her face, she took his pinkie finger in hers and pushed past the next barrier of people.