September 16, 1991

Dear Friend,

I have finished To Kill a Mockingbird. It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book.

"Ha, Ha! I like this boy's style!" The Doctor said, grinning like a maniac. He really liked this boy, Charlie reminded the Doctor of Rory in a way. So sweet and meek. Except he had such a passion for books and knowledge and was far more empathetic than anyone the Doctor had ever met. Something about this kid just made the Doctor want to hug the him and make everything alright for him.

My english teacher asked me to call him "Bill" when we're not in class, and he gave me another book to read. He says that I have a great skill at reading and understanding language, and he wanted me to write an essay about To Kill a Mockingbird.

I mentioned this to my mom, and she asked why Bill didn't recommend that I just take a sophomore or junior english class. And I told her that Bill said that these were basically the same classes with more complicated books, and that it wouldn't help me. My mom said that she wasn't sure and would talk to him during open house. Then, she asked me to help her by washing the dishes, which I did.

Honestly, I don't like doing dishes. Everyone smiled at this because, who does? And Bruce started poking Tony's arm and Sam gave Dean a pointed look. The atmosphere was so relaxed Fury dreaded reading on because he knew something bad had to happen to this kid. Why else would we have been ordered to read about him?

I like eating with my fingers and off napkins, but my sister says that doing so is bad for the environment. She is a part of the Earth Day Club here in high school, and that is where she meets the boys. They are all very nice to her, and I don't really understand why except maybe the fact that she is pretty. She really is mean to these boys.

One boy in particular has it particularly hard. I won't tell you his name. But I will tell you all about him. He has very nice brown hair, and he wears it long with a ponytail. I think he will regret this when he looks back on his life.

Snorts and head nodding all around at that.

He is always making mix tapes for my sister with very specific themes. One was called "Autumn Leaves." He included many songs by the Smiths. He even hand-colored the cover. After the movie he rented was over, and he left, my sister gave me the tape.

"Do you want this, Charlie?"

"Well, that's rude. He made that for her and it was such a sweet gesture. She is mean." The captain said grumpily sitting back in his chair with arms crossed.

I took the tape but I felt weird about it because he made it for her. But I listened to it. And I loved it very much. There is one song called "Asleep" that I would like you to listen to. I told my sister about it. And a week later she thanked me because when this boy asked her about the tape, she said exactly what I said about the song "Asleep," and this boy was very moved by how much it meant to her. I hope this means I will be good at dating when the time comes.

Natasha couldn't help but smiling at that. This boy seemed so innocent, it was sweet. Looking around she noticed some other smirks. Dean, in fact, looked as if he was thinking of all the things he could teach the boy. Rolling her eyes at him she continued to listen.

I should stick to the subject, though. That is what my teacher Bill tells me to do because I write kind of the way I talk. I think that is why he wants me to write that essay about To Kill a Mockingbird.

This boy who likes my sister is always respectful to my parents. My mom likes him very much because of this. My dad thinks he's soft. I think that's why my sister does what she does to him.

Fury paused there because there was a singular thought running through everyone's mind, causing tension. What does she do to him? The Doctor and Fury looked at each other, clearly expecting this to be the big reveal of why this story was important.

This one night she was saying very mean things about how he didn't stand up to the class bully when he was fifteen or something like that. To tell you the truth, I was just watching the movie he had rented, so I wasn't paying very close attention to their fight. They fight all the time, so I figured that the movie was at least something different, which it wasn't because it was a sequel.

Dean snorted very loudly at that line. Causing some of the tension to ebb.

Anyway, after she leaned into him for about four movie scenes, which I guess is about ten minutes or so, he started crying. Crying very hard.

"Woah." Tony said, startled. He looked around disbelievingly and noticed that most people had the same Dean looked angry and Sam was that much better.

"What the hell girl! Give the guy a break." Dean said vehemently and Sam nodded beside him looking kind of sick.

Then, I turned around, and my sister pointed at me.

"You see. Even Charlie stood up to his bully. You see."

And this guy got really red-faced. And he looked at me. Then, he looked at her. And he wound up and hit her hard across the face. I mean hard.

"Wait, what?" Tony said, again gobsmacked. Everyone had jerked back like they had been hit when that line was read because they just were not expecting that.

"So, not cool." Clint said quietly eyes blazing.

"Yeah, I don't care how mean she was being, you don't hit someone just because you don't like what they say. Especially when you're in a relationship with that person." Tony yelled.

"What kind of man hits a woman." Steve said angrily while Thor and the Doctor just shook their heads sadly. Everyone started to get riled up and Fury had to lay down the law to get them quiet so he could finish. One they were quiet they looked at Fury to see what would happen.

I just froze because I couldn't believe he did it. It was not like him at all to hit anybody. He was the boy that made mix tapes with themes and hand-colored covers until he hit my sister and stopped crying.

Natasha snorted and said sarcastically, "Yeah that'll do it"

The weird part is that my sister didn't do anything. She just looked at him very quietly. It was so weird. My sister goes crazy if you eat the wrong kind of tuna, but here was this guy hitting her, and she didn't say anything. She just got soft and nice. And she asked me to leave, which I did. After the boy had left, she said that they were "going out" and not to tell mom or dad what happened.

"WHAT!"

"No, come on!"

Condemnations, outrage and confusion filled the room as almost everyone was befuddled as to this strange turn of events.

"Why would she stay with him after he did that?"

"It's actually quite common for abuse victims to do that. They blame themselves and stay because they think they can do better and it won't happen." The Doctor said sadly looking to the brothers Winchester who had become very quiet after the hit. Dean's face was curiously blank while Sam seemed to be stewing in his seat about something.

"Ok, but-" Steve was interrupted by Fury.

"Let's just finish reading we're almost done with this letter." Everyone quieted down.

I guess he stood up to his bully. And I guess that makes sense.

Everyone exhaled in frustration at this. A lot were shaking their heads. Some with arms crossed.

That weekend, my sister spent a lot of time with this boy. And they laughed a lot more than they usually did. On Friday night, I was reading my new book, but my brain got tired, so I decided to watch some television instead. And I opened the door to the basement, and my sister and this boy were naked.

He was on top of her, and her legs were draped over either side of the couch. And she screamed at me in a whisper.

"Get out. You pervert."

The superheroes were seething in frustration. Captain Rogers actually squealed slightly with the effort to stay quiet and let Fury finish despite Steve's anger at the situations Charlie keeps witnessing.

So, I left. The next day, we all watched my brother play football. And my sister invited this boy over. I am not sure when he left the previous night. They held hands and acted like everything was happy. And this boy said something about how the football team hasn't been the same since my brother graduated, and my dad thanked him. And when the boy left, my dad said that this boy was becoming a fine young man who could carry himself. And my mom was quiet. And my sister looked at me to makes sure I wouldn't say anything. And that was that.

Tony rolled his eyes and looked out the window, fed up. Bruce was red in the eyes and would not look up from the floor. Everyone else had varying looks of disgust, frustration, sadness, and anger.

Dean snorted silently thinking, Yes he's a fine young man now that he proves he can beat up his girlfriend.

"Yes. He is" That's all my sister could say. And I could see this boy at home doing his homework and thinking about my sister naked. And I could see them holding hands at football games that they do not watch. And I could see this boy throwing up in the bushes at a party house. And I could see my sister putting up with it.

Natasha closed her eyes and shook her head slowly.

And I felt very bad for both of them.

Love always,

Charlie

There was silence for a few moments. Then Tony tried to lighten the mood.

"Well, Shit." He said loudly smiling sadly. Everyone gave faint smiles but it didn't last. They were all too lost in their thoughts. Despite the fact that nothing earth shattering or apocalyptically important happened in this letter, everyone looked just as grim as if there had been.