Awakening

*Insania pokes E're's sleeping face*

*Cp shakes her head.* "You really shouldn't do that."

*Insania ignores and Cp backs away slowly.* "Fine, but don't come crying to me when she kills you…*

School's exhausting, especially right before the end of the semester. (Not to mention insanely busy…) So blame education for my lack of updates.

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO YURIKA THE WORDSMITH WHO'S REVIEWS AND PMs GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE FASTER IN THE MISTS OF CHAOS. ;) This is for you. XD

The conference was starting in two minutes, and almost half of the Avengers were fidgeting. Ok, it was some of them...alright, that was also wrong. Bruce was fidgeting while Barton and Romanoff were silently sweating, their faces pale. None of them had been in front of so many people before, much less on TV.

Steve and Tony? Yeah, they had both dealt with this before. Sure, Steve's experience might've been...different...but he knew how to handle pre-performance jitters.

Tony of course was more concerned on whether or not Penny was going to wake up soon. He was really worried about his teenage daughter. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but the abyss in the back of his mind was starting to get...more noticeable. It was creeping closer as his worry grew.

He shivered. He hadn't slept that night as he was terrified of the nightmares awaiting him. He knew that someone had helped them sleep the night after the invasion, sadly that wasn't a pleasantry he had every night.

And he hated nightmares.

Tony mentally shook himself and turned his attention towards Pepper's voice. They were waiting in a side hallway on the main floor of the Tower, the conference was being held in his lobby. Pepper was introducing them, the wonderful fiery woman that she was. Not to mention she knew how to handle the zoo that was the press.

"She definitely knows how to deal with them," Bruce said quietly, unknowingly and practically echoing Tony's thoughts.

Smiling smugly Tony fiddled with the Stark Phone is his hands without even realizing it. "Why do you think I usually let her handle all of the press releases? I may have grown up in the press' spotlight, but she gets a far better reaction from them than I."

Bruce nodded quietly, show that he understood what the genius was saying.

There was a soft moment of silence as the two men watched Pepper talk swiftly to the press. They would be called out any moment now, and Bruce could feel Tony's tense muscles next to him. He could even smell Tony's unease, after Hulk pointed it out to him.

Bruce glanced at the dark haired man out of the corner of his eyes and said slowly, "Tony, where's Penny?"

His stomach twisted as Tony's dark eyes flashed in some unrecognizable emotion before his mask slipped even further into place.

"Tony," Bruce said slowly as his twisted stomach turned into a knot of dread. He reached out and place a hand on Tony's shoulder, causing the genius' mask to slip just a touch.

It was enough for Bruce to see the worry and pain in Tony's eyes before it slid back into place.

"She's unconscious in her room." Tony finally admitted with a sigh, though he was practically whispering with how quietly he was talking.

Bruce's eyes widened but Tony continued before he was able to get a word in otherwise.

"Her memories...they got too much for her. The memories of her pasts. Her brain overloaded…" He tailed off and Bruce's eyes turned green as Hulk made his worry quite clear.
Tony, snapping out of his distant gaze saw this and was quick to continue. "Mortem says she'll be alright...she just needs time. Her brain shut everything down...forced a mental reboot. I'm just worried."

Bruce let out a breath of relief and Hulk's emotions separated from his partners. If Penny or any of her Siblings had been there they would've noticed Bruce's aura strengthening while Hulk's vibrant green aura subsiding back to half of the total aura.

"Yeah," Bruce said quietly, now worried about Penny as well. "That seems to be a common thing with her."

Tony snorted, as if saying "you don't know the half of it," and as Bruce thought about it, he realized that he probably didn't.

Their conversation was cut short however, when Pepper's voice echoed backstage, giving them their cue.

"...sure you have lots of questions, and here to answer them are the heroes themselves, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Dr. Banner, and of course, Mr. Stark."

Bruce glanced back over at Tony, wondering if he was being his lack introduction as the Hulk, only to see that another thick mask had been applied, and he now had a bright and large smile on his face.

Without a word, Tony strutted out into the lobby with Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff right behind him.

Bruce shook his head before stealing his nerves and walking out to his teammates, a shy smile upon his lips and a slight twitch in his left hand.

Cameras flashed and the reporters all tried to talk over one another.

As Tony waved merrily at the crowd, and the agents took up stoic places beside him, Rogers gave the crowd a strained smile.

This wasn't going to be as easy as it sounded.

Tony's POV

We had already been here about an hour and a half, a half hour longer than we were supposed to be. Sadly, after Rogers and I had given our statements and opened it up to questions, we had been hounded.

Questions from one range to the other: "Where have you been for the last 70 years Captain Rogers?" to "Mr. Stark, are you in a relationship with the Black Widow?" They were thrown at us quickly, the words spoken so loud that they almost jumbled together. Everyone wanted a statement from the new heroes, and they fought for the best ones.

It was rather irritating, if I did say so myself; and definitely worse than when I outed myself as Iron Man. At least this time I would've have Fury waiting for me at home, or Penny irritated at me.

Actually, I wouldn't mind Pen being irritated with me, as long as she was awake and alright. I wondered at times if making people worry was in her Immortal genes or however that worked, because she certainly didn't get it from me.

I never worried Howard this much.

I suddenly had to hide a grimace as the thought of my father stirred up some unpleasant memories. Great, I just had to go and think about him now of all times.

"Captain Rogers!" I vaguely heard one of the reporters call, snapping me out of my rather dark thoughts. When Rogers acknowledged him with a nod, the reporter continued, "What is your team doing to prevent such incidents in the future."

I was rather surprised, that was actually a very good question. I noticed the hesitation on Rogers face and immediately stepped forward. There were five microphones on the makeshift stage, one for each of us.

Stepping forward, I saved Rogers' ass by swiftly stating, "Collaboration between myself and Dr. Reed Richards has been quite fruitful. We have already designed a device that shall monitor any inter-dimensional activity on a certain scale. We shall never be exposed to inter-dimensional portals opening up on top of our heads without our knowledge again. The device is currently under construction, and shall be completed in two days' time."

I stepped back with a nod, and I saw Rogers give me a thankful look while Bruce blinked wide eyed. It seems that I shocked him.

The questions continued and I allowed my thoughts to drift again as I gazed around the room. Fury was standing in the far corner of the lobby with Pepper and Coulson at his side. He seemed to be questioning my girlfriend, probably for any knowledge about the device I just mentioned.

Too bad Pepper knew nothing about it.

I had to hold back a smirk as Fury's gaze connected with mine and he scowled. The Council had cameras in here without a doubt; he would have to act carefully.

Not that I actually cared what happened to Nick, though I did know that if he was replaced, we could get someone much worse.

Not to mention Pen would be less than pleased.

"Mr. Stark!" One of the female reporters exclaimed, causing my attention to refocus. "Mr. Stark!"

"Yes, dear?" I said with a drawl, almost echoing my words to the defense court all of those months ago. This time however, I didn't have Pen talking through a com in my ear, and I wasn't dying.

I was quite happy about the fact that we weren't dying. That was a rather nerve racking and brain melting time.

And I seriously needed to keep my thoughts on track. Damn, I almost missed her question.

"Is it true that Electra appeared during the Battle of New York? If she fought with you, why isn't she part of the Avengers?" The woman asked, her eyes wide and her recorder pushed as close to the makeshift stage as she could.

I forced a smile on my face as I mentally scowled. Great, now Penny was getting brought up. This really needed to end. We wouldn't have people poking Pen's story, no matter which one it was.

"Electra has not, as of yet, made a request to join the Avengers," Rogers said quickly before I was able to open my mouth.

Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I was rather surprised. How did he know that Electra and Pen were the same person? Ok, it wasn't that much of a stretch but still. Someone must've told him, probably Fury the sly bastard.

"But she has an open invitation to join at any time, and any of us would be honored to work with her again."

I couldn't help the pride that swelled up in my heart at Rogers' words. He basically just gave Pen permission to work with us, and that they'd accept her as part of the team. That was rather...thoughtful and nice of him.

I almost snorted. It was Rogers; he was the embodiment of niceness and thoughtfulness.

"At this time, Electra would like to remain out of the limelight. She just offered some assistance where she saw it needed, and gave us the edge to tip the scales against the Chitauri. If she wishes to come forward in the future I shall arrange it." I said smoothly to the numerous cameras before smiling, causing even more cameras to flash.

Pepper wasn't the only one who knew how to deal with the press; I practically grew up under the camera flashes and video cameras.

"Now, we're out of time so we'll take one more question…" I trailed off as numerous hands shot into the air and people cried out, trying to be the person to grab the last question.

"You Ma'am, yes, in the red blouse," Rogers said, pointing to a reporter who had yet to be picked yet. I blinked as I realized it was Christina Evenheart. Huh, she sure did like to follow us around.

"How do you feel about the X-Men appearing in the Battle? Do you believe them to be a threat? A concern? Are you hesitant about working with mutants?" She asked quickly, a glint in her eyes.

I raised an eyebrow as Bruce twitched. Romanoff and Barton had barely said anything the whole time, answering any questions given to them in the most basic and clipped ways.

Glancing over at Rogers, I wondered how he would answer the question. Mutant relations were rather rocky at the moment, and many were still quite racist.

The world already knew Tony Starks view on the matter, but Steve Rogers would definitely sway the crowds.

Rogers better answer positively, or he and I would be having another talk. I had a rather good reason to be protective of the mutants, for as far as most people knew, Pen was a very powerful one.

I narrowed my eyes just slightly as Rogers glanced over to me. My shoulders tensed as he opened his mouth, but it seemed all my worrying had been for naught.

"My team and I are very grateful to the X-Men for the assistance they gave us during the New York incident. They seem to be a very well-oiled team and while I believe our areas will be different, as I'm sure that they will want to handle their own problems, we shall always be willing to return the favor sometime in the future."

Rogers glanced over at me again, and I subtly raised an eyebrow in question. I could only hope that the press wasn't catching said looks, or they would spin it that I was influencing Rogers' opinion.

"But…" Evenheart spoke up, and Rogers' eyes narrowed, looking as if he hadn't glanced at me at all.

"Ma'am, do you think I'm a threat?" He asked his back straight and a dedicated glint in his eye. This was the man who had created Captain America, not the people who my father worked with.

"N...no," She stuttered, her eyes suddenly wide as all of the cameras and people were suddenly focused on her. "Not at all!"

"Do you think my teammates, who have risked their lives for you, are a threat? Do you think that we should be labeled as dangerous?" He asked, and no one bothered to answer him. Barton and Romanoff were looking curiously, or as curiously as they ever do, at the man, and Bruce's eyes were wide.

He had a thing with being dangerous after all, not that I agreed with it.

When Evenheart didn't continue, Rogers plowed on. I had to hand it to the guy, he knew how to seize the moment and end things strong.

"To most people, we are dangerous. Each of us in front of you can do things that most people cannot. That alone would make us dangerous in most people's eyes. But what makes us any different from the X-Men? I may not be from this time, but I have learned much since I've awoken. The X-Men have their powers because of their genetics, through nature. None of us had that pleasure.

"My abilities came from a science project in a bottle and a world in war. Dr. Banner became who he is through his dedication to science, to his country. An accident that he lives with every day of his life is what gave him his alter-ego. Hawkeye and Black Widow have spent their lives learning, training, surviving, experiencing the dark side of this world; and Tony…"

Rogers paused just for a moment, and my heart almost stopped. For a half a moment, fear flooded me. What was he going to say about me to the world? We hadn't exactly gotten along on the 'Carrier.

"Stark has proven himself to be a very valuable member of our team. He has lived through more than most men I know, and is saner than the ones I do know."

I blinked in disbelief at that, and then snorted.

I seriously doubted that Rogers knew anyone with less sanity than I. Well, ok, there was Insania but she didn't count.

But that was….very surprising, coming from Rogers.

Huh, I think he actually managed to silence some of my thoughts…

Pen's commentary would be really helpful right about now.

"So yes, you could consider the X-Men dangerous, a threat, but then you'd have to believe us to be a threat, the Fantastic Four to be dangerous. You'd have to consider every armed force on this planet dangerous! But if we all share the same threat level, all the same possibility of danger, does that make us threatening, or just mortal?"

Silence echoed through the hall as everyone stared at Rogers in shock; even I was a bit surprised. I wasn't used to such rants coming from anyone other than Penny.

"I have no qualms with working with anyone, whether you label them human, mutant, Asgardian, or otherwise, as long as they mean no harm to this world. Thank you."

Rogers nodded, before making his way off the stage. It wasn't until I followed, my trademark glasses and smile in place that everyone snapped out of their shock.

Passing Roger in the hallway entrance, I patted him on the shoulder.

"Great show Cap, didn't know ya had it in you."

Now I could go check on Penny.

Yes, I know it's been a while and I'm sorry I couldn't get this up sooner. The only reason it's up at all is because my school computer's hard drive is being a piece of shit and has no memory left even though there's nothing on the bloody thing! (I'm sorry, our tech guy was supposed to fix it so I could work on my very large final project due Monday over the weekend but that didn't happen….)

I'm a bit stressed if my mini rant didn't give it away.

Oh, I noticed that before, when Hel was hanging out with Tony when Pen's Soul was with Insania, she mentioned that all of her sibs were grown and gone. Sorry, mistake on my part. I'll fix it eventually.

Anyway, thank the fact that I could only open Drive and Google Docs for two days at school because of my computer and could do nothing else besides work on Pen and run errands for my teachers.

(And NO do not blame Dexter and Lost for sucking me in during my only free time…)

Night!
Cp