Hey there, you awesome people. As you've probably noticed, this is Monday, not Friday. Given that the ;last chapter had to be uploaded late due to errors with the Doc Manager, T opted to upload this the following Monday to maintain weekly updates.

Anyways, let's not bother with all of that. It's time to get on with a good ol' party that Y'all invited to.

As always, I don't own Marvel.

Please, enjoy.

Let's Party!

Two days later, and Stark has announced that Astraea needs to be there for the party he's holding the following night. It's to celebrate the victory the Avengers' just had, and they may as well use it to introduce their new member. Yippee.

Suffice to say, Astraea is less than enthusiastic. She can handle a bust club, where nobody really cares who are as long as you don't disrupt the night. She doesn't, however, do fancy parties with lots of rich folks dressed in fancy clothes, talking in silly accents about the latest posh thing that they've done. But it's a good bit of PR for the team, and Astraea will need to be introduced at some point anyway. At least this isn't an interview or anything. She just has to get through a night of polite small talk, look pretty, and try not to offend anyone.

Piece of cake. Right?

oOo

In about 30 seconds flat Madison destroys Astraea's plan to just wear some smart trousers and a neat blouse.

"This is gonna be one of those fancy-ass Stark parties that the news goes on about," She half-shouts at Astraea, chastising her with a shake of the head. "You've got look nice and fancy too. You deserve something nice and pretty."

Astraea bits her lip, uncertain. "I'm not sure … I mean, I don't really want to spend that kind of money on a dress I'll wear once. What's the point?"

"Rhea!" Madison throws her arms up in frustration. "You're an Avenger now and you're getting made mega-bucks. Like, seriously, didn't you see that number of the forms right before we moved on?" Astraea nods slowly. "Exactly! You can afford to buy a fancy dress or whatever, even if it's once. Damn, you could buy a whole designer wardrobe and not have to worry about anything. Just," Madison sinks into the cushions beside Astraea. "don't keep yourself from getting nice things because you think you don't deserve them."

"What?!" Astraea bounced to her feet, spinning to look at her friend with brown eyes gone wide. "Why … why would you think that? That's not why I don't get posh clothes. I just – I like my clothes, the ones I have. I don't need anything else."

"You forget, I was a SHIELD agent. I know how to read you like a book, Idiot. Maybe something happened in the past and you didn't have a lot of money; or you feel like you have way more than you need, so you wouldn't spend it. Either way, something's going on. I'm open all ears."

"I'm not … I'm not going to have a conversation like this. It's stupid, and idiotic, and daft, and … " Astraea flicks her gaze back to Madison's face which twitches in amusement, "What?!"

"Nothing. Carry on. Y'know, convincing me utterly that there's no problem here. I believe you so, so much. Keep going, by all means." Madison waves a lazy hand for Astraea to carry on her apparently amusing performance.

Astraea sends a frosty glare at Madison, folding her arms tight. Her face hardens, and she purses her lips.

"Oh, come on! It was kinda funny, you gotta admit that." Madison rolls her eyes at the other girl. "It's not like I was being serious or anything. Just – you don't have to not buy nice things because you don't think you deserve them. You do, Rhea."

Stony silence meets her words.

"Fine! We're going shopping, Rhea. Right now." She takes Astraea's arm, dragging her towards the door and taking both their bags. "By the way, you're paying. I'm not a superhero earning megabucks."

oOo

After at least three hours of being carted around various malls, departments stores, and high street shops, Astraea had finally found something she'd actually want to wear. It's a simple fit-and-flare dress that just tickles the tops of her knees; deep plum in colour and decorated with tiny silvery 'jewels' that sparkled like stars. There were silver heels, jewellery, and a silver clutch to match. Madison had also picked out a fancy outfit, opting for a lacy, emerald green dress that hugged her curves and showed off her tanned legs.

Overall, Astraea figured she'd spent at least three months rent at their old apartment worth on clothing for the two of them, potentially just for one night. But it was going to be a fancy party, and the dress was really beautiful. Having the money to spare helped too.

It was funny, really, because Astraea hadn't exactly come from a poor background. Her family weren't uber-wealthy, but they had plenty to live comfortably. It was only after her mum died that things started to fall apart and her dad couldn't concentrate on his work so much. Her older siblings left and moved on. Astraea went to university at 15, taking her first degree only two years later. Her enhanced brain could work through everything much quicker, and she'd obtained a second degree a few months after her 18th birthday. Astraea's dad had helped fund it, and Astraea had always been stunned by the amount of money spent. It was way more than she ever thought she's deserved. From that point, she'd made it her goal to make it through a degree being as thrifty as possible.

But now? Now she had a steady income of way more money that she could ever have dreamed about. Astraea didn't have to worry about rent, and the common floor kitchen was always stocked, regardless of every apartment having its own kitchen. She could spend virtually as much as she wanted, and more. It was frightening. But, it was also easy to see why people spent so much on ridiculously expensive things – they could afford it, so why not? Why not spend a little more of something extraordinary?

The lure of spending, spending, spending was definitely there. Astraea didn't want to do that, though. She wanted to save it to have the best of experiences in life, and to help others in a worse situation. True, money wouldn't solve a lot of problems but it was part of the solution. Once she only had time to help others with, now she both time and money. Not forgetting her new status as an Avenger. Another way to help people, even if most of it was gruelling missions destroying everything they could that could harm the world. It saved others from having to go through worse, so Astraea welcomed it. It also kept Madison out of the fight and safety heading for a new future, away from all the hatred and destruction.

That wasn't to say Astraea was above the odd impulse purchase. A replica sword of Sting from Lord of the rings and The Hobbit was now sitting proudly on her wall. It's the little things.

oOo

At exactly 8:00 p.m. the doors opened and the streams of invitees headed towards the party of floor of Avengers Tower. Astraea had to stand and greet a bunch of rich, famous, and important people who had absolutely no idea who she was. A random teenage standing around with the Avengers for seemingly no reason. Even only ten minutes into the party Astraea could hear whispers around the room: maybe she was Stark's daughter, it seemed believable given his old reputation; maybe she was an assassin; maybe she was sleeping with one of the Avengers, etc… Astraea laughed at most of them but scowled at whoever she heard muttering the last one. People just had to make everything disgusting and about sex.

On the bright side, it gave her plenty of good things to text Madison in the breaks of people entering the party floor. Astraea knew Madison was somewhere in the room (well, floor), possibly chatting to celebrities.

She might have done this before, as a SHIELD agent, Astraea realised. Speaking to the rich and famous as though you're on their level.

oOo

After another half-an-hour, Astraea was finally free to go and find a nice quiet corner. At least, that's what Astraea was trying to do. Tony seized her arm, dragging her to meet a few of the journalists present. She tries to struggle away, disappearing into the crowd a few times, but Tony seemed exceptionally good at finding people at parties. Promising this to be the last time, he escorted her to meet a young female reporter, Vanessa Hodge. After a quick hello, Tony scooted off, leaving Astraea and Vanessa alone.

"I swear, " Astraea started, running one hand through her wavy black hair, "if you start this off with 'Are you Tony Stark's daughter?' or 'Are in a relationship with one of the Avengers?' I will literally scream or something. The last eight reporters have all asked both of those questions and I am so bloody tired of talking to people who I really want to tell them to twat off." Taking a deep breath, Astraea gave Vanessa a smile. "Anyways, hi."

"Hi." Vanessa smiled back, white teeth smiling out of a dark face surrounded by a mane of rich, curly, golden-brown hair. Astraea was struck by her smiling gold eyes. "Nice to meet you. I, uh, won't ask those questions. Although," she tilted her head, "why would anyone think that?"

"I know right. Everything has to be creepy or sexual with all these people. To keep explanations short, I was a vigilante, I got recruited, and now I'm an Avenger."

"Right. But I need more than that. Details, information, and gossip. Whatever, but let's sit in a quiet corner first, huh?"

Astraea nods her assent, leading the way to a hidden table she spotted earlier. It's perfectly placed for a good view of the room but hidden behind decorative plants. There's almost nobody else nearby and it's one of the quietest spots in the room, which isn't saying that much.

"So, where to begin. A new Avenger, appearing without warning or any previous signs of the Avengers' looking to recruit other powered individuals to their group. Tell me, Miss Blake, how did this happen?" Vanessa puts her elbows on the table, leaning forward with a pen poised to take notes.

"Uh …" Astraea stumbles for words, vaguely remembering that she ought to be careful what she says. She can't say anything sensitive, but then again, the media already know her civilian and superhero names. There's nothing to hide behind unless Astraea manages to build-up a public persona to keep herself and her loved ones safe. "I think it was mainly to keep me out of trouble. I mean, I ain't saying I was doing anything wrong, but I was a vigilante. Not exactly keeping with the law. But I've got, um, abilities that I want to use to help. I got an offer, so I, er, agreed. I joined up, trained, went on a few missions, and became an official Avenger."

Well, not strictly true. I didn't mention the kidnapping to you because I don't think that's exactly the kind of PR the Avengers really need. Or my enhancements. Or that part of the role as vigilante involved killing some people and putting others in hospital whilst defending the victims. There's a lot I won't say ever, Miss Reporter.

"Wonderful." Vanessa adds a few more things to her paper. "What's it like, living with superheroes? How do you get along? Are there any tensions between members of the team?"

"Interesting. There's nothing like waking up at two in the morning to make hot chocolate in the main kitchen to find that a god has had the same idea. I think I'm okay with everyone. Sure, the science bros tend to disappear for a few days at a time on their latest project, and the assassin duo seems to know an awful lot about everything I've done, but it's great, mostly. Team dinners are always funny, and I love watching To – Stark getting his ass kicked at paintball."

"But what about any problems between team members? Aren't there some members who don't always get along?" Vanessa kept pressing with one idea, pushing the questions at Astraea with a force she could almost feel.

Astraea narrowed her eyes slightly, leaning back in her chair. "Nobody gets on with everyone, all the time. It's a chemical mixture of people this time, and sometimes something goes a little haywire, but I wouldn't say anyone wants to fight the others." She tried for a smile. "Everyone seems fine. There are no problems I can see." Astraea pursed her lips, ending that part of the conversation.

Her words were vaguely true, but not always. Tony and Steve did seem to be at odds occasionally, but that was understandable given historical ties between Steve, Tony, and Tony's father Howard. But Vanessa's words gave her a nagging feeling that this reporter knew more than she let on. She was very persistent and seemed fixated on the idea of trouble between the Avengers. Perhaps she had some sort of personal grudge, or maybe just quota of articles to write per week. It could be entirely innocent, but Astraea wasn't so sure.

" – about missions you've been on? Certainly, this latest mission seems to have been successful given this event." Vanessa is halfway through the next set of questions by the time Astraea drags herself away from her thoughts.

"Sorry, what was the question? I kinda zoned out a little."

"I said, is there anything you can tell us about missions you've been on?"

"Not really. I mean, other than what the world already knows, I guess. And I've only actually been on one mission so … Yeah, I've not really got a lot to say about that. Anything else?" Astraea gives a polite smile, half-turning to leave her seat. She should never have agreed to sit down and talk; Astraea has been here at least twice as long as any other chat.

"Yes, actually. What about allegations that you're a HYDRA agent, specially designed to infiltrate the Avengers and bring them down from the inside?"

"What?!" Astraea exclaims, eyes widening. "Where on earth did that come from? Nobody even knew I was an Avenger until tonight. Unless you've got a mole here or something." She gives the young woman a significant look.

"It's been a theory I've heard tonight. People are concerned after the recent discovery of HYDRA inside SHIELD. Suddenly a new Avenger pops up with no explanation. They need answers, Miss Blake, and I'm going to provide them."

"Right. I bet you're a new reporter, maybe daughter of the head of your newspaper. You got placed with this party and you want to prove that you're more than just the CEO's daughter." The increase in Vanessa's heartbeat tells Astraea she's correct. "I'm not HYDRA, Miss Hodge. I'm just a vigilante teen that got spotted and taken under the Avengers' wing. I'm here to help people, not listen to the stupid rumours everyone is putting around. In fact," Astraea tilted her head, focusing her hearing on others in the room, "at least seven people have just said they think I'm Tony's daughter to their little group of friends. I'm just a teenager with some, er, special talents. That's all."

Vanessa shifts in her seat. "Well, I think I have enough to introduce the world to Nemesis, the Avenger. Thank you for your time, Miss Blake."

Astraea stands and shakes the other's hand. "You too, Miss Hodge. Nice chatting with you. Perhaps we'll see each other again."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Just a statement. But, uh, I guess you know where to find me." Astraea gestured to the tower around them.

Vanessa laughed softly. "I do. Be seeing you." She gathered up her notepad and swept away, bright red dress marking her out among the darker colours of some of the rich and famous around her.

Astraea sat back, satisfied that she might have got Vanessa Hodge to like her enough that she'll come back. Then she can investigate her properly and find out just why she needed to know so much after potential problems with the team.

oOo

The next few hours pass in a blur. Astraea sees Rhodey telling his tank story to a group of young women who laugh hysterically; Thor and Steve drinking with some veterans; Natasha and Bruce seem to be flirting at on the bars, and Sam playing pool with a couple of young men and Madison. Astraea moves to join them, nudging Madison as she steps up to the table.

"Good luck. Madison is one of the best pool players I've ever seen." Astraea flashes a grin in her friend's direction.

"Ah, but have you seen Cap play?" Sam counters, holding his cue point upwards. "Now that's some brilliant pool playing."

"Yeah, but for, like, regular people. Mads is awesome. Good luck."

Madison makes her shot, neatly putting the striped yellow ball. "I'm not that good. Besides, you're about the same as me."

"Learnt it all from you, my tutor."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Madison deadpans. "Your shot."

Sam steps up, analysing the game. Astraea shifts to stand beside Madison, who wraps an arm around her best friend's waist. This the longest they've managed to speak, face-to-face, in the whole time they've been at the party. People keep popping up and attempting to make small talk. The whole floor is massive too, with a couple of bars, the pool table area, several seating areas, and a dance floor complete with DJ. At the other end, there's space for ballroom dancing with a band playing classical pieces and jazz. In a party full of people, it's difficult to find the few people you actually want to talk to.

"So, um, I spoke to some reporter earlier and she was," Astraea lowered her voice to a whisper, "quite fixated on getting a story about problems between people in the Avengers. I just thought it was a bit weird … Might be innocent but I just … I just wanna know what your spy-sense thinks."

"Spy-sense? I'm not a spider, Rhea," Madison laughs, leaning slightly on her cue.

"Believe me, I know two spider people. I've had experience."

"Wait, you know more spiders than Black Widow?" Astraea gives a look. "Kay, we'll discuss that later. I do think it's a little odd, but you didn't say anything did you? Don't wanna give this reporter any more than she already knows."

Astraea frowns. "No. But you don't think she could have a mole or anything." She smoothed down the front of her dress. "Like, why would she think anything like that. Nobody on the team ever behaves like they hate each other on camera or on missions. I mean, yeah, there are probably some tensions that come with living with the people you work with, especially given the pasts of these people, but nobody ever acts like it public. Unless someone – "

"Woah girl, chill. Look, Rhea, it's a party you idiot. Relax, have fun, dance with one of those hot people standing by the bar. Calm. Down. If there's a problem, I'm sure the Avengers have people for this sort of thing. Relax."

"Fine." Astraea mock-scowls and crosses her arms. "Only for you, daft-y."

"Idiot."

oOo

By 11:00 p.m. virtually everyone has gone home. There's just the Avengers, Maria Hill, Rhodey, Madison, and Doctor Cho left for the after-party. They're all collapsed on sofas in one of the lounge areas. Clint is spinning a pair of drumsticks (which makes Astraea wonder if the Avengers have a secret band she hasn't yet been invited to) when he exclaims:

"But, it's a trick!" Clint points to Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, sitting on the glass coffee table – which is, apparently, worthy to hold the hammer up. Maybe it replaces the concept of being on the ground.

"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor passes Steve a bottle.

"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall have the power!' Whatever, man! It's a trick." Clint puts on a daft voice, causing Maria, Madison, and Astraea (all seated on his left) to chuckle.

"Well, please." He gestures to the hammer. "Be my guest."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Clint stands up and prepares to grasp the hammer with one hand, drumsticks in the other. Both Rhodey and Tony make a couple of snarky comments that make everyone laugh.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint calls out, seizing hold of the hammer.

Astraea frowns slightly. Just where Clint saw this type of 'trick' before? It's definitely a circus trick as far as she knows but … oh. Maybe that's how he knows this type of trick.

Clint struggles to lift it and fails. "I still don't know how you do it," he mutters, half-turning to face Thor, chuckling and smiling.

Over the next few minutes, Tony, Tony and Rhodey, and Bruce all fail to lift the hammer. The repulser gauntlets and Banner's fake cry of rage doesn't seem to have helped at all. Steve steps up next to a few calls of encouragement.

He steps up to the table, with everyone looking on intently. Steve attempts to lift it twice but seemingly fails to lift the hammer. Astraea isn't so sure.

"I heard it move," she whispers to Madison. "I swear, it moved the first time and Cap didn't pick it up."

"Maybe the hammer wanted to have some fun," Madison quips, casting Astraea a small, lopsided grin.

"I think he just didn't lift it." Astraea shakes her head, stubborn.

"Oh well. Steve didn't lift it, and I think only you heard it move, Super Ears."

"Hey! Where'd you get that nickname from?"

"Heard Widow use it."

"Wonderful." Astraea rolls her eyes, refocusing on the conversation in front of them.

Thor lifts the hammer himself, flipping it over in his hands. "You're all not worthy."

There are groans from all around, interrupted by a loud screeching noise. Astraea clamps her hands over her ears, mirroring the others, and ducks her head. She's no idea how loud it sounds to the others, but right now it's loud enough that her ears feel like they're going to pop. A small trickle of blood leaks from each of them.

"Damn super-sensitive ears," Astraea mutters under her breath before turning back to the situation in hand.

A broken Iron Legion suit is ambling into the room, wires dangling from its left side. Astraea sways in her seat, dizzy from the pain in her arms. Her head hits the back of the sofa and everything goes black for a few moments.

In the few minutes it takes Astraea to wake up the room is in chaos. Doctor Cho is hiding under the piano; Tony is straddling an Iron Legion bot, and Natasha is firing shot after shot at the robots. Astraea struggles to her feet, launching herself at the robot holding Loki's spectre. Her arms wrap around its middle and she strains her muscles to bring it down. They crash to the floor, but the robot fires a repulsor blast at Astraea. She ducks and lets go. As the robot flies away, Steve smashes his SHIELD into the last Iron Legion suit.

The last suit – Ultron, Astraea think she remembers someone calling it – stands alone, broken body looking even stranger among the crisp modern interior of the tower.

"That was dramatic! I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to ... evolve?" Ultron wanders around, body lopsided due to the weight difference. "With these? These puppets?" He picks up a broken robot and breaks the face plate off. "There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."

Thor hurls his hammer at Ultron, smashing him into pieces. Everyone turns to look at Bruce and Tony. Astraea finds Madison and grasps her hand tightly. Looks like they've got a new mission ahead of them – one a lot more complicated than taking down a HYDRA base. One that could spell doom for the world if they fail.

Looks like this party just got serious.

There you go then. Quite a long chapter this time; just a smidge of 4K words.

I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Let's see what's in store for our heroes now with a maniacal robot, and a snoppy reporter, on the loose. Only time will tell.

Until the next time,

Look-for-the-miracles