I looked over myself in the mirror again, pulling at my dress. Wanda and Natasha had done my make-up, and Pepper had done my hair, so those were immaculate. I took a deep breath and exited the room, the sound of my heels clicking off the floor making me think of Pepper. As I entered the main area of the private penthouse, Dad looked up from where he was fiddling with his cufflinks. His eyes widened as he took me in, "Look at you all dolled up," he walked over, gently brushing his hands over my shoulders as he looked me over, "You look like a young woman, so grown up."

I blushed, "Thank you, dad."

"Uh-uhn, I wasn't done, you look too grown-up. My little girl is too young to be looking like a young woman, you'll have to change."

I raised my eyebrows at him, "Dad, I was a young woman when you met me, I was never your 'little girl'."

His hand went to his heart as he gave me an offended look, "The backtalk! The sass!" he grinned, his hand clapping down on my shoulder, "I'm so proud."

I grinned back, "By the way, you don't look too bad yourself."

He tugged lightly at the lapels of his black suit jacket with a smug expression, "I know. I look amazing."

Pepper entered the room, looking stunning in a light blue floor-length silk dress. "Careful there, Tony, your head will explode if it gets much bigger."

His brain seemed to stop working for a moment as he admired her outfit, "You look beautiful, Pep."

She smiled, moving to stand next to him, gracefully accepting his kiss on her cheek as he circled his arm around her to tug her closer.

A moment later, Peter and Harley joined us, both looking awkward in their fancy, well-fitting suits (Tony had insisted on purchasing them both new suits so they didn't "stand out like rusty screws in a new build" at the gala). There was another round of complimenting each other, and we proceeded out to the general penthouse.

There, Shuri, T'Challa, and Okoye were waiting, as well as all the Avengers. The Wakandans were wearing traditional-style clothing, all silver and black. Nat and Wanda looked gorgeous in cocktail dresses, wearing gold and red respectively. Pietro and Steve had on dark blue suits, Clint, Bruce, and Vision were in grey, Thor in dark red, Sam in dark green, Loki in black and dark green, and Rhodey and Uncle Bucky were in black suits. Just after we entered, the doors at the other side of the room opened, and in walked Happy, dressed in a black suit with green accents, with May in a black and green wrap dress.

I walked over to Uncle Bucky who gave me a quick hug, "You look lovely, be sure to save me a dance?"

"Of course, Uncle Bucky."

We all took a large group picture together, then headed down to the garage. We split up into multiple chauffeured limos. Car 1: The Wakandans, Tony, Pepper and Rhodey. Car 2: Nat, Wanda, Pietro, Steve, Vision, and Clint. Car 3: Bruce, Thor, Loki, Sam, and Uncle Bucky. Car 4: Happy, May, Harley, Peter, and myself.

The last car was for those of us who wouldn't be considered high profile, so we wouldn't attract attention traveling and entering with the Avengers. Happy was a little grumpy about not being with Tony to provide security but had finally agreed when Tony said he'd bring the nanotech suit (earning a disapproving but understanding look from Pepper). Our car was even going to take a different route so we wouldn't arrive at the same time.

We pulled up to the glittering entryway, lined with a red carpet and paparazzi. Happy and May went out first, and all of the raised cameras dipped down as they realized no one picture-worthy had arrived. Next out was Peter, who turned back to help me out, and then Harley. We moved quickly into the venue, showing our invitations to the greeter at the door who welcomed us and sent us inside with a polite smile.

We went through a small marble lobby with a coat check, then down a short hallway into the main ballroom. Everywhere was decorated in greenery, red, gold, and silver bows and baubles, twinkling miniature Christmas trees and glittering lights. The centre of the room was filled with a massive tree that reached up into the vaulted ceiling. The room was filled with hundreds of mingling guests, all dressed in finery. Dad was quickly identifiable halfway across the room, surrounded by multitudes of people trying to get his attention. The other Avengers also seemed to have little followings around them.

I wandered around with Harley and Peter, noticing a few other familiar faces, such as the Pyms and Langs (Cassie was dressed in an adorable little frilly green gown). We also found MJ, who was wearing a silver floor-length dress that made Peter gape a little before recovering his wits to compliment her, earning a 'Thanks, Loser." Shortly after, Ned wandered over with a plate of food, wearing a black and burgundy suit that looked really good on him.

"Y/N!"

I turned around to see Rose in a gold dress, waving at me as she approached, dragging a tall boy behind her who I presumed was her brother.

We hugged quickly and she waved offhandedly at her brother, "This is Taylor," then gestured at me, "Taylor, this is Y/N."

He had short dark wavy hair and green eyes. I reached out to shake his hand, "Nice to meet you."

His hand clasped firmly around mine as he met my eyes with a charming smile, "Lovely to meet you, Y/N. Perhaps this evening won't be as dull as I'd thought."

I blushed, "Well, it's a Stark event, I don't think they're ever dull. In fact, I'm told they're quite prestigious."

"Just because something is prestigious, doesn't make it fun."

I laughed, "Very true," I turned to gesture at the others beside me, "By the way, this is Peter, MJ, and Ned, fellow Midtown students, and Harley, who is a mentee of my dad."

He nodded at them in acknowledgement, and they all nodded in return, with Peter and Harley narrowing their eyes slightly at him.

I gave them a questioning look, but they ignored me so just shrugged it off.

We spent the next while pairing off for dances or just dancing as a group, getting food from the buffet, or just wandering around and chatting. Rose was ecstatic as she took everything in. At one point, Tony popped by, trying to make it look as though he was making the casual conversation stop he did with random guest groups. I mentally reminded myself to only call him Tony, instead of dad, in case we were overheard.

Giving us his polite media smile, he addressed us in low tones, "Everyone having a good time?"

Peter, Ned, and Rose nodded so enthusiastically I thought all their heads would pop off. MJ gave her very best disinterested grin, and I smiled warmly at him, "Yes, it's been great."

I introduced Dad and Rose since they hadn't actually met, and when Tony questioned where her 'chaperone baggage' was, she explained he'd gone off to the bathroom.

Before leaving to mingle elsewhere, Dad turned to me, "By the way, in about half an hour, if you could come find me in the Swan Lounge, that'd be great. There are some people who want to meet you."

I agreed and he moved off, giving me a quick wink before disappearing into the crowd.

When Taylor got back, he was disappointed he'd missed Tony's visit, but asked if he could get a dance with me as a consolation prize.

Of course, just as we moved onto the dance floor, the DJ began playing a slow song. Taylor gave me a questioning look as he extended his arm towards me, "May I?"

I nodded, slightly hesitant, "You may."

He put his right hand on my waist, then used his other hand to guide my left hand onto his right arm, before clasping my right hand in his left, and sweeping me into the dance. As we slowly swirled around the dance floor making idle chit chat, I became more and more aware of the warmth of his hand seeping through my dress and the feel of his hand in mine.

We chatted and laughed until the song ended and he began leading me back to the group. I gave him a smile, "You're a pretty good dancer."

He grinned lazily back at me, "So are you. Guess you're more than just your pretty looks." This was accompanied by him looking me up and down and giving a small smirk. I swatted his arm, "Behave, or I'll tell your sister."

His eyes widened in mock horror, "Oh no, I'm terrified."

We rejoined the group, Peter giving Taylor a dark look and I blushed as I realized he would have heard our conversation with his super hearing.

As it was nearing the half hour mark, I excused myself to go and find my dad. When I entered the room, the only person I saw was Clint. I raised an eyebrow at him, "Thought Tony said some people wanted to meet me. I know I'm a great person to meet, but you do realize we've already met, right Katniss?"

"Funny."

I smiled mock sweetly at him, "Really though, what's up?"

"I'd like to introduce you to my wife, Laura," he gestured to the side and a pretty dark-haired lady entered with a smile, carrying a baby on her hip and being followed by two young children. She nodded at me, "Hi, it's lovely to meet you."

"Lovely to meet you too," I gave the baby a tiny wave, "And who is this?"

Clint walked over, "That would be Nathaniel, our youngest. And these two," he picked up the two children with a big grin, "are Cooper and Lila."

I smiled at Cooper and Lila, "It's very nice to meet you two."

They grinned back, waving at me with their tiny hands.

I looked at Clint, "Nice family you have here, Katniss, any chance you know where my family member is that was also supposed to be here?"

"He should be on his way, just had to corral some others to meet you."

"There's more?"

"Yea—"

Tony's voice echoed in from the hallway, "One moment, I just want to give her a heads up before she meets a pirate without any warning."

Dad sauntered into the room, looking a bit surprised when we were all standing there staring at him. Laura and the kids went back out the door they came in, presumably going back to the party. Tony came over to me, "So, sorry I couldn't give you more of a heads up, but I didn't want to get into too much detail in front of your friends, and no one bothered to tell me ahead of time they'd be attending tonight, so I couldn't foresee this."

I raised an eyebrow, "So who exactly is it that I'm meeting? I heard something about a pirate?"

He chuckled, "Yes. You've heard me mention Fury before? And Hill?"

I stared at him, "As in the Director and Commander?! From S.H.I.E.L.D!?"

He nodded, "Yeah, them. Personally, I could care less about you meeting them and was frankly ready to ignore this most recent request as well, until he threatened to turn it into a big spectacle in the gala, and I didn't want to risk revealing your identity or force you to be the center of attention in that way, so, I very graciously said I'd let him meet you, back here, away from the guests, and in the presence of some trusted assassins, and myself."

I blinked, "Assassins?"

"Yep." Natasha said as she stepped out of the shadows in the corner, making me yelp in surprise since I hadn't noticed her presence.

Before I could ask why Fury and Hill even wanted to meet me, the two people in question stepped through the door.

Commander Hill gave me a polite smile and nod, while Director Fury walked in a circle around me, an inscrutable expression on his face.

"Hmm. So, you're Stark's kid?"

I glanced nervously at my dad, who nodded, so I turned back to Director Fury, "Yes, sir."

He nodded, peering intently at me. "And you're related to James Barnes?"

"Again, yes, sir."

"And you only recently found out about all of this when your mother passed?"

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms, "Do you have any actual questions, or do you just intend to waste my time asking me stuff you already know? Or, are you genuinely unsure of this information? If you are, I feel like you should upgrade your intel operation, because that's just sad."

Fury leaned back slightly, his serious look disappearing as he chuckled, "I see you're just like your father—sarcastic and disrespectful."

I nodded proudly, "When necessary, yes."

Dad grinned behind Fury's shoulder, giving me a thumbs up. Commander Hill must have suspected something, because she turned sharply around to look towards Tony, who quickly dropped his hand and adopted a casual stance.

Fury clasped his hands together, "Miss Stark—"

I interrupted him, "It's Y/l/n, actually. Your poor research is showing again."

His brow furrowed, "Right…well, Miss Y/l/n, I just wanted to make sure you understand the stakes of being involved with the Avengers and thus having an association to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Okay?"

He proceeded to pace around the room, alternating between having his hands clasped in front of him, clasped behind him, or gesturing along, as he rambled about the dangers of people coming after me if they learned about my connections, the general hazards of being in the vicinity of enhanced persons, and going into detail about what would happen if I ever used my position to cause damage to the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D, whether it was directly, indirectly, on purpose or not. Hill looked exasperated with him as he spoke, Dad alternated between amusement and concern, and while I couldn't see Nat or Clint's expressions, I presumed they betrayed nothing of their feelings. Eventually, Fury came back to stand in front of me, meeting my eyes with an intense gaze, "With all of that in mind, I hope everything goes well for you, and I hope to only ever see you again under the best of circumstances."

I nodded, "Cool. Can I go back to the party now?"

He gaped at me, and Dad laughed, "Yeah, kid, go back to your friends."

"Thanks, see you later!" I gave everyone a quick wave then headed out of the room, chuckling as I heard the echoes of Fury complaining to Hill about my lack of seriousness. Had he expected me to really be concerned when I knew Ironman, the Winter Soldier, and Spiderman, as well as probably the rest of the Avengers, would do everything in their powers to keep me safe—whether it be from other dangers or from S.H.I.E.L.D.?

I headed back into the party, grinning as I went past Uncle Bucky who immediately abandoned his conversation with Steve to claim the dance that I'd promised him. He twirled me around the dance floor for a few songs, before bringing me back to my friends, with whom I spent the rest of the evening before eventually climbing back into the limos to return home. Peter and I both fell asleep on the way so Tony and Uncle Bucky, respectively, had to carry us upstairs and put us to bed.