Chapter Text
Chapter One
“There will be no bickering,”
“Yes ma’am,”
“No competitions,”
“Yes ma’am,”
“No freezing the streets, and no improper use of powers…”
“Yes ma’am,”
“And above all you do what I say when I say it no arguments! Clear!?”
“MOM! We get it!!” Freya and Esmer said expharatedly. “Do you?” Natasha asked giving them a skeptical look. “Yes!!” They said in unison. Natasha suppressed a chuckle. ‘Fine, c’mon,”
At first she’d been reluctant to let the two girls get into the whole hero gig, she’d resented the idea. She wanted them to have a normal life, devoid of any and all the sorrows that she had to endure. She wanted them to grow up normally, and handle normal problems like what to wear. Not worry about saving the world from an apocalypse. But, shielding them from that world was hard enough when their mother was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D and an Avenger. Never mind the fact that your honorary uncles were the rest of the Avengers, which included a demi god from Asgard. And that was just an uncle, her mother was of ancestry from all over the nine realms, and their father was the freaking god of mischief! And never mind the rest of their family! Not to mention their aging problems!
So basically it had been hard to keep them away from watching the world being saved, or people dying, and all that. But it had been especially hard to stop them from joining in on the whole hero gig before they were at least sixteen, what with their powers and all. Freya had been especially hard to control, she’d been a Valkyrie before her re-incarnation. And she knew it. And Loki hadn’t been much of a help either, encouraging them to use their powers. Ok, well, that was necessary she supposed. They needed to learn to control them, and they needed to learn of their heritage.
So Natasha had made a promise to them, that after they turned sixteen together (Esmeralda had been born, and Freya had been reincarnated as infant in 2009. And because of their mixed heritage, they aged quite differently than normal. Loki had said that after they looked about eighteen, or perhaps twenty one, twenty five, they’d stop aging at all.) She’d let them actually go out and fight. They had agreed, and had been training for it ever since. And despite Natasha’s initial hopes that they’d get caught up in other dreams they’d never strayed from the path they’d chosen. And honestly, she didn’t know if to be proud or worried….
**********
“So how did it go?” Loki asked as Natasha crashed down on the couch. “That bad?” he asked raising an eyebrow. Natasha straightened and looked at him. “No, actually. They were….good. They work pretty well together when they want to….” She said. “But?” Loki coaxed, setting his book down on the coffee table in front of them. She sighed. “I still don’t like this…” she answered. “I don’t want them to get caught up in all of this…” “Natasha, it’s their life. And they’re going down an exceptional path, fighting for what’s right without having to go through some harsh experience…” he said. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Well….Tony didn’t actually go down the hero’s path till he saw what his weapons did, Steve spent most of his life ignored and bullied, you…you know, and then there’s Thor….and, what I’m trying to say is. Most of the hero’s I know have something in their past, some tragedy that made them into who they are. Opened their eyes to what was right, and what they had to do…”
Natasha turned to face him. “That’s just it trickster,” she said quietly. “I don’t think they understand….”
“What?” Loki asked, confused. Natasha sighed.
“I think practically being raised by the Avengers and watching all the action….they’re drawn to it. I’m not sure it’s because they actually know its right Loki, I think they’re doing it more because it’s all they know….”
*********
Peter Parker was once again minding his own business. He was walking down the hallway towards his next class, when he heard the familiar voice of his team mate, Bucket head, behind him.
“Peter!!” he yelled running towards him. He looked terrified. Sam ran over and hid behind him, Peter had barely gotten the words “What...” out of his mouth before he heard another familiar voice. He turned to see Ava stomping towards them, her brown eyes flashing with anger. “Sam you little rat!!” she yelled grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.
“If you ever, e-v-e-r, say anything like that, ever again I swear to god they will never find your body….” She hissed. Sam gulped, even Peter gulped. Neither of them were exactly sure how good she’s make on her threat. But they both knew that when Ava made a threat, it was never empty.
With that she let go of his collar and he fell to the floor. Giving him a final glare she spun on her heel and stormed off.
Peter stared after her, then he finally turned to face Sam who had got up off the floor. “What did you did you do this time bucket head?” he asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know. Sam shrugged none committedly. “Nothin much, just made a joke about her…” he said digging his hands into his pockets. Peter’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of joke?” he asked. He shrugged again. “Just something about her and her virginity…” he said. Peter’s eyes widened. “What?” he asked. “Well, I dunno…we were by her locker when this guy came over and tried to ask her out, she turned him down and then I told her that if she kept that up she’d always be a virgin. And then I added that unless she already wasn’t, I mean with how she looks and all I won’t be surprised. And that if she is I was sure that Danny wouldn’t mind helping her out.. And then I just walked off…and then I heard her scream my name and…yeah...” Peter stared at him blankly. “You really need to control your words around her,” seeing that Sam wasn’t really listening he didn’t bother to continue. Instead they just walked in silence towards their next class which they shared.
A quiet chuckle from Sam brought Peter out of his thoughts. “What?” he asked. “Nah, nothing. It’s just…you should have seen the way Danny looked when that guy asked Ava out. I swear, it was all he could do not to punch him in the face, with his iron fist…” a small smile tugged at the corners of Peter’s mouth. Yup, that would definitely have hurt.
“And when I brought up the other thing was the best. His face was priceless, I don’t even know what emotion it was…” he said laughing a bit. Peter shook his head. “What?” Sam asked. “Come on! Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed?!” he said. “Noticed what?” Peter asked taking his seat. The teacher wasn’t there yet. Sam rolled his eyes. “The way he looks at her! C’mon, he really likes her! He’s just in denial…” Sam said. Peter sighed. “I thought so too when I first joined the team...” “See!” Sam said. Peter continued like he hadn’t interrupted. “But, it’s not our business so we should just stay out of- Wait, WHAT am I saying!!?” He asked. Since when was he so intent of not snooping into others’ lives? “Exactly. And come on, we both know that Danny’s not exactly the best at this. I mean, let’s face it. He was at some sort of monastery for ten years….” He had a point, Peter had to admit. But that was a good reason why not. Danny had to go and be king of Kun’lun in another two years. Not that he could tell Sam that, it wasn’t his place to.
“Sam, look, whatever happens between Danny and Ava is none of our business….and think about what would happen if Ava found out that we tried to set them up or something! I for one want to live to turn eighteen!”
Sam reply was cut off by the door opening and the teacher walking in. But it was too late. Sam had already made a decision. He was going to get those two together no matter what!