Secrets in the Stars

“Training her, Stark?” Fury asked. “Really? You think that’s a good idea?”

“Why not?” Tony replied. “You wanted Banner to be part of the team, and now that he’s gone this can be kind of like that.”

“That girl is nothing like Banner. She’s far more dangerous.” Fury said, clearly angry.

“Uh, she doesn’t turn into a big, green rage monster that can’t be killed. I’m pretty sure the kid isn’t bullet-proof.” Tony retorted.

“But she could be. Did you not listen to Charles Xavier, Tony? Her power is limitless. She is literally made of—“

“‘Magic,’ I heard.” Tony rolled his eyes. “And the team battled a God alongside his brother, who is also a God. I’m pretty sure we can handle a twenty-two year old made of fairy dust.”

“…You don’t believe in her powers, do you?”

Tony scoffed, “I believe in what I can see. Clearly, she’s got power—“

“But you’re looking for the answer to it, aren’t you? You think there’s more to her than what we were told.”

“Isn’t there more to everyone, Nick?” Tony’s comment was dripping with disdain.

“You got the answer, Stark. Xavier told you what she is, where she came from. And hey, you said it yourself; you’ve fought a God. One of your teammates is, in fact, a God. What’s the difference between this girl and Thor or Loki?”

“They have proved that they exist,” Tony said blankly. “Magic doesn’t exist. Professor Charlie took some legends and used them to justify the fact that he can’t read his goddaughter’s mind.”

Fury sighed heavily. “You NEVER learn, do you Tony?! You need to STOP messing with things you don’t understand!”

“There’s an answer for everything, Nick. And soon enough I’ll understand her, and then we’ll know what we can do with her. You just met the girl and you’re already making it sound like she needs to be locked up in an underground bunker or something.”

“It would he a hell of a lot safer than letting her anywhere near you.”

Tony turned to face Fury, a crooked smiled on his face. “Then go ahead, Nick. Lock her up. I’m sure you want to make enemies with her godfather. In fact, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you treating his precious Star like she’s a super weapon—“

“Isn’t that exactly what you’re planning to do, Stark?” Fury had enough. He was just inches away from Tony’s face as he said, “Train her, Tony. But I’m going to watch you, and her, very closely. The second she gets out of control, I’m going to make sure everyone knows exactly who was responsible for it. Ultron should have taught you what it means when you hope to control forces beyond your understanding—the tesseract should have taught us all that.”

Nick began to walk away, and Tony replied, “Jarvis seems to be handling the Mind Stone well, so maybe we can control more than we thought.”

“That’s not his name anymore, Stark.” Nick disappeared then.

Tony stood alone in his lab, annoyed. “Someone needs a breath mint.” He said quietly to himself.

***
I had never been on a motorcycle before until now. Scott had one while I was growing up at the school, but Uncle X never let me anywhere near it though, no matter how safe Scott promised to be.

Steve was being careful of course, but didn’t mind whipping around corners a little faster than I had anticipated he would. Every time he did, I would squeeze him tightly, nervously; I swore I could feel him chuckle when I did.

We had gone to several different stores; one was a specialty shop for government agents, hiding in broad daylight. Steve helped me get set up with specialty clothes for training. A nice lady took my measurements and everything, and said they would arrive at Avengers Tower for me the following morning.

Steve pulled up to a parking space in front of Central Park. He paid for a parking pass and then we took our helmets off and he offered his arm to me again. We were passing through Strawberry Fields when I asked, “So whose going to be training me anyway?”

Steve replied, “It’ll vary, based on where you want to start.”

“I get a say?”

“Of course you do,” Steve looked at me, concerned. “But I’ll be there every step of the way, if and when you need me.”

This was all so strange, nothing like I expected. I always thought that if I did ever get the chance to train with heroes, it would be with the X-Men. Being a member of my godfather’s team was my dream. Instead the future of my abilities (as well as my life) rested in the hands of the Avengers and Tony Stark. I couldn’t have ever even dreamed of this moment.

The question came from my mouth before I could stop it, “…Why?” Steve and I kept walking in silence, and his face fell. I was worried my big mouth had shut him up. “I’m sorry, I just—“

“No, it’s a perfectly valid question, it’s just that part of me doesn’t know how to answer it. At least, not without sounding like an idiot.”

“You could never sound like an idiot to me.” Shit, I thought. I am being way too obvious right now.

Steve stopped walking. “Thanks.” He said softly. He lifted his free hand and tucked a loose hair behind my ear.

I knew what I wanted then… What I wished he would do. I wanted Steve to kiss me; to hold me close and press his lips to mine. I had liked guys before, but none like Steve. The others had all made me feel nervous and threatened—I knew what they wanted just by their vibes. They were boys. Steve was a man; he made me feel safe and comfortable. I knew I could trust him, but I didn’t know if he would feel for me the way I was beginning to feel for him. Though, at the moment, it certainly looked that way.

Steve very suddenly cleared his throat and we started walking again. I was disappointed, to say the least. I couldn’t help but feel drawn to Steve, even though it had been such a short time since we had met. I started feeling like a swooning teenage girl.

We walked over to an ice cream cart. Distracting myself from my desire for him, even with sweets, seemed impossible.

“So,” Steve asked me. “Where do you want to start? With your training, I mean.”

Of course I knew what he meant, but I liked that he clarified it. “Well, what do you think I should start with? I know you guys can’t help me with my powers—or, that the Professor would prefer to do that part himself. I’m actually kind of surprised that he’s letting me anywhere near Tony at all.”

“Yeah, what’s with that anyway? The way those two seem to hate each other is kind of…”

“It’s a long story.”

Steven brought me to a quiet little area by a large, beautiful water fountain. We sat down on the edge of the fountain together. “We’ve got time.” He suggested.

“True,” I said. “Well, while you were frozen a lot of the world changed.”

“I noticed that.” He said, smirking.

I laughed. “Yeah… Well, mutants can of came up on the radar after World War II, you see. And Charles Xavier did his best to save them all from becoming like his best friend, Erik Lehnsherr. He did everything he could to keep mutants safe from the media and from the government as well. There was this Senator who wanted to force all the mutants in America to reveal themselves and their abilities… It was rough, and he started the school to help mutant kids learn about themselves and their powers. Howard Stark supported the idea of forcing mutants to sign a registration, and even at one point came to my godfather and demanded to test some of the kids. He wanted to replicate their powers for weapons—and Howard wasn’t the first to want to do so. He even tried to bribe Xavier with opposing the bill if he would give Howard permission to experiment on the kids. The Professor threatened Howard and has disregarded the Stark name and the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization ever since.”

Steve looked stunned, but managed to say, “It’s a good thing he did that, I guess. But there’s no way Howard was Hydra.”

“No, I agree with you. When Howard died and Tony took over for Stark Industries, he made some comments about my godfather being a ‘loon’ and someone the American people couldn’t trust because of all the secrets he kept, in regards to the mutant community. So many things happened leading to so many of them going back into hiding… Tony’s comments didn’t help. If Erik hadn’t been locked up in his plastic prison, I doubt Tony would even be alive right now.”

“Plastic prison?”

“Yeah, Erik is also known at Magneto. He can manipulate and control metal to his will.”

“That doesn’t sound like the kind of guy Tony should be facing off against.” Steve said, even more surprised.

“Exactly. But he broke out of his prison and disappeared, last we all heard. No one knows where he is, not even Xavier.”

“And he was never on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar? Or Hydra’s?” Steve was in full work mode, I could tell.

I shook my head. “No, and there’s no way he would ever work for Hydra.”

“How do you know?”

“My godfather told me all about it. Erik’s entire family was killed during the Holocaust. Erik was dragged away from them all after he revealed his powers trying to save his mother. He became unhinged and killed a ton of former Nazi soldiers after he mastered his powers. He would die before working for a Nazi organization, trust me.”

I had to do or say something to get his mind off of work. We had been having such a lovely day together. “So, back to my first question. For training, where do you think I should start?”

Steve’s full attention came back to me, “Well, I guess we could start with the basics. Do you have any kind of training in self defense?”

I shook my head, “No. The Professor kind of shielded me from those classes at the school… Guess now I see why.”

We were both quiet for a second before Steve said, “Well, let’s start there. Romanoff and I can help you out with that.”

“Romanoff? The gorgeous redhead who likes to point guns at people?”

Steve laughed, pretty hard actually. “Yeah, that would be her.”

I swallowed hard. “Could maybe we start… Just us? Agent Romanoff scares me a little bit.”

Steve laughed again. “Why?”

“Because she’s so… To be honest, she’s so beautiful. And from what I’ve seen of her, she looks tough—and even more intimidating than some of you guys, no offense.”

Steve smiled sweetly. “None taken. Look, Natasha’s really nice. And she’ll be more than willing to help you learn anything she can. But if you really feel like you might be more comfortable with me at first, then it can be just us.”

“You promise?” I accessed my sweetest face.

Steve kept his sweet smile and brushed his thumb against my cheek. “I promise.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere between us began to change. He looked like he could read my mind—he knew I wanted him to kiss me. Steve’s face moved in closer to mine. My heart was racing and my hands began to tremble…

I chickened out and kissed his cheek. Steve’s cheeks turned a perfect shade of pink. He put his hand to his cheek where I kissed him and said, “You didn’t have to—“

“I wanted to,” I interrupted him. “You’ve been so sweet to me, Steve. And after everything that happened—everything I learned about myself—I really needed today. And it makes me feel so safe that you’re the one who wants to protect me. Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome,” He said before he kissed my own cheek.