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There was nothing good about what you’d done with the Avengers. Hawkeye had gotten hurt, Tony and Bruce were acting weird, or weirder than normal, and worse, someone had found a way around your powers. You stared down at the drink in your hand, untouched for the last two hours and you knew it would remain that way. How had someone actually found their way around your barrier? Barely a week with the Avengers and you were already defeated.
You sighed and looked around at the happy faces around you. The sceptre might have been retrieved but you knew that wasn’t going to solve any problems. Still, Tony told you to celebrate the victories while you could. Another sigh and you knew that was even less likely than you enjoying your drink.
“For someone that just went on their first successful mission you look pretty upset,” Hawkeye said. You lifted your eyes to meet his, a frown on your lips. His grin fell when he saw your expression remained the same. “Oh, you’re serious.”
You rolled your eyes. “Listen, Hawkeye, I’m not—”
“You can call me Clint,” he interrupted.
“Clint,” you stressed, “I’m just not in the party mood.”
“So I gathered.” He leaned against the bar beside you, his eyes going over the crowd. You looked at the people again, knowing that he could see so much more than you. But in a way you had the upper hand on him because when you looked back down at your drink you could still feel where the people were in the room. Clint asked, “Still think you don’t belong here? Even with your little magnet pulses?” He waved a hand at you. You inhaled deeply through your nose.
“You know they’re electromagnetic fields,” you told him. “You don’t have to pretend to be so stupid.”
He pressed a hand over his heart. “Ouch.”
“But you’re right,” you mumbled. “I don’t belong here.”
“I never said that,” he argued, turning to you. His elbow rested on the bar, his full attention on you now. “You did good today.”
“So Tony didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“Nothing.” You set your drink on the bar and stalked away. Why wouldn’t Tony tell them where he’d found you in the forest? You thought you knew that answer too, but you didn’t want to say it out loud.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” you asked when you found Tony. He turned to you, drink in hand.
“For you, Y/N,” Tony said, setting an hand on your back and pushing you to a clear section of the room, “you can have a full minute.”
“Enough with the dad jokes,” you muttered to him. That earned you a grin. When you were safely out of earshot, or what you thought was out of earshot—who knew with the number of spies in the room—you asked, “What did you say happened?”
“Exactly what did happen,” he answered with a shrug. You stared at him a moment, trying to decipher what that meant.
“So you told them…what?”
“That you ran into trouble and I lifted you out.” He said it so matter-of-factly that you weren’t sure what that meant. But no matter what Tony thought the truth was, you didn’t want to be the one to mention the enhanced you’d run into.
You gave a curt nod to Tony before heading for the elevator, ignoring him as he tried to keep you there. While you appreciated his efforts you weren’t sure exactly what to do with them. Or the efforts of any of the Avengers—why were superheroes so…nice? The fact that they were so human towards you, even Thor the one not from Earth, made you uneasy.
“Send me to the training room?” you requested of JARVIS.
“I’m afraid Mr. Stark has given me explicit orders to keep you on this floor, Y/N,” JARVIS replied, keeping the elevator doors firmly shut. You arched a brow and looked at the ceiling as if glaring at the building would somehow help.
“Seriously,” you questioned.
“Seriously,” Tony replied. You jumped and turned. “Or did you think I would let you wander off to look up the twins?”
You couldn’t hide the surprise as you pulled back. “I wasn’t—I was going to go practice.”
“After what we just pulled you need a break,” Tony said. He approached you and placed his hand on your back again, giving you a not so gentle shove towards the party. “And that involves copious amounts of alcohol. Go try what Thor’s having.”
You eyed Thor and Captain America on the far side of the room. “Maybe later.”
“You could interrupted Nat and Bruce, then,” Tony suggested half-heartedly.
You looked to the couple at the bar. “Maybe never.”
Tony leaned in towards you. “Smart kid.”
“So you saw him then?” you questioned. “Pietro Maximoff.”
“I saw him take the gun away from your head,” Tony admitted, taking a sip of dark liquid from his crystal glass. “And I wouldn’t put much stock in what they do. He could play a mind trick on you, too like that sister of his.”
You faced Tony. “Too?”
Of all things, Tony flinched. The liquid in his glass shook with the movement, the slightest shiver running through his body. You furrowed your brow, worried. “What—”
“Try to have a little fun,” Tony suggested, taking a quick step away from you. Before you could ask anything else he was gone and talking to someone you didn’t recognize.
You watched him a moment, making sure he knew you were watching. After his eyes darted towards you twice you finally looked away, pulling your phone from your pocket. It was a small clear device that Tony had given you on your first day, and you’d thought it so funny that he was the first to welcome you. You’d thought he would be rude and unkind—full of himself. Okay, he was pretty full of himself but you knew it was a lot of talk—and all the things the news said about him seemed rather untrue. And while the kindness from the SHIELD agents around you was to be questioned you found Tony was easy to believe. Even more so than Captain America.
You opened the SHIELD files on Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. None of it pleased you; volunteers to be genetic experiments, their story was not unlike Captain America’s. Fighting for a cause. Fighting for their people. You just wished they weren’t fighting against you.
“JARVIS?” you asked quietly.
“Yes Y/N?”
“Can I go to the training room now?”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
You sighed and put your phone away. Looking up, Hawkeye waved at you from beside the Captain. Walking towards him your thoughts were still on Pietro—a feeble attempt at trying to figure out why he’d helped you.
But maybe it was as Tony had said—maybe it was just a mind game played by the Maximoff’s. Maybe he’d only helped you because he wanted to kill you himself. You frowned.
“That’s not a good look,” Clint said. He leaned in towards you and smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Worry about what?” you asked. The agent threw an arm over your shoulders and pulled you close. The other member of the Avengers greeted you with far too much kindness, and the third last person you expected it from. Natasha and Tony holding spots one and two, respectively.
“Nearly getting your head shot off,” he answered. “At least you didn’t get hit.”
“Maybe I did,” replied. “Wait how did you know about Pietro?”
“Oh, him you’re on a first name basis with but you still call me Hawkeye?” He laughed. “Come on, the after party is gonna be starting soon. Not that you’ve noticed the numerous people leaving.”
You glanced around, suddenly aware that the room had begun to empty out. While there was still a bit of a crowd, the room wasn’t nearly as full as you remembered.
“There’s an after party?” you questioned.
Clint shrugged, his arm still over your shoulders. “Well, something like that.”