Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Man, I haven’t been to one of the Avenger’s parties in years now” Scott said, a bit of nostalgia in his voice “I think the last one I went too, Bucky-cap was still a thing”

“Really? I go every year” Jen said, as they stepped out of the car with Darla and Medusa in tow, in front of Stark Tower “More or less because Janet would end me if I refused to show”

“I vaguely recall my husband mentioning that we get invited, we just never cared to come” Medusa smoothed out her long purple dress as a Valet attendant took the keys to the car from Scott.

Darla looked the most excited out of all four of them.

“How could you turn down an invite to these things! Nearly every super hero in New York in the one room? I can’t believe I’m going to be rubbing shoulders with Tony Stark and Captain America. Johnny told me about meeting them all the time and I was so jealous. Ooh! Do you think Miss Marvel will be here?!”

“It’s Captain Marvel now” Jen corrected quickly.

“Oh, right, sorry” Darla nodded “I think I remember reading about that in the paper….or there was something on Perez Hiltons blog about her new hair cut…I can’t remember, but either way, it mentioned the Captain Marvel thing”

“….Right”

There was a queue of cars behind them, along with a few paparazzi, and a red carpet and lights that led up to the entrance of the tower. This was like the annual social gala of the season, except for super heroes.

Just up ahead of them, with the crowd drifting into the building, stood Wolverine with Kitty Pryde, Iceman and Storm, and another girl with short black hair. They’d all been co-erced by the calls of the photographers to pose for a few photo’s, and while Wolverine didn’t look to happy about it, he lined up with his fellow J.G.A. Staff members for a few courtesy snaps.

“Wow, I didn’t think he was that short!” Darla leant over to Medusa, who smirked, as he really did look small in comparison to Storm, in her gold six inch heels, not to mention her hair towering above everyone.

“Careful, you don’t know how good his hearing is” Jen smirked as she saw Darla’s face fall. Darla quickly shuffled to walk behind Scott as she thought she saw Wolverine’s head twitch her way.

Scott squinted at the girl with the short hair, who was pulling a face at the cameras “Who’s that girl? Is she an x-man now? There’s too many of them, I can never keep up”

“Yeah, thats jubilee. She’s been an x-men for ages so you should know her, Scott” Jen said disparagingly.

“What? That’s jubilee?! I thought she was, like, fourteen!”

“Yeah, six years ago maybe” Jen laughed “You know, I heard she has a baby now. Adopted, mind you”

Scott shook his head “Wow, I feel old”

Medusa frowned “Did I Just see wolverine put his arm around Storms waist?”

Jen nodded “Oh, yeah, Janet told me they were a thing now. Said they were trying to keep it on the down low though, guess not anymore”

Scott didn’t know wether to look concerned, weirded out or impressed, so his face kind of contorted into a combination of the three “Those photo’s are gonna be all over the tabloids, Black Panther knows right?”

Jen shrugged “Well, if we hear about an epic Wolverine VS Panther show down in the Daily Bugle anytime soon, then we’ll know”

“How do you even know all this stuff about everyone? I can barely keep up with what were doing on a day to day basis” Said Scott

Jen smiled “Can I help it if I catch up with the girls every so often and I just happen to over hear the gossip?”

Wolverine’s group eventually moved on into the building and Scott now balked at the sight of all the cameras, realizing they’d now set their sights on their small group. There really were a lot of them, and it was stupid to think a mass of flash bulbs and rapid clicks were enough to intimidate an actual super hero. He swore it hadn’t been this intense a few years ago…

“This is probably all because of Cap’s whole ‘Uncanny Avengers’ thing..” Jen mumbled, looking a little wary of the photographers herself.

“Why say that?” Medusa asked.

“Oh, you know, all this media backlash about the mutant issues this past year. They formed the Uncanny Avengers to put on a good face and if you ask me the whole thing feels like a PR stunt. I mean, previous years never had this many mutants invited and it looks like captain America wants the fact that they’re even here broadcast pretty well. It’s good press, subtle” Jen smiled a little cynically.

“But like, Cyclops and all his team won’t be here, right?”

Jen looked at Darla flatly “Considering he’s on the run from the law and labeled a terrorist, I’m pretty sure he won’t be, no”

Darla winced “Ok, stupid question. But you know I’m new in this whole ‘super’ world, so I don’t know who’s been evil or who’s been married to who, so cut me some slack. It’s actually a lot more confusing to people who aren’t in your little circle” she jerked her thumb over at Scott “Like I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he was dead and then wasn’t and didn’t know it”

Even Scott gave a little nod of understanding.

And then they were in front of the cameras.

“She-Hulk! Look this way!”

“Turn to your left a little!”

“Who are you wearing!?”

Scott, Jen, Darla and Medusa all stood together in front of the mob of them, with Scott putting on a valiant if not awkward smile, while Darla didn’t seem phased by the cameras at all, even blowing a kiss. Jen was a bit more sub-dued but she stood confidently in the middle, arms bringing in her team members, while Medusa had more of a forced polite smile.

“Hey, red-haired lady, take a step closer to the group, would ya?”

Medusa looked aghast at one balding photographer.

“How did he address me?! Red haired lady?” she said in shock.

It was bad enough she didn’t get bowed too before entering a room, but to not even be formally adressed? The nerve.

“Ignore it, Ignore it-” Jen tried to mutter quickly, but Medusa’s hair had already snaked it’s way to the mans camera, crushing it in his hands.

“Hey!” He cried out, as Medusa strode away down the rest of the red carpet and straight in through the main doors. The now camera-less man looked like he wanted to shout after her, but as soon as he was distracted, he was practically pushed out of the way of rivaling photographers. Paparazzi are a ruthless bunch.

“Um, maybe we should move on-” Scott started to say, right as he noticed one of the photographers waving an arm at him.

“Hey, buddy, can we get some solo shots of the girls?”

“Yeah, just the ladies for the next ones!” another added, a bit more rudely.

Another of their buddies looked worried “Man, did you just tell Hank Pym to ‘move along’?!”

“Pfft, that’s not Hank Pym, idiot, that’s the other ant man!”

“Ooooh, ok then” the other said, not looking concerned anymore.

Scott glared fatly before moving along the carpet.

Scott stood off to the side to wait for them as Jen had her turn in front of the cameras, in her long black halterneck dress. She did a little turn to showcase that it was backless. He remembered her mentioning it costing a fortune this morning, and that she really needed to stop buying black dresses, but what else went so well with green?

Then there was Darla, also in a designer dress, though hers was a lot more…unique. It was strapless, with a bustier styled top and a short hem line, but the color was a bright fluorescent blue, and it looked like it was some kind of holographic plastic material. She’d also paired it with hot pink heels. Hours earlier back at home,when he had been sitting in the living room with the kids waiting for the girls to finish getting ready, Darla had emerged from her room to ask what everyone thought.

The first thing to spring to Scott’s mind was that it was ridiculous and he will never, ever, understand the world of fashion.

And then the second thought had been that she looked very, very, good in it.

Of course, he didn’t have a chance to say anything, as she’d been flanked by the kids eagerly shouting that she looked like some sort of space princess, with Onome asking if she could get her own dress made out of the same weird material and then Bentley asking her how strapless dresses could even stay up, followed by Dragon man giving him a lecture about ‘appropriate things to ask women’.

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The team of them eventually made it into the lobby of the building, where Medusa was already waiting by the elevators, and a row of waiters with trays of champagne glasses were waiting.

“Don’t mind if I do” Jen smiled as she took one, passing one to Darla as well.

“Medusa, you missed out on the individual shots!” Darla said as she took the drink.

“And why should I care about that?”

“Because now you won’t have much of a chance of being featured on any ‘best dressed’ segments of this weeks magazines” she explained, like everyone just knew the reason solo shots were of vast importance.

Medusa gave the look of a woman who truly didn’t care

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“Heey guuuuys!!” was he first thing the four heard as they stepped out of the elevator and into the top floor of Stark tower.

Janet Van Dyne sashayed through the crowd as she spotted them, wearing a black and gold satin dress of her own design, her arms immediately pulling in Jen for a close hug. Her own glass of champagne looked near empty in her hand.

“So good to have the Fantastic Four arrive” she laughed as the two exchanged air kisses.

“Urgh, tell me no ones making jokes already. We’re already the laughing stock of the papers”

Janet waved her hand “Forget the papers. You’re She-Hulk, and nearly everyone here has fought alongside you. They wouldn’t dare laugh, and you’re fab, so hush”

She turned around “And good to see you too Scott”

“Yeah, yeah. Good to have you back” he said.

"I could say the same to you!"

They shared a little laugh.

Only in Avengers tower could you have an inside joke about dying in the same tragic accident and returning to life again.

Jan turned to Medusa, and surprisingly, did a little semi-curtsy “You’re majesty. Janet Van Dyne, may I say you’re dress looks stunning”

Janet may have been saying the ‘you’re majesty’ thing a little tongue in cheek, but either way, Medusa seemed to perk up a little over it, a smile emerging on her face.

“Why thank you” She said, regally.

Darla smiled eagerly in the greeting lineup, still not over meeting any of the super hero’s she came across.

“And, um, wow! Darla Deering! ‘The popstar'” Jan laughed as she said it “I don't really listen to the radio these days, but I read about you in the glossies. You're the one who wore that dress made out of cotton candy to the last music video awards, weren't you?”

“Haha, yeah, that’s me” Darla laughed along as well, despite feeling a little intimidtaed.

Jan was a famous designer, and probably didn't use that much cotton candy in her couture shows...

Plus maybe it was just her own insecurities creeping in, but that laugh sounded awfully dismissive. And the way she said it. ‘the popstar’.

“Well, welcome to the party! I know the others are all scattered around, so go mingle. I’m off to top myself off” Janet smiled as she held up her class “Tony really splashed out for the good stuff this year, I’m not wasting a drop”

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"-And here's Will wearing a shower cap he grabbed from Greer's bathroom. I just walked in, had the thing on his head" Hank Pym laughed as he slid across the photos on his phone, with Scott looking at them politely.

"Yeah, he's adorable"

"And this is him napping on the couch, and heres us all out at some park, and-oh-crap, no, that...ignore that last one. That one was...um, ..yeah"

Hank quickly took back the phone as Scott blinked, registering that he just saw a very inappropriate picture of Greer Grant.

Hank gave a little cough "So, uh, what have you been up too? Hows the team?"

"Good, good" Scott said quickly "It's, uh....functioning. Somewhat"

Hank didn't even have to say anything. He just gave Scott a look over that tone of voice.

"No, honestly, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, I'm still adjusting to, you know, 'leadership' and not everyone on the team is what you'd call a seasoned superhero"

"Oh, yeah, the pop star!" Hank clicked his fingers "I was meaning to ask how the hell that happened"

"Well, in a brief word, Johnny. It's kind of hard to explain, exactly-"

" So it’s true Johnny only picked her as a replacement because he forgot to choose anyone else?” Hank asked with a raised eyebrow.

Scott winced "Is that what everyones been saying?"

"So it isn't true?"

"I....ok, yes, technically that is true, but that sounds harsh....she's good. She's nice. And she can throw down pretty well in a thing suit"

The two of them glanced over at Darla as she milled about the buffet table, looking a little lost.

"I hope people haven't made up their minds over her already. She’s doing really well on the team, considering” he added quickly, feeling the need to defend his team mate.

“Yeah, I’m sure she is” Hank nodded.

Scott was sure Hank was trying to sound convinced, but he was doing a lousy job of it. There was a brief silence.

“….and is she the one who made that music video where she’s dressed in the pink latex dress, with the cat ears and the tail, and she does that dance with like her hands as paws or something?” Hank asked, awkwardly doing his own rendition of the ‘hand-paws’ dance.

Scott stared at him.

“I…was not aware of this video”

“I think the song was called ‘Pretty Kitty’ but I’m not sure. It was pretty good actually. Catchy”

Scott was still giving him a look.

“What? I run a school full of teenagers, I’m hip. I know what’s happening on the MTV”

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“-and for, like, the longest time I thought your name was actually Hawkguy instead of Hawkeye” Darla laughed as Clint Barton looked mildly amused as he talked too her. The girl next to him, Kate Bishop, managed a smile too.

“And you really don’t have any powers either?” He asked.

“No, none, just the thing suit”

Clint sidled closer to her “Well, that’s still pretty impressive of you. Takes guts. I respect that”

Darla quirked her head “But you don’t have any powers either, do you?”

“True, but my bow skills have been called super human, so-”

“Oh, shut-up” Kate muttered, rolling her eyes.

“No, but seriously, it’s good to have some other non-supers out there, even if there are a few of us were still out numbered by all these aliens, and mutants and…people who…do magic, or whatever”

“Like Tony Stark” Darla added, naming the biggest ‘non-super’ she knew “I guess I’m kind of like Tony Stark, because I get my powers from a fancy suit as well and…um,…actually, no, I’m not really like Tony Stark at all. I don’t know why I said that” she trailed off, both of the archers looking at her a little flatly.

Then Clint put an arm around her shoulders “So would you say you and Johnny were pretty serious before he left, or…?”

“Oh my god, I can’t take you anywhere” Kate sighed, pulling Clint away towards the buffet table before Darla could even reply.

She stood there awkwardly on her own for a few seconds before pretending to look at a piece of artwork behind her, casually sipping her Drink.

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Medusa was skilled at working a room. You had to be when you were a queen, greeting everyone and making polite conversation, keeping relations tight, even if you felt like finding the comfiest seat in the room and stealing it for yourself for the next five hours. Being a Queen had perks but it still didn’t stop a pair of heels hurting like hell.

She’d just had a lovely conversation with Thor about what it was like to have your entire kingdom moved and floating above an American state, and before that had spent quite a bit of time explaining how tiring it is to deal with your husband’s other wives with Janet, once she’d caught up with her again, but now she found herself trying to discreetly step behind one of the ornate ice sculptures featured in the room.

Pietro Maximoff was walking by with a boy that looked uncannily like him.

For a second Medusa had the mad idea that maybe he’d had another child, but no that was clearly stupid as the boy was already a teenager, and when she thought about it she remembered some ridiculously confusing explanation about Wanda Maximoff and the kids she wished into existence, or something like that. It was hard to keep up with.

“Um, are you alright there, you’re majesty?”

Medusa whipped around to see Captain Britain and his wife, Meggan, standing there giving her cautious looks.

“Oh, fine. I’m fine” Medusa ran a hand through her immense hair, hoping to look casual “Just….admiring the sculpture. Very beautiful-”

Of course, she hadn’t actually looked at the sculpture at all, and now that she did, it was a giant one of Hulk violently smashing a Skrull ship in two.

Meggan blinked “Ah, yes, very…ornate”

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“Oooh, this one is so cute” Wanda gushed as she flipped through Jennifer’s I-phone pictures.

“Let me see” Carol instructed, commandeering the phone.

It was a photo of all the FF kids fast asleep on the couches, bundled up next to each other, and in Bentley’s case, laying flat on his stomach on the carpet.

This is what happened when your friends started having kids. Endless pictures of them sleeping and/or dressed in something cute/cringe inducing.

“I think this was the day they learnt how to successfully split an atom. It took them all day, they were all so exhausted” Jenn laughed, taking her phone back “Oh, and this is one of them in their bio-molecular science class”

Janet, Natasha and Carol all gushed “Aw, they have little lab coats!”

“Well, I have pics of my one with a plate of spaghetti on her head” Jessica Jones added, dryly.

“So the kids are growing on you, hm?” Carol asked.

Jen sighed “A lot more than I thought they would”

“And is that little sigh an indication that you might be ready to have your own any time soon?” Natasha smiled slyly, and Jen almost choked on her drink.

“No! Where the hell did that come from?” She laughed.

“Oh, I dunno, maybe just this picture of you and Wyatt Wingfoot looking awfully close” she said, with Carol flashing the I-phone up to reveal the picture of her and Wyatt out together on their ‘date that wasn’t a date’ night.

“Hey, don’t sneak around on my phone!” Jen tried to sound at least a little offended at her friends as she grabbed the phone back.

Natasha shrugged as she sipped her drink “If you didn’t want us seeing it, maybe hide it better next time”

Jen gave her a look “It was in a folder under ‘case revision’”

“And I’m a world class super spy. Hide it better next time”

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God don’t come over here, please don’t come over here, I am praying for you to not come over here-Scott thought, as he turned and ducked his head down to check the time on his imaginary watch.

“Scott!”

Damn.

“Heeeey, Danny! Luke” Scott put on a wide smile as his former Heroes for hire team mates strutted over to him.

“Long time no see” Danny smiled.

“Yeah man, how ya’ been since we last spoke? God, it feels likes ages” Luke asked.

Yeah, not since I’d been dating Jessica Jones myself and then she left me because she mentioned she was pregnant with your child , then my best friend died, then I died, then I came back to life, and then my daughter died. It has been awhile Luke, you’re right. Where did the time go?

Not that Scott was a little bitter or anything, but that kind of schedule doesn’t leave you much time to catch up with old friends on facebook.

“Yeah, I’ve been good” Scott smiled, showing a little too much teeth.

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Darla felt lost. What was wrong with her? She was usually so great at parties! But here she was just wandering through the crowd pretending she was heading somewhere, when really, the last place she’d headed had been the bathroom. She’d accidentally run into someone too, and it might have been spider woman, but she’d apologized and ducked into the stall before she could ask. Urgh. Tragic.

But what could she do? Just walk up to Thor like ‘Hey, so you're a god? How’s that working out for ya’?’.

She could see Jen seated on some of the couches with a posse of her girlfriends, all chatting and laughing. You can’t just welcome yourself into a girl posse, that’s not how it worked. This rule had been established since high school.

The last she’d seen of Medusa, she’d looked like she was in a hurry to make it across the other side of the room, and she hadn’t even noticed when Darla had tried to flag her down.

She wanted to find Scott. He was probably off with his own friends, talking about…sciencey-space things, or whatever. But she was sure she could just stand there and nod along like she knew what they were talking about.

Wandering out to the balcony area, where there were still quite a few people, so she had to crane her neck to try and see Sco- and hold up, is that a red she-hulk?

Darla had no idea there was a red she-hulk?! She wondered if she was Jen’s sister or something?

And once again, her inability to look where she was going shining through, Darla felt her heel step on something.

She heard someone give a small gasp of pain and she snapped to attention, quickly seeing Tony Stark seated on a pool recliner, his feet unfortunately stretched out in front of him.

“Ohmygosh I am sooo sorry Mr. Stark. Iron man. Sir!” Darla instantly apologized, not sure how she should even address the man.

Luckily he seemed to laugh It off “Tony’s fine, and don’t worry about it, you’re…Darla, is it?”

Iron man knew her name.

“Ha, yeah, Hi” she stuck out her hand to shake, laughing nervously.

“You’re having a good time?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah, the best!” Darla lied through her teeth.

“Good to hear” he gestured over the glass balcony to the lit up high rise buildings, a perfect view of the new york night “How do you like the view?”

“Oh, it’s amazing” Darla answered, honestly this time “I thought the Baxter building was high up, but this is just something else”

At that moment, she felt someone shuffle behind her.

“These caterers you got for the night are great, Tony. Have you tried these little toast things with tomato and onion on them? I don’t even know how something like that could taste so amazing”

“It’s called bruschetta, Steve”

Darla stared as the Captain America took a seat next to Tony, a napkin full of mini-bruschettas in his hands.

Here she was, with the both of them, just casually.

It took a lot of will power not to freak out right now.

She hadn’t even been this star-struk since she met Lady Gaga on the Grammy’s red carpet.

“Oh, and here’s your drink. You’re fetching the next round” Steve handed Tony a drink, before giving a brief nod to Darla “And sorry, I’m being rude, aren’t I? I’m Steve, nice to meet you”

Yeah, right, like he needed to introduce himself.

“This is Darla Deering, the singer” Tony introduced. Steve smiled but looked a little blank.

“Oh, right”

Tony turned to Darla “Sorry, you’ll have to forgive him, I think the last bit of popular music he paid attention to was Elvis Presley”

Darla laughed and Steve looked mildly irked. Tony Stark knew who she was, and he knew about her music too. God this was so cool. She needed to say something cool, to make up for the foot thing.

“So, what are you drinking tonight?” she smiled her most charming smile.

Then she noticed Steve’s face fall a little, and Tony’s smile tighten.

“Ah, Lemonade, actually. Recovering alcoholic”

Darla blinked.

Oh….right.

Awkward.

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Scott had finally broken free of Danny and Luke, heading back inside, but not before he had to see a dozen picture of Danielle Cage, sleeping. naturally. Then he heard about the ups and downs of Danny and Misty Knights relationship, been quizzed on his own non-existent love life, which lead to the lovely conclusion that, yes, he had not been laid in at least a couple of years.

Catching up with old friends is great.

“Scott!”

Scott turned to see Medusa appear right behind him, people shifting out of the way of her massive hair.

“Is he looking? Tell me if he is, just check for me, but don’t make it obvious” she said quickly.

Scott frowned as he peered over Medusa’s shoulder.

“Who are you talking about? Wolverine? Because he’d pretty busy impaling shrimp cocktails at the buffet-”

“No, not wolverine! Pietro! QuickSilver, is he looking my way?”

Scott looked again , more subtly this time.

“Yes, he’s definitely looking. He’s with his sister though”

Medusa rubbed her hand to her temple “honestly, it didn’t even cross my mind to think he’d be here, but obviously he would, wouldn’t he?”

Scott looked sympathetic “Are things still bad between him and Crystal”

“Oh, who knows with those two, they get back together every other month, I can’t keep up. I just know I haven’t talked to him since the arranged marriage between Crystal and Ronan the accuser, and you can bet he probably has something to say about it, or suddenly wants her back again, or something along those lines”

Scott nodded along, like he really knew all about the troubles of arranged royal marriages.

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Jen had moved along to the bar, still chatting with Carol and Janet, as they took advantage of the open bar by ordering fruit cocktails.

Thanks to Tony’s sense of humor, they all had silly themed ones for the night. Janet had gone with a ‘Spider-man’, which was cherry and raspberry liqueur, and tequila with a few pop rocks added to it. Carol had gone with an ‘Iron man’ which was scotch, orange juice, grenadine and drambui, with a little orange slice mixed in. She said it was pretty much a mix between a Tequila Sunrise and a rusty nail. Of course, Jen had gone with ‘the hulk’ which was Midori, one part absinth, and mountain dew. It wasn’t even that nice, but it was alcoholic, and was named after her, so she wasn’t too fussy. It made a great instagram picture.

None of them were brave enough to try ‘the Wolverine’ which was described as a beer with a shot of lemon rum, and you had to down it before your healing factor could reject it.

And of course, as pretty everyone had arrived, and they were now sufficiently drunk, all three of the women had turned to critiquing guests outfits.

“Oh my god, I wish I could pull off a bustier dress like Natasha could. Did you see her earlier?! God, it makes me want to get a boob job!” Janet twirled around on her bar stool.

“No, you’re gorgeous!” Carol slurred “no, no, babe, seriously. Don’t do it, you’re already soo beautiful”

“And we don’t need another Emma Frost strutting around these parties” Jen said “Was anyone else glad she’s off being a criminal this year? Really, I can’t…I can’t even focus when she’s just got them out like that, and I’m a straight woman! They’re just that distracting. Like bam, there they are, hello breasts”

“Talking about distracting” Janet leant over to whisper closer “What is Darla’s dress exactly? The blue with the pink? Does she get her fashion tips from a crayola box, or..?” she laughed, tipsy, and Jen had to cover her mouth.

“Oh my god, Janet, don’t be a bitch!” She slapped her friend on the arm lightly, even though she had to stop herself from giggling.

“Sorry, sorry, but you were thinking it!”

“She’s a pop star!” Carol waved off “They all dress like that these days”

“Yeah! It’s just her thing, you mean Anna Wintour wannabe” Jen tried to defend her a little, before brining her friends in closer “And you know what, keeping this between us three, I think a certain someone seems to like her ‘thing’ if you know what I mean?” Jen gave Carol a very lop-sided wink.

“God, you’re drunk”

“Carol! I’m trying to gossip! And its juicy!”

“Yeah, shut up Carol!” Janet hushed at her, listening intently “Who is it? Did you see her talking to someone tonight? I totally saw Clint out an arm around her earlier”

“No, I’m talking about the most obvious person, you genius” Jen nodded her head subtly behind her to where they could see Scott talking to Medusa across the room.

Janet gasped “No!”

“Is he really?!” Carol smiled.

Jen threw up her hands “Don’t get ahead of yourselves, but I’m telling you, I am getting some major vibes off of the both of them. Hulk’s intuition”

“But he’s so much older” Janet pulled a face.

“Hank was older than you when you two got married?”

“Yes, and we all know that turned out so well, Carol”

“I mean, I might be reading too much into it, It’ll probably never happen, but he just thinks I don’t notice his little sneaky stares when she walks past in her little tight yoga pants” Jen said with a sly smile.

“Yeah, he probably just appreciates having a twenty-something in the same living space as him” Carol smirked “Most guys do. It doesn’t always mean anything, Jen”

“And lets be honest, I like Scott and he’s a nice guy, but going from Johnny Storm to the middle aged, ex-con Ant-man with more than his share of emotional issues right now, is a little bit of a trade down” Janet shrugged innocently “Just sayin’”

Carol quirked her head “I dunno, I never thought Johnny was that hot anyway…pun not intended”

Janet stared like she was offended “Oh, don’t tell me you wouldn’t if you had the chance!”

Jen raised an eyebrow “And you would?”

“In a heart beat”

“Janet, you cougar” Carol laughed.

Janet made a little meow sound.

Jen went for the almost finished drink in her hand “Aaaand that’s enough Iron Man’s for the Wasp”

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It was nearing the end of the evening, or at least the time the party just started to wind down, at around 3am.

Janet was being partially supported by Alex Summers, as they left with the rest of the Uncanny Avengers in tow, Wanda carrying her red heels in her hands, Simon with his tie left un-done.

Scott sat on one of the now vacant couches, Medusa next to him, looking unbelievably bored.

"Theeeeere you guys are" Darla said as she wandered over to them, a half drunk 'She hulk' cocktail in her hand "I have been....looking for you everywhere. I was talking to some x-people and this girl just kept showing me pictures of her little baby" Darla giggled as she plonked herself down next to Scott on the couch. He held out an arm to steady her, smiling a little.

"She's drunk" Medusa muttered under her breath.

"I'm sure she's just tipsy" Scott said.

"They didn't have...Ant-Man cocktails! Well, they did, but they were not...you Ant-Man cocktails. I asked the bar guy and he was like 'Sorry, Maaaam, we only...we only do the one kind of Ant-Man drink, and I was like? Whaaaaaat?"

"....Ok, maybe your a little more than tipsy" Scott let Darla's head fall on his shoulders “Is Jen ready yet?” he said, peering around the room, careful not to jostle Darla.

“Mm, she said she still needed to say goodbye to some more people” Medusa answered, yawning.

They watched the still energetic Jen laughing and hugging her friends good bye.

“I didn’t even get through one conversation without embarrassing myself” Darla mumbled, eyes still closed.

“I’m sure you weren’t that bad” said Medusa.

“Yeah, didn’t you talk to Dazzler?”

Darla eye’s immediately snapped open as she looked up at Scott “Dazzler was here?!”

“What, you didn’t know? She left early, but she was here for a couple of hours at least-” Scott explained but Darla just let out a little whimper as she thwumped down on his shoulder again.

“No, I definitely did not know Dazzler was here! Aw man, now I’m really over this night…” she trailed off, very aware that she was sulking “Seriously, warn a girl when a retro pop legend enters the building…this is....this is sooo...urmph”

“I’m sure they’ll be a next time when you can meet her” Medusa assured her.

“And honestly I thought you’d be used to meeting other famous singers, I didn’t think Dazzler would be a big deal” Scott shrugged.

“Yeah, like J.Lo can project her own magic lighting effects”

“True”

The three sat their in comfortable silence for another few minutes, before a group of the younger guests approached them.

Scott was the first to notice Billy, Tommy, Eli and Kate, and some other kids he didn't really know as well, making their way over to them. His daughters old friends.

For a second he hoped they weren’t going to bring up any painful conversations about Cassie, because lord knows one thing he’d appreciated about this night was how everyone was doing a great job of being polite and ignoring the cliché ‘'I’m sorry for your loss’ speeches, but then he noticed they were probably smiling too much for that.

“Hey, guys” he said first.

“Um, Hi” Billy smiled.

“Hi, Mr. Lang” Eli said, more formally.

Darla blinked her eyes open and sat up as she realized an actual conversation was happening. Then she noticed four sets of eyes on her.

“Hello?” she smiled, surprised.

“These are the young avengers” Scott explained before she had to ask.

“Oh, cooooool. I’m Darla, nice to meet you!”

Eli let out a bit of a nervous laugh “Ha, yeah, we know”

Billy shot him a look and Eli shut up.

“Urgh, are either of you guys gonna ask or are you just going to stare?” Kate gestured impatiently “Fine, I’ll do it. These guys want a picture with you, if that’s not too much trouble” she smiled at Darla.

“And, like, maybe sign a napkin for me too, if that’s cool?” Billy added quickly.

Darla lit up “Yes! Sure!”

She stood up quickly and shuffled over to stand beside them.

If she had been more sober she might have just posed nicely in the centre of the picture.

But three cocktails had changed that.

She throw both arms around Billy's shoulders and pulled him in for a hug, with Billy looking stoked as Kate snapped the picture.

"Everyone in, everyone in!" Darla called, and the teengers crowded in to pose.

"Ok, sexy one first" Darla pouted, running a hand through her hair.

The young Avngers had of course not been allowed to drink, thanks to the watchful eye of several mentors, but that didn't stop them from joining in the increasingly silly photo shoot.

Scott offered to take the photos, so Kate could be in the pictures too. They posed and hugged, threw up peace signs, stuck out tongues, even did some 'superhero posing' with each of them getting seperate shots as well, and instagram uploads too of course.

"It's already got, two hundred and fifty likes!" Darla flashed them her phone screen, her fans going crazy over the shared snaps.

“Thankyou so much” Billy gushed as he flipped through the photo’s on Kate’s camera “Teddy is going to be so pissed he didn’t come tonight, he loves you too”

“I am tweeting about this right now, hashtag #bestnightever” Tommy tapped away on his phone as they all left towards the elevators, waving goodbye.

“Seeya!” Darla smiled, waving back.

Scott smiled at the complete three sixty Darla’s mood had just done, as she know looked energetic enough to pose for another three hours worth of photo’s. He was glad to see her night saved.

Eventually Jen drifted back over to them, and they took the opportunity to leg it to the elevators, before she could start another round of long goodbyes.

“Ok, I bet myself twenty bucks I’m going to have a hangover headache tomorrow” Jen smiled as scott pushed the down button.

“That’s a safe bet” Scott said as the Elevator dinged and the door’s slid open.

“Yeah, stupid Jennifer, losing her money to me like a chump, ha!”

Darla laughed and leant over to Scott and Medusa “Drunk She-Hulk is fun” and even Medusa cracked a smile at the hypocrisy, just as Jen started mumbling along to the O-Jays ‘for the love of money’ as she stepped into the elevator ahead of them, with Darla joining in the chorus.

Just then, there was the sound of rushing air, and a clunk as the Elevator doors stopped. Darla gave an involuntary shriek and even Scott jumped backwards as Pietro suddenly appeared right in front of them. Jen, with a bit of a slow reaction time, just stared, bug eyed.

Darla clutched at her chest “Oh god, where the hell did he-”

“Super speed. He does it all the time. It’s never not annoying” Scott explained, glaring a little.

Medusa stayed silent, but it was her Pietro was looking at.

“Sorry, but…I just wanted to talk. Just quickly” He said solemnly.

Medusa crossed her arms, her expression hardening, but she looked him up and down. He seemed calm, his temper in check.

“Very well then”

As he opened his mouth, Jen called out behind him “Oh, I get it! He wants to talk quickly” she barely managed to finish her sentence before dissolving into a silent fit of laughter. Scott and Darla were still watching from the sidelines.

Pietro and Medusa paused.

“Maybe we could talk more privately?”

“Yes, maybe we should”

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Medusa was prepared as they wandered back out into an empty corner of the room. Prepared for him to raise his voice and his frustrations about his failed marriage, or for him to outright yell over Crystal’s new marriage to Ronan. Wether he wanted her back or not, either way she was sure he’d find a way to be angered by it.

“So, no doubt you know about Crystal’s new husband?”

“Mm” He replied, and Medusa could see him clench his jaw just slightly.

“And before we get any further in this conversation, I want you to know now that I have no plans to arrange a meeting between you and Crystal. If you want to talk to her, you are to contact her yourself. I’m not your message carrier”

“Fair enough” Pietro looked irritated, but he managed to keep his voice calm enough “But this isn’t about Crystal, well, it is a bit, but not so much…really”

Medusa raised an eyebrow at Pietro stumbling over his words.

“It’s just…it’s about Luna. I heard you’re looking after her now, at the Baxter building?” He asked, his voice softer than she was used to hearing it.

Medusa can’t say it didn’t change her own tone.

“Yes, she is. Why?”

“I..was just wondering if I could see her more. Maybe spend an afternoon with her, every now and then”

Medusa felt prepared for yelling, or a tense argument, yes. But she was not as prepared for the awkward shifting he did with his feet, or the slightly sad look in his eyes.

“You know you’re not exactly in the King’s favor….or any of our favors, currently”

“Yes, that’s been made pretty obvious” Pietro snapped “I know i’m exactly welcome in Attilan, but I just thought they now Luna is living in New York, I would have a chance to see my own daughter”

There was a tense silence between them.

“I’ll see. I will have to talk to Crystal about this, but…we’ll see”

Pietro looked like he wanted to say more, but Medusa’s gave him a look that said they were done.

“Right. Thank you” he said, without much warmth. And without another word, just the familiar gust of air that hit you whenever he dashed off, he was gone.

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The group stumbled back into the Baxter building at around 4 in the morning, trying to be as quiet as they could.

Medusa hadn’t talked much about what happened between her and Pietro, and the others didn’t push it. Jen was too tipsy to care, same for Darla, plus Scott just new how to respect boundaries.

When they all reached the living room, there was a light left on for them, and they could see Dragon man sitting on the sofa reading a book, while Ahura was stretched out sleeping on the other couch.

“Evening” Dragon man said, placing his book down.

“Why are you still up? Has something happened?” Scott said, instantly worried.

“What? No. I just wanted to stay up for you, just in case. I always worry about these parties, all those super heroes in one room together. It just seems the perfect time for some alien overlord to attack”

“Ah…right”

Medusa nodded down at her son “And why is he not in bed?”

“Ah, sorry your highness, but he insisted on waiting up for you with me. Wouldn’t take no for an answer, although he drifted off hours ago anyway” he smiled as Ahura stirred from the sounds of their voices.

“Mmm, mother?” he mumbled,eyes blinking open.

“Come on, up you get. Time to get to your own room” Medusa tutted softly, and the boy was so tired, he got up without and word and followed her.

Darla yawned for what felt like the fiftieth time since she’d gotten in the car “Bed sounds good”

She said her good nights and headed down to her room, stumbling a little, while Jen stayed behind in the kitchen to get herself a glass of water.

“You going to be able to make it to your room ok, Jen?” Scott smiled wryly, as Jen managed to spill have the pitcher of water over the counter before getting half a glass full.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine” she said, managing to slosh most of what she just got in the glass on the floor as she gestured wildly with her arm.

“…Right”

Scott headed down the hall with Jen following close behind him. He thought he heard a small muffled laugh from her.

“Yeah, like i’m the one you want to be helping to bed…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing!” Jen smiled innocently.