Fresh Start
Ren was finally back in her apartment in Brooklyn. It’d been a long day, and she was more than ready to shower and fall into bed. In the bathroom, she examined herself in the mirror. Things looked the same as ever - black hair mussed up, the piercings climbing her right ear were caked with blood and soot, her grey henley’s sleeves were almost entirely burnt off and her black jeans hadn’t fared much better. She’d lost her leather jacket at some point but couldn’t bother to remember when.
But her eyes, they looked exhausted of course, but they also looked alive. More than they had for over a year.
An Avenger , that was the offer. Freelance, but able to work with the rest of the team. Ren had anticipated spending the rest of her life trying to ignore her abilities, thought she wanted to. Now she wasn’t too sure. Here was an opportunity to do something good, to save people. Johnny would’ve said yes.
Deep in thought she took out her earrings and wandered into the shower. As the grime of the battle washed away and down the drain, she continued to think about it. Saving that kid, fighting with Loki, meeting Captain America, meeting the rest of the team. For those brief minutes on top of the tower they had felt like… she wasn’t sure. Clearly, she’d missed some teambuilding exercises. But that hadn’t stopped the Captain from working with her, or the woman in black from welcoming her to the group, or Tony freaking Stark from giving her his personal number and an open invitation. Realistically she knew it was because her abilities could be invaluable, but a part of her still felt warm at the idea of working with them.
She supposed that was her answer.
…
“Took you longer than I thought it would.” Stark had said by way of greeting when she finally called him.
The plans were laid out pretty quickly, she was given a plane ticket to D.C. where she would properly meet the rest of the team. There they would iron out the details of the team, and their legal authority to operate. He’d mentioned some light testing to figure out her abilities and where they all fit together. Now she stood in front of a massive S.H.I.E.L.D. building, Tony had called it the Triskelion. As much as being there made her skin crawl there wasn’t another choice, as Stark Tower was currently being repaired and remodeled.
He was leaning against a dark red sports car, looking more casual than she’d ever seen him on TV. No suit - metal or otherwise - just jeans and a T-shirt. He was shorter than she remembered.
In contrast, she was far more put together than the last time they’d met. Her clothes were all intact, ripped jeans and black boots plus a red top and an oversized leather jacket (one of her backups).
“It was a big decision,” She responded, “Plus, I had to think up a superhero name,”
They walked through the doors together, “Come up with anything good?”
“Nope,”
“Well, that’s why it's my job,” The guards at the front nodded at them as they walked toward the elevator, “Speaking of my jobs, I’ve had some ideas regarding the costume,”
“What costume?”
He pressed the button for the 23rd floor, “Exactly. As much as you rocked that grungy-post-battle look, I figured you might want some clothes that wouldn’t burn up,”
“Honestly, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,”
The elevator opened up, and they exited into a sleek and window-filled hallway. The room they entered was just as open, with a gorgeous view of the capital. But she felt like all the air had been sucked out as she once again came face to face with Nick Fury. Actually, he was at the far end of the massive table where the other Avengers were seated. But it felt like his presence took up the entire room.
“Fire girl!” Captain America exclaimed.
Stark turned to look at her, “Since when were you and Rogers friends? I thought you were mine,”
It felt weird to hear someone call Captain America by his real name, but she supposed it made more sense.
“Oh come on, can’t I have her?” The redheaded butted in.
“No,” Finally a familiar, and welcome, voice, “Technically I had her first,” Bruce told them, “But I think we should let Ren choose,”
She grinned, this team was already growing on her, “Can’t I have all of you?”
A hand smacked the table, making a few of them jump. “I concur!” said the other blond guy - the archer.
“In that case, introductions. You’ve already met the Capsicle, Steve Rogers, and apparently, you and Bruce know each other too. Natasha is our lovely little assassin, also known as Black Widow, and Clint likes to shoot arrows at things. Thor, guy with the hammer, is currently locking up his psycho brother on their home planet,”
“Home planet?”
"Oh didn’t you know? They’re aliens, gods according to legend, live in a place called ‘Asgard’,”
Well, that was news. Yeah, she’d watched aliens invade Manhattan, but they had looked like aliens. “Huh,”
…
A few hours later they’d come to an agreement. The Avengers would function as an independent team with light supervision from S.H.I.E.L.D.. Except for Clint, Natasha, and Steve, who were still working for the agency. For now, it seemed like The Avengers were a group that would only occasionally meet for important missions. Ren was a little disappointed. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting but it had been a little more… team-like.
But when Bruce pulled her aside after the meeting she was excited to hear his offer.
“Hey, Ren!”
“Bruce! I’m so sorry I didn’t stay and talk to you after… you know,”
It was a lame excuse, but she had really regretted not sticking around to catch up with her friend. Lucky for her, Bruce was nothing if not understanding,
“I get it, I know you’re not S.H.I.E.L.D.’s biggest fan. Anyway, it’s not like I was really myself,” He seemed a little bashful at that last bit, as he always was when the Hulk was mentioned.
She chuckled to lighten the mood before he continued, “The reason I wanted to talk to you though, is about your abilities,” He paused and she nodded for him to continue, “If you really want to do this you’re gonna need to train. While there isn’t a good place for that in Brooklyn, Tony thinks he might be able to set something up in the tower. We were also working on a flameproof fabric, it should be ready before they need us again,”
“Stark mentioned something about the costume, it’s good to know that someone competent is working on it too. Hopefully, you’ll make sure it isn’t too skimpy,” She laughed.
He laughed too, “Go easy on Tony. He might be a bit, much, but he’s not that bad. Not to mention the guy is a genius. He showed me around his lab the other day, the place was amazing,”
“Nice to know you’re still a nerd Bruce, I’m glad you’ve got another science guy to geek out with,”
He gave her a long-suffering sigh, “Yeah, Clint has already deemed us the ‘Science Bros’,” He used heavy finger quotes on the nickname.
“Yep,” Said a voice from behind, Clint and Natasha were walking out together, “and it’s sticking!”