Thunderstruck

After about a week on fluids and being almost force-fed as much food as humanly possible, both Rosie and Olivia were not only looking better, but Rosie had mostly regained her strength. Lexi had stayed in the tower, not wanting to be away from her sister and knowing it would probably make her feel better if Lexi was there for her amongst so many strange doctors and people poking and prodding at her. Kimberly hadn't been overly happy about how long she was away from home for, but despite her reluctance, she'd come to the tower for a few hours a few times. Lexi couldn't help but get a little bit of amusement out of seeing her parents in the same room for more than a few minutes at a time. It was not a sight she got to see very often.

Bobby had mostly stuck around, too. He had spent the first night, but after that they agreed it was best not to push their luck with their parents. But he'd been back as often as he could, which she appreciated.

It was most obvious how Rosie was recovering, at least to Lexi. She’d gotten her strength back for the most part, and there was colour in her face again. She stopped being as freaked out by anyone, but especially anyone in a lab coat, who came into her room. Those first few days had been so bad in this regard that Lexi actually started making everyone leave their lab coats outside of Rosie’s room so they wouldn’t scare her.

As for Olivia, it wasn’t as obvious to Lexi how she was recovering, at least in comparison to the girl she would have been. One thing she had noticed was, as the days passed, she began to relax around a select few of the people coming in and out of her room regularly. When she had first reunited with Josh, Lexi had seen a real emotion on her face that wasn’t terror for the first time. Afterwards, Lexi had learned from Josh that Olivia’s memory was missing more than a few pieces but it seemed she remembered enough that she knew Josh was safe.

When it became clear the two girls were acclimating back to life outside captivity and Rosie was actually able to walk again, no longer looking as frail and tiny as she originally did, a plan began to formulate in Lexi's mind. She'd shared it with Bobby first, of course, and he'd agreed it was a good idea. Then, with his encouragement, she'd gone to her father and — between conversations with Josh Bowman about him paying to fix up a house which would keep both him and his niece safe — Tony had agreed that not only was it a good idea, but he would also help make it work.

It was around ten o'clock, exactly five days to the hour from when she got the call they had found Rosie when Lexi made her way to the medical wing and into her sister's room. There, she was delighted to see Olivia was already there, chatting a little with Rosie while they ate a plate of french fries. The older blonde hadn’t been the most verbal since being rescued, so although it was a strange sight, it was still a more than welcome one.

"Wonderful, you're both here! That'll save me from doing more work!" she announced upon entering the room.

"What do you mean?" Rosie asked, looking skeptical.

"Don't give me that look, Ros, I have a perfectly normal good idea this time. And it has been checked by two other people, so I'm not even lying about that. This time," Lexi explained.

"Then what's your idea?" she asked, still looking skeptical, which Lexi ignored.

"We're going shopping."

Immediately upon the word leaving Lexi's mouth, Rosie's face lit up. And it was just about the best thing Lexi had ever seen.

"As I'm sure you're aware," Lexi continued, "there is going to be a gala tomorrow night. All the Avengers are going to be there, some ex-SHIELD members we like, people's partners, other people probably, I don't know, and you and your uncle are invited as well, of course, Olivia. We know it’s your birthday that night and we are planning for that. So, we all need outfits. And I'm pretty sure you actually need an entire new wardrobe, Olivia. One which the Bank of Stark is going to fund for you. Dad knows your uncle can't exactly afford it. But yeah, shopping, right now. Get your shoes and your coats and whatever else you need, and let's get moving."

For a moment neither girl moved, they just looked at each other and then back to Lexi. She simply watched them expectantly, waiting for them to move. Then Rosie sprung up, a large smile on her face as she rushed to wrap Lexi in a hug that caused her heart to swell.

Lexi would always deny claims that she was a softie. She would deny it to her last breath, if necessary, and had nearly done so a few times in arguments with Finn or Bobby. But secretly, she knew she was the biggest softie when it came to her little sister. Seeing Rosie laughing and smiling with Olivia as they looked through racks upon racks of clothes was the best sound she'd ever heard and made her feel incredibly soft, even if Olivia still looked really withdrawn and wasn’t smiling and laughing nearly as much as Rosie was.

The store was blissfully quiet apart from the staff, the music and hum of distant electronics. The lights were bright enough that the lack of light from the windows wasn't noticeable with the blinds having been drawn. This was probably the best part of having someone like Tony Stark for a dad. If she wanted a store closed for a few hours so her sister and Olivia could shop in peace without being photographed and hounded by paparazzi, he had the money and the power to make it happen. In exchange, she had sent more than a few photos of the girls smiling and laughing and looking happy. She was especially proud of the few she’d snagged of Olivia smiling because getting such a thing on camera was a feat of itself.

She really should make use of this privilege more often.

Retail therapy had been a go-to for Rosie before all of this bullshit with Hydra so she was more than happy with the situation at hand. Lexi had quickly found herself an outfit, a cute pair of pants, a little blouse and blazer, leaving it at the cash register with the remaining few staff members before turning her attention to the girls. And Rosie was more than happy to try everything on and get Olivia to do the same. Their piles of clothes were growing with each aisle they went down.

"Lexi!" Rosie exclaimed, turning to face her. "What do you think of this one?"

In her hands, Rosie was holding up a t-shirt with a graphic of a pineapple wearing sunglasses on it.

"I think it's adorable," Lexi answered.

"It'll suit Livi, right?"

"Absolutely."

"Perfect, we'll add it to your pile!"

"I don't know..." Olivia said. "It's already so big, and I—"

"Hey," Lexi assured her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Think about it like three years of missed birthday and Christmas presents. The Bank of Stark doesn't have a limit. You deserve this."

"Come on, we have to go try these on," Rosie said, taking Olivia by her wrist and dragging her towards the fitting rooms where their stacks of clothes were already waiting.

Lexi smiled, watching them disappear into the fitting rooms. Seeing them happy compared to anything else, even if happy for Olivia just meant she wasn’t scowling and scanning the room for threats. Slowly making her way towards the fitting room, Lexi checked her phone and her messages that she had been neglecting in favour of just watching the two girls smile and laugh with each other. She had texts from her mom, Finn and Bobby.

mama
What's the dress code?

lex-mex
formal? idk just wear that red dress you got for that work party

finnegan
you need to talk to bobby

lex-mex
what did he do?

donald duck
dont listen to finn

lex-mex
make nice with your best friend, dumbass

Rolling her eyes, Lexi tucked her phone away again as she got to the fitting rooms and saw that Olivia and Rosie were both still changing. She leaned against a little half wall they had near the entrance to the changing rooms and waited for the girls to come out. After only a moment of waiting, a sales clerk came up to her.

"Everything going alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Lexi told her with a smile.

"We were told that this was all paid for by Tony Stark and I know that one of those girls is Rosaline Stark but... who are you?"

Startled by the question and how rude it came off whether that was the clerk's intention or not, Lexi took a moment to respond.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure discretion was part of the arrangement made with your bosses and it's also none of your business to be asking me that," she answered.

"No, I'm sorry, I know that. I'm just curious, you now. Sometimes it gets the better of me," she said as if trying to deflect.

Lexi didn't see how that was relevant or changed the facts of what she was doing.

"Right, well, it's still none of your fucking business and you're still not supposed to ask." Lexi stood up straight. "We're all good here, so you can go back to whatever it is you're actually supposed to be doing now."

She didn't wait for the clerk to say or do anything, just walked away from her and up to the one of the change rooms that they were using, shaking her head in disbelief at what had just happened. She knocked lightly on the door.

"How's it going in there?"

"Good," Olivia's voice answered, sounding hesitant and unsure. "There's a lot of stuff..."

"Yeah, just take your time. There's no rush."

"Thanks, I will."

Lexi moved over to the other change room that she now knew Rosie was inside off. She knocked lightly.

"How goes it, Ros?"

"I missed shopping..." she admitted a little sheepishly.

"Yeah, I bet you did. You find anything you like?"

"Yes, I'll show you in a minute."

"Can't wait."

Lexi stepped back, happily seeing that the clerk had left. She waited while the two girls finally came out of the change rooms to show off their outfits, and ooh'ed and ah'ed and gave all the appropriate reactions. And, just before they went back to change again, she snapped a picture of the two girls smiling and sent it to her dad with a note saying to send it to Josh, as well.