Chapter 5
In walks a girl that couldn’t yet be thirty, duffle thrown over one shoulder and a tote, wallet, phone, water bottle, key card, and iced coffee somehow all held on her left arm. Her right hand is on the handle of a suitcase. She’s dressed in a pencil skirt and warm blazer. Her heels are black but not glossy or sharp; they look more like clogs than stilettos. She looks a little unbalanced.
"Hi!" Her voice is high-pitched, seemingly nervous. “I'm Elle, the new Avengers air freshener!"
Clint has to hand it to her, that's a pretty good line.
Then he notices her scent. It’s not fake, and it’s definitely there… but it’s just weird. How it can be both comforting and confusing is really strange. He feels his shoulders relax before he notices that everyone seems a little less tense. The effect is so immediate that it feels like a magic trick. But he’s had someone in his head before. He knows what that feels like, and this isn’t the same.
She takes a couple more steps away from the elevator towards the center of the room and stops, looking at everybody but not making eye contact for very long.
She gives it a couple of minutes before she talks. Obviously knowing she will be scrutinized.
Everyone notices different things. Her suitcase has a Mickey Mouse keychain hanging off of a zipper. She's not wearing much makeup, and it shows how pale she is. It also shows the shadow of a bruise, presumably from her previous mission. Her hair has steel blue tips, but it's not overly noticeable.
Natasha sees the way the girl is balanced in her heels and knows immediately that the wobbling is an act. She raises an eyebrow and doesn't say anything yet. If the girl is being that obvious, she’s either doing it on purpose or has a see-through cover that would be useful later on.
Elle turns to Natasha. Her smile doesn’t change exactly, but she must notice the different scrutiny because she rocks up on her toes in the shoes and then settles easily onto the heels. She doesn’t lose her balance despite the fact that she is still carrying what amounts to a child on her left side.
"It's nice to meet you all in person!"
Tony feels like the fangirl routine is such an obvious ploy, but this chick seems sincere. At least as sincere as plenty of the people that crowd around to get autographs when they see an Avenger.
"I was watching clips of interviews and you guys in action on the way over!" She moves exactly two fingers to wiggle her phone so she doesn't drop the rest of what she's carrying. “But what I could see wouldn’t really let me get a read on anybody. Captain Rogers’s one-on-one with Chris Wallace looked about as comfortable as the battlefield, made me think of a lie detector test where all the questions are lies to begin with. Congrats on that, by the way. I mean, a large part of my career is being a calming presence and I would have punched the fu- bastard.”
The captain is just starting to say “call me Steve” when Tony lays in. “Well? Tell us what you know about the rest of us then.”
She tilts her head. “Mr. Barton is a jerk to people who ask stupid questions, but he has the patience of a father for those who are trying.” Clint tenses, but she is already onto the next team member.
“Dr. Banner is not nearly as uncomfortable as he seems. He is dealing with his anxiety well. He just doesn’t care to invite further attention.”
“Ms. Romanova says every one of her sentences with a different inclination. No one notices because she’s adapting to whatever best suits the situation, but if you really listen to any time she is talking, her tone is almost always different from one statement to the next, even if she’s mainly repeating what she previously said.”
“And me?” Tony pushes.
“You’re the enigma that never stops. You’re an ass, there’s no doubt about it-” Everyone lets out different sounds of laughter and agreement. “And yet you have an expectation for yourself to make things better in the world because you can. It’s very cool and something that most billionaires wouldn’t even bother to fake.”
“Flattery.” rolls off Tony’s tongue before he’s decided what else he wants to say.
He’s still trying to figure out what is wrong with her scent when he notices she’s still looking at him. “Well? Where do I set down my stuff? When I got back, they told me to expect a room, but the couch is cool, too. The thing looks like it would sleep five.”
“No, Ma’am. Your room is right this way.” Steve, ever the gentleman. “Would you like me to take something?”
“Honestly, if you tried to take something from my hand, it would probably all come crashing down. But here,” she decides, “put those muscles to good use and take this stupid suitcase.”
It all happens smoothly, as if there is not a stranger in their home. Steve carries the suitcase to the door of the Soother's room. The team collects themselves in the lounge off of the kitchen. Natasha is topping off her coffee, and Clint is checking his phone. Steve looks away from the window and notices that everyone is just calm.
Except for Tony.
"So I'll be taking bets now. I'm going with six days."
"Tony."
"Okay, Cap. You've got a lot of faith in her, I see that. You're probably right. She's better than that. So I'll raise mine to a whole nine days."
Steve holds in a sigh, "you really shouldn't-"
"-lowball me like that, Mr. Stark. I'm betting on at least the year," she says as she comes into the room. "Is there still coffee?"
Tony's reaction to give a 'none for you' response is halted by a feeling that making a big deal over coffee is just not worth it. The Soother Magic is obviously working, but that doesn't mean he can't still be bitter.
"So, what do you think, Ellie?" Tony says condescendingly.
"It's Elle." She says as if she didn't notice his mocking tone, "and it's stunning. Everything here looks either really, really comfortable or like I could break it by looking at it too hard."
Her smile is easy, like she's already made herself at home, and Tony wants to grind his teeth.