The Meeting
Skye tried not to fidget with her new dress, but it was difficult. She was used to tight fitting uniforms, not this flowing gown and heels. It was custom made for her, though, and she felt like she owed Pepper to at least wear it tonight, at their annual Christmas party. She grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the trays and glanced around in awe. Tony and Pepper had really outdone themselves with the decorations this year. The whole place was stunning.
“Skye! You made it.” Skye glanced up as Natasha and Clint came rushing over, both uncharacteristically dressed up. Skye snorted.
“How many weapons are you hiding in that thing, Nat?”
Nat grinned and shrugged.
“Depends on what you count as a weapon.” She answered slyly. Clint looked horrified.
“You told me you came unarmed…”
Shaking her head in amusement, Skye slipped away. She could talk to Nat and her brother for hours, but there were plenty of guests here that she hadn’t seen in ages, and all the avengers would still be here once most of the guests were gone anyway.
“Skye! Have you seen Peter around anywhere?” Skye gave Tony a funny look.
“Who’s Peter?” She asked, wondering if Tony had already had too many drinks.
“Oh! My intern. You two haven’t met yet?” Skye shook her head slowly and Tony sighed dramatically. “Ah, I’ll have to introduce you. You’d get on like a house on fire.”
He bustled off again before Skye could reply and left her standing there.
“Fancy seeing you here.” Skye whirled around, her face lighting up.
“Mom! Dad! I thought you couldn’t make it this year?”
“And I thought the legal drinking age was 21.” Mom retorted, staring pointedly at Skye’s glass. She flushed and handed it over.
“Tony doesn’t really mind, mom.” She murmured. “Besides, I’ll be 21 in a few months.”
Dad groaned and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Please don’t remind me how quickly my baby girl has grown up.”
“More importantly,” Mom jumped in quickly before her dad could get too overemotional, “Steve is looking for you. I think he wanted to talk to you about something?”
Mom and dad both looked concerned, but Skye grimaced. She had been avoiding Steve (and the other avengers, just in case) for this very reason. Skye had been an agent of Shield for almost two years, and she knew Steve was eager for her to become an avenger. He’d hinted at it before, but she’d always evaded the conversation. As much as Skye loved the avengers, she could never see herself being one. They were too mainstream, taking on the big fights. Skye preferred to work in the shadows. To help those who often slipped through the cracks.
“Keep him off my tracks, will you? I’d like to enjoy the party a bit longer before I have to go and let him down gently.”
Something glinted in her dad’s eyes.
“Steve is coming onto you?” He asked, looking torn between being protective, and being thrilled. Skye wrinkled her nose.
“God no! He’s way too old for me. No, he just has an offer for me, but I’m going to turn it down. I’m not interested.”
Mom raised an eyebrow at that, making to ask more questions, but fell silent, looking at something behind Skye. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and silently groaned. Of course Steve had heard that.
“I haven’t even asked you anything for you to say no to yet.” He pointed out, voice light and teasing. Skye briefly closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to face him.
“Steve, you’ve been hinting about making me an avenger for years. I’m not stupid. I knew this was coming.”
She ignored the quiet gasps from behind her. Mom and dad were probably extremely confused now, but she’d just have to explain things to them later. Steve seemed to deflate.
“You’d be a good fit. You’ve even got your own superhero name, Quake.” He offered, looking rather like someone had kicked his puppy. Skye smiled sadly at him.
“I’m meant to be an agent, Steve. I’m not good at all this stuff. You know, grand parties and publicity, and large-scale missions that end up in the news. I can help people more from the shadows than I ever could under the public’s watchful eye. I’m sorry Steve. I don’t want to be an avenger.”
Steve watched her for a moment, as if trying to work out whether or not she was being genuine. After a pause, he slowly removed his hand from her shoulder, and nodded.
“I’ll admit that I’m disappointed I couldn’t win you over, Skye. Know that there’s always a spot for you if you want it.”
Skye smiled genuinely at him. They both knew she’d continue to visit the Avengers’ tower in New York whenever she had a chance. Her brother and Nat were here, after all. Besides, she loved seeing all the crazy ideas Tony had come up with since their last chat.
“As if you could get rid of me.” She teased gently. She turned away, spotting some of her friends from Shield over in the corner and headed over.
Steve kept the smile on his face until he was sure that Skye wasn’t going to turn back around, and then he let it fall away. He had really hoped that she’d say yes. Skye would complement the team perfectly, and he knew she would have been the perfect person to replace him if he ever thought about retiring.
“She say no?” Tony asked, coming over. Steve glanced back at agents May and Coulson, who were both pretending not to be shocked. Apparently, their daughter’s actions were a mystery to them too. Steve nodded glumly. There was, of course, the other aspect of his and Tony’s bet. Who could get their protégé onto the Avengers first. To his relief, Tony merely sighed.
“Yeah,” Tony muttered, “I asked Petey-boy again, but he turned me down. Still has his heart set on looking after the little guy.”
Steve felt his eyebrows shoot up.
“Really? Skye’s response was almost identical.” He remarked, shooting a look in Skye’s direction. She had somehow acquired another glass of champagne and was goading her friends into a complicated looking drinking game. Agent May and Coulson seemed to notice her behaviour at the same time and rushed to remedy the situation. Tony looked fascinated.
“They would make an explosive pair.” He commented, seeming almost gleeful. “I’ll have to introduce them.”
He darted off before Steve could say another word.
Skye pulled her coat tighter around her, wishing she’d thought to wear more layers before she set out. The shop was quite a bit further away from the avenger’s tower than she’d anticipated, and she could already predict that she wouldn’t make it back in time for dinner. She typed out a quick text to Clint, letting him know that she’d get something whilst she was out, and quickened her pace. This area wasn’t awful, in comparison to some of Skye’s missions, but she wouldn’t want to get caught out alone here late at night.
She checked the directions for the shop again and frowned. This whole thing was turning out to be far more complicated than she’d expected. A few months ago, Skye had managed to track down a pristine set of vintage Captain America cards for her dad as a Christmas present. A few of them were so rare that no other copy had ever been released. Skye had gone to a lot of trouble to get her hands on them. The problem was that she’d been so busy with missions, that she’d had no time to make her way to Queens and actually collect them. Today was her last chance, since she was driving back home first thing tomorrow, in time for Christmas Eve.
“Hey, gorgeous. Lemme buy you a drink” Skye glanced over at the heckler, a red-faced balding guy whose slurred words suggested that he’d already had far too many drinks for his own good.
“No thanks.” She called back, side stepping to avoid him. The man scowled.
“Now what’s a pretty thing like yourself doing turning down a decent offer like that?” Skye faltered slightly at the sight of three more men rounding the corner. They were all large, muscular figures, with intimidating glares. Skye’s eyes flickered to the emblem on their leather jackets. A gang of some kind, then, though she didn’t know which one.
“Sorry,” She muttered, looking for a quick escape route, “But I have places to be, and you’re in my way.”
One of the men cracked his knuckles, and they stepped forwards, as if to surround her. Skye subtly placed a hand on her ICER. She jumped slightly as there was a loud crash from the nearby alleyway, and a costumed figure swung into view.
“I think the lady already said no.” Spiderman drawled, dropping down between Skye and the gang.
“What’s it to you?” One of the men snapped, looking nervous. His friend suddenly darted forwards, as if to grab Skye, and she reacted.
The men were easy to fight, especially with spiderman there. He spun into action just a fraction after her, swinging a kick at one of the men, and aiming a web at another. Skye took down her own opponent easily, pressing hard onto one of his pressure points. The man screamed in pain and cowered on the floor. Skye kicked him in the balls for good measure. She looked up at the fourth and raised an eyebrow, daring him to try and grab her. The man whimpered slightly and bolted. Skye snorted. Coward. She frowned at the other three. One was stuck to the wall, whilst the other two were down on the ground.
“I’m not interested.” She told them calmly. Spiderman coughed and she glanced over to him.
“You must be Spiderman. I’m Skye Coulson, or Quake. Whichever.” She held out her hand, and Spiderman shook it firmly, looking impressed.
“I’ve heard that name around the tower,” He commented, removing his mask, “You’re Clint’s little sister?”
Skye smiled at him.
“That’s right.” She wrinkled her nose at the men. “Walk with me? I really did have somewhere I need to go.”
Spiderman nodded and they set off at an easy pace. She couldn’t help noticing that he was trying to stick to the shadows, presumably to hide his identity.
“Here, you can borrow my coat if you like. That way you don’t have to hide.” She shrugged it off and handed it to him, ignoring how cold she was. Spiderman smiled pleasantly.
“Thanks. My real name’s Peter by the way, if you were wondering.”
Skye grinned.
“Tony’s intern Peter? He mentioned you at the party last Friday.”
“It’s a cover,” Peter explained, “So I have an excuse to go there and do training. I mean, I do technically work for Stark Industries, but not-“
Skye merely chuckled. She could already tell that Peter was someone she would get along well with.
“You don’t know if there’s a comic store around here, do you? I’m supposed to be collecting a gift for my dad, but I think I’m probably lost. My phone has no signal.”
Peter looked curious, nodding and gesturing down one road.
“There’s one not far from here. I used to visit with my uncle before he died.”
Skye didn’t bother apologising. She could tell from his tone that one wasn’t necessary, or even wanted.
“Show me?”
They walked in relative silence, Peter occasionally making jokes, or telling her random facts about the area. She answered a couple of questions that he had, and shared embarrassing stories about the avengers in return. Peter threw his head back and laughed when she told him about the mission Nat and Clint had taken her on.
“You were fourteen! Is that even allowed?”
Skye giggled and shrugged.
“I always got the impression that it was actually a test, but I’ve never asked.” She responded easily. Peter shook his head in amazement.
“You’ve known those guys way longer than I have.” He commented in surprise.
“I know,” Skye responded, “It’s actually really odd that we’ve never crossed paths before, considering.
Peter looked thoughtful.
“I guess we were just fated to meet then.” He burst out, putting on an exaggerated English accent. Skye snorted and wiped at her tears of mirth.
“Oh,” he said suddenly, pointing out a shop, “We’re here. Shall we?” He held out his hand and she grabbed it, yelping in surprise and amusement as he suddenly pulled her. Peter was way stronger than she had expected, not that she minded. Meeting Peter was one of the best things that had happened to her in a really long time, and she certainly wasn’t complaining.