Meeting
Michelle immediately reacted by glancing at her phone. She paused before pointing to the phone with her other hand and looking at the man with a quizzical expression. “Should-? Should I throw this out the window then?”
Steve looked at her confused. “What? Why would you need to-?”
“I mean, it’s a Stark Phone. Couldn’t he like… track me with it or something?” She looked at the offending object, questioning if she should switch any settings on it or text anyone before she may toss it into a lake or whatever.
“Why would you think he’d do that?”
Michelle held up the phone, shaking it for emphasis, “Well, I was seen with Natasha Romanoff for one.”
“Nat signed the Accords. All seeing you with her did was make him suspicious. He doesn’t think you’re a terrorist.”
“So, he’s not going to go all big brother like Batman did in the movie where he spied on all of Gotham?”
“Were you born this paranoid, or did you watch too many action movies with clowns as the villain?” The man asked while looking at her in amusement. “Tony isn’t a stalker, alright? The most he’ll do is try to look into your parents or look for some reason.”
“So, we’re giving him a reason, so he doesn’t look deeper.” She reasoned, placing her phone in her lap.
“Exactly. You want any creative input?”
Michelle paused for a moment. “Sam Wilson. Is he still with you guys?”
Steve glanced at her. “Yeah, why?”
“He served in the Air Force, right?” When the man with a plan nodded she took it as a sign to go on. “Our story can be that he met my parents at a function for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. He’s been close to them for a few years and kept in contact with letters. He was worried about me because my father’s back in service and he know my mother works a lot at the hospital, so he had Natasha check up on me for him. If we find some way to get him and me in a semi-public area with Natasha acting as a sort of guard, we can make it seem like… it was some sort of-.”
“Goodbye.” Steve finished nodding as he took a right. As they drove, the cars got increasingly scarce. The buildings that once seemed to tower on forever seemed to dwindle until they looked like regular homes instead of towering apartment buildings. “We can say he wanted to say goodbye and make sure you were okay because he wouldn’t be able to be in your life anymore or at least until the Accords get worked out. That may work.”
The drove in silence for a while. Michelle looking out the windows as the city landscape around her shifted and the area went from congested to miles and miles before she saw another home.
“Are we going to your base or-?”
Steve smiled. “Yes, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a base. But it works.”
Michelle looked around to try to figure out beforehand which building it was but was shocked when Steve pulled into a driveway that shot off from the empty street. The house looked… like a house. It was by no means a mansion, but it looked average. Something like what a sitcom in middle America viewed as a standard home. She could almost picture a nuclear family living there. The man parked the car, opening the car door, and gesturing her to follow. She cautiously did so while looking around.
“Um, what’s your cover story?”
“Almost don’t need one, it’s a small enough town that near no one comes by. That being said, the property is one of Sam’s old friends’. It’s still in his name but he gave Sam the key’s a while ago.”
“Water billing?” She questioned. “Food? Electricity?”
“We use well water, but we send Natasha in disguise when we need something.”
Michelle nodded looking down. “Kind of was hoping you had some secret off-the-grid system, but that’s… cool, I guess.”
He rolled his eyes, walking toward the door with keys in hand. “Not all of us spend their school days learning how to break the laws of physics or invent a form of plumbing that will revolutionize the world.”
The girl laughed, adjusting her hold on her backpack while slipping her phone into her back pocket. “It’s not my fault the man with a plan made a basic plan, but oh well.” She walked towards the door, pausing for a moment to think about the fact that Captain America was holding the door open for her to enter a base with fugitives, before deciding it was best not to think of the legality at the moment.
“After you, Foxglove.” He ushered her inside.
She glanced over her shoulder as she entered. “Why the name ‘Foxglove’ anyway-?”
Michelle turned to come face to face with a plant that looked almost like a vertical vine with flowers of pink and a pink-ish purple littering it. It moved from face level to her left hand where it prodded her a few times. Michelle opened her hand, where it placed itself gently before she could speak.
“Foxgloves are a genus, or ranking, of plants which have the technical term Digitails.” A female voice stated. Michelle looked up from the plant to see the girl before her holding up a book she was obviously reading from. “While they have healing abilities, they can also be rather poisonous and toxic.”
The girl looked up a small smile on her face. “We had some growing out back in the garden and there were all thee books about plants laying around. Once I mentioned it, it kind of just stuck. My name is Wanda, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Michelle recognized her as the Scarlet Witch immediately and somehow managed to speak without thinking. “Your powers are like a grown-up Matilda. I am a fan.”
Wanda looked confused but still smiled. “Matilda?”
“She’s this girl who loves to read and has telekinesis abilities and-. Well, it sounds weird when I-. I’ll show you it sometime.” Michelle found herself backtracking multiple times while she heard Steve snicker behind her. She elbowed him, but all it did was make her rub her new sore spot while glancing at him in annoyance.
Wanda seemed genuinely happy at that. “I look forward to it. Come on, the others would like to meet you.”
Michelle nodded, walking behind the girl as she glanced around the entryway. Shoes were placed on the mat, along with a few guns leaning against the wall beside them. The entryway was leading up to the main area by a small step, an opening living room greeting them.
“Foxglove is here,” Wanda announced before seating herself on a couch, motioning the younger girl to join her. Michelle moved slowly but sat down next to her.
A man showed himself from the doorway of an off-shoot room. “Huh. She’s taller than I thought.”
“I’m sitting down”
“Even sitting. You look sort of tall. I’m Sam. Sam Wilson.” He reasoned, he crossed his arms looking at Steve as he finally staggered into the room. “Did you come up with a story?”
“She did.” The blonde pointed at her. “You’re involved. We’ll say you know her father and mother and wanted to make sure she was all right with everything that’s been going on.”
He nodded. “Checks out. Her school is near where that Spider-Kid works a lot of the time, so we can say I was worried about that as well.”
Michelle made a face. “Why would that make a difference?”
“He fought on Tony’s side during that whole… airport fiasco.” Wanda informed her looking a little sheepish.
“He kicked Wilson’s ass too.” Another voice echoed, as Michelle turned to look behind the couch she noticed a man enter through the back door holding a few bags. He smiled at her before nodding. “Hawkeye.” She assumed that was a greeting and nodded back.
Sam looked at his fellow hero in annoyance. “Look, he didn’t kick my ass-.”
“It took you and a trained assassin to take him down. You, who had wings and a military background, and a person who has been a perfect assassin for decades. Neither of you could take him alone.” He plopped down on a stool beside the couch. “Whatever he is, he’s strong.”
“Do you think he’s a victim of Hydra’s experimentation or possibly a mutant?” Steve questioned. “He did seem strong. Told me he was from Queens though.”
“I doubt he’s Hydra,” Wanda stated, the tension was in her voice and it mimicked how stiff she had become at the mention of the group. “From what I’ve seen he was out there in street clothes and some goggles for about a year.”
“Doesn’t sound like Hydra to me.” The heroes nodded in agreement.
“So, where does that leave him?” Michelle looked confused. “He hasn’t signed the Accords, has he?”
Clint shrugged. “He’s not an Avenger, but I’m damn sure he’s on a few watch lists. He’s never shown his identity.”
“But he’s done nothing wrong. Last week I swear I saw him helping an old lady cross the street.”
Steve looked at her seriously. “Doesn’t matter. Under the Accords and what they represent, he’s a liability. All that matters is that he hasn’t signed the Accords.”
Michelle felt her hands become fists and took a few breaths. “That’s insane.”
“That’s why we’re here.” Sam gestured around the room before turning to Clint. “Did you bring the stuff?”
“Yep.” He held the bags out to him. “Provisions.”
“You can just say food or groceries, you know.”
“We have two military men and an army brat here, I’m using all the terms I know.”
“Honestly, fu-.”
Michelle felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out with one hand, using her other to signal everyone to be quiet. “Michelle Jones speaking.”
“Hey, um, Miche- I mean, MJ. It's Peter, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just spending time with my uncle.”
“Sure, I mean, I just-. You know you can tell me- I mean the team if you need anything. You know that, right?"
“Peter, if this is about the incident we can talk to the counselor tomorrow. I’m okay.”
“I just … It wasn't about-. Okay. Um, don't forget movie night. I'll talk to you then.”
“Kay. Bye.” She hung up easily, sending an apologetic look around the room. “Sorry, the whole team is still kind of rattled by the monument thing.”
Steve nodded. “Understandable.”
Wanda stood, walking toward the door Sam had entered from. “I’m going to start cooking while these two have their banter. Foxglove, would you care to join me?”
The girl nodded, setting an alarm on her phone to remind her when she’d have to leave. “Okay, but I don’t have more then an hour or two if we’re going to get back in time to avoid suspicion and throw in some time for the cover story to get to Stark.”
“Just let us know when you need to go. We’ll go over some details while eating.” Sam answered, currently giving Hawkeye a death glare.
Michelle gave them all one more once-over before she joined Wanda in the kitchen.
Huh. They all looked cooler on TV. Or maybe that was just what only seeing fighting clips did to their image.