A night you'll always remember
You considered yourself a tough person. Really, you did. You could heal incredibly fast, you could lift the front half of your father’s prized car so he could change a tire.
However, Natasha was pulling at your hair to get it positioned just right before she jabbed bobby pins into your scalp.
“Ow!” You complained as the bobby pin scraped against your scalp.
“Don’t be such a baby.” Natasha rolled her eyes, then went back to work. “I’m almost done.”
“I’m not being a baby,” You grumbled defensively as you crossed your arms. “You’re the one jamming bobby pins into my head like little knives, Nat.”
“Bad habit,” She smirked at you through the mirror.
You watched her work via the mirror you were seated in front of. You could see a determined look in her eye as she sprayed more hairspray into your hair. To be honest, you hadn’t expected Nat to be so good with hair. She was styling your hair into an elegant up-do, something you could never do yourself.
You had been raised by a single-father who’s hairstyling talents included simple braids, pig-tails, and pony-tails. You yourself had never really been good with your own hair, opting to just throw it into a bun whenever you were painting to get it out of your face.
It was nice to have someone in your life who could make you look more put together than you actually were.
“Alright, I’m done.” Nat announced after giving you one final spray of hairspray. “What do you think?”
“It’s amazing,” You grinned at your reflection. You almost didn’t recognize yourself with your hair done so amazingly well. Nat had even done your makeup, a simple look of mascara and a lip-gloss that went well with your skin tone. “You should do this professionally.”
Nat shrugged, “It’s not as fun.” She pulled you to your feet. “Now, let’s get you dressed and hope Coulson doesn’t have a heart attack when he sees you.”
You laughed at that. “Ten bucks says he cries.”
Nat snorted, “I’m not betting against that. He’s definitely going to cry.”
You changed out of your pajamas, then quickly stepped into the dress. You fastened the strap for the halter top, then sat on your bed to slip on your heels that Nat had let you borrow. They were gold, with a killer heel that you hoped hadn’t actually killed anyone. Once you were satisfied that the shoes were secure on your feet, you stood up. You wobbled slightly at the new height, and Nat steadied you before you could fall.
“Easy, kid.” She murmured, an amused smirk on her face. “Don’t hurt yourself. Maybe we should try different shoes?”
“No way!” You waved her off, and she took a step back. “These shoes are perfect, and I’m never taking them off.” You managed a few wobbly steps before you figured out how to walk in the heels. “See? All good.”
“Try not to fall down the stairs on your big entrance, alright?” Nat chuckled, and you noticed a sadness to her eyes.
“Hey, you gonna cry on me?” You teased lightly.
“Maybe,” She smirked tightly. “It’s just…nice that I can do normal things. Kinda wish I had a prom to go to back when I was your age.”
“You sound like you’re decades older than me, Nat.” You chuckled. “You’re only three years older than me, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah,” She sighed. “Try not to go blind from the pictures, alright?”
She left to go downstairs to wait with the others for your big reveal. You found it silly that you were doing so much for a stupid dance, but you could tell that it was a big deal for your new best friend to get you all fixed up for prom. You headed for the door, leaving your room after grabbing your gold clutch off the dresser.
You paused at the top of the stairs, seeing that your father was currently speaking with your Aunt Melinda. She spotted you at the top of the stairs, smiling up at you. Coulson turned, his eyebrows raising at the sight of you descending down the staircase. Your date was standing next to him. Nancy had opted out of wearing a dress, and was wearing a tux with a green bowtie to match the color of your dress. She grinned at you, and you felt less ridiculous in your get up.
You made it to the bottom of the stairs, thankful no one had used flash on their camera to blind you and cause you to lose your footing.
“You look…” Coulson trailed off, shaking his head. You could see tears glittering in his eyes that were causing you to tear up as well. “You look amazing, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, dad.” You beamed, giving him a hug. He didn’t seem to want to let go, but eventually did after a moment. You turned to Nancy.
“He’s right, you look amazing!” Nancy laughed. “And hey, thanks again for going to prom with me.”
“Of course,” You nodded. “We outcasts have to stick together, remember?” You repeated the phrase you had told her the day you had punched Alex in the mouth for bullying her.
“Dang straight.” She hi-fived you.
“Alright, let’s get some pictures so you two aren’t late.” Melinda announced. “This is going to be a night you two are always going to remember.”
Your ears were ringing violently. You managed to open your eyes, noticing how everything was a little blurry around the edges. You sat up slowly, wincing at the aching pain in your joints that you knew would go away in an hour or so.
You tried to recall what happened. You were heading to the punch line to get a drink when everything had just…exploded.
The scene around you was pure chaos. There was debris everywhere, the Under the Sea theme was in shambles—crepe paper was burned to a crisp and decorating the debris like some demented version of a birthday party.
You heard muffled shouting, the ringing in your head making it hard to understand what was going on. You winced in pain as you pushed some fallen debris off your legs, not caring if anyone saw you moving something so heavy. You didn’t want to be pinned under what appeared to be a fallen section of the gym ceiling anymore. You winced as the debris scraped your legs, noticing the skirt of your dress was in singed tatters.
Slowly, you got to your feet, getting a better look at your surroundings. There were police officers, firemen—all of them running around and digging through the debris. You saw your classmates on stretchers, a few of them were sitting to the side with tear stained faces and covered in bright orange blankets.
"(Y/N)!”
You turned, seeing your father racing to you, panic written all over his face. He grabbed your and pulled you into a tight hug that made you gasp in pain. He jumped back, eyes wide with fear.
“Are you hurt?”
“I think I’m just sore,” You admitted. “I- Dad, what happened?”
“What do you remember?” He murmured worriedly. He led you over to one of the chairs that hadn’t been destroyed in what you assumed to be an explosion. He sat you down, kneeling in front of you as he held your soot covered hands.
You frowned as you forced yourself to remember. “I-I was going to get something to drink, and I…I remember someone shouting.” The memories surged back in violent flashes that had your heart racing. “It was a group of guys, about four of them. One was carrying a bomb, dad.” You looked at your father in panic as another memory hit you. “The leader pointed at me, told the others that I was the one they wanted. Nancy jumped on him to keep him from attacking me, and he dropped the bomb….” You paled, looking around at the survivors. “Dad, where’s Nancy?”
“She…” Coulson sighed. “Sweetheart, she was closest to the blast.”
“No,” You gasped, tears springing from your eyes. You could feel them creating marks in the soot on your face. “No, no. Dad, they were here for me—“ A sob tore through you, and you doubled over as your buried your face in your hands. You felt your father rubbing your back, but not saying anything. It would seem he knew nothing he said was going to make you feel better.
“They were here for me, and Nancy died!” You sobbed, looking at Coulson. “This is my fault!”
“Yes it is!” You shouted, almost hysteric at this point. “Dad, if I weren’t here, they wouldn’t have been here! I-I should have been able to protect everyone!”
“(Y/N), you’re just a kid,” Coulson’s voice was quiet. He sounded pained at your words. “This isn’t your responsibility-“
“I have all of these abilities, I should have been able to save—“ You broke off in another sob, your lip quivering as you cried. “This is my fault, dad.”
Coulson sighed, taking your hands in his and squeezing gently. “Sweetheart, it’s not your job to save everyone-“
“It should be.” You snapped, anger coursing through you. “What use are all of these abilities—the strength, the healing—what use are they if I don’t use them to protect people?”
An idea struck you as violently as a bolt of lightning.
“(Y/N)-“
“I’m joining SHIELD when I graduate.”
“What?”
“I want to be better trained, I want to protect people-“
“(Y/N),” Coulson cut you off, looking exhausted and terrified all at once. “You’re in shock, sweetheart. Let’s get you home, alright?”
“I’m not going to change my mind, dad.” You stated. “I’m joining SHIELD.”