"She's a ball of fire, that one," Tony comments.

We're all in the surveillance room, and Genevieve is occupying my former windowless room. She's pouty on the cot. She had a lot of choice words to say to the camera once she realized it was there and that we could hear her.

So far, no one has engaged her since we brought her back to the Tower.

"She's not going to talk easily," I tell the group.

"You didn't, either," Natasha reminds me.

"It's because my judgment was off."

"Way off."

I roll my eyes. "I'm guessing I'm being volunteered for interrogation duty? I won't be much help since she sees me as an enemy now."

"I'll go with you, I want some blood samples just to make sure we know what we're dealing with," Tony says.

"Didn't think to do that when she was knocked out? Surely you could get past the drug in her system."

"If things get hairy, we'll get you backup," Steve comments.

I nod before leaving with Tony to Genevieve's cell. A fast breeze nearly sends us both on the floor. That's Pietro running loose again in the Tower. Instead of going to Gen's cell right away, we make a pit stop at the lab. I cringe at the memories.

"Doesn't seem so bad on the other side huh, snowflake?" Tony says casually as he meanders around. I remain by the door, eager to leave.

"It's grown on me," I say carefully.

"The place creeps you out, doesn't it?"

I cross my arms uncomfortably.

Tony pokes around a table. "If truth serum were a thing, I'd be giving it to her. I don't know why Romanoff thinks that we'll get anything from the cloner. If she's drunk off the Hydra Kool-Aid we might as well not bother."

"We need to try, you guys did with me."

"She looks like a tougher nut to crack than you were."

"Gee, thanks."

Once Tony arms himself with a needle, we leave the lab and make way for Genevieve's cell. I know she won't be happy to see either of us, me especially. I mean, I switched sides on her. On Hydra. On my family. I'm just glad Dad isn't in the cell. I wouldn't mind as much if Mother was. She was the one behind me being poked, prodded, and nearly dying, after all.

Gen picks herself up into a sitting position when Tony and I arrive. She rolls her tongue around in her mouth, and she looks downright miserable.

"Oh, don't look so cheery, princess," Tony quips to her.

"Bite me, asshole."

"Well, good afternoon to you too. She's got more bite than you." He aims the last one at me.

I roll my eyes.

Gen glowers at me. "Traitor. You ran to the wrong side of the world."

"I didn't," I play along. "I got abducted, but you wouldn't know that, because you escaped." I cock my head. "You all must've thought I was dead. Your words tell me you were with the others."

"And you want to know where, blah, blah, blah." Gen hits her head against the wall gently. "I'm not giving them up." Her eyes narrow at the needle in Tony's hand. "I'm not on tap to donate blood. Sorry, pal, try someone else."

"You don't get a choice in this," says Tony.

I'm amazed that Gen lets him poke her with the needle. When he removes it, I jump as she grabs Tony's face. I pull him away, not hearing the needle hit the floor. I put my hand out threateningly to her.

Gen laughs. "How sweet, you've become their little pit-bull. You can keep me here all you want, I'll make myself comfortable. I won't talk. They'll realize I've gone missing. When they do, they'll swarm and destroy this Tower, just you wait."

"If they let us keep Aurora, they'll let us keep you."

I nudge Tony out of Gen's cell before I start throwing nasty words in her direction, and before she can lunge across the room again for him.

"You know, for someone who has a sailor mouth, her attitude was low-key," Tony says nonchalantly.

"It was a bit strange," I admit.

"You can branch off, snowflake, I'm gonna run the tests and see what I get. See you around."

"See you."

Tony and I part ways, and I find myself migrating back to the kitchen, where I find Pietro staring at the open fridge in boredom. Our last mission together surfaces from the back of my mind.

"You having a hard time choosing what to eat there, Speedy? Might want to shut the door, you're letting the cold in."

"Like the cold bothers you," he scoffs. I notice he avoids my eyes.

"We gonna talk about what happened?"

"What is there to discuss? We needed a cover, I provided it. You mistook it as something else, which resulted in me getting hit in the face."

"I mistook it for something...else?" I say the last part slowly. "Don't try to pull that on me."

"You never apologized for hitting me."

"There was no reason to apologize. You kissed me without permission."

"If I hadn't, she would have seen us. It was necessary for the cover."

I lick my lips. "Whatever you say."

"So, I have to ask permission next time to kiss you?" He looks at me, smirking.

I feel my cheeks flush. "Don't think a next time is in the cards, Speedy."

"And why is that?" He shuts the fridge door (finally), and approaches me at a normal, human pace.

Is he trying to make some sort of point here? Yeah, he's attractive. And the accent makes him even more attractive. But I'm not focused on dating. In today's world? Yeah, no.

"Watch yourself," I warn him. "Get too close and you'll freeze. I can easily make you slip and fall again." I snicker at the thought.

Pietro frowns. "It may have been funny for you, but for me, I never get taken by surprise. Ever."

"Until I came along and changed that."

"Hey, you two!" Tony exclaims, following a loud clap of his hands that shakes Pietro and I from our conversation in the kitchen. We both look at him. "Movie time!"

"Since when is that a thing?" I ask.

"Since just now! Come on, I picked the best one. Oh, wait, before you join, fire up the microwave, pop up a few bags of popcorn, and raid the fridge for some drinks. I've got a sweet TV setup with bone-chilling surround sound that'll make you never wanna go to the movies ever again."

"Someone's full of himself," I mutter to Pietro as Tony leaves. "Guess we got to hop to it. You do the popcorn, I got the drinks. I'll see what else this place has to offer."

To watch Pietro watch popcorn in the microwave is oddly entertaining. He taps his foot impatiently, staring at it in hopes that it will be finished quicker.

"Hey, instead of waiting like a normal person, get some bowls to put them in," I say to him. I rake through the cabinets, finding no sugary goodness in the form of candy anywhere. "Hmm. Hey, Friday, can you do a sweep of the kitchen and find me some sweet stuff?"

"The candy is hidden behind the cans of vegetables, Miss Taylor," says the new AI. Apparently the old AI was Vision—wait, no, sorry, his name used to be J.A.R.V.I.S. before Tony and Bruce put him into Vision's body. I think I got that story right. It was confusing the first time, it was even harder to understand when I asked for a retelling or two.

"Leave it to Tony to try and think nobody would find the stash behind healthy food," I mumble.

The microwave beeps, and I smell burnt, buttery goodness. I hear it as it's out of the bag and rattling around in a bowl. Meanwhile, I move cans of green beans out of the way to access Tony's sugar stash. Oh, he's gonna be so pissed, but I'll be the star of movie night.

"Don't hog the sweets," Pietro warns me. "No popcorn, no sweets."

"I'll share." I stick my tongue out at him.

"Oh, don't go sticking out the tongue. It'll get you in trouble, Aurora."

"Do tell."

"One day, it will."

I dare to stick my tongue out again. Pietro chucks popcorn at me. "Hey! Waste of popcorn, dude!"

"I told you there would be consequences! Besides, there's way more popcorn left to be made. A few sacrifices won't hurt anybody."

Of popcorn, no. Of people, that's different. Pietro's words make me fall silent, we lose the playful air. He notices as he throws in another bag and starts the microwave timer.

"What did I say? Whatever it was, I'm sorry."

"It just makes me think...a few sacrifices. There were people just like us, once. But they didn't live. They died during their trials. The only person the sacrifice hurt was the person who was the sacrifice."

"How's the food coming along—is that my stash?" Tony interrupts us yet again. He looks slightly hurt at the stack of candy in my arms.

"You're rich, you can buy more," I say. "We'll get two more bags popped and then we'll be there...Where is this movie gonna be, exactly?"

"I'll hang around and escort you when you're ready."

"Uh-huh. You just want to make sure that we don't eat everything before it makes it to everyone else."

**If y'all pay close attention to faceclaims for Aurora and Genevieve you'll see a common thing with them. I know what that is, of course, but do you?**