[ chapter six ]
Taking up both Tony and Clint's advice, for the time being, Andi remained at the Avengers' Tower. Over the next three days, she had gotten new clothes, and even got to see a bit more of the city, courtesy of Clint, since he was, currently, the only other person besides Tony who didn't see her as a potential spy. And since Tony was busy working on something with the scepter, Clint seemed happy to offer.
Andi was slowly adjusting. It was still weird to be surrounded by so many high tech, expensive things. And not just the technology. She could get what she wanted just by alerting Jarvis, but she tried to use this feature to a minimum. In any case, she liked exploring the tower, seeing the different rooms. Most of the top few floors were dedicated to research, however, and were filled with laboratories.
Andi did interact a bit with the other members on the team too. Not so much Bruce yet, since he was busy with Tony, but she did stumble upon Steve in one of the training rooms, and they had a brief conversation before Andi made an excuse and left. It was still hard to be social but she was getting there.
Andi came across Natasha too, who seemed to be warming up to her. Andi was honestly glad because she was the only other female companion that she had. The only one available to talk to, at least. But something about the woman definitely unnerved Andi because while she didn't pick up on anything during their first meeting, on the jet, she definitely picked up on it when they met a second time, while in the tower. Andi got the strong sense of death, and it surrounded Natasha. It didn't seem like it was all very good either, but she had refrained from saying anything. Something told Andi that it was not a part of her past that she liked talking about, and considering that Andi had things like that as well, she respected that.
Tonight was different from the past three nights, because there was a party. This made Andi even more nervous because she had no idea how to behave in such situations. She'd never been to any kind of social gathering, yet she was now going to be thrust into a room with some important people, who were probably going to have a lot of questions.
Tony had told her that she didn't have to attend if she didn't want to, but honestly, as uncomfortable as she knew she was probably going to be, she was also curious. It was full of adults, sure, and everyone was going to be questioning the presence of a fourteen-year-old girl there, but at least she wouldn't have to be answering those questions.
Having gotten new clothes, Andi had put on a simple black t shirt tucked in the front into a pair of jeans that thankfully fit her. She had nothing that was appropriate for the kind of party taking place, but in all honesty, she didn't like the whole 'dressing up' thing. Not unless she actually knew who she was with, and a majority of these people were strangers.
As expected, there were eyes on her the moment she entered the area, but she tried not to meet any gazes, instead looking for people she knew. Clint was busy speaking to the doctor that had helped heal him. Tony and Thor were speaking to Agent Hill and a guy that Andi didn't recognise. The bar was empty, and Andi didn't mind being alone so she walked there and took a look around.
There were plenty of bottles, of various sizes, and there were glasses on the counter. She was nowhere near the legal drinking age, but Andi had never really tasted so much as a coke in her life, so of course, she was curious. And nobody seemed to be paying attention.
Grabbing a glass, she picked up the first bottle she saw which read Jameson on it. Shrugging, Andi poured a little into the crystal glass and then lifted it to her lips. It smelled downright awful, but she took a swig anyway, and nearly coughed the whole thing up. Her throat burned. And the feeling didn't go away. She set the glass aside and lifted a hand to her throat while she coughed.
"Aren't you a little too young to be at the bar?"
Andi turned, mid cough, to see Natasha standing behind her. She had a smirk on her face and she walked past Andi to grab another glass.
"How do you people drink this stuff?" Andi asked, when her coughing died down. "It tastes horrible."
Natasha chuckled. "I think it's more of an acquired taste. And you had it neat."
"Neat?"
"Without mixing it with anything. That helps dilute it, and then it doesn't burn as much," Natasha explained, grabbing a bottle with some blue liquid in it. She poured it into a glass and then added some soda, while continuing to speak. "You really shouldn't be left unsupervised, you know," she added, with a tone that Andi understood to be joking.
"I haven't really been exposed to much. None of this is familiar to me. I was just curious," Andi explained, moving around the bar to sit down on one of the stools.
Natasha added some ice to the drink she was preparing and then some leaves that Andi figured was mint, before setting it on the counter and sliding it over. "I understand being curious. But we can't have a fourteen-year-old getting drunk on our watch," she smiled and nodded to the blue coloured drink. "It's a mocktail. Non-alcoholic, and it won't burn your throat in the slightest."
Andi smiled a little and took the drink, taking a sip. "Thank you," she told her, about to compliment her drink making skills when she noticed someone else approaching. Bruce.
Andi glanced between him and Natasha, and a brief look that they shared, and decided that now would be a good time to make herself disappear. She thanked Natasha once more and left the two of them, now opting to stand close to a window where she looked out over the city. It was a beautiful sight. A sight she didn't think she would ever get to see from so high up. Briefly, she wondered where the twins were, and what they were up to.
She didn't get to think on it too long, however, because she was soon joined by someone else. "I see you managed to get yourself a drink."
Andi looked to her right to see Tony standing beside her and staring out the window as well. "Natasha made it for me. After I tried whisky and nearly spit the whole thing up."
Tony looked to her with an eyebrow raised. "I'm going to have to keep a lock on my liquor cabinet now, aren't I? Should have known that came with raising a teenager."
Andi smiled a little. "Well you were the one who offered to let me stay."
At that, Tony smiled a little too. "I meant it," he told her. "We can still figure something out so you can try to lead a normal life."
Andi nodded. "I realised tonight that I'm curious about a lot of things because I haven't been acquainted with them that much. Trying to be a teenager... I'm curious about what that's like too."
Tony smiled and looked back out at the view. "Well then I definitely have to keep a lock on the liquor cabinet."
Andi turned around briefly when she heard voices calling for Tony. Most of the other guests had left. All the people that remained were the Avengers, along with Doctor Cho, Agent Hill, the man that Andi had yet to learn the name of, and herself.
"Come on," Tony gestured for Andi to follow as he made his way over to the arrangement of sofas where everyone had settled down.
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