"I'm just a kid and life is a nightmare,
I'm just a kid, I know that it's not fair,
Nobody cares,
Cause I'm alone and the world is,
Having more fun than me."

I'm Just a Kid by Simple Plan.

"Well, you let me know if real power wants a magazine or something."

As the monitor went black, Easton's jaw remained where it had been for pretty much the entirety of the exchange between the demi-god and the director - in her lap.

Seated in what Easton's mind seemed rather out of place between Natasha and Captain Rogers, she glanced nervously around the room which was held in stunned silence.

The tension in the room was undeniable, urging Easton do what she does best in these kinds of uncomfortable situations - lower her head to look at her hands that laid in her lap, desperate to avoid the awkward stares of her fellow avengers.

Finally, Bruce Banner spoke up.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce spoke, gesturing to the monitor wearing a tight lipped smile.

Easton scoffed under her breath, only to be met by uncomfortable silence as Thor turned to face her, his less-than-comforting stare meeting her eyes. In truth, she didn't know whether to swoon or shut up.

"Tough crowd."

Bruce chuckled at this, before Steve sat up in his chair and turned his attention to Thor.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," he started, ignoring the prior exchange between the doctor and the archer, "so Thor - what's his play?"

Thor circled back to the table, facing the group and stopping right in front of the Captain.

"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any known world, and he means to lead them against your people," Thor spoke, his vocabulary resembling that of the many Shakespearean sonnets that Easton had painstakingly studied, only to be met by one of Mr Arthur's infamous 'you could've done more' B's - it was safe to say that science was her true calling.

"They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the tesseract," Thor finished, as Captain Rogers sat stunned by his announcement.

"An army? From outer space?" He questioned, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion, as Banner and Thor moved to discuss Loki's integral need for Erik Selvig's aid.

Easton looked up from her lap, utter disbelief covering her features as she began to question the demi-god.

"So do people of your kind often make humanity-destroying pacts with raging space mobsters, or is Loki some kind of sociopathic anomaly?" Easton asked, raising an eyebrow. Banner waved off her sarcasm, toying with his glasses as he paced behind them.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," he spoke, "that guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"Well at least he can start planning his perfume launch accordingly after his alien buddies hand him the earth," Easton quipped, earning a low chuckle from Natasha.

Thor halted before them, turning towards the Doctor, their jests falling on deaf ears.

"Have care how you speak," he began, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."

Natasha deadpanned him his direction, sitting up in her chair as Easton rolled her eyes.

"He killed eighty people in two days."

Thor's eyes quickly darted around the room, as Easton raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"He's adopted."

"Really?" Easton smirked, "and there I was thinking you guys just used different shampoo."

Thor's eyebrows knitted together, a sigh leaving his lips.

"I'll never understand your kind and their jest remarks," he replied, shaking his head as he began pacing in front of the conference table.

"She's a Stark," Natasha spoke with a wink in Easton's direction, "it's in her blood, and coincidentally so's SHIELD. So I'd suggest you cut her some slack."

Thor looked to Easton who just shrugged her shoulders, a shy grin covering her face.

"What can I say, it's in my blood."

Bruce Banner walked back and forth behind the group, a pen in his hand trying to understand the situation further.

"I think it's in the mechanics," he spoke up, placing his glasses over his eyes, "iridium, what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilising agent," Tony Stark replied, making his presence known as he strutted into the room alongside Agent Coulson, "I'll fly you there, keep the love alive."

Coulson only shook off his remark as Tony made his way around the table, as Easton rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest at her father's arrival.

"And speaking of love," Tony started, gesturing over in Easton's direction as her cheeks began to blush red, "check it out, squirt! Yet another boring extra-curricular to add onto that MIT application."

Tony shot gun-fingers in her direction, sound effects and all, causing Easton to place her hand at the side of her temple letting a sigh fall from her lips.

"Oh god, make it stop."

Natasha chuckled under her breath, placing a hand on Easton's shoulder - she had always told her to lighten up.

All dad's are embarrassing, she'd assured her. But Easton always replied with a simple yet effective rebuttal.

Not all dad's are Tony Stark.

Bruce began to connect the dots on the mechanics, "and because it's a stabilising agent-"

"-It won't allow the portal to collapse in on itself, like it did at SHIELD." Easton completed his sentence, her 'homework' the night prior on thermonuclear physics coming in handy.

"By the way, no hard feelings, Point Break," Tony spoke as he gestured to Thor's arms, "you've got a mean swing."

Thor replied with a confused expression, and Easton could tell that he'd began to tense once the topic of his biceps had been introduced to the group.

Typical guy, she'd thought, even if he is from outer space.

"It also means that the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants," Tony continued, "which my darling daughter, who believe-it-or-not didn't mention to her old man that she was planning on joining the world's most elite pep squad, missed out."

Easton tried to speak up in her own defence, but was only met by her father's rambling puns about vintage arcade games. Put it this way - she'd learnt over the years when to give up and let the rambling commence.

"The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on quite easily," Tony spoke again, turning to the group after his impersonation of the director himself, "only major component he still needs is a power source."

Easton sat up, her mind working on connecting the dots, "he'll need a high energy density, something to kickstart the cube."

Maria Hill cocked an eyebrow at the two Stark's, crossing her arms over her chest.

"When did you two become experts in thermonuclear physics?"

"Last night," Tony replied, "that's the height of father-daughter bonding these days, is it not?"

Maria raised her eyebrow towards Easton this time, "last time I checked thermonuclear physics wasn't a requirement of the average twelfth grade science syllabus."

Tony scoffed, placing his hands on his daughters shoulders.

"Honestly, you should check out Einstein here's IQ," Tony spoke, ruffling his daughters hair. Easton only batted his hands away, brushing down the tuft of hair he'd created at her forehead, "I mean it's almost irrevocably close to mine, although emphasis on the almost."

Steve Rogers brought the focus of the conversation back, as Tony reassured his daughter how: when you've got it, kid - you've got no choice but to flaunt it.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

"He's got to heat the cube to a hundredand twenty million Kelvin," Bruce spoke, gesturing with the pen in his hand.

"And that's just in order to break through the Coulomb barrier," Easton added, standing to meet the Doctor's gaze as he nodded along with her analysis.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony quipped back, joining the two of them as the others looked on in confusion.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet," Bruce finished, as Easton threw a high five in his direction.

Bruce looked at her hand confused, before Easton retracted herself in embarrassment.

"Whoops, my bad. I'm guessing doctor's don't do that, huh?"

Tony placed a hand on his daughters shoulders, moving her behind him after her rejected attempt at a high five, to move towards Banner, "finally, someone who doesn't share my last name that speaks English!"

Steve Rogers gestured to the exchange, "is that what just happened?"

Tony and Banner shook hands for a second, a glimmer in both their eyes as the mutual respect for each other began to show, despite Tony's incessant vanity.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner." He began, letting go of the doctor's hand, "your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I have to say, my household is a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Banner looked down in embarrassment, "thanks."

"He's right, you know," Easton added with a sincere smile, "I think your work on collisions rocks, Doctor!"

Easton's comment made him feel a little better, but before he had the chance to thank her the Director made his way into the atrium.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube," he informed the group, Easton's smile dropping. She had lied when she said collisions was the only thing of his she was a fan of - I mean who wouldn't find a giant green rage monster absolutely fascinating?

"And I was hoping you two might join him," he gestured to the two Stark's, a puzzled look gracing Easton's face.

"Me, sir?" Easton questioned, as the director turned his attention to her, "I mean, um-I've got homework!"

Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Let's not act like you don't finish your homework the day it's set, try-hard," Tony interjected, elbowing his daughter in the side.

Fury scoffed, and moved forward.

"You embarrassed Sitwell enough to make me like you earlier, Miss Stark," Fury spoke, as Easton sent an awkward smile in Agent Sitwell's direction as he sat at the dock behind them, "keep it up."

"I guess AP History can wait until Monday."

_____________________________

I'm back bitches!!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more to come very soon!

Cya next time, Em 🤪