Peyton put down the shot glass she was cleaning as someone approached the bar.

"Hi, what can I get for... you..." she trailed off as she recognized the man in front of her.

"Mr Stark, it's an honour," she smiled, although her mind was working overdrive.

What's he doing here? Does he know about my powers? Did they catch Tonia? I swear, if Tonia got herself caught--

"The honour is mine," Tony Stark replied with his characteristic billionaire smirk, "and I'll have whatever's the most expensive, with a side of catnip."

Peyton frowned.

"A side of what?"

"A side of catnip," Tony answered with a completely straight face, "you know, that stuff cats supposedly like? I figured you of all people would have some on you."

"I... I have no idea what you're talking about," Peyton stammered, starting to prepare his drink to hide her nerves.

Tony rolled his eyes.

"There's no need to lie, sweetheart. You friend Tonia told as all about your... abilities. I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Init--"

"What did you do to Tonia?!?" Peyton hissed sharply.

"I... we... nothing!" Tony whispered back, glancing around the bar to see whether their conversation was catching any unwanted attention, "she came with us willingly!"

"Of course she did," Peyton groaned, "why listen to me, after all?"

"Look, we just want to talk--"

"I've heard that one before," Peyton grumbled, sliding his drink towards him across the counter.

"Tonia said you'd say that, so we made a Plan B," Tony smirked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Good for you," Peyton answered.

There was a pause.

"You're not going to ask me what it is?" Tony enquired, a small hint of disappointment in his voice.

"And give you the pleasure of telling me? Nah, I don't think so."

"Fine, I'll just tell you anyway," Tony rolled his eyes, "our Plan B was--"

Peyton walked away.

She turned around, opened the door behind the bar, and walked out, closing it behind her.

"Did she just..." Steve's voice came over the comms in barely more than a whisper.

"Walk out on me? Yes," Tony observed, before vaulting over the bar to follow her, "she's a feisty one."

"Told ya so," Tonia's voice came over the comms.

"Shut up Midnight Picnic," Tony grumbled, turning the doorknob only to find that Peyton had locked the door behind her.

"She's kinda paranoid, she'll be in her secret tunnel by now. I'll await her at the exit. At least you tried, Stark."

There was a crashing sound as Tony rammed down the door.

"Or you could do that..." Tonia's voice mumbled.

Tony scanned the room, but there was no sign of the shy bartender.

"She's gone," he growled.

"Told you, secret tunnel," Tonia's voice mocked him.

"There is such a thing as going too far, Banner Jr."

"Look who's talking, Mr I-spent-several-years-on-the-run-from-the-government-because-I-like-my-friend-with-a-metal-arm-too-much."

"The friend with the metal arm takes offence at that," Bucky chimed into the conversation.

"Yeah, well the friend with the metal arms takes offence if you say plums taste bad, so that means very little," Sam joined in.

"Guys, we're on a mission here?!" Tony exclaimed, tempted to mute the comms so he could focus.

"Stark is right," Loki's drawl entered the conversation,"now that he's let the lady get away, we'll all have to get onto the field and find her."

"I didn't let her get away--" Tony began.

Steve's cough could be heard across the comms, as well as some indistinct muttering about egos.

"I thought the super soldier serum cured your asthma?" Sam's voice enquired.

"It did," Bucky stated dryly.

"Guys, something about a mission?" Tony prompted.

"Right," Steve's tone of voice switched to his usual down-to-business mode, "Tonia, get to the exit to that tunnel. Bucky, Loki, I want you to go with her. Sam, Pietro and Clint, you guys search the perimeter of the bar in case she used a different escape route. Wanda, Bruce and I will hold the Tower."

"What about me?" Tony enquired, something akin to a sulk sounding through in his voice.

"You stay and watch the end of the tunnel," Steve ordered, and his voice sounded like he was trying hard not to laugh, "everyone's been complaining about your lack of patience lately, so I figure this'll be a good way to practice."

Tony growled.

"When I get my hands on you Rogers..."

"You'll do what, make some cheesy jokes about freezing me?"

"Or maybe he'll make fun of your shield again, like that time he compared you to Wonder Woman."

Tony didn't answer, suddenly getting a good feeling of what supervillains felt like when they were ganged up on by a band of heroes.

Maybe he'd be a little less hard on the next villain they came across.

Or maybe not.

-

PEYTON'S POV

I held myself still under the table, cringing as the door creaked and then shattered, Tony Stark almost plummeting to the ground as the door gave way. The billionaire scanned the room carefully, but the my hidden location was just out of his sight.

Just in case, I pressed myself further back against the wall.

"She's gone," he growled.

My enhanced hearing ensured that I caught Tonia's reply, followed by a whole series of quips from voices I didn't recognize.

"Told you, secret tunnel."

"There is such a thing as going too far, Banner Jr."

"Look who's talking, Mr I-spent-several-years-on-the-run-from-the-government-because-I-like-my-friend-with-a-metal-arm-too-much."

"The friend with the metal arm takes offence at that."

"Yeah, well the friend with the metal arms takes offence if you say plums taste bad, so that means very little.""

"Guys, we're on a mission here?!" Tony interjected, raising his hand as if he wanted to remove the small contraption that they were communicating with from his ear.

"Stark is right," a new voice joined in,"now that he's let the lady get away, we'll all have to get onto the field and find her."

"I didn't let her get away--"

Stark was no doubt interrupted by whoever was talking to him over the comms, but I shook my head sharply, zoning out of the conversation and attempting to come up with a plan of action.

I need to get out of here without any of the Avengers seeing me.

I had shapeshifted into my lioness form, the one I was most comfortable with. I could manage several other felines if I tried, but they were hard to sustain and exhausting, so I usually settled for this one.

I searched the room for an escape, anything that could get me out of this tricky situation, but as I'd observed before, the only way out was through the secret tunnel; which was on the other side of the room, and locked at that.

I should've listened to Tonia and made a lock that cats can open.

If I wanted to use that tunnel, I'd have to shift back and make my way across the room to the tunnel unnoticed. The odds of me crossing the room in either form were minuscule — Stark might be muttering unintelligibly to himself, but his eyes were darting across the room in search of anything that moved.

I froze as the billionaire let out an agitated growl, fearing he'd caught onto me, but his gaze was trained on a box on the far side of the room, and I guessed his anger was directed to whoever he was talking to — I hoped it wasn't Tonia, that girl had a gift for talking herself into trouble. Then again, after deserting me like this, she probably deserved it.

I ran multiple plans and scenarios through my head, but discarded them all. The risks of being caught were just too high.

At that moment Tony Stark let out a sigh, and sat down on a box filled with bottles of beer.

"I guess I'll be here a while then," he mumbled to nobody in particular, and I groaned inwardly. Great — as long as he was here, I was stuck here too.

Oh well, at least I was patient.

Unfortunately for me, Tony Stark was not patient.

He had barely sat still for three minutes when he stood up again, pacing around the room. He rummaged through some boxes, emptied a few shelves, and then sat down again. Then he grabbed a bottle of beer out of a crate and studied that, probably debating whether he should just drink it.

Spoiler alert: he drank the whole crate.

By then, he was thoroughly drunk.

He had taken off the small communicator at least ten bottles ago, and I was starting to consider knocking him out. In this half-awake and dreary state, all alone and without his precious Iron Man armour, it shouldn't be too hard.

Right?

I shifted back to my human form, silently thanking that book on shapeshifting that had taught me how to shift my clothes with me, so that I was now once more standing in a blouse and jeans.

How am I going to do this?

I hesitated slightly longer, eyeing the communicator, which was still lying on the floor. If I knocked Stark out, would they be able to hear me?

I shook my head, deciding that no amount of procrastination was going to solve the problem. I clambered out of hiding place, picked an empty bottle up off the floor, and approached the drunk billionaire.

I was surprise by how fast his reflexes were. He jumped to his feet — a bit unsteadily, but without falling — and made a grab for the comm, before realizing that he wasn't wearing it anymore.

"Guys, Cat-Girl is here!" he hollered, and I winced, before delivering him a solid blow to the head.

He went out like a light.

I swore.

The bottle shattered as I dropped it, and I knew that I was in trouble now. There was no way that amount of noise would stay unnoticed. I heard a crackle from the communicator, and turned towards it. It'd probably be best to destroy it, just in case.

But before I could, Tonia spoke.

"Peyton? Are you there?"

I froze.

"Peyton, I know it's you. Nobody else swears by blueberry ice cream. Can you hear me?"

I slowly approached the communicator, but didn't answer.

"I'm just going to assume you can hear this... well, hi I guess? Look, I'm sorry, I should've come in person. Sending Tony was a bad idea. In my defense, it wasn't MY idea. I know this is a lot to ask, but... could you just come with us? The Avengers aren't so bad, and I promise they won't hurt you. Except Tony, I can't speak for him. Anyway... please? Are you hearing this? Come on Pey..."

I hesitated only a second longer, and then crushed the communicator before Tonia could change my mind.

It's not that I don't trust Tonia... I just don't trust Tonia's judgement. Just because the Avengers are the Good Guys, doesn't mean they're good guys. Tonia's too young to see that.

I turned around, and swore again.

Because standing in front of me were Pietro Maximoff and Sam Wilson.

"Do you think she'll come with us willingly?" Sam enquired.

"No, I think she is hostile," Pietro answered casually, as if I wasn't standing in front of them.

"Why would you think that? Is it the knocked-out billionaire?" Sam asked.

"Nah, that could have been Stark drinking himself unconscious. It is that she just killed the communicator," Pietro replied.

Sam sighed, cocking a tranquilizer gun.

"That sucks, I was hoping to end this peacefully."

"You could still ask her to surrender, no?"

"You really are full of brilliant ideas today, Speedy."

Sam turned to me, pointing the gun at my chest.

"Do me a favour, and surrender," he stated.

I clenched my fists, counting my options.

Escape was out of the question, now that Racing Stripes had showed up. I could just surrender, but that didn't feel right. I could try to use Stark as a living shield, but I had a feeling that neither Wilson nor Maximoff had a problem with tranquilizing Stark in the process of tranquilizing me, so that wouldn't work.

I could shift and attack, hoping to catch them off-guard.

"This is taking too long," Pietro complained, "shoot first, ask her to surrender later."

"Asking her to surrender was your idea to begin with!" Sam pointed out.

Do they ever stop arguing?

The next moment, I felt a sharp sting in my arm.

Okay, I've been tranquilized. Now what?

I pulled the small dart out of my arm, and groggily threw it back to Maximoff and Wilson.

"Sorry," Wilson apologized, "it's nothing personal, I promise."

Then I blacked out.

-

AUTHOR'S POV (yes I know it's called 3rd person but this sounds cooler)

When Peyton came to, she was lying in a soft bed, a warm blanket covering her. She tried not to move as she slowly took in the room.

"You're awake!" Tonia exclaimed excitedly, jumping to her feet.

"Tonia?" Peyton frowned.

"Yeah, it's me! You've been out for hours, I had no idea tranquilizers had such a strong effect, and--"

"Tonia."

Tonia froze.

"Uh oh."

Peyton sat up straight, a scowl on her face.

"Antoinette Banner, where are we?"

"Um... Avengers Tower?"

"ANTHONY STARK!"

Peyton and Tonia both whipped around to face the entrance of the room, where Tony Stark himself ran in, closing the door behind him. There was a loud knock against the door and then someone grappling with the handle and trying to open it. Steve's voice came from the passage, almost loud enough to tear the door down.

"STARK, IF YOU DON'T OPEN UP THE DOOR I SWEAR I'LL... I'll..."

"LANGUAGE!" Tony replied, oblivious to the other occupants of the room.

"What?" Steve asked, confused.

"You said you'd swear if I didn't open the door, and I'm not opening the door, so I said language," Tony smirked.

"Oh shut up Stark," Steve's voice mumbled.

Tony chuckled, and then finally noticed Peyton and Tonia.

"Oh, Miss Catnip is up?" he asked with a snarky grin, and Peyton let out a low growl.

"Stark, let me out of this Tower right now, or I swear you'll regret it."

"Language," Tonia whispered, and Tony laughed.

"We just want to talk, Miss... Peyton, was it? I believe it was. Anyway, just give us a chance. Your friend Tonia already agreed to join us, so I think we might be able to change your mind too."

"If I may make a small correction to that statement..." Tonia spoke up, "I agreed to join, under the condition that Peyton joined too."

"What makes you think I want to?" Peyton demanded, "I've spent almost my whole life avoiding superheroes and super-organizations, why would I change that now?"

"You wouldn't have to live in fear of people discovering your powers anymore," Tonia answered softly, "isn't that what you wanted?"

"I wanted to be left alone."

"Um, would you mind putting this conversation on hold and continuing in the meeting room?" Tony suggested, "I have a feeling it'll be easier if you just explain it once and for all."

Peyton got to her feet, shaking her head.

"I'm not going anywhere. You're letting me out of this Tower, and I'll return home. You'll all pretend this never happened."

"Or else what?" Tony asked.

Peyton shifted into a three and a half foot tall lioness, her eyes trained on Stark.

"Or else that," Tonia mumbled.

"Um, JARVIS, I miiiight need some backup," Tony stated, pressing himself against the door, "also Steve, do you have your shield at hand? I um... I could really use it right about now."

"You'll have to let me in first," Steve stated, the amusement clearly shining through in his voice.

Tony moved his hands towards the doorknob, but the lioness let out a clear growl and he retracted his hand quickly.

"That might not be quite as easy as it sounds," he answered, and he could hear Steve chuckle.

Tonia was slowly moving in the lioness's direction, whispering words of reassurance. When Tony was sure that all the big cat's attention was focused on the Banner kid and not him, he opened the door in one quick swing and jumped out of the way.

"Need any help?" Steve enquired, shrugging his shield off his shoulder.

The lioness's eyes flashed towards Steve and a low growl came from her throat.

"Peyton, calm down, they just want to talk!" Tonia exclaimed, and the lioness glared at her.

"I know, I know," Tonia rolled her eyes, ""that's what they all say", right? These guys aren't HYDRA, Peyton, just... give them a chance."

Steve caught on, and put his shield down.

"We really just want to talk," he stated, raising his hands in surrender.

The lioness seemed to pause, before shifting back to Peyton, still wearing her jeans and blouse.

"Fine," she spoke up, "you can talk. I can't promise you'll change my mind, though."

"Yes!" Tonia exclaimed, punching into the air.

"I guess we'd better start on a superhero name, huh?" Tony smirked, "I mean, if Tonia's Midnight Softpaws, then you could be... Sharpclaws? Nah, that sounds weird."

"You guys really didn't make the connection yet?" Tonia chuckled, "Midnight Softpaws was never one person. I'm Midnight, she's Softpaws."

There was a collective 'ohhhhh' and Peyton smiled despite herself.

"Tonia picked that name when she was like... six or something."

Steve glanced at his wrist, noting the absence of a watch and then looking up at the trio in front of him.

"Right, I suppose we'd better call everyone to the meeting hall then."

Natasha and Clint burst into the room, arrows and guns ready.

"You called for backup?" Nat asked.

"We actually already solved the problem," Tony replied with a smirk, "but thanks for coming anyway."

Clint lowered his bow.

"Aw man, I always miss all the fun."

"That's because you're so slow, old man," a blue blur remarked cheekily, and Clint whipped around, drawing his arrow.

"Okay, I'll get you for that!"

Tonia chuckled, giving Peyton a hug.

"You'll love it here," she promised, "I know you will."

THE END

COMPLETED: Softpaws' Midnight Heist Arc