chapter thirty-eight.

"I'll see you in a couple weeks!" Mason exclaimed with a grin, his arm around Marcy's shoulder as they stood in the centre of the crowded airport. J.D's grip tightened on the handle of her suitcase as she stood next to Gus, forcing a smile at her brother's obliviousness. Currently, he thought she was homesick and wanted to spend Herb's fiftieth birthday with him instead of being in England for the next couple of weeks.

But Mason also wasn't dumb. He had his suspicions about why Steve had shown up on their doorstep, as well as why J.D had suddenly started packing. He had confronted her a couple of days prior, but she had lied straight to his face, telling him that Steve was just updating her on the whereabouts of the Avengers. He had trouble believing her, but to him, he thought that after what happened a few months prior, she wouldn't lie to him again.

He was wrong.

J.D felt ever so guilty standing before her oblivious twin, about to leave for a mission that she knew would eventually go wrong. She wanted to stay with him, but there was a part of her that urged her to go and help people in need.

A sigh escaped her lips and she burst forward, pulling Mason into a tight hug. Her brother laughed and released Marcy, using both arms to hold her for what would be the last time for a while. He would miss her, but he knew that if Gus was with her, she'd at least be safe. He'd be staying with Marcy and her family, as they were happy to take care of him for the next week. "Promise me you'll be careful, J.D."

"I promise," J.D chuckled softly, and Mason kissed the side of her head, before letting her pull away and move over to Artie. She had no time to speak before she tugged her into a warm embrace, though this one held a different emotion than Mason's. "Artie, I'll be okay."

"You'd better be," she mumbled, holding her for a few more seconds. J.D could feel her anxiety radiating off him, and the regret was slowly seeping into her bones. She didn't know why she was going either, but she knew how traumatised J.D had been coming back from New York, and she didn't want to have to see that again. "Love you, Jessie. Love you too, Gus. Take care of yourselves."

"We will," Gus assured her, before grabbing J.D's arm lightly and pulling her away from the other three, as he knew that if they waited a moment longer, she'd decide to stay and they'd miss their flight. "C'mon, Jessie."

J.D hesitated for a moment longer, her lips tightened into a thin line. She wished that time could just stop for a moment, and she could be herself for a little longer.

"Go, J.D, you're gonna be late," Marcy laughed, and J.D couldn't help but smile. She reached her hand up to her mouth and blew a kiss to the beautiful friend, before waving at her brother and Artie.

"Bye, guys," she said softly, though her voice was nearly drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the airport. She sighed, before turning around and grabbing her suitcase handle in one hand, Gus' hand in the other. She glanced over her shoulder to see the two girls and boy behind her, huge grins on their faces and happiness clear in their eyes.

None of them knew what was to come, though in all fairness, neither did she.

+++

"You made it," Steve called out from the airstrip. He was in the same hoodie and track pants, and J.D refrained from rolling her eyes, instead settling for a queasy grin. Steve ran forward and handed J.D a blank business card. The teenager furrowed her eyebrows, before flipping it over and seeing three different numbers scrawled in blue pen. "If you ever need me, I'll be on the other end of the number at the top. The other two are contacts for Tony, one's Happy Hogan's number, the other is his personal phone."

"Thanks, Steve," she muttered as the soldier ushered her and Gus onto the fancy aircraft.

"I should be thanking you," he offered her a smile, patting her back as she entered the plane. "You're pretty much an honorary Avenger."

J.D liked the sound of that. She had never really fit in as anything, not even as a superhero, but it felt good to hear something like that, she never thought it would be a sentence said in her direction. As Gus brushed past her and sat down, she poked her head around the door.

"Drop off your bags and go straight to Stark," Steve instructed from where he stood outside. J.D nodded once, listening intently. "Don't worry if he has a tracker on you, you won't be doing anything dangerous enough for him to care about. After that, try looking for any suspicious like minor or major drug transactions, she'll most likely be there. Just remember, J.D. Sneak around, listen closely, but don't engage. I'm not gonna let you get hurt from this, alright?"

"That's assuring," J.D grumbled, sending Steve a wave as the door began to close. He nodded at her, before adjusting his hood and walking in the opposite direction, probably back into wherever he had been hiding . J.D released a shaky breath, before turning around and running a hand through her hair as she walked through the empty isles. She dropped into the seat across from Gus and clipped in her seatbelt, too distracted by her thoughts to even look around.

"This place is crazy," Gus stared around the plane in complete awe, J.D looked up at him and smiled lightly. She was glad he was coming with her, even though he didn't really know what he was signing up for either. So far, only Steve and him knew why she was returning, and she intended to keep it that way.

"Yeah, Tony's got way too much shit that he doesn't need," She joked, and Gus flashed her a grin. She forced a smile in return, running a hand through her hair. "Michelle and Herb are gonna meet us at the airport."

"I finally get to meet them," Gus was undeniably excited, he hadn't left his hometown in a while since quitting S.H.I.E.L.D, the only time being when Artie was younger and had won a competition to go to the High School Musical premiere in London.

+++

"MJ!" J.D exclaimed, running through the airport with Artie on her tail. As soon as she spotted her best friend's untamed hair, she felt her heart race. She dodged past other tourists expertly, making her way towards the girl with a large book in hand.

Michelle looked around at the calling of her name among the chatter of the place, and she gasped loudly when she was tackled into a hug by J.D. The teenager's eyes squeezed shut in shock for a moment, before one opened suspiciously to see J.D grinned up at her. Then, for the first time in a while, Michelle laughed happily.

"J.D, took you long enough to come back," she exclaimed, returning the embrace tightly. The two girls stayed like that for a moment longer, before a cleared throat made them break apart.

"What? No hug for the guy who drove here?"

"Hey, Herb!" J.D chuckled, letting go of Michelle and pulling her uncle into a bear hug. Herb grinned and spun her around. J.D poked him jokingly. "You look younger."

"Cause I don't have to keep chasing around two kids and a dog all the time since you took her with you," he retorted, and J.D's grin widened. Belle, Mason's dog, had been taken with them to Brighton, where she'd received her puppy training and was living her best life in the warm weather. "How's Mason anyway?"

"He's great, actually. He's got an art exhibition in two weeks," J.D responded, and Herb seemed happy to hear that his nephew was doing well. "He'll be here after that."

"At least I've got the spare room empty now," Herb commented as he reached for J.D's bags without hesitation. When his niece moved to protest, he sent her a look, before smiling widely. "It's good to have you back for a bit, kid."

Gus and Herb began to talk as they exited the airport. Michelle fell into step with J.D, swinging her arm around her shoulders. "So, who's the guy?"

"That's Gus. He's been looking after me and Mase in Brighton," J.D explained, her eyes on the back of the man's head. "He's nice, you'd like him."

"Didn't you say his sister was cute? Is she gonna replace he-who-must-not-be-named?" Michelle asked as they stepped into the heat of New York City. J.D scoffed and lifted a hand to shade her eyes from the sun as they walked to Herb's car.

"You can say Peter's name, I'm not gonna burst into tears," she muttered, and Michelle shrugged.

"Well, you never know," the tall girl responded quickly, and J.D chuckled at her attitude. Michelle was known to be a bit weird and scary sometimes, but when the two were together they balanced each other out and were happy as one. "Speaking of Peter, he keeps getting into detention at school."

"You're not still going in there to draw people, are you?" J.D asked her as they made it to Herb's truck. Michelle snickered, showing her the notebook she held at her side. J.D took it and flicked through the pages, seeing dozens of sulky drawings of people. "Michelle, you're a real loser, you know that, right?."

"Thank you," Michelle grinned, taking her book back and walking around to the other side of the car. Both girls got into the backseat, starting to talk about what was happening in each of their lives. "Oh, and Flash made the Academic Decathlon team. We went to Washington a few months ago and won, but he took the bragging rights."

"He what?" J.D's eyes widened, and Michelle nodded, reaching into the carseat pocket and pulling out a bag of obscure Japanese candy, offering her friend some. J.D dug her hand in and pulled out some without knowing what they were, still in shock.

"Yeah, he broke his leg over summer, he can't really play sports anymore. So, his mom made him get tutoring and he went to summer school, now he thinks he's top shit at everything else." Michelle explained, and J.D felt slightly bad for the popular asshole. Sure, they hated each other, but they got along sometimes, and she still knew that sports meant a lot to the Thompson boy. "He was and still is only first alternate, but Pete kept missing practise cause of that Stark internship thing he was doing."

"Stark internship?" J.D furrowed her eyebrows, and Michelle nodded, crunching on her food. "What's that supposed to be?"

"Beats me. Barely any of the kids believed him," The girl shrugged. "Oh, and he's friends with that Ned kid now, remember him?"

"Ned Leeds?" J.D asked, immediately knowing who she was talking about. She liked Ned, he was a hilarious kid who loved LEGO and Star Wars. They used to sit together in Chemistry the previous year, but he accidentally poked himself with a pencil when he fell asleep in class and started bleeding. The next lesson, he had moved a few seats away because he was too embarrassed. Still, they waved at each other in the hallway and his number was still in her phone. "Good for Peter. What about you, who do you hang out with?"

"No one, really. Without you, I'm just the weird kid who reads Human Bondage books in gym class," Michelle said without a care, and J.D frowned slightly. She loved Michelle, but she wished that her friend could be a little more sociable, make more acquaintances. "But you're back now, and everyone's gonna be asking you questions again. How long are you staying?"

"I don't know yet, a couple months at the most," J.D shrugged, and Michelle smiled hopefully. "But I think everyone wants me back in Brighton, for safety."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair," Michelle nodded, though her eyes dropped a little. Michelle knew why J.D was wary, and she understood, though she was sad to have to part again. "So, are you gonna come back to school? We've got a trip to MoMA in February."

J.D chuckled, and then the pair fell into a comfortable silence. In the back of her mind, J.D knew she had to find Tony somehow, and get the suit in her suitcase fixed, but she had no idea when or how she was supposed to get it done without being noticed. She'd have to think of something, think about a way to once again get into the Avenger's facility Upstate.

"You look like you're thinking too hard," Michelle noted, and J.D glanced over at her to see concern written all over the girl's face. Forcing a smile, J.D shook her head.

"I'm okay, just tired," She lied, and Michelle was quiet for a moment, before nodding and letting her eyes travel back to her notebook, where she was sketching something. J.D sighed. "You're drawing me, aren't you?"

Michelle grinned and held up the book, a pencil sketch of the side of J.D's face, her lips turned in a frown and her eyebrows knitted together. "You're my muse."

"And you're a loser."

+++

Fuck anyone who says MJ isn't a bean. MJ is a bean and you can't change my mind. i love her.