➖ CHAPTER TEN!

➖ KATHERINE STOOD OUTSIDE OF THE Starbucks the next morning, Happy just behind her and (even though she didn't let him know that she knew) Bucky Barnes to the far left of her, trying desperately to blend into the crowd.

She looked up at the building nervously, catching sight of Zander sitting at a table through the window. He had two coffee cups, and she couldn't help but smile as she realized that he had ordered for her.

With a deep breath the girl plasters a fake smile onto her face and adjusts her bag before opening the double glass doors and stepping into the busy and noisy shop. Even though they weren't, she felt as if everyone in the coffee shop was staring at her as she and Happy strode last the long line towards Zander.

Katherine's plan had been to surprise him but he noticed her too early when he turned around to look at the shop. The smile that graced the boys face was enough to make her melt and grin back at him as he stood to give her a hug.

"She's alive after all!" He exclaims as they embrace, causing the girl to laugh and squeeze him tighter. "Where the hell have you been, Kat?"

Katherine watched as he grabbed the two coffee's handing her the iced one. She smiled in thanks at him as they start walking out to the car, Happy once again following them grumpily.

"I've been sick." She says, going with the lie that Tony had been telling the school everyday when he called her in for the past week. "Just the flu, I guess. It's been horrible."

"It's been horrible not having you there everyday." Zander says, getting into the back seat of the car as she took her spot up front. "My sister is on some sort of power trip because she thinks you moved- what's with you two anyway?- and Logan has just been weird since that day that you two skipped all of your classes..which you're in a ton of trouble for by the way."

Katherine chuckles before looking back at him as she takes a sip of the coffee, it was one of the flavors Zander usually bought for himself and she loved it. "I'm sure the make up homework is punishment enough." She says, before her eyebrows furrowed. "Why didn't you guys bring me my homework?!"

Zander laughs. "Because your dad has been coming in to pick it up everyday.. or at least he did yesterday, Happy here has been the one to do it most days."

Katherine gives Happy a look, not believing it seeing as she hadn't seen homework since the day before Logan found out. "Check your bag, Miss Stark."

Katherine grabs her bag off of the floor board and unzips it for the first time in a week, finding that her homework was indeed in its folder. "Damn that's a lot of work..that's already been done. The hell-" Upon opening the purple homework folder she found that all packets for each class had already been completed.

"Your father's doing, I would imagine." Happy says as Zander sticks his head between the middle of the seats to look at it.

"Dude, I know I'm rich.. but like are you seriously rich enough to just hire someone to do your homework for you?" He asks, looking at it in amazement. "Because if so, can I get in on this action?"

Katherine snorts in laughter, patting one of her best friends on the head as she shakes her own, noticing the note that was attached to the packet of math homework.

She couldn't help but laugh even harder as she read it out loud. "Dear Math Teacher," She starts, face red from laughing as Zander falls onto the floorboard of the backseat in fits of laughter while Happy drives them with a very unamused look. "I, Tony Stark, am a certified Genius that cant figure this shit out, so how do you expect simple minded apes such as the teenagers you teach to figure it out as well? Sincerely, Kat's father."

"Does it actually say that?" Zander asks, taking the post-it note off of the homework as Kat laughs, before laughing again when he reads it for himself. "I need to meet this man!"

By the time Happy had pulled up to the school the two had sobered up, but ended up cracking up once more after a sharing a look as they stepped out of the car.

"I'll meet you by the flagpole, like usual." Happy calls before pulling away from the drop off zone as the two teenagers wander inside.

Zander and Katherine went separate ways as they passed the gym, Zander off to the boys' locker room to change for an early morning practice they had and Kat continuing towards her locker with the promise of seeing him in second period.

As Kat rounded the corner to the hallway that housed her locker she took her bag off of her shoulder, and almost stopped in her tracks when she noticed Logan leaning against locker number two hundred and forty seven. Despite faltering in her steps, the teen took a deep breath and continued walking, smiling at her best friend as she moved off the locker to allow Kat to open it.

"Morning." She says, giving Logan a sideways glance as she turned the dial that unlocked her locker. The door popped open with a metallic clang.

"Morning." Logan says in an oddly chipper voice, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I've been thinking, with this whole superhero thing-" Katherine was more than surprised.. she had hoped of course that Logan was still her friend but she hadn't expected her to just pick up right where they had left off, talking to her as she usually would. "I could totally be your side kick!"

"I mean-" Kat didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as she put her bag away and exchanged it for a few books she would need.

Logan continued on talking as if she hadn't interrupted her best friend. "Every good super hero needs a side kick, right?" She continues, looking at Katherine with a grin. "I could be the Robin to your Batman!" She exclaims, despite Katherine's odd look at the mention of the superhero duo. "The Harley to your Joker!"

"Who?" She asks as she closes her locker.

"Major characters in the D.C. Comic universe?" Logan says as they start walking side by side to their first class with her father. Kat gives her a confused look. "I forget how you grew up." Logan shakes her head. "Anyway, Robin is Batman's sidekick, and Harley is the Joker's. Batman and Robin are the good guys while Harley and Joker are the bad guys that always try to fight them."

Katherine simply stared at her in a confused manor as they walked. "Logan.. I'm not exactly a superhero.. yeah I have you know.. powers but I'm not aloud to use them." She looks over at her friend, her eyebrows furrowed. "And if anything, I'd be the side kick."

Logan laughs and shakes her head, looping her arm through Katherine's. "Nah, you're totally the superhero." She says as they walk into her father's class room.

Katherine chuckles, her nervousness about the day gone as she realized that Logan wasn't going anywhere. "Morning, Mister Killian!" She calls cheerfully, skipping over to Logan's dadas she pulls the homework packet for the class out. "Here's last weeks homework, and I'm sorry for the absence. I've been sick."

Logan Lillian's father gave her a smile and patted her on the head as he took the homework, telling her that it was good to have her back as she went to sit in her usual seat between Zander and Logan's desks.

➕

Logan wound up going home with Katherine at the end of the day, to get a head start on a biology assignment the two needed to do together.

Happy hadn't been too happy with the extra company in the drive home, especially because the two girls talked a lot, but handled it none the less and safely pulled into the parking garage under the Avengers Tower and let the two teens out.

As the doors closed on the private elevator Logan started chatting, only to be interrupted by their AI.

"Good afternoon, Miss Katherine and Miss Killian." The English sounding voices spoke over the speakers. "Shall I let Agent Barton or Romanoff know you've got company?"

Logan looked around, a little shell shocked. It was only her second time hearing the voice and it was still a little spooky to her.

"No thank you, Jarvis." Katherine says, glancing at the floor numbers as they passed quickly. "And good afternoon to you too."

"Yeah.. uh..good afternoon." Logan adds awkwardly, causing Katherine to laugh. "Shut up!" The teen exclaims, glaring playfully at her best friend. "It's weird! Why does he sound so.. human?"

"Does my voice bother you, Miss Killian?" The AI system asks, and Katherine can just imagine it tilting g his head to the side if it were real (although unbeknownst to her, he was real). "I can change it to something else.. perhaps.. ooh what are the kids into these days? Harry Styles?"

"Oh my god that's creepy!" Both girls exclaim as the AI took in the voice of the singer.

"Change it back please, your normal voice is fine!" Logan says, shuddering as the elevator slows to a stop. When the doors open the two girls step out with a giggle, only to scream as a silver throwing star flies past their heads.

Clint and Steve were currently going at each other in the middle the living room area. Full on spy fighting.

"The fuck-"

Katherine rolled her eyes and duplicated herself as Steve started pounding into Clint, allowing two more of herself to appear and wrap her arms several times around the pair before separating them.

"Holy-"

"Language!" The Captain shouts, struggling against Katherine's duplicate while Logan looked at her best friend in awe. Katherine had told her about being able to do this, but told her that she didn't do it often or for long periods as it made her sick.

Katherine observed the area, her eyes landing on the remote that sat neatly and untouched on the glass coffee table, before averting her eyes back to the two. "You two are grown men."

"So?" Clint asks after sharing a look with Steve. They both knew what was about to happen as they watched Logan slip off her backpack.

"So did you seriously just have a whole ass ninja fight over a remote?" The pair stay silent and share another look. "You do realize that one of you could've just gone to your room and watched whatever, right? That would've been the mature option."

"Who ever said we were mature?" The tall and broad man asks, still struggling against the duplicate.

"Steven, you're over one hundred years old. I kind of thought maturity came with old age."

"What a savage." Sam Wilson says as he strolls through the room. "Damn girl." Katherine gave him a look as well as Logan tried to hold in her laughter. "Oh, Natasha made candy apples so.. I'd hurry before Tony and Bucky eat them all.."

"Yes!" Katherine shouts in excitement, releasing the two men and grabbing her best friend as she drags her to the kitchen, where Sam was headed. "Natasha makes the best candy apples!"

Later on in the afternoon, after Logan had been properly introduced to everyone and the pair had started their assignment, Logan began trying to persuade Katherine into going to the school's football game that night and was being oddly persistent about it.

"It'll be fun!" She pleads as they sit criss cross on the floor in Bruce and Tony's lab, taking advantage of both mens' knowledge. "You can stay in the sidelines with me and take pictures for the yearbook!"

"I'd love to." She felt bad for lying, but she didn't know how to tell Logan that something about being at a football game made her feel super nervous and antsy. "But I don't think Tony or Clint would let me.. after what happened with you they've been really strict about where I can go and even Natasha has been super watchful."

"What if you just asked?" Logan says excitedly, not even giving her best friend a chance to answer before getting the AI online. "Jarvis!"

It was only a moment before he responded. "Yes, Logan?" She's asked him to stop being so formal about her name and the AI agreed.

"Can you ask Tony if it's okay for Kat to go to the football game tonight?" Much to Katherine's annoyance the AI did it, coming back only Moments later with the response.

"Tony said to ask Agent Barton," The AI says and Katherine got rather relieved for just a moment, thinking that Clint wouldn't possibly let her go. "And Agent Barton agreed that she could go, but only if Mister Barnes went with."

Katherine furrowed her eyebrows, Bucky had been following g her around all day, at the coffee shop and Kirk f around the school. She wonders if Clint had put him up to it.

She was brought out of her thoughts as Logan squealed like a pig and ran for Katherine's walk in closet. throwing it open before stopping in her tracks and sending her best friend a very disappointed look. "You have this big of a closet.. and you don't even use it right?" She says and Katherine just shrugs. "Girl I need to teach you some things- this is just disappointing.."

Twenty minuets later Katherine was fidgeting awkwardly in the black skirt and black tights that Logan had dressed her in, and desperately trying to adjust the way the red cropped sweater sat in her upper body.

The colors were the colors of their school, and the outfit was gorgeous but it wasn't something great Kat would normally wear and she was having a hard time being comfortable with it.. especially the heeled boots Logan forced into her feet.

Logan was just finishing zipping up a pair of red jeans when Katherine's bedroom door swung open, letting Bucky stroll into the room casually.

"You girls rea-dy?" Bucky looked up on his final word, and his speech faltered for a second as his eyes landed on Katherine. He thought she looked oddly beautiful despite her obvious discomfort. "Happy is getting rather impatient down there.. even threatened to take the car without seat warmers if you don't hurry."

"Oh no," Kat says dryly, walking towards the man as she grabs her small purse off the bed. "Whatever will we do without our precious butt warmers?"

Bucky couldn't help the laugh that escapes him as he leads the two teams away from the rooms and into the main living area, where Tony waits with Clint.

"Well whaddya know," Tony says, grinning at the kid. "My fake daughter cleans up rather nice." Katherine only rolled her eyes, but accepted the half hug he gave her and noted that he slipped his Black American Express card into her purse before pulling away. "Buy whatever you want with it, don't even think about the price."

"Be safe!" Clint calls as Bucky ushers the two towards the elevator, turning to Tony as they step into it. "We're doing the right thing by letting her go out.. right? She wanted the normal teenage life and.. this is what normal teenagers do.."

Tony just stared at the man oddly, wondering if this is how he would be if he and pepper ever had kids. "She'll be fine, Legolas."

➕
The football game lasted hours, with Kat and Logan standing in the sidelines and taking pictures for their year book.

Kat ended up having to take off her shoes and run with just her thighs covering her feet up and down the football field to capture the images she needed, and mostly just to stare at Zander very chance she got.

Bucky watched the girls from where he leaned against the side of the bleachers in the shadows, noting how whenever he got the chance player number forty-four would look over at Katherine for as long as possible.

And after they had won the game the boy made a beeline for her instead of going off with his team to celebrate in the locker room.

He took his helmet off as he approached her and Bucky realized that it was the boy from the coffee shop, Zander.

"Hey Kat!" He says, going in to give her a hug that she returned briefly. Bucky started moving closer to the girls as Logan packed up the cameras and the bleachers emptied. "It's good to see you here."

Katherine gave a small giggle and he could just tell there was that stupid smile on her face. "Logan dragged me here, but I'm glad she did." The teenager says. "You played really well.. and it's exciting seeing the team win!"

"Yeah.. yeah it is." They both go quiet for an awkward minute before Zander clears his throat, catching Katherine's attention just as Logan sidles up next to Bucky, the camera cases sling over her shoulder. "Katherine.. I uh.. I've been meaning to ask this for a while and I've never really had the courage until now.. I guess it's because I'm fresh off of a win-" Bucky's metal fist clenched as the boy rambled, his eyes narrowing as he had a feeling as to where he was going with this. "Anyway,.. I just wanted to know it maybe you'd like to go out with me sometime?"

Katherine couldn't help but smile at his nervousness before nodding nervously herself. "Uh, yeah.. I'd love to.."

"Cool..cool.." He says, grinning before telling g her he had to go change and celebrate with the team.

As he ran off Logan screamed and launched herself at Katherine, who screamed back and started jumping up and down with Logan, much to Bucky's displeasure.

"He asked you out!" Logan squeals excitedly, happy for her best friend. The exciting moment is short lived though as Bucky rudely interrupts them with his sudden grumpiness.

"Let's go, Happy will be waiting." He grunts, waking past them with his metal fist still clenched.

➕➕

YOU GUYS HI!!
THIS WAS SUPER LONG AND I APOLOGIZE BUT LIKE
YOU GOTTA LOVE IT??

THIS IS A BUCKY STORY, DONT WORRY BUT THEY ARENT GOING TO GET TOGETHER RIGHT AWAY, YOU GOTTA GIVE KAT SOME TIME TO FIGURE HERSELF OUT, YA KNOW?

COMMENT VOTE AND SHARE!!

p.s. im so done with being sick y'all, like it needs to stop-