『ᴀʀᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇʟ || ᴀ ᴍᴀʀᴠᴇʟ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

Ch. 48: Gifts From Friends

I sat down at the table, my hands folded together as I looked at the Sokovia Accords in front of me. I was alone in the room- everyone else had left to think more about it, or didn't want to be near the accords.

It worried me. It really did. Thinking back to how I handled myself earlier, I sighed and pressed a hand against my forehead, slumping back in the chair.

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

I thought about Steve's words. He was clearly set on disagreeing with anybody that wanted to sign the accords. His place and opinion are more noticeably set in stone.

I looked away from the book, turning in my chair and looking at my phone that sat on the other end of the table. I got up to my feet and walked over, picking it up and turning it around.

I turned it on and looked at the screen. It was an old photo I managed to scour the internet for. It was when I had won my first robotics competition, and Steph had come to cheer me on.

I shut my eyes as I let out a quiet sigh, and then opened them again, looking at the phone. I spoke up, my voice hushed, "Hey Piper, pull up information on people killed in the Sokovia battle."

Piper didn't respond and a hologram appeared above my phone, dozens of articles of those killed in the fight. I covered my mouth as I let out a sigh, scanning the titles. I clicked on a random one, reading it over.

The world was taken by surprise when the city of Sokovia started to fly up into the sky. Earth's heroes, the Avengers, were seen battling the forces that actually originated from an experiment done by the Avengers.

Dozens were injured and harmed, just as much as dozens were killed. The elderly, children, adults- all ages were killed during the exchange. Those who lost families are blaming the heroes, while those who didn't loose families are celebrating the victory. But was it a victory in the long run?

The hologram disappeared, and I sighed quietly, looking at the phone as I whispered, "Why did you turn it off, Piper?"

"It was damaging your emotional state. I was simply doing what was right for your health."

"I wasn't done reading it," I mumbled, reaching for the still lit phone before it shut off. I groaned, putting my head on the table and hissing out at the AI, "I regret installing you into my phone."

"Nicki? Are you in here?"

I raised my head and turned my attention towards the door to the room, seeing Steph enter. I turned myself around in my chair, smiling as I waved at her, "Yeah, I'm here. Do you need something?"

Steph smiled at me and shook her head, pulling up in another chair and sitting down beside me. She smoothed out her leggings as she placed a neatly wrapped box in front of me. I raised a brow at her, looking at her skeptically. She giggled quietly, leaning away from me and falling back further into her chair.

I looked at her, laughing quietly at her body language, "What did you do? I don't trust this."

"You'll like it, trust me."

I turned my head around to see Jeremiah walking into the room, his hands placed perfectly into his pockets. He was smiling at me, hair slicked back and styled to a state that made him look fancy. I smiled at him, facing him entirely, "Jeremiah. It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry I haven't really kept in touch..."

"Eh, don't worry about it. I got in touch with Stephanie and asked her to keep an eye on you for me. I actually just got done with some secret stuff," He joked, wiggling his brows at the last part. I shook my head as he walked closer, pulling up the other chair and sitting down.

"So you've been away on 'secret stuff' for a few years?" I asked, looking at him crossly.

Jeremiah nodded, swinging his bag around and placing it on the table, pulling out freshly cut sandwiches. He pushed one in front of Steph and another in front of me, pulling out his own food, "Yeah. Get a long break for the time being."

I nodded my head, toying with the wrapping on the sandwich before shoving his shoulder, "Did you burn down another kitchen?"

"Hey! I will gladly inform you that I can cook meals now. I took lessons."

"Jeremiah, the gift," Steph hummed, giving him a freakishly weird smile. He stared at her dumbfounded before jumping in his seat, fishing out a larger, neatly wrapped box and placing it beside the other one.

I looked at the two of them before glancing back at the gifts, "They're going to explode. I don't feel like having smoke and dust on my face today."

"Come on, just open it! I promise it won't suck!" Jeremiah complained, looking at me, "Steph said that the team forgot to celebrate your birthday this year- OW! Don't throw things at me Stephanie!"

I looked back at Steph, shaking my head at her before turning back to the gifts. I grabbed the one that Jeremiah had sat down, unwrapping it and opening it. On the inside of it sat a black and silver headset. It ended at the area where the ears would be- an earpiece on each side. 

He gestured to me, grinning, "Put it on."

I picked it up and slipped it onto my head, feeling the fabric sit comfortably against my hair, setting the earpieces into place. An almost completely silent mechanical noise came from the earpieces as the back of it shifted.

It expanded at wrapped around my head tightly, but not tight enough to restrict breathing. I looked around in shock as Piper's voice spoke up, "Happy Birthday, Nicole."

I looked at Jeremiah, smiling at him, even if he couldn't see it, "You made this for me?"

He shook his head, "I gave blueprints to Stark and asked if he could make it for you. I was actually pretty surprised he agreed to it, but you have a good effect on people."

I leaned forward and gave him a hug, whispering quietly, "Thank you."

"Well you did spare my life the first time we met. You deserve this."

I leaned away and looked at the other gift. It was a lot smaller and I reached for, grabbing it and unwrapping it. My fingers brushed the velvet box as I opened it. I felt my eyes start to tear up as I stared at the necklace. I looked over to Steph, surprised, "How did you get this? This... This was Mom's."

"She put it on your grave for your birthday this year. I was in the area and saw it sitting there. I figured you'd want to wear it," Steph smiled, looking down at it as well.

It was a silver fox necklace. It was the outline connected to small silver chains, with lines on the inside of the fox. I always used to play with it when Mom wore it.

I sniffed, turning to Steph and holding it out to her, "Could you put it on for me?"

She nodded, picking it up from it's box and unclipping it, placing it around my neck and clipping it shut. The coolness of the metal sat comfortably against the front of my shirt.

I looked at the two of them and smiled, pressing the side of the helmet and letting it go back into it's spot. They could see how teary my eyes were, "I could never have asked for better friends. Thank you."