Once Upon an Avenger

Chapter 17: Dragon?

"So, you're a magical pirate-princess from another realm, but you now live in a magical town in Maine. And there's a curse, cast by Hades' adopted daughter that made said magical town, full of magical beings, disappear. But there's also a prophecy stating that you're the only one that can save them; that's why you joined the Avengers, so that Miss Maximoff can help you learn to control your powers in this land without magic. Because she's the closest thing we have to a witch in our world?" Peter asked with wide eyes.

"More or less, Pete."

"It's, um, a lot to take in, Hope," May added as she picked up the plates from the table.

After telling the Avengers her secret, Hope had asked if her and Tony could pop over to see them, but May had insisted they would come over for dinner the following day.

"For someone who's a human lie detector, you're incredibly good at it, lying that is," Tony said as he gave Peter's Aunt a hand with the dishes. "That day I picked you up from the hotel, I genuinely believed that you didn't want to come with me. Yet it was your plan all along."

"Sorry about that." Hope shrugged. "But there was no way you were going to believe me right away. As it was, I had to rip Steve's heart out for a little bit of shock belief therapy."

"You did what!?" Aunt May exclaimed, dropping a plate into the soapy dishwater.

"Did I forget to mention that? Oops, well yeah, I did. Don't worry, America's Ass is, unfortunately, still alive. I promptly gave it back to him, kinda wished I'd held onto it to be honest."

"What is it with you two?" Peter joked as he headed to the freezer to get the ice-cream for dessert.

Tony sighed. "I wish I knew, kid."

"It's simple really, Pete," Hope told him. "He's a jerk and I'm the only one in the compound that stands up to him because I'm not afraid of him. My family's gone toe-to-toe with much worse than some stuck-up super soldier."

"Maybe, if you tried talking, you could sort things out," May suggested, sitting back down at her place at the table while Peter dished out four bowls of ice-cream.

"I've tried that on many occasions. First time, he decided to almost break my wrist, which I forgave him for. Second time, he told me that I was the one in the wrong, when he clearly was. Tony wouldn't even let me anywhere near him. Third time, it went alright, but the next day he was acting like a child with an attitude. Even though I'd forgiven him for accusing me of sleeping with Sam. I managed to get away from him for a week though thanks to the curse." Tony glared at her, not appreciating the joke. She tried smiling at him to apologise; it seemed to have worked, a bit at least. "The last time I tried smoothing things over with him was going well until he decided to say that I was wearing a skimpy skin-tight dress."

"I'm finding it hard to believe that Steve Rogers would be so rude."

"You better believe it, May." Hope licked her remaining ice-cream off her spoon before continuing. "That man is no Prince Charming, and I would know, he's my Gramps." She laughed at her own joke, May and Peter joining her as she did. Tony, however, simply shook his head in despair at how bad it was.

*

Wanda and Hope were in the gym practicing with their powers, just like they had been every morning for the past week since she'd told everyone the truth. They had set up a training program, and every morning they would train for a few hours, trying to improve Hope's control over her magic, but also because using them on a more regular basis would hopefully reduce the toll it took on her when she wielded a lot of power. As a warm-up, the pirate-princess would teach Wanda how to fight with a sword. They doubted that she would ever need to use one, but Wanda still wanted to learn, partially because there was no denying that being able to use one was a hell of a confidence booster.