INFERNO │ Marvel

6.2 revels

The golden glow from her veins didn't disappear for the next few days. Because of it, Amelia had spent her time trying to figure out what the hell the sceptre had done to her. Tony and Bruce had confined themselves to the lab in that time, but she was a little too preoccupied to get in on whatever they were doing.

The first thing she noticed was that summoning or manipulating fire no longer drained her physical self. It was more of a mental strain, not that it made it any harder. If anything, it had become easier to conjure flames. Usually, she would have to flick her wrist or throw an attack. Now, when she tested it, she could simply look at something and it would ignite.

The next thing she noticed was that after the initial golden glow of her veins went down, it would reappear when she used her powers. She had been in the training room when she realised that big displays of power made it look like her eyes were alight too. Even her wings were blazing more gloriously now. This was way beyond what Hellfire had initially been. She just had to discover what other tricks she now had up her sleeve.

The day of the party arrived, and Amelia dressed herself up for the first time in a long time. Something compelled her to show off her newfound power before she had actually announced it, so she wore a gold, glittering dress that made her look like a human disco ball. It was amazingly over the top.

She first greeted Sam and Steve at the pool table. While she watched their game, she had secretly used her strength to lift the table and roll the balls in Sam's favour, earning him a win. He was rather impressed with himself, so she didn't say anything about her involvement. She also conversed for a short while with her brother, Rhodey, Maria and Thor. Tony and Thor had one of their usual macho back-and-forths, so she eventually moved on. Next, she spent some time doing shots with Natasha, despite the fact that they had absolutely no effect on her. Being the only two female Avengers, they spent a lot of time together, and Amelia could honestly say that Natasha had grown to be her best friend. Whether the other woman would admit the same was questionable.

Eventually, she made her way back to Steve to find him conversing with Thor and a group of old men. The god had a small flask of very strong smelling alcohol in his hand.

"I gotta have some of that!" one of the men exclaimed. Thor smiled and poured some into an empty glass before handing it to Steve, who in turn handed it to Amelia.

"Oh, no, no, no," Thor denied him. "See this... This was aged for 1,000 years in the barrels built from the wreck of Grunhel's fleet. It is not meant for mortal men."

"Neither was Omaha beach, blondie," the man retorted. "Stop trying to scare us. Come on."

"Alright."

Amelia had already taken a sip by the time Thor began pouring it out for the men. It was indeed strong and if she wasn't an enhanced person herself, she would've definitely been drunk off her ass already. She took one more sip for good measure before handing the glass back to Steve and encouraging him to drink the rest. This was the only way the two of them could even come close to feeling the effects of alcohol: a drink made for the damn gods.

Steve and she had headed back to the bar after a while. The pair watched with amused smiles as Natasha and Bruce flirted with each other across the other side from them.

"Do you think they're ever going to get together?" Amelia asked Steve as she hopped up to sit on the bar. "Seems one of them is too subtle, and the other is just nervous as all hell. I can't imagine this is what all couples are like."

"And you?" he inquired. "Is there anyone special?"

"No," she answered with a soft and genuine smile. "I used to be the kind for casual relationships, but now I don't bother much. Don't really feel the need to. Maybe I'll have that kind of thing someday, but right now the love I have for you guys is enough for me. More than enough. You're my family."