Variation - W.M.

SPECIAL 2

"Livi, look!"

A young blond boy buzzed excitedly, gripping the straps of his backpack tightly as his sister held on to the back of it, preventing him from getting too far ahead.

"Yes, I see. Now slow down Oscar we have to wait for everyone else" Olivia scolded, checking behind her to see how far ahead of the rest of the group they were. The other thirty children, all dressed in vibrant green t-shirts, chattered excitedly as they progressed towards the giant building at a slower pace.

"I'm glad you came along to help out" a voice commented and Olivia smiled at the young teacher who led the rest of the class.

Oscar wasn't exactly a problem student, not by any usual measures, but when the Avengers were involved the boy tended to act as though he had never learned anything; dashing off when he pleased and exceeding any normal voice level. Knowing this, Olivia had offered to join the group's field trip to the Avenger's Compound in order to supervise the boy and help the other six chaperones focus on the rest of the second graders.

"Welcome to the Avenger's Compound" a woman greeted the group, a wide smile on her face. "This is our first year holding a contest for this opportunity and I must say I am very impressed with all of you and how much money you raised to help the damage in Washington."

As the woman spoke, Olivia tuned her out, instead choosing to focus on her brother as he wandered close by and looked around with wide eyes. When the class began their tour Olivia moved forward and caught her brother by the backpack before beginning to drag him along behind everyone.

Olivia didn't know much about the Avengers, much less the compound that they lived in, but nothing that their tour guide was saying interested her remotely. She didn't particularly care how much the compound costed or how many people were employed inside the building and it seemed as though Oscar was in the same boat as her until the Avengers were mentioned.

"Some of the Avengers actually live right in this building! They eat, train, and even leave for missions right upstairs."

This quickly got Oscar's attention and he pushed his way through his peers. "Can we go up there?"

The woman laughed. "Unfortunately those floors are off limits to visitors."

Oscar frowned, his small face scrunching in annoyance as the tour moved on. Olivia kept her eye on him as his head swiveled back and forth, hoping to catch sight of one of the heroes he adored, although as the tour kept going it seemed less and less likely that the group would catch sight of them.

The tour guide's chirpy voice and endless rant of information in addition to Oscar's bursts of energy and tendency to drift from the group gave Olivia a migraine and by the end of the tour she was ready to climb back into her car and drive back in silence.

"Livi I didn't get to meet them" Oscar whimpered, his eyes tearing up as Olivia held his coat up for him. "It's not fair."

She sighed, crouching down. "I know, Grouch, but sometimes life isn't fair. The Avengers are busy saving the world and helping people so they can't come down right now."

"But it's my birthday" Oscar whispered, tears slipping down his cheeks. "I wanted to meet Spiderman."

Olivia's heart broke at the sight of the boy and her arms weakened, falling to rest against her knees. Oscar had been looking forward to the field trip ever since the class had found out they had won, even more so when he found out it landed two days after his birthday.

"What if we go get ice cream when we get home?" Olivia offered pathetically, her brain whirring. "You always like ice cream when it's cold."

Oscar shook his head, eyes pointed down at the ground. Olivia sighed, glancing behind her at the rest of the class before standing up and holding out a hand. Oscar took it before she led the two of them over to the blonde's teacher.