THE MARVEL GAMES: THE NEXT AVENGERS

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Allie Barton

Right after Tony left, I crept back inside through my bedroom window. I found myself standing there, a million thoughts running through my head and not knowing what to do. I wanted to help Tony, I wanted to be a part of his team -and I'd asked him a hundred times, every time he'd said no.

I didn't get why he wouldn't just let me try. I could handle myself! I'd learnt enough from dad to know how to defend myself against the stupid Hydra soldiers.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. He'd been really distant lately. I couldn't put my finger on why exactly, but Tony was one of those people that were hard to read. That, and he didn't want to tell me any details about his life -apparently, the less I knew, the safer I was. Bullshit, I say. In this world; there was no such thing as safety.

"Allie?" A little voice came from outside my door. "Allie are you awake?"

"Yes." I sighed, opening my door to find a dark haired little boy standing there with droopy eyes. "Hey buddy, what are you doing up? Don't you know how late it is?"

"You're still up." He commented, walking to my room and sitting on my bed. This was routine for him. He did it almost every night. Ren might have been eleven, but that didn't make him any less scared of the world around him.

"Yeah, but I'm older than you." I replied smartly, sitting next to him, feeling the mattress sink under my weight.

Ren gave me a sly look and elbowed me. "Were you up on the roof again? With him?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "Ren, you know I stopped that. Dad doesn't like that."

"Hasn't stopped you before." He commented.

Ren was a smart kid. He got good grades in school and was a pro at reading people. Sometimes I swore he was a human lie detector. He was especially good at reading me and my lies.

"Come on, Allie, I know. It's alright, you can tell me." Ren insisted.

I frowned, "What are you talking about, Ren?"

"You like him." He said bluntly, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Ren!" I smacked him playfully on the shoulder. "You're eleven! What do you know about relationships?"

Ren laughed and laid his head on my pillow. "I'm not hearing a denial. But I know a lot. I've been watching mum and dad."

I sighed and laid down, facing him. "I don't like him, Ren. Even if I did, he's Tony Stark Jr. He would never go for me anyway. I know where I stand with him and he knows it too. We're just friends -I don't even know about that sometimes."

But I found, that I was talking to myself. Ren had fallen asleep almost the second his head hit the pillow. I never noticed how young he looked until he fell asleep. He was such an astute, clever, mature kid. Sometimes I had to remind myself that I was five years older than him.

***

I woke up the next morning when a cold breeze slapped my face. I had forgotten to close the window from when I'd snuck in the night before. Ren was already gone, like the early riser he was -and my little brother was more than likely already cooking us all something for breakfast.

Pulling off my sweats and t-shirt that I'd had on from all day yesterday, I threw my hair up into a messy bun and pulled on some jeans and an old band tee.

"What's for breakfast, bro?" I snuck up on Ren and ruffled his hair.

"Make it yourself." He chuckled and I grabbed an apple, taking his advice.

I couldn't help but think about Tony. What was he doing now? Was he eating breakfast with Pepper and Tony Senior? Or was he planning another rebel attack? Last night had been the first night in almost seven months that I'd seen him -other than the reports on the news.

My dad didn't love Tony, but he didn't like him all that much either. He admired what he did, threatening the Council, but that didn't mean he liked him as a person. A few months before Tony had gone off the radar, I'd slipped off the roof and my parents had found me -with Tony trying to help me. Dad had not been happy that I'd been sneaking around with a guy. And Tony Stark's son no less.

Mum had surprisingly been okay with it -Ren thought it had something to do with what happened to her in the Marvel Games when she won, but we couldn't know for sure. We had been banned from ever watching the episodes of the Games with our mother in it.

"What have you two got planned for today?" My dad snuck up on the both of us and grabbed me by the waist making me squeal.

"Nothing, thought of doing some homework." Ren mused, mostly to himself.

"I thought I might go into the city." I mumbled under my breath. Dad did know about my visits to the city, but he didn't necessarily approve of them.

"You know-" He started his classic 'you know I don't want you around that kind of danger' speech but I cut him off.

"I know. Believe me. I know. I've heard it a million times." I told him before he could get another word in. "But I can take care of myself, Dad. You taught me how."

Dad grunted and rolled his eyes, putting on a smile as my mum came down stairs and I lefts the house before she could find out where I was going.

***

From my cover behind the flipped car I could see everything that was going on. But I was only looking for one particular someone. And there he was. Tony came bolting out of the building, gun in hand. He was wearing an army green hoodie with the sleeves rolled up, so I could see all 12 of the metal rings around his wrists. Behind him, three other kids, all of them wearing at least one metal ring similar to Tony's, sped out of the building after him. I watched as the four got away just as HYDRA soldiers stormed out of the building.

I had noticed how Tony looked different from the last time I saw him. He was taller and his black hair was short and spiked. He still had the same excited, dark look in his deep blue eyes and that little scar above his eye. And he was still the same Tony Stark Jr. that had been caught in riots twelve times by the Council. That explains the metal rings. Every time he got busted, Tony got a new one. It was like a quick way for the Council to check your record. And nobody had been caught as many times as Tony. That's twelve times since he was twelve years old. Half the time he was just putting himself in danger to make sure his team was safe. You'd think all of the problems with his life would put him down more, but they didn't. He was a total spark-plug.

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Hey guys! This is T.S. Stark, co author of the book you're reading right now. (Obviously.) So, what are everyone's thoughts this far in? I can promise you it gets better! Me and the amazing Miss. Arielle Black are about half way to 3/4 finished writing it over email and all I can say is "Wow"! It's really become almost like multiple storylines with boatloads of stuff you never saw coming! We are already planning for a sequel. Sorry if I'm spoiling plans for the entire following year, but I'm really excited to see what you think. Please send us your comments, vote, and follow! Thanks we really appreciate your support!