My Life with the Avengers

Divide and Conquer

When we got home, I raced to my bedroom to come up with some sort of plan to get everyone on board with the idea of me joining the football team. Then it came to me. Simple divide and conquer. Tony and Thor would be the easiest to convince, I'd go talk to them first. Clint and Natasha would be a little harder, going at them while they were sparing would be the best idea. Bruce would be the hardest to convince, he would most likely side with Steve. That's what happens when they think of me as the most precious thing in the world. Not that them thinking that is a bad thing, but they almost never let me do anything with a competitive edge because of it. Oh man, did I have my work cut out for me.

When I went to go ask Tony about my physics project, I figured that would be the best time to ask about football. "Hi Uncle Tony," I said, walking into his lab.

"Hey there Jacks." he said, looking up from his current project. "What's up?"

Alright, maybe I should back up a little bit and explain why Tony called me Jacks. When I was a little kid, the only thing I would eat for breakfast, for almost a whole year, was Apple Jacks cereal. He started calling me Apple Jacks for a while then Bruce insisted that he stopped using a cereal as my name, so Tony just started calling me Jacks, and it stuck. "So I've got a physics project coming up," I explained, "And I could use a hand with it."

"What's the project?"

"My partner and I have to build a rocket that holds and egg and the capsule with the egg has to protect it when the rocket comes down."

"Who's your partner?"

"Caleb. The project's due at the end of the term, in three weeks."

Tony thought about it for a moment. "Why don't you have him come over next weekend and we can work on it then?"

"That'd be great." I said. "Oh, and there's one other thing."

"What is it?"

"The football coach came up to me during gym today. He offered me a spot on the team after seeing me run."

"Really? That's amazing."

"He said I'd make a great running back."

"Way to go, Jacks." Tony said with a smile. "Im proud of you."

"So it's alright with you if I play?"

"Of course!"

I gave him a hug. "Thank Uncle Tony." I said, smiling.

One down, four to go.

Thor was in the kitchen looking for something to eat when I found him. "Hello, Jackie." He said. "How was school?"

"Good." I said, looking in the bottom cupboard where we kept the pop tarts hidden. Sure enough, they were all there. "You still like pop tarts, right?" I asked.

"I do." He said. "But Bruce and Steve have hidden them from me."

Score. "What if I told you that I knew where they were?" I said. "And that I could get them for you."

Thor perked up. "That would be stupendous."

"One condition though," I said with a grin. "You need to help me convince Steve to let me play football for my school."

"Is that it?"

I nodded. "That's it. Well... and you can't tell anyone about our deal."

"Agreed."

I opened up the cupboard and handed Thor a box. "The handle is keyed to everyone's fingerprint but yours. So if you want more, you'll have to come find me."

"I will." Thor said, opening the box and munching down on one for the pop tarts.

I found Clint and Natasha in the fitness room, in the middle of a spar. I stood off to the side and watched for a few minutes. After a while of watching them dance across the floor, Natasha landed a firm kick on Clint's chest. And while he was dazed, she flipped him over onto his back.

"You need to guard your chest more, Clint." I said, waking up to them. "Natasha had you guarding your arms and head and that left your chest wide open for her to kick you."

"You've been learning." Clint said, picking himself up.

"And Natasha," I said, "You were putting too much weight on your back foot. If you hadn't kicked Clint, then he would have won."

"Thank Jackie." She said.

"So... I have a question for the two of you." I said. "I've have the opportunity to join the football team and I was wondering if you would be okay with it."

"I don't know..." Natasha said.

"Please? I really want to. Aunt Natasha, you know how hard it is to fit in with guys. This is my chance to prove that I'm just as good as, if not better, than them."

"And if you get hurt?" Clint asked.

"I won't." I insisted. "The only way they can possibly tackle me is if they catch me. I'm a whole lot faster than those guys and you know that.

The two of them thought about it for a moment. "I think you can handle it." Clint said.

"I agree and it's a good opportunity for you." Natasha said. "Plus, it would be fun to go to your games."

I grinned. "Awesome. Thanks."

"Jackie," Clint said as I was almost out the door. "What's Steve's opinion on this?"

I mentally kicked myself. "He... umm... he's not a huge fan of the idea." I told him. "But everyone else is on board with it."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "How come Steve isn't?"

"He thinks I'm going to get hurt." I said. "But I won't."

"If you can promise me that you'll do your best and try not to get hurt," Clint said, "Then I'm on board too."

I gave Cling a hug. "Thank you!"

"Alright." he said as I let go. "Now go do your homework."

"Okay." I walked out and went to find Bruce.

Bruce was outside working on his computer when I found him.

"Uncle Bruce, can I talk to you?" I asked.

"Of course." he said, putting his work down. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." I said. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

I took a deep breath. "The football coach asked me to join the team, and I want to join."

"I don't know, Jackie." Bruce said. "You could easily get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt." I insisted. Honestly, it was starting to get annoying that everyone thought that I was going to get hurt. "I'm faster that a ton of other guys and on the off chance that I do get tackled, I'll be wearing pads and a helmet. I'll be perfectly fine."

Bruce still seemed very hesitant.

"I'm sure Tony can do something to the pads so I won't even feel that I'm getting tackled." I said. "Please Uncle Bruce, I really want to play."

He looked me square in the eye. "If you can promise me, that you will try to be careful, then alright."

"I promise." I said. "And I'll work hard."

Bruce smiled. "You'll do great, Jackie." He gave me a hug then sent me off to do my homework.