Copper Feather

18

Evie stood in the hall with Peter, talking to Clint and Ella in Danish purposefully to annoy Peter. Evie knew it had worked when Peter poked into the conversation with a pointed "English, please." Evie giggled. "Okay!" When Tony walked past a few moments later, Evie saw the tear trails on his face. She was instantly worried. "What happened?" she demanded. Clint looked at Natasha, then crossed the room, climbing over Bruce to hug Natasha to his chest. He started murmuring reassurance to her. Thor cleared his throat. "Nothing, Evie. We're okay." Evie put her hands on her hips. "No! Tony was crying, and his ego is too big to be seen crying unless it had something to do with the team, he doesn't cry about himself in front of us. Ever, which means something happened, someone said something, and that is not okay. If we are about to go do this, we have to do it right, and together! If there is something wrong tell me now before I find out later after someone has gotten hurt, because if that happens, whoever made the decision not to tell me how to save someone, they will get hurt." the look in her eyes was steely determination, proof of her love and defensiveness of the team.

The boat shook slightly, and everyone turned to look out the windows, effectively distracting Evie. She was quickly lost in watching the enormous cavern being filled with water. The intercom crackled to life once the boat was completely submerged. "Welcome, Evelyn, Peter, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Thor, Loki, Pepper, Tony, and Guest, to the Stark Submarine." Ella frowned. "Ella." The machine corrected itself, instructing them to make themselves at home since it was a two-hour ride to the island. Evie walked out into the opening area with the door, looking up at the marine life swimming over the glass portion of the boat. Manta rays (or sea-flap-flaps as Ella called them) swam overhead, Evie noticed a single small fish with several others following it. Thousands of colors of coral could be seen carpeting the vast expanses of the sea floor, kelp swaying in the current to reveal wafting sand. The sun peeked through the water, showing the rolling waves through the water. Peter walked over a few moments later, stringing up a few hammocks out of webs. Evie crawled into Peter's with him, falling asleep on his chest as Peter watched the marine life out of the window above.

When Natasha walked through a few moments later, Peter had nodded off as well. They looked so peaceful, Evie's curls splayed over Peter's chest, Peter's breathing steady and calm. Natasha absorbed the image, memorizing it for later. They were so still, so calm, the serenity on their faces was contagious. Natasha climbed into one of the other hammocks, falling asleep as well.

When Evie woke up a few hours later, she was surprised to see that eventually everyone had wandered in and taken a hammock. Clint had taken the one in the top corner, Thor and Loki's were stacked like bunk beds with Thor on top, Natasha was beneath Clint, Pepper was sitting in the corner opposite Clint reading a book, Ella was dead asleep clutching a stuffed panda, and Wanda was playing with her magic, twisting spoons. Evie decided not to ask, as Wanda had a faraway look in her eyes. She was mouthing something like Pietro, Steve, Evie, Peter, Natasha, Clint, everyone. Dead. Over and over. Evie said nothing, understanding how Panic Attacks left people like that sometimes.

She rested her head back down on Peter, stirring him awake. Evie put her finger to his lips, reminding him everyone was asleep. They glanced back up at the glass, seeing the sunset on the water. The droplets fragmented the water, shining rainbows everywhere.  Ella was laying still on her hammock, fingers twitching occasionally around the panda. Natasha opened her eyes, marveling at the rainbows. The intercom began playing soft harp music to wake everyone up (a miracle, Tony would never.) Evie suspected it was Jarvis' doing. Everyone stood up. "Okay, suit up people, we've got 30 more minutes till landing. Get ready for a potential battle. Security is good, but there is a potential threat. Be prepared." 

Evie pushed herself up off of Peter's chest, smiling when Peter kissed her softly. "I love you," he whispered. Evie smiled. "I love you, too." with a peck on his cheek, Evie stood up. She went into the other room, fishing through her bag till she caught her suit. She quickly went into the changing room, having her hair put itself in battle mode (a durable ponytail). She pulled her jersey over her head, activating her glasses, and pressing her feather turning on her entire suit. Her wings appeared. She looked at them in the mirror, a frown appearing. They were thoroughly specked with white-golden feathers, and no amount of focus could get them back to their original copper color.