Thaw

In the neighborhood.

Sunday passed slowly with me pretty much talking to Wanda the whole time. She had a day off from training and was hiding from Vision. She asked many times about Peter but I just brushed her off saying 'we talk sometimes, no big deal.' She didn't know I was lying because they finally stopped watching what I was doing; they needed Marc to do something more efficient than watching my every move, after all, SHIELD didn't exactly have a large number of agents or at least ones that could be trusted.

Monday was a blur, Ned didn't show up cause he had the flu and MJ was showing signs of it too. I couldn't exactly get sick because my immune system was unnaturally regenerative, I guess that's one of the perks of coming from a line of gods. I don't know if Peter can get sick either since he's Spiderman or whatever. Still don't know his deal.

After school, Peter and I walked home like usual.

"Sooo, how do you feel about the Avengers?" I asked twisting the ring on my finger in the result of nerves.

Imagine Peter joining the Avengers. It's been on my mind for some time, just the thought of it. I mean, he's a strong kid for his age and super smart too! Wouldn't be a bad recruit at all.

"They're so awesome! I've actually seen Iron man once! I was only like 9 but it was still the coolest day of my life!" He exclaimed.

"No way! Really?" I asked, surprise washing over me.

"Yea, It was during the Stark Expo. I remember it like it happened yesterday." He had an awestruck look on as he explained.

"It was when those crazy bootleg versions of the iron man were everywhere destroying everything. One came up to me and next thing I knew Ironman comes down from nowhere and saves everyone like usual!" He narrated using hand movements and everything.

"But wait, that's not all! This is when it gets crazy! he said, and I quote 'Nice work kid.'!" He finished. For a moment were both laughing and smiling like crazy, no stuttering, no shy mannerisms, both of us just forgetting the huge crush we have on each other.

"You're lying!" I laughed.

"I swear on my life! It was epic!" He exclaimed. When we both calmed down he turned to me again.

"What about you?"

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"How do you feel about the Avengers?" He asked.

"They're cool. Tony has to be my favorite but I really like Steve, Nat, Rhodey, Wanda... Just everyone I guess." I laughed at myself for realizing I love every single one of them. He looked at me funny, wearing a small smile.

"What is it?" I turned red and put the hood of my jacket up, attempting to hide behind it.

"No, nothing. Just haven't met anyone that refers to them with their actual names." He laughed.

"Oh... haha yea." I trailed off. Living with them gave me the opportunity to see them more like actual people than superheroes.

I was glad to finally see the apartment come into view and after saying goodbye to Peter I watched an episode of Rosa and Lorenzo's soap opera with them which eventually turned into a whole marathon.

The next day at school, my suspicions were right and MJ ended up getting sick and not coming to school. It wasn't totally bad though because instead of sitting alone with Peter, we had a decathlon meeting where we just ran through a mock competition to prepare for the one Midtown was hosting next month.

"When the polynomial P(x) = x3 + 3x2 -2Ax + 3, where A is a constant, is divided by x2 + 1 we get a remainder equal to -5x. Find A." Liz read the question from her notes. I scribbled down the equation on the paper and in less than a minute figured out the answer.

"Astrid?" Liz called when I rang my bell. She was the captain of the decathlon and was at the front with Mr. Harrington.

"A = -3." I answered.

"Correct!" She smiled. Me and Abe high fived, we were now 6 points ahead.

"Why are you so good at this?" Cindy groaned into her hands from the table beside me. She and Peter were facing off against Abe and I.

I just laughed and flipped onto a new page, ready for the next question.

"Woah! I wonder whose car this is." Peter admired the sleek black Mercedes SUV with tinted windows that was parked in front of the apartment. I recognized it right away and instead of heading inside I went over to the side of the car.

I knocked on the driver's side window and Peter gave me a look that screamed 'What the fuck are you doing!'.

"Happy!" I exclaimed when the window slowly slid down revealing my favorite driver.

"We're not supposed to talk around other people." He let his eyes asses Peter.

"Classified identity, remember?" He tried to stare straight ahead and keep his voice lowered.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses? The sun's not out." I snickered.

"Astrid, I just told you were trying to keep a low profile! This is part of th- I don't know why I'm trying to explain myself to you. Loook, Someone's waiting inside." He gave me one last pointed look and with that rolled his window back up.

"You know that guy?" Peter asked when I returned to his side.

"Yea. He's my... uh, my uncle's driver." I really shouldn't have gone to talk to Happy in front of Peter but I got excited.

"Your uncle has a driver?" He laughed.

"Yea..." I scratched my head and pressed the elevator button impatiently.

We split up when the elevator reached my floor and I practically sprinted to the door of the apartment. The door was already unlocked.

"Tony!" I slung my bag down and threw my arms around him in a hug as I walked in.

"Kid!" He lifted me off the ground slightly. When he put me down he ruffled my hair in a playful manner.

I greeted Rosa and Lorenzo who were lounging on the couch having tea and macarons.

"What're you doing here?" I asked turning back to Tony.

"Just in the neighborhood, thought I would check in." He explained.

"Why? Pepper here too?" I asked looking around the apartment as if she would be hiding somewhere in the small space.

"No, I'm here alone for business as per usual."

"Oh, how's everyone doing upstate?"

"I wouldn't know, haven't been up there since Christmas. But for what it's worth, that place is like a 6-star hotel. How much better could they be." He joked.

"Right. I kinda miss them." I sat down on the armchair and played with the ring on my finger.

"Well, the sooner you finish, the sooner you can go back." Ah if only you knew Tony.

"No offense to you both." He added turning to Rosa and Lorenzo.

"Not a problem. But Astrid also has many friends here." Rosa pointed out from over the rim of her tea cup.

"Ah, yes. The famous trio, MJ, Ned and Peter." He smiled knowingly.

"Yea. they're cool, but you probably already know everything about them." I joked remembering about how he practically once ran background checks on everyone that talked to me.

"Safety protocols kid, safety protocols." He pointed a macaron at me before taking a bite.

Tony only stayed for about 20 minutes before Happy called complaining about how he was taking too long to come down. I walked him downstairs to say goodbye.

"I'll see you soon Frosty." Tony winked and waved goodbye from the window.

"Yea, see you!" I waved until the car turned the corner and disappeared from my view.