LIFE WAS BETTER OFF THE GRID || 1

Agent I Feel Like I Should Be Offended

We all placed down our peices of papers.

Tony: DC Comics

Nat: Wizard of Oz

Clint: Wizard of Oz

Pepper: DC Comics

Steve: Wizard of Oz

Bruce: DC Comics

Ava: Wizard of Oz

"Guess it's the Wizard of Oz." Bruce says, amused. I glance over at Steve to see that he is a mused as well.

"Could you imagine? Us? Real superheroes dressing up to be fakes?" Tony says. Nat and I share a look.

"Stark." We say in sync. "We're spies. Dressing up to be fakes is in the job description."

"Please stop doing that!" Clint says. "Doing what?" We ask innocently, mischievous smirks playing on both our faces. "That."

"What?"

Pepper laughed. "Well now that the theme is covered, who are we all going to dress up as?" Tony raised his hand. "Well, that's easy. Tin Man." He pointed to himself, "Lion." He points to Bruce. "Scarecrow." He points at Clint. "Glenda." He points at Pepper. "Wizard." He points to Steve and Steve looks mildly offended. "Wicked witch." He pointed to Nat. Which left.

"No. No way in hell."

Clint bursted out laughing. "Ha karma! This is for coming up with this stupid idea!" He says through the laughs. "Technically, Hunt came up with it, I just carried it on."

"Same difference."

"So little miss girl from the dead is gonna be Dorothy Gale? Oh I am so in."

"Shut up, Stark. How bout instead of making Steve the Wizard, he's the Scarecrow and Clint's Nat's flying monkey." I say remembering a comment that was made a few months ago, but felt like ages ago:

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him. And, Agent Romanova, did you get the dramatic effect you wanted?" Fury asks me. "Yes I did." I say with a smirk. "Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon." Steve comments. "I Don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn my best friend and the sharpest person I know into his personal flying monkeys." I state.

"Monkeys? I do not understand." Thor says confused. "I do! I understood that reference." Tony rolls his eyes, while Cap looks proud of himself.

Looks like Steve remembered it as well. His mouth is open slightly and he's looking at me in amusement and something else I can't quite place.

"Should I be offended? I feel like I should be offended." I ignore Clint's comment and continue sneaking glances at Steve.

"Clint," Nat says. "When ever someone says something about you, you should always be offended."

"And she calls me Злой один."

~

"Okie dokie." Pepper says clicking the 'order and ship' button on the online shopping site. We had just ordered the costumes for Halloween. "That is taken care of." Nat, Pepper, and I were in the living room of Tony and Pepper's floor. Tony kept promising that our personal floors would be ready soon. I didn't mind. My room was better than my run down shack in Tennessee. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Pep, do you think Tony would miss these?" I picked up one of the Avenger Action Figures that were displayed on the coffee table. "No." She shakes her head. "He has a ton." Nodding, I grab seven, one of each of the Avengers.

"What do you need those for?" Nat asks.

"Birthday and a 'please accept my apology' present." She raises a brow. "I'll be out. Contact the Quinjet if you need me."

~

After vanishing the Quinjet, I landed behind my shack.

I swung the black knapsack with the action figures in it on my back and started walking down the familiar path to the nearby town of Rose Hill.

I walked passed the town square which wasn't much other than a few local businesses, a diner, a gas station, and a few apartments. It was only the beginning of October but the air was already crisp and slightly chilly. That, and it was 9:00 at night.

My hands shoved in my pockets, I continue my trek down the dim lighted street to the home of Harley Keener.

I unlatch the lock on the gate and walk to the shed. Checking to see if the light was on, which it was, I move to the entrance. I knock seven times, pause for 13 seconds, then knock twice more. I hear a small crash and someone hurrying to the entrance.

The sliding shed door opened to reveal the one, the only, Harley Keener. "Where the hell have you been!"