In Plain Sight // Avengers

Chapter 1

Mara woke with a start, drenched in sweat and freezing cold. She turned to the clock. 5:32. She laid back and stared at the ceiling, then closed her eyes and watched the light show behind her eyelids while her heart continued to pound.

Deep breaths, she remembered. In... out... In... - suddenly, she couldn't breathe. Mara snapped her eyes open and stared right into the face of her orange tabby, who had apparently decided that he wanted to sit on her face. Mara pushed him off, he meowed in anger, and proceeded to hop right back on her chest and paw her lightly in the face.

"What do you want Goose?" Mara questioned, exasperated. Goose meowed in response. "Food?" she guessed.

Goose hopped off her bed and stalked out of the room. Mara sighed and climbed out of bed, shivering. She walked into the kitchen and poured some dry food into Goose's bowl. Mara continued to shiver, decided to take a hot shower, and felt much better when she emerged. She threw on some dark jeans and a sweatshirt, and walked back out to the kitchen.

She considered food, but ultimately decided she wasn't hungry. She stepped out onto the fire escape and looked out at the city.

The city was engulfed in a warm glow from the sunrise, making it look as if the buildings were basking in the sunlight. However, the people below were far from basking. Even at this hour, people were rushing to work, filling the air with honks, yells, and so much stress Mara could almost feel it. She noticed as a business man dropped his coffee on his shoes. She began to feel sorry for him, until he proceeded to kick the cup out of the way, neglecting to place it in the trashcan he had just passed. Asshole.

"Mara!" a voice yelled from the kitchen.

She popped her head back in through the window. "Yeah?"

"Do we have any Froot Loops left? Or milk?"

"Uhhh... not unless you bought any yesterday."

Mara heard a quiet "shoot" from the kitchen.

"I can swing by Delmar's today after school if you give me a list and some cash," Mara offered.

"That would be awesome. I'll leave cash on the counter and text you a list, I gotta get to work. Have a good day, be safe."

"Alright."

Mara pulled her head back from the window and looked back at the city, noticing that the warm sunrise had given way to a harsh sun, and the basking buildings had turned into sharp reflectors of the sunlight, glaring down onto the city. Mara climbed back inside and glanced at her watch. 6:47. She went into her room, stuffed some books into her backpack, slipped on some shoes, and headed outside. 

...

As Mara climbed up the steps towards Midtown High she checked the time(7:15), noting that unfortunately the School wouldn't be open for another 15 minutes. She sat on the steps and pulled out her notebook, remembering that she hadn't yet started her chemistry homework. 

Mara looked up at the sound of a car door closing, smiled and waved at the driver, and noted the big smile on the familiar boyish face as he hurried up the steps towards her. He looks excited.

"Hi Mara!"

"What are you so excited about?"

"How do you never know what's going on at this school? Tony Stark is visiting all day today!"

"Hm." Interesting. 

"He's looking for an intern to work in the Avengers tower. This is a huge deal Mara! A little excitement would be acceptable."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, it is really cool. But does that mean I didn't actually need to do my homework yet? I feel cheated." The boy tried to put on a disapproving face, but struggled to hide his smile. Mara smirked. "So are you gonna try to get the internship?"

"I wish I could but it's practically a full time job, and with school, academic team, and my job at Timely, there's no way I'd be able to do it. Buuuuut..." he stopped

"... am I supposed to prompt you to continue?"

He nodded eagerly. Drama queen.

"Okay, but what?"

"You could get the internship."

"But-"

"Just hear me out! You keep complaining that you're bored and you hate school, and being in Avengers tower would be super exciting, and the internship earns you class credit so you wouldn't have to go to school quite as much, plus please do it for me I wanna meet the Avengers so bad and if you worked there maybe you could get me in or something or even if not I'd still get to be friends with someone who works with them and you'd have so many stories and you know you'd be so good at it you're so smart and you say it yourself all the time school is too easy this might actually challenge..." oh my god he's not gonna stop talking is he? He's just going to ramble on forever. 

"Peter! Shut up. Jeez."

"Will you do it?"

"We'll see. I could use the excitement I guess."