' "Put her down, Bucky." It was Steve.
Staring up into Bucky's eyes that were now glued to the captain, Brenna saw the soft blue turn to steel. A low growl grumbled in his throat. He gently placed her back onto her feet, whipping a knife out of his...
It was Brenna's first Forth of July in six years. And it was the first one that she would be able to actually enjoy in twelve. Tony was, of course, throwing a party. Many former members of SHIELD would be there, some to enjoy the celebration and some to make sure nothing got too crazy. Brenna was also excited to be celebrating Steve's birthday.
They'd connected quickly when they first met. The situation with HYDRA over a month ago had forced them to build trust in each other as quickly as possible. And now living in the same building, seeing each other everyday, their bond only grew. So it was nice for him to get to share his birthday with her.
Brenna prepared herself in her room, throwing on an obnoxiously red-white-blue outfit and doing her hair up nicely. Pepper had recently introduced her to make-up, something she'd never worn before. So after watching many tutorial videos on the internet, she decided to do some simple eye liner and shadow.
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Just as she was finishing up, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Brenna sprinted over to see who was there. Outside stood Pepper Potts. Her eyebrows shot up and a wide grin erupted on her face. "Oh, don't you look adorable!" She exclaimed.
Brenna laughed in joy, "thanks, Pepper. Did you need something?"
"Yeah, I need you," Pepper insisted with a sideways smile, "you're father's asking for you; everyone's starting to get here." Brenna quickly slipped on her wedges and left with Pepper.
• • •
"Is she always late?" Clint asked Cap and Sam as they mingled in the giant Avengers living room.
"Yeah, basically," Sam answered simply, crossing his arm and smirking.
"Stop that, she's not always late," Steve corrected with a good-hearted grin. "She just...loses track of time easily."
Sam gave Steve a raised eyebrow look, but stayed silent. Just then, the captain spotted Brenna. He smiled and waved her over, "hey, B, over here."
Brenna smiled brightly at the sight of her friends and waltzed over. "Hey, Cap, Sam," she greeted. Her eyes then landed on Clint, whom she'd yet to meet.
The man held his hand out to shake and introduced himself, "I'm Clint."
Brenna took his hand and shook it firmly. "Brenna Stark," she responded, "it's nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too," Clint sighed awkwardly, "honestly, I didn't even know Tony had a daughter."
"He didn't like to talk about it, and my condition," Brenna explained with a half smile.
Clint nodded in understanding. Then, looking past Brenna, he teased, "ugh, speak of the devil."
Turning around, Brenna saw her father approaching with a smile on his face. "Hi, Daddy," she beamed.
Tony gave her an awkward look when he reached her side. "Honey, you look like Captain America just threw up on you," he teased, gerturing to her festival dress. He then turned to Steve and asked, "did you pick this out for her?"
Steve grinned, half amused and half annoyed by the joke. "It's the Fourth of July," Brenna reminded, "I figured more people would be in stars and stripes." She looked around, noticing now that only about a fourth of the guests were dressed in red, white, and blue.
"I know, I'm just being mean, you look fantastic," Tony assured, kissing her on the forehead.
Smiling from the compliment, she replied confidently, "thank you."
"Lady Brenna," a voice boomed from behind her, making her jump in start. She had to stop herself from instinctively turning around to punch the one who'd snuck up on her.
Brenna turned to meet Thor, who smiled down at her warmly, joining in to the circle of friends. "Always a pleasure to be in your presence," the demigod went on.
"It's good to see you, Thor," Brenna emphasized with a grin. It was hard not to smile with him around. Although his voice was often unintentionally strong and alarming, his joy was contagious.
"How is the sun opal holding up?" Thor asked in a softer tone.
Brenna raised her eyebrows and took a deep breath. "Funny you should ask," she hinted, a crooked grin on her face, "it's great, really. You know, I got shot nearly fifty times about a month ago and am completely healed."
"Oh my.." Thor's face became a mix of concern and confusion.
Clint choked a bit on his drink. After a small coughing fit, he looked to Brenna with eyes of disbelief. "I'm sorry, what?"
Brenna gave him an amused shrug before turning her attention back to the demigod. "And you believe that is the effect of the sun opal?" Thor asked.
"Considering the fact that a single bullet can kill a person, yeah I'd say fifty and still walkin' is pretty damn inhuman," Sam remarked sarcastically.
Brenna squinted her eyes for a moment and asked, "Thor, what exactly is, a sun opal?"
Thor shrugged as if it were no big deal. "It is a gemstone from Asgard," he explained simply, "sun opals are drops of the sun's amber that fall to my world from time to time." He glanced around at the looks of bewilderment that surrounded him with an awkward frown. "Do you..not have anything like that here?"
