New Recruits

2 | i've never seen you around here

A few hours later, J.A.R.V.I.S's voice rang through Avenger's tower and announced that Pepper Potts had made dinner. El slipped out of her room, turning around to close the door behind her. When she turned back around, she came face to face with someone she had never seen before. He had brown curly hair and soft brown eyes. He had a sweatshirt on and had earbuds in both of his ears. Both her and the boy had their eyes opened wide. He pulled the earbuds out and smiled.

"Hi," His smile exposed his dimples, which El's eyes immediately darted to. She looked around the hall, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Hi." El felt her cheeks flush, which she hoped the boy didn't notice.

"I've never seen you around here." He asked, slightly cocking his head to the side. 

"Yeah..." She mumbled, quickly turning and walking to the elevator. El hoped this would tell the boy that the conversation was over. He looked at her for a moment with a confused look on his face before walking towards the elevator. He somehow made it before the doors closed. The doors slid shut behind him and the elevator began moving.

"I'm Peter. Peter Parker." He smiled softly, not taking his eyes off the sign telling them what floor they were on.

"El." She said quickly, trying her best to avoid having a conversation with him. Thankfully, the doors opened then and El quickly walked out of it, leaving Peter behind once again. She walked into the large kitchen/dining area of the tower to find the Avengers that she had met earlier in the day, as well as a man with glasses, a woman with strawberry blonde hair, and Hailey, Deanna, and Thalia.

The woman with strawberry blonde hair turned and smiled at El when she walked into the room. "Hi!" She exclaimed before walking over to El. "I'm Pepper. You'll see me around here a lot." She said before making a small wink in Tony's direction. She had already introduced herself to the other girls since they had come down before El.

--

"And this is Peter Parker." Tony gestured to the boy El had met earlier. Her eyes fell to the floor as she avoided making eye contact with him, even though they were sitting next to each other. El nodded, even though she already knew who he was.

"You're Spiderman, right?" Thalia asked, her eyes and head perking up. Peter choked on his drink.

"H-how'd you know?" He stuttered.

"Well, for starters, I saw you're mask sticking out of your pocket when you walked out of the elevator." Thalia laughed, pointing down the pockets of his jeans.

Peter rubbed the back of his neck as his face reddened. Everyone at the table laughed, including El who smiled and laughed quietly.

"So. I figured we could do some light training tomorrow? Just to introduce you to the training room, and so we can see your skills live in person." Steve suggested to the girls.

"Thanks for the segway, Steve. Was just about to talk about that." Tony said, setting down his glass.

"What's a Segway?" Steve asked.

"Not important right now." Tony pointed to Steve before pointing to Hailey. "Anyway. Hailey, you'll train with Capsicle. You've got basically the same abilities and it's best if learn more from him. You've got enhanced strength, right?"

"Mhm. I think they call it being a supersoldier or something." Hailey nodded, smiling at Steve, who smiled and nodded. 

"Deanna," Tony began.

"Call me De." She interrupted. Tony rolled his eyes.

"You're just fantastic at cutting people off, aren't you?" Tony pointed at her. 

"It's a talent of mine." She smiled innocently, making Peter laugh. 

"Anyway." Tony laughed, trying to get back on his train of thought. "You'll train with Nat and Clint since your abilities are more similar to theirs. 

"Sounds good." De shrugged, taking a drink of her water.

"El, you'll train with Peter and Wanda." Tony continued, gesturing to Peter and then to Wanda. El felt herself squeeze her eyes shut and sigh. 

Of course, she'd be training with Peter, the one person who she'd already made a fool of herself in front of. 

"Fantastic." She said, before slapping a hand over her mouth. "I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry-" 

"It's alright," Peter laughed genuinely. His laugh filled up the room like the sun. 

"Same deal as the rest of the girls. You've both got the same abilities, except he's had more training. I think you can learn from each other." Tony said.

"Okay." She turned to Peter, who was sitting next to her, and smiled slightly. He nodded in agreement.

"As for Thalia, you're with me." Tony continued.

"Yes!" Thalia cheered.

--

After dinner, the five teenagers rode the elevator up together. They all went in silence, El gently resting her head on the wall of the elevator with her arms crossed. They left the elevators and went back to their rooms, El and Peter standing outside their doors.

"L-listen, I- um- I'm really sorry for what I said at dinner, I really didn't mean it that way and I'm really, really sorry."

"Stop apologizing." He laughed gently. "And it's okay, really, it is."

"I guess I'll- um -see you tomorrow?" She said to Peter before smiling.

"Yeah." He smiled back gently, revealing his dimples once again. She looked back at him while he opened his door. She opened her own and walked inside, closing the door before tripping over her shoes that she had left in the middle of the room.

"For fuck's sake!" She exclaimed, her curses loud enough for Peter to hear. He laughed to himself as he changed into sweatpants. Excitement was flowing through him to get to know the girls, especially El.

--

"There's something up with her. She's been acting different since we got here. I mean, mostly the same, but like, different, you know?" Hailey said. She was in Thalia's room and was talking to her while she tinkered with her suit. She wanted it to be perfect for training tomorrow. 

"Mhm." Thalia hummed in return. She couldn't talk because she had a screwdriver in between her teeth while she tightened a few wires. In all honesty, she had no clue what Hailey was talking about. El seemed perfectly normal to her. Barely talking in front of people she didn't know, avoiding eye contact, stuttering. It all seemed normal.

"I mean, she blushed around him. And actually smiled!" Hailey pointed out. Thalia put the screwdriver into her hand and tightened screws.

"She blushes all the time. Blushing is a sign of embarrassment, Hails." Thalia laughed. 

"I know, I know. But I saw them talking a little when they got back to their rooms." Hailey exclaimed. "That's progress if you ask me." 

"Keep yelling and they'll hear you," Thalia whispered harshly. 

"They're all the way at the end of the hall, we're fine." Hailey shrugged. 

"Wait, was it a lot of talking?" Thalia asked, her eyes not leaving her suit.

"No, just a small exchange of words. But still. That's a lot of talking for her."

"Yeah. I'm impressed." Thalia nodded, putting the screwdriver back into her mouth and twisting wires with her fingers. 

"Me too," Hailey said before falling back onto Thalia's bed.

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i missed writing with these characters