The Legacy of the Avengers

Chapter 23

Thea's POV
"Just a few more screws and I'm done," I put in the last few screws. "Now I only have one to finish!"

"Are you going to be able to finish it?" Shuri asked setting my finished projects in a cardboard box. "Christmas break starts tomorrow, and everyone's going to go home until next year."

"I'll probably just finish it at home," I reassured her. "My dad has all the right tools and su-"

The door opened. We both whipped our heads around. Fury was walking towards us in a fast walk.

"Professor Fury," she acknowledged him, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see what you were up to."

"Someone snitched on me, didn't they?" I thought out loud.

"No, nobody snitched," he rolled his eye. "I know just about everything that goes on at this school. I knew about this before you told your friends you were working on them."

"Do you stalk us or something?"

"Kind of."

"Well at least you're honest," I shrugged.

"I actually came to talk to you, Shuri, about something else; totally unrelated to this," he gestured towards the box. "Now take your gadgets and go to class."

I did as he told me to. "Have a great break you too!" I called out before opening the door. I ran to our dorms, unlocked it (thankfully it's a number pad that I just have to type in the numbers), and threw the box onto my bed.

I looked at my roommates room. She had everything pack up and ready to go. She packed without me. It made me a little upset but not so much as to where I thought about it the rest of the day.

I grabbed my backpack and raced to class. I opened the door to join my class. Everyone was up and talking. No teacher was in sight.

"Hey Thea," Leanne waved me over.

I went over, "Where's our teacher today?"

"There's rumor that he left early to go on a mission," Brooklyn told me.

"I highly doubt they needed everyone for the mission," Castiel spoke up. "If you need more people than five, the mission's too hard."

"Not true," I countered.

"Oh really? What about the endgame war?"

"We won," I explained.

"But at the price of your dad's life."

"Well guess who brought him back."

"Technically it was Dr. Strange, but for your sake, it was you," Castiel smirked.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." Something popped into my brain during the pause we had. "Hey! You guys - all of you guys - should come to our New Years Eve Party!"

"What do you do?" Echo asked curiously.

"We party, play games, eat. Just generally have a good time."

"We'll have to check with our parents," Alek shrugged. "But they're probably going to be cool with it."

"Except Brooklyn's dad," Castor raises his eyes.

"He'll let me go," Brook reassured me.

"We'll see," I nodded.

"Sorry I was late class," our teacher slammed the door shut behind him. "Got called to a board meeting. But I'm ready to start, so let's get going. We only have 45 minutes. Let's go!"

• Later in the day •
I was headed to lunch. This time I was by myself since everyone else went to pack. I was headed to McDonalds because it was cheap and close.

I felt someone grab my hand. I was about to pull away when I saw him, "Oh hey Preston."

"Hey, Thea. Could we talk?"

"Sure," I answered. "But let's walk and talk, because I'm hungry."

"Okay, that's fine." It was silent before he spoke up again. "I'm sorry."

"What?" I stopped and turned to him.

"I said," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry."

"Wow, didn't think I'd ever hear those words come outta you."

"Funny," he rolled his eyes. "But I'm serious. I'm sorry. I didn't have faith in you like I should've. My mistake. But in my defense, you don't look very mighty and tough."

"That's my strategy," I smirked. "Trick them. Then I bring out the big guns."

"Big guns?"

"Well they're not really guns. More like lasers."

"What?!" He seemed astonished.

I opened the door and waltzed on in, "Yeah. A pretty cool thing I got going for me." I went up to the front, getting my money ready, "A number 2 please. Thank you."

"I'm not getting anything," Preston explained to the cashier as he put money on the counter.

"Hey, I was going to pay for that."

"Well I did," he smiled. "Isn't that a thing that boyfriends are supposed to do?"

"If you wanted to, I guess, but-"

He grabbed my cup for me and directed me to a table. "I would like to join you for lunch, if that's okay. I'll sit here and watch your stuff while you got get your drink."

"Oh...okay," I nodded. I got my tea; I came back to sit down. "So what would you like to talk about?"

Right then they called out my number. I got up to go get it, but he told me to sit tight while he got it. I didn't argue.

Ya know...I'm kinda liking this relationship thing.

Tau's POV
I was strolling around campus for the day. It was the last day before break. I was slightly sad to see this place go so quickly, but I was hoping father would see how much I had improved and keep me home to learn the ropes of being king.

Moment after thinking about it, I began to question myself. What about my friends? My team? I knew I'd feel guilty if I left them so early.

Someone caught my eye as I walked past the courtyard. Nicole was sitting alone underneath a tree reading what looked like a textbook. I decided to go give her company.

"Hello Nicole," I sat down.

"Hey," she smiled at me before going back to her work.

"How are you?"

"I'm doing alright. What about you?"

"I'm having some troubles. Would you mind to help me?" I sighed. She looked up at me and gestured for me to keep going. I told her my dilemma. She watched intently but didn't make a single sound when I was finished. "Well? What do you think?"

"I honestly don't know," she shrugged. "I don't know how Alek or Castor would feel with their roommate leaving, but I'm sure it might hurt them."

"So I should act like a numbskull?"

She chuckled, "Numbskull? No. Act like yourself. He'll decide what he wants to decide when the time comes."

"Thanks." There was a pause as she continued with her homework. "You know, you seem really cool," I told her.

"Thanks."

Instead of leaving, I stayed to chat. I rather enjoyed her company over some people. I didn't find out much, but I found out enough. Nicole and I are going to be good friends.