Fandom The New Avengers - POST ENDGAME (Closed RP)

[PixieDust]

Leighton’s eyes practically lit up at the thought of adventures in other countries. She had never been anywhere very interesting. In fact, this place was probably the most interesting place she’d ever been and she was already restless.

“Greece? Russia? That’s amazing! I’ve never even been out of state before.”

Saphira waved dismissively, “out of state? Try out of this realm. There’s far more than Earth, you know.” With that she stood and began making her way out of the kitchen. “I’m totally down for swimming! You beauties coming along or what?”

Leighton watched as she left. She wasn’t all too sure about swimming. It wasn’t something she’d ever had to learn before, but considering her new ‘occupation’ it would probably be a good idea to start.

“This place has everything huh?” She said with a small smile as she followed after her, “I don’t know how to swim so I blame you if I die Saphi...”

 

[cosmicforce]

"Stop bragging!" Ace yelled after Saphira, mostly because he was jealous. He was constantly adventuring be it out of the city or out of the country, but space? Not in his future, present, or past.

He downed the last of his chocolate milk and jumped down from the countertop. Rowan knew that he could easily teleport to their room, but was weirdly thankful when Ace started walking instead, giving him time to trail behind. He wasn't sure he owned swim trunks, out of all the types of training he could do that was the last he would choose, although he had a feeling that no one intended to train while swimming. Was this going to be like one of those teen movies? With loud music and bikinis and beach balls?

"That's exactly what it's going to be," Ace replied, and for a second Rowan forgot he could read minds. "I can, and I can always hear what you're thinking. You think Leighton is cute, and you like her, and you're starting to like me and Saphi too."

"Shut up." Rowan was smiling, and blushing, and doing everything to clear his thoughts.

 

[PixieDust]

As soon as the girls were out of the kitchen, Saphira grabbed Leighton’s hand and tugged her along with her back to their dorm. “This is gonna be so much fun! Like junior year when we had this crazy house party at Alex Summers’ place and we made out in the pool and-“

“Wait, what?” Leighton said looking bewildered, “I literally just told you I don’t know how to swim. Did you not hear that part?”

Saphira laughed her silvery laugh and shook her head, going over to her closet and rifling through her clothes. “You have a swimsuit though right? No? Ugh never mind I think I can rustle something out of the ether...” she gave Leighton a once over thoughtfully. “Green is your colour, for sure. You remind me so much of this girl Jean.” She kept babbling like that until finally a green one piece bathing suit appeared out of black smoke.
“You’re welcome now go put it on.”

——

It didn’t take long for the girls to get ready. In the end after much annoying deliberation, Saphira had decided on her favourite red bikini and orange sarong so she kind of looked like a flame. The brunette had insisted on teleporting them both to the pool and as soon as they got there, Leighton sat at the edge of the pool awkwardly while Saphira jumped in with a whoop of excitement.

 

[cosmicforce]

"You need a swimsuit?" Rowan nodded, and before he could blink a pair of black swim trunks with flamingos on them were being thrown at him. "They're clean, promise." Ace grabbed a pair for himself and the pair very quickly changed, Rowan more careful about privacy than Ace, who practically stripped naked in front of him.

Sure, Rowan was annoyed and found it weird but instead of arguing any more he simply turned and slipped into their shared bathroom.

_________________

Rowan's body had its fair share of scars, Ace's a fair share of tattoos, including the Ace of Spades on his chest. His shoulder was somehow healed enough for him to take off the bandage, leaving behind a faint red scar over a tattoo of a Joker - perks of the healing factor in his body, and in the simulations themselves. Together they looked like two nervous idiots, although those nerves translated in different ways. Rowan was even quieter - he didn't want questions about the scars. Ace was loud and bouncy - trying to distract from the tattoos that poked out on his upper body.

They walked rather than teleport, and the second they arrived Ace was running, launching himself into the pool without a second's hesitation. His hair stuck to his face, in his blue eyes but he just laughed and flicked it away, turning to face Saphira. "Hi!"

Rowan took a seat next to Leighton, knowing how to swim but not particularly wanting to. He looked her way and offered some attempt at a smile, unable to get the things Ace had said out of his head.

 

[PixieDust]

Saphira practically squealed when Ace dove into the pool and showered her in water. She had been making a concerted effort not to get her hair wet because it was-as she put it- her crowning glory. “Hey, you ruined the beach waves!” She said without any real annoyance before splashing Ace and swimming around in a circle. “This pool party needs music, and balloons and red cups...Alex always had red cups,” she sighed with a slight frown.

Leighton glanced at Rowan as he sat down next to her. She was feeling distinctly insecure and her cheeks were slightly pink though she hid it with her hair.
“Aren’t you gonna swim?” She asked, deliberately not looking at him and deciding to focus her attention on the water instead.

“Oh my god are you guys seriously not gonna swim?” Saphira exclaimed, swimming over, “I did not conjure the perfect bathing suit out of the ether for nothing, Leighton!” She turned to Ace, “help me out here.”

 

[cosmicforce]

Ace nodded along in agreement to Saphira's points. The blue light started to consume him again and soon he was gone, with only a ripple of water behind him to mark he had ever been there in the first place. Rowan opened his mouth to ask where he was, but before any noise could come out he was falling into the water, surfacing with a death glare in his eyes and water in his lungs. Ace just laughed and stepped away before Rowan could take his revenge, searching for a speaker to play music on.

"You're getting in too," Rowan announced to Leighton. He was standing with no problem in the shallow end, so he assumed she could too, and curled his fingers around her ankles before yanking her down with him. It created a larger splash that sent chlorine into his eyes and mouth but it was worth it, it was fun.

Ace finally found a speaker and hit play on his cell phone, and the room filled with ABBA's "I wanna dance with somebody" right around the same time he saw Leighton start to surface.

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton laughed hard when Ace managed to trick Rowan into the pool. The expression on his face made it even funnier, however she let out a yelp when she too was pulled into the pool, getting chlorine in her eyes and shivering from the cold water. She flailed about for a moment in the water before surfacing and gasping. The water was surprisingly refreshing and she felt invigorated with new playful energy.
“Hey, you’ll pay for that one, mister!” She laughed, splashing Rowan with as much water as she could.

Saphira watched the antics with a grin on her face and began to swim-dance around in circles when the music played. She raised an imaginary glass in toast and said, “to surviving our first day as teammates!”

Leighton joined the toast, “to new friends!” She felt rather giddy just at the moment and she was glowing a very faint golden colour. Maybe she needed to swim more often, or maybe it was simply because of her current company.

 

[cosmicforce]

Ace was standing at the edge of the pool by then, laughing at the sight of all of his newest friends drenched and smiling. He followed in the lead of the two girls, holding up his own fake glass. "To ABBA!" He cheered, but then there was a branch around his leg and he was toppling head first into blue waves.

Rowan laughed and pulled his branches back into himself. He was enjoying this too much and the amount of relaxation he was feeling was dangerous.

Ace came back up, gasping for air and looked at Rowan, "First of all, fuck you, sir. Second of all, it's not." He blinked in response. It took a minute to realize what he meant and when he did, he just nodded in return. It's not dangerous. It would be a process to train himself to think that.

Rowan brushed off the comment, and the mind-reading and held up a fake glass of his own, announcing, "to new homes." He made eye contact with Leighton as he said it, and he couldn't help but believe that maybe that meant something. She felt like home, or at the very least what he imagined home to be, and for some reason at that moment, she looked it too.

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton and Saphira looked slightly confused by the exchange between the two guys, but Leighton especially was just happy that Rowan was relaxed and happy. She didn’t know why she cared about that so much, but she did.

She blushed a little when Rowan made eye contact with her as he made his toast. She didn’t break eye contact for a long moment before smiling a little and looking away.

Saphira looked between the pair discreetly before giggling a little and swimming to the middle of the pool and singing along to the ABBA song, complimenting Ace’s musical taste.

“This is pretty fun,” Leighton said happily, “I guess it’s pretty cool to have such party people as teammates.”

 

[cosmicforce]

"I don't think cool is the word I'd use," Rowan commented as he watched the two dance and sing along. He laughed a little and shook his head. They looked ridiculous, but he admired them. "I wish I could be that carefree. Imagine how much easier this training would be with a way to calm down like them."

Ace, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his life as "Party in the USA" started playing, dancing and scream-singing and occasionally jumping down deeply into the water to brush along the bottom. He loved this. He was eighteen but he barely acted it, and after seeing that little glimpse into his past Rowan couldn't blame him

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton smiled, also watching as Saphira practically fangirled over the Miley Cryrus song and Ace attempted to sing along.

“You’ll find your own way to deal with things. I guess we all do in the end.” She looked at him with a kind and reassuring smile, “besides, you’ve got us now. With these two around, it’s kind of hard to be too angsty.” She chuckled and then found herself absently humming along to the song herself. She had a fairly pleasant voice as far as humming went and she was still glowing contentedly.

 

[cosmicforce]

Rowan just continued to listen. The glowing only made Leighton look even more beautiful and as soon as he thought that Ace seemed to shoot him a look. Could that boy ever let up?

He seemed to be the only one who didn't know what the song was, although that wasn't surprising. He knew Russian songs, lullabies the few good scientists would sing to him, some folk songs he would hear on missions. He also knew a few pop songs from his years on the run, but that had only been two of nineteen and he didn't particularly like that genre of music, so none of it seemed to apply here. Instead, he just looked from Ace backed to Leighton and asked, "Do you ever get freaked out that he can hear our thoughts?"

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton treaded water a little as she stopped humming and thought about Rowan’s question.
“Well, yeah of course it freaks me out. I mean, it’s my mind after all. No offence Ace...” She sighed a little and climbed out of the pool, wrapping her towel around her to dry off and now just sitting on the edge. “But I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Saphira added her two scents into the conversation. “He can’t read my mind,” she announced happily. “Most telepaths can’t. Anyway this was super fun but I need to go fix my ruined hair so ciao beautiful people!” She blew them all kisses and strutted off. Leighton waved after her, amused by her complete spontaneity.

 

[cosmicforce]

Ace watched his duet partner leave and groaned. "I guess that means I'm done too and I'm taking the music with me!" He disappeared and then reappeared by the speaker, wrapping his towel around his waist. Then the music cut and he was gone again.

It left just Leighton and Rowan, who found it secretly hilarious that such an energetic group managed to get bored so quickly. He climbed out of the water and wrapped himself in a towel, taking a seat next to Leighton on the edge of the pool. "What a group," He commented, kicking his feet to gently create waves. It was amazing what something as simple as water could do. Lots of things were amazing if you looked close enough.

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton found it almost suspicious how quickly the other two left them, but she supposed it was nice to have the almost silence once again. It was almost like Saphira and Ace literally took the party wherever they went.

“That was fun though. Maybe we should all try to do stuff like this together more...” she looked at the ripples in the pool and then back at Rowan thoughtfully, “I’m glad you’re so relaxed. I mean...not like I noticed or anything but....well....it’s hard not to notice. You know what, I should probably shut up.” She was blushing again and wishing she hadn’t said anything at all.

 

[cosmicforce]

Rowan chuckled towards the girl, shaking his head. “No, no I agree. It’s hard not to notice.” He didn’t like how relaxed he was or the fact that people could notice, but he had to acknowledge it, ignoring it would make it worse.

“I know you guys think I’m a stick in the mud but honestly I just want to make sure none of us get hurt. I don’t think I should be here because I’m probably the most likely to do the hurting.” He shrugged, and then sighed, and even though he looked relaxed he also looked defeated. “But for some reason they look past that. They can’t see Tony was an idiot for requesting me here. A genius in everything else, but an idiot in real world skills.”

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton listened intently to Rowan, nodding to show that she understood how he felt. "I get it, you want to help. You know, the very fact you don't want us to get hurt is the reason Tony chose you. You're not as bad as you think, Rowan." She smiled kindly before leaning down and scooping up some water, splashing it in his face.

"Just remember, even the great Tony Stark had fun sometimes!" With that she left him to his own devices.

 

[cosmicforce]

Rowan stayed at the pool long after Leighton left. He was sitting there until the sun started to go down and the water was a glowing orange colour to match. It was only then that he finally stood up and made his way back to his room. The quiet was a nice relief, but he was excited to see Ace again, for some weird reason. He wanted to be around people.

—————

The next morning however, he didn’t crave the company near as much when he woke up with the blonde literally on top of him, fully dressed and poking him on the nose.

In his dream the person on top of him wasn’t nearly as friendly as Ace was, and so as Rowan snapped upwards he grabbed the blondes neck and began to squeeze. It didn’t bother Ace, it seemed, because he simply disappeared and reappeared across the room, providing his roommate with enough time to come to his senses and begin to apologize.

“I knew you were having a nightmare,” Ace replied simply. “That was the point.”

Before Rowan had the time to ask any more questions the boy was tossing him his uniform and informing him to get dressed, saying that they had a case and that Wanda was going to meet them in the simulation room to brief them. He handed Rowan a granola bar for breakfast and then left, allowing the boy time to change in peace.

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton and Saphira had ended up talking for most of the night, confiding in each other like girls often did when they got used to each other.

Currently, the pair of them stood leaning against a wall chattering about the time Leighton and her friend snuck backstage at a Panic! At the Disco concert and managed to see Brendon Urie practicing vocal runs.

Leighton was feeling much more optimistic about not passing out during today’s simulation. She was simply curious as to what it would be.

When Wanda entered the simulation room, Saphira visibly tensed, shooting her daggers that probably would’ve killed her had they been literal daggers.

Wanda ignored the look and spoke calmly, “You all know why you’re here. Every day of training is another chance to do better.”

Leighton couldn’t tell if she was giving a pep talk or telling them they all sucked, but she didn’t have time to think about that.

Once again, the room began to shift and spin and the wave of nausea almost overcame her.

When everything settled, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimly lit, seemingly cavernous place. The only light came from small braziers lit with sleepy flames.

She could just make out the expression on Saphira’s face. It was a mixture of panic and steely anger. Her jaw was firmly set and it seemed every part of her tensed.

“Hmph, go figure,” she said with the same steeliness as her expression. The brunette began walking in the direction where the most light seemed to be. “Watch your backs....and your necks. He goes for the jugular.”

Leighton opened her mouth to speak, but found she had nothing to say.

 

[cosmicforce]

Rowan arrived in the room last, stumbling in with a half-eaten granola bar in his hands and a hoodie on over his usual white tank top - in case they had to blend in again.

He was barely able to finish chewing before the room started to spin. He held his breath, still not quite over his own nightmare and just praying he didn’t have to face another in his own simulation, but then the scene started to surround them. It was somewhere he didn't recognize but Saphira clearly did and he felt guilty for feeling relieved for a second until he realized the severity of the situation. Instinctively branches sprouted from his upper body and they curled around his neck to protect him from the fight that they were inevitably walking into.

Ace only responded with a small, "oh shit," before nervously trailing behind Saphira towards the source of light. Neither knew exactly what was happening but they knew enough from the last simulation to know that this was a real threat now. Saphira knew what was going on and they were going to have to trust her because chances were she knew the place better than any of them.

Rowan followed as well but made sure to hang close to Leighton. Two more branches were sprouting from his hands and he positioned himself so that if anyone got close he could help her defend herself, just in case her powers didn't work like planned. "I'm sorry, what's going on exactly?"

 

[PixieDust]

Saphira continued walking, her focus completely fixed on the light ahead. She did not answer any questions. It seemed to Leighton that she was too enraged to speak at all. This made Leighton even more nervous as her gaze darted around the room.

She could hear the faintest of whispering that made her blood run cold with dread. The whispers were unintelligible and seemed to be coming from the walls. “Can anybody else hear that?” She said uncertainly, moving further away from the wall. She tensed and inched slightly closer to Rowan as she felt a cold presence close to her.

Saphira stopped dead in her tracks. “Damnit, no!” She exclaimed as five shadowy creatures began to enter through the walls. Leighton screamed as one of the shadow creatures grabbed her by her neck and pinned her to the wall. She could not even struggle because the icy feeling it brought with it seemed to cause paralysis.

The other shadows except the largest began to swarm around the others too, though they left Saphira alone.

“Saphi,” a voice said from seemingly nowhere, “you brought humans. Brilliant!” At that someone appeared from the shadows. A tall man, dressed in black who looked strikingly similar to Saphira, only older. He looked at her with a menacing smirk, but didn’t have much time to say anything else, because Saphira rushed at him, knocking him straight into the wall with her fingers wrapped tightly around his neck. If it affected him, he didn’t show it.
“Zach you bastard!” She growled at him, “leave them alone or I’ll rip you limb from limb.”

 

[cosmicforce]

Ace seemed to think the whispers were in his head. He wasn't bothered by them until he noticed that Rowan seemed to be hearing them too, looking nervously around the room in a desperate attempt to find the source. His branches tensed, curling more around his neck in an attempt to protect him from whatever lay ahead.

Ace was the second to experience the feeling. The shadowy figure wrapped around his necks and threw him against the wall. He seemed to let off one final puff of blue light come from his hands before he was paralyzed, yelling helplessly against the bounds of shadows.

Rowan tried to stop them. He reached and grabbed for them and dodged them for as long as he could, but then they were wrapping around his body - avoiding his neck like they really could see the protection there. He stuck out one final branch in an attempt to reach for Leighton, but it froze like his body and soon all three of them were helpless against the wall. He couldn't move any part of himself, couldn't struggle, all he could do was watch and think and try to form a way out.

Ace. Ace could teleport.

Ace must have heard him because soon he was replying in the silence. I'm trying, he put the thought into Rowan's head and then froze. Rowan could tell something was wrong from the strangled silence. I can't read his mind. Saphira is the only person whose mind I can't read.

"Are they related?" Rowan answered out loud, though he realized immediately that he shouldn't when he felt the shadow figure's grip tighten. It was a strange sensation, numb but not completely so, he could still feel things, just not move them, not even an inch.

I think so.

 

[PixieDust]

Saphira continued to pin the man to the wall until he easily slipped through her fingers as a shadowy whisp and re-emerged in human form next to the last shadow creature. He looked around in amusement at his new prisoners and chuckled. “Well, aren’t you going to say hello to my henchmen?” He asked them all before producing a blade from his blazer pocket the same as the one Saphira had used the day before. Without looking, he lazily threw it in Saphira’s direction where it landed through her stomach causing her to sink to her knees in surprised agony.

“I thought I would give her a head start.” He said smugly as he circled the other three, eventually stopping in front of Rowan. In answer to your question: yes. We are related. This, as you know, is my dear sister Saphi! You’re aren’t putting up much of a fight though, are you.” He examined his branches with a look of intrigue, conjuring a flame in the palm of his hand. “Those would make great kindling you know…”

Whilst Zach was talking, Saphira tried to get Ace’s attention by tilting her head toward the shadow creatures and mouthing the word, ‘relax’. She hoped he would understand that the only way out of their grip was to relax as much as possible. She began pulling the blade from her stomach, wincing in pain and losing a fair amount of blood.

Leighton was trying to summon at least a little spark of light to scare off the shadow that was now choking most of the oxygen from her lungs.

 

[cosmicforce]

Ace couldn't read her mind, but he could read her lips. Relaxation was quite possibly the thing Ace was best at, and so he closed his eyes and started to hum. He could hear Rowan asking endless questions in his mind about what the hell was happening and why he was being so annoying in such an important time, but managed to tune them all out. He ignored the entire situation until it was just him, his closed eyes and the imagination of a portal taking him to a spot only feet behind Zach.

It worked. In seconds he was behind Zach with a knife in his hand and the word "relax" was echoing through Rowan's - and he hoped Leighton's - head. He couldn't fight this guy alone, but he sure as hell could start it that way.

Without thinking he was sinking his bronze knife into Zach's back, working to knocked his feet from under him. He didn't want to kill again, especially not in front of Saphira, so his goal, for now, was to just knock him down, get him away from his friends long enough to get them out of this hellscape situation.

Rowan took Ace’s suggestion and flipped it on it’s head. Instead of relaxing he seemed to let the full range of his powers free. The sight of Saphira was enough to trigger the anger that brought with it bright green eyes and an unspeakable strength. It took a few tugs but soon his once frozen branch was moving again, and it stretched to wrap around Zach’s legs, aiding Ace’s attempt to knock him off his feet.

 

[PixieDust]

Leighton could only watch as the other two managed to release themselves from the grip of the shadows. She heard, Ace’s suggestion to relax, but found it didn’t really work for her. Instead she closed her eyes and tried to think of the happiest things that had ever happened to her. Soon, she could feel the pleasant warmth of her powers flowing through her, and the shadow instantly recoiled from her, fleeing into the darkness..

Zach had been so busy monologuing that he had not realised they had all escaped until he felt a blade sink into his back. He growled slightly, but it did not faze him much. “Bronze. So very basic,” he said, before feeling a branch wrap around his legs. Before he could do anything he was on the ground. “Well played,” he complimented before becoming shadow vapour again.

Leighton spotted where he was attempting to escape to and, threw a boomerang of light at him, causing him to falter mid journey and take human form again. Saphira was now closest to him and having managed to get the blade from her stomach, she used the last of her energy to plunge it deep into his back. With that he seemed to burst into flames and the shadow creatures all disappeared.

Saphira watched as the simulation began to fade and the room went back to normal. Her wound was already beginning to heal, but she still looked as though she was on the verge of death.
“Such....a tool...” she said through gritted teeth, her eyes now wet with tears.

Leighton rushed over to her and knelt beside her, looking concerned, but not too concerned now that the colour was returning to her.