(D: yes please!!!)
"I don't have a middle name." He replied, blinking at her. He stiffened faintly at even the brush of her powers, narrowing his eyes. "And my powers aren't quite as harmful as yours are, Shea, that's not a fair comparison." He did pull back the ice, sighing faintly as he looked at the card. "However, I really don't want to follow the instructions on the card." His eyes narrowed again as he considered his choices.
(dude- and Rikki's QUEER- I think bi but I'm not sure a;lsdfjasdklfajs;d MARVEL GIVE US RIKKI BARNES)
"You're middle name's Giovanni now-" Shuri and Peter snorted at Shea's ever-so-casual comment. "Jason Giovanni Rogers, you better follow those goddamn instructions or I swear to God you won't be able to sleep for months."
Shea slapped the "Draw 4" card back onto the discard pile with so much force, the draw pile scattered across the table.
(asfdkjbkdsjhbsf yes pleeeeeasssee)
Jason blinked at her. "I'm not Italian. Like, at all." he gestured to Steve vaguely. "Does he look Italian to you? Where the fuck did you get Giovanni from?" he demanded, shaking his head. He watched the cards scatter with an arched brow, looking back at her. "And now how are we supposed to play? You've destroyed the discard."
"My middle name is Aloe. It's only fair I give you one just as bad! Would you prefer Douglas? Florian? Juan? Gary? Kelly? Clifford? Take your pick, child." Shea threw her cards in Jason's face, the impish smirk not leaving her face.
He gathered up her cards, pitching them back at her. "I am not a child, and I will not be bullied into selecting such an inane middle name for myself." He retorted, eyes narrowed as he looked at her, ice snapping between his fingers
"You're like six years younger than me, therefore a child." Shea slapped her small collection of cards that Jason ever-so-kindly returned. "And everybody has a middle name!" She watched Jason's fingers, ice spreading between them like webs. "And don't bring powers into this, you know I'll win."
Jason glanced down at his hands, shaking the ice off. "That was an accident." He replied. "And yes, most people have a middle name. As I am not, legally, a person, I have no need of a middle name." He arched an eyebrow at Shea challengingly.
Shea opened her mouth, and then closed it. But then opened it again. "Just because Steve and a mystery woman didn't do the yiffy wiffy to get you here, doesn't mean that you're not a person." She pointed a finger at Jason and she could feel Steve's crimson blush from her seat across the table. "I will fight God and walk into hell backwards if it means I can get you a middle name, Jason Jensen Rogers."
"Thor is right over there." Jason retorted, gesturing to the god of thunder. "And my middle name is not Jensen, either. I refuse to have the middle name of Jensen." He narrowed his eyes at her again, ignoring Steve's embarrassment at this conversation.
Shea cast a sideways glance to the God of Thunder, a smile creeping onto her face. "If I win a fight against Thor I get to pick out your middle name." Thor raised an eyebrow, but slowly slid his chair back to stand.
"Idiot, you'll kill the girl-" Loki hissed into his brother's ear.
"No, no, brother." Thor waved his hand dismissively. "I'll only best her. And gloat."
Shea stood as well, cracking her knuckles and her neck. "Powers or no powers, lightning boy?"
Jason narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Mm…fine." he leaned back in his seat, unsure how exactly this had happened, but not questioning it. There was no way Shea could win this fight anyways, right? He hoped she couldn't, anyway. That would be odd.
"Ha!" Thor barked, a smile spreading on his face. Loki hid his expression in his hands, shaking is head. "I will allow powers, for that is the only way you will have a chance to beat me!"
Shea laughed, her impish grin only growing. "All right, shall we go to the sparring room? I don't think Stark would appreciate it if we broke something he liked."
"Damn straight!" Tony said from his chair. His feet were propped up on the table and he was eating some ramen noodles straight from the styrofoam cup. Pepper looked like she was four seconds away from throwing the snack out the window.
"Lead the way, young child." Thor gestured to the stairwell, but Shea was already at the door, excitement and anticipation radiating off of her.
Everyone else at the table got up, curious to see the outcome of the strange match up. As they were walking, Nat leaned over to Clint and whispered "This isn't going to be good," in his ear. Clint snickered and nodded.
Jason got up and followed with the crowd. He did wonder, if Shea's powers would let her overpower Thor. He rather hoped not, he didn't want her to choose his middle name. But then again, it wasn't as if he had any official documentation that listed a name. His license had a name, yes, but it was also specialty SHIELD issued, and different from normal liscences.
After a short walk up a few floors, the group arrived at the sparring room. Shea was already at the control pad, punching in a series of numbers to set the room just right. A wall made of a silver sparkling metal forming to separate Shea and Thor from the observers. A thick, plexiglass window was set in the middle of this.
Tony whistled and brushed his fingers across the wall. "See, Pep, I told you this osmium wall might be useful."
"Osmium?" Peter studied the wall. "Why osmium?"
"Densest metal," Shea answered from inside the wall. "My powers can't get through it."
"Oh, cool beans!" Peter responded with a smile. "So are you and Thor just gonna fight now?"
Shea shrugged and looked at Thor, who was smiling and bouncing around. He looks like a dog- Shea observed, cracking her knuckles and automatically crouching. She wasn't sure how she was going to fight in jeans and high-tops, but she was going to make it work… and only use her powers if absolutely necessary.
Jason crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as he watched them begin to fight. He knew Thor wouldn't hurt Shea, or at least not badly. Not when she was midgardian and he was asgardian. Too much risk of permanently hurting her to use some of the god's typical moves. After all, while a hammer blow might merely annoy the hulk, it would destroy Shea.
Thor grinned, swaying from left to right as he stared down the girl across the room from him. Shea had removed her sweatshirt and tossed it to the corner, revealing an old paint covered t-shirt with some unreadable logo on it.
She narrowed her eyes at the god, stretching her arms across her body and narrowing her violet eyes. She hadn't even started moving yet and the hair was already beginning to slip from it's loose hair tie keeping it out of her face. Her slightly-chapped lips were stretched into her signature careless smirk. This is gonna be great, she thought to herself.
It was Thor who made the first move, swinging Mjolnir to Shea's left and causing her to leap out of the way. The hammer swerved, already bolting back to Thor's outstretched hand. Based off the look in his eyes, in his own mind he had already won this match.
Shea ducked, avoiding Mjolnir's return trip and quickly began to sprint to Thor. Her worn down indigo high-tops squeaked on the freshly polished floor, her grip slightly faltering before Shea regained it. Thor chuckled, catching Mjolnir and swinging it at a rapidly approaching Shea. The teen seemed to have predicted it, once again dropping to dodge the legendary weapon and using her momentum to bring her leg around to knock the back of Thor's locked knee. Thor stumbled a little bit, his grin momentarily faltering. He retaliated by swatting Shea back, using the back of his hand and a fraction of his godly strength to smack the girl back to the other side of the room.
Shit. Don't make me do this, Thor- Shea groaned, barely flipping in time to land on her feet. She slid back, dragging all fours on the floor in order to slow down. Her grin never left her face, but she knew that she would have multiple bruises on her ribcage in the morning.
"Mortal! Just stop now, you're just embarrassing yourself!" Thor boasted, swinging Mjolnir in circles above his head.
"Please," Shea scoffed. "I'm just getting started."
Jason continued to watch, perfectly content to have this chance to observe their fighting styles. He, like his father, was a natural leader and liked to know the capabilities of his teammates. Even if that meant watching them fight, to learn what they could do. Shea, especially, had a power that was difficult to document, considering what it did to people. So this was a good chance to see it at work, if she chose to use it on Thor during this fight.
Thor laughed again and the hairs on Shea's forearm stood up. She cracked her mint gum, dropping to the floor as lightning arched above where her head once was, the light temporarily blinding her. The room buzzed with electrons after the surge and her vision swam with black dots.
The God of Thunder took this as a chance to finish the match, zooming forward and grabbing Shea around the waist with one of his massive hands. He shoved her against the wall, a pained "oof" shooting from her lungs.
"Yield. I don't wish for any more harm to come to you," Thor demanded, a slight look of sympathy in his otherwise arrogant eyes.
Shea managed to smile through quivering breaths, her nose scrunching and her eyebrows furrowing. "Oh yeah?"
And then she let go. All the power she had been building up for weeks now was released from its cage. Like a rabid animal, the predatory fear within shot from her body - preying on the nearest lifeform. Thor's eyes widened, his smile falling and his grip weakening. Mjolnir fell with a dull thud to the ground, his hands going straight to his hair to anxiously tug on it.
Shea slid to the ground, barely able to keep herself upright, her gaze still locked on Thor. The air was now flat, any indication of electricity or life now drained from the room. It felt like dread. Shea kept her watch on Thor, her eyes lit up like violet fire and her hands trembled like leaves in the fall. Thor didn't look much better.
"NO!" The god wailed, dropping to his knees. Tears streaked down his cheeks as he stared wide-eyed at his worst fear unfolding in front of him.
Shea never knew what her victims saw, but the pure terror and anguish always found their way to her when she was at her weakest. Shea knew that in a few nights, Thor's terror would strike her while she was resting. But now… she didn't care.
"Please-" Thor begged, his breath now coming in raspy sobs. "Don't harm him- please-"
Knowing that she had won, Shea closed her eyes. The first step to reining in her feral powers was to cut off any connections to the target, then it was to slowly- as if reeling in a fishing line - lure her powers back into her internal prison. This process could take hours of pure concentration and determination, but since there was only one target, it didn't take as long.
Once the lock was firmly in place, Shea opened her eyes.
Thor was still sobbing, one hand clasped over his mouth and the other over his heart.
Shea couldn't meet his eyes.
What the hell was I thinking-
Shea turned on her heel, keeping her faded eyes on the ground. After retrieving her sweatshirt and lifting the osmium wall, Shea opened the door to the stairwell; taking one last glance at Thor - who was now surrounded by the other Avengers - and heading up to her floor. It was only natural to assume that nobody would want to talk with her after… after whatever the hell she just did.
Jason closed his eyes at Thor's screaming, at the way he cried. Maybe he shouldn't have egged Shea on like this; it didn't seem to have had good results. He looked between where she had disappeared to and where Thor was kneeling, running a hand through his hair. He could go after Shea and talk to her about this, or he could join the group comforting the god of thunder. He wasn't sure which was the better choice right now.
Shea barged into her room, the door to the stairwell flying open and banging on the wall. Shea winced at the crunch of the drywall, knowing that there would be a doorknob-sized hole in the wall for a while.
Her room was a mess to say the least, but at least it wasn't boring anymore. The day after Shea had moved in, she painted the wall a charcoal gray and decorated the walls with as many magenta neon signs as she could find. Black shelves holding miscellaneous knick knacks and souvenirs lined the walls and her bed was pushed into the corner of the room, windows bordering the headboard and left side of the bed. The black covers were askew, half of them on the floor and the other half bunched up near the foot of the bed. Her pillows were tossed in the center of the bed, gray pillow cases halfway off.
The bed looked like the most comforting thing in the world. Shea flopped face-first on the bed, letting out a screech into the pillow.
You're so stupid- Shea balled up the sheets in her hands, burying her face further into the pillow. I fucked up a man- no, A GOD'S mental state and proved to the Avengers how uncontrollable I am…
Shea groaned, wishing she could melt into the bed or just sleep for the rest of her life. Anything seemed better than facing the heroes downstairs. Heroes… What did that make Shea? She didn't have the sparkling code of honor like Steve Rogers, nor the brains and determination of Tony Stark. She wasn't nearly as strong as the Hulk or as noble as Thor. Her skills could never match Natasha and Clint's, her wit would never rival Loki's, and her likability was meager compared to Peter Parker. She wasn't the steady base behind a chaotic operation like Pepper and didn't have a loyal kingdom to command like T'Challa and Shuri. She wasn't as resilient and supportive as Sam Wilson or as experienced and courageous as Bucky. Doctor Strange and Paisley were pure beings of mystical powers, and Shea was some lousy lab experiment gone wrong. Even heroes as basic as Hope and Scott together were an unmatchable duo.
If she couldn't do anything like the other Avengers, then who the hell was she?
Jason eventually headed upstairs, knocking on her door but not coming in. He didn't plan on coming in unless she let him in. "Hey, Shea?" He cleared his throat faintly. "Just so you know, I don't think anyone's mad at you. It was a fair fight and Thor knew what he was in for." He winced faintly. Well. Maybe the god hadn't known, but either way, no one had forced him to fight. "At the very least, he could have refused the fight and he chose to get into it. No one's going to get mad at you for this." He wasn't very good at being reassuring and he knew it.
Shea sat up when Jason's voice rang through the room. She was tired. But also angry. And a thousand other emotions that Shea couldn't place. Emotions had never really been her strong suit.
"Yeah, sure whatever," Shea muttered trying to sound nonchalant but her voice came out slightly strained.
She flopped back down on the bed, staring out at the city below. She felt so tall, fifty-something floors up. The people below looked like little ants, scurrying to get home and the stop-and-go cars were just lights. She liked the view, which was why she had pushed the bed over there her third night the week before.
10 days in.
Shea was positive there wasn't going to be an 11th day.
"Shea. It'll be fine, I promise. We've all had issues getting along before or whatever, we've all fought each other before. Hell, did you know that Steve threw me through a window when I fought him? I, uh, may have challenged him a bit too much and he lost his temper a little." He laughed faintly. "He apologized afterward because I was 16 at the time. But, whatever." He waved the memory away. "Either way, you aren't going to be kicked out or anything for this."
Shea grunted, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair. "Have you ever considered that I can destroy somebody's psyche without having to lift a finger? I'm a liability, Jason!" She snapped. When Jason hadn't answered for a few moments, Shea decided that it would be better to talk face-to-face. "Just- just come in." Shea sighed, hanging her head and staring at the plain black comforter on her bed. "It's awkward talking to you through the door."
He came in, quietly closing the door behind himself. "Technically, we're all liabilities, just in different ways. For instance, I'm a liability to government, uh, secrets, I guess. Since cloning isn't supposed to be possible. Or legal, I guess." He scratched the side of his neck for a moment, trying to think about what to say. "Tony's just a liability in general." He laughed quietly. "Thor and Hulk are liabilities for property."