Wither Wings (An Avengers Crossover)

Phase 9: The Hoax

Max woke up the next morning to a small jackhammer digging into her brain; or at least that's what it felt like. Every movement hurt. She couldn't even remember anything past when she chugged the vodka. A thought shot through her: What if she drank the entire bottle?

No way, Max thought. I'm not usually that stupid.

She attempted to sit up and groaned at the effort. Life was hard.

"Need assistance, Maximum?" A voice came from the heavens.

"God?" Max asked, her voice thin.

"It is JARVIS," JARVIS replied.

"Oh, yeah, weird robot thing," Max said.

"I'd prefer it if you called me by my name, Maximum," JARVIS countered.

Max finally sat up and swung her legs off of the side of her bed. "And I'd prefer not to feel like death decided it was a sixteen year old mutant girl, but we can't always have what we want."

"Ms Potts and Mr Stark are in the kitchen," JARVIS said.

"Thanks, J," MAx said with a wave of her hand. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. "You're a babe."

She didn't hear a reply, so she assumed he went off to help someone else in the tower. It was strange to have an omniscient voice watching over you at all times to say the least, but he was damn helpful whenever he needed to be.

Max pulled on a t-shirt and brushed her hair. She decided to leave the teeth brushing until after breakfast, sure that any taste right now would make her hurl. As she approached the kitchen she hear Tony and Pepper discussing something in hushed tones and paused to listen.

"She said it was a shark," Tony said. "We need to get her to explain it to Fury. They handed that case off to the FBI, but what if it actually is under SHIELD's jurisdiction?"

"Since when have you cared about helping them?" Pepper asked. "Something was obviously going on with her last night. Something other than all of the adults she knows and trusts getting her ridiculously drunk. I should tell Fury to draw you up on child endangerment charges."

"She only trusts you, Pep," Tony said. "She even called you mom."

Pepper paused. "Yeah, well, that was different. She thought I was someone else." Max could hear the clink of coffee mugs. "Natasha said she looked at the security camera footage from the attack and there was nothing. He was just a normal lunatic as opposed to a mutant one."

"I think Max was onto something!" Tony pressed the issue.

"You think everyone is onto something!" Pepper said. "If she thought she saw this guy, this shark, around town and at the diner, it could mean something worse."

The room grew silent.

"What kind of worse are you thinking of?" Tony asked. "PTSD?"

"Or hallucinations," Pepper said. "I think she needs to go in for a psych eval."

"Don't do that to her, Pepper," Tony said. "You were the one who said to treat her with warm fuzzies. Don't force the girl into a cold room with a doctor."

"Fine," Pepper said. "What do you suggest?"

"Have Cap talk to her," Tony said. "He's got a soft spot for her. They seem to get on well."

Pepper snorted. "He's at least seventy years her senior."

"So you have nothing to worry about." Tony put some dishes in the sink.