Banished| Book One In The Series | Avengers Fan-fic| ****ON HOLD****

44. Friends?

Hey ya'll!

Here's another chapter! Btw, that's Aaron above. I really liked writing this chapter for some reason, even though it's kinda short.

Enjoy!

Meira's POV:

We arrived in Nebraska sooner than expected, Thursday night in fact . 

Again, we had to stay in a barn, but this time the person who owned it knew we were there, and fortunately he was okay with it - even when the others were already there. I didn't know how they had managed to do that, but I didn't really care. I hadn't spoken much on the drive, mostly because any time I did I could here Lee yelling at me inside my head about my "self-pity". That and I still felt bad. Steve, Thor, and Lee didn't talk much either.

Bruce confirmed I had a cold, and a pretty bad one. He too thought that it was because of my sudden adjustment to earth, but he didn't know how long it would last. I didn't mind much, it was just good to see him again. It was good to see everyone together again. The tension lessened when dinner was handed out and some laughter started up with Natasha and Steve.

I sat away from the group against the wall, picking at my food. I wasn't really in the mood to talk much, even with the Avengers back together again. I set my plate down and rubbed the bandages on my hands. Bruce had wrapped them up because of the poison ivy and how raw they were. I felt bad because of that, I didn't want to trouble Bruce or anyone else anymore. I sighed, dropping my hands in my lap and listening to the buzz of conversation, zoning out.

"Mind if I sit?" I snapped out of my state, looking up to see the last person I thought would ever approach me. Agent Aaron Tyler. He held his plate in one hand and looked at me with a blank expression. He wore a jacket over plain white tee shirt and jeans, and some steel-toed boots. I shrugged and my cheeks burned. I was painfully aware of how attractive Aaron was and I hated being affected by it.  I suddenly felt subconscious of my appearance - I just had to be sick now of all times. 

Aaron sighed and plopped down in front of me, finishing up his dinner. I continued to look down at my hands in embarrassment, but the young SHIELD agent didn't seem fazed by it and continued eating. A few minutes later, Aaron set his empty plate next to my full one. I kept staring at my hands, but slowly I looked up and blinked in surprise. He held two orange cans in his hands. I didn't know what the heck they were.

"Don't worry. It just orange soda." Aaron explained and I quickly wiped the expression of confusion off my face. He gestured for me to take one as he pulled a metal tab on the top and a fizzing sound followed. I wondered where he had them in the back of my head as I slowly took the other one, our hands brushing briefly. My face burned as I clutched the cold can of soda. I pulled the tab and it snapped into the can, making a small hole to drink from. 

I tried my best to make sure Aaron didn't see that I was fascinated by the drink, but I was. The crazy thing was, it didn't even taste like oranges. My nose scrunched up and quickly set the drink down. Aaron on the other hand downed his in less than minute. He still hadn't said anything, so I did.

"What are you doing?" I asked, all trace of embarrassment gone and only coldness in my voice. Aaron shrugged, resting his elbow on his knee, and then leaning on his hand.

"What are you doing?" he replied, pitching his voice higher. My mouth dropped a little in surprise, but a scowl quickly took over. Aaron mirrored my expression and then burst out laughing. I was taken aback. I had never met someone so.... annoying. And the last time I talked to Aaron, he acted like he hated me! He was still laughing. I wasn't going to deal with this.

"Hey, wait," Aaron said as I begun to stand. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm done." I rolled my eyes and against my better judgement, sat back down, crossing my arms. Aaron smirked at me, but he quickly turned serious. "Look," he began. "I know we didn't get off on a good start, and that's mostly my fault. But... but I think we should change that."

Was this actually happening? Did just apologize? To me? I searched Aaron's face, looking for anything that said he was tricking me, but he just waited for a response with pleading eyes. I sighed and dropped my arms. "Fine." I said and he grinned, but I went on. "By no means are we friends, though." Aaron nodded. "Understood." he said. "And I'm assuming you're wondering why I'm here."

"Kinda," I replied. "Considering the first time we met you attacked me. And then pretended I didn't exist. And now you're being really strange."

Aaron paused. His smile dropped and the laughter in his eyes left. Sadness washed over his face and I understood. It was an act. He was grieving inside, but he didn't want to let it show. At least, not anymore. For a moment, I saw the old Aaron. The Aaron who was always angry and confused and sad. Maybe now he was trying to change that. Maybe he was done with that part of him.

"Sorry." I said, and then coughed, my head pounding painfully when I did. "What were you going to say?" Aaron's face lit up again and he leaned forward a little, waving for me to do the same. With a raised eyebrow, I did. 

"Okay, so there have been whispers about an attack on an Amarog camp tomorrow night." My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to speak, but Aaron held up a finger to his lips. "And, they're going to make us stay here while they go beat the crap out of werewolves."

"How do you know this?" I whispered back, looking over at the Avengers. They were oblivious  to our conversation, continuing their laughter and conversation. Aaron's eyebrow quirked up and he smiled. "I might've bugged their phones. I can hear all of their conversations through my phone." He added the last part at my confused expression. 

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"So... this means they really are planning another attack and leaving us behind?"

"That's right. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"After everything? Hell no."

Aaron smiled even more, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I knew siting over here was a good idea." I smiled too, and for the rest of dinner, we talked about things. It surprised me, but I enjoyed it. Maybe I was wrong, maybe we would be friends. 

I ate everything on my plate after our conversation ended.

What'd you think?

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~Athena.