The New Girl

Chapter 12

No one answered Raven's question. Gamora stared at the magenta haired teenager; Star-Lord looked around the room; Rocket and Groot stood there growling, Rocket more so than Groot; Drax was trying to work a tablet; Thor was shifting from foot to foot; Mantis inches closer to her. Raven sighed and looked to the floor.

"Thor, where's Bruce?" She asked more kindly.

"Washing up in the room that has been assigned to him." She nodded. "I am sorry to just appear like this, Lady Stark. I just-"

"He landed on the windshield of our spaceship." Rocket cut the god off. Raven stared at the raccoon, an eyebrow raised as she mouthed the word 'spaceship'. "Yeah, you know, the ships that fly in space."

"Gee, thanks talking raccoon." Rocket glared and growled at her. "How can you talk?"

"None of your damn business." He snapped. Raven smirked.

"The raccoon has a mouth." Rocket went to lunge at her but she stopped him midair. "And a temper." Rocket growled as he tried to get back to the ground.

"He doesn't like being called a raccoon." Gamora stated as she softened a little. "Raven right?" Said girl nodded. "We need your help. My father Thanos is planing on destroying Earth. My team and I can't stop him on our own which-"

"Which is where the Avengers come in." Raven finished. "Too bad we're kinda, well not kinda. . . We're on a break in the words of my father." Tony glared at her. "You've got half of us. Bruce, me, dad, Natasha, Vision, and Thor. Plus some new friends we met a month ago, T'Challa, Peter, Wade might help."

"Nu-uh, we are not putting Earth's safety in Wade's hands." Tony argued. Raven stared at him before looking back to Gamora.

"We're going to need more than that." She muttered, tapping her index finger against her leg.

"Strange?" Tony suggested. Star-Lord furrowed his eyebrows.

"What's strange about needing more people?" He asked. Raven laughed.

"No, not strange, Strange." Star-Lord still looked confused.

"I hear no difference." Raven smiled before looking back to her father, she nodded. She started walking back down the hall to grab her phone. "I'm still confused."

"Dr. Strange is a colleague of mine, he'll help." Tony explained. Star-Lord looked less confused as he nodded. Raven walked back in, phone to her ear.

"What about all the time-altering, universe-bending magic you just got? Can't any of that help?" Raven was silent as everyone else waited for her response. "So you're telling me that after everything you just did, you can't help SAVE THE WORLD YOU LIVE IN?!" Star-Lord turned to Rocket.

"See? She gets it." Rocket blew him off.

"Stephen Vincent Strange, I swear to whatever god we're supposed to believe in. . ." She drifted off, Strange had started talking. "You would rather watch us fail? You owe us, remember?" Raven waited for a response, a smug look on her face. "Thank you." She hung up the phone. "Strange said he'd help."

"After talking him into it." Tony added. Raven nodded as she started dialing another number. "Who are you calling now?" Raven held a finger to her mouth as she put the phone to her ear.

"Hi." She greeted, purposefully not saying a name. "You know how you said if anything major came up I can count on you? . . . Well something major came up and I need to count on you." Raven giggled from the comment that came on the other end. "No, it wasn't caused by him." She looked over at her father. "At least I don't think it was. C'mon, we need your help. Along with your boy toy." She laughed again. "I thought it was funny. . . . Okay, see you soon." Raven hung up the phone again. "Got two recruits."

"Who?" Bruce asked as he walked in from behind her. Raven turned and smiled at the doctor before looking back at her father.

"You're not gonna like who it is." She told him. Tony's expression changed, he looked confused and a little angry.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because it's Steve and Bucky." Tony seemed to calm down a little.

"You stayed in touch with them." It wasn't a question, it was a simple statement. He said it in a non-emotional way which led the rest of the group into a state of anticipation, waiting for him to say something else.

"I technically never fought them, I watched not knowing what to do." Tony smiled.

"Smart girl. Steve said that they would come back?" Raven nodded. "When?"

"Earlier today. I teleported over there to bring Bucky his new arm that I made. Before you freak, he doesn't remember anything that HYDRA did to him." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"You did that for him?" He asked. Raven shrugged.

"I tried telling Steve about it but I couldn't form the words. T'Challa somehow knew and called me to do it." She shrugged. "But that's not important. I should call Peter." Star-Lord looked up from Drax's tablet.

"I'm standing right here." Tony and Raven looked at each other like they just saw a ghost.

"Your name is Peter?" They asked, Star-Lord nodded. Raven facepalmed and shook her head.

"That's not going to drive me insane." She mumbled.

"If we still need help, Loki can join in the fight." Thor stated. That made Raven whip her head up.

"Why the hell would we ask the man that wanted to rule earth to come save it?" She spat.

"Because he is good now." Raven felt like she was having a panic attack.

"Oh, that's great. That's really great. Super, really. But you're forgetting one thing." She rambled.

"And what would that be?" Thor asked.

"HE TOOK CONTROL OVER ME WHEN HE TRIED TAKING OVER!!!" Now she really was having a panic attack. Her heart was racing, she felt a sense of impending doom wash over her, her chest ached, her breathing quickened before she felt like she was being choked. Tony ran over to her to help her but she took a step back and stumbled.

"Raven Elizabeth, you need to calm down." Tony told her calmly. She nodded and leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

"Is she okay?" Star-Lord asked. Tony nodded.

"She will be." He commented.

"I did not intend to give Lady Stark an attack of panic." Thor told him.

"I know you didn't Point Break, she's not gonna blame you for it." Thor nodded. Mantis walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Mantis frowned as Raven's breathing slowly evened again and she was fine. She mumbled a thank you under her breath.

"You feel an assortment of emotions." Mantis stated, not removing her hand from Raven's shoulder. "Mainly just romantic desire from the other Peter." Raven bit her lip. "But there is also a strong resentment towards your mother that will never be resolved. And admiration for your father among many others like these men named Logan, Kurt, and Wade. You also suffer from mixed emotions about a Captain Ste-" Raven pulled away from Mantis harshly.

"Loki does not need to come if it bothers you so." Thor assured her. Raven shut her eyes.

"If, and only if, we need him you can ask." Thor nodded again.

"You were saying you needed to call Peter." Bruce reminded. Raven nodded. "Who's Peter, besides Star-Lord?"

"His superhero identity is Spider-Man, he helped us fight the team." She gave a half hearted laugh. "We went out last night."

"So he's your boyfriend?" Raven tossed her head back and forth.

"I guess. We haven't asked nor said the bf-gf word so. . ." She shrugged. Bruce nodded.

"Go call him. I think we're gonna need him."