Stars Dance

Stuck

The cheeseburgers were fantastic. Tony and i actually got through a whole meal without arguing and Natasha didn't send Astella as many glares as i thought she would. Add that to the fact Astella's other personalities didn't show up it was a pretty good meal. "You've been okay for a couple hours now. Do you think you're getting any better?" Dr. Banner asks as we finish up.

"I hope so. I hate dropping out and loosing control. I hate hurting you guys." i felt like that one was directed toward Natasha more than it was directed toward me. Astella gave her an apologetic smile but Natasha just grimaced and stood up. Clint stood up with her like they were connected by an invisible wire before both of them exited the room silently.

"So show us that time trick again." Tony told Astella grabbing her attention.

"It's actually very draining that's part of the reason why i don't like doing it and I also can't get the hang of it." Astella replies blushing under Tony's gaze.

"Oh come on try. Practise makes perfect." Tony pressured nudging her arm. Dr. Banner smirked as he stared at the tray on the table.

"Okay then. I'll try." Astella said with a small smile before shutting her eyes and squeezing them shut. Dr. Banner stood then picking up his tray and beginning to throw away his trash. I watched as Astella's nose crinkled in concentration. Tony was watching her intensely like he might notice her slow down time. I glanced back at her and waited. 

Opening my eyes a yellow haze flashed in front of my vision before clearing up. Shaking my head and grimacing i pressed my fingertips against my temple. "I don't think it's going to work." i told them feeling totally spent. I hadn't even done anything. I just closed my eyes and this shooting pain like needles stabbing my spine raced around my entire body. Nobody spoke. I looked back up at Steve. He was smiling with his eyes just staring at me. Tony had his hands fingers interlocked in front of his face covering his mouth staring at me with complete and total concentration. I looked over at Bruce who was midway in putting his left foot down to continue walking towards the trash can. It had worked. I hardly did anything.

Smiling to myself i stood and walked around the table and slowly took the tray from Bruce's hands and threw is plate and napkins away before placing the tray back in his hands. Then i took the pen from his pocket and wrote Tony Farts just above Tony's right eyebrow. and then drawing a little heart on the back of Steve's hand. Placing the pen back in Bruce's pocket i walked back around the table and sat in front of them pleased with myself. I think i held this one time pause longer than all the other ones. Feeling pretty accomplished i squeezed my eyes shut with a smile on my face and concentrated on time itself willing it to pick back up again and begin where we left off. 

The second i thought about it it should have happened. Time should have kept on rolling. Bruce would continue to walk toward the trash can before realizing his tray was empty. Tony would have made some comment about how it didn't do anything. I just sat there with my eyes closed to fool them all. Then Steve would look Tony's way and start laughing and leave Tony flabbergasted. Tony would find a metal surface to gaze at himself in while Steve looked at his hand. He would have shot me a look and whisper something sweet to me then i would kiss him. None of that happened. I opened my eyes smiling when i realized something was wrong. 1. I couldn't hear heartbeats or anything for that matter beyond the noise i was making myself. 2. I didn't have that searing sensation of pain at the back of my head. Frowning and furrowing my eyebrows i tried again squeezing my eyes shut. 

Okay time! I thought. Quit fooling around! Get the show on the road. A wave of heat washed over me and exploding balls of flashing color danced around behind my eyelids and became a yellow glow. The glow was so bright i actually began to see through my own eyelids. I don't even think that's possible. I opened my eyes again expecting everything to proceed how i predicted it but nothing happened. My vision was cloudy like i was trying to see through television static but nobody moved, nobody breathed. "Ok guys if you're messing with me please stop." i said laughing a little nervously as i reached out to touch Steve's arm. If this was playing in actual time Steve and Tony would have laughed and Steve would be smiling widely at the trick they just pulled on me but they remained motionless.