Altered - A Marvel AU

Chapter 23 - Lady Eros

Greece had always been my dream place to go. What with the rivers coursing by and the beautiful greenery, my heart yearned to be here. Of course, the sun shone so bright I thought I might fry, thankfully Fury allowed us to change into modern attire for two reasons, so we wouldn't attract attention and because it was scorching. So I wore one of Nat's shirts along with her shorts. The shirt was a bit snug from the chest area, but otherwise, everything else fit just fine.

Walking hours and hours under the sun was doing no one any good, I knew the specific place to look for, but we got lost... several times. This one time we accidentally ended up on an outside strip club and Steve put his hands over his eyes like my baby cousin did whenever she saw a ghost on TV. Tony insisted on making Steve jealous and so his hand was firmly wrapped around mine as I led the group, possibly all over the country.

I turned around to see Nat walking alongside Bruce, they were talking in hushed tones and every here and there she would let out a short and sweet laugh. The sun beat down on me and I resisted the urge to strip off Natasha's shirt and just walk around in my bra, the struggle was real. After a little while I concentrated really hard and materialized my bra into my room, letting my breasts be free of their prison. Although Nat's shirt didn't cover much, at least because of the extreme heat I didn't have to worry about the girls waking up.

Finally, I found an abandoned temple and veered towards it, no one was there, no tourists, no locals so I knew this must've been the place. Inside the temple, a lone elevator stood to one corner, I walked up to it and pressed the only button there, down. "Are you sure about this? Seems kind of creepy." Nat muttered, "Yeah, don't worry. You guys wait here." Steve raised his hands, "No, we're coming with you." "Under whose authority?" I asked. He frowned, "Ok, well who's Captain here?" "Steve, I'm a goddess, you're a mortal, can you please just listen to me for once." "When have I ever not listened to you?" "Oh jee, let me think about that MR. GRANT." "That doesn't count." "Steve, just stay here!" The others looked back and forth between us as if they were watching a tennis game, "Well then." Nat muttered.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and I walked in. Everyone watched me until the doors closed. "If you like piña coladas, And getting caught in the rain" came on as background music and I flinched, an old, chill song, weird choice for an ancient elevator. The elevator opened into this abyss that seemed to go down forever, on one side stood a guard. I approached the man, he was dark-skinned with a fedora and an italian suit on. "Hello." The guard looked up, annoyed, "Young lady-" He started to blanch when he saw me, "I... my apologies Lady Eros." I raised an eyebrow, "Lady Eros?" "Yes, well we refer to you by the name of your father... er the one who contributed the most because no name was recorded for you."

I nodded, "Alright, well I have a request to make." The guard nodded, "Of course Lady Eros." "You need to close the portal for demons so that Kronos can't access them anymore." The guard hesitated, "Well?" I raised an eyebrow, "It's just... Kronos threatened me." "Of course he did." I muttered. "Look I promise you safety and security if you just close the portal." The guard smiled, "You mean, I get to receive Lady Eros's blessing." "Yeah, I guess." The guard actually whopped, he pressed a button on his desk, "Done!" "That's it?" "Yes." "Well I could've done that." I muttered. I didn't know how I knew what to do, but I powered a blessing and bathed the guard in a black light sparkling with gold and silver. The guard bowed, "Thank you Lady Eros." "Yeah, my pleasure."

I made my way back to the elevators and walked out to see the others panicking, Steve fighting Tony on something. "We should go look for her." "She said not to follow her, Grandpa." Outside, Night had fallen and it seemed dark, I hadn't been there for that long, had I? But I also knew that time in immortal realms was faster than that in the mortal realm. "Umm, I'm here." They both looked up, everyone muttering in relief. "You damn near scared us, are you alright?" Nat asked and I nodded, "You were worried about me?" Nat nodded, "Yeah, you're part of the team now!" Everyone nodded and I finally felt truly happy in a long time.

***

"So yah, I gave him my blessings and that was that." We all sat on the steps of the temple, eating some gyro that Steve had brought for all of us. I noticed Natasha picking out her tomatoes and wrinkling her nose in disgust, "Steeeve, I hate tomatoes." "Yah, when she worked for me, she'd throw away anything with tomatoes." Tony quipped. Steve muttered an apology to Nat and I looked at him. "Wait, do you all have tomatoes in your gyros?" Everyone nodded.

"Why don't I have any?" "Oh you wanted-" I cut Steve off, "No, I hate them." Nat gave me a wink, "This is why we're friends." I laughed, Steve looked up at me, "Well I remembered that you hated tomatoes. Remember you sent back the entire entree at that restaurant because you didn't want the tomatoes." I laughed, "Oh my god, yah. Remember the waiter's face?" Steve nodded, chuckling. "But do you remember why I hate tomatoes?" Steve nodded, "Yah," he listed off the things on his fingers, "They're categorized as fruits when they're clearly vegetables. You don't like your vegetables to be both sweet and sour. And they make everything moist, makes you feel like you're eating a wet sponge." My eyes widened, "You remembered?" Steve gruffly nodded, "course I did."

I looked down, feeling something bloom in my heart as I blushed, thankful for the dark night. Tony scooted over to me, "Stop flirting with him, you're ruining the plan." I scoffed, "I am not flirting with him." Tony rolled his eyes, "Ok, I have a plan. Just follow my lead, okay?" I nodded, genuinely curious about Tony's 'plan'.

"Hey Meg, come with me." He offered his hand and I took it, hoisting myself up. We walked to a small clearing, his hand still holding mine when he let go and brought his arm around my waist, hugging me tightly to his muscled chest. "Tony what?" I whispered. "Trust me." Tony pointed up at a nearby constellation, "I'm going to wow you with some astrology. Just try not to fall in love with me." I rolled my eyes looking up to where he pointed.

***

Steve's POV

"Uh oh. Steve I think Tony is stealing your girl." I looked up to see Tony with Megan, his arm around her waist as he pointed to a constellation and talked about it while she stared at his face in wonder and amazement. "Not my girl, Natasha." I said. Natasha didn't say anything but she did scoff. "You two were sharing memories of a date earlier." Clint commented and I looked at him annoyed.

"Well, I ship them." Bruce said, staring at Megan and Tony with a smile on his face. Natasha looked at him, horrified, "You ship Tony and Meg." Bruce shrugged like what. Natasha scooted over closer to Clint, giving Bruce the stink eye. "Doesn't he have a girlfriend though?" I asked and Natasha nodded, "Well used to, I think they're on a break." She rushed over her words and I noticed her wiping her palms on her jeans. "What are you hiding?" Natasha laughed nervously, "Nothing."

"Did you notice that with Lady Megan around we aren't as closed off and awkward with one another, we act similar to the dynamics a family shares." Everyone looked at Thor and his statement since he barely talked. "Um that's weird coming from you, but yeah it's true." Nat nodded her head, smiling at Thor. "Yes, well it may be her powers." Thor mused, then muttered something under his breath about lightning.

"You know, this conversation has taken a weird turn, I think we should make our way back to Fury." Clint seemed to be reading my thoughts as I was thinking the exact same thing, the faster we were on the ship, the further away Tony and Megan would be, the better for her. The last thing I needed or wanted for that matter was Tony and Megan getting together, although I would never admit that out-loud.