The flight back to the base was filled with a tense silence, everyone suffering with confusion and worry.

Dahlia's solution for this harsh situation was eating popcorn, because that's the rational reaction to an emotional stressor, obviously.

Bruce looked particularly shaken, the stress of going in and out of his 'green monster' state really took a toll on him.

Dahlia watched as Natasha spoke with Bruce, trying to calm him down with her words. She smirked, knowing that what Natasha felt for Banner was far more than friendship. When you've known someone for seventeen years, like Dahlia had known Nat, you got to know how to read their face and their feelings.

Nat definitely liked him.

And Dahlia was here for it. Maybe Bruce could be like her father, if they got married!

Needless to say, Dahlia was watching them with great interest, her bag of popcorn resting between her knees as she observed the two conversing.

"If you hadn't been there, there would have been double the casualties. My best friend would've been a treasured memory." Nat said, trying to comfort Bruce.

Dahlia was a little offended at the fact Bruce was apparently her best friend, but for the sake of romance she brushed it off, stuffing a handful more of popcorn into her mouth.

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear." Bruce grumbled, curling up into fetal position.

"How long before you trust me?"

"It's not you I don't trust."

Her heart went out to Bruce, really. She couldn't imagine what it was like. It probably sucked ass.

"Thor, report on the Hulk?" Natasha turned to Thor, who was currently trying to steal some of Dahlia's popcorn, key word being 'trying'.

He turned to Nat and smiled wide. "The gates of hell are filled with the screams of his victims!"

Dahlia smacked him on the head as Natasha sent him a death glare.

"Uh- Uhm- Not with screams of the dead, of course. No no, uh... wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained ankles and uh... gout." Thor stuttered, trying to cover his tracks. Dahlia patted him on the back.

"Nice save."

"Why thank you." Thor's voice boomed.

"How do you still not understand sarcasm after living with your brother for what, ten thousand years?"

Loki and Dahlia had met on occasion a few times, obviously he was always in some form of confinement since he always seemed to be, but the two got on surprisingly well for a S.H.I.E.L.D agent and a god of mischief. His sense of humor was one that no one else in their compound appreciated, but Dahlia had often found it amusing.

"I'm still confused as to why the two of you get along so well. You're so... mortal, no offense. Loki hates mortals in general." Thor and Dahlia had been friends since he had come to Earth, so the fact that she also got along with his brother was quite surprising to all parties involved. Let's just say Natasha was not a fan.

"It doesn't matter anyway, he's cool and I'm cool, it makes sense why we get along so well. Now, let's see how well you can catch this popcorn in your mouth." Dahlia grinned.

It turned out they were extremely bad at it. After promising Tony that she and Thor would clean up all the spilled snacks later, he gave up on trying to reprimand them.

They made the mistake, however, of letting the flying popcorn hit Steve on the head. He was apparently not having any of it.

"Will you take things seriously for once, Anelace? You're supposed to be an adult, act like it. We just encountered two enhanced beings, who both have the capability to kill us if they tried, and you're playing games and calling one of the enhanced hot? You need to get your act together." Steve's voice was stony, making Dahlia flinch.

She usually had a comeback to everything, a joke to save every situation, but his words seemed to cut deep, for a reason she couldn't be sure of.

Dahlia said nothing, only nodding and staying silent until they landed. The air in the jet suddenly felt too thin, and she felt enclosed. She rushed out of the plane, disappearing into the building.

"What's up with her?" Natasha looked concerned after seeing the girl run off.

Steve stayed silent.

"Steve, what the hell did you do?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Cap doesn't like that kind of language, Nat!" Tony called from behind them.

"Hardy har har, now what did you do?" She wasn't letting him off the hook, apparently.

Steve reluctantly answered. "I just told her to grow up and take thing seriously, it's not that big a deal."

"Steven Grant Rogers." Natasha wasn't joking around, the look on her face said as much. "What do you know about Dahlia Anelace?"

Steve gulped, sensing the talking down he was about to receive. "Uh, I know she's a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, she's talkative and sarcastic, and somehow manages to make jokes even when she really shouldn't."

Nat glared at his ignorance. "Do you know anything about why she's an agent? Do you know why she makes those jokes all the time? Do you know her at all, outside of missions?"

"Well...no."

"I saved a little seven year old girl from her mother, back in 1996." Natasha's brain recoiled from the memory. "The mother was torturing and harming the child, under the false delusion that she would gain superpowers or super strength from the pain. Her own father left her with that madwoman, and the little girl was barely alive when I found her."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Steve crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Have you read Dahlia's file, like Tony told you to?"

He shook his head.

"If you had, you would know that the little girl was Dahlia Anelace. I love that girl with my entire being. and I've gotten to watch her grow up, finally in a safe environment. Unfortunately, she still suffers emotional and physical trauma from time to time, a side effect of the drugs her mother used on her. Because of that, she gets night terrors, flashbacks, and we don't know how much more because she won't even tell me about it all. I know for a fact that the only way that young woman gets through every day is by making jokes, even if it's at an inappropriate time. If it keeps her getting up every morning, I'll listen to a million bad puns if I have to."'

Natasha paused, stopping to look at Steve's embarrassed face.

"You of all people should know not to judge people before you know their history, Rogers."

As Nat walked away, Steve felt the sting of her words.

She was right, he knew that. He also knew he was being a huge jerk to her.

Steve had never wanted to be the bully, he had worked so hard to be the one to fight bullies, but now he felt like he had let himself and everyone down.

He had to make it right.

•

Dahlia stood in front of the mirror in her room, looking at herself carefully.

She actively tried to stay away from mirrors, believing that staring at herself would only depress her, the societal expectations for women would weigh on her. Because of this, she decided that the best route would be to ignore mirrors completely.

It had been about five years since she had looked in a mirror in more than passing, and a lot had changed.

Apparently the ages of 19 and 24 looked vastly different, since practically everything but her face shape had changed.

The floor below her rumbled with laughter, a lovely party taking place below.

Dahlia didn't know why she was so nervous, it was only a party. Natasha had lent her a dress for tonight, something she had only worn once for a mission.

It was a dark blue, with small spaghetti straps, and it fit comfortably tight. Small golden stars graced every inch of the fabric.

It was a tad bit ridiculous for an evening party, but Dahlia couldn't help but fall in love with it.

She shoved her nerves away and headed down the stairs towards the noise.

Her plan was to stay out of everyone's way, get silently drunk, and leave before she could look at Steve and inevitably burst into tears.

Unfortunately, she hadn't considered the obvious flaw to her plan. Thor.

Her best friend was an extremely loud drunk who would pull her along to speak with people as his emotional support person whether she liked it or not.

And he did it, just as she should've known he would.

"Lady Dahlia!!" The blonde haired man ran up to her and engulfed Dahlia in a bear hug. "You look so PRETTY!"

His voice was extremely loud, and everyone in the vicinity turned to look.

Dahlia decided to play it as if she wasn't dying of embarrassment in this moment, and laughed off his behavior. "You brought some of that Asgardian liquor, huh?"

He nodded giddily and pulled her along towards the group, forcing her into the seat beside him.

"Well, so you know, the suit can take the weight, right? So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom, you looking for this?'"

Rhodey explained, and the excited smile on his face dropped when he saw Tony, Thor and Dahlia sitting there, unimpressed.

"'Boom, are you looking...' Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills." Rhodey slumped in his seat, defeated.

"That's the whole story?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story!" He smiled again.

"Well, it's very good then." Thor chucked, taking another sip of his drink. "It's impressive."

"I thought it was good, Rhodes." Dahlia smiled at him, though it couldn't be further from the truth. She actually felt like falling asleep, but she wouldn't tell him that.

"Quality save. So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"

Tony sighed and set his drink down on the glass table. "No."

"Hey, what about Jane?" Maria Hill asked. "Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

"Right here." Dahlia smirked, taking another sip of the drink Thor had gotten her, though she made him promise he wouldn't slip any Asgardian alcohol in it, or she would probably pass out sooner then she planned to.

Maria Hill had also served as a sort of mentor for Dahlia, mostly all the female S.H.I.E.L.D. agents did, so she felt very comfortable around the brunette woman, like she was family.

"Well, Miss Potts has a company to run."

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Thor smiled proudly when he thought of Jane.

"What about you, Dahlia? There's gotta be a someone who's caught your eye. You're twenty-four, for god's sake, you need a life." Maria said, slipping into the seat near her.

"Even if I am twenty-four, I'm also an agent. I don't have time for any of that." Dahlia hated when people asked about her love life, she was allowed to be single, but she knew Maria meant well.

"What about that guy we saw today? What was his name, Hill? The fast one?" Tony asked, snapping his fingers, trying to remember.

"Pietro Maximoff? The enhanced that nearly killed Clint?" Maria's jaw went slack in surprise.

"I never said I liked him, alright? For all I know, he's a shitty person. All I said was that he's hot, okay? Just stating facts here."

"That's very Dahlia of you, to not find anyone

attractive your whole life, and when you do it's someone who we're supposed to fight. That's inconvenient." Rhodey said.

"I'm not god, I didn't make some people attractive and some people not. Also, it would help if you didn't mention the Pietro incident around Steve, I think he's still mad at me for earlier." Dahlia fiddled with her fingers, recalling his sharp tone.

The four nodded in agreement before turning the subject back around again.

"Anyway, the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth. It's pretty exciting." Tony bragged

"There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh," Thor looked to Dahlia to remind him of the words.

"Nobel prize." Dahlia finished his sentence.

"Ah, yes, that!"

Maria had to hold back a laugh. "Yeah, they... they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together."

She coughed, but her cough sounded almost like she said "Testosterone!"

"Oh, excuse me." Maria grinned.

"Want a lozenge?" Rhodey asked.

"Mhm."

"Let's go."

The two left, leaving Dahlia with the two men who were still squabbling like children.

"But Jane's better."

Dahlia stood up, leaving them to their ridiculous argument, and went to find Nat.

Nat, at the moment, was standing behind the bar, chatting up a certain Bruce Banner. Of course, as you could probably guess, Dahlia wasn't going to interrupt this conversation. She was merely going to watch it for entertainment.

"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" Bruce leaned on the bar.

"Fella done me wrong." Natasha looked up at him.

Nice one, Nat. Dahlia thought.

"You got a lousy taste in men, kid." Bruce sighed.

Way to hate yourself publicly, Banner.

"He's not so bad. Well, he has a temper. Deep down he's all fluff. Fact is, he's not like anybody I've ever known. All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win."

Damn, Nat, you've got game.

"Sounds amazing." Bruce smiled.

"He's also a huge dork."

Bruce's cheeks flushed with pink.

"Chicks dig that. So what do you think should I fight this, or run with it?" Natasha asked him, a hint of seriousness laced into her flirtatious voice.

"Run with it, right? Or, did he... was he...? What did he do that was so wrong to you?" Bruce was extremely nervous for her answer.

"Not a damn thing. But never say never." She walked away, leaving Bruce dumbstruck.

Nat passed Dahlia from where she was observing the conversation, and she hopped up from her seat and walked with her.

"You've really gotta teach me to flirt, Nat." Dahlia smiled at her.

Natasha's instinctive momma-bear self rose at her words. "Why would you need to know how to flirt? You're still a kid, you don't need to, it's too soon!"

Dahlia smiled. "I was just kidding, jeez. It seems like half the people here are on me to get a life and the other half want me to stay a kid, so what the hell do I do?"

"I'm not sure, darling. Do whatever you want to do, I mean as much as I'd love to tell you what to do, you're technically an adult so... Whatever you decide, I love you either way, 'Lia."

"Wow, you're feeling cheesy today." She nudged Nat's arm with her elbow.

"Yeah, alright, alright, let's go see what the fuss is all about over there."

The practical mother and daughter duo headed over the the living room, where Clint was heatedly arguing with Thor.

They were crowded around the glass table which held Thor's hammer on it.

"It's a trick!" Clint yelled.

"Oh no, it's much more than that." Thor grinned, and Dahlia knew he was sure nothing would come of this discussion.

"Uh, 'Whoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!' , whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well, please, be my guest." Thor gestured towards the table.

"Come on." Tony egged Clint on, ready to see him fail.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

Clint stood up, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey chuckled beside Dahlia.

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony said, and Dahlia snorted into her drink, Tony offering her a fist bump and her accepting immediately.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint struggled to pull the hammer up, so the hammer stayed in its place. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgement?" Tony asked.

"Please, Stark, by all means."

Tony stood up and made his way over to the hammer.

"Oh, here we go." Nat murmured.

"Okay." Maria said.

"Uh oh." Rhodey breathed.

"Mhmm." Clint looked fairly cocky for someone who just failed to do this very thing.

"Oh, god, Tony I swear to fucki-" Dahlia was interrupted by Maria.

"Steve, she said a bad language word!" She jokingly lectured her.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve grimaced.

"Of course we did." Tony and Dahlia said at the same time. "Jinx."

"Anyway, it's basic physics. Right, so if I lift it, then I rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course."

Tony braced himself above it. "I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." He pulled on it and nothing happened. "I'll be right back."

Tony returned with his armored hand and tried , and failed, to lift it once again.

"Rhodey, get over here."

They both pulled at the hammer with their armored hands, and still nothing happened.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey complained.

"Are you on my team?" Tony asked, annoyed.

"Just represent! Pull!"

"Alright let's go!"

Long story short, they epically failed at doing so. Bruce even growled when he tried to lift it, trying to turn into the Hulk. Everyone stated at him except for Natasha, who smiled. Of course, Dahlia noticed this and did a little dance in her head.

Steve decided to get up next, seeing as practically everyone had.

"Let's go, Steve. No pressure." Tony said, clapping him on the back.

"Come on, Cap."

Steve stood above it and pulled up on the handle, and Thor's face went stony when it budged a tiny bit.

When he was sure that he failed, Thor's face assumed its previous smile. "Nothing. Anelace, you want a turn?"

"I'm alright, thanks Thor." She smiled. Dahlia knew that it wouldn't budge, she didn't want to push it.

"Widow?" Bruce asked.

From beside her, Natasha said, "Oh, no no. That's not a question I need answered."

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged." Tony said, mock-glaring at Thor.

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'He who is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation." Tony refused to let this go.

Thor stood up and flipped the hammer in his hand. "That's a very interesting theory. I have a simpler one. You're all not worthy."

A chorus of boos came afterward, including Dahlia, who had somehow found more popcorn, throwing popcorn at his head.

"Worthy... no... How could you be worthy? You're all killers."