Just a Doll

I know it took a while, I'm sorry, but here it is. I do not own the Avengers.

Chapter 4: Movie Night

"...I have in fact been eating things other than pasta and kraft dinner. I know, shocking, the world's coming to an end, but that's the truth." I put my phone on speaker so I could talk to my dad while managing dinner. "Everything's going just fine, dad. Stop worrying."

I rolled my eyes and hit the off button. "He worries too much."

"Does he? You are hosting a pair of strangers in your house, one of whom is a young man he's never met before," Pietro remarked slyly as I brought the chicken onto the table.

"He doesn't need to know that yet." I muttered as I sat down and started to serve myself.

"Do you have a plan if he does find out? We still have no lead on whatever brought us here in the first place." Wanda asked.

"I haven't thought that far ahead, to be honest." I admitted, looking down at my plate. "I don't exactly know what to look for."

"Neither do we," Pietro admitted. "It was unexpected."

"Besides, the tour is still going on for another week. Hopefully we'll have some answers before then." Especially if Loki knew what was going on. I was beginning to wonder if I should text Alexis and ask if we could meet soon.

The three of us ate dinner and dealt with the dishes. I tapped my finger on my arm before I got an idea. "Hey! How about we watch some movies? I've got a bunch of Disney and Pixar stuff here!"

"Aren't those for kids?" Pietro asked skeptically.

"They're family flicks." I responded, huffing slightly at the description. Animation was not just a medium for little kids. Whoever insisted on that hadn't seen Grave of the Fireflies. "Now, where's the Princess and the Frog? I like that one..."

I dug through the stacks of movies on the floor while Wanda volunteered to make some popcorn. I finally found it buried under Frozen, Serenity and Mad Max: Fury Road, pulled it out along with Monster's Inc., and booted up the TV.

As usual, it was a struggle to get my dad's TV to turn on, and I almost forgot that I had to switch it back from the setting that allowed me to use the Wii. Then I pulled the extra mattress out, dumped it on the floor and sat down, adjusting the volume on one remote and skipping the commercials with the other – there weren't any interesting ones on this DVD.

Pietro sat on my right, Wanda on my left. She offered me some popcorn, which I took as the movie started playing.

**~Line Break~**

"Distant trials and tribulations...you know I've had my share," I sang along with Tiana as she drew her image song closer to the end. "But I've climbed the mountain, I've crossed the river and I'm almost there. I'm almost there! I'm alll~most~there!"

"You have a good singing voice." Pietro remarked, which made me blush furiously.

"My mum sung in a choir back in the day, so I guess I picked up a few things." I said shyly.

"Do you plan to do that?" Wanda asked curiously.

"W-Well what I really want to do is write books, but...I dunno, maybe. I mean, I love music a lot, and I've been in a classical music orchestra for a couple years running when I was at my first high school." I admitted, twisting my hair between my fingers.

When the real estate agents blew off Tiana, Wanda was pissed.

"Why you lying little conmen!" She seethed. "She bought that from you! You can't just take the money and then leave her with nothing!"

"Take it easy, Wanda." Pietro cautioned, noticing her hands were flickering with magic. Wanda snorted and kept glaring at the screen.

"I don't like them either." I muttered. "The Shadow Man's more sympathetic than them."

We kept watching after I hit play again.

Pietro was snickering the whole way through the initial chase after Tiana got turned into a frog, saying something about 'fairy tale rules written by a lawyer.' Wanda seemed to like the music, which was funny because I've heard many people bitch about how Randy Newman was a generic songwriter and whatnot. Her favourite (and mine) was "Friends on the Other Side".

Ray the firefly was my least favourite character in the movie, so it was funny when Pietro told him to shut up after a minute of screen time. So we heckled him together (except when he was talking about Evangaline. That was kinda sweet) which was fun.

"Do you suppose Mama Odie talks in riddles just to annoy people?" Pietro wondered in the middle of "Dig a Little Deeper."

"I think it's because if she just told them outright, they wouldn't get it." I guessed. "Or they wouldn't believe her. They have to figure it out themselves to get a personal epiphany."

"Still, would it kill her to be a little more helpful? Or at least more straight forward?"

"It would make for a shorter movie," I joked. Pietro threw me a slightly annoyed but amused look.

The movie kept going along, until we reached the third act.

"And there's the obligatory third act misunderstanding." Wanda grumbled when Tiana saw the fake Naveen standing on the parade float, offering to marry Charlotte. "Doesn't she remember that, if she's still a frog, so is he?"

"Uh...love does strange things to your head?" Pietro offered.

I flinched when The Shadow Man was dragged off into the Voodoo hell. That part always creeped me out big time; if I had seen that as I little kid I probably would have pulled a Lion King and refused to watch it again.

"Are you alright?" Wanda asked.

"Gives me the creeps," I admitted with a blush.

After we finished the Princess and the Frog, we started on other movies. We went through Monsters Inc, laughed through the Emperor's New Groove, and were halfway through Inside Out when collectively, we started falling asleep.

I found myself resting my head against Pietro's chest, feeling too tired and happy to question how we ended up leaning against each other. Only the buzzing of my phone kept me up after him; it was Alexis.

The text was a little old...but hold the phone. At first, half asleep as I was, I only registered that it was strangely spelled wrong...before the message sank in.

He kissed her! Holy hell!

My fingers slipping on the screen, I wrote back, "WHAT?"

"Loki kissed me." It must have been a while ago, because that was pretty matter of fact.

"Seriously? What was it like?" If I had been less sleepy, I wouldn't have asked that.

Alexis's reaction was rather unlike her, so I was certain that, indeed, it had happened and she had fallen in love with her houseguest. "Like I'd died and gone to heaven. His lips were so soft Eileen. And I kissed him back. My brain just shut off the moment he kissed me."

I could feel Pietro breathing beneath my ear; ignorant of my mild hyporicsy considering how he made me feel I asked, "What do you mean your brain shut off?

"Wasn't my earlier text an indicator? Normally I have a flip out about bad spelling but I ignored it. And then I agreed to watch Enchanted. ENCHANTED. Normally I dislike romantic movies like that. What is wrong with me?"

It seemed pretty obvious to me, but I refrained from making remarks about 'head meeting wall'. "Maybe you're in love."

"(snorts) If what I was singing in the shower wasn't a big enough hint I don't know what would be."

My stomach twitched the way it often did when I got wound up emotionally. Abruptly I remembered singing "Genie in a Bottle," "Lips of an Angel" and even that accused "Everytime we Touch" at random over the past three days since I took the twins to Canada's Wonderland. I was spending a lot of time with them, and sometimes I would think of Pietro...

Desperate to distract myself, I wrote, "What do you mean?"

"I was singing every sentimental love song that came into my head. Love songs. And I never sing in the shower. You should have seen the looks my sister was giving me when I came out."

"Oh?"

"She was glaring at me like I'd stolen her stuffed polar bear." I stifled the urge to chuckle. "I'm not a good singer but I'm not a terrible one. Anyway, how's life with Wanda and Pietro?"

I found myself smiling fondly, in a way I rarely did unless at family gatherings. What the hell was wrong with me?

"I'm enjoying it." Understatement of the century. "We watched a bunch of movies, like the Princess and the Frog. The Disney version." Yep, I'm starting to fall asleep. What other movie versions were there of that story?

Distantly Joy was ranting about 'tickle monsters' and 'having to wake Riley up'.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I need to go. Mom says it's time for bed."

"All right, good idea. Night, Alexis."

"Night Eileen."

I didn't even have the motor skills to move the phone away. My hand dropped to my side and I went right to sleep in the arms of the silver god known as Pietro Maximoff.

**~Later~**

My phone buzzing frantically was what woke me. Dazed, shifting in Pietro's arms (when had his arm gotten around my waist?) I fumbled with my device, glancing at the time.

4:30?! Okay, this better be important...!

The caller ID registered next. It was Alexis.

"Murrph...Hello?"

"Eileen? It's Alexis." My friend's voice alarmed me. She sounded kind of scared.

"Alexis. Do you have any idea what time it is?" I asked, still half asleep.

"Yes I know," She was definitely scared about something, "what time it is but I don't have very long."

"Why? You're not making much sense – what's going on?"

"Odin's somehow found out about me. Let's just say he's out to get me! Thor has sicced the Avengers after me and Loki, so we're officially on the run. I need someplace I can lay low. Can we stay at your house?"

My mind jerked. Odin? The Avengers?! "Fucking hell!" I hissed, though not loudly enough to wake my companions. "Yes of course, you can come here."

"Thank you so much Eileen," Alexis's voice slackened with relief. "Can you meet us at the station?"

I glanced at the clock, trying to calculate the time they would need. We didn't exactly live close to each other. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay. You're a lifesaver you know that?"

I smiled a bit, though my stomach was a riot of butterflies and the severity of the situation hadn't quite sunk in yet. I knew I had to be there to help her. "Good to know. I'll met you there."

The call ended, and I glanced down at Pietro. Gently I freed myself from his arms and got up, looking for my shoes.

I should have expected something like this to come crashing in on us, even though I hoped it wouldn't come to something like this. I didn't doubt the twins would help us but I was worried about where this would lead. If we needed to run for it...I prepared a text for my brother to watch the house while I hung out with Eileen. He owed me a favour for lent money anyhow.

Things were about to get messy.

End Chapter

Okay, so it's not HYDRA, but that might have been preferrable - if only because I wouldn't feel guilty for braining HYDRA agents with a frying pan a la Rapunzel.

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