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escritoireazulTitle: Now You See Me...
Author: escritoireazul
Characters/Pairings: Natasha Romanov/Janet Van Dyne, Tony Stark
Author's Note: This is a transformative work of fiction for the mobile game Avengers Academy.
Written for: csichick_2 as an extra treat for Trick or Treat 2016
Word Count: 1000
Rating: All ages
Read on AO3
Summary: Janet van Dyne can design almost anything. It's the "almost" part that she keeps trying to overcome.
“So, I have something for you.” Janet Van Dyne sits down next to her and slurps her drink, something frothy and frozen and viciously pink. Natasha clocked her as soon as she walked into the Timeless Archives. She would have even if Janet had slipped in the back, as silent and stealthy as Natasha herself, but she walked in the front door chattering away with Tony Stark as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
Tony winked at Natasha then headed for the computer bank under the big glass windows, but Janet made a beeline straight for Natasha.
Natasha arches one slender eyebrow, skeptical, cool, and waits.
Silence makes pretty much everyone talk, but at the Academy, it works best on Janet. Sure enough, they sit quietly for less than thirty seconds before Janet leans forward and puts her hand on Natasha’s arm. She could be away from Janet’s grasp and gone in less than a breath, but she allows the light touch. Janet’s fingers are cool and damp from her drink.
“You’ll like it,” Janet says, then leans closer still and lowers her voice. Natasha can feel Janet’s breath against her ear, and hides the slow shiver it sends down her spine. “I’ve been working with the information you found under headquarters.”
Natasha’s breath doesn’t stutter. She’s too good for that. Not a single twitch of her expression gives her away. She has found much information buried deep within S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, and there is more for her yet to find, but the only piece she gave to Janet --
Janet’s smile is wide and bright. “Come to my workshop,” she says, and stands. “You’ll like what you see.”
Natasha would never say something as cheesy and obvious as “I already do,” but she’s played many roles, and some of them would. It is not an inappropriate thought when she looks up at Janet, expression neutral, breath steady, warmth building deep inside.
*
Janet takes her into the back room, where she works on her designs in private before she ever shows them to anyone. How she is best friends with Tony Stark, Natasha cannot work out. It’s not that Janet is retiring or shy, but she is not as ostentatious as Tony -- not that anyone could be, he works hard to maintain that facade -- and where he would brag and flash shiny new pieces before he’s even tested them thoroughly, Janet retreats into her own world until the design is ready.
She takes something out of a locked metal box. In that moment of Janet turning toward Natasha, her smile breaking even wider than before, Natasha feels, yet again, that she knew Janet before -- before --
Not before the Academy. Before the Academy, she was -- different. She thinks. It is all very vague, but sometimes, she remembers dancing until her toes bled. Sometimes, she remembers blood on her hands and the echo of a gunshot ringing in her ears. Sometimes, she remembers a pulse beneath her fingers, stuttering, stuttering -- stuttering out.
-- but before this time and place. Beyond this time and place, maybe. She listens to Pym when he talks about alternate universes and variations on variations on variations. There are worlds, he says, his eyes wide and his smile dangerous, after worlds after worlds, and in them all, few things remain the same.
Natasha thinks sometimes that she is one of those things. She is bloody and dangerous, across all worlds.
Janet pulls an outfit from the box. It is sleek and thin, simple. It reflects the light strangely, and for a moment, Janet’s arms disappear behind it.
“Natasha,” Janet says, and there is emotion bubbling underneath that one simple word. “We did it. We can make you invisible.” Her eyes are alight with pride and joy and so many things Natasha doesn’t want to name, even to herself.
*
It’s a lightweight bodysuit that covers every inch of her. There’s even a thin piece that comes down across her face. She can see out, but it blurs the world. She turns toward the wall of mirrors, sees herself out of the corner of her eye as she moves, but when she faces it straight on, she’s gone.
“It’s all about reflecting the light, refracting it, making --” Janet stops. Shrugs. “It’s complicated. You saw the research. It will work best in the shadows. If you walk across the quad in the middle of the day, people will realize something is happening. But if you stick to the shadows, you should be able to avoid cameras and people patrolling the halls. We need to work on heat sensors, vibration sensors, but--”
Natasha flings her arms around Janet, cutting her off. Janet presses her face into Natasha’s shoulder, laughs so hard she shakes.
Natasha pulls back, checks herself in the mirror again. “What should we hit first?” she asks. She knows where she wants to search, but Janet did this with her. For her. Natasha wants to give something back, though she has nothing really to give.
Janet’s smile gets wider and brighter still. Impossible, but there it is.
*
Tony’s shout when his new experimental suit appears to be moving on its own leaves them laughing so hard, in the shadows of Club A, that Natasha can’t catch her breath.
She blames her unsteady breathing, the pulse pounding in her temples, on the laughter when Janet pulls her close and kisses her, but -- Natasha can lie to everyone else, but not to herself. She may hide that knowledge deep underneath her thoughts where she can never access it. It is still there.
She threads her fingers into Janet’s hair and kisses her back until they’re both breathless. Janet breaks it off, tips her head back, giggles. The sun touches her hair, her cheeks, turns the brightness of her smile to gold.
*
“You built Natasha an invisibility suit?!” Tony cries, because Tony is loud and dramatic. Natasha cleans her nails with the edge of a knife. Janet drapes her arm across Tony’s shoulders.
“Of course I did,” she chirps.
“Of course you did,” he repeats, and gives a little shake of his head.
“You’re going to help us perfect it,” Janet adds.
“Of course I am,” Tony says, and Janet turns to Natasha with the brightest of smiles.
She’ll find whatever secrets Director Fury has buried, this strange little team by her side.
Author: escritoireazul
Characters/Pairings: Natasha Romanov/Janet Van Dyne, Tony Stark
Author's Note: This is a transformative work of fiction for the mobile game Avengers Academy.
Written for: csichick_2 as an extra treat for Trick or Treat 2016
Word Count: 1000
Rating: All ages
Read on AO3
Summary: Janet van Dyne can design almost anything. It's the "almost" part that she keeps trying to overcome.
“So, I have something for you.” Janet Van Dyne sits down next to her and slurps her drink, something frothy and frozen and viciously pink. Natasha clocked her as soon as she walked into the Timeless Archives. She would have even if Janet had slipped in the back, as silent and stealthy as Natasha herself, but she walked in the front door chattering away with Tony Stark as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
Tony winked at Natasha then headed for the computer bank under the big glass windows, but Janet made a beeline straight for Natasha.
Natasha arches one slender eyebrow, skeptical, cool, and waits.
Silence makes pretty much everyone talk, but at the Academy, it works best on Janet. Sure enough, they sit quietly for less than thirty seconds before Janet leans forward and puts her hand on Natasha’s arm. She could be away from Janet’s grasp and gone in less than a breath, but she allows the light touch. Janet’s fingers are cool and damp from her drink.
“You’ll like it,” Janet says, then leans closer still and lowers her voice. Natasha can feel Janet’s breath against her ear, and hides the slow shiver it sends down her spine. “I’ve been working with the information you found under headquarters.”
Natasha’s breath doesn’t stutter. She’s too good for that. Not a single twitch of her expression gives her away. She has found much information buried deep within S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, and there is more for her yet to find, but the only piece she gave to Janet --
Janet’s smile is wide and bright. “Come to my workshop,” she says, and stands. “You’ll like what you see.”
Natasha would never say something as cheesy and obvious as “I already do,” but she’s played many roles, and some of them would. It is not an inappropriate thought when she looks up at Janet, expression neutral, breath steady, warmth building deep inside.
*
Janet takes her into the back room, where she works on her designs in private before she ever shows them to anyone. How she is best friends with Tony Stark, Natasha cannot work out. It’s not that Janet is retiring or shy, but she is not as ostentatious as Tony -- not that anyone could be, he works hard to maintain that facade -- and where he would brag and flash shiny new pieces before he’s even tested them thoroughly, Janet retreats into her own world until the design is ready.
She takes something out of a locked metal box. In that moment of Janet turning toward Natasha, her smile breaking even wider than before, Natasha feels, yet again, that she knew Janet before -- before --
Not before the Academy. Before the Academy, she was -- different. She thinks. It is all very vague, but sometimes, she remembers dancing until her toes bled. Sometimes, she remembers blood on her hands and the echo of a gunshot ringing in her ears. Sometimes, she remembers a pulse beneath her fingers, stuttering, stuttering -- stuttering out.
-- but before this time and place. Beyond this time and place, maybe. She listens to Pym when he talks about alternate universes and variations on variations on variations. There are worlds, he says, his eyes wide and his smile dangerous, after worlds after worlds, and in them all, few things remain the same.
Natasha thinks sometimes that she is one of those things. She is bloody and dangerous, across all worlds.
Janet pulls an outfit from the box. It is sleek and thin, simple. It reflects the light strangely, and for a moment, Janet’s arms disappear behind it.
“Natasha,” Janet says, and there is emotion bubbling underneath that one simple word. “We did it. We can make you invisible.” Her eyes are alight with pride and joy and so many things Natasha doesn’t want to name, even to herself.
*
It’s a lightweight bodysuit that covers every inch of her. There’s even a thin piece that comes down across her face. She can see out, but it blurs the world. She turns toward the wall of mirrors, sees herself out of the corner of her eye as she moves, but when she faces it straight on, she’s gone.
“It’s all about reflecting the light, refracting it, making --” Janet stops. Shrugs. “It’s complicated. You saw the research. It will work best in the shadows. If you walk across the quad in the middle of the day, people will realize something is happening. But if you stick to the shadows, you should be able to avoid cameras and people patrolling the halls. We need to work on heat sensors, vibration sensors, but--”
Natasha flings her arms around Janet, cutting her off. Janet presses her face into Natasha’s shoulder, laughs so hard she shakes.
Natasha pulls back, checks herself in the mirror again. “What should we hit first?” she asks. She knows where she wants to search, but Janet did this with her. For her. Natasha wants to give something back, though she has nothing really to give.
Janet’s smile gets wider and brighter still. Impossible, but there it is.
*
Tony’s shout when his new experimental suit appears to be moving on its own leaves them laughing so hard, in the shadows of Club A, that Natasha can’t catch her breath.
She blames her unsteady breathing, the pulse pounding in her temples, on the laughter when Janet pulls her close and kisses her, but -- Natasha can lie to everyone else, but not to herself. She may hide that knowledge deep underneath her thoughts where she can never access it. It is still there.
She threads her fingers into Janet’s hair and kisses her back until they’re both breathless. Janet breaks it off, tips her head back, giggles. The sun touches her hair, her cheeks, turns the brightness of her smile to gold.
*
“You built Natasha an invisibility suit?!” Tony cries, because Tony is loud and dramatic. Natasha cleans her nails with the edge of a knife. Janet drapes her arm across Tony’s shoulders.
“Of course I did,” she chirps.
“Of course you did,” he repeats, and gives a little shake of his head.
“You’re going to help us perfect it,” Janet adds.
“Of course I am,” Tony says, and Janet turns to Natasha with the brightest of smiles.
She’ll find whatever secrets Director Fury has buried, this strange little team by her side.
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Date: 2016-11-08 06:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-12-29 09:23 pm (UTC)