"Yes, exactly!" Zach said, a grin on his face for Cas' intuition. At least, someone was grasping what he was trying to say. "Where we feed off each other's powers and combine them to create new abilities. For example, let's say Lucas borrows some of Fliss' Fire to make flaming wings. Or Matt borrows some of Lucas' Air to make ice shards. If it works, the possibilities are endless!"

"You're kidding me, right?" Matt asked, still not so sure.

Fliss was just as surprised and intrigued as Lucas was. She'd taken Magicial Theory in her last year at Bristle Crios, but the professor had never mentioned anything like this. "So if it works," she said thoughtfully, "we'd - we'd be a team. But you're the only one with the head stuff going on, so we'd have to keep you safe, right?"

"Well ..." Zach murmured with another frown. "Yeah, but if anything happens to me, you'd all still have your own powers to fall back on," he reasoned. They certainly wouldn't helpless by any means, but together, they'd make a much more formidable team.

"Are you saying I could do more than blow bubbles under water?" Matt queried, brows furrowed.

"Much more," Zach replied with a grin.

"Flaming ice shards," Cas murmured, nudging her boyfriend with teasing affection.

Dani eased into a seat beside Zach. "Maybe you should test it a little?" she suggested. "Someone link up with Zach and see if you can play with your powers a bit."

"I'm not sure we should do that here," Zach said, though he agreed that his theory needed testing. "We don't want to set the treehouse on fire," he added with an ironic smile.

"Flaming ice shards! Hell, yeah!" Matt echoed with a grin at Cas. Of the six of them, he seemed the most enthusiastic. "Let's put it to the test," he said, hopping to his feet.

"Well, I won't be one of the ones testing," Fliss pointed out carefully. "I could do serious damage to one of you guys if this doesn't work, so maybe Matt and Zach first' And link Luc in to see if you can make your water splats turn to ice?" It wasn't unusual for Fliss to be cautious when it came to her flame, but she couldn't deny she was very curious to see how this would work. She glanced at Luc. "What do you think?"

Up until now, Lucas hadn't said much, not because he had nothing to say, but because he tended to be the most quiet and thoughtful of the bunch. "I think it could work," he replied, reaching over to link his fingers to hers. And if it did, it just might make them Avengers - or at the very least, Avengers in training.

"Finish your lemonade, then, and we'll give it a try," Zach urged the small group, with a smile at Dani. Without her, this might have never happened.

She might have argued with that, if he'd said it aloud, pretty sure he wouldn't have needed her to meet the Storms just when they needed someone who could tutor the smaller children. But Dani was proud of Zach for integrating so quickly when he had been so sure he was doomed to be an outsider for life. She really had to convince him to come to Oakham Mount and meet her parents at some point soon.

"So what is it you can actually do, Zach?" Cas asked curiously, half an eye on Matt downing his lemonade like his life depended on it.

"I'm a telepath," Zach replied, though that was a vast simplification of his abilities. "I'm, uh, I'm not a Rhy'Din native. I mean, my mother was from Rhy'Din, but my father was ..." He hesitated for a brief moment before continuing, "....from somewhere else." And it wasn't Earth. But that wasn't really what Cas was asking, and he was much more than just telepathic.

"He's telekinetic, too," Dani added. She didn't know the full extent of Zach's abilities, but she figured that was the one that would come in most handy in this scenario.

"This could work," Fliss mused, meeting Lucas' gaze hopefully. If they could prove they wouldn't be a liability, she couldn't see many arguments ahead of them.

"Your father isn't going to like it," Lucas pointed out quietly. Especially when the Storms had just come so close to losing Liv. "Maybe we should talk to Captain Rogers first," he suggested. If they could convince Fliss' uncle, maybe he'd be able to help convince her father that they could be of some use.

"I am going to volunteer, either way," Zach said, with a shrug of his shoulders. It was a very small way of repaying a debt to those who had done so much for him in welcoming him into their fold.

"Actually, I was thinking of telling Nat first," Fliss admitted, setting her empty cup aside. Luc knew who she meant, anyway. "And letting her tell Uncle Steve and Dad. I mean, they might be a little hurt I didn't tell them first, but they'll get why. If they know ahead of time, they'll find a way to stop us finding out if this is possible."

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Matt countered with an eager grin. He drained his glass of lemonade and slammed the cup down, as though he'd just thrown back a shot of whiskey. "Come on, Luc. Let's see if this works!" he said, giving his brother's foot a playful kick before grabbing Cas' hand to drag her back toward the ladder.

Dragged along behind him, Cas managed a faint yelp before they disappeared down the ladder, her laughter rising from below when they landed.

Fliss chuckled faintly, offering up a shrug. "He's gonna start asking us to call him SuperMatt again, isn't he?" she asked Luc in amusement, letting Zach and Dani edge out ahead of them. Hopefully Alexei wouldn't be too put out by the fact that his big sister was doing something she'd been pretty clear she wouldn't do a year ago.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I hope not. This doesn't mean we have to come up with silly sounding superhero names, does it?" he asked. He wasn't sure what kind of name they'd dub him with. Flyboy' Birdman' He winced at the thought of those.

"If we don't, Dad might," she warned him with a faint grin. "He's the one who got Aunt Sue with The Invisible Girl - it took her years to get people calling her The Invisible Woman." She squeezed his hand, pausing at the top of the ladder. "You're sure you want to be a part of this" You're not just going along with it because I'm mad?"

Lucas paused with Fliss, turning to face her. This girl he had met by pure chance a few years ago had come to mean more to him than life itself, and he'd learned something else, too. "No ....I mean, sort of, but not really. It's something your dad said once ....With great power comes great responsibility. We have a responsibility, Fliss. Matt is right. We can't just stand by and do nothing, when we can do something. If we don't try and Hydra wins, we have no one but ourselves to blame."

"Well, you're a lot more noble than I am," she assured him. "I just want to kick them where it hurts because they hurt my mom. She never did anything to them, and they almost killed her." Just saying it aloud brought her anger out again, flame flickering over her hair and in her eyes before she got hold of herself once more. "Sorry."

Lucas leaned back a little so that his feathers wouldn't catch fire, but he smiled. "There's that, too," he agreed. "But we're not just doing this for your mom. We're doing this for Alex and Maria and Martin and Lianne and everyone else Hydra has tried to hurt over the years or might hurt in the future," he pointed out. "We're old enough now to make our own decisions, and if this works, I don't think your dad will even be able to tell us no."

"That's what I'm hoping," she agreed. "And it's not like it'll be all our lives. You'll still be an EMT, and I'm still going to go to school and become a counselor. Just ....it'll be better being able to actually respond when we can do something, won't it?"

"Will it?" Lucas echoed. "Don't I have to touch it or something?" he asked curiously.

Zach shrugged. "Maybe. I guess we'll find out."

"You're breathing air, Luc," Cas pointed out. "You're already touching it. I guess you just have to focus on the bit of air in the water Matt'll be wobbling around."

Fliss smiled, squeezing Luc's shoulder gently. "You can do this."

Lucas nodded his head, both at Fliss' encouragement and Cas' explanation. "Okay, I'll try," he said, though he still wasn't too sure what it was he was supposed to do. Yes, he had wings on his back, but that didn't mean he could manipulate air, did it'

Zach was the first to start, lifting his hands again, the air visibly vibrating in front of him as he worked to toss up a shield of energy that encompassed himself and Lucas and Matt.

Lucas still looked a bit skeptical, but he'd seen what Matt had accomplished and how easy it had looked. He waited, watching again as his brother drew water out of thin air and cradled it in his hands.

"Now, Lucas," Matt urged, worrying his hold on the water might be precarious. This was something that was going to take some practice.

Lucas furrowed his brows, unsure just what to do, but then he seemed to hear Zach's voice in his head, and he gave himself over to the young man's instructions, letting him take the lead. Lucas suddenly grew aware of everything around him, especially the molecules that made up the air that they breathed. He became aware of the clouds over their heads, moving slowly across the sky, some of them full of rain droplets. But no, he wasn't looking to make it rain. What he wanted was cold. He let Zach draw his awareness farther, higher, past the clouds, to where the atmosphere got thinner and the air got colder. Lucas felt himself shiver with the cold and then that cold was moving through him, through his body, his very essence, until it came exploding out of his fingertips to turn the water in Matt's hands to a solid globe of ice.

"Oh my gods, it worked!" Cas exclaimed, more delighted than they were, it seemed. She bounced on her toes, reaching over to try and prod at the ice, only to find herself held back by the shield Zach was holding around himself and the other boys. She pressed her palm flat to that invisible barrier, fascinated. "So ....does that mean that Luc can do something watery now, too?"

"Possibly," Zach replied, the barrier wavering a little as his concentration was temporarily broken. "Try turning the ice back into water and making it float," he suggested. Lucas had the dubious expression on his face again, but Matt looked eager.

"Float ....like on air?" he inquired.

"That's generally the meaning of the word float," Dani pointed out with a smile from where she was leaning against the tree comfortably. "You're sharing abilities here. So Lucas should be able to manipulate water, and you should be able to at least levitate, Matt."

Or vice versa, since Matt's element was Water and Lucas' was air.

"What about Fliss?" Lucas asked, the look of puzzled concern still on his face.

"We'll get to Fliss in a minute," promised Zach. "Go ahead and try, Lucas," he encouraged him.

Lucas might have declined if he hadn't already seen with his own eyes what was possible, but had he really done that, or had it all been Zach' He knew he wasn't going to find out if he didn't try and so, Lucas once again focused his mind - his will - on the ball of ice in his brother's hand. As it happened, it was a lot easier turning it back to water, than it had been turning it to ice.

"Now, make it float!" Matt urged him.

"No, you make it float," Zach interjected.

"But ....Lucas is Air. I'm Water," Matt argued.

"Yeah, and if this linky thing is really working, then you can do Air things, just like he did a Water thing," Cas pointed out to her boyfriend, eager to see if it really would work.

Behind Lucas, Fliss was watching with interest, her own eagerness to join in piqued a little more with each successful experiment.

"Does that mean I'll be able to do a Fire thing?" Lucas inquired, unsure how he felt about that. As much as he adored Fliss, he was always a little wary of her Flame. Fire and feathers didn't mix well, after all, and he didn't want to get singed.

"We'll be very careful when I join in with this," Fliss assured her boyfriend firmly. She knew only too well the damage her power could do, after all. "Go on, Matt. You can do this."

"Okay, if you say so!" Matt replied, turning his attention to the orb of water he was balancing between his hands. He gave the orb a very careful nudge upwards, watching as it dipped a moment before a stream of air caught it and lifted it upwards, floating on air like a bubble or balloon. Lucas was watching, too, and got the sense that even though he wasn't controlling it, some part of him was being drawn upon to control the orb. It was almost like their abilities were linked, each one complementing the other. The only element they had yet to add was Fire - the most dangerous of the four.

Cas let out another whoop, deeply excited that this was working at all. She might not have been a part of it, but it was exciting all the same. Her wild grin was infectious, finding an echo in Dani's smile.

"Looks good to me," the oldest of the girls said approvingly. "Ready for the last act?"

Fliss hesitated, glancing between them all. "Can-can you test one more thing for me?" she asked worriedly.

Matt echoed Cas' whoop, losing focus for a moment, so that the orb dipped dangerously low, before Lucas swept an arm upwards, and the orb soared high into the air to disappear into the clouds high above them.

"Wow, Luc! That's awesome!" Matt praised his older brother, while Zach looked on with a smile before turning to Fliss.

"What's that?"

Despite a small smile at the smooth way Lucas saved the moment, Fliss still looked worried as Zach turned to her. "You said ....you said all linked in, that we'd be immune to each other's powers," she said uncertainly. "I, uh ....I need you to prove that. I don't want to set any of you on fire."

"Fliss!" Matt called with a grin. "Didn't you see what we just did?" he asked, as though he couldn't believe she wasn't convinced yet.

"We have to be sure," Luc said, in complete agreement with Fliss. If they were going to add Fire to the equation, they had to be sure.

"Step into the circle, Fliss," Zach encouraged. "I want to show you something."

Wary of causing harm to anyone she cared about, Fliss did as Zach told her, taking the space left open between Matt and Lucas, facing Zach. Passing through the barrier was a strange sensation - not unpleasant, just strange. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing that has anything to do with Fire," Zach promised, closing his eyes this time as he focused his mind. Nothing happened at first, though the link between them seemed to strengthen, along with the barrier. At first, it was only a subtle vibration coming from somewhere beneath their feet, and then it strengthened until they could feel the Earth shaking beneath them, like a slight tremor in a minor earthquake.

"You're right," Fliss agreed with both of them, taking deep breath. "Okay, link me in. Time to play with fire."

Matt still seemed a bit annoyed that Rufus would accuse him of not taking all this seriously, something that could have an effect on all of them once Zach re-established that link.

"Matt, you need to calm down," he told the teenager.

"I am calm," Matt insisted. "This is me calm!"

"Matt ..." Cas touched his back gently. "Teachers, real teachers, don't mean it to be cruel or unkind. They mean it to help. And Mr. Bennett is a real teacher. He doesn't want you dead, and neither do I."

"Jeez, Cas, I'm not gonna ..." Matt started, frowning a little as if he was just realizing exactly what it was they were getting themselves into. "I mean, it's dangerous. I know it's dangerous, but none of us are going into this alone. We'll be together. We're a team. We'll have each other's backs, right?" he asked, looking from one to the other.

Fliss was already nodding even as she looked at Zach and Lucas, her hand finding Luc's grasp to hold on as the real implications of what they were proposing sank in. "Yeah," she said quietly, meeting Matt's gaze. "All the way."

"We have to be doing this for the right reasons," Lucas pointed out. "Not for revenge and not to be heroes."

"Agreed," Zach replied. "But we all have been gifted with special abilities, and unless we put those abilities to good use, what?s the point?" he added.

"I don't want this to be my whole life," Fliss said quietly. "But if they need us, if Steve and his team need us to help protect innocent people" I'll fight. I'm tired of being afraid of myself."

Matt reached for Cas' hand, worried he was worrying her now and glancing her way. Though they were the youngest ones there, they'd made plans, too, and those plans didn't include throwing away his life to fight Hydra. "I don't either," he said, but there has to be some way we can help. Zach is right. If we don't put our abilities to good use, what?s the point of having them?"

It was becoming something of a repetitive point, but one that seemed important.

"So you learn the linking thing tonight, and tomorrow you find out what goes into becoming a real team," Dani said, feeling that they needed a nudge forward. "Fliss, are you happy to let the boys play with fire?"

Fliss managed a half-smile as she nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "Let's find out what we can do."

"All right, then! Link us up, Zach. Ready when you are!" Matt said, that grin back on his face, though not quite as cocky as it had been before Rufus had given them a lecture.

"Be careful," Lucas whispered to Fliss. "If you feel like anything is going wrong, step away from the circle," he told her, knowing that playing with fire was never a good idea.

"Same goes for you," Fliss murmured back to Lucas. She knew her flame, how it felt when it was under control and when it was not. The others didn't, not yet. This would be the biggest test of their control. She nodded to Zach. "Whenever you're ready."

Zach returned the nod, turning to look at Cas and Dani. "Better step back. This could be dangerous," he warned them both.

Dani nodded in agreement, taking a few steps back without needing to be told again. Cas squeezed Matt's hand before she did the same, moving to stand next to Dani. She was as eager as any of them to see what would happen ....and as worried that it might go wrong.

Zach paused a moment to make sure everyone was in place, and that Dani and Cas were safely out of range before he threw up a barrier, that should keep them safe anyway. While the barrier was mostly invisible, his hands moved through the air to manipulate it, as if it were a real, tangible thing. Once he was satisfied with that, he opened his mind to establish a link, telepathically connecting the four of them and their abilities.

It was a ....strange feeling. Not telepathy, not exactly; Fliss couldn't hear what Lucas, or Matt, or Zach were thinking. But she could feel them. She knew where they were without needing to look at them. It felt natural.

"All right," she said, raising her hand. "Here goes nothing." Fire blossomed on her palm, shaping itself into a picture-perfect flame. With just a little concentration, she lifted it from her own skin to hover in the center of their circle. "Your turn."

"What should we do with it?" Matt asked, uncertainly, always a little in awe of Fliss' flame.

"Maybe try moving it around?" Lucas suggested, also unsure.

"You or me?" Matt countered, but almost before the words left his mouth, he saw that the flame was flickering and brightening, if only a little.

"You could try separating it out," Fliss suggested, surprised by how confident she felt to shut it down if she needed to. She had thought she would be terrified by this point. "All of you holding a little piece of it, maybe."

Matt had fallen silent, so that he could focus his attention on the flame and what Fliss was telling them to do. As practiced as he was, it was easy for Zach, but not so easy for Lucas and Matt. Lucas felt something or someone prickling at his mind, encouraging, urging, leading, and he instinctively knew it was Zach, but instead of closing off his mind, he followed his instincts, raising a hand to almost beckon a bit of that flame toward him and away from the original source of fire.

Again, it was the strangest feeling. Fliss knew she still had control of that flame, but she was also ....handing control of part of it over to Lucas. She watched as a portion broke free of the whole, dancing toward his outstretched hand, and felt her mouth drop open as it changed color. Where it had been orange and red, now it burned white. "Wow ..."

It took a little more effort on Matt's part, but whether that was because his element was water or not was uncertain. Even so, it was only a few minutes before he had duplicated Lucas' efforts, part of the original flame resting in the palm of his hand.

And just as it had for Lucas, the flame changed color for Matt, burning blue as it flickered on his palm. Fliss raised her eyes to Zach. "You try," she said, curious to see what color her flame would burn for him.

There was no try as far as Zach was concerned. He had no trouble at all splitting the flame, though instead of it floating toward him, like it had with the other two, the flame merely flickered a moment and then its twin merely appeared in front of him, like out of thin air.

Fliss almost laughed, impressed with Zach's finesse. And the color of the flame he held was different, too ....green. The remaining flame returned to her hand, redder than it had been before they had each taken a piece.

"That is so cool," she heard Cas whisper behind Matt, grinning.

"Matt, you're next," Zach instructed.

Matt grinned, turning his attention to the flame that he'd split off of Fliss' original flame. He was tempted to get fancy with it and show off a little, but even Matt knew that one shouldn't play with fire. Instead, he hurled the flame toward the target, like a pitcher might throw a baseball. His aim was spot-on, and it, too, sizzled into steam.

"Awesome!" he shouted, triumphantly. "I can't believe I can do that!"

Outside the barrier, Cas was bouncing on her toes, clapping enthusiastically. It was only too easy to be infected with Matt's cheerful enthusiasm. Dani, on the other hand, was huddled in on herself, since they were still on the receiving end of the downpour Matt had inadvertently called down on them. She, personally, was hoping the practise would come to an end pretty soon.

"Your turn, Lucas!" Matt called to his brother, who took up the challenge, flinging his own little ball of flame at the globe of water. Though his aim was a little off, he waved a hand in the air to guide the flame back toward the target, and it, too, sizzled as it hit the target. It was almost too easy.

"Impressive," Fliss complimented him, though her focus was set on holding the fireballs together as they were manipulated. "Zach, your turn. Then we'll call it a night?"

"It's okay," Zach replied, waving away both the globe of water and the last remaining flame with a wave of his hand. "I think you've got the idea," he said. "Matt, could you turn off the rain showers, and Lucas, maybe you should dry the girls out a little?" he asked. This wasn't part of the test, but if the more they practiced using their abilities, the better they'd get.

"Dry them out?" Lucas echoed, uncertainly.

"We're all linked in, you should be able to push the water out of their clothes," Fliss pointed out. "I wouldn't recommend heating the air, though. Steam burns."

"Push the water out of their clothes?" Lucas echoed again, unsure just how he'd do that, but it was probably just a matter of directing a flow of air.

In the meantime, Matt was staring up at the sky, brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to make the rain stop.

Fliss shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "I've never had a problem getting wet, I run hotter than everyone but Dad so I dry out quick."

Cas raised her hand. "Maybe Fliss should dry us out and you guys pay close attention to how it's done?"

"But Fliss just said that steam burns," Lucas pointed out. So, wasn't using heat out of the question'

"I can't get it to stop!" Matt admitted, scowling up at the storm clouds above them.

"Maybe they should step into the circle," Lucas suggested. At least, that way they wouldn't get any wetter.

"Can't Lucas disperse the clouds?" Dani suggested. "Rain falls when the moisture builds up too much to stay up, as far as I know. Separating the water droplets should fix it, right?"

Zach was reluctant to suggest anything just yet, wanting them to figure it out for themselves, as much as they could, but he didn't want Dani or Cas catching cold either. "Give it a try, Lucas!" he called over encouragement. Rain was not one of the elements under his control.

"I'm not sure how, but I'll try," Lucas agreed, gazing up at the sky, his wings unfurling at his back. And then, he was off the ground, white wings carrying him high above them, where he disappeared momentarily into the clouds. Whether or not he was still linked to the others, the clouds above them started to disperse, the rain slowing to a drizzle before it stopped all together.

"Damn, that's sexy."

And evidently Fliss didn't care who heard her compliment her boyfriend these days. Rubbing a hand over her hair, she turned to concentrate on Cas and Dani, that strange connection to Lucas, Matt, and Zach enabling her to warm their clothing, remove the water from them, and send it down to be soaked into the ground at their feet.

"We need superhero names," Matt mused aloud. "Like Ironman and Torch and Black Widow, but names that work for us," he suggested, watching with envy as his brother soared downward through the sky to touch down beside Fliss. "We need uniforms, too," Matt mused further. "What kind of superhero goes to battle in jeans and a hoodie?"

"We aren't superheroes," Lucas pointed out, folding his wings back onto his back.

"I'm going to break the connection," warned Zach, once Fliss had dried Cas and Dani's clothes.

"We're superheroes in training," Matt corrected.

"If - if - they let us get involved," Fliss said thoughtfully, "Miranda will probably make something up for you guys. I mean ....I kind of already have a suit." Because living with fire everyday made clothing particularly susceptible to the rigors of PMS, for a start.

"More like when," Matt said with a frown, all too aware that his age might be a problem. "But we're a team, right' All for one and one for all and all that?" he asked, looking around.

"That's the Three Musketeers, Matt," Lucas pointed out.

"Technically, there were four of them though," Matt argued.

"All in, or no one goes," Fliss said, despite her own eagerness to stick it to Hydra. She could be patient, despite how it seemed to everyone else. "You guys okay?" This was directed to the other girls, who were moving to join them as Zach dropped the barrier.

Dani nodded. "Toasty warm, thanks."

As the oldest among them, Zach could have vetoed Matt and Fliss' sentiment. He had originally intended to volunteer himself, before Fliss and Lucas had summoned them here. He had honed his own abilities long ago and didn't really need their help, but it seemed they needed his. "Agreed, all of us or none of us," he told the others, as he moved closer to Dani.

"Sorry about the rain," Matt said, slinging an arm around Cas' shoulders, claiming her for his own.

"It's my own fault for having a soggy boyfriend," Cas answered Matt impishly, hugging her arms about his waist. She looked about the little group. "I'm guessing we're done for the night' Because Mr. Bennett is going to ride you like hogs tomorrow, I'll bet."

"What a fascinating mental image," Dani commented with a grin, nudging her shoulder to Zach's.

"I never made it rain before," Matt said in his own defense, relieved Cas wasn't mad at him and was warm and dry again.

"We should all probably get a good night's sleep," Lucas said. He had a feeling Rufus wasn't going to go easy on them in the morning.

Zach's hand found Dani's, his fingers tangling with hers. "See you all in the morning, then?" he asked the others. None of them seemed to want to take Cas' remark literally.

Fliss squealed as he lifted her into the air, wrapping her arms about his neck as he flew upward with her in his grasp. Giggling, she kissed him once, twice, over and over again, sharing her grin with him as he soared over the Grove. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," he replied, grinning happily from ear to ear and returning each and every one of her kisses, even as they hovered high up over the Grove. He knew she wanted to see her mother, but he couldn't help but keep her all to himself for just a while longer. "You mean everything to me, Fliss."

"You're not the only one who feels that way in this relationship," she promised him affectionately, teasing her fingers through his hair. "I mean, I feel that way about you, not about me. That would be weird."

Lucas laughed. "I was going to ask for your dad's permission first, but I couldn't wait anymore," he admitted. With everything that was going on and the attack on her mother, maybe they both needed something to smile about.

"You can still ask him," she allowed impishly. "And I'll bully him into saying yes if he dares to say no." Not that she thought Johnny would say no. He might pout a little about his eldest getting engaged, but an engagement did not mean marriage right away.

"Think we should ask your mom?" he asked, as his wings carried them back toward the Storm house before they got too far away. He wasn't sure the time was right to mention it to her mother, especially considering what they were about to undertake in a few days' time. He dreaded to think what she'd have to say about that.

"Maybe we should hold onto this until after the main event," she suggested gently, nuzzling to him as he bore her through the air. "Our secret, just for a little while."

"She isn't going to like our volunteering to fight," he reminded her, though they'd discussed this already. "But we can't just stand by and do nothing, when we can do something," he said, though he was repeating himself now, saying something he'd said earlier. They slowly descended, until they were both back on solid ground.

"I think she'll understand," Fliss considered. "She'll worry, but she always worries. And you and I both know Uncle Steve won't throw us onto the front line, not right away. Matt's gonna be so pissed when he realises that."

"Matt is going to pee himself when he realizes he's part of the Avengers," Lucas countered with a chuckle. "He'll probably be so busy asking them for selfies, he won't even realize he's not on the front line."

"You know that Dr. Banner and Thor are coming this time, too?" she pointed out, taking her own weight on her feet as he let her down. "Hell, Thor might even have been to Zach's home planet."

"Why would he go there?" he asked, taking Fliss' hand again and starting toward her home in hopes of seeing her mother before she fell asleep for the night. Lucas didn't know too much about Zach or his home planet, mostly because Zach hardly ever talked about it. He knew Zach's mother had been a Granger, but he didn't know much more about their friend than that.

She shrugged. "I don't know, he's an alien," she pointed out. "Why did he visit Earth in the first place" Space is weird, dude."

"I have no idea," Lucas replied, knowing as much about Thor as he did about Zach - probably less. "Maybe we should borrow your dad's comic books," he suggested with a grin.

Fliss giggled, hugging him close for a moment. "Maybe we should stop worrying about everyone else for one night," she suggested in answer. "Just us, once we've seen Mom. I have this little engagement thing I want to celebrate, after all."

"Well, it's not really official until I put a ring on your finger," he reminded her, his smile softening, though he didn't say whether or not he already had a ring waiting for her.

"Your mom is going to freak," she laughed suddenly, imagining Jessica's reaction to suddenly having a mother of the groom moment looming in her future. Leaning close into him, she smiled, nudging her nose to his. "I do love you, so much."

"Well, it's not like it's going to happen today ....unless you want it to," he added, with a teasing grin. There was a certain appeal to the idea of getting married before they went off on their mission to help rid the Earth of Hydra, but Lucas had a feeling Fliss would never go for it. He couldn't help but smile, his heart soaring to hear her declare her love for him again. He had waited a long time to hear her say it. "Love you, too, Flame Girl," he teased further, brushing his nose against hers.

"Flame Girl, huh?" She grinned, easing back onto her heels to drag her hands fondly over his chest to his hips. "I guess that makes you Wind Rider, then. Since you didn't like Angel."

"I'm not an angel though," he pointed out, not for the first time. "Maybe we should let your dad gives us names," he suggested, though he doubted her father would come up with anything better. "Wind Rider is better than Bird Boy anyway," he said, chuckling. "Shall we go say hi to your mom, Fire Girl?"

She laughed again, tucking her hand into his, teasing her fingertip over the base of his ring finger for just a moment. "The nickname is changing already," she pointed out. "I'm gonna end up with Firebird or Phoenix or something, aren't I?" She kissed his hand, turning to pull him toward the house. "C'mon. Sooner we talk to Mom, the sooner you can feed me."

"Too cliched," he replied. "We can do better than that." Better than Flame or Fire Girl, too, but to him, she'd always just be his Fliss. He didn't seem to notice that fact that she was teasing his ring finger, his fingers tangling with hers as she took his hand. "Okay, Seymour," he teased further. Now that it was just the two of them, he had relaxed and felt more like himself.

Giggling, Fliss tugged him into the house, far more herself now than she had been all riled up with anger and upset. If she could hold onto herself, if they could hold onto each other ....this young Avengers idea might not be such a bad call after all. They just had to endure whatever training Rufus Bennett had in store for them, and Hydra would be a walk in the park.