Fic: Towards Perfection
Striving to better, oft we mar what's well. - William Shakespeare
[Author's notes: Non-binding futureish of the futureverse! Sort of a companion piece to itsybitsyamelia's fic. Sort of!]
Jamie is hanging upside down from a set of monkey bars. On the bar next to her, an Asgardian princess/demi-goddess/whatever is hanging upside down also. They’re seeing who can hang upside down the longest. This is what they do: act like ten year olds with super powers. Jamie used to do this with her other friends, but everyone stopped acting like ten year olds and starting making out with each other. She’s glad Liv, the Asgardian princess/demi-goddess/whatever, showed up.
Maybe it’s the blood pooling in her brain, but Jamie’s really thoughtful while she’s hanging upside down. She thinks about everything that’s happened in the past few days, and she tries to figure out if it could have gone differently.
“Do you have pennies in Asgard?”
Liv gives her a look that Jamie has come to understand means she is amused, bemused, confused, or a combination of all three. “Excuse me?”
“If someone looks thoughtful, do you give them a penny for their thought? Or, like. A rune gem thing?”
“You pay one another for your thoughts?”
Jamie frowns. “Well, not really. It’s a figure of speech.”
“Hm. We don’t have currency.”
“Oh.”
They continue hanging in silence for a few minutes. Jamie gets bored and starts to swing back and forth, which gets her another amused, bemused, and/or confused look from Liv. “I’m bored,” she explains.
“You bore easily.”
Jamie has her mouth half open to disagree, but it’s the truth so she doesn’t bother. “Things are boring.”
“All things?”
“No.” But she’s still swinging.
“You could quit.” Liv is smiling very widely.
Jamie rolls her eyes, which feels really weird for some reason. She assumes it’s because of the upside down thing. “Like hell.”
“Hel?” At Jamie’s look, Liv upside-down-shrugs. Jamie has gotten used to the sometimes-purposeful misunderstandings that Liv has. “Oh, Hell. Yes. You could still quit.”
“I’m not quitting.”
“Because you need to be the best.”
“No, because I need to win.”
“Hm.” Liv drops from the bars, rolling gracefully into a crouch. She looks up at Jamie. “You have won.”
With a sigh, Jamie curls up and grabs a bar with her hands, letting go with her legs and hanging from her arms for a second before dropping to the ground. “That doesn’t count, you quit.”
“So?”
Jamie knows Liv is probably trying to teach her a lesson, but the blood is rushing back out of her head and she’s got a headache. She feels cranky and she doesn’t want to take it out on the only person who doesn’t mind being around her right now. “I’m going to go. You owe me an ice cream for losing. I’m making it a sundae because you quit for no reason.”
Liv smiles. “Okay. I will see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Jamie shoves her hands into her pockets and wanders home.
--
Home isn’t empty. Jamie was hoping Anthony would be with Vincent, but she knows he’s there as soon as she walks in. He’s listening to some kind of classical music, which means Vincent isn’t over. It also means he’s in a thoughtful mood. Jamie tries to get by without him noticing, but they’re twins and they’ve spent their lives noticing each other. He pops his head out of his room and smiles at her. “Hey.”
“Yeah.” Her hands are back in her pockets, because lately she’s been afraid she’d punch something if she doesn’t keep them there. “Hey. Liv lost today, but she quit early so it doesn’t count.”
Anthony knows about the contests, because Anthony is Anthony and Jamie is Jamie. She’s pretty sure he’s keeping track, so she reports back. “Why’d she quit?”
“I think to teach me that winning isn’t everything.”
“Did it work?”
Jamie stares at him. “Seriously?”
“No,” Anthony shakes his head, “not seriously. What’s up?”
She shrugs. “If I wanted to talk about it, I’d - “
“Talk to someone else so we don’t get into a fight again. I know. Did you hear that Mrs. Stark asked to speak to Dani, Amelia, and their parents?”
Anger flashes across Jamie’s face. “But not me?” She shakes her head, instantly knowing it’s the wrong thing to say. “This isn’t Pepper’s problem.”
Anthony raises an eyebrow and opens his door fully before leaning against the frame. “Really? Whose is it?”
“Ours. The team’s. We’re the Young Avengers, not the Muppet Babies. We can make our own decisions.” Jamie rocks back on her heels. “We’re not kids.”
“Yes we are.”
“No, Ant, we’re not. Maybe about school and prom and dating and all of that we are. Or about what clothes we wear, or when our curfew should be, okay. But when it comes to the superheroing stuff, they decided we could be on our own team. If they wanted someone older than Dani to be in charge, they would have put someone older than Dani in charge. They can’t treat give us adult responsibility and treat us like children.”
Even though she doesn’t know it, Jamie’s friend Amelia is at that moment saying something very similar to a group of very concerned and upset parents. Jamie hasn’t spoken to Amelia since their last conversation turned into another fight. She still doesn’t know how to break the wall that formed between them, but she knows she doesn’t want one to form between her and her twin brother. She shakes her head again and blinks back tears. “If you ever run somewhere, and I know you won’t, but will you please tell me? I promise I won’t do anything. I just want to know.”
Anthony looks at her for a minute, then nods. “Okay. But you have to do the same. Deal?”
“Deal.” She leans forward and wraps her brother in a hug. “I need to go, okay?”
He nods and squeezes her once before letting go. “Okay.”
Jamie goes to her room and closes the door. The Rogers family doesn’t use locks. A closed door is a closed door. She collapses onto her bed and stares at the ceiling.
Her phone rings. She glances at the caller ID before picking up. “What’s up, Jedi Master?”
Ben’s sigh is loud and well-practiced. “What are you doing?”
“Naughty things with hot women. How was... you know. Defcon Pepper?”
There’s a slight pause. “Awful. Meet me outside in fifteen minutes.”
“Why?”
“Because you and Amelia fighting is dumb, and Amelia needs her yin. Or yang. I’m not sure which. Either way, we’re going to the pound.”
“Huh? What does the animal shelter have to do with me and -”
“I’ll explain on the way.” Ben hangs up and Jamie stares at the phone for a minute before rolling out of bed again.
By the time he shows up - ten minutes late - she’s figured it out, and she ruffles his hair as they walk to the shelter together. “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.”
“Yeah,” he looks at her, grinning. “I get it from my dad.”
“Dork.”
“That’s Dorkasaurus to you, thanks. We’re the Dorkasaurus family.”
“I seriously don’t want to know.”
Ben laughs. “Then I won’t tell you.”
The rest of the trip is made in amiable silence. Jamie and Ben aren’t the closest of friends, but they’ve always been happy with each other. And they’ve always had their love for Amelia in common. When Jamie picks the cat out, Ben nods. “He’s perfect.”
Jamie smiles. “I know.”
[Author's notes: Non-binding futureish of the futureverse! Sort of a companion piece to itsybitsyamelia's fic. Sort of!]
Jamie is hanging upside down from a set of monkey bars. On the bar next to her, an Asgardian princess/demi-goddess/whatever is hanging upside down also. They’re seeing who can hang upside down the longest. This is what they do: act like ten year olds with super powers. Jamie used to do this with her other friends, but everyone stopped acting like ten year olds and starting making out with each other. She’s glad Liv, the Asgardian princess/demi-goddess/whatever, showed up.
Maybe it’s the blood pooling in her brain, but Jamie’s really thoughtful while she’s hanging upside down. She thinks about everything that’s happened in the past few days, and she tries to figure out if it could have gone differently.
“Do you have pennies in Asgard?”
Liv gives her a look that Jamie has come to understand means she is amused, bemused, confused, or a combination of all three. “Excuse me?”
“If someone looks thoughtful, do you give them a penny for their thought? Or, like. A rune gem thing?”
“You pay one another for your thoughts?”
Jamie frowns. “Well, not really. It’s a figure of speech.”
“Hm. We don’t have currency.”
“Oh.”
They continue hanging in silence for a few minutes. Jamie gets bored and starts to swing back and forth, which gets her another amused, bemused, and/or confused look from Liv. “I’m bored,” she explains.
“You bore easily.”
Jamie has her mouth half open to disagree, but it’s the truth so she doesn’t bother. “Things are boring.”
“All things?”
“No.” But she’s still swinging.
“You could quit.” Liv is smiling very widely.
Jamie rolls her eyes, which feels really weird for some reason. She assumes it’s because of the upside down thing. “Like hell.”
“Hel?” At Jamie’s look, Liv upside-down-shrugs. Jamie has gotten used to the sometimes-purposeful misunderstandings that Liv has. “Oh, Hell. Yes. You could still quit.”
“I’m not quitting.”
“Because you need to be the best.”
“No, because I need to win.”
“Hm.” Liv drops from the bars, rolling gracefully into a crouch. She looks up at Jamie. “You have won.”
With a sigh, Jamie curls up and grabs a bar with her hands, letting go with her legs and hanging from her arms for a second before dropping to the ground. “That doesn’t count, you quit.”
“So?”
Jamie knows Liv is probably trying to teach her a lesson, but the blood is rushing back out of her head and she’s got a headache. She feels cranky and she doesn’t want to take it out on the only person who doesn’t mind being around her right now. “I’m going to go. You owe me an ice cream for losing. I’m making it a sundae because you quit for no reason.”
Liv smiles. “Okay. I will see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Jamie shoves her hands into her pockets and wanders home.
--
Home isn’t empty. Jamie was hoping Anthony would be with Vincent, but she knows he’s there as soon as she walks in. He’s listening to some kind of classical music, which means Vincent isn’t over. It also means he’s in a thoughtful mood. Jamie tries to get by without him noticing, but they’re twins and they’ve spent their lives noticing each other. He pops his head out of his room and smiles at her. “Hey.”
“Yeah.” Her hands are back in her pockets, because lately she’s been afraid she’d punch something if she doesn’t keep them there. “Hey. Liv lost today, but she quit early so it doesn’t count.”
Anthony knows about the contests, because Anthony is Anthony and Jamie is Jamie. She’s pretty sure he’s keeping track, so she reports back. “Why’d she quit?”
“I think to teach me that winning isn’t everything.”
“Did it work?”
Jamie stares at him. “Seriously?”
“No,” Anthony shakes his head, “not seriously. What’s up?”
She shrugs. “If I wanted to talk about it, I’d - “
“Talk to someone else so we don’t get into a fight again. I know. Did you hear that Mrs. Stark asked to speak to Dani, Amelia, and their parents?”
Anger flashes across Jamie’s face. “But not me?” She shakes her head, instantly knowing it’s the wrong thing to say. “This isn’t Pepper’s problem.”
Anthony raises an eyebrow and opens his door fully before leaning against the frame. “Really? Whose is it?”
“Ours. The team’s. We’re the Young Avengers, not the Muppet Babies. We can make our own decisions.” Jamie rocks back on her heels. “We’re not kids.”
“Yes we are.”
“No, Ant, we’re not. Maybe about school and prom and dating and all of that we are. Or about what clothes we wear, or when our curfew should be, okay. But when it comes to the superheroing stuff, they decided we could be on our own team. If they wanted someone older than Dani to be in charge, they would have put someone older than Dani in charge. They can’t treat give us adult responsibility and treat us like children.”
Even though she doesn’t know it, Jamie’s friend Amelia is at that moment saying something very similar to a group of very concerned and upset parents. Jamie hasn’t spoken to Amelia since their last conversation turned into another fight. She still doesn’t know how to break the wall that formed between them, but she knows she doesn’t want one to form between her and her twin brother. She shakes her head again and blinks back tears. “If you ever run somewhere, and I know you won’t, but will you please tell me? I promise I won’t do anything. I just want to know.”
Anthony looks at her for a minute, then nods. “Okay. But you have to do the same. Deal?”
“Deal.” She leans forward and wraps her brother in a hug. “I need to go, okay?”
He nods and squeezes her once before letting go. “Okay.”
Jamie goes to her room and closes the door. The Rogers family doesn’t use locks. A closed door is a closed door. She collapses onto her bed and stares at the ceiling.
Her phone rings. She glances at the caller ID before picking up. “What’s up, Jedi Master?”
Ben’s sigh is loud and well-practiced. “What are you doing?”
“Naughty things with hot women. How was... you know. Defcon Pepper?”
There’s a slight pause. “Awful. Meet me outside in fifteen minutes.”
“Why?”
“Because you and Amelia fighting is dumb, and Amelia needs her yin. Or yang. I’m not sure which. Either way, we’re going to the pound.”
“Huh? What does the animal shelter have to do with me and -”
“I’ll explain on the way.” Ben hangs up and Jamie stares at the phone for a minute before rolling out of bed again.
By the time he shows up - ten minutes late - she’s figured it out, and she ruffles his hair as they walk to the shelter together. “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.”
“Yeah,” he looks at her, grinning. “I get it from my dad.”
“Dork.”
“That’s Dorkasaurus to you, thanks. We’re the Dorkasaurus family.”
“I seriously don’t want to know.”
Ben laughs. “Then I won’t tell you.”
The rest of the trip is made in amiable silence. Jamie and Ben aren’t the closest of friends, but they’ve always been happy with each other. And they’ve always had their love for Amelia in common. When Jamie picks the cat out, Ben nods. “He’s perfect.”
Jamie smiles. “I know.”