01 || field trip troubles

"THAT.... THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING GOOD."
- Museum Of Modern Art, New York, April 2018-

Alison was most definitely not  looking forward to this field trip.

It might of been the fact that she hadn't had a full night of sleep in a few weeks, or the fact that she was restless, something in her bones screaming at her something was going to happen. She had been feeling that sort of restlessness for weeks now, and it had all started with the nightmares. 

Stepping onto the school campus, a sigh escaped Alison's mouth as she pulled her deep teal jacket up her shoulders, the April chill settling into her bones. Kids crowded the doorway to the school, jostling each other as they crammed into the hallways, desperate to find their friends inside.

Alison? She just wanted to get out of the school and leave already.

Her backpack slung over her shoulder and earbuds shoved into her ears, attempting to play music to try and get her mind off of the other things in her life, Alison made it to her locker, unlocking the small thing in an instant. Throwing everything unessential into the small compartment, Alison slammed it shut with an exhausted sigh. Her forehead slammed against the locker, the girl giving another groan as her eyes drooped shut.

She was so exhausted. After having a not so promising night out fighting crime with her boyfriend, she had a night filled with nightmares yet again- this time changing from the unfamiliar planet that seemed to be in ruins to a ship- maybe a spaceship?- with bodies scattered on the ground, that same lumbering figure standing over all of the others. Five figures- the same ones as last time, surrounded the purple figure, the gauntlet no longer empty, one single slot filled with a bright and vivid purple that had sent chills down Alison's spine.

When Alison saw the stone she knew that theses nightmares- no, warnings- meant that something big was coming. Bigger than whoever was trying to kill her, bigger than anything that she had ever faced before. The threat was fast approaching too- Alison could feel it in her gut. But the thoughts of the man- god? being choked to death and the bright blue glare of what she assumed was another one of the infinity stones were pushed aside in Alison's mind, the teenager opening her eyes again to see Peter and Skylar waiting by her locker.

"Rough night again?" Skylar asked her friend, pulling her away from the locker and squeezing her into the tightest hug possible. She pretended not to notice the bags under Ali's eyes that seemed to grow larger with every passing second. Skylar could still remember her father being like this years ago, watching him up late in the workshops at their old home in Malibu after New York, and she hated seeing her best friend go through it too.

When Alison didn't respond, Skylar squeezed her friend tighter, trying to do everything to make sure that she was alright in some way. The Stark just wanted to squeeze all of the pain out of her best friend, or give it to her so that she didn't have to watch Alison suffer any more than she already was. "I know today's gonna be a rough day. But just stick with me- we'll just raid the museum's cafeteria or something after the tour, alright?"

When her comment earned a snort out of Alison, Skylar broke away from the hug, cracking a small smile at her friend. "Although I do have to warn you- Flash is still going to be on this field trip. So you're going to have to hold in all of your snarky comments and the punches that you undoubtedly have saved for him, alright?"

"No promises." Alison grumbled back, looking over at Peter. "Because if he says anything to you at all today, I swear I might just lose my shit." She warned, Peter shaking his head, almost amused by how protective Ali was.

"And get suspended again? I think all of us know that while punching Flash in the face again would be satisfying, that wouldn't be anything good for you. Another suspension on your record as a junior before you start applying to colleges next year? Not good." Peter disagreed, walking on the other side of Alison, squishing her in the middle.

They all knew what had happened about a week or so before. Flash, being the ass that he was, had said some insult that had pissed off Alison so much that she had slugged him across the face. He had been asking for it- in Alison's humble opinion, and that action had caused her to be suspended. 

Which allowed her feelings to fester while she was at home after weeks and weeks of nightmares. There were really no other options except to go out and fight crime or drive Jackie crazy while she was at home, which was probably not anything fun for her guardian and cousin. 

"Alright, alright." Alison sighed begrudgingly, taking Peter's hand and squeezing it with her open one. "I promise not to majorly injure him in any way that would involve me getting suspended. Although if he gets tripped..."

"Ali !" Skylar and Peter both groaned at the same time, smiles trying to be disguised behind both of their faces. They both had to admit, seeing Flash fall flat on his face would be amusing. But it wasn't exactly worth seeing Alison get suspended again- or even worse, expelled. 

"What?" The girl asked innocently, reaching the end of the hallway. "It's not like I said I was going to. Besides, what's the point of having a best friend and a boyfriend if they both don't cover your back?" Alison questioned, getting laughs from the two of them as they scaled the steps down towards the main entrance again, ready to leave for the field trip.

Once all of the students were on the bus, Alison finding herself next to Skylar, Peter and Ned in the aisle across from them, she had to do everything in her power to not try and throw some sort of insult in Flash's direction. The boy was all the way in the back, an unmistakable scowl on his face as he stared at Ali, his mouth still busted from when Alison slugged him across the face.

Seeing the sneer from where she was sitting, Alison turned around to face Flash, Skylar holding one of her shoulders back. But all Alison did was fake jump at him, throwing him a middle finger as she watched him flinch in his seat, scared that she was going to beat him up again. Laughing, Alison turned back around to face Skylar, who just shook her head at Alison.

"Jesus, leave the poor kid alone! I'm sure he's gotten enough shit from the rest of the school." Skylar pulled her friend back into the seat, trying to get her to back off a little. The bus slowly started up, pulling out of the school and onto the busy streets of Queens. "Enjoy the view from the bridge, it's not every day that you get to see this bright of a sun out in April."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Alison rolled her eyes, sitting back down in the seat, unamused by whatever comment was going to come out of Skylar's mouth next. "I know that you're just trying to get me to stop scaring the ever loving shit out of Flash." She gave her friend a knowing look, who threw her hands up in response.

"Guilty as charged." Skylar laughed, earning a light punch on the shoulder from Alison. "Hey! Totally uncalled for!" She rubbed her arm in mock hurt, giving Alison a light glare of annoyance. Skylar was pretty sure that it was going to bruise- she was always one to get injuries easily- whether it be through stubbing her toe on the edge of her bed or randomly bumping into a corner in the countless amount of space that she had inside of Avenger's Compound. 

"Is it though?" Alison questioned, getting an arched eyebrow from Skylar as soon as she spoke. Arching her eyebrow back at her best friend in response, Ali tried to keep a straight face as she continued to talk. "If you're going to keep holding me back, maybe you'll stop saying that those are totally uncalled for."

Giving a small sigh of exasperation, Skylar just pointed at the window, the bus now entering the Midtown area of New York City. The trip to the Museum of Modern Art seemed to go by in a flash, and not in a way that was funny or in reference to the teenager that Alison had beat up. "Just try to keep your mouth shut for a little longer, please, and I promise that you and lover boy will be off to Boston before you even know it."

Rolling her eyes yet again, Alison bit back a response to Skylar's jab, instead listening to her friend's advice, staring at the window and watching the streets blur into one another as they navigated their way to the Museum of Modern Art. She watched as people ran through the streets of New York, watching as a man collided into a woman who was too consumed with her phone, and as a kid ran through the streets, probably too late for school to even get into his class on time. 

When the group arrived at the museum, they were divided into two groups, as the group of juniors on the trip was much too large to take on one tour. Alison and Skylar were split up from Peter and Ned, as they were in accordance to which side of the bus you sat on (which was the strangest way to divide a bus, Alison thought), and while the boys weren't with them for the tour, neither was Flash, gratefully.

Their tour guide was nice enough, introducing herself to be a woman named Susanna, one of the museum's newest workers but a passionate art student who had just come here, straight out of college. She seemed excited enough about the art that was contained inside of the museum, which definitely helped motivate some of the juniors to be encouraged as well.

Alison and Skylar clung towards the back of the group, Skylar already knowing the museum like the back of her hand from the countless visits she had already done to the place, whether it be for events or just fun weekends with her dad. And Alison, if she was perfectly honest, had no interest in any of the art pieces that they were being shown. It was just art, after all.

About an hour and a half after the tour started, the trip around the museum ended, their tour guide stating that they were ahead of schedule, and that they would probably have another 20-30 minutes before the other group arrived, so the kids were free to roam around the museum to revisit the art exhibits they enjoyed, or go to the gift shop or cafeteria.

Opting to not look at any more pieces of art, Alison and Skylar decided to peruse the gift shop for a little, finding stupid little tourist-y things that they messed around with ( including fake MoMA-based Avengers toys) until they got kicked out of the store. The manager of the small gift shop had not-so-politely told them if they weren't going to buy anything, they might as well leave.

Wasting a good ten minutes in the gift shop, the girls decided to stumble over to the cafeteria, where they chipped in the few dollars that they had brought to buy a few snacks, deciding to sit by the window and look at the view of New York City and all of the bustling traffic beneath them.

"You're telling me that your dad, surprisingly, is the one who's been taking over the wedding planning?!" Alison exclaimed, shocked by the revelation that Skylar was telling her. "Because I see you dad more as the guy who would let Pepper plan everything to make sure that it goes right."

"Normally? That would totally be the case." Skylar agreed, pointing her spoon at Alison, her mouth full of some sort of jello that she had bought from the cafeteria. "But somehow he decided to do the planning, and he's not doing that bad of a job."

"Surprising." Alison snorted, looking down at her bag of chips and taking another one from the bag, eating it with a satisfying crunch. "Where is he right now, anyways? Last time I heard about him was in the news, and he was at SI Headquarters in California. But that must've been weeks ago."

"Yeah." Skylar agreed, trying to recall when she had last seen her dad in the news. "He's been doing a pretty good job of staying out of the limelight while he's putting this whole thing together."

"For once in his life." Alison added, amused at the fact that Tony Stark had actually managed to stay out of the limelight for a good month? Month and a half? She wasn't sure anymore. Her eyes drifting to the window as Alison continued to talk to Skylar, she saw something... unusual.

It was a giant goddamn rainbow beam, and it was heading straight for what appeared to be Greenwich Village. She assumed it was somewhere close to Bleecker Street. 

Bleecker Street. 

What was on Bleecker Street that was so important that Alison remembered?

And then it hit her like a truck.

"Skylar..." Alison trailed off, tapping her best friend on the shoulder as her eyes were glued to the window, trying to still see the traces of the rainbow beam that had just streaked across New York City. "What the hell was that?"

Skylar's eyes fell upon what Alison had just seen, seeing the traces of the rainbow beam-like object fade away from sight. Looking back to Alison, a slight look of worry in her eyes, she shook her head. "I have no damn clue." Pulling out her phone in an instant, Sky dialed her father's number, waiting a few moments before getting no response. "Dad's not picking up either." She stated, a worried frown forming on her face as she glanced back at Alison, who was already reaching for her bag, the Breakout suit already inside.

Skylar's gaze immediately held a glint of worry as she saw the concerned look on Alison's face, neither of the girls knowing what the hell was going on in New York City, both of them just knowing that whatever it was? It wasn't something that was supposed to happen. "Alison..." She trailed off, staring at her friend's backpack before staring back at her again. "Stay safe, please. And come back here as soon as you're done investigating."

"Promise." Alison whispered, standing up from her chair and embracing her friend, squeezing her as tightly as she could. Something in her gut told her that this was going to be the last time that she saw Skylar for a very long time, but she pushed that feeling down, holding onto the hug for as long as she could.

Skylar finally let go after a few moments, chuckling as she unzipped her friend's bag, grabbing the Breakout suit and shoving it into Alison's hands before anyone could notice. "Now go. Save the city for me, Miss Breakout." She teased, feeling a whoosh of strong wind and a tug in her stomach, Alison appearing back at her side in seconds.

They weren't inside of the cafeteria anymore, both of them now just outside the museum, a twinkle of mischief hidden inside of Alison's eyes. "Be back in a flash." She mock-saluted Skylar, racing off towards the direction of the rainbow beam.

As Alison raced towards the familiar Bleecker Street address of the favorite ( and only ) sorcerer she knew, Alison had a feeling that whatever this was?- this was the start of something big. But what she didn't realize as a huge spaceship appeared over New York as she sped over to Greenwich Village was that the nightmares that she had been witnessing every night-

They were about to become a reality. 

<~*~>

OKAY SO YES THIS IS BASICALLY STILL THE SAME CHAPTER, MOST OF THE CHAPTERS IN INFINITY WAR WILL REMAIN THE SAME!

there isn't much to say, but I really do hope that you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm going to warn you, there are going to be some REALLY slow updates if I'm too lazy to rewrite a chapter! I sincerely wanna apologize, but I don't really have too much inspo a lot for marvel, so it'll probably come few and far between in terms of publishing updates

HOWEVER 

I have turned into a Star Wars whore, and so I do have a ton of Star Wars books up on my profile (and I even changed my username), and those have pretty consistent updates, so if you like that kind of thing, please check it out!!

alrighty I think that's everything! thank you to honeyholland for the new amazing cover ! see you in the next one!