Tony Stark POV

"I present to you..." I pulled out Alex's outfit from behind my back. "The Element's costume."

"Aaaaahhhhhh!!!" Alex squealed, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands like a seal would.

She rushed forward and snatched it from my hands. "It was made so fast! Let me try it on!!!"

"Fine," I giggled. "While you're trying on that costume, I'll talk to Pepper about foster care."

I left Alex to change and rushed to my fiancé.

"Darling!" I knocked on the door.

"What do ya want?" She called. "You never begin with 'darling' unless you want something."

I opened up the door to find Pepper Potts working her butt off on the computer.

"This is super serious," I told her. "And you're going to need to think about it long and hard."

"And...?" She nodded.

"I need an answer by dinner time, so, thirty minutes," I said, quick and simple.

Pepper closed the laptop and gestured me to sit on a couch with her. "Okay. I'm listening. What's up?"

"I want to foster parent a kid," I stared at her, waiting for a response, but received none, so I continued. "Her name is Alex Shmood. I met her today at the tour and discovered she was needing a foster parent. I really liked her, so I thought I might talk to you."

"She's some special, superhero-serum infused child, isn't she?" Pepper giggled.

"Sort of," I nodded. "And she'll probably be wearing an ugly blue uniform to conceal her identity, a lot. But the main reason I like her is because she has an... interesting background."

"What do you mean?" Pepper sneered.

"She was suspected for her mother's murder," I explained. "but there was no solid proof she committed the crime, so she was released. I think she's innocent, though."

Pepper glared at me for half a minute before finally saying, "Okay. We'll keep her for a month, and from there, decide whether we'll keep her longer or not."

I smiled. "You're awesome. We have dinner with the Avengers in a few. Alex and two other possible new members of the Avengers are visiting with us tonight. Don't be late."

Pepper nodded.

I strolled out of her office and back to a happy Alex, who was posing for the mirror in superhero stances. Her chocolate brown hair draped over her shoulders and her blueish greenish eyes matched her suit, which was different variations of blue, !mainly revolving around a color she called 'Tardis blue'. The suit's style looked like a combination of Doctor Strange, Black Widow, and the Winter Soldier's suits. It made her look like an adult, and it was weird. She pulled a turtle neck thing over her mouth.

"That's pretty neat," I smirked.

"Thanks," she said with a mature, adult, totally-not-hers voice. "Oh! Is that voice-altering-thingy on? Sorry!"

I shrugged. "You can't eat dinner with that thing over your mouth. You can try, but I guarantee you that you'll have a tough time."

"I don't need to," she snickered, pulling down her turtle neck. "I can be less careful with my team, as long as they don't research me. I know Spiderman wears his mask everywhere when he's with you guys."

I laughed and then let her be.

-----

"Wanda!" I grinned as I opened the door to my icing quarters. "So glad you could make it!"

"You said it was important," she told me with her lovely accent. "I wouldn't have come otherwise."

Vision followed behind her.

"Mister Stark," he nodded towards me politely.

"Hey!" I waved at him. Then Bruce, Clint, Steve, Thor, and Natasha walked in. They greeted each other with happy smiles and friendly punches, and then talked for several minutes. While the conversation droned on, another knock was on the door. I excused myself, and then opened the door. Like I expected, it was Alex, but with her suit and metallic blue lipstick that matched. We had planned on making her enter like every other guest that way no suspicion would arise from the normal people outside of Stark Tower.

"Mister Stark," she nodded towards me goofily.

"Hey guys," I called to the other Avengers. "This is Alex. She's calling herself... the Element? She's a possible new member of the team. She doesn't plan on showing her identity while there might be paparazzi, but... well, you know what happened last week."

"What happened last week?" Alex questioned. I ignored her, trying to burry the memory and embarrassment that arose when I found an embarrassing picture of myself on the front of a popular tabloid.

"Hi," everyone said to Alex in unison. Someone knocked on the door again.

Antman.

"Hey, guys!" He opened the door. "Its me. What are we eating?"

Alex squealed at the sight of him.

"H-h-hi," she stammered. "I'm, ummm, Alex."

"Who?" Antman's eyes narrowed.

"The possible new Avenger," I stated. Antman nodded.

Then Spidey showed. And after that, Diane and David. They didn't wear any costumes. They seemed okay about showing their identities.

Finally, Dr. Strange arrived. Alex ran out of the room stealthily and screamed in excitement. I guess she thought we couldn't hear her, but she was loud and clear. She clapped like a seal and hopped up and down, then we heard her breathing shakily, probably trying to pull herself together. She waltzed back in the room like nothing happened and introduced herself again, though she winced when her hand came in contact with Strange's to shake it. Everyone stared a her like she was some foreign creature.

When we finally sat down to eat, Pepper joined us.

"Okay," I said. "So we have these new guys," I gestured toward Alex, Diane, and David. "They are going to stay with us for a couple months and prove they're worthy of the team. If they're terrible, then they're out. Sorry, guys. We can train them, then decide whether or not we should let them join the team."

"But Diane and David are children," Spidey mentioned.

Alex coughed awkwardly. Obviously, Spidey had missed the introductions to fourteen year old Alex, because he aid her no attention.

"Look who's talking," I laughed. "Honestly, it doesn't matter."

"It does," Steve annoyingly objected. "They're children, not soldiers. They may have the man-power, but not the maturity."

"Don't underestimate them just cause they're kids," Alex stated, probably thinking everyone had forgotten her identity. "You might be surprised later."

"But they're children, nevertheless!" Steve continued. "If they die, they're gone. No more experiences. They'll never be able to lead a normal life on the Avengers."

Alex flinched at that. "Really?"

"Yes!" Steve exhaled loudly.

"Shut up, cap'n," I told Steve. "You'll scare them."

Diane and David rolled their eyes like I was ridiculous to even think they would get frightened, but Alex was becoming visibly shaky.

"Just tell me if we should try!" I told the team and everyone nodded.

"Its a good idea," Vision nodded. "Though, the fact that they are children does worry me a bit, like Steve. Otherwise, I'm all in."

"Okay," I smiled, satisfied. "Then that leaves me with one other thing-- Pepper and I have decided to foster parent."

"Really," Peter, or Spiderman, chuckled. "That's cool. Do you know who your taking care of or is it a mystery or have you not worked out the paper work yet?"

"Her name is Alex Shmood," Pepper laced her fingers into mine. "She's fourteen years old. As far as I know, she seems like a decent kid."

Peter straightened in his chair. "Alex Shmood? Huh. Cool."

I looked at Alex and noticed-- the more he spoke, the more agitated she was, as if trying to work out a complicated, frustrating puzzle piece. When we finished our meal, we turned to desert.

"Ah, ha!!!" Alex blurted out randomly as she stared down at her uneaten slice of cheesecake.

"What?" Vision asked.

"I was just remembering what an old, fatherly figure used to tell me," she shrugged.

"What did he say?" Thor's eyes narrowed in confusion.

The Element turned to Peter like she was directing every word she spoke to him. "With great power comes great responsibility."

"Oh my god," Peter mumbled.

"I know its random, but it seemed like a good time to say it," Alex snickered.

Under her breath, she said, "So much for the mature adult thing. Great job Alex. You blew it!"

"What?" Antman questioned. By the looks of it, it seemed like I was the only one who could interpret it.

"May I talk to the Element in private?" Spidey stood up.

"Totally!" Alex followed him out of the room.

They left and began to bicker very loudly. No one knew what they said, but it seemed that they were arguing.

"Do they know each other?" Clint snickered.

I shrugged, clueless.

Peter Parker POV

"Alex!" I grabbed Element's arm and yanked her into a room far away. "What are you doing here in a tight, blue suit!?!"

"I'm joining the Avengers!" She hissed. "Duh."

"Well, don't!" I sighed. "You're an innocent, helpless, powerless, little girl, and I care too much for you. If you get hurt..."

"First of all--" she snapped. "I'm not powerless and helpless, mind you. I have powers over the elements of nature, hence the name Element. Second of all-- that sweet, little, innocent girl you knew is long gone!! I gave up the cute and small act immediately after I left the family! Speaking of the family..." Her attitude softened. "How's Aunt May and Uncle Ben?"

"Aunt May is awesome," I gulped. "And Uncle Ben is kind of... dead."

"What?" She snatched off her mask and pulled her hoodie down. They probably were annoying her. "Dead?"

"Yep," I said, trying to stay mad at her. "Why did you leave?"

"To protect you," she stuttered, tears rolling down her face. "I guess that's all in vain now since... since... Oh, god!!"

She shook her head in disbelief. As she did this, I used the time to yank my mask from my face. We embraced each other in a long hug.

About a year ago, after Alex lost her mother, my aunt and uncle took her under their wing. They knew her mom very well and took pity on her. She was like a sister to me. Alex kissed me on the cheek.

"Oh, god," she giggled when we pulled away from our hug. "You have lipstick on your cheek now." She licked her finger and tried to wipe it off. "Dang. It won't wash off."

I pulled on my mask and forced her hood and mask on her. Then, I dragged her back into the dining room.

"We should watch TV," Clint suggested.

"There are some reruns of Doctor Who going on on BBC right now," Natasha offered. Alex stood up from her chair in excitement.

"I like Sherlock better," Dr. Strange grimaced.

"I wonder why?" Alex chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Strange asked.

"Aww..." Alex shook her head at Strange. "You being all clueless with your cheekbones and turning your coat collar up so you look cool."

"What? I don't do that..." Strange grimaced.

"Shut up, Sherlock!" Alex laughed. "Let's watch Doctor Who, then! Doo wee dooooo!"

She ran toward the living room with excitement.

"She is odd," Strange criticized.

"Yep," Tony agreed.

Bam! A loud explosion sounded from the living room. Smoke and debris floated from the door into the room we were in, the smell becoming intense. I began to freak out. Alex was in there!

"What the hell was that?" Clint said as everyone stood up.

"Don't pursue it," Thor commanded, holding me back as I tried to run to save my friend.

"What is it?" I yelped.

"Its not Norse, that's for sure," Thor huffed. "I should've known... Alex is a half-blood. She must defeat the creatures on her own. Leave her be. We will have to wait and see if she survives."

"WHAT!?!" I screamed. "I'm not leaving her!"

I tried to follow the noise, but Thor had a good grip on me and refused to let go.

"Don't! The Norns would not allow us to intercept her destiny. I can feel it. Something is about to happen..."

A/N

About a year ago, I did a rough sketch of the suit (which is totally terrible and not completely how I in visioned it) and am putting it up so you can see it! As you can tell, there are no eyes and the mask sucks. Anyways, I did it at midnight after a long day of packing for a trip to Washington DC (it was awesome and I highly recommend going) and I just finished it, so yippee! Hope it gives you an idea of what the character looks like, though I probably could've given her a little less cleavage. (Imagine a blushing and embarrassed emoji, since my kindle isn't allowing me to type it right now. Stupid Amazon product!) I hope you like it!

Next post will have a picture of me attempting to look like Alex as the Element (I did it a year ago). Its terrible, but I got bored and it was fun to make. When you see it, just wipe out the memory of the creepy mask from this post and the awful attempt of a vine or tree or whatever the heck that was supposed to be coming out of her hand. Okay, bye!