PARTY TRICKS
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Sadie stared down at her mother's signature on the document before her. The lawyer, a tall, slim blonde man named Jameson who the firm had called 'the best', wore a grave and defeated expression.

I, Shannon Francis-Moore, acknowledge that I have refused treatment for grade 2 atypical meningioma, against the advice of Dr Now J Kelly & Dr Y Wright at Lennox Hospital.

Date: 4/24/2013.

Shan still lay in her hospital bed now, fast asleep from exhaustion. Sadie knew that a seizure left a patient more exhausted than a marathon- every single muscle in the body contracting beyond control. And her mother had suffered multiple seizures through the night.

"I don't understand- this doesn't make any sense," Sadie stuttered. "If it was untreated for this long, then it's a wonder she's still alive."

"I'll have to leave the medicine to you, Dr Moore," Jameson joked, but neither of them were laughing. "The truth is, this was signed when your mother's main care at Elm Nursing Home was for dialysis. This means that she was of sound mind-"

"Yeah, this was before the dementia," Sadie said, but even that was confusing. It was never dementia, it was always this damned tumour. Which had two whole years to grow. "So there's nothing we can do?"

"Legally speaking, the nursing home is not responsible. Nobody is," Jameson explained. "But your mother experiences periods where she's lucid?"

"Yes, they don't last long, though," Sadie nodded.

"If you can advise her to seek treatment in that time, if she changes her mind," Jameson spoke. "Then maybe she could beat this."

There was such naivety in that statement, and Sadie was envious of it. No, the glioblastoma would grow and grow, and suck away her mother's life like a leech. But they could give her time.

Sixteen months, if Shan Moore wanted it, to live.

So Sadie waited, until such a time as her mother was lucid enough for a hard conversation. Visiting hours in the hospital were flexible for her, since most of these staff were old friends and colleagues of hers- and if there was any benefit to the pitying looks, it was that they let Sadie stay because of it.

On the second day of waiting, Adrianne had stopped by with the kids, flowers, food and a change of clothes for Sadie. A couple hours later, her phone rang, with a worried friend on the other side of the line.

"Cho told us what happened," Steve's voice was low, and gentle. "Is there anything I can do?"

"It's alright," Sadie responded, her voice quiet purposely so as not to wake up her sleeping mother. "I mean, you have your own stuff to do-"

Steve didn't argue, instead he only said firmly: "Let me help."

It was hard to refuse him, especially when Sadie was beginning to get so lonely, so soon he stopped by the hospital, with flowers for her Shan, and food for Sadie. But the extended visiting hours didn't apply to Steve, and so he had to leave before he was booted out by a protective and hardworking nurse who had given him three warnings in the space of fifteen minutes.

Eventually, Shan was lucid. Sadie called for the neurologist to confirm, and once she was sure, she gently asked a question, after providing the documents the lawyer had left.

"Why did you refuse treatment?"

"I didn't want to spend my life hooked up to machines and chemicals," Shan Moore was holding a sick bowl in her lap, still in her hospital gown. Nausea was only one of the terrible symptoms Sadie knew her mother felt. "And I knew if I told you? It would break your heart."

Sadie was overwhelmed with love for her mother at the last statement- despite all the pain of it, Shan had tried to shield her from that.

"You gotta know I love you for that. But if you have the surgery, they could cut out half of the thing," Sadie said, trying to hide the desperation in her voice. "That means you'll need less radiation and chemo. It'll be a chance."

"A chance to be left a vegetable. Do I look like a plantain to you?"

"Adrianne's Chief of Surgery. There isn't a single surgeon in this hospital who hasn't been approved by her," Sadie told her mother, truthfully. "They're good, Mom. And I would be with you every step of the way."

"Shelly," Shan sighed, taking her hand. "You know this only ends one way."

"What I know," Sadie said, attempting to keep her voice hopeful. "Is that my mother is not a woman to go out without a fight."

There was a moment of silence when Sadie worried her mother's brief lucidity was over. But there was no blank look in Shan Moore's eyes. In fact, there seemed to be a new resolve.

"Well," Shan said, weakly squeezing her hand. "My girl Shell always did know everything. So I'll do it. For you."

~

9:07 pm

NATASHA
are you close?

SADIE
just coming into the lobby

NATASHA
I'll meet you down there

NATASHA
so you don't get all nervous and sweaty about coming up alone

NATASHA
I don't wanna have to put up with the smell.

Three days after convincing her mother to take treatments, Sadie smiled, rolling her eyes as she stopped by the three elevators at Avengers Towe, waiting patiently for Natasha's arrival.

She hadn't wanted to come tonight- she'd spent the rest of the week in the hospital with her mother, waiting for the neurosurgeons to come up with a plan to get that terrible glioblastoma out of Shan Moore's head. Sadie wished she could go back in time and pick neurosurgery as her specialty, then maybe she could make faster progress than them. Maybe she wouldn't be so useless.

No, she hadn't wanted to come to Tony Stark's inevitability extravagant party- not while her mom was in pain, but Shan had spied a text from Natasha asking if she was still okay to come, and Adrianne had brought a beautiful emerald green fit-and-flare dress, and the two had practically forced Sadie out of the hospital.

"I don't want you putting your life on pause for me," Shan had told her, all hooked up to chemotherapy treatments. "You will go, and you will dance the night away."

Sadie wasn't about to argue with her classic Caribbean mother, so she'd come to the party, albeit reluctantly. Now, much like Natasha predicted, she felt nervous and slightly sweaty as the elevator doors pinged open to reveal the red haired agent, looking elegant, and daintier than Sadie had ever seen her.

"Now, who's this gorgeous woman?" Sadie questioned as she walked into the elevator, and Natasha rolled her eyes. "Thanks for coming down."

"Not a problem," Natasha opened her purse, pulling out a small perfume roller and dabbing it on Sadie's neck and wrists. "Mask that sweat of yours."

"You look after me so well," Sadie grinned, taking in the musky, feminine smell of the French fragrance.

"Cho said you took the week off for your mom," Natasha said, and Sadie was grateful that there was no tone of pity. She'd told Dr Cho that if anyone asked where she was, she could say, but otherwise no announcements. While it wasn't unusual that Steve would have asked, it was slightly surprising that Natasha had noticed. "You sure you're up for this?"

Sadie took a deep breath, tightening her black silk scrunchie which held her ebony twists up and out of her face. "I said I'd be here, so I'm here. It's a diagnosis, not a death sentence."

That was a lie, and Sadie knew it. But as the doors opened, she plastered on a smile, linking her arm with Natasha's as they walked into the bustling party. Upbeat instrumentals trilled through the air, blending with cacaphonic laughter and chatter. Some guests danced at makeshift dance floors near windows, or minibars, but most milled around, chatting to one another, drinks in hand

Sadie noticed dread run through her as she overheard a young entrepreneur boast about their 'project'. Networking. Natasha though, seemed to be a professional in this setting, beelining for particular individuals and strategically introducing Sadie to each of them. Agents, and fellow scientists and hardly any familiar faces.

"-Dropped it right at the general's feet and said, boom! You looking for this?" A small crowd of people burst into laughter as Natasha tapped the story teller on the shoulder, and a man of a complexion not dissimilar to Sadie's own turned to them, with a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Rhody," Natasha said, over the noise. "This is a friend of mine- Isadora Moore."

"Sadie is fine," she interjected, bashfully.

"Oh, you're a friend of Natasha's? Lord help your soul," Rhody cringed, and Natasha whacked him on the arm- hard. He attempted to hide his pain, but the discomfort was evident to Sadie, who had spent years treating patients who pretended to be macho. "Bet you're wondering what's got the crowd so wild, I was just telling them about the time I-"

"We're actually just doing a zip 'round the room," Natasha interrupted, quickly. "Getting introductions."

"I'd love to hear your story later though," Sadie smiled politely, as Natasha rugged her away. Rhody's expression looked dampened and she turned to Nat once they were out of earshot. "What did ya do that for? He seemed-"

"Trust me, I just saved you from a minute's worth of boredom," Natasha smirked, leading her over to a pool table. "I think that's the whole team besides Thor and some others."

Natasha nodded to where Thor stood with Steve- Steve in his crisp blue shirt who Sadie had to tear her eyes away from- sharing drinks with a bunch of veterans. Sadie was somewhat grateful for this- it was all a bit much already, and somehow she didn't think meeting the alien who called himself 'God of Thunder' would ease her nerves.

"Well, little bird, you are free," Natasha said, in as close as she got to a sing song voice, before wandering through the crowd towards the bar, which Dr Banner approached only moments later.

"Nice to see you when you're not crashing on my couch, Moore," a familiar voice said from behind her, and Sadie turned to see Sam Wilson, carrying two drinks, and offering one to her. She took it, gratefully.

"Or in your crashing car," Sadie said, grimly, and he laughed. "How've you been? How's life treating you— how's work?"

"Well, life's same as it's always been," Sam explained, and she nodded. "Only difference is my work is searching for our missing person."

"How's that going for you?"

"Uneventful," Sam said, lowering his chin. "There has been zero sightings of the Winter Soldier since we took down the helicarriers- he's a ghost again."

Sadie thought about this for a moment, how much it must be killing Steve to know his old friend was alive but out of reach. And how good Sam was, for helping find Barnes.

"But you!" Sam's voice was suddenly enthusiastic as he nudged her side fondly. "You're on the up and up, Doctor Moore."

"Yeah," Sadie smiled, but she wondered just how many people thought her life was more ordered than it was. "I'm real grateful."

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," Steve's voice followed a casual and gentle squeeze of her shoulder.

Sadie felt her anxiety and tension loosen. Whether from his touch or his presence, she didn't know. She heard Sam mutter something about 'leaving them to it', but the music drowned him out as she looked at Steve.

"Well, I did my hair especially," Sadie smirked, then added with an attempted air of light heartedness: "Life donated multiple lemons to the cause of Isadora Moore. But the world's still spinning, may as well make lemonade— or, champagne."

"Let's drink to that," Steve said, clinking his glass against hers before they both tipped back their drinks.

That was when Sadie noticed a familiar percussion beat sound, and Steve looked at her with a certain look of satisfaction. She listened closer, over the noise of the party.

"Perfect timing," he smiled, looking rather proud of himself, as she recognised the tune.

"This isn't- it is!" Sadie smiled, as the beat entered its melodic guitar melody, and dreamy vocals of Heart if Glass.

"The song you mentioned. I can cross disco off my list," Steve laughed, placing their glasses on the pool table, and taking her hand, leading her over to where guests danced.

"You put this on the playlist?" Sadie asked, overcome with appreciation and a warm feeling in her stomach. "For me?"

"Soon as I knew you were coming," Steve answered, with a sheepish smile.

Sadie briefly threw her arms around him, before spinning away and beginning to dance in the way her mother taught her- without a care in the world. Soon Natasha joined them, dragging Banner with her, who awkwardly shuffled his feet- and they were followed by none other than Mr Tony Stark, who inserted himself smoothly into their dancing circle, shouting "Intern knows how to party!"

That was when Sadie heard Sam's thundering laughter, as he stood on the sidelines watching them. She made her way over to him, never once stopping her dancing, and pulled him over to the group, firmly telling him "you won't escape that easily!" She spotted Thor in a similar position, standing and laughing at all their idiocy.

"Hey!" She called over to him, without thinking. "You don't know me, but put that drink down and come dance with us!"

"You heard her," Tony agreed loudly, and the god complied, putting down his glass and inching into the group.

And just like that, Sadie- who had started her night off miserably, was surrounded by dancing heroes and strangers alike, and all of her worries seemed to melt away.

Steve moved beside her in that way he always did- somewhere between letting loose and completely stiff, which Sadie only found completely and utterly endearing. The group danced until the song faded out completely, and Tony went to get more drinks, insisting they all deserved another round after their musical fiasco.

"Steve, you are literally amazing," Sadie told him once the dancing was over, fanning herself with a napkin as she sipped on her water. "That was a few minutes I didn't know I needed."

"Hey, you deserve it," Steve said, warming her heart even more. "You staying for the after party? I'll drive you home so you don't have to worry about drinks."

Sadie hadn't actually drank much at all, but she wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to be driven home, so she laughed, nodded and thanked him graciously. Soon enough, the party started to dissipate. Sadie was even more convinced to stay when Chinese takeout was brought up, along with more drinks and extra goodies.

And there, at the end of the table was Thor's hammer- leaning precariously but still not falling, and Sadie tried not to look at it for too long- she wondered about Asgardian etiquette— would it be deemed offensive if she stared? Instead, she settled herself with sitting curled up in the seat besides Steve, cracking open fortune cookies.

"Ah! Here's a good one," Sadie announced to the group, before clearing her throat dramatically, and preparing her best theatrical voice. "Someone here may do something unexpected this week- and shatter the expectations of even good friends."

"I'm gonna lift that damn hammer," Clint spoke up immediately, and the group let out a chorus of chuckles.

"Not in your condition," Helen Cho answered from where she lay with her eyes closed, clearly having had one too many drinks. "Don't want you to undo..." a yawn. "All our hard work."

"It can't be that difficult," Clint argued again, and Steve looked to Sadie with a look that made her laugh a little. "I bet I could do it if I had enough practise."

"It's not about practise," Thor's deep voice responded, although Sadie couldn't see him from behind Steve.

"But it's a trick!" Clint insisted, spinning his chopsticks between his fingers, and Sadie couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, no," Thor responded, much more collected than his counterpart. "It's much more than that."

"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!'" Clint's impression of Thor was both terrible and somewhat uncanny, that even the god had to laugh. "Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well please, be my guest," Thor said, and Clint stood, swaggering over to the hammer.

"Oh god," Steve muttered to Sadie under his breath, as Clint gave up when the hammer didn't move an inch. "He doesn't know what he's started."

And sure enough, Tony was the next to stand, casually unbuttoning his blazer as if the task would take nothing more than that. And so Sadie watched, quite contentedly from her position next to Steve as all lengths were taken to lift the hammer- parts of iron suits and even Bruce Banner's unfortunate attempt to channel some of Thor's strength.

Of course, Steve too decided to get up and give lifting the hammer a shot- which Sadie was only slightly mad about because it meant she could no longer use him as a human headrest. But she gave him a few quick words of encouragement like the rest of the team, and soon he began his attempt.

Sadie could've sworn she heard the screech of metal against glass as Steve's muscles flexed beneath his shirt, and it was enough to make her glance over at Thor, who wore a slightly confused and worrisome expression. It was enough to convince her that she hadn't been imagining the hammer move, but on Steve's second attempt he didn't appear to have much luck. The blond supersoldier threw his hands up, returning to his seat as the group conversed some more.

Sadie just looked at him with an eyebrow raised, a silent question which he understood, and when Steve shrugged, she decided to let it go for now.

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king," Tony said, raising yet another beer bottle to his lips. "But it's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Clint chorused.

Immediately, Mariah Hill jumped at the opportunity for a teasing joke that Sadie had heard perhaps one too many times during the course of the party. "Steve, he said a bad language word."

Steve shook his head in mild frustration, frustration directed at Tony. "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Tony just strategically changed the topic back to the hammer which sat unmoved on the table. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"

"Or there is there some kinda... I don't know, mysticism to it?" Sadie asked, curiously. "Like... is it sentient? Does it judge us all? Cause I gotta say I think there's some ethical issues if it's alive and you toss it around like that-"

"Yes, well, those are very, very interesting theories. I have a simpler one," Thor interrupted and as if it were the simplest thing in the world, he lifted the hammer and flipped it in the air. "You're all not worthy."

There was an instant chorus of disagreement, but before anybody could rebuttle the argument, there was a high pitched feedback noise- a screeching that made Sadie cover her ears until it faded.

"Worthy..." a metallic voice sounded from the doorway, and Sadie glanced up to see one of Tony's suits- beaten and broken and speaking before them. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stay behind me," Steve told her, already standing as Sadie got to her feet, his arm outstretched behind him as if to keep her a safe distance away. She complied. "Stark?"

"JARVIS?" Tony said, tapping on his digital watch. "Reboot Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit."

Sadie's heart rate quickened as there was no reply from Stark's digital assistant, instead, the suit continued to speak.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or..." a pause that made Sadie freeze as she realised something. "I was a-dream?"

"It's... it's like it's thinking," Sadie muttered quietly, although she wasn't sure if anyone heard. "Look at how it's moving. Like a man."

"There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in... in...strings," the suit continued, before saying something that stopped Sadie's thoughts cold. "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

Steve seemed equally as concerned, but his voice was steady as he questioned, "You killed someone?" He balled his fists and that was when Sadie knew this would end in a fight.

"Wouldn't have been my first call," the suit said casually- again, like a man. Sadie couldn't understand it. "But, in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

Thor was next to speak up. "Who sent you?"

That was when a recording played, a voice they all knew well enough to recognise. A voice the whole country could recognise. "I see a suit of armor around the world."

"Ultron," Banner said, shock in his voice. This thing had a name? Was it a person?

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...Christmas," Ultron spoke. It was disjointed. The words and phrases of a man but the body of a robot. It was unnatural, and it made Sadie incredibly scared. "But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha asked, and that was when Sadie realised they had all armed themselves defensively. All except for her. She let her hands begin to glow.

"Peace in our time," Ultron finished, and Sadie almost jumped out of her skin as multiple suits burst in through the wall, charging straight for them.

Sadie threw up a forcefield as Steve kicked up the coffee table in front of him- but he was sent flying backwards as the chaos began. It was all too quick for her to process, but there were gunshots and flying suits and she could hear Thor's hammer whipping through the air as metal hit metal.

She crouched, keeping up her forcefield as she scanned the room for a place to go, and make sure she didn't get in anyone's way. Spinning around, Sadie noticed Helen Cho, vulnerable and alone behind the grand piano, so Sadie rushed over to her colleague, extending the forcefield around them both as her heart raced, and they watch the fighting that ensued.

She spotted Steve making a running start towards one of the flying Iron Legions, and her heart leapt as she saw him jump through the air and right onto it's back.

Stupidly, Sadie called out, "Steve, get down from there!" but the suit only soared higher, reversing at a rapid speed and smashing the super soldier into the back wall, leaving cracks in its wake as Steve tumbled to the ground. Simultaneously, glass shattered above the heads of Sadie and Helen, and they both flinched, but the forcefield caused the glass to ricochet, keeping them safe and sound beneath it.

When Sadie looked back towards where Steve had fallen, he was already on his feet, so instead she looked for Natasha. The red-haired agent fired shots from behind the bar while Tony diving for some tools- Sadie regarded the difference in styles between Natasha and Tony. Force versus wit. But in the moment, both served as well as the other, and before Sadie knew it, the said billionaire was in the air similar to how Steve had been, sticking tools into an airborne Iron Legion.

Tony glanced over to where Sadie still crouched, her arms up as she focused on keeping the forcefield around herself and Helen. He cocked his head in slight surprise. "Nobody said the intern was super powered. Colour me impressed."

"Leave her out of this, Stark-" It was hard to place Steve's voice in all the noise and the chaos.

"Duly noted," Tony said, before jamming the tool further into the Iron Legion and dropping to the ground, using the immobilised suit to break his fall.

"Oh my god," Helen said from beside her, and Sadie quickly turned her attention back to the panicking woman. "Oh my god, we're going to die."

"Nobody is dying tonight," Sadie said to her firmly. "These are the Avengers. There couldn't be a safer place to be right now."

In a sickly irony, an Iron Legion which had been severed in half (likely from Thor's mighty hammer) floated towards them, raising its armed hand towards Helen. Sadie focused all her energy on the forcefield around them- it could not buckle then.

But curiously, the suit tilted its head away from Helen Cho- instead turning its aim towards Sadie and firing, the hard hit of the blast making her forcefield quake, but it held firm. They didn't have to put up with its presence for long as soon Steve was throwing the half-robot across the room aggressively, and Thor brought his hammer down on it, disengaging it forever.

"Keep that up," Steve told her, referring to Sadie's forcefield. He was barely out of breath.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Sadie responded, but he was already off again, catching his shield which had been thrown by...Barton? Banner? Sadie couldn't keep track, but soon the fight died down as Steve's shield broke down the final Legion.

"That was dramatic," Ultron said, his voice echoey and metallic. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through... You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?"

Sadie didn't let down her forcefield as she turned to Helen, giving her a once over to make sure she was alright after all the chaos that had ensued. She seemed to be in one piece, and so they stood, tentatively at the back of the room. Sadie turned her attention back to Ultron.

"There's only one path to peace," the robot finished. "The Avengers' extinction."

Before anyone could say anything else, Thor tossed his hammer at Ultron, causing metal and wires to smash to pieces. There was an eerie quiet for a moment, before Ultron's voice echoed from the broken suit. "I had strings, but now I'm free."

...
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Hi guys!!! So this is a much longer chapter than the last few, a few more developments in Shan's case and the partAy!!! I absolutely LOVED writing this- I wanted to avoid repeating too much dialogue from the film but I think I have an alright balance!

Let me know what you think :))

Also I hope everyone's doing well and that summer has been treating you all well :)

-Amber.