The Avengers Weakness

Chapter Forty-Five

Peter was sitting at the end of Penny's bed with Morgan; the thirteen year old was in a similar position as her brother and younger sister with her legs crossed in front of her. A small table with wheels on the bottom of it separated them, a connect four game on the top of it. Wanda was standing behind the thirteen year old, gently braiding back the teen's long brown curls. Morgan giggled as she won for the third time and slid the bar on the bottom of the game, letting the pieces fall onto the table. Peter reached out and started organizing the pieces, pushing the yellow ones towards Penny and the red ones towards him and the younger girl. Morgan placed her first piece in the third slot from the left; Penny followed suit in the right corner. Morgan dropped one next to her own piece and Penny blocked her off from being able to do four in a row. The eight year old whined a little and put a red tile next to her sister's first piece. Penny nodded in acknowledgement and dropped a piece on top of it, Morgan dropped another piece in the board and the game continued until Penny won. It was Tuesday afternoon, three days after Penny had had her splenectomy; she was still in the medbay but was expected to be discharged within the next couple of days; the others were just keeping her company at the moment. After three more rounds of connect four, Wanda declared that they needed to get a start on their homework. Peter nodded and started disassembling the blue connect four board while Morgan scooped the pieces into the box. After they put the game away, Bruce came in and gave Penny a quick checkup before leaving the group to study for their upcoming exams. Morgan slipped out of Peter's lap and crawled under the table up to where Penny was seated. The eight year old took her seat next to the younger teenager and looked over her arm at the biology work that Penny was finishing up. Morgan only had one and a half weeks of school left where the older kids had almost four before they were done for the year. She had no homework of her own, so she spent her time "helping" the older kids study. Her "help" consisted of asking small, quiet questions from Peter, Penny and sometimes Wanda, organizing their highlighters and pens and other similar activities. Peter stayed at his spot at the end of the bed, his legs crossed with his engineering textbooks in his lap. He chewed on the tip of his red pen as he scribbled down last-minute notes that he knew were unnecessary, but did it anyway, because he always stressed himself out over exams even though he knew everything already. Wanda had taken his old seat by the bed. Her red hair tied up in a braid over her shoulder, with her legs crossed under herself. She had a medical tray flipped upside down over the arms of the chair to make a little desk top to rest her textbook and notebook on top of. Her highlighters and her pens in her lap while she studied over her notes and book.

Pietro slipped in before Kate and Yelenda did. He had a towel draped over his shoulder, his ash blond hair that reached just past his ears was slicked back and dripping wet. He was carrying his backpack in his left hand and his laptop tucked under his arm. He took the seat at the end of the thirteen year old's hospital bed like he always did, not failing to notice Wanda eying the brace on his right hand. He averted his eyes from his twin and unzipped his backpack, pulling out his Stark Tech earbuds. Wanda lifted a hand and waved it towards her twin, a red mist enveloped the towel over his shoulders and it started furiously rubbing his head. He groaned and started swatting the enhanced linen away, failing for a few moments, making his sister laugh lightly in amusement. The towel suddenly dropped on his head, it's life suddenly gone; he pulled it off, finding his hair no longer dripping wet from his after training shower. He dropped it on the top of his backpack and plugged the earbuds into his ears, turning his body to where he was leaning against one arm of the chair and his legs dangling over the other. He turned on his laptop and pressed play on his review video. He found watching videos and listening to audiobooks or having his notes being read back to him better for his studying than reading and looking over his books and notes. Kate and Yelena came in fifteen minutes into the session, Pietro glanced up from his computer and smirked at the pair. He could tell the two had just returned from a date. They were both dressed nicely and Kate was wearing makeup. Kate's hair was slicked back into a long, neat ponytail while she sported a pair of wide legged high waisted pants, flats and a lacy white, floral embroidered tank top. She shushed him when he opened his mouth to tease the pair. She sat in the window seat like she always did and slipped off her shoes. She wiped off her already smudged red lipstick with a tissue she found in her backpack as she set it down below her feet. Pietro averted his gaze when Yelena cut him a glare, her green eyes holding unveiled threats that he was pretty sure that she'd follow through on. She sat next to Kate, adjusting the hem of her green dress, crossing her legs as she started yet another Quizlet for her U.S. History class. Kate's hand slipped over to her knee and she started absentmindedly playing with the mesh overlay of Yelena's dress.