Chapter 65

"You could say that," Steve replied.

"Yeah, well, that didn't stop you going out and getting a job, even if it is with S.H.I.E.L.D.," Tony retorted. "In fact, all of you have to work to make ends meet; Harry there runs a coffee shop of all things!"

"I have the Den to give me something to do and because I enjoy it. I don't need it to make money," Harry said.

"You don't?" Tony asked disbelief clear in his voice. "What, magic people can just make money appear out of the sky?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Tony," Harry retorted. "If I need money, I've got a couple of vaults full of gold in Gringotts. Goblins are amazing investors, after all."

"Goblins?" Clint muttered, shaking his head. "Man, everything that I thought I knew is being turned on its head. Next thing you'll be telling me is that unicorns and fairies and dragons are all real as well."

"They are. What do you think my clothes are made from?" Harry asked. "It's all dragon skin, the strongest natural material there is."

"Right, well, that's all I had for you. So, show's over people," Tony said.

"The pizza has been ordered and is on its way, Sir," Jarvis piped up unexpectedly, eliciting murmurs of happiness from all there.

ooo00ooo

Central Park in New York City was over eight hundred and forty acres of grass and trees and even a zoo, all carefully manicured and sculptured for people to enjoy. Winding paths and seating, lighting and picnic areas, were all abundant. For the city that never sleeps, it was their oasis in the midst of their concrete jungle.

But for Doreen Green, Central Park was far too sterile. It was nothing like the woods and forested areas outside of Los Angeles that she'd grown up in. She loved the wild nature of her second home, most likely a by-product of her mutated genes.

With that in mind, it had been no wonder that the instant that she'd disembarked from the final bus that'd brought her to New York, that she'd made a beeline for the famous park. She'd wandered its many paths and tree-covered lanes and avenues until she'd finally found what she'd been looking for.

Her sharp ears had caught the sounds first and a chitter in her ear from Monkey Joe had confirmed it: there were squirrels nearby.

She'd left the path, venturing deeper in amongst the trees to a small clearing where she'd firstly dropped her pack before going to her knees in the grass.

ʆ"Hello?"ʆ she called in squirrelese.

It took another two calls before the first curious head had popped out from a small hole high in one of the trees. Seeing it, she smiled.

ʆ"Hi! I'm Doreen,"ʆ she said.

Cautiously, the squirrel crept further out from its home, its front paws inching down the trunk of its tree.

ʆ"You speak like us,"ʆ the squirrel chittered.

A tapping on her thigh had Doreen absently reaching into one of the nut sacks attached to her belt and handing Monkey Joe a nut.

ʆ"I do,"ʆ she replied.

ʆ"How?"ʆ

By now, there were an additional four other squirrels observing her.

ʆ"I was born this way,"ʆ Doreen explained. ʆ"There are a lot of ways that I'm squirrel-like."ʆ

ʆ"Can you show us?"ʆ a squirrel off to the left that she hadn't yet noticed asked.

ʆ"Sure,"ʆ she replied.

She was just about to get up to do so when a lumbering crashing sound came from the bushes behind her.

ʆ"'Reen!"ʆ Monkey Joe screeched, the same instant that all of the other squirrels vanished from sight.

Doreen had just enough time to turn before a man disappeared into the bushes again, taking her backpack with him.

"Hey!" she yelled.

Instantly, she was on her feet and hurtling after him.

Bursting from the bushes, she saw the figure of a man running down a path to her right, her backpack swinging wildly from one hand, and she took off after him. The man was quick, but against Doreen, it was almost as though he was merely out for a slow jog. It took less than a minute before she was close enough to push off in one giant leap towards him.

Doreen led with her elbow, allowing it to strike him right between the shoulder blades, her full body weight, such as it was, right behind it.

The thief let out a woof of air as he crashed to the ground, the pack falling away as he skidded forward for an extra metre or so.

Using her enhanced reflexes, Doreen was able to ride out the fall quite easily, coming to a stop crouched on the man's back, her eyes narrowed.

"It's not nice to steal from people," she stated harshly.

A muffled something came from the man's face planted into the ground that she chose to interpret as an apology.

"Don't do it again; I won't be so nice about it next time," she warned.

The man was still laying there even after she'd risen to her feet, grabbed up her pack and headed back towards the trees where she'd left Monkey Joe and all of her potential new friends.

ooo00ooo

Web-slinging, Peter found, was good to clear the cobwebs out. Ever since the incident on the Williamsburg Bridge, he'd had a lot to think about – the Lizard; saving that boy, Jack; what he wanted to do with these powers that he had. But swinging through the city was the perfect exercise to give his mind a rest. It all became soothing, automatic. Simply shoot a web and swing before shooting the next one.

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