zero | introduction
"don't give it up just yet"
- troye sivan (cover), "the fault in our stars"
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[AUGUST 2011]
The Stark twins, Astraea and Ares, walked down the hallway of the stone cathedral that was silent and had a noose that seemed to tie itself around their necks, waiting to be pulled. Their mother, Lorelei Stark, was being buried in the graveyard behind the church. Lorelei had an older brother, Anthony Stark, who was to take the twins if anything were to happen to her because her husband was dead.
Tony Stark stood in front of a limo outside of the cathedral, waiting for his niece and nephew to exit the stone building. His hands were folded in front of him, sunglasses shading his eyes from anyone's view. He was brokenhearted that his little sister was dead, at his hands nonetheless, and now he was to care for her children. Throughout his life, Tony had never been good with children, even his own family. The twins knew this, so they weren't expecting much from their uncle.
Watching as they moved fluidly, Tony saw how guarded they were. Astraea held her chin high in the air, not an ounce of pain on her face. Her eyes never looked to the ground, even though she wore five inch heels. By her side was Ares, who was void of any emotion. His stocky build was much taller than his sister, but they looked alike.
"Well, that was fun," Tony said while clapping his hands together and rubbing them when the twins stopped a few feet away from him. The Italian air blew around them, heating them with the sun. Tony saw that they didn't find him funny in the least. "So, do you want some food? I know this really good pizza place just down the road --"
"We'll be fine with going home," Astraea's English was choppy and barely understandable. It had been years since the girl spoke English, mainly sticking to Spanish. Tony didn't understand and Ares had to say it again, speaking English came easier to him.
Getting into the back of the limo with them, Tony instructed the driver to take them to a private air strip. The twins sat side by side, their calculating eyes taking one last look at their home. Lorelei took her children to Rome when they were six, choosing to raise them away from all the publicity that plagued them in America. She trained them in different types of fighting, telling them they needed to protect themselves.
It was a mystery as to why Lorelei did this, or how she knew self defense, but the twins stuck with it for their mother. Lorelei had her children when she was twenty-three and was diagnosed with cancer when she was thirty-two. She died at the age of thirty-nine, leaving the seventeen year old twins to be left in the care of their uncle. Astraea and Ares didn't know really know who their mother truly was, but they kept their emotions to themselves.
Tony, of course, knew everything about Lorelei: her secrets, her life, her children. He kept surveillance on her since she left America, but their contact was minimal. It's been a year since Tony came out as Iron Man, both of the twins knowing what he used to do and what he did now. Neither really cared, they just wanted to stay with him until they turned eighteen and then leave.
"So, I hear you two have already finished high school. Thank god because I couldn't handle having to take you to and from school," Tony continued to chatter as to not leave the limo in an awkward silence. Astraea and Ares didn't say a word and hardly spared him a glance as he spoke. Trailing off, Tony nodded his head. "Okay, then."
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[FEBRUARY 2015]
Astraea strutted in the aisle of the seats in the large room. A long, ivory dress painted her body and her hair was pin straight. In her ear sat an ear bud that flooded her head with Ares's voice. As a waiter passed, Astraea plucked a glass of champagne from his hands, giving him a lingering wink.
"We don't need you to flirt with every guy in the room, Astra."
Rolling her eyes, Astraea placed the glass in front of her lips to respond. Her dress had a slit that showed the majority of her left leg and she could feel people's stares on her as she continued to move around the room. "Ares, no one needs your depressing outlook. Plus, that guy looks like four inches. You know I only go for seven inches or more."
A disgusted gag came from her ear and Astraea smirked at nothing. Stopping at one of the tables that lined the room, she scanned it carefully. Her target was a Latino man that was trying to make a deal with an ex-SHIELD agent for information on an old case for new weapons and the twins were here to stop the transaction.
"Keep going straight and on your left there'll be a door - take it."
Doing as told, Astraea moved carefully as to not be seen. Slipping out of the ball room, she sighed and waited a few seconds before stepping down the hall. Red carpet lined the floor and a golden color littered the walls, making Astraea run her fingers over the design. "Now what, big brother?"
"Five feet ahead there'll be an emergency staircase on your right. Go down one floor."
Her talls heels made no sound on the stone floor, which slightly disappointed the Stark girl. It was one of SHEILD's new advances: soundless heels. Astraea was fond of the clacking sound, it reminded her of Lorelei.
Going down the stairs, she reached the door to the maintenance hallway rather quickly. Holding her clutch in one hand and the door knob with the other, her head peaked out into the hallway. Seeing a buff man standing in the hallway, Astraea pulled back and ruffled her hair before taking a deep breath.
Giggles flooded the air as Astraea stumbled down the hall. The man look up and saw the beautiful girl coming towards him and his stature seemed to grow. When Astraea reached him she fell into his arms, "Oh my god! Where is this bathroom? Chris? Is that you? I've missed you! Do you remember that great party in Quebec? Oh, fun times."
"Ma'am, this is a restricted area. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he grabbed Astraea's biceps tightly, but the girl didn't feel it. She giggled again and pulled out of his grip to lay a hand on his muscled chest.
"But we're friends, right, Chris? And friends help each other, right?" Astraea's finger moved up and down the man's chest. She was toying him and it was working, as always. He was falling under her spell, like everyone did. When the man nodded his head, Astraea moved her lips closer to his ear. Her red matte lips barely touching his ear. "So you'll help me find the bathroom?"
When he nodded his head, Astraea grinned and allowed the man to lead her down the hall. Normally, the Stark girl would knock him out and find her own way, but the blue prints to the basement of the building were hard to find so she had to stick to manipulation.
Two minutes had passed before Astraea saw the room that she needed to be in. Pretending to stumble, she clicked a button on her snake bracelet that slithered down her wrist until it was a whip. Flicking her finger, the whip circled around his neck and choked him until he passed out. Continuing down the hall, Astraea spoke to her brother, "I'm here."
"I hate having to listen to you flirt your way into somewhere."
"Stop being so over protective," Astraea told Ares and ducked behind a filing cabinet. Opening her clutch, she pulled out a small gun and cocked it before clicking her earpiece. "Now, can you please tell me what I'm supposed to find."
"There will be at least five guards in the room, take them out. If Tony's diagram was right, a door will be on the right and that's where the key is."
Stepping out from behind the cabinet, Astraea rolled her eyes with a sigh. The gun was ready in her hands, aiming ahead. "I still can't believe that we're in Paris for a stupid key. Do you know how many good stores I could be in right now? I also don't understand why I'm here and you're back in the hotel room."
"SHIELD wants it, that should be enough for you, Astra. And don't act like you didn't go shopping before you got ready for the mission. Plus, we flipped a coin. That's pretty understandable."
Astraea opened the door and held her gun up. Three shot rang out as she hit three of the seven men in the shoulder. They fell to the ground, passed out. One ran towards her and Astraea kicked his chest. A second came at her from behind and wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the ground.
He ended up messing up her hair and Astraea got angered. Throwing her head back, she broke his nose with spite. He dropped his arms around her and she turned around and kneed him in the leg before punching him so hard he fell to the ground. "Do you know how long that took me? Straight hair doesn't come easily to some people, bud. Don't touch the hair."
The first man ran back up to her and Astraea side swept his legs before watching as he fell to the ground. He landed with an oomph and she stepped on his chest to make him stay down. The last man came up to her and pointed his gun in her face. Astraea crossed her hands before pushing them up and hitting his wrists. The gun tumbled from his hands and she landed a nice punch to his trachea.
"Bye-bye," she sang while stepping over the bodies that littered the floor. Seeing the door, she opened it and saw the key. Picking it up she turned and walked out of the door, stepping on some of the men's chests for the fun of it. "Key is secure, leaving now."
"Good job, Astra. I'll order some room service for when you get back."
Almost moaning at the sound of food, Astraea nodded her head. Readjusting her clutch and fixing her hair as she stepped up the stairs, she agreed. "Food sounds heavenly right now, Ar. Get those really good desert things that are like cookies with icing."
"They're called macaroons, Astra. And there's a surprise when you get back."
"What kind of surprise?"
"You'll see when you get here."
-
The hotel the Stark twins were staying in was lavish and expensive, their uncle's taste. Astraea winked to the receptionist as she passed by her and into the elevator. Clicking the penthouse button, Astraea turned to watch the view of Paris get prettier as the elevator rose higher in the air.
"Food's on the table," Ares pointed out to his sister when she entered the room. He as sitting on the couch watching television in jeans and a t-shirt. Astraea sighed and grabbed a desert before sitting next to her brother. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "You should probably go change."
"I'm so tired," she complained before shoving the macaroon into her mouth and heading into her room. Quickly taking off the dress and putting on black jeans and a black long sleeve, she went back into the living room. "So what's that surprise you were talking about?"
Another person was in the room that Astraea saw when she sat next to her brother once again. Rolling her eyes at him, Astraea groaned and crossed her arms. Tony sent her a flat look before sitting forward, "I don't like when you go out on missions on your own."
"If Ares was going out on missions on his own would you say you didn't like it either? Or is this just sexism?" Astraea retorted while grabbing Ares's water from the table and taking a sip. "Plus, I wasn't alone. Ares was on COMS with me the entire time."
"Unfortunately," he muttered while swatting at his sister to get his drink back. Ares sat forward, though, and glanced between the two. "I don't completely agree with him, but I think that you need to be more careful. Take less risks."
Shooting her brother a glare, Astraea scooted away from him. A deep frown was on her face as she saw the two were trying to gang up on her and force her down. Astraea Stark was not going to be protected by other because she could do it damn well herself. "I don't need either one of you to protect me, thank you very much. I've saved both of your asses too many times to count."
"I just think that you two should go on missions together," Tony held his hands in the air at the twenty-three year old's hostility. "I'm not telling you that you can't do anything. I worry about you two and it would make me feel better if you would work in the field together. Not that I think you can't handle it on your own."
Astraea crossed her legs while looking at her brother with raised eyebrows. Ares was always saying how they should go into the field together, but someone needed to do surveillance and neither of the twins wanted to invite a new person into their little duo. She was unimpressed with their little game. "How do you get everyone on your side, Ares?"
"We swore to protect each other, of course he's on my side," Ares replied to his sister and took his drink back. He took a sip before setting it on the table and shrugging. "Plus, I always end up winning heads-or-tails so I never get to go out."
"It's not my fault you're good at flipping a coin," Astraea said flatly. Sighing, she sat back into the couch and placed her feet under her. Looking at her uncle she raised her eyebrows, "So what are you really doing here, Tony?"
"The Avengers need your help finding Loki's scepter."
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cast |
astraea stark | emeraude toubia
ares stark | matthew daddario
lorelei stark |
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other information |
astraea - [meaning] greek goddess of justice
ares - [meaning] greek god of war
lorelei - [meaning] feminine water spirit (siren or mermaid)
*this is not a hint to the story this is just information*
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[an]
this story will have love interests that probably won't come until civil war or maybe earlier for ares