I would like to thank MikiMouze16 for reviewing both chapters. Anyone how favorited or added Freak to your alerts, I thank you as well, but I kinda need you to review this chapter. There are some important questions at the end, and I need them answered.

Chapter 3- Grin

I woke up, later than usual, to the sound of my door creaking open. My eyes flew open and my head lifted off the pillow. No one was coming in.

While I waited, I stood up and walked over to the little plants by my windowsill. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like they had grown overnight. Voices started outside. I threw on a robe over 'my' pajamas.

As I stared intently at the small green plants, I tried to figure out what they would grow into. Flowers, I decided. One felt red, and the other felt yellow. Chrysanthemums? I shook my head to rid myself of confusion. While I did that, I heard footsteps.

Quickly I turned. Thor was standing in my doorway, looking tenderly at something just outside. He mumbled something in his deep voice, and a high soprano trilled back.

A little bit louder, Thor said, "Come, little one. She has woken."

Soft footsteps slowly started. I caught a flash of brunette before something threw itself onto Thor's back. Thor only chuckled and walked forward. The same soprano voice whispered something.

"Let us see," Thor said at a normal volume now. When nothing happened, he turned his head to the side. "Well?"

The thing on his back fell off and hit the floor with a thud. It scampered forward and sat at my feet. The thing turned out to be a girl. She couldn't have been older than 5 years old. Her hair was dark brown curls that cascaded over her elbows. A black and white checkered dress, red mary janes, and an odd glowing indigo pendant on a silver chain made up her outfit. I was a bit put off by her eyes, though. They were very large, framed with dark eyelashes, and the irises were impossibly gray.

She looked up at me. A huge smile slowly transformed her face. Thor walked further into my room, his amusement evident. "This child is Alice Jubilee."

The girls face scrunched up. "Nuh-uh! Is not!"

Thor grinned. "However, she prefers to be referred to as Cheshire, because she has a tendency to go against all she is told that she is. This girl has abilities not of any world I have yet seen. She is under my care while I remain on Midguard. They meant for her to be the Man of Iron's, but she did not take a liking to the metal man."

The perplexing child, Cheshire, had gotten up to look at my flowers. Her gray eyes were fixated on the stems. Intelligence and curiosity burned behind her gaze. I resisted the urge to yell at her, to get her away from them. Because that urge scared me. Who didn't want a cute kid around?

She lifted her eyes to meet my gaze. "I am Chess!" She announced happily. She held up a hand, fingers spread apart. "I am 5 years old!"

With that, she ran back to Thor. She and the god looked at each other for a moment. Love and adoration radiated from them. Then Thor placed her on his back. Carefully, she moved up onto his shoulders. Cheshire looked down at me with a sweet, childish smile.

"Would you like to accompany us to breakfast?" Thor asked me politely.

I considered. I could either stay in my room and starve or eat in a room full of people I didn't know. It was like school all over again. The inconvenience of hunger won out. I nodded and Thor turned and started leading me to the kitchen. Cheshire raised a fist like she was going to erupt into a battle cry.

The kitchen was very nice. A large, dark, circular table rested on beige tile. 10 chairs surrounded it, and 5 of them were occupied. Black Widow, Iron Man, Captain America, the woman who kept ogling Iron Man, and the man who introduced himself as Dr. Banner all sat around the table. The actual kitchen was large as well. Sleek black technology lined the wall.

Of all people, Hawkeye stood at the griddle, his sleeves pulled up. A spatula in hand. A pan of bacon sizzled to one side of him. Next to that pan was a heaping pile of golden hash browns. Pancakes sighed on the griddle as he watched them like a hawk. The simile made me grin and left out a quiet chuckle.

The chuckle I let out made all of them whip their heads in my direction. They looked surprised that I could show emotion. Quickly, I made my face blank again. But their eyes remained on me.

"Pancakes, anyone?" Hawkeye called out from the kitchen. Cheshire shouted gleefully and ran over to him.

"Me, Clint! Me, Clint! Me, Clint! Me!" She grabbed his pant leg and he smiled down at her. He took a plate and put on a pancake and a bit of hash browns before gently handing it to the little girl. She smiled at him and with unnecessary amounts of cautiousness, went back to the table. Cheshire settled in a chair and then looked at me.

"Come on Zoe! Come sit by me!" I didn't even know that she knew my name. With no better plan, I hesitantly sat in the chair she indicated. Thor sat on her other side. The amount of food on his plate made me gag. No one could eat that much. No one.

Everyone else got their food while I just awkwardly sat next to Cheshire. She didn't really understand the point of breakfast it seemed. The point was to eat, not to chatter.

"The pancakes are good. Uncle Clint should make pancakes every morning. Are you gonna get pancakes? You should probably get some pancakes. They're good. Hey, Tony. Tony. Tony. Know what we should do today? We should play Hide and Seek! I found a good hiding spot yesterday. So I don't wanna seek. Nope nope nope. Tasha! Tasha! Are you gonna show me more cool stuff today? Please?! Yay! Maybe Bruce could seek. Or Steve. And Zoe! Zoe could seek!"

After Cheshire had finished ranting she looked at me, to see what I thought of her idea. I was at what was left of the food, getting myself a bit of hash browns and scrambled eggs. When she asked, I froze. Then I went back to my seat and shrugged. No words came to me.

Tony smiled at me. "Hide and Seek is an entire day long escapade in StarkTower. Everyone slinks around like scary cats." He wiggled his fingers. "There are two seekers and a ton of other house rules applying only to the Avengers. Trust me, you'll love it. Hide and Seek tomorrow. The seekers will be-" He left the end open for someone else to supply the answer.

"Zoe!" cried Cheshire.

Dr. Banner looked pensive. "We can't have Clint or Natasha seek, because they know where the other would hide. Pepper has meetings. Tony cheats. Thor and Alice, sorry, Cheshire, know where each other are at all times. That leaves me or Steve."

He and Steve exchanged looks. Steve smiled. "I found a pretty good spot too, Bruce."

Dr. Banner looked over at me. "That leave me."

Tony grinned. "Brucie Boy and Zoe-kins. Now that that's settled, everyone has a day to plan and prepare."

Prepare? It was freaking Hide and Seek. It's not a tactical game. It would make me shudder to see them play paintball. The rest of the day, I hardly saw any of the Avengers except for Bruce, who slowly filled me in on all the rules.

Tomorrow would be…interesting.

Here are the questions!

Cheshire. Like or dislike? I need to know. It's important.

Hide and Seek. Lots of coverage of short overview. Also important.

Any other things that you think should happen with Zoe, Ches, and the crew? I know where this is going, but I don't know how to get there.

I won't be near a computer for 5 days, so you have plenty of time to get back to me.