Chapter 27 - Parties and planning

                                    

                                          


                          


                          
Seven stood in front of the mirror and for the third time since she escaped the facility, a completely different person stared back at her. She was wearing a dress for the first time in her life, she was also wearing makeup, her face looking completely different too.  Surprisingly, she liked it. 
                          
The dress was black, just like her suit and it fell just above her knees. Her necklace lay on her collar bone, easily viable. She had no clue if anyone would see it tonight but she was happy for it to sit there openly. 
                          
Natasha was wearing something similar, the dress red and slightly more revealing than Seven's. The necklace however sat the same, on her collar bone.
                          
"You ready?" Natasha asked and Seven tore her eyes away from the mirror to reply.
                          
"Yeah," She looked at the clock which read 8:30. The party started at 8 but Natasha had said that they had to go slightly later to be 'fashionably late'.
                          
"You look great Seven, something new for you" Natasha reassured her, having watched her stare in the mirror for fifteen minutes straight. 
                          
"So do you" Seven complimented her, "dressing up for anyone in particular?" She asked accusingly, smirking.
                          
"No, dressing up for no one" She glared and Seven just shrugged, saying nothing.
                          
Seven sighed, she was exhausted. She knew that she wouldn't be in the comfort of her own bed until at least eleven which was way too late after the day she'd had. "Why am I even coming to this thing? Peter said they were usually adult-only" She whined, one final attempt of escaping.
                          
"I actually don't know, Tony said something about it being a tradition for the newbie to come to the parties" Natasha shrugged while applying mascara.
                          
"I'm guessing I'm the newbie?" She asked, already knowing the answer.
                          
"Mhmm" Natasha hummed while packing away her makeup into a small bag.
                          
Seven turned away towards the door, ready to go but before she could reach it she noticed something different. On Natasha's cabinet, there were all the old photos framed of the team but blue-tacked onto the wall next to it was a familiar sketch.
                          
Seven wondered over and looked at it closer, surely enough it was one she had drawn, remembering the day quite clearly. In the corner was 'Seven' and the date in faint pencil. Seven turned around to face her mother who was watching her closely, unsure how she would react.
                          
"Where did you get this?" She pointed to the drawing curiously. She hadn't seen the drawing in years since she moved away to the other side of the facility.
                          
"It was in the room, where I was shot" 
                          
"They had it up?" Seven asked
                          
"Yeah, it was up on the walls" Natasha shrugged
                          
"oh, okay" Seven beamed, the girls had kept it up, thinking of her. She was also extremely happy that something of hers was on her mother's wall.
                          
"Shall we go?" Natasha interrupted Seven's thoughts.
                          
"O-oh, yeah" Seven smiled before opening the door, immediately hearing faint music coming from down the hall.
                          


                          
The party was being held on the highest floor of the avenger's tower, far away from where the work actually happened. Seven and Natasha rode the elevator in silence, Seven anxiously picking at her fingernails. 
                          
Eventually, the elevator came to a stop and opened, loud music immediately hitting her eardrum making her eyes widen in shock.
                          
There weren't as many people as she was expecting but there were a lot of groups gathered, scattered amongst the large space. To her left was a large bar where there were several people, none of which she knew. In the far corner where the music was a lot quieter she could see lots of sofas, a few silhouettes scattered around.