Millie looks at her appearance in the mirror. She nods satisfied with her makeup work and leaves the small bathroom. "Oh my god!" She shouts as she covers her eyes. Mason is standing outside the door, completely nude. "Dude!" She shouts as she runs away and down the stairs. She points upstairs as she sees her mother googling at Margot.

      "Why does he still live here?" Millie asks sourly. Kayden makes baby noises at Margot. "Because," She starts in a baby voice, making Margot giggle. "He doesn't have a job." Millie sighs exasperatedly and walks into the kitchen. "You could just kick him out, y'know. It's not that hard." Kayden ignores Millie's bitterness.

      Millie opens the fridge and grabs the orange juice and frowns. It's empty. "Maddie." Millie growls. Maddie always drinks all the juice in the house. Millie tosses the empty carton into the fridge and storms out of the kitchen. "I'm heading out. I'll be back in a few hours." Millie shouts as she grabs her bag and leaves the Maverick residence. She sees Mike in the front yard with the hose.

      He tries to spray her, but she runs away before he can. As she walks down the street she gives Mike the finger. She hears him drop the hose. "Dad!" He shouts as he runs into the house. Millie squeals and runs down the street faster.

      Millie pays for her vanilla steamer and coffee cake at the Peet's Coffee in Queens, New York. She moans happily as the warm liquid runs down her throat, soothing it after her early morning yelling at Mike (Nothing new there).

      As much as she hates to admit it, she loves her siblings. Even if they dump water on her head, drankk all the OJ, or walk around naked. She can't really complain about ehr younger siblings. Mackenzie and Max are angels (although her parents favoritism towards Kenzie can be unbearable at times) and Margot is... Margot. Being seven months old there is no room for embarrassing moments, or anger inducement.

      We are not talking about the time she puked all over one of Millie's favorite shirts.

      They all look out for her and she does the same for them. Molly may seem out of the picture due to her move out of the house and constant busyness, but she does try to call Millie whenever she gets the chance. Millie loves knowing what she's working at the newly named 'Avengers Tower'.

      Millie has always wanted to go there. Just to be in the same building as the Avengers would be a true dream come true. Like, c'mon, they're the Avengers. Who wouldn't want to meet them?

      Milo claims he's met a couple of them before. Black Widow and Hawkeye to be specific. No one has believed him. What hope does a lawyer have to meet two freakin' Avengers?

      And that's his job. Their mother, Kayden, is a scientist at a local college. At least, that's what they tell their children. Their jobs are actually much more dangerous. They work for S.H.I.E.L.D, the formerly corrupt government agency. Phil Couson approached them a few years ago regarding Millie's.... Abilities. They had two choices. Turn her over, or work for S.H.I.E.L.D.

      They clearly chose the latter.

      Millie takes her phone out as it rings. "Hello?" She asks after she sees Maddie's name flash across the screen. Millie stops walking as Maddie speaks to her. Her face falls and her eyes fill with tears. "What? No! He promised-" Millie gasps and hangs up. She tosses her drink and snack into the garbage next to her and takes off down the street.

      This is not how she wanted her birthday to go.

☁

      Millie barges into the Maverick residence and sees her two older siblings at the kitchen counter. "Millie-" Maddie starts as she walks over to her sister. Millie shakes her head and takes off up the stairs. Maddie sighs and Mason stands next to her, Margot in his arms. "Did they even say where they were going?" He asks as he glances up the stairs.

      Maddie shakes her head. "No," She says sadly. "They never do." Occasionally, Milo and Kayden will take off in a hurry, claiming there was an emergency at work. They work in completely different locations and yet they appear to be heading in the same direction.

      Milo had promised Millie days ago that he and Kayden would be there for her birthday.

      Look how that turned out.

      Millie slams her bedroom door shut and crashes onto her bed. She hides her face in her blankets, but her body shakes as she silently cries. It's not fair. It's one birthday and they can't even manage that. She knows she should be grateful. Her mutation is hidden, she has a family that loves her, but she just wanted her parents to be there for her on one of the hardest days of the year.

      "Millie?" A voice calls as Millie's bedroom door creaks open. Millie peaks out of her blankets and sees Mike standing there, a frown on his face. "Are you okay?" He asks quietly. Millie sniffles and nods, sitting up in her bed. "Yeah," She says, her voice thick. "I'm fine Mike." Her brother stares at her for a moment, then runs forward, jumping on her bed and pulling her into a hug.

      Millie hugs him back tightly. "I'm sorry for ruining your birthday." Mike mumbles. Millie shakes her head and rests her chin on Mike's head. "You didn't ruin it Mike." Mike nods slowly and Millie looks up to see two more figures standing in her bedroom door. Mackenzie and Max.

      Millie smiles at them and offers her arm. They both run over to her bed and hug her tightly. Then the two elders arrive in the doorway. "Dogpile!" Mason shouts as he runs into the room. "Mason!" They all shouts as he lands on top of them all. Maddie walks into the room and leans against the shouting pile of Maverick siblings.

      Margot garbles happily as she grabs Mason's hair and yanks hard. The eldest brother shouts in pain. "Margot!" He shouts. Margot giggles. Millie groans from the bottom of the pile. "You guys are crushing me!" Millie hears footsteps and tries to crane her neck to look at who it is.

      "Got room for one more?" Millie's face lights up at the sound of the voice. "Molly!" She shouts happily. Molly laughs and sets her purse down, walking over to Millie's bed and sitting down. She lays down so she can see Millie's face and smiles at her, laughing slightly when she sees how red her face is.

      "How you feeling?" She asks softly. Millie smiles widely at her. "Better now." Molly smiles and nods. She stands up and jumps on top of Mason. Everyone under her groans in pain.

☁

      Molly Maverick sits in the living room monching on her slice of red velvet cake. Margot lays between two pillows next to her, sound asleep. Mackenzie and Max are curled up on the floor in a blanket nest. Mason and Mike sit on the couch perpendicular to the one Molly is on. Mason is passed out, a fork handing out of his mouth while Mike plays on his hand-me-down nintendo.

      Maddie is in the kitchen cooking something sweet. She's always baking. Molly doesn't ever complain because of how good she is at it. It's almost 10 o'clock at night. Everyone is tired from their chaotic evening. Molly, Mason, and Maddie all tried to make the evening as best as they could for Millie.

      She put on a smile, but they all knew how upset she was. It's how Millie has always been. She's hard to read, but they knew she was struggling. Being a mutant isn't easy these days. They know how dangerous it is, but none of them understand how terrifying it is and none of them try to. Millie is the only one that understands.

      After cake she went up to her bedroom. After going through her nightly routine she wrote in her journal. It's how she keeps track of everything in her life. Her mutation, any changes she feels, her emotions, and she even has a whole page dedicated to tally marks for Mike's pranks.

      She always tracks her outbursts of power so she had to mark down how she lost control earlier that day with Mike. She didn't hurt him, but the same couldn't be said about her old school classmates. She stopped going to school after she hurt a student with her clouds.

      For as harmless as they may seem, the clouds are rather dangerous. No one knows exactly how they work, and honestly no one wants to, but when the student came into contact with them, they passed out. They were in the hospital for weeks with what seemed like radiation poisoning. After that incident the Mavericks moved away from California to New York.

      Millie has been homeschooled since.

      "Molly, where is she?" Millie hears her mother ask from downstairs. One of Millie's perks of being a mutant is her senses. She can hear more than normal people, see things more clearly, smell things from far away (comes in handy when there is that mysterious burning smell in the house. Future note: lock the oven. Little children like to put their elmo toys in there), and certain textures are too bothersome for her. Millie only uses soft sheets.

      "In her room. I think she's sleeping." Molly tells Kayden. Millie hears footsteps going up the stairs. She turns her bedroom light out and lays in her bed. Someone opens Millie's door and looks in. From the shadow on Millie's wall, she can tell it is her father. He sighs and walks in. Millie snaps her eyes closed as he leans down and places a kiss on her forehead. "Night kiddo." He tells her, then leaves.

      "How upset is she?" Milo asks as he walks down the stairs. "It's Millie." Molly starts. "She puts on an act, but I can tell she's hurt." Millie hears Milo sigh. "I know I promised her, but Fury called us in for an emergency. There has been an increase of mutant activity in the city." Millie creases her brows. What is he talking about? He's a marriage lawyer. He doesn't deal with mutants, and who is Fury?

      "I still don't see why you don't tell her what your job really is." Molly mutters. There is a rustling and Millie assumes Molly is picking Margot up off the couch. "You know why." Kayden tells Molly. "If we want to keep her safe, then we need to keep her in the dark." Millie's lips part. What the hell are they talking about?

      Millie hears Molly sigh. "Fine. Just don't be surprised when she finds out on her own. Millie is smart. You don't give her enough credit to figure this out." Millie smiles a bit at hearing her sister advocate for her. "I say you tell her before she finds out on her own. She may not forgive you. What you two are doing..." Molly trails off. "Millie will not like it, and frankly, neither do I."

      There is a beat of silence, then Molly's heals click across the floor. "I have to go. I have work early in the morning." The front door opens, then closes. Millie stares blankly at her wall. None of what she just heard makes any sense, but Millie also knew she wasn't going to stop until she gets answers.