The Superheroes' Soulmate

Chapter 3 - It's Complicated

Scott walked into the Avenger Tower. It still felt weird to be here, like he didn't belong. He might do the superhero thing, but he got pulled into all this because of a very specific mission–stopping Darren Cross. And that was a while ago now. Sure, okay, maybe he ended up helping Cap with that whole thing with Bucky and that was like six months after Hank, Hope and he had beaten Cross.

But that was just a matter of helping your personal heroes out, ya know? Never in a million years did he expect he would walk in this tower as part of the official team. After ending up in the Raft only to be broken out by none other than Cap himself, and then the house arrest because of the whole breaking of the Accords bullshit, and then the parole....Scott shook his head. Again, it was just not something he expected to happen.

He wished he could blame the Avengers for the dissolution of things between him and Hope and even Hank; but he really couldn't. Hope had found her soulmate. He couldn't fault her for that. And Hank might have been upset that Scott had shown the suit to the team, but he understood that once he gave that suit to Scott, he had relinquished control because he didn't actually want it anymore.

Even if he still got a little star-struck by them from time to time, the fact was that the team had become a kind of family. Something he didn't even realize he was missing after losing Cassie. After losing Maggie. And after losing Hope and Hank.

In the elevator, Scott shook his head, looking up when a musical Irish voice asked, "Where to, Mr. Lang?"

"The common floor is just fine, thanks F.R.I.D.A.Y."

As the elevator hummed softly and climbed, Scott focused his thoughts back on Lexi. Had she basically friend zoned him? On Friday night, after they had returned from the bar, he had been certain she wanted him to make a move. He nearly did, but chickened out at the last second, kissing her on the cheek instead.

Maybe that's why she didn't want to go on a date. Maybe he already messed this up. Shit, why was this so hard? His other relationships weren't like this. He was supposed to be a charmer. A smooth operator.

The elevator door opened, and he put the thoughts aside for the time being. Way out of his mind. Right now, he didn't want to get interrogated by a bunch of super geniuses and super spies. Then he remembered Wanda. The young woman could read minds. Shit. Maybe she wasn't in the common area right now.

He was still standing in the middle of the elevator, staring out into the room, stuck in thought. Clint stopped as he was walking by. "Scott? You okay?"

Scott smiled briefly and stepped out of the elevator. "Yeah, of course. Hey, do you know who is around?

The archer motioned vaguely with the coffee cup he was holding. "The kids are around here somewhere, and I think the science bros are currently camping out in the lab again."

The kids were Pietro and Wanda, Sokovian twins who experimented on and trained by Hydra and eventually defected to the Avengers and Parker, a genius teenager who was Stark's protégé. The science bros were Banner and Stark.

Scott nodded as he wandered into the kitchen and grabbed his own cup of coffee. Clint followed him in, boosting himself up on the counter and staring. Scott scowled, "What?"

Clint just smiled into the cup. "So, are you planning on telling anyone why you wanted to know when Stark was out of the tower like a month ago?"

Scott leaned back, considering things. "Eventually."

There was a breeze and Clint's cup was gone. The archer stared at his empty hand and then looked up at the silver-haired man smirking at him and drinking his coffee. "What? You didn't see that coming?"