Avengers: A Wedding At Last

Epilogue: Uniform

Franklin greeted Kyle and Steve with a wagging tail when they arrived. Having just seen Thor and Dean off for the honeymoon, the couple was fairly tired and ready to relax.

"That was probably the most fun I've ever had at a wedding," Kyle said as he walked into the kitchen to get a drink.

Steve sat down on the sofa and Franklin promptly leaped you onto his lap. "Well, when the Avengers party, they party," he said with a grin.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Kyle asked.

"Sure," Steve said. "I'll take a..."

Kyle tilted his head in confusion. "You'll take a what?"

Silence.

Kyle's pulse quickened. He set the bottle of water down on the counter and moved into the living room to find Steve and Franklin still sitting on the sofa.

"Steve?"

But Steve didn't answer. Instead, he simply sat there and stared off into space. Franklin, too, was in stasis. Kyle had once had a student in his class who would have absence seizures. Seizures where he would completely check out, staring off into space.

But Kyle knew this wasn't an absence seizure.

"Okay. You can come out now," he grumbled as he turned around and found himself face-to-face with Professor Xavier.

"Don't worry about Steve," Xavier said in a calm voice. "They're perfectly fine. When we leave and I release them it will be like no time passed at all for them."

Kyle folded his arms over his chest and scowled. "Oh, don't worry. I know exactly how your little brain freezes work. Would you like to tell me why you broke into my apartment and put my boyfriend and dog in a coma?"

"Because we need you to come back," a familiar voice spoke from behind Xavier.

Kyle's eyes widened as he watched Jean walk out of the hall and stand beside Xavier's wheelchair. She wore a sleeveless green sundress and had her long red hair styled in a side braid. There was a look of sorrow that tainted her beautiful features.

"Why?" Kyle asked as he tried to pretend Jean's presence hadn't shaken him up. "What if I don't want to come back?"

Jean shook her head. "Kyle, listen. I know there's a lot of history here. Plenty of hurt feelings and resentment to go around. But something is wrong."

"Okay," Kyle sighed. "What's wrong?"

"It's Erik," Xavier said.

"Professor Lensherr? What about him?"

"As you know, Erik left the school shortly after the Blip. Just before you. He went to Europe," Xavier explained.

"I know," Kyle said as he walked back into the kitchen and grabbed his water. "He invited me to join him."

"Did he say why?" Jean asked.

Kyle shook his head. "I didn't give him the chance."

"Erik has gathered a group of mutants. They follow him," Xavier explained.

"And what? Are you jealous that someone else copied your idea to have a school for mutants?"

"I'm afraid that Erik and his mutants may have involved themselves in something dangerous."

Kyle scowled at Xavier. "What makes you think that?"

"Because he sent a message to the school a few days ago," Xavier said. "A message with an offer for us to join him. He said that he's met people who are going to help 'unmake the world and reshape it in favor of mutants'."

Kyle digested the information. "If you think he's up to something dangerous, why don't you just tip off Fury. Or the Avengers? Hell, unfreeze my boyfriend and tell him yourself."

"Because you were right, Kyle."

Kyle lifted an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, say that again?"

"You were right. We have powerful gifts. And if we don't use them to protect those who cannot protect themselves, then we're no better than Thanos. Or Loki. Or Ultron. And while the Avengers could and should involve themselves, Erik is one of us. He and his mutant followers are our concern."

Kyle laughed at why he was hearing. "So you're finally coming around to that idea? Better late then never, I guess. Where was this attitude when Thanos was attacking Wakanda?"

Xavier bit his lip in frustration. "You were children then. I stand by my decision in protecting all of you."

"But we're not children anymore," Jean added. "And we have a responsibility. You have a responsibility."

"My responsibility is to be a good teacher, boyfriend, and dog dad. I'd say I'm winning at life by those standards," Kyle fired back.

Xavier steepled his fingers under his chin and nodded. "Well. I respect your position." He then turned to Jean, who lifted a brown paper back with her mind and sent it across the room into Kyle's arms.

"What's in this?" Kyle asked.

"Something for if you change your mind," Jean offered.

Kyle reached into the bag and pulled out the contents. The bag fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Kyle lifted the uniform up and stared hard at it. "This is..."

"The uniform we designed when we were kids," Jean said with a smirk. "Back when we wanted to be superheroes, like the Avengers. Mine's red and blue."

Kyle looked back at the suit. It was a short-sleeved, navy blue bodysuit made from thick, sturdy material that was woven tightly to resist tearing. A golden X adorned the right pectoral and strips of the same gold ran up the sides of the legs and torso. All of the gold embellishments gleamed in the sunlight that spilled through the nearby window.

"Boots and belt are in the bag," Jean said with a broad smile.

Kyle tore his eyes away from the uniform and stared hard at Xavier and Jean. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

"We are, Kyle," Xavier spoke emphatically.

"And we could really use your 'brain bullets'," Jean added.

Kyle resisted the urge to smile. It had been a long time since he'd used or heard that phrase. "Tomorrow. I'll come to the school tomorrow. But this isn't a yes, understand?"

"Of course," Xavier said, hands up on a pacifying gesture.

"Just feeling everything out, okay?"

Xavier nodded.

"Now, unfreeze my boyfriend and dog and leave, okay?"

Kyle hurried into his bedroom and put the bag underneath his bed. Then he ran back into the kitchen where he'd been when Steve was subdued. Xavier and Jean stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind them.

"...water," Steve finished saying.

"One water, coming right up," Kyle called out as he walked into the living room and handed a bottle of water to Steve. "So, what do you want to do this afternoon?"

Steve looked up at him and grinned. "You."

"Captain Rogers," Kyle said in a playfully surprised voice. "Does America know what a horn dog you are?"

"Not sure," Steve said as he hoisted Kyle up in his arms. "But I'm betting if I fuck you hard enough they'll hear it for themselves."

Steve laid him down on the couch and covered him completely as he began to make out with him. As he kissed and touched Kyle, he tried to piece something together in his mind. The clock had read two o'clock one second and then next it read ten after.

It's like ten minutes went by in the blink of an eye. Where did those ten minutes go?

Captain America and Kyle Hensley will return in Captain America: Love in a Time of Loss.