Beyond

Missed

"Hey Lance? Can you hand me that?" Bruce asked without looking up from his work.

"Sure thing bud." Lance replied swiftly.

He then flinched making Tony glance up from what he was working on.

The blue paladin was staring across the room, blue eyes sharp and focused on something.

His face was blank but Tony could see his breaths were all tense.

"Bruce." Tony said gently as he tapped his friend on his shoulder.

Bruce glanced over following Tony's gaze before he was then moving. He stepped into Lance's line of vision and that seemed to break it.

Lance flinched again blinking a few times. He dropped the pen in his hand as his jaw relaxed from his tense grip.

"Kid?" Tony asked gently not wanting to crowd him.

"Sorry." Lance whispered.

"You were pretty lost in thought there." Tony said gently.

"Yeah." Lance sighed shoulders sagging.

"Want to talk about it?" Bruce encouraged.

Lance glanced down at the tablet in his hand a small frown coming to his face.

Bruce met Tony's gaze, perhaps it wasn't the right time to-

"Hunk and Pidge used to do this a lot." Lance whispered softly. "They'd be buzzing around making things... It was always way over my head but-"

Lance let out a shaky breath blinking harshly before he dropped his head into his hands. "I m-miss them."

Tony was quickly sat with him drawing Lance into a hug as he cried. "I can't imagine what you're going through." He admitted quietly. "But we're going to help you as much as we can."

Lance nodded into his chest letting out a heavy sob but after a while his breaths eased.

Tony didn't let go, not just yet.

Lance didn't make any moves to pull away either, he seemed content enough to stay there.

So Tony worked around it. Let Lance stay where he was comfortable while he worked.

"Um Tony." Bruce said nearly an hour later making Tony glance up. "The kids asleep."

Tony glanced down at Lance who hadn't moved, and sure enough he was soundly asleep.

It made a smile grow on his face. He continued working, letting Lance get the rest he so desperatly needed.

His sleep pattern had been worrying them all, sometimes Natasha had managed to coerce him into going back to bed, but the nightmares that lingered from whatever he faces still had him in their grasp.

They all knew that it wouldn't be cured over night, but he needed sleep.

"Hey Tony, I got a great idea for a new arrow but I wanted to run it by you." Clint explained as he entered.

He paused raising an eyebrow at Lance. "Kid okay?"

"I think so." Tony nodded. "He's still working through a lot of stuff but he'll be alright."

"You sure?" Clint asked his frown heavy with concern.

"I'm not giving up on him." Tony promised. "Until he's ready to tell us what's going on I'm going to be here for him."

"We all will be." Bruce added as he came over with two coffees. "I think we should wake him soon, he's gonna have a really bad neck if we don't."

"Let him be." Tony said shaking his head. "He needs the sleep."

"Still at least let him lean on the desk of something." Clint said as he shrugged of his jacket laying it over Lance's shoulders.

Tony, with the help of Clint and Bruce, repositioned Lance so he wasn't breaking his neck and was comfortable at the same time.

"How are we gonna get him home?" Tony asked glancing towards Bruce.

"I have no idea." Bruce sighed running a hand through his hair. "But I feel like there's something more going on then we know."

Lance sighed softly, rubbing his face as his eyes adjusted. He was comfortable and warm so he couldn't be bothered to move.

He blinked a few times to see Tony working on a boot from his suit.

Bruce wasn't there and Lance wondered where the scientist might have wandered off to.

"So are you going to ask him?" Natasha asked from somewhere behind him.

"I don't want to force him to answer." Tony admitted as he pushed his goggles up. "He's only a kid, I don't want him to think I'm forcing him to reveal all his secrets."

"He seemed fine when he spoke to Fury."

"He might want to share some things but not everything." Tony sighed. "I just want him to be happy and safe, I don't want him to be worried or scared. I want to protect him."

"We will." Natasha nodded. "But if there's something troubling him then we need to know so we can help him through it."

"I know."

The lab was quiet for a minuet, Tony ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Do you want me to speak to him?" Natasha asked.

Tony shrugged. "I don't think it matters who speaks to him, he just needs to know that we're all there for him."

"Alright, I'm going to see what Clint is making for dinner." Natasha decided. "You might want to wake him."

Lance decided he would pretend he hadn't heard that conversation. He pretended to be asleep and let Tony wake him.

"Come on kiddo, dinner time."

Lance groaned his back popping, not painfully, as he sat up. "Sorry I fell asleep."

"Don't be, I think you needed it." Tony smiled patting his arm. "And now I think you need some food in you."

Lance's stomach growled.

Another main meal that wasn't food-goo.

"I'm not sure what Clint's making but he's a good cook."

Lance smiled. "I'm sure I'll like it." He admitted as he got to his feet. "After all I haven't had a home cooked meal in years."

"Then this really is a treat huh?" Tony smiled looping an arm around Lance's shoulders.

Lance nodded catching Blue as she jumped up at him, he cradled her as she purred against his chest.

"I absolutely love your lion by the way." Tony admitted reaching out to stroke her. "She's amazing."

"She sure is." Lance agreed fondly. "Saved my life more than a few times."

"I can imagine." Tony nodded. "So are there any more ships like her?"

"Yes."

"Awesome, who pilots those other ones?"

"My friends." Lance whispered shoulders rising.

"Oh, I'm sorry Lance I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's okay." Lance quickly said, shaking his head. "It's not your fault, it just... It hurts to think about them, that's all."

"We'll get you back to them."

Lance shook his head again squeezing his eyes shut. "You can't, I can't get back to them."

Tony squeezed his shoulder but stayed quiet, Lance was greatful for that. If he had continued asking questions he would have become a sobbing mess and he didn't want to have to deal with that.

Nor did he want anyone to see him like that.

Not right now.

So he forgot the conversation, pushed it from his mind and joined the Avengers for an amazing meal.