Avengers: Incursion

Find the Witch

Steve studied Kyle's face as they lay side-by-side in bed. He appeared distant and zoned out as he stared at Steve's bare chest, almost looking beyond it. Steve rubbed a hand up and down Kyle's arm. "Earth to Kyle?"

"What? I'm okay. I'm here," Kyle fired off.

Steve smiled. "You were on another planet."

Kyle shrugged and nuzzled closer to Steve. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"About what?"

Kyle sighed. "It's probably nothing. It's not important."

Steve scowled. "Everything you say is important."

"You're sweet," Kyle said. "It's Dean."

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, now on alert. "Did something happen?"

"Not exactly," Kyle said before sitting up and pulling his knees to his chest. "He's worried about Taylor. He thinks there's something going on with him."

Steve pursed his lips. "Well, he lost everything..."

"Exactly! That's what I said. But Dean seems to think there's something more going on."

Steve considered Kyle's words for a minute, weighing them before his response. "Dean has been shaken up recently with what happened with Set," he calmly stated.

"Exactly! I think Dean may be just a little hyper vigilant after everything. And he sees Taylor and how fragile he is after what he went through so he's on red alert. Maybe seeing things that aren't as bad as he imagines?"

Steve took in Kyle's words and considered them for a while as well. Then he shook his head. "Dean has gone through a lot recently. And maybe it's made him more hypersensitive. But I've known Dean for a long time. His judgement is sound. He wouldn't speak about this if it didn't mean something."

Kyle tilted his head as he listened and took in what Steve said. "I guess we just need to pay closer attention to Taylor," Kyle said. "I was kind of hoping for a calm after the storm."

Steve smiled and pulled Kyle against his chest again. "You know that's not the life we chose."

"A guy can dream, right?" Kyle sighed.

Steve sat in silence, rubbing his hands up and down Kyle's bare skin as he continued to think about Dean's concerns. Knowing Dean the way he did, he knew that the empath wasn't prone to crying wolf. If he had concerns about Taylor, then they should be taken seriously. He looked over at the nightstand and located his phone.

"What is it?" Kyle asked.

"Just going to give Tony a call."

Tong picked up on the first ring. "What's up, Rogers? What can your favorite insomniac do for you at this ungodly hour?"

"The Squadron- what have they been up to?" Steve asked.

"Is my favorite Boy Scout asking me to spy?" Tony asked with mock outrage.

"Not spy. Just check in," Steve clarified.

"Well," Tony said as he began to fiddle with his tablet. "According to F.R.I.D.A.Y. they're all alive and well. Power Princess has been wearing out the training room a lot in her spare time. Something about a weapon always needing to be sharp and ready. Whizzer discovered Tindr and has been speed dating. Nighthawk has become fast friends with Sam and Bucky. They're actually out at the bar as we speak. Spectrum, Bruce, Reed and I have been bonding or science bro stuff. Hyperion and Thor have developed a plutonic bromance. And Nightstar continues to brood alone in the apartment we set him and Hyperion up with. When he's not going to the top secret Super Power Bottom Club meetings."