Superheroes

Legends are Made

Stiles doesn't know if he and Derek are given a full apartment with a kitchen and living room because that's just standard ridiculousness for rooms in the upper levels of Avengers Tower, or if the Avengers hope having their own spaces keeps them out of the common areas. If it was the latter, they failed, because no way in hell is Stiles going to let these people hire him and then shove him in a box to be ignored. If he's going to be uncomfortable, they're all going to be uncomfortable.

Derek insists on accompanying him everywhere, which Stiles has absolutely no problem with. When he shows up in the main lounge or kitchen area, the Avengers magically appear within ten minutes. He thinks it's hilarious, and once came back after leaving fifteen minutes before to see if they would all reappear. As soon as the last person arrived, Stiles packed up and left again.

He did it two more times before the Black Widow finally glared and walked off. After that, they all caught on and he couldn't pull the trick anymore without looking like an idiot.

They stop tailing him in the common areas completely after the fourth time he settles onto one of the loungers at three in the morning when his insomnia kicks his ass. Derek sleeps pressed up against him, used to Stiles being up at odd times, but always wakes when someone else enters the room, even Romanoff or Barnes who are completely silent and stick to the shadows. He makes the best proximity alarm.

The only person who talks to him besides Clint is Stark, but that's only because Stiles has blocked the Avengers from hunting down any information about him or Derek. Their personal information is virtually inaccessible to everyone, but Stiles knows that the Avengers - specifically, Tony Stark - have ways of getting around encryption and firewalls. So Stiles has taken to randomly thinking that any personal or professional information relating to himself, Derek, or anyone that they're close to just can't be found. It's simple, but he's learned that magic typically is. Judging by Stark's increasingly agitated questions, it's working. Occam's Razor for the win.

So three weeks go by, and he's not seen Barnes except when he's walking with Romanoff or Rogers in the common areas. When they see Stiles, they make themselves scarce very quickly. Stiles isn't worried about it since he made sure that his contract states that he doesn't have to actually speak with Barnes. He had to lobby hard for that one, but as he pointed out to Fury, sometimes people just aren't ready to talk, and he's not about to force someone so traumatised to relive the experiences if he's not ready to. The lack of progress frustrates Stiles, especially when he's used to working with individuals who want his help. But, he's lived through having your body do things you don't want it to do, and the inability to express how that feels. Not that anyone else knows that, but he's not here to talk about his issues. He's here to help Barnes with his, except he's still not exactly sure what those are.

He's holed up in their rooms for once, not feeling up to the looks and whispers that accompany him and Derek whenever they go into the public areas. Stiles has gotten used to the various noises from the tower - mostly humming and the occasional boom from the labs - but the one that practically makes the whole room vibrate is new.

Grabbing onto the back of the couch in their living room, Stiles looks at Derek in alarm. "The fuck was that?"

The alpha shakes his head, looking around. "I don't know. But there aren't any alarms going off."

There had been an Assemble call once since Stiles and Derek arrived, and hell if that thing wasn't the most annoying alarm to ever exist. There was no reason for it to go off in their rooms, and yet. "I wouldn't put it past Stark to have disabled every alarm but the unnecessary ones in here."

Derek shakes his head, which means there aren't alarms going off outside, either. With a huff, Stiles looks up at the ceiling. "Friday, what the hell was that?"