SOAR: An Avengers Story

Ch.10: The Story of Tonight

February 16th, 2017

(Steve)

For a Super Soldier, Steve sucked.

He let a cocky, superpowered idiot get to him.

He didn't protect Bucky like he tried to.

Sam and Clint were gone.

And he couldn't do anything to stop Tony's impending wrath when the teenagers came back.

They were all still in the training pavilion when the halo of green light appeared in front of them. Tony turned towards it, and Steve could already tell from the constant orders he barked at FRIDAY and the otherwise silent brooding beforehand that the kids were in for one hell of a chewing-out.

Cas was the first to step through the portal. He had Peter on his shoulder, helping him walk through without falling.

Tony saw Peter and immediately loosened up his tense demeanor.

"What happened? Are you alright?" he asked as the rest of them stepped through the portal.

"I'm fine, I'll be okay," he kept assuring Tony as he walked up to Peter and tried to tend to him. Cas stepped away towards Dani. The other teens hung back, obviously terrified to face whatever was coming their way. Steve knew they were right to be scared.

Steve noticed that there was another boy, who looked about sixteen or seventeen, with a mop of curly brown hair on his head and a clenched jaw. He didn't know who this kid was, or what he was doing at the compound.

"Who are you?" he decided to ask him.

"Simon. Simon Duquesne. I work for SHIELD," he turned towards Steve and said with a respectful nod of his head. He carried himself like a soldier.

"How did you find them?" Tony asked him, turning his burning gaze on the new kid.

"It was entirely coincidental," Simon said, "I was simply enjoying a night out. But they were present when four superpowered mercenaries attacked Times Square."

"They wouldn't have attacked if we weren't present. They were there because of us," Dani said, "Because of me."

"And why were you there, Dani? Why were you in Times Square and not here, like you were supposed to be?" Tony finally turned his attention to Dani, who Steve already knew would take the brunt of the lashing.

"It's not her fault," Cas spoke up, "It was mine."

Steve's look of utter disbelief came slow and involuntary. Both him and Tony looked Cas's way, trying to comprehend what he just said.

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked with a little bit of bite in his voice. He sidestepped Peter and stalked towards Cas. Steve had a hard time not seeing a lumbering and angry giant that had half-destroyed armor on his body.

"I was the one who came up with the idea to go to Manhattan. I figured we all needed a break after everything that happened in Italy," Cas spoke without falter. He surprised Steve with how mature he was being in the face of Tony's evident anger, despite being the youngest of the group.