scott x hope oneshots

make the man

Truth be told, Hank Pym never expected to be a grandfather. From her adolescence onwards, Hope had never really shown any . . . predilections towards motherhood, and two years of marriage to a man she loved had yet to change her outlook. Following Thanos' defeat and the Sokovia Amendments, she had her work cut out for her with trying to get Pym Technologies off the ground again, all the while being a supplemental Avenger whenever the Captain and reformed SHIELD called. She didn't have the time or - more importantly - the interest in having children of her own, and Hank had long respected her decision.

Besides, Hope had Scott – that, she would fondly roll her eyes and quip whenever Janet tactfully tried to pry. Scott was more than enough to cure any innate maternal instinct she may have had, thankyouverymuch. Then, more affectionately, she had Cassie. In Hope's eyes, her step-daughter was the only progeny she needed.

Cassandra Lang, Hank would admit, was a variable he hadn't accounted for - one amongst many that had exponentially multiplied and grown past their initial parameters to overtake his life. Not so long ago, it oftentimes seemed, he'd resigned himself to the idea of living out his days with his daughter never speaking to him again – rightly so or not was an argument with the victor holding on by a thin margin, even he could admit. But now he had a bond with Hope that was growing stronger every day, no matter the years they'd wasted with their bridges burned beforehand. Even more wondrous, he had has wife returned to him after decades spent apart. He even had Scott now, too . . . and whatever his son-in-law was to him was a definition that changed by Hank's mood. With Scott, of course, came Cassie.

Hank may not have known what to make of the mini-Lang – he still needed to collect more data on the matter, but she certainly had her own ideas of what to make of him.

"Hello, Grandpa Hank!" Cassie gave a cheerful wave after letting herself into the house. Behind her, still visible through the screen door, Hank could see Maggie Paxton wave from the car as she pulled away. At first, he felt the instinctive need to protest – Scott and Hope wouldn't be back until the evening, and that was only if everything went smoothly with . . . well, he honestly didn't know where SHIELD assigned them or with what, and that was most likely for the best. All that mattered was that they were gone, and so was -

"Mom said that Grandma Janet said it was okay if I waited over here with you guys for Dad and Hope to get back," she said over her shoulder as she made her way to the kitchen. (Where, sure enough, Janet had a plate of brownies waiting – she always prepared for their family visiting.) "So here I am."

- Janet. Janet was gone too. She'd left for some errand or the other that, now that he thought about it, had sounded suspiciously vague at the time. But he hadn't been able to spare the attention from his work to give her leaving a second thought. How shortsighted of him, in retrospect. His wife had no qualms with meddling – even to the point of deviousness, whenever she thought there was something he needed to do. And for this, he could have sighed, there was most certainly no need.

It wasn't like he didn't know how to interact with a fourteen year old girl, for heaven's sake. He'd successfully raised Hope all by himself, after all – it was just that he also had Hope's version of the narrative ringing in his ears, and her memories certainly called his parenting skills into question. He felt a moment's doubt start to creep into his heart, a doubt that he'd never admit was starting to border on panic to anyone. Ever. He stared at Cassie, unsure of where to begin.

Meanwhile, Cassie poured herself a glass of milk, already at ease with moving around their kitchen, and then chose one of the stools at the counter for herself. She pulled out a textbook and notepad from her backpack, and set herself up before selecting a brownie and placing it on a napkin. When she realized that he was still watching her, she raised a dark brow and asked, "Would you like a brownie too?"