Venom | Avengers: Age of Ultron [5]

Chapter 28

Several Months Later...

We all trudged back to the quinjet to see Bucky cradling a baby while a child clung to his leg. "Where did these kids come from?" I asked him. "Him. He was trying to take them away," As soon as the little boy started Cap, he started screeching at the top of his lungs. I winced at the sound, but as Cap moved towards him, he screeched louder. The noise was getting too much for me, and I clapped my hands over my ears, my eyes squeezed shut.

Eventually, the screeching stopped, and I uncovered my ears. The kid was fast asleep against Bucky's leg, much to everyone's confusion. "What do we do with these two?" Sam asked. "We give them to the government," Steve said. "NO!" I said immediately. "You know full well what I think of Social Services. No one would ever want them, and they would go from house to house until they turned 18 and were flung to the streets to take care of themselves," I snapped.

"I agree, Steve. These kids have probably gone through hell. If we give them to the government, they'll only become lab rats," Tanya said, crossing her arms. "We don't know that," Steve objected. "You're really willing to dump these kids off with some random family?" I snapped. "We can't take care of them," He argued. "Clint has four kids, I have one, and Scott has one. We are perfectly capable of taking care of them," I pointed out.

"We don't have space or supplies," He countered. "The kids are staying, Steve," Bucky said in a 'this is final' tone. "Fine," Steve relented. "Can someone take the baby?" Nat stepped forward, taking the sleeping bundle. I sat down next to Bucky, the kid squishing away.

I crossed my leg, pulling off the prosthetic since it was pinching as it did after every mission. As soon as I did that, the kid suddenly liked me. He crawled into my lap, laying his head on my shoulder, and passing out. I was shocked since up until then, the kid wouldn't go anywhere near someone except for James. "What'd you do?" He asked quietly, and I half-shrugged.

Nat was sitting across from me, singing a Russian lullaby to the girl. I wrapped my arms around him as I did with Lila when she was little, trying not to disturb him. We flew to our new safe house, which was an abandoned hunting cabin in decent condition and large enough to fit the now 10 of us. As soon as we got back, Steve retreated to his and Wanda's room. He was obviously upset with our decision to hold onto the kids for their safety, and we probably wouldn't see him until dinner.

"We need to get supplies for these two," Bucky said. "We've got to decide whose going," Nat said. "Scott and I. We're the least recognizable," I said. "But you're an Avenger," Bucky pointed out. "The public hasn't seen me without my mask on. I'll be fine," I shrugged.

 "Alright. Take this to pay, and bring the baby," Nat passed the baby to me. "Stay safe, y'all. We'll be back soon," I waved as we headed to the nearby town. "What's it like, with no one knowing your identity?" Scott asked as we walked. "It's nice. I can be a normal person, just like everyone else," I said. "But you're not normal. You have superpowers," He pointed out.

"Keep your voice down. Do you want everyone in a mile radius to know who we are?" I hissed. "Sorry. I'm just excited. I've never gone undercover before," He whispered. I kept my mouth shut and didn't point out that we weren't undercover. After 3 hours, as it was getting dark, we headed back to the safe house with our purchases. I had found a caramel-colored teddy bear that matched the boy's eyes, and a rattle that the baby was currently sucking on.

Her big blue eyes stared up at me before her mouth opened in a slurpy smile, saliva strands still attached to the rattle. I smiled down at her, and she giggled. Scott pushed the door open, causing Tanya and Sam to look up from their game. "How's Steve?" I asked, setting my bags down. "He hasn't come out. I was planning to talk to him when we finished this game," Sam admitted.

"Good luck with that. He didn't seem too happy that we overruled him," I said. "We're a team. He has to get used to not calling all the shots," Tanya interjected. "Try saying that to his face," I joked. "I just might. His head's been stuck up his ass for the past few weeks, it seems," She was right. Steve had gotten a lot meaner over the months.

 I'm not sure what was causing it, but it was causing everyone on the team to be more and more unhappy as the weeks passed. I had heard Tanya talking to Nat about wanting to leave because of Steve's attitude. I heard loud voices upstairs, and I knew that Sam had gone to talk to Steve. Not wanting to hear the shouting, I stepped outside onto the deck, to see Natasha sat outside with a bottle of beer. I sat down next to her, grabbing one from the case sat next to her, and popping it open.

Ever since Steve had gotten the way he is, whenever there was an argument, Nat and I would sit outside with beer and drink. "I figured it out," I blurted. "Figured out what?" She asked. "What causes the whine," I said. "So? What is it?" She asked.

"Arguments," I admitted. "You can hear it, can't you?" She glanced over at me as I took a sip. "Sometimes it feels like it'll never stop," I sighed. "We're gonna talk to Steve about everything tonight. We were discussing it when you and Scott were on a supply run. I already spoke with Scott about it, and he's onboard," She admitted. "High time, too. Tanya said his head's stuck up his ass, and honestly, I agree with her. He has been a Grade-A douchebag recently," I said.

"I'll tell the others about the whine tonight, while we're at it," I mentioned, taking another sip. "Good. Maybe that'll give Steve a hint," Nat said. "He's stubborn," I pointed out. "Luckily, we have an equally stubborn person to back us up. Has anyone told you that you would make an excellent lawyer?" She asked, and I laughed. I was notoriously pig-headed, and the entire team knew it.

"Oh, I've heard that plenty. Mom tells me that every other week it seems,"