"Carter, Laynie! Get up!"
Laynie groaned, flipping her pillow over her head as her dad shouted in the hallway.
"Come on guys, we have a meeting with Fury." There was a pause, and then he banged on the door. "We warned you about this last night. You'll eventually learn not to stay up all hours."
"You do it!" Carter shouted at him from her side of the room.
Laynie rolled over and slapped a button on the remote on her nightstand. The glass wall between the rooms changed from black to clear, and Laynie could see her friend clearly. Carter's body was half-hanging off the wall-mounted bed, covered in blankets.
"And we all know he's such a good example," Laynie called.
Carter looked up blearily and stuck her tongue out at her friend.
"Steve and Natasha might actually remove our limbs if we're late," Tony warned. "Get up before I send Pepper in!"
Both girls moved to action. Laynie rolled out of her bed with a groan and Carter slid the rest of the way off. The glass wall darkened again, and the girls dressed quickly.
The purpose of the meeting was rather a mystery. They all expected it to be some sort of follow-up related to the girls' recently completed adoption, but they all silently feared there was some glitch. While Laynie and Carter would give the world to have their parents back, they didn't want to lose their new ones.
"I wonder what Fury wants." Carter mused, standing in front of the open refrigerator.
Laynie groaned, laying her upper body on the countertop. "I dunno. It could be anything with that guy."
Carter bit her lip and set a jug of juice on the counter, staring out the windows across the room.
"Don't worry," Laynie said, straightening up and smiling. "It can't be anything bad."
An hour later, the Avengers, along with Laynie and Carter, filed off a quinjet and onto the helicarrier. Clint anxiously voiced some of the same concerns Carter had.
Tony snorted. "We're still dealing with the repercussions of the last time we came to one of Fury's little meetings."
Laynie punched him in the shoulder. "And you will be until the day you die."
"Game faces, everyone," Steve said sternly. It was his way of saying 'We're having a discussion with my boss and you better not cost me a job, children'.
Laynie and Tony continued to poke and prod each other until Bruce purposefully stepped in between them.
A brief elevator ride later, they were greeted by Fury himself in the very same meeting room they'd met in over half a year ago. They all settled in quickly as Fury began to speak.
"Good afternoon." He gave individual nods to the girls, and continued. He stepped to the side and the glass screen behind him was filled with the mug shot-looking pictures of a skinny teenager. He looked half dead, pale and emaciated as he was."Wade Wilson. A.K.A experiment X34-B. Injected in utero with a serum intended to replicate the healing qualities of the Wolverine and the strength of Captain America. This is how we found him over a year ago."
"Please don't tell me you want us to adopt this one too," Clint groaned.
Fury gave a chuckle. "No, Barton. We would prefer you didn't. Wilson was born with intended powers, but developed a form of psychosis as he grew up in this unnamed facility. Classified information. Wilson has been educated to the point of an average tenth grader and trained with the skills of a level two field agent. He is ready for integration into society. This is where you come in.
"Misses Stark and Beckett will be doing most of the hard work. Wilson will be placed in Midtown High alongside you. Agents Barton, Romanoff and Rogers will be in charge of personal training for the boy. Stark, I have a file for you describing your mission. You are all to accept him as a family and teach him how to be normal."
The ragtag family burst into hysterics.
"With all respect," Laynie said through a giggle, "I think that's nearly impossible."
Normal was not, nor would it ever be, a word you could describe a single one of them with. Which is exactly why they were perfect for the job. Fury had a plan.
"Why can't you just get some other superheroes to do this?" Tony groaned. "We already have enough teenagers to deal with."
"Hey!" Carter frowned.
"He doesn't mean it," Laynie said. "How old is Wade?"
"Seventeen. He will be entering the tenth grade alongside you."
"If he's not with us, where is he staying?" Bruce asked.
"With a Ms. May Parker. She believes it's a favor to his parents and that he used to be a friend of her nephew's, who lives with her. They each have their own role in his rehabilitation."
"When do we get to meet him?" Laynie asked, growing excited for her task.
"Right now." Fury pressed a button and a moment later, Maria Hill walked in with an awkward teen in tow.
Wade Wilson was tall and skinny, but even under all his clothes you could tell he was unusually strong. He had short honey brown hair that stuck up in a million directions, a splatter of freckles, and brown eyes that took in everything. He looked nothing like the scared kid in the slide Fury had shown them.
Laynie jumped up and stuck out her hand. With all the formal events she had been attending with her father, she was beginning to drop some of her awkward tenancies and adopt the more polished points of his personality. "My name is Laynie, nice to meet you."
He shook her hand loosely and nodded.
Carter jumped out of her chair and joined Laynie. "Hi! I'm Carter!" She smiled brightly.
Wade nodded to her as well.
"They're nicer to strangers than they are to us," Clint muttered.
"That's because we live with you." Carter said.
"That means you should treat us better, we could kick you out at anytime."
"Now that that's settled, I have another meeting to attend to." Fury swiftly left the room, giving only the briefest of nods to Wade.
"So, Bruce, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Thor's visiting Asgard, and my dad Tony. Avengers, Wade. Wade, Avengers."
He cracked a smile. "I know who you are. You're all they talk about in SHIELD schools."
"SHIELD schools?" Carter asked.
"Yeah, they had to fill me in on things I'll need to be considered a tenth grader. Mostly math and history."
"Since he possesses superhuman abilities, we're training him to use them and giving him knowledge of the other heroes around him. It's his choice on whether or not he becomes a hero, but we would prefer him not to be a villain," Maria said.
"Cool," Laynie said. "Sounds better than Midtown."
Wade shrugged. "It's okay."
Tony prodded his daughter."We have to go, Bruce and I are supposed to do a thing at a science thing today."
"So specific. Maria, is there any way Wade could come over and hang today?"
Maria frowned at the informal way they addressed her. Appearances were important for her, and she didn't want Wade to know she had been friendly to the girls when their parents were agents. "I suppose so. He won't be in school until next week. I don't see a problem with it."
Carter smiled. "Great!"
Bruce and Tony left almost as soon as they had gotten home and Steve was held back for another mission. Natasha and Clint were left to make sure Avengers Tower remained standing while Pepper worked in her office.
Natasha looked to Clint. "This should be interesting."
"Well, he seems calmer than the two of them, so it shouldn't be so bad, right?" Clint asked.
Natasha shrugged. "I suppose so."
Laynie and Carter gave Wade a small tour of the general living area, and then headed up to their apartment.
"So, Wade, tell us about yourself," Carter said as she plopped into her favorite chair.
He ignored the question completely, focusing instead on the impressive entertainment system and extensive game collection Carter had amassed.
"Holy crap!" he exclaimed. "You have all the new systems and everything!"
When Laynie -who had left the room for some snacks- came back, Carter and Wade were in the middle of an intense battle on one of Carter's many video games. They shouted jeers at each other while they played.
"What are you doing?" she questioned.
Carter paused the game and looked up somewhat guiltily.
"Put me in!" She grabbed a controller and sat on the couch right between them.
She had a feeling they would get along pretty well.
After an hour of intense gaming, they wandered into the kitchen to find something to eat. Wade, who was apparently totally comfortable in their home, threw open the fridge and rifled around.
"Hey, we could make some tacos!" Carter suggested.
Laynie gave that an enthusiastic second and began getting out taco shells and a pan to cook the ground beef in.
Wade stood off to the side, looking a little apprehensive. "What is a taco?"
They both stopped dead in their tracks, staring at him with comically wide eyes.
"I've been living off of SHIELD cafeteria food, guys."
"A taco... He doesn't know what a taco... is..." Laynie shook her head vehemently and began cooking the taco meat. "You have a lot to learn my friend."
"Tacos are gifts from heaven. Possibly the greatest food on the planet. Right after ice cream." Carter grinned. "You'll love 'em."
Wade nodded.
"So, are you excited to be going to normal high school? Getting out into the real world?"
He shrugged. "I don't know what to expect. I was stuck in my own brain before SHIELD got me out of there, and then Fury turned me into a lap dog."
"It's nothing to look forward to," Laynie said over the sizzle of meat. "Mean teachers, meaner kids, and a bunch of useless work."
"Not all the teachers are bad. But she is right about the other students, most of them are jerks." Carter said, emptying the fridge of taco toppings.
Laynie dumped the meat onto a plate and began opening a can of beans. "Tony says it's important that we keep going to school so that we don't cause the press to have fits, but really, I think Pepper's making him say that. Okay, taco time!"
The girls soon discovered that not only did Wade have an endless appetite, but that he also loved tacos with a fierce passion. Not even Thor and his love of honeybuns could compete with Wade's instant obsession with tacos.
"I guess you could say it was... Love at first bite!" Laynie said.
Carter groaned, but Wade laughed so hard he almost choked on taco shell.
"Someone around here finally appreciates me," Laynie said, wiping away an imagined tear.
Laynie took care of her plate and Carter's, then pushed the rest of the taco supplies toward Wade.
"I was wondering," Carter began,"who are the people you are living with? The name Parker sounds familiar."
"Eh, just a kid named Peter and his Aunt. Ms. Parker is really nice. Cooks real good, so no complaints."
"Oh, Peter Parker!" Laynie exclaimed. "That's the kid that's doing the photography for yearbook! He's really nice, but I can never get him to talk to me. He's always rushing around. Isn't he a senior?"
"That's him. Flighty, nerdy, surprisingly strong." Wade munched down one last taco and sat back in his seat, looking like he would fall asleep right there.
Carter nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Never talked to him before, but I've seen him around."
Wade pulled a phone out of his pocket and groaned. "Maria says playtime's over. Back to the Parkers' for me. I'll see you guys at school."
Author's Notes
WayToDawn: Hey guys! WE'RE BACK! :) And with a new installment of Living With The Avengers. We didn't think that it'd take us this long to post again. We hope you guys enjoy this new story because we've really enjoyed writing it.
Lartovio: HALLO. Sorry about the crazy wait, guys, but we wanted to finish before posting so we didn't screw up our timeline any further! I hope you enjoy this story as much as we have. Get ready for crazy feels, and don't forget to send us your love!