DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Avengers. All rights belong to Marvel and to Stan Lee. I do however own my OC Kaitlyn and any other OC's that pop up in this story.
The first time Tony thought that maybe his PA wasn't a civilian was when he stumbled out of the lab and into the common room at 2 AM. He was so intent on getting to the coffeemaker that he barely took any notice of anyone else in the room. However to get to the coffeemaker he had to pass the sofa, and in doing so noted a head of hair resting on the side of the couch. Almost drunkenly he stumbled towards it and then went around the other side. In the dim light of the room he noticed that Kaitlyn was staring straight ahead, but she wasn't seeing. Momentary panic raced through him as he considered her being dead, but then the more active part of his brain noted that she was breathing. He waved a hand in front of her eyes several times and heard her breathing hitch somewhat before her eyes snapped to his. The desolation in her gaze captured his mind, and he stared back at her before his brain caught up with the situation.
"Coffee?" He asked her, and she shuffled a bit before nodding and getting up. Mentally, Tony cheered himself on, and then realised she had gone to get him a coffee, instead of him getting her one. He stumbled belatedly into the kitchen and watched her pull out two mugs. Inwardly, he sighed with relief before he started doing the one thing he'd always been good at. Talking. He rambled on about what he'd been doing, new upgrades to the Iron Man mechanism before he realised she probably didn't have clearance, and then he switched to talking about new designs in his head. Ideas for clean energy systems, and efficiency for cars and computer systems. He didn't realise he'd moved to talking about an equation until he felt her press the cup of coffee into his hand. He'd been in the middle of calculating the pressure that could be applied to underwater turbines at three hundred feet depth, when his brain automatically registered the caffeine in his hand and he took a sip, and dimly heard her finish the equation. He blinked for a minute, and realised that she'd accurately completed said equation. For a minute he stared at her and then nodded before heading off in another tangent. In the back of his mind he noted that she wasn't shutting him up or blocking him out, she was actually focusing on what he had to say. He grinned wryly at her, before he continued, his brain so far ahead of his mouth that he had to actually stop and think before he realised what he was saying. It was then he remembered that he'd been up for over fifty-four hours. Then he heard her prompt him, and he continued, disregarding sleep with the practice of years. He had no idea how long he'd sat there at the kitchen counter talking to her and drinking coffee, but it was when she pressed the fifth cup into his hand that he realised the sun was rising and there were paper napkins littering the counter covered in designs and equations, and where there was space the names of his inventions were printed neatly. To his surprise he realised his brain and his body where still in coordination and he was still writing on a napkin, even though he automatically reached to take the coffee off her. When he stopped to take a sip he noted that Kaitlyn took the now word covered napkin and placed it in a stack, and then handed him another which he continued writing on out of reflex.
His own distraction was too effective, and he never noticed when their resident spider slipped into the kitchen behind him and started making herself a coffee. It was only when he concluded his idea for something he couldn't remember, that Natasha pulled him away gently. He literally yelped, and jumped off his school when he saw the Russian assassin standing next to him. She have him an exasperated look and leaned over to read his notes. Finally, pulled away from his work, he registered his level of exhaustion and Tony felt himself sway, unconsciously reaching out for the bench to steady himself. Instead his hand hit Natasha's shoulder and she pulled him slightly closer to herself in order to support him. He blinked once, twice and then withdrew his hand, attempting to extricate himself from the deadly woman. Natasha however was having none of that. Firmly, she grabbed his waist and guided him to the elevator, giving Kaitlyn a grateful look. About five feet away from the elevator Tony apparently realised he should be protesting, and did so. Natasha took a look back and through the open doorway saw that Kaitlyn had started ordering the napkin notes, and then the elevator closed. The last thing that Tony remembered that morning was Natasha giving him a firm look as she pushed him onto his bed. When he woke up after about fifteen hours of sleep, he remembered everything with the startling clarity of hindsight. It was then that he realised that Kaitlyn had kept him focused on his designing and let him wear himself down. When he remembered the look on her face that morning, something in him unconsciously started weighing Kaitlyn up. He was also impressed with the fact that she put all those notes onto a hard-drive and left the napkins piled in order with a USB for each idea that he'd written down.
The second time Tony considered Kaitlyn not being a civilian, they'd had a mission and they'd been hit by Doombots, which were surprisingly built with a higher level of intelligence than normal. The sheer numbers however had been almost overwhelming and their injuries at been fairly bad. Tony's left arm had been dislocated in the fight, and some shrapnel had torn the skin and left deep gashes. Natasha had a massive gash from her thigh to her ankle and the other ankle was dislocated, with a sprained shoulder and a twisted back. Clint had a twisted arm, a dislocated shoulder, and a broken ankle along with a stab wound and some minor burns to most of his exposed skin bar his face, which had thankfully been turned away. Bruce had, unfortunately after reverting from the Hulk, collapsed in a pile of metal and had two stab wound, some gashes and he was utterly exhausted. Steve was the worst. His knee was twisted, his ankle broken, he had several deep gashes. But the worst was from where he'd taken off the largest Doombot. He'd ordered Tony to shoot into him, and as a result had a dislocated shoulder, a strained bicep, and his radius and ulna were broken. He also had four stab wounds and a massive gash along his shoulder. The other's had minor sprains and strains, and Wanda had a minor stab wound that could be quickly seen to. When they'd stumbled in the common room, Kaitlyn had stood stock still, before suddenly she was moving. Before any of them could register it, a massive first aid pack was pulled out, and suddenly she was pulling Natasha to the kitchen bench with Wanda's assistance. The men in the room quickly averted their eyes when she pulled the tac suit completely off Natasha to get to the wounds. Clint had limped to get a blanket to cover Natasha's dignity, and Bruce collapsed on the sofa on his front. There was a startling crack and a muffled gasp as Nat's shoulder was relocated. When Tony turned around Natasha was covered in a blanket, there was ice wrapped around one ankle, and her entire leg was covered in a bandage. Wanda had moved Bruce off the sofa and onto one of the recliner chairs, and then laid Natasha face down onto the sofa, where Kaitlyn had quickly applied a heat pack to her back.
The next was Steve, who was standing there trying to look put together. He didn't have a chance to protest, because Wanda guided him over to the bench, and Kaitlyn hacked the suit off with a sharp knife that Clint pulled out of nowhere. Steve attempted to look calm, but he couldn't hold back the pained cry that he let out when his shoulder was relocated. With the greatest care, and the same speed and efficiency with which she'd dealt with Natasha, Kaitlyn had straightened out his arm and aligned his arm before she splinted it and bandaged it. She set his ankle, and put another heatpack on his knee, and Wanda moved him to another armchair. Tony, who was now poking Bruce's head let out an unmanly shriek, that Sam laughed at, before he was settled on the bench. The heated glare that he levelled at Wanda had no effect whatsoever. At Kaitlyn's order he disassembled the suit and sat there. He too was dealt with and dispatched to one of the armchairs. Towards the end of half an hour the entire team had been medically seen to, including Bruce who had his shrapnel and stab wounds dealt with while he was sleeping. Without another word Kaitlyn had slipped into the kitchen and made sweet coffee, and had pulled out a massive cookie jar. Tony couldn't resist a chocolate chip cookie, and Natasha had pulled out a vatrushka. When Pepper had come in the room three hours later, Disney's Anastasia was playing quietly onscreen, and there were empty mugs of coffee lying around the place, and there were cookie crumbs over the blankets. The entire team was asleep, and Kaitlyn stood in the kitchen over a massive crock pot of what smelled suspiciously like lamb stew. Off to the side there was a massive pan of what looked like apple crumble, and there was two bottles of red wine next to the oven, which held a couple of bread tins. Pepper had felt tears well up suspiciously in her eyes at the sight, before she moved forward and offered her assistance. Tony had watched the two women at work, even as he realised that Kaitlyn was obviously not a civilian. No one saw injuries like that, and dealt with them so calmly and then went on to cook. That was also the first time Steve Rogers realised that Kaitlyn wasn't a civilian. And also became the day that Natasha grudgingly learned to respect her.
The first time they all realised that Kaitlyn was here to stay was complicated. It had been a long fight, terribly long, and they were all injured, even Wanda. Their handler, a General John Kane had decided that he was not impressed with the 3 fatalities that they hadn't prevented, and had gathered two other Generals to listen to his decision. Despite the urgency of medical attention he'd kept them in his office for six hours, ranting and belittling them, pointing out every flaw he could find and making them up where he couldn't. The ranting was only held in check when a voice over the intercom came on requesting the General's presence. General Kane took one look at them all and then turned to the intercom.
"What?!" He barked out coarsely. A cool female voice took over the intercom.
"Sergeant Major Donaheilly, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, requesting an interview with General John Kane, and the International Specialist Taskforce known as the Avengers." There was silence as the Avengers and the General's in the room processed this. Then General Kane snorted and returned to the line.
"Under whose authority?!" He barked angrily.
"The US Constitution, and the Counsel of the United Nations." Came Kaitlyn's voice back down the line, but this time the blankness was gone. There was steel underlining that voice, something fiery, a commanding presence that the General lacked. And Kane, uncertain now in his position glanced at the Avengers. There was a smirk firmly settled on the Black Widow's face, and Captain America was grinning at Hawkeye. Ironman looked absolutely smug, and for the first time, Kane didn't know how to feel about his position. After a moment he pressed the intercom again.
"Access granted." The other two General's in the room shifted uncertainly, and Kane shifted towards the door, watching it. After a few moments the doors opened, and Kaitlyn marched it. She wore the uniform of a Sergeant Major with pride, her beret firmly in place, her back straight and strong, and her face was no longer impassive, now looked like it was set in stone. Her jaw was taut as she marched into the room, and saluted the General. Kane looked her up and down and looked at his fellow General's, obviously trying to process just how much of a threat she was, before he returned the salute. The minute he did, Kaitlyn wheeled to the right, and marched forward to face the Avengers.
"Attenhut!" She barked out in the no nonsense command of a Sergeant, well used to giving orders and having them obeyed. And in the fiery tone, and the snap of command, every single Avenger in that room straightened up, and General Kane had the shock of his life seeing the ragtag group of assassins, soldiers, metahumans, and former vigilantes snap to attention under the command of the slight figure. "Line up!" She snapped again, and they shifted into line, and stood there, awaiting further orders. "One by one, list your injuries." Came the peremptory order, and one by one down the line they stated the injuries they could feel, and General Kane shifted looking infuriated. He was trying to place her, and he couldn't. He did however know that the 173rd was stationed at Afghanistan, and he wondered why a Sergeant Major was connected to the Avengers.
It was Tony who the saw the small camera and mic she'd installed in her pocket that was recording, and it was Tony who had the second worst set of injuries. It was also Tony who figured out exactly what she was doing the minute she took three steps forward, and looked at all of them, and then in her straight forward bark demanded to know how long they'd been denied medical aid. Tony didn't need to know just how much fallout she was causing, when Steve replied with six hours, he knew just how bad it would be. Then without a second thought Kaitlyn ordered the least wounded to support those who wouldn't be able to continue without medical aid, and to take them down the hall. General Kane spluttered, before he barked at her.
"Soldier, you are forbidden from doing this." And Kaitlyn whipped around, and her face had changed. They'd known her eight months. Eight months of blank face, and straight-forward expressions. But in that moment her face changed into something terrifying in it's rage and protective in it's care.
"You will NOT deny medical aid to this taskforce, General." She said, and spat out the title General like it was nothing. Kane flinched in the face of her fury and tried to bolster himself up, but she was having none of it. "Captain Rogers! Lead the team out!" She called behind her back, and then stood at ease, waiting until the Avengers had been led out before she marched straight out the room. General Kane didn't even get a chance to go after her. They marched right out of the building, and the Kaitlyn paused by the ambulances gathered around before she pulled the camera and mic out and then said "Avengers out.", and broke the set. When she looked up they were being put on stretchers, and they were all looking at her. The ride to the hospital was quiet, and when Kaitlyn got there all the nurses were staring. Steve and Natasha had gone into surgery, Tony was in the burns unit, and Bruce was being treated for severe dehydration, and semi-severe bloodloss. The others were in the Emergency Room, and were trying to offer each other support. A television in the corner of one of the nurse's offices showed CNN playing the video feed she'd sent to there. Wanda stared up at Kaitlyn from where her arm was being bandaged. The twenty year old, didn't look like an Avenger then, she looked young and innocent. And for the first time in years, something tore at Kaitlyn's heartstrings. In the blink of an eye the soldierly presence had gone, and she was all grace and kindness. Wanda's other hand was caught up by Kaityln's and she reassuringly soothed the girl, her other hand on Sam Wilson's shoulder. Rhodey hobbled forward on his leg braces, and rested his own hand on her shoulder. Vision looked them over, before he moved forward hesitantly sat next to Wanda. His own red and gold hand covered both of theirs, and they stayed there in silence, until a male nurse rounded the corner. Tony was out of the burns unit, but he was still in a bad condition. He had internal bleeding that needed to heal, as well as the other various gashes and scrapes. Bruce was sleeping, firmly hooked up to several IV's, and a heart monitor. Steve and Natasha however, were still in surgery. Clint, who was leaning against Sam, looked upset.
Kaitlyn left them only to get coffee and food, and when she returned she stayed behind them all, near the door and completely on guard. When Clint fell asleep in the chair next to Tony, she twitched, and drank more coffee. Eventually when they all fell asleep one by one, she startled the night nurse who went to check on them and found Kaitlyn, still in her uniform wide awake and watching over them. When dawn finally cracked, she was told that Steve and Natasha were out of surgery. She promptly asked them to be put in the room opposite Tony and Bruce's, and the nurse nodded. Apparently there was also a ton of paparazzi outside the hospital, and General Kane was demanding her whereabouts, and her immediate expulsion from the military. The nurse was treated to the icy cold face of a woman who was not taking it anymore. The medical staff on the off shift were treated to seeing the doors of their hospital slam open and a furious Kaitlyn march out on live television. Cheers erupted from the staff room when she slammed the General, and her cold and cutting tone was cut off abruptly when she wished the reporters a good morning, and marched back inside furiously. When Kaitlyn marched back into the hospital rooms, she went and checked in on Natasha, and found her awake and watching her curiously, while Steve slept like a baby. Kaitlyn nodded a terse greeting and then went to the other room, where she found all but Clint and Vision asleep. The master archer smiled at her from where he stood above Wanda. Vision nodded a greeting to her, and she nodded back, before standing at attention just inside the doors, and in full view of Natasha. The master assassin felt a twinge of guilt in her heart, when she realised that Kaitlyn was guarding them. Stuck on bedrest she found herself entertained by Clint's antics, but they all noticed that Wanda never left Kaitlyn's side. The soldier didn't question Wanda's motives either. She simply let the young woman take solace in her company and spent time carrying coffee to those who needed it, AKA one whingey Tony Stark.
Two weeks later when they were let out of the hospital, Natasha realised that Kaitlyn had spent most of her nights standing guard. The woman was exhausted, and clearly needed rest. But Natasha saw the woman march them straight through the crowd to Tony's limousine with only the glint of her eye. And when they got to the Tower she made sure that they were all well rested before she took herself off for a sleep. Natasha made sure to point out that fact to everyone else before she settled in her room to read Anna Karenina. When she emerged from her room five hours later, Tony was passed out on the couch, and the rest of the team was gathered around him, sleeping. Natasha paused before she joined them. It was the first time in three years that the team had been together and peaceful. The red-haired Russian drifted off uneasily, and woke when she heard Kaitlyn enter the kitchen. After a moment's hesitation, Natasha uncurled herself from the couch and stealthily entered the kitchen. She knew immediately when Kaitlyn felt her presence, by the miniscule shifting of her shoulders before she turned to face her. Natasha had a brief flashback to the first time she'd entered the kitchen to see her there.
"Can you make a good mocha?" She asked, pointing at the coffee machine, and the tiny twitch of Kaitlyn's lips was enough for her to know that she remembered that day too.
"It may not be perfect, but I can make a good one, yes." She replied and turned away to start up the coffee machine. It was somewhat soothing to smell freshly ground coffee and the sweet scent of hot chocolate in the air. When she received her drink, Natasha hesitated only a moment before she met Kaitlyn's eyes.
"Thank you." She said simply. But they both knew that it meant so much more. It was a thank you for caring. For simply being there, providing a sense of routine beyond anything the team had ever had. It was a thank you for standing up for them when they couldn't do it for themselves. It was a thank you for binding their broken bones and dealing with their bleeding wounds. It was a thank you for bolstering their self esteem with the little looks she'd sent them at the end of every mission and at the end of every training session. It was a thank you for the calm, even-handed manner that she used to handle Steve and Tony's confrontations. It was a thank you for being cold and lonely like a statue but filled with a human warmth. But most of all, it was a thank you for the way her eyes softened when Wanda entered the room, sleepy and lethargic. It was a thank you for the way she shifted ever so slightly into a relaxed pose, and let the twenty year old into her space. And the most important thank you was for the way she'd taken the suspicion, and the uncertainty, the bruising and bleeding, and never questioned it. Because someone who didn't have to care had cared, had taken their broken, rag-tag team and given them routine and a purpose. Because Natasha had been awake when Kaitlyn had slammed the General on national television. Because Natasha had seen the way that shy, lonely Wanda had gravitated to her. Because Natasha had seen the hesitant warmth that was hidden underneath that cold, icy façade. And because Natasha had seen the protective rage on her face when General Kane had attempted to deny them medical treatment. And when the rest of the team stumbled in, both Natasha and Wanda were pulling out pots and pans, helping her. And Tony, genius, irrepressible Tony knew immediately what had happened. He gave Natasha a look that spoke volumes, before he grabbed himself a coffee. And if their voices held a lack of bitterness when he and Steve fought next, well who wanted to fight when there was food to eat. And if Tony kept his mouth shut when he noticed Natasha give Kaitlyn one of her rare, unguarded smiles, well he knew when to talk and when not to. And if, when the nights were long and the memories were too clear, if the team noticed Wanda sit closer to Kaitlyn, they never commented when Kaitlyn shifted slightly closer to provide comforting body heat that Wanda sought. After all, no one wanted to risk the wrath of a Black Widow who was the
mentor of said meta-human.
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