Summary: As Tony Stark flew towards the Chitauri portal he had only one person on his mind: his son, Blaine Anderson. Blaine was Tony's best kept secret. That is until the aftermath of the Battle of New York causes the Avengers to lie low in Lima. But what Tony didn't know was that he wasn't the only one whose life was going to change. AKA the time that the gleeks met the Avengers and made a crazy weird family in the process.
Pairings: Established Clintasha and Pepperony. Pucktana, Puckleberry, Brittana, Pezberry friendships. And as always, Blamman bromance with The Science Bros and their plus one (Clint).
Warnings: Language, I guess, because I have a potty mouth damn it. Also a strong possibility for crackish behaviors, Sam being a fan girl and Kurt bashing. Spoilers for The Avengers and up to season four of Glee.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except typos! Those are definitely all mine. This is set at the end of the season three of Glee and the end of The Avengers.
Author's Note: Hello my darlings. It's been a while since I updated and I apologize for the delay. I got really distracted by Through the Fire (and yes, the next chapter for that will be up soon). But here is your epic Chapter 10. And I don't mean epic in terms of quality. I mean friggin length. This is officially the longest chapter I've written for this story. I'm actually thinking it might be the longest chapter I've written for a story ever. But anyway, there are some new faces popping up. Some more important than the others. But I hope you enjoy. More notes at the end. Ciao!
Broken Ones
Nick watched the newest class of field agents with the faintest hint of a smile curving his lips. They were a larger class than they had before. The Battle of New York did a lot for recruitment. Both in terms of a need for more agents as well as bringing more focus to SHIELD as an agency. They were a promising bunch. He had a feeling that more than half of this class would be full-fledged agents within the year. Still, his eye was trained on two in particular. They were the youngest of the group at eighteen. There was a five year gap between them and the next youngest of the new recruits. Nick knew that they both collected more than their fair share of grief over the simple fact that they were young, and yet, neither of them complained. They let the comments about their high school graduation being less than three months ago slide off their backs. They trained harder than the others and now two months after beginning formal training to become an agent of SHIELD, it was definitely showing.
When they first started at the Academy, neither Puck nor Santana wanted to go in announcing that they had ties to any member of the Avengers. They wanted to become whoever they were meant to be within SHIELD without having their names, successes or failures associated with Clint, Steve or Natasha. Nick had to admit that he was very proud of their decision. He didn't know very many people that would've done that. Of the few legacy agents within SHIELD, there was only one that didn't come in exploiting his ties. If it wasn't for Clint, Nick isn't sure how long Triplett's identity as the grandson of a Howling Commando (not to mention the step grandson of Peggy Cater) would've gone unaddressed. And Trip was the first and only to refrain from name dropping until these two came along. They were determined to get through this own their own. Phil was right about them. They really did remind him of Clint. That was both a really great thing and a horrible, bad, terrible thing.
It was good because Clint remained one of his best agents. Despite what some may have been thinking (or stupidly saying) about the subject, it was true. Clint wasn't just given his Level 10 Clearance because Nick wanted to shut him up or keep him busy. Okay, well actually that was part of the reason but he also earned it. He earned his right to know some of the dirty laundry of SHIELD. He was one of only five agents that held the distinction of having a clearance that high. Even with that nasty Loki business, Clint remained a top agent of SHIELD. Nick really doubted that anything would knock the archer out of his esteem. And that's where the horrible, bad, terrible part of Santana and Puck reminding him of Clint stemmed from. Because just like Clint, both Santana and Puck came from broken homes and had self-esteem issues that were likely visible from space. Nick was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he just had a thing for broken teenagers because damned if he didn't like those two from the minute he met them. And that was before he saw what they could do.
"On your left, Sanchez!" Puck gleefully teased as he passed another recruit on the other agent's first lap. Nick fought the urge to smile at that one. He knew it was yet another thing Puck inherited from Steve. It was a little known fact that Steve Rogers was kind of a showoff. A smug one at that.
"How many times does this make now?" Nick murmured knowing the woman to his left was paying attention.
"He's passed Sanchez twice. He's passed Dormer about six times already. Pretty sure that guy is going to flunk out of training," Maria commented with a smile in her voice. "And the interesting part is I'm pretty sure he's holding back."
Nick crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Puck run backwards taunting the visibly pissed Sanchez with a smirk on his lips. He wasn't pretty sure the kid was holding back, he knew for a fact that Puck was holding back. Shortly after he arrived, it was clear that Puck had a lot more going on than just residual super soldier genes. Nick knew what Steve was capable of and Puck more than exceeded that. And he wasn't the only one. Not at all surprisingly, Santana was proving to be more than meets the eye as well. And only Nick knew that their skills most likely came from the same strand of alien DNA that they shared.
He still didn't know what to make of the whole Santana and Puck (and Sam) having alien DNA thing. There didn't appear to be any negative physical consequences best he could tell and neither of them showed any signs of mental instability. If anything, once Nick allowed them to have an area where they could fully show off without fear of backlash or further negativity from their fellow recruits, both seemed settled and comfortable in their own skin. They took the complaints and teasing from the others with a grain of salt. They held back but they let enough of what they were capable of shine through. Despite having only been in training for a few months, Nick was already getting requests from senior agents looking mentor the pair. Too bad those positions were already long filled. Clint and Steve practically stamped their name on Puck and Santana might as well take the codename Black Widow 2.0. She was her virtual double at least in regards to deadliness and calm under pressure.
Nick turned his focus from Puck towards Santana. Not surprisingly she had shown an almost disturbing efficiency for weapons of all kinds. She seemed especially fond of knives. He made a mental note to watch the amount of time Natasha and Santana spent together. Then again, he noticed a visible change in Natasha since she picked up her future junior agent. Natasha was less cold and standoffish. Maybe this was a two way street.
"She hasn't missed yet," Maria said, nodding her head to where Santana was occupied throwing daggers at the wall opposite from her by a good twenty meters away. She was hitting targets that should've been impossible to hit with unerring accuracy. Even the trash talking from the unnerved recruits beside her wasn't working as a distraction. She was calm and collected. Her face was perfectly blank as she threw knife after knife at the targets against the wall. For a second, Nick really believed he was looking at another Black Widow. He cleared his throat.
"Lopez, Puckerman," he yelled bringing all activities to a halt. The pair in question stood at attention waiting further instruction. He didn't fight the smile this time. "I believe you two have an appointment you're meant to be keeping."
Santana's eyes widened as she glanced up at the clock on the gym wall. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Seriously, it's seven already?"
Puck moved to stand by her. "You think we can get back to your room in time?" she started to reply when Nick cleared his throat again. They both stood to attention immediately.
"My office," Nick corrected. "Sitwell already has everything set up."
For a brief moment, the façade of hardened new recruits slipped away, giving way to the two teenagers that they still were. Both were wearing bright grins as they raced out of the door towards Nick's office and their standing weekly appointment. And he meant that they were literally racing. They might hold back in training with the other recruits but neither knew the meaning of the word restraint when it came to the other. Nick was pretty sure that anyone walking the hallways at the moment would probably report only seeing two blurs that appeared to be laughing on the way to his office.
"Are you ever going to tell me what they are?" Maria asked, once the others had gone back to their exercises.
"They're teenagers?"
"Funny, sir. You and I both know there is something more going on here. Except I know that you know exactly what's going on."
"Not exactly."
"But there is something," Maria retorted flatly. "I know that Puckerman is pretty much a super soldier but the formula doesn't account for everything he can do. I've seen Steve's track times. And Puckerman? He beats them hands down. The only one who comes even remotely close to Puckerman is Lopez. Last time I checked, she wasn't the distant relation of a super soldier. They are unlike anything SHIELD has ever seen before. Well, with the exception of Garza."
Nick frowned at the reminder of Agent Sarah Garza. If he had it his way, he would've buried her and the rest of her team so deep it would take generations of agents to find even a trace of their existence. However, the fact remained that Garza was now one of two people who touched this 'diviner' and lived to tell the story later. So she was spared from the full extent of his wrath simply because she may come in handy. The other three weren't so fortunate. Still, he couldn't punish them and not Garza. So after he let Agent Melinda May (she had a definite soft spot for Clint) and the other Avengers who promised not to murder the agents (aka not Natasha or Tony) have a go at them, Nick demoted the whole team to the basest of support staff. Their total and complete humiliation took place in front of the rest of SHIELD. It was a punishment and a warning to anyone else that thought their opinion of Clint superseded Nick's.
"Don't worry about them, Hill," he said, replying to Maria finally. "Just keep an eye on them. And if they start doing anything completely out of the ordinary, let me know."
"Like what? If they start flying or killing people with their minds?"
Nick snorted. "Yeah, exactly. Especially that last one. Everyone knows telepaths don't exist. I'd like to have the first." Maria rolled her eyes.
With that said, he turned on his heel and strolled towards his office. It was early but there were still a few agents already at their stations. Thankfully, his office was on a rather secluded corner of the building. He would hate for the hardworking early risers to be disturbed by the commotion coming from the two teens parked at his desk. He hovered in the doorway and watched as they slipped back into the easy going kids he met only a few short months ago. There was only one thing that could bring about that change at the drop of a dime. Or rather three particular people.
"Hey there, Uncle Nick!" Blaine's voice greeted from the computer screen.
Nick walked around the edge of the desk to stand behind the chair that Puck and Santana were sharing to look at the screen. There was a three way split. Brittany's bright yet tired grin stared at him from the top left. She looked like she had been up for a while. Or rather she hadn't gone to sleep at all. He glanced at her desktop and saw what looked like the beginnings of a robot on her desk. A robot unicorn…. Damn. He owed Blaine twenty dollars. Speaking of Blaine…. He looked at his self-appointed nephew on the top right hand screen. He and Sam were shoulder to shoulder. And it seemed like he wasn't the only one sitting in on the kids' Skype session. Nick could just make out a certain archer sitting on top of the kitchen counter directly behind them.
"Barton, don't you have anything better to do?"
"I think you know full damn well that I do not," Clint retorted petulantly. "Let's see I'm still on so called medical leave and am not allowed to step foot out of this Tower without an Avenger present or they're going to force the Hulk to babysit me aka make me watch My Little Pony with him. Steve is busy moping because Puck doesn't want to exploit their family connection. Thor is back in Asgard. Jane, Tony and Bruce have been doing science since like Sunday. Nat is on a mission. Without me. And Darcy and Cooper are off doing… stuff. I don't really want to know what's going on there because... gross. Blaine and Sam are still stuck on this idea of getting an education even though their school and everyone in it sucks. Britt is too far away. And the only other sources for my amusement are there at Headquarters and I can't go because apparently most of the agents want me dead."
Nick blinked at the impressive word vomit. He was happy to note that he was not the only one who was staring at the archer with a quizzical look. It was rare to hear Clint speak that many consecutive sentences. Maybe the kid really was as bored as he claimed to be.
"Wait, what's the big deal about them being in the lab since Sunday? It's only Monday," Puck pointed out, blatantly ignoring all the other wrong things that Clint just said. That boy was going to go far in this agency.
"Oh, yeah I meant last week Sunday," Clint answered, absently.
"They've been in the lab since last Sunday?" Santana asked, incredulously.
"Sadly, he's not exaggerating," Blaine winced. "Dad claims they're on the verge of some huge scientific breakthrough. On the bright side, there haven't been any explosions since Thursday. That's right around the time that Uncle Clint got bored."
Nick was a little concerned about that. Not the Bruce, Jane and Tony thing because he was used to those three holing themselves up in the lab in the name of science. No, he was mostly concerned about Clint. A bored Clint Barton was not a good Clint to have around. He knew the archer was feeling off center with all this downtime he found himself experiencing as of late. Taking into consideration the time they spent in Ohio and the two months medical leave, Clint was slowly starting to lose focus. Nick made a mental note to pull Phil for a couple of days. He always knew how to reel Clint in when he got like this.
"Uncle Clint?" Blaine asked warily, drawing Nick's attention back to the screen.
They all watched as Clint leaned forward as if trying to get a better of view of something. "Awesome! Thor is back. I'm going to see if I can bribe him into helping me sabotage the Mad Science Nerd's experiments. Probably won't take much. Later."
Nick could only watch in silent horror as Clint bounced away to do exactly that. He looked at Blaine who somehow managed to inherit common sense from someone because it clearly was not either of his parents. The youngest Stark nodded his head and turned to ask JARVIS to shut down whatever shenanigans Thor and Clint were about to engage in as well as whatever was keeping Jane, Bruce and Tony locked in a lab for a week. Satisfied that some sort of normalcy was going to reign again in the Tower, Nick took a seat on the old leather couch in the corner to allow Santana and Puck time to talk to their friends. He pulled out an old file even though he wasn't paying a word of attention to it. His focus was on the bantering between the five teenagers.
They might have been broken at some point through life but when he heard Santana and Puck interacting with Blaine, Sam and Brittany it was hard to see any sign of that. It's why he actively encouraged their weekly (and occasionally more) Skype sessions. He knew how much Clint suffered being the youngest field agent in training. He knew how much Clint still suffered. His age and childhood isolated him from the rest of his cohort. Clint struggled to find someone to relate to until he finally met Natasha almost five years after he joined SHIELD.
So Nick really didn't want to make that mistake again with Santana and Puck. He wanted them to hold onto the little sliver of innocence they had left. They were going to see enough ugliness through their work with SHIELD, he wanted them to hold onto this while they still could. He smiled as Santana giggled, leaning her head against Puck's shoulder as Brittany displayed her design. Puck's laughter mingled with hers when Thor came upon the chatting teens and had to be convinced that none of them were being held hostage by the computer.
Yeah, he would let them have as many of these moments as they could. Things were only going to get more complicated as they progressed as agents. This was the least he could do. Nick sighed as he realized once again, he was definitely in too deep. Again.
Clint was not too far off in his offhanded description of their school, Sam realized as he and Blaine walked through the halls of Upper Westside Preparatory Academy. He supposed he should be grateful that Tony was willing to pay Sam's tuition to what was really a high end, well respected high school. And he was. Tony could've easily slapped him in a regular public school or a GED program, but instead he volunteered to foot the bill for Sam's senior year. So he was grateful. Really… it's just that… it was becoming clear that both he and Blaine would probably have been better off at a regular public school.
They were still losers. Most of the students looked down on him because he was poor. The other kids hated Blaine because his father was too rich and a superhero. The overall consensus was that neither Sam nor Blaine belonged in the school. Sam almost missed the good old days when public disdain was just a slushy to the face. Now they had to deal with ridicule from the student body as well as a few of the teachers. Blaine believed that the reason why some of the teachers (both male and female) disliked them was because they were victims of his father's swinging single years. Sam could've gone lifetimes without ever really thinking about Tony's life before he settled down with Pepper. It's bad enough they had Cooper as a daily reminder of what Tony was capable of before Pepper tamed him.
But none of that mattered to Sam. It was true, they were losers yet again but at least they had each other. He grinned at Blaine as his best friend settled down at the lunch table opposite from him with a tense expression on his face.
"What are you so damn happy about?" he asked peevishly.
"Just thinking that no matter how crappy this whole school thing is, I'm glad I've got you," Sam shrugged, taking a bite out of his burger. One silver lining in this situation was that the school had a professional chef in the kitchen. He made burgers so good Sam was ready to hand over his first born child.
"You know that you make it really difficult to be bitter when you go around saying stuff like that," Blaine pointed out, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Also I was thinking that we have a long weekend coming up so we might get some actual in person time with Puck and Santana, especially if you beg Uncle Nick. Brittany said she's probably going to come down like Thursday afternoon. She said she's finished with her lab work anyway so no one is expecting her to be around this weekend."
"Wait, if she finished already then what she was working on this morning?"
"Next semester's project," Sam shrugged at Blaine's incredulous look. He didn't try to understand how the other blonde's mind worked. Brittany was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. It would be insane to try and understand her mindset. Clearly, Blaine missed that memo.
"About Brittany…. Have you given anymore thought to her whole she's been waiting for us for fifty years thing?"
Sam raised an eyebrow. "No, but clearly you have."
Blaine huffed. "That doesn't strike you as odd?"
"It's Brittany! Almost everything she says or does is kind of odd. I mean she's building a robot unicorn, dude. No good can come of that. I learned to ignore what she says. Besides Puck usually understands her and he doesn't think anything's wrong, does he?"
"No, he said it was fine. But still," Blaine muttered, toying with the end of his tie. Sam narrowed his eyes at his utterly together looking best friend.
That was another downside of private school… uniforms. Blaine was used to it with Dalton but Sam was not. The uniform was fairly simple. Gray slacks with white button down shirts, ties and black blazers. Even though everything was tailored to perfection, Sam still felt out of place and awkward in his uniform. Blaine, on the other hand, looked like his was born in a get up just like this. It wasn't just the fancy clothes either. Blaine looked great in everything he wore. Literally everything. There had to be some kind of law against that.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Sam flushed. "Like what? I'm not looking at you any particular way. Just the regular way that I always look at you. Not that I always look at you because I don't. Not that it would be weird or wrong if I did because we're friends and friends can look at each other… right?"
Blaine blinked. "Right. Okay, never mind. So did you give any thought to the community service project we're supposed to be doing so we can graduate and get the hell out of this place?"
"I was thinking something with the homeless," Sam replied absently. "I remember what it was like. And there are so many people who are homeless in this city. I figured it would be nice to give back."
Blaine smiled softly. "Yeah, I guess it would be. You want some help with that?"
"Of course," Sam replied with a smile of his own. He didn't know how long they sat there smiling at each other like idiots but he did know it was interrupted way too soon by a few of the students from their school.
"You guys are totally adorable!" a voice squealed before suddenly they were surrounded by six of their fellow students. Sam exchanged confused glances with Blaine. Oh, what the hell? "You're such a cute couple."
"We're not a couple," they replied in unison.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I just assumed that since he was poor and living with you that he was your boyfriend."
Sam groaned and let his head slam down on the table. He really, really missed the days when the form of torture was just a slushy to the face and not a constant reminder of your economic status… or in Sam's case, lacking economic status.
"Sam is my best friend," Blaine corrected. "He's living with me for that reason alone. No one asked for your opinions on the subject. Nor did we ask for you to sit here. So if you have a problem or an opinion, keep it to yourself and get away from our table."
Sam lifted his head to look at Blaine. The brunette met his waiting gaze with a smirk. Sam felt him smiling in response. He cleared his throat and sat up straight. "What he said."
"Look," one of the other five started, throwing a dirty look at her friend. "We didn't come here to pick a fight. Amber here has a tendency to talk first and think never." Amber scoffed but then eventually nodded her head in agreement. "I'm Jackie. That's Eric, Robin, Kevin, Megan and of course, Amber."
"That's super. Why are you here?" Blaine asked, sounding way too much like his father.
"Is this you?" Eric asked, pushing his phone across the table so that it was between the two friends but it was only facing Blaine. It was opened to the YouTube app. Sam craned his neck to see it was a video of them performing at Regionals. Sam smiled softly at the memory of that performance. True, it all ended horribly with Quinn's accident but it was fun up until that moment. He didn't even know someone recorded it much less posted it online. But there it was.
Blaine's eyes narrowed as he watched himself rapping alongside Santana. Sam knew he was most likely criticizing his performance. That's why it took him a moment to realize that Eric was still waiting for an answer. Sam cleared his throat pointedly.
"Oh, right. Yeah, that's me. Why do you ask?"
"I'm going to cut straight to the point," Jackie said, leaning towards him. "You're talented, cute and have exactly the right image for our club. We would like to formally invite you to audition for the Upper Westside High Notes."
Blaine's brow furrowed. "You want us to join your glee club?"
The six teens exchanged awkward glances and Sam picked up on the tension right away. He snorted. "No, pretty sure they want you to join their glee club, dude. Not me. I don't have the right image or financial clout."
"Is that true?" Blaine asked, though their silence and unwillingness to meet either of their eyes was kind of all the answer they needed. "This is unbelievable."
"I understand that he's your friend and all. But the High Notes have a long standing history of social and financial success. We cannot allow just anyone to join," Robin replied. "That might not be how you did things in your little glee club before. But that's how they're done here."
"Great," Blaine said, sharply. "Then we have nothing further to discuss."
"Does that mean you're going to accept our position?"
"Not even if you paid me," Blaine admitted. "You're right our 'little glee club' did run things differently than you guys. We didn't care who joined as long as they were passionate about singing and music. That might be why we've gone to Nationals twice and won once. How did you guys do at Nationals?"
"We didn't make it that far," Megan retorted through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm not interested in participating in the snobbery that seems to permeate this place. My father has never looked down on anyone and I'm not about to start. So thanks for the invitation but I have to respectfully decline your invitation."
"Seriously?!" Amber cried.
"How did you really think this was going to play out? The entire student body has looked down on both myself and Sam since the school year started. You talk about us behind our backs. Sometimes even to our faces. Did you really think I was going to say yes?"
"Maybe we got off on the wrong foot," Jackie tried. "It's just that you're Tony Stark's son. No one really knew what you were going to be like. Most people thought you were going to be a carbon copy of your father. Others thought you were going to be worse. So there were some preconceived notions of you going around school already. No one really knew what to do when you came in and were so… normal."
Blaine rolled his eyes and Sam had to chew on his lip to avoid laughing. He really wished he had the presence of mind to record this from the beginning. Puck and Santana would've loved it. They were experiencing their own form of social isolation at SHIELD. They were both long overdue for a laugh. Oh well, they would just have to settle for Sam's detailed play by play.
"You'll have to forgive me for not really buying that as an excuse," Blaine replied, smoothly. "I'm not interested in joining your glee club now or even in the future. Now if you'll excuse us, I'm trying to have lunch with my poor best friend."
Sam didn't hide the smile as they finally realized that they were getting nowhere with Blaine. Eventually they grumbled in disappointment and finally left the table. As soon as they were effectively out of hearing range, Blaine let out a deep sigh.
"You know, you didn't have to do that for me," Sam said. Blaine threw him a look. "I'm just saying. I know you like performing. It might have been fun."
"You know what I loved the most about performing with the Warblers and New Directions?" Sam shook his head. "I was performing with my friends. It was fun because I was with people that I cared about and that cared about me in return. That's what made it a great experience. Those guys don't care about anything but their image." He toyed with the straw to his soda. "Plus that girl Amber reminded me of Sugar. And I definitely couldn't do another year of that!"
Sam laughed. He gave Blaine an appreciative look. "So we stick together?"
"Always."
Puck pushed the Stark created and gifted tablet higher up on his raised legs so that the camera was better focused on his face and not so much on the bare wall behind his head. Still, he could read the silent judgment in Blaine's eyes even if his friend was managing to avoid commenting on the lack of decoration. For now. Blaine liked to give him a lot of crap about how his room looked like a minimalist's wet dream. But there was always something underlying the teasing. This little hint of concern that grated on Puck's nerves because it meant that Blaine had an idea of why Puck's room was so bare. And Puck did not want Blaine having ideas. That tended to lead to attention and he really, really hated attention lately.
"So Hogwarts laid the verbal smack down, huh?" Santana asked, bringing his attention back to the screen. His partner in training leaned forward, glaring at the bottom half of the screen where Sam was sitting. "And the reason that there is no footage is….?"
"How was I supposed to know that Blaine was going to verbally eviscerate them?" Sam protested. "Isn't telling you about it enough?"
"You're failing me here, Trouty Mouth. You're failing me."
There was a faint snicker from the other side of Puck's room. He tore his eyes away from the tablet screen to focus on his roommate and future science tech, Donnie Gill. There was a random jumbled chorus of hellos for the other teen from his three friends.
"You guys are weird," was all Donnie said as he excused himself from the room, still laughing quietly to himself. Puck smiled faintly. He liked Donnie. He was a good guy. A little socially awkward but he was a good guy.
"Okay, so now that you're well and truly alone," Blaine started, all traces of levity gone from his voice. "How's training really going?"
"Fine," Puck answered automatically. Blaine continued to glare. "Okay, so it's not perfect but I kind of expected this. Clint gave me the rundown on what to expect as a teenaged agent of SHIELD."
"And it's the same for you, San?"
"No," she admitted reluctantly. "Apparently the fact that I carry a really big knife around somehow intimidates the others so they really don't bother me as much as they bother Puck. But that's because he barely shows what he's capable of."
"I do stuff," Puck countered.
"Yeah right. Even that thing with Sanchez this morning. You could run laps around that jerk before he's even done with one. But you're holding back."
"You are too."
"Yeah, because you do!"
"Children," Blaine warned. "The point is that if it's getting really bad, you should say something to Uncle Nick or even your grandfather. You know the guy that you've barely spoken to since you started training."
"Definitely no," Puck shook his head. "It's bad enough that they're ragging on me because of my age. How do you think it's going to go over that I had to get my grandfather and our boss involved? It's just going to make shit more super awkward than it already is."
"So what's your plan?"
"Just ignore it goes away," he shrugged. "They have to find something else to do eventually. Hopefully. Maybe."
The three disapproving glares he received showed just how much they trusted that one but thankfully that was all that was said on the subject. The rest of the time was spent making plans to hang out. The trainees were granted some downtime this weekend and he had every intention of going back to the Tower to his room that felt like home. He was going back to the place he belonged. He disconnected the call after taunting Sam and Blaine about having school in the morning and placed his tablet on his nightstand.
"Dude, when are you going to put up something that makes it look like someone else lives here too?" Donnie asked, as he came back into the room. Puck raised an eyebrow.
"You've been listening to way too many of my conversations with Blaine."
"You ever going to explain how you know Blaine Stark anyway?"
"We went to high school together," Puck replied. "I found out about SHIELD through him and here I am."
"Yeah," Donnie cast a critical eye around the room before meeting Puck's gaze pointedly. "Here you are."
"Don't start!" Puck warned, pointing at him. Donnie rolled his eyes before climbing under his sheets. "I heard Sitwell got sent on a mission this afternoon. You heard who's replacing him for classes tomorrow yet?"
"Get this, Agent Hill somehow convinced Agent Morse to cover the field agents' classes." Puck stared at him blankly. "Agent Barbara Morse? How do you not know who she is?! What are they teaching you in field agent training?"
"Shut it, nerd," Puck retorted playfully. "So who is she?"
"She's Mockingbird and she's only one of the more badass agents in this place. Seriously, she's only second in deadliness to the Black Widow. That's kind of funny when you consider the fact that Agent Morse is actually the ex-wife of Agent Barton."
"What the?" Puck sputtered. Ex-wife? Clint was married at some point to someone who was not Natasha Romanov?
"Yeah, you do know who Hawkeye is right? He is the youngest agent in the history of SHIELD to be recruited. He was even younger than you, junior."
"Shut up! You're only like six months older than me! That doesn't even count."
"It totally counts. Those six months clearly gave me more wisdom and insight into how the world works. You would do well to learn from me, grasshopper." Puck laughed and threw his pillow across the room.
There was a muffled echoing laughter from Donnie's side of the room before the pillow was flung back towards him. He caught it in one hand, ignoring Donnie's muttered 'show off' comment before sinking down in his not as uncomfortable as he thought mattress. He flicked the light off on the lamp at his bedside with an absent smile. Maybe he did have a place here. Maybe it was time that he showed it. As he drifted off to sleep he made a silent promise to ask Blaine and Sam to help him pick out some stuff that would make his dorm room feel more like home when he was back the Tower that weekend. Because maybe he was just as at home here as he was at the Tower. Maybe he did belong.
Santana kept Puck in her peripheral vision as they completed the next series of challenges in their substitute trainer's class the next day. He was in a visibly good mood almost as if he reached some sort of internal conclusion that fixed his lingering emo. That was good because she was really starting to worry about him. Thankfully, the melancholy that was starting to creep up on him wasn't there. Today he seemed settled and comfortable if not a little cockier than ever before. Oh well, she would take that over mopey Puck. She was definitely not a fan of mopey Puck. Nor was a she a fan of anyone or anything that made him feel mopey. Thankfully she didn't have to hurt anyone or anything because her best friend was in a great mood and it was only going to get better once they got to go home for a little while. Everything was looking up… until it very suddenly wasn't.
"Listen up everyone," Bobbi Morse whistled bringing an end to the separate conversations and general chatter in the room. Santana looked to Puck again which is why she was able to witness the color draining from his face. He looked like he was going to be sick. She was about to make her way to his side when Bobbi kept talking. "I would like you all to meet my best friend, Agent Sharon Carter aka Agent 13."
Sharon… Carter. Oh no. Santana swallowed as she looked from the horrified Puck to Sharon who stood next to Bobbi seemingly oblivious to the effect she was having on her cousin. She probably didn't even recognize him. The last time anyone from that side of the family saw Puck was when he was much younger. So young that his dad leaving them was a fresh wound that could be easily exploited. So young enough that he hadn't learned to build the shields he needed to protect himself from their hurtful words. Santana knew that Sharon wasn't that much older than them but she knew that the other woman was old enough that she was probably a participant in the last family gathering that ended with Puck sealing the more vulnerable Noah behind emotional walls so impenetrable they would make Fort Knox weep with envy.
"So anyone have any questions for Agent Carter?" Bobbi asked with a teasing hint to her voice. Sharon rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, Sanchez?"
"Is it true that your grand aunt is Agent Peggy Carter?"
"Yes," Sharon replied with a bright smile. "She is one of the original founders of SHIELD along with Howard Stark. I joined SHIELD to be a testament to my aunt's amazing work. I'm just happy to continue her legacy."
Santana fought the urge to gag. She probably did mean the words but this woman hurt her friend. Her sheer presence in the room right now was hurting her friend now. Therefore she hated everything about Sharon Carter. She ignored the rest of the sheep she called a cohort who were falling over themselves to get to talk to the great Sharon Carter and instead focused on pushing through them to get to Puck. Finally she reached his side and sighed in relief as she was able to wrap her hand around his arm.
"Hey, you need to get out of here?"
Puck let out a slow breath. "Hell yes."
Santana forced herself to laugh and keep it light as she steered him towards the front of the crowd. She tried to get Bobbi's attention which was easy as all focus was on Sharon. She watched as the older agent narrowed her eyes, no doubt taking in Puck's pale and pained expression.
"You feeling okay, Noah?"
"Not really," he admitted. "Can I possibly be excused from the rest of the class?"
Bobbi tilted her head to the side, almost as if she were trying to determine whether he was telling the truth. Finally she nodded and Santana released the breath she didn't know she was holding. "But first I want to introduce you to Sharon."
"Fuck," Santana muttered.
"Hey, Carter, these are the kids I was telling you about. This is Santana Lopez and Noah Puckerman."
Santana watched as the smile on Sharon's face slid off as the name finally registered for her. Her expression darkened as she looked between Puck and Bobbi. She settled on Puck after a few long moments with a glare on her formerly pleasant features.
"Noah? What the hell are you doing here?"
Puck swallowed, looking everywhere but at his cousin. "Oh, you know. Chilling. Trying to be a part of the Carter legacy. You know basic shit. You?"
"That's hilarious," she snapped in a tone that implied anything but amusement. "How did you even find out about SHIELD? I know Aunt Peggy never told you. She knew that you weren't SHIELD material."
"Wait, are you telling me that Puckerman is related to you? Related to Agent Carter?" Bobbi asked slowly. By now the other trainees were starting to pay attention as evidenced by the surprised gasps all around.
"Unfortunately," Sharon replied coldly. "He's what we like to call the black sheep of the family." She continued to stare at Puck without a hint of warmth in her glare. Santana really didn't like that look on her face. "You don't belong here, Noah. I mean how did you even get in? You barely passed high school. And you continued your family tradition of having a baby and committing a felony before you were even sixteen. You have no right coming here and trying to claim any part of the Carter legacy. You might be her great grandson but you're nothing more than a chronic failure and…."
Santana never felt more satisfaction from the simple act of slapping someone in her entire life than she did in that moment. Her hand stung like crazy but damned if that didn't feel good. She could care less about the fact that she just assaulted someone who was probably considered her senior officer. The bitch was lucky all she did was slap her. Sharon gaped at her in disbelief but Santana held a hand up silencing any comment about to spill from her lips.
"You know I heard all about Agent 13. I heard that she was smart and brave and the textbook example of what of what an agent of SHIELD should look like. But right now I don't see any of that. All I see is someone who is either blind or too incredibly ignorant to function. That's the only explanation of why you're incapable of looking at the evidence right in front of your face and seeing that your family's petty resentment against a child that was born into less than ideal circumstances is clouding your ability to see how crazy awesome that child really is." She took a deep breath before swinging around to face a shocked silent Bobbi. "FYI, we're taking the rest of the day. Possibly the rest of the week."
"Uh, yeah," she blinked. "Go ahead."
Santana didn't say anything further. She simply steered a far quiet Puck through the gawking gaggle of students and out into the hallway. She didn't stop tugging him along until they were finally a suitable distance away. She felt his arm shaking under her touch.
"Talk to me," Santana pleaded. "What are you thinking?"
"I… I was wrong, San," he whispered shakily. To her horror there were honest to god tears forming in his eyes. "I don't belong here. She's right. I'm not a testament to my great grandmother, I'm a black mark. I don't belong here."
"Puck, that's…." she didn't get a chance to finish that statement as Puck was wrenching his arm out of her grasp and streaking away down the hall. "Oh sure now he doesn't hold back!" she wiped her hand over her face in exasperation before finally pulling out her phone to call Donnie, hoping that he not only picked up but was close enough to be of assistance. Because this had the potential to get bad. Really, really bad. Like Avengers getting involved bad. "Donnie, please tell me you're in your room!"
At least she waited. Sharon winced as she saw the look in Bobbi's eye. She knew what the look meant. They were going to talk. And Bobbi was going to say things that she really, really wasn't going to like. She instructed the rest of the class to complete some mundane drill before finally approaching Sharon with that look. Sharon braced herself.
"Share, how long have we been friends?"
Okay, that was not at all how she expected this to go down. "Uh, about five years now."
"You know that I trust you and I think that you're an amazing agent, right?"
"Of course."
"Good. Ce cause what just happened right now was not cool." There it was. "First off, it was unprofessional as hell. And it was cruel."
"You don't know Noah like I do," she countered, though the argument sounded weak even to her ears.
"Actually I think Lopez was right and you don't know him very well either. I think that you're just regurgitating crap you've heard your family say through the years. Because that kid? He's SHIELD material. He's got beyond peak human skills. His ability to think on his feet is incredible. I was going to say that the only other person I've seen come up with plans that quick was you. Now I see it was genetic." Sharon pursed her lips thoughtfully. "The kid came with a personal recommendation from Director Fury. "
Sharon chewed on her lip. She was really not expecting this today. Especially since both Santana and Bobbi had a point. There was a long standing grudge between her mother, aunts, uncles and Noah's grandmother and consequently their children. It didn't help that everything she heard about her three cousins from Aaron and Elizabeth, kind of validated her mother and aunts' beliefs. But maybe it didn't. Because here Noah was in SHIELD and apparently doing well enough to earn Fury's personal attention. Still….
"He probably dropped Aunt Peggy's name."
"Oh, like you did?"
Sharon narrowed her eyes, glaring at her friend. Bobbi giggled. "Oh shut up!"
"Seriously," Bobbi said, once the urge to laugh seemed to pass. "You really need to sort through your damage with him because Director Fury vouched for him. We all know there are very few people that Fury has personally vouched for. And by few I mean three."
"Coulson, Hill and Barton," Sharon replied easily. "He's really doing well?"
"Amazingly well. Even without knowing who he was related to, the kid stands out. There have been more than a few agents circling around who want to personally mentor him and Santana but Hill shot them down. Said they were already spoken for. And though they're keeping quiet about the whole thing, I'm pretty sure given who's involved with them that I know the two agents that are claiming them."
"Barton and Romanov," Sharon shook her head.
Maybe it was time to rethink her view when it came to Noah Puckerman. First, she didn't want to end up like Garza and her team who went against someone that Fury cared about. Second, she knew how closed off both Natasha and Clint were. If they were laying claims to Puck and Santana then that meant they were both something special. And not just for their skills.
"Yup!" Bobbi replied, popping the 'p' at the end of the word with extra emphasis. "You know how vindictive Clint can be. I definitely wouldn't go around attacking your cousin anymore. It's probably not going to end well."
"I didn't attack him!"
"You put his whole life on display. I learned more about him in that five minutes than I learned from reading his training file."
Sharon ran a hand through her hair. She really didn't intend to attack him when she started talking but she could see very clearly that was exactly what she did. She dredged up every single dirty thing her family had ever said about the kid and put it all out there for everyone to see. Even if she believed most of that was true, she had no right doing that in front of an audience. Especially an audience of significantly older peers that would have no qualms about using that information against him.
"Ugh, I'm such a bitch," she murmured.
"Yeah, but you're my bitch if it makes you feel better," Bobbi said, squeezing her shoulders.
"Surprisingly, it really doesn't," Sharon retorted, shrugging her off with a slight smile. "I'll find him and apologize later."
"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine."
"Yeah," Sharon nodded. She almost kind of believed that too.
It was sad that she was ridiculously excited by the random squeals that went around the room suddenly as it distracted her from her thoughts of how badly she screwed this up.
"What's going on?" Bobbi asked, bringing them all to attention.
"Captain America is in the building!" one of the cadets answered with a dreamy smile. Sharon felt a smile forming against her will. Another Captain America fan boy.
"He's probably here to meet with Director Fury, so calm down," Bobbi ordered.
"No, he's headed towards the dorms!" another one chimed in.
Sharon and Bobbi exchanged looks. Captain America was headed towards the dorms that typically housed trainees during their time at the Academy. What business could he possibly have over there? Sharon glanced out the window not surprised to see that there was influx of people headed towards the dorms. News spread quickly around here.
"Uh, you know what? Class is dismissed," Bobbi said, decisively. "Come on, partner. I am dying to meet Captain America."
"You're such a fan girl!" Sharon teased even as Bobbi dragged her out the room. "Hasn't it only been like five minutes since you signed the divorce papers with Hunter? You working on getting another ex-husband to go in your collection?"
"Oh, shut up!"
Truthfully, Sharon was just as eager to meet the man as well. Even long after his supposed death, it was clear that her aunt was in love with Steve Rogers. If he had lived, there was no doubt that they would've been married and raised a beautiful family together. But life didn't work that way and instead Peggy moved on past her first love and ultimately married and had two children that managed to stay out of the spy game. When her husband, Daniel, died, Peggy found new love with one of her beloved Howling Commandoes and brought in even more cousins for Sharon. Family reunions were even more fun with the addition of Gabe Jones and his children and grandchildren. Sharon never really thought how it must've been for Puck and Darcy growing up. They missed all of those events. They were cast aside by the family and shunned for things they had no control in.
She felt guilt and remorse in equal amounts. She really needed to find a way to apologize to Noah. Maybe she could meet Captain America and convince him to speak to her cousin. He seemed like the kind of guy that would do that. She smiled lightly feeling slightly better knowing that she was going to make up for her rude and terrible behavior after all.
Donnie Gill was never destined to be a big damn hero. He knew that. He accepted that. He was opposed to all things physical and rather enjoyed being behind the scenes. His parents encouraged him to embrace science and other forms of knowledge. They were against him doing physical activities. He was fine with it. He was home schooled anyway. Not exactly like there was a football team for him to join. It wasn't until he was about to enter college at the age of fourteen that he finally realized that he grew up without friends or any type of social interaction aside from his parents. He even completed his degree online. Still he managed to make an impression on his professors and they encouraged him to apply to the science and technology program at the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division Academy. He did it without his parents' permission with the hope that he could finally break out of his shell and even make some friends. That didn't work out so well until the Powers that Be decided to move Noah Puckerman into his life… and his room.
Initially Puck was rooming with Eugene Sanchez but it soon seemed that the older Sanchez didn't see their rivalry as quite so friendly and instead chose to harass the younger recruit even during their downtime. So living arrangements were shaken up and Donnie was suddenly living with the larger than life Noah Puckerman. Donnie worried at first that Puck would be like all the other field agent trainees, who were quite fond of mocking the "future lab geeks". But Puck defied his expectations upon their very first meeting. He actually seemed interested in Donnie's work. He didn't seemed annoyed when Donnie slipped into science speak. He was surprisingly capable of keeping up with him when he went on his nerdy rants.
Puck turned out to be a really great person who actually called Donnie a friend. Puck wasn't like Seth, who was only friends with Donnie because he was using his intelligence. Puck seemed to genuinely like Donnie. Even his friends seemed to take a liking to Donnie. Donnie wasn't dumb enough to believe that any of them cared about Donnie for Donnie. They cared about him because he was their friend's roommate. He knew that Santana especially liked to keep tabs on Puck. So he was used to getting random phone calls from the Latina checking on who would inevitably become her partner once they completed training (and he didn't believe for a second that anything could or would keep them from completing training). But he never got one where she sounded this frantic.
"Donnie, please tell me you're in your room!"
Donnie blinked at the desperation in her voice. "Yeah, I just got back. Why? What's up?"
"It's Puck. He's really upset and I'm worried he's going to do something stupid. Like try to pack up his stuff and move out."
Donnie frowned. "Pack up what stuff? He barely unpacked anything as it is." Santana cursed in a mix of different languages. "Was that Bulgarian and Russian?"
"Yeah, I have a friend teaching me," Santana replied, dismissively. "Look just keep him in the room as long as you can. I'll be there in a minute."
With that said, she disconnected the call. Donnie felt his brow furrow. She was going to be here in a minute? The training building was at least a good fifteen minute walk from the dorms. There was no way she was going to be here that quick. But on a bright side, neither would Puck. If all of this just went down he had at least a good ten minutes to figure out how he was going to keep Puck in the room…. or not.
He jumped as the door to the room slammed open and Puck came breezing into the room, pulling out a duffel bag and throwing the few things he had actually unpacked into the bag haphazardly. Donnie blinked as the slightly younger teen whirled around the room almost dizzyingly fast.
"Puck? You okay, man?"
Puck ignored him, instead focusing on his closet and then the dresser. For a brief moment, Donnie contemplated jumping in front of him and demanding his attention but he was a lot smarter than that. He may not be in the field agent training but he has seen enough of it to know that Puck was way above his skill level. He was not about to get his ass handed to him by his emotionally unstable roommate. Still it was becoming clear that Puck was definitely going to take off if there wasn't some kind of intervention. Thankfully it came less than a minute later in the form of Santana Lopez.
He watched as the brunette ignored all the signs and warnings cautioning her against invading Puck's personal space as she pushed him against a dresser. Donnie winced imagining the worst but nothing happened. Puck let his bag drop from his hand as he gave into the embrace Santana was offering.
"You can't leave," she muttered against his shoulder.
"I don't belong here. Sharon was right."
"Sharon might be your cousin but she's a first class bitch," Santana retorted, rearing back to glare at him. "You're not going to let her stop you. You wanted to do this from the minute Clint told you about SHIELD. You cannot turn your back on it now. This is who you were meant to be. You believed that at some point and I still believe it."
Puck shook his head. "It's not just Sharon. It's everyone. None of them believe I can do it. Even some of the agents think I'm too young or too something."
"Puck," Santana sighed, clearly at a loss for words. That's okay because Donnie had more than a few.
"Hi, sorry. I'm a little lost here. Trying to catch up and all. Did I just hear what I think I heard? Your cousin is Sharon Carter? Your cousin is the grandniece of Peggy Carter?"
"Yeah. I guess."
"That would either mean you're the grandnephew of Peggy Carter or…."
"Her great-grandson," Santana answered with a hint of pride.
Donnie was really glad that he was sitting down because really? His roommate was the great grandson of the founder of SHIELD and he wasn't screaming that from the mountaintops. Then again he also had some sort of friendship with one of the newly discovered Stark heirs. So it seemed that his roomie had some really good friends in high places.
"That's amazing," Donnie finally said, running a hand through his hair. "Seriously, your family is a pretty huge deal around here."
"My family hates me," Puck countered, making Donnie wished he never opened his stupid mouth. "From the minute I was born, all I ever heard from them was how I was a disappointment. And it hasn't changed. It's never going to change."
"That's not entirely true is it?" a new voice chimed into the ever escalating scene of doom. Donnie opened his mouth to snap at the newcomer and tell them now was definitely not a good time when he actually got a look at their visitor. "About your family, I mean. It's not entirely true that things won't change with your family, is it?"
"Captain America?!"
"Steve, thank god," Santana muttered.
"Grandpa," Puck mumbled.
Donnie blinked at the two friends. "Seriously? Captain America is your grandfather?!"
"Great grandfather," Steve replied with a grin, walking into the room and pushing the door to slightly closed behind him. He looked around the room critically. "Blaine was right. Your side does look empty. And I know it's not a lack of funds. Tony offered you his credit card. So what's really the problem?"
Puck sighed, sitting down on the bed. Santana immediately sat next to him in case he got any ideas. But Donnie recognized the look in his roommate's eyes. It was the look of someone who just needed to be told he belonged. Donnie knew that look well.
"It's not about the money. I just… I don't think I can do this. I'm not SHIELD material. I'm like probably the worst possible candidate on paper."
"Pretty sure the worst possible candidate was the one hundred pound weakling with asthma that couldn't even get in the army," Steve reminded him. Puck snorted and nodded slowly. "But they took a chance and I'd say I turned out pretty well."
"Super soldier serum helped a little," Puck answered with a hint of a smile.
"Yeah, it helped a bit," Steve laughed. "And need I remind you about the guy that, along with his friends, ensured that an entire school building full of teenagers were saved from harm by kidnappers. That same guy was also later kidnapped himself while in the course of protecting a friend. That same guy also later escaped using only his brains and made sure that his two friends were also protected. That guy is SHIELD material."
Puck's face flushed even as he looked down at his hands. "I guess maybe."
"No, no maybes. Do I need to call Clint over here? Because he would be more than willing to confirm it for you. I've seen your test results so far, kid. No one can take that away from you. You're going to be amazing." Steve kneeled down so he could look Puck in the eye. "For the record, you've made me so incredibly proud. I know Peggy would feel the same way."
Puck looked up at him with a more serene expression on his face. He nodded slightly. "Thanks, grandpa."
"None necessary," Steve replied, clapping him on the shoulder. Santana leaned against Puck and smiled at Steve.
"What are you doing here anyway? You couldn't have possibly found out about what happened that fast."
"I was already here," Steve admitted. "I was here to appeal to Nick and see if I could spring you two for the rest of the week. I was actually planning on going later but Sam kept telling me that I needed to come now. Guess he was right."
"Yeah," Puck agreed, rising to his feet. "So now what?"
"So now, I'm still springing you for the rest of the week with or with Fury's permission. But first, we're going to actually unpack your stuff and put it away because you definitely belong here until you're done with training. of course once you're done you belong at the Tower. But I digress, after we finish unpacking, I'm supposed to be collecting you two and Mr. Gill over here and taking you back to the Tower where Sammy, Blaine and Brittany who showed up about an hour ago are not patiently waiting to see you. Expect snuggles."
"They know about all of this?" Puck asked hesitantly.
"Oh yeah," Steve replied, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure that Thor and the Hulk are the only thing keeping them from storming the place right now. So we might want to hurry before they do some serious damage to the Tower and Tony disowns us all."
Puck laughed, nodding his head. He then looked to Donnie. "What do you say, roomie? You want to have dinner at the Avengers Tower with a bunch of snuggle happy idiots and some superheroes?"
Donnie arched an eyebrow. "Dude, why are we even still discussing this?" he moved to take one of the boxes off the bed. "You want this stuff over here or by the window?"
Puck smiled softly. "Anywhere. We all know Santana is going to change it around anyway." Santana grinned.
"I love that you know me so well!"
"Hey! Less talking and more unpacking! We have dinner to get to!"
"Oh, Tony is going to love him," Steve replied dryly.
"Oh my god, I'm going to meet Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner!"
Puck and Santana laughed even as they each picked up one of the long forgotten boxes storing Puck's stuff and setting about making the room look more like home.
Sharon and Bobbi took a step away from the door and exchanged wide eyed looks. She freely admitted that her mind was just blown. No one knew who Sarah Carter's father was. No one ever bothered to speculate. She was something that shouldn't have existed. She was the child of an unwed mother in the 1940s. Sharon wondered how different Sarah's life would've been if people knew she was the only child of Captain America. She also wondered how different Noah and Darcy and little Sarah's lives would've been if her family knew that. But as she stood outside the door listening to the bantering between Santana, Puck and Steve that was unscored by obvious affection and care, she realized that it shouldn't have mattered. Peggy's family was wrong for denying Sarah for so long. It's what led Sarah to be estranged from her own mother for so long. Her family was wrong for shunning Sarah and her children and their children. Just as Sharon was wrong for carrying that grudge on today.
"So did you hear what you needed to hear?"
Sharon squeaked even as she and Bobbi whirled around to face Nick Fury himself. She swallowed several times before finally looking to Bobbi. The other woman blinked.
"Uh, I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir. We came here to check on Puckerman. He wasn't feeling well earlier."
Nick snorted. "I almost believed that one. Good job, Morse. But no, you really came here to appease your guilt after you put Puckerman's life on blast in front of a room full of people who would love to use that information against him."
Sharon tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sir, I take full responsibility. I was wrong."
"Yes, you were," Nick agreed. "And I'm sure that he would love to hear your apology someday. But I don't recommend that being today."
Sharon nodded. She kind of got the hint that trying to talk to Puck right now would be the equivalent of going unarmed into enemy territory and hoping to not be killed. Actually that would be pretty much exactly what trying to apologize to him right now would be. She sighed.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, how did you find out?" Bobbi asked, quietly.
"I got a call from Barton bitching about how his 'future junior officer wanted to quit because of the Hell Beast and her bff, the Stepford Bitch'. I figured that warranted an investigation."
Sharon rolled her eyes knowing Bobbi was doing the same. Sometimes she really hated Clint Barton. That would all the days that ended with the letter y.
"Who even called him?"
"Stark," Nick replied. "The same person who got Steve involved. I hope that you realize that Tony Stark hacks any and everything pertaining to those teenagers."
"Got that now."
"And you would both do well to remember that I am the sole determinate of who is and who isn't considered to be SHIELD material. Every agent that comes through the academy has been vetted by myself and Deputy Hill. Both Lopez and Puckerman came with the recommendations of two highly respected agents, our consultant, and Captain America. That alone makes him SHIELD material. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," Sharon murmured. "I apologize. I was out of line."
"I'm not the one that you have to apologize to. But I would definitely wait until he's alone. Good luck with that though. Because that kid is rarely ever alone. Now if you'll excuse me. I hear Barton is cooking dinner tonight and I'm going to secure an invitation for myself."
With that, Nick pushed past the two women and into the room. Sharon watched as Nick gently teased both teenagers with the gruff affection he only showed to Clint through the years. Sharon shook her head. She really, really screwed this one up. But she wasn't going to make it a habit. She was going to get off her high horse and find a way to make it up to Puck. There had to be a reason they were crossing paths after so long. Maybe it was time they became more than just family on paper.
Despite herself she smiled softly. Now with the addition of Puck, that made three agents that were either directly or indirectly related to Agent Peggy Carter in SHIELD. She knew Trip was a great agent already and Puck was well on his way. Yeah, the legacy of Peggy Carter was definitely in good hands.
*And that finishes this chapter. Holy crap this was long. This was pretty much 18 pages in Word. I really, really hope you all enjoyed!
Some notes, I just want to clarify that I actually do like Sharon Carter and Bobbi Morse. I think they're awesome characters. They served a point in this chapter but they'll definitely be more supportive characters going forward. Maybe not to Clint but I think he'll be okay.
To my fellow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D fans, I'm kind of going with a mix of Donnie from the show as well as from the comics. Because his comic background flowed rather nicely with where I was headed with certain characters. But there will be more of that revealed in the next chapter.
Also Blaine and Sam didn't get a lot of action this chapter but I'm definitely going to be addressing the alien DNA thing sooner than later so Sam will definitely be popping up a little more.
And on a random note, the alternate title for this chapter was going to be Don't Rain On My Parade. But I couldn't stop giggling while typing that so I went with whatever popped up on my playlist. I just felt that I needed to share that brief insight into how my brain works. Okay, now I'm done! See ya next time.