A/N: Hi, guys. *yawn* So I left this one a little late as well - actually meant to start this a full three hours earlier than I actually did - but eh, it's done. On the other hand, nothing's getting done. Everything is moving so slowly. *huff* And technically it's my fault, but... *wave* So! Don't worry, I'm frustrated too. *laugh*
Thank you to Yuki F. Karasu, bookishangel, Nightgray, kickassdani, Kenzie Perth, Relena Duo, Im a guest, Rieyama Yuuko, catzrool, InsanityOwl, Cheese Wizzard, Amelia Loves Anime, Shadow-X1999, HipsterL, newby6320, Kiri Kaitou Clover, karina001, Shadow Spears, jy24, Katherine Sanderson, a tiny person, and 6 guests for reviewing!
Title: Cosmic Composite
Author: liketolaugh
Rating: T
Pairings: Tony/Pepper, Natasha/Steve, Miranda/Marie
Genre: Family/Adventure
Warnings: AU, !spoilers for Winter Soldier onward, spoilers for Agents of SHIELD!
Summary: The exorcists reincarnate into Marvel's next generation. No one can figure out how. Still, it's nice to have a family. (Also includes Agents of SHIELD. AU starting one year before CA2. Major divergence begins after Age of Ultron.)
Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man, and the Avengers are but a dream that is not my own.
Lavi: 5 years old
Kanda: 5 years old
Lenalee: 3 years old
Allen: 3 years old
Month: February
"Mommy, Mommy!" Lenalee burst into the gym, eyes sparkling and footsteps pattering rapidly on the ground. Melinda looked up, raising her eyebrows, and then realization flickered in her eyes as Lavi followed, looking around curiously, and then Yuu, eyes going straight to her, and then Allen, tucked into himself.
These were the people who Lenalee had missed so much, and greeted so enthusiastically when they finally met again. These were, as Melinda understood it, the best friends Lenalee had ever had, and ever expected to have again.
"Hello, baby girl," Melinda greeted, standing back from the punching bag to unwrap her hands. "Are these your friends?"
Lenalee nodded eagerly, still scurrying toward her. Lavi tagged along, but the other two were much slower, Melinda noticed. Yuu looked very suspicious of her, and Allen had yet to look at her.
"Hey!" Lavi greeted, waving his whole arm and also part of his body. "I'm Lavi! You're Lenalee's mom, right?"
Lavi Stark, son of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, and, clearly, the most enthusiastic and forward of the three. Second-oldest of the bunch.
Melinda nodded at him, crossing the room to meet them halfway and crouching in front of Lavi. "Yes, I am. You can call me May."
Lavi grinned at her and stuck out his hand. "Hey, May!" He chirped, and winked at her.
She suppressed a smile and shook his hand briefly before looking past him. Yuu had crossed his arms and was glaring at her, and Allen had finally looked up, clearly hesitant and borderline wary. Melinda raised her hand in a gesture of greeting, inclining her head.
"You two may also call me May," she told them, and Yuu frowned at her for a moment before grudgingly trudging forward. He didn't hold out his hand, but he did meet her eyes.
Yuu Barnes, oldest of the three, son of the Winter Soldier, James Buchanon Barnes, with a pretty patchy history of his own, considering.
"I'm Yuu," he introduced himself shortly, and jerked his head at Allen. "That's the sprout, but you can't call him that."
She raised her eyebrows at his challenging tone, but just nodded at him. "Good to know," she replied with a wry quirk of her lips. "May I call him Allen, then?"
He scowled at her, then nodded. Apparently done with her, he shuffled over to Lenalee and stood by her, finally looking around - suspiciously, of course.
That left Allen, who finally approached her in small, deliberate steps, hands still clasped behind his back. He stopped farther back than even Yuu had, not taking his eyes off her, and rocking gently back and forth on his heels.
Allen Rogers-Romanoff, youngest, adopted son of Captain America - Steve Rogers - and the Black Widow - Natasha Romanoff. Biological son of Wolfgang and Marlisa von Strucker, and less than lucky for the fact, by Melinda's understanding.
"Hi," he said softly. "I Allen."
"So I heard," she replied, lips quirking up in a small smile. He smiled hesitantly back, and she offered her hand. He hesitated again, and then took it. She shook it lightly before she let him take it back and tuck it behind his back again, but the damage was done.
Gloves, hm?
"It nice t'meet you," Allen added, and then scurried over to the refuge of his friends. Melinda let another, faintly amused smile flicker across her face before she straightened up and turned around so that she could see the kids again.
Lenalee didn't seem bothered by her friends' reservations; she was still smiling, wide and bright.
"Mommy is th' cooles' agen' in SHIELD," Lenalee explained to her friends earnestly. Lavi gave her a grin and a nod, Yuu shrugged, and Allen offered a smile of understanding.
"Am I, now?" Melinda asked, amused. "Even cooler than Daisy?"
"E'en cooler than Daisy," Lenalee agreed seriously, and then smiled brightly. "Cause you Mommy!"
"Mommies are the coolest," Lavi agreed, and grinned when Lenalee beamed at him. "Who're we meeting next!"
"Daisy," Lenalee declared, grabbing Lavi by the hand and grinning at Melinda, who smiled back faintly. "We gotta go, 'kay, Mommy?"
"Alright, baby girl, I'll see you later," Melinda agreed easily, hiding her amusement. Looked like Lenalee was trying to introduce her old friends to the whole team. "Stay safe and don't go anywhere you're not supposed to."
Lenalee giggled, which was not acquiescence. Melinda was used to this, however.
Secretly, Melinda was very glad that Lenalee was kept on-base. Here, with its closely vetted agents and limited security access (Lenalee was technically allowed in a very narrow range of security clearances, but in practice visited those and everything above them) she felt safe enough to allow Lenalee to roam around on her own for short periods.
Lenalee's unusual level of maturity helped with that, of course.
"Nice to meet you, May," Lavi threw over his shoulder, green eyes sparkling.
Then they were gone, back into the halls, and Melinda smiled briefly before returning to her exercises, mulling the meeting over thoughtfully.
In the hall, Lavi grinned, amused, as Lenalee continued to tug him forward impatiently. Yuu and Allen were allowed to follow at a more sedate pace, Yuu grabbing onto Allen's arm because he was apparently completely convinced that Allen would get lost. Lavi had to admit that that was probably not an unwarranted concern, no matter how much Allen protested the point.
"Daisy in th' lounge, prob'ly," Lenalee told her friends earnestly. "An' guess wha'?"
Yuu frowned at her. "What?"
"She has powers, too!" Lenalee explained, which caught all three of their interests. Lenalee grinned. "She make things shake."
Lavi gave an appreciative hum. "Like Link?"
"Sorta," Lenalee confirmed. "It really cool!"
"Bu' no' as cool as May, wight?" Allen asked teasingly, perking up a little in the empty hallway. Lenalee giggled.
"Never!" she agreed.
The three boys had been sent into the main SHIELD headquarters while the adults made the move into the Theta Base, and Lenalee had taken it upon herself to introduce them to 'the team', her family.
It was a little upsetting that Yuu and Allen were both so reserved about it - Yuu she expected little more from, but Allen usually loved meeting new people - not because she expected better of them, but because it worried her. Allen was worrying her, and if she could kill his old mother, she would.
No one touched her boys.
Daisy was indeed in the lounge; she was sitting on the couch with a soda on the table in front of her and a pad in her lap, and she was tapping away at it busily, frowning. She glanced up as they approached, and then smiled and set the pad aside, leaning forward.
"Little bug," she greeted with a smile.
Lavi laughed. "Do these people know you have a name?" he asked Lenalee.
She grinned at him without answering, instead tugging him forward, trusting Yuu and Allen to follow. "Daisy!" she called out. "This is Lavi, an' Allen, an' Yuu." She pointed at each boy in turn, though she was pretty sure Daisy could guess who was who already.
Lenalee was glad that her friends had seemed to like her mom, and that her mom liked them, too. It was always better when people got along.
"Hi," Daisy greeted them with a grin that made Lenalee beam. "Lenalee's told me a lot about you. I'm not sure I should believe all of it, though." She winked at Lenalee, who crossed her arms and huffed, puffing her cheeks out childishly.
"You shoul'!" she complained, even though she knew Daisy was teasing her. The gleam in the Inhuman's eyes said so. Then, satisfied, she scurried over to Daisy and pulled herself up beside her. "Wha' you doin'?"
She felt Lavi clamber up beside her and peek over her shoulder, one of Lavi's larger hands clasping on her shoulder for balance, and saw Yuu help Allen up onto the arm of the couch on Lenalee's other side, before peeking over the arm himself, frowning at the pad.
"Secret stuff." Lenalee huffed at her and Daisy grinned at her teasingly. "I don't know, May might not want me telling you-"
"Daisy!" Lenalee whined.
"C'mon," Lavi pitched in, and Lenalee nodded at him firmly. Good, he was helping.
"Yeah," Yuu agreed, starting to look curious himself, and Allen tilted his head at Daisy and looked adorable, because even at three years old, he was apparently a master of manipulation.
Daisy laughed. "Fine, fine." She picked the pad up again and pulled up a few diagrams for the kids to see. Lenalee squinted at them. They didn't seem to mean anything. "I'm trying to isolate new HYDRA bases based on activity levels. It's not easy, but it's good to know."
Lenalee made a noise of approval, and Kanda pulled himself up a little trying to get a better look at the screen.
"Found any?" Kanda asked, voice low and reluctant.
"Not yet, but I'm close," Daisy smiled. "Lenalee, don't you have a few more rounds to make?"
Lenalee, distracted, yelped and then nodded quickly. "Yeah! C'mon." She slid back off the couch and waved at Daisy, who waved back with a quiet chuckle, and then they were off again.
She was really glad she could introduce her old family to her new one.
Coulson glanced up as the door opened and tried to decide between laughing and sighing.
"Hey, Lee-Lee," he greeted. "I see you've shown your friends how to get past security."
Lenalee made a dismissive noise, which was more or less what he'd expected. "No' tha' hard."
"So you've said." Coulson briefly contemplated beefing up security; he always did. He never went through with it. "So, I take it it's my turn to meet your friends?" He set his pen down and scooted back a little in his chair.
He didn't intend to tell the kids this, but it would probably be the last time for weeks, if not months, that the boys would be allowed to roam so freely, considering how much recent news had upset their parents. They were only being allowed this one day because the adults needed a little more time to talk - the movement was little more than a convenient excuse.
Lenalee grinned and nodded. "Yeah!" She pulled one of them, likely Lavi, forward, and he went with it with a mixture of resignation and amusement that suggested she'd been doing similar since they started. "This is Lavi-"
"And I'm Yuu," Yuu interrupted, edging out from behind her to roll his eyes. "And this is the sprout."
"Name is Allen," Allen complained, but it was so quiet Coulson could barely hear it. The youngest boy finally shuffled into sight, his left arm held close to his chest, which clearly displayed the white gloves on both hands - briefly, Coulson recalled that Natasha had mentioned a discoloration of some sort on his left arm, in addition to the paralysis. That must be why.
Natasha had mentioned a lot of other things, too. Coulson was a little surprised he could recall that tidbit out of all the scathing words she'd thrown at him with all the kindness of a venomous snake.
He had to admit he'd kind of deserved it, though.
"And this is Uncle Phil," Lenalee introduced, undeterred.
"You can call me Phil," Coulson told them, smiling in amusement. "Formality seems a little lost on the Avengers, anyway."
Lavi giggled, presumably in agreement, and Yuu snorted. Allen edged in and gave Coulson a shy smile, which Coulson counted as a win.
"He th' d'rector of SHIELD," Lenalee explained to her friends, leading them further into the office. "So he's got lotsa work t'do!"
"And he actually does it?" Yuu asked doubtfully, following after her dutifully.
Lenalee giggled and nodded. "Uh-huh! An' no one has t'come an' pester him."
There had to be a story behind that, Coulson decided.
"I hope you aren't as much trouble as your parents," Coulson told them. "Because Stark is a headache, Romanoff yelled at me earlier, I embarrass myself in front of the Captain, and Barnes sent half the Avengers on a wild goose chase for over a year."
Yuu snorted at him and Allen gave him a small, nervous smile. Lavi just laughed, but he also stepped in front of his friends, so Coulson took a different tack.
"I'm sure it'll be nice to have the three of you around, though." Lenalee would be happier, for one thing, and also, it would probably be funny. Lenalee on her own caused some chaos, but it wasn't the Avengers-level chaos Coulson had once been used to. It was almost boring.
He had a feeling that, between the Avengers and the kids, that was about to change.
Lavi seemed to catch the idea and winked at him, and Allen let out a soft giggle, and Yuu snorted again and shuffled over to try and peek at his work, and Coulson decided that no, he definitely wouldn't mind having a couple more kids around.
After all, he'd been pretty close to the Avengers once. It only felt natural to get used to being around their kids, too.
As it turned out, knowing that the Avengers would be hanging around on-base was not the same thing as running into one of them during a midnight snack run.
Hunter blinked, half-asleep, at the turned back of the Winter Soldier, trying to remember if he'd done anything criminal as of late. Besides work for a technically illegal organization.
Right.
...Right. Avengers on base.
Hunter was very tired.
Briefly, Hunter weighed to pros and cons of avoiding the scary assassin vs. going back to bed hungry, and then had the choice taken from him when Bucky turned around, frowning at him.
After a moment, the man inclined his head, and Hunter gave up and waved.
"Hi," he offered warily.
A small smile tugged at the corner of the Soldier's mouth, and he nodded back. "Late night?" he asked, pulling away from the counter to reveal a glass of water.
Hunter shrugged. "Woke up," he replied, but he didn't move from his place, feeling a little (understandably!) tense now that Bucky's attention appeared to be focused on him. "What about you? Do you just like creeping around at night?"
Bucky smirked, looking unaccountably amused, and lifted the glass of water, apparently in demonstration. The dim light gleamed off of his metal fingers, which were curled delicately around the glass, tight enough to hold but not so tight as to shatter it. "Yuu was thirsty; it was keeping him from sleeping."
"Oh, of course, the kid," Hunter agreed, trying not to smirk in case the scary assassin was offended. He was fairly familiar with the odds and ends of taking care of a kid now; he'd run into May doing the same thing a few times.
"Yes, the kid," Bucky confirmed with a faint smile. That was funny. Hunter wouldn't have attributed a look that gentle to him before now.
Hunter was a little tired of his worldviews being shoved around like yesterday's trash, too.
Giving up being afraid of the scary assassin, Hunter returned to his mission and pulled open the fridge to peer into it, looking for something worth eating that he wouldn't have to work for.
"And what's your excuse?" Bucky asked, hovering where he stood.
"Hungry," Hunter shrugged. He reached in and grabbed a jar of pickles, pulled it out, and closed the fridge. "Probably shouldn't be up at this hour, but eh." That never seemed very important at night. It wouldn't until the next morning, when he woke up exhausted and had to zombie through the morning.
Bucky chuckled, watching Hunter casually bite the end off a pickle, make a face, and put the jar of pickles back.
"I hate pickles," Hunter mumbled.
"So do I," Bucky admitted, and then nodded at him, finally moving toward the door. "Goodnight…?" He trailed off expectantly.
"Eh?" Hunter, preoccupied with powering through his gross pickle, blinked, and then realized he'd never introduced himself. "Hunter."
"Goodnight, Hunter," Bucky repeated, and then left.
Last year, Hunter mused, that would have been much weirder.
Fortunately (or unfortunately?) things had changed, and now meeting the Winter Soldier in the kitchen barely fazed him.
Hunter threw the pickle away and grabbed a bag of chips instead, ripping it open and grabbing a handful, which he munched on contentedly.
Much better.
Bobbi was taking a moment of rare down-time to watch a crappy TV show when she encountered her first Avenger. There was a bowl of popcorn in front of her, and she was reclined on the couch, eyes intent on the screen.
A soft, startled noise made her look up, and she started pretty badly herself.
It took Bobbi only a moment to identify the woman in the doorway as the Scarlet Witch, and she looked more nervous than Bobbi might have expected, considering.
After a moment to regain her bearings, Bobbi gestured to welcome the Witch in. "Hey. Wanda, right?"
Wanda nodded hesitantly, the wariness not fading from her eyes. Bobbi smiled reassuringly.
"I was just watching…" She glanced back at the television. "...I don't remember." She was mostly just very bored. Downtime came so rarely that she usually had no idea what to do with it.
Wanda finally smiled a little and entered on nearly-silent feet, dropping onto the couch on the opposite end from Bobbi. "What is your name?" Wanda asked quietly.
"Bobbi Morse," Bobbi introduced herself, holding out her hand, which Wanda took and shook. After retrieving it, Bobbi continued, "Not comfortable with new places?"
Looking a little surprised, Wanda shook her head. "No. But Steve has asked us to try and get to know some of the agents." A small smile flickered across her face. "He is worried that we will all become 'hermits', or so his wife says."
Bobbi nodded. "Natasha Romanoff." A legend in SHIELD - and outside it. And also, now, a wife and a mother.
Still a terrifying person, by Bobbi's understanding. She was kind of impressed. Then again, Melinda was just the same.
If she and Hunter ever worked things out, she might have to reconsider her options. She'd never sacrifice her career at SHIELD, but if she didn't have to…
But that would be a very long time from now.
Wanda smiled and nodded. "Yes - she, and everyone in the Avengers-" A brief frown flickered across her face. "-have been very kind. New places are… difficult, but they are getting easier." She gave Bobbi a small smile, and Bobbi smiled back.
"Glad to hear it," she said agreeably, and jerked her head at the television. "Help yourself to some popcorn, but if you want a soda, you'll have to get your own. Want to help me figure out what we're watching?"
Wanda laughed. "I don't see why not."
Mack found an Avenger prying into his baby's insides.
"Hey!" he called out to the strange man peering at the inside of the opened-up Quinjet, arms crossed. "Get out of there!"
The man started, and then pulled out of the engine, turning to give them a sheepish grin.
"Sorry," he called out, not looking that sorry at all. "Couldn't resist."
Mack squinted at him. "You're bigger than I thought you'd be," he told Ant-Man.
Scott laughed. "I could go get the suit if you want," he said, amused.
Mack snorted. "What were you looking at?"
Scott shrugged, shuffling out of the way a little while Mack made his way over to peer inside suspiciously, looking for damage - God knows the Avengers were known to cause enough of it. "Like I said, I was just curious. Never gotten a good look inside a Quinjet before." At Mack's impatient grunt, he smiled wryly and elaborated, "I've got a degree in electrical engineering. I just don't, uh, get much of a chance to use it." He chuckled. "I do understand almost twenty percent of the stuff that comes out of Tony's mouth, though."
"Tony Stark, yeah?" Mack asked, finally satisfied that nothing had been done. "Sounds like a real challenge to live with."
Scott shrugged. "Not really. I mean, not most of the time."
Mack grunted doubtfully, but changed the subject anyway. "You've practically got a club over there. Human guys in suits."
That made Scott laugh. "Yeah, uh- I didn't build mine. It wasn't even built for me in the first place. As far as getting into the Avengers goes, I kind of feel like I cheated." He considered. "Or got wrangled into it. That sounds more like it."
Mack snorted. "How do you get wrangled into being an Avenger?"
"It happened to me and I'm still not sure," Scott told him with a small, amused smile. He nodded at the Quinjet. "Feel like telling me how this works?"
Mack considered him for a moment, and then shrugged. "Sure, why not."
"Good day."
Simmons let out a short shriek and nearly dropped the Starkpad she was holding, spinning around to meet the curious eyes of the Vision. She took a deep breath, pressing a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart, and, after a moment, managed to smile at him. "H-hello," she returned breathlessly. "You're the Vision, aren't you?" Not that he was easy to mistake.
He kept smiling at her gently. "Just Vision, please. It is easier." He drifted - not walked, drifted - over to look curiously at Simmons' work. "May I ask what you are doing?"
"Oh!" Simmons placed her pad on the counter to glance from Vision to the display. "Oh, um… I was working on… On examining the differences in DNA between people who do not have the potential to become Inhuman, and the people of DNA who do, pre-transformation. It's rather fascinating, actually-" She cut herself off.
Vision, though, nodded agreeably. "Tony always finds his work engaging as well," he confided in her solemnly. "It is nice to see that it is a trait common to all scientists."
Simmons smiled at him hesitantly. "Yes, well, that is why we become scientists, after all."
Vision hummed interestedly. "I see. Yes, that makes sense." He turned his eyes on the display of her computer. "Would you like me to leave you to your work, Ms. Simmons?"
He knew her name? "Oh, no, it's fine. Don't worry." She glanced at him again, unable to stop the race of her heart at his human-shaped, but so clearly far from human face.
He caught her look and tilted his head. "Is something wrong?"
She shook her head quickly. "No, not at all!" she said hastily. "I just-"
"You are unused to people like me," Vision completed, serious again. "I understand. Few people are as well-adjusted as the Avengers."
Simmons smiled at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. I know it makes Lenalee uncomfortable."
Vision shrugged. "I am not so young - remember, I have, myself, not been around for very long, but I have all of my predecessor's memories. I remember very well how humans can be." He smiled patiently. "It is fine."
Simmons smiled again, a little more bashfully. "Thank you."
"Now." Vision, apparently satisfied, moved closer again, peering over her shoulder. "May I be of any help?"
"I…" Simmons thought this work was possibly secret. Then again, that was sometimes left to her discretion, and this project was one of those times. "I suppose?"
"Excellent."
"What are you doing here?" Coulson asked Fury.
"Haunting you," Fury told him.
Maria rolled her eyes at both of them and wondered how two grown men could be so childish.
Coulson sighed, laughed a little, and turned his attention to Maria, apparently electing to ignore Fury as he probably would a ghost. "Have the Avengers settled in alright?"
Maria turned a little more serious herself and nodded. "The squabbles over rooms have all been sorted out, furniture designated to its places even when it hasn't been set up, and they started putting pictures up on the largest wall." She paused. "Revoltingly adorable pictures."
"Those people are sickening," Fury provided.
"Ghosts don't comment on other people's familial relationships," Coulson informed Fury. Fury smirked.
"This one does."
"You're getting soft in your old age," Maria decided. "It's the only explanation for this."
Fury shrugged and reclined backward, smirking. "Maybe so, but I can still kick your ass, Hill."
"It wouldn't be for free," Maria told him firmly. She wouldn't deny Fury's skill - no one who'd seen him in the field would - but hell if she'd go down easy. He snorted.
"Of course not."
Coulson cleared his throat, but the corner of his mouth was twitching. He was terrible at hiding his amusement. "Any serious arguments?"
"Not at the moment, but-" The corners of Maria's mouth turned downward. "There are the kids, obviously, and that's an ongoing problem that seems pretty far from being resolved." Coulson nodded in understanding. "But, more importantly…" She sighed. "If the SHRA issue doesn't get resolved soon, we're going to have a real mess on our hands."
Coulson sighed as well and nodded. "Of course." He glanced at Fury. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions?" He might be a grown man, fully capable of making his own decisions, but advice was always appreciated, and Fury had kept a corrupt organization together for decades.
No such luck. Fury snorted and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, or possibly indicating that he'd washed his hands of the issue. "Like I said, Coulson. Your party."
Coulson wished him a slow, painful death involving weasels and raw meat.
So that's that. *bright smile* A lot lighter than the last chapter, a little lacking in terms of the kids - sorry if the 'meeting the team' sequence was a little lackluster, but I'm no good at small talk in real life and I'm really not any better at it when representing for other people. *cringe* In other news, I'm planning on getting a Sims game for character creation purposes, which I mention because I'm also planning to build a house in order to decide the layout of the Theta Base, which should, in turn, make things easier. Thanks for reading, and please review!
Oh! And apologies for any insinuations that all women want to have children, that all married couples must have children, etc. I just don't have a lot of people to work with, as far as placement goes.
Edit: I added the month at the top, like I've been meaning to do. Also, please please please do not request updates for other stories in the reviews for this one, thank you.