A/N: Hey, guys. *grimace* Sorry this is late. All I can say for myself is: Every part of this chapter was hard. Every. Part. Including the part I'd already written, because I read it at the last minute and decided I hated it, and it was hard enough to write the first time. *sigh* Anyway, it's done now. *wave*

Thank you to Shado0wReaper133, After-tea, TheCupTheSnakeTheSword, BloodyHeart12050, Kiri Kaitou Clover, FearlessSun, bookishangel, Demi-Fae, jy24, kickassdani, MRose5, Shadow-X1999, farronewp, Lev-Seth, Z. R. Stein, XavierForest, Elaniza, reviewreader, InsanityOwl, MidnightPhantomFire, alexc123, karina001, Shadow Spears, weirdotakuqueen, Relena Duo, mythamagica, Katherine Sanderson, Jaggedwing, Allen Stander, Amelia Loves Anime, leafpool5, PeterPan0429, chemarun, HeroSeekerFrost, Nadejdaro, Dragon Silhouette, KShieru, TrueCountryCowgirl, newby6320, Tsukiko K, insertnamehear, Nightgray, pi, 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: With the entry of metahumans into the public sphere, the fight for basic human rights has begun, and there's more than one interested party. This is the world that the exorcists are reborn into, as the newest members of the Marvel Universe and the next generation. And things are about to get much more complicated. (Eventual canon divergence. Also includes Agents of SHIELD.)

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: 4 years old

Allen: 3 years old


April 2016


After Talbot's issues got all cleared up, and Cross had thoroughly destroyed his image as a devil-may-care asshole by worrying about his apprentice, the two of them split up again. Talbot went back to Coulson's office to finish off his long-delayed meeting, and Cross went to stare at his apprentice and hope he got better without intervention within the next few hours.

He wasn't really betting on it, though. When Allen went down, he went down hard.

When he got back, Link was gone, but there was a new blond man around, and it took Cross a moment to recognize him.

Captain fucking America.

Now, Cross was the first to admit that Captain America seemed like the epitome of everything that was good and wholesome in the world; it was a little sickening. Cross certainly couldn't imagine what would possess a guy to hold himself to a moral standard like that – God knew Cross wouldn't even try.

On the other hand, Cross was more familiar with the fact that things weren't always as they appeared. The Black Order had practically embodied the concept, and so had Allen. Did Allen.

(It was still hard to believe that Cross wasn't alone.)

More to the point, though, Cross didn't believe for a moment that Steve Grant Rogers was the boy scout he appeared on television. At least not completely.

And Allen had the goddamn worst history with male guardians.

Cross took a moment, hovering in the doorway, brow furrowed as he examined the little family in the headquarters lounge.

Natasha was still on the couch, leaning on the arm with a small smile and a fond look in her eyes. Steve was seated beside her, and Allen was on his lap. Cross couldn't see the man's expression, the way his head was turned, but he could see his apprentice's, and Allen was beaming, silver eyes sparkling with adoration.

On the other hand, Allen had been happy with Mana, too. Look how that turned out.

"-tells me you found another old friend?" Steve was saying to Allen, tone light and warm.

If Allen nodded any faster, his head was going to fall off. "Yeah!" And then, clearly reconsidering, he corrected, "Kinda. It Mastew."

"Huh?" Steve asked, clearly confused and a little alarmed.

Natasha nudged Steve. "General Cross," she explained, tone clipped and neutral. Allen tilted his head, smile fading into a look of worry. "Allen's guardian after he was ten, as I understand." Allen bobbed his head, smiling again.

"Oh!" Steve exclaimed, and Cross' eyes narrowed at his tone, fraught with hidden strain and worry that hadn't been there before, no matter how excited he tried to sound. "You must be happy about that."

Allen beamed and nodded, and then finally looked up and spotted Cross – the brat must be slipping – and his eyes brightened. (The fuck, the brat was happy to see him.) "Mastew!" he called out, waving his right hand. Cross hadn't seen him move his left hand yet; it must be paralyzed again.

Cross gave up his hiding spot as a bad job and moved into the room. Natasha looked up at him, apparently unsurprised, and Steve twisted around, apparently surprised.

He saw the up-down look Steve gave him, read the blond man's expression, and in return, let his lips curl into a small smirk.

Well, if Cross had to judge Steve's character – and he did, unfortunately – he supposed that acting as a threat to his and Allen's relationship was as good a way as any.

"Stupid apprentice, I haven't been gone twenty minutes," he said instead of addressing Steve or Natasha, keeping his expression casual and his eyes on his apprentice.

Allen laughed and looked at Steve, tugging at his shirt with tiny fingers. "Daddy! Look!"

Fucking Daddy. What the fuck. Allen hadn't even called Mana 'Dad'.

Cross reminded himself that Allen was not a piece of goddamn property, and if there was one thing Cross had proved over his last lifetime, it was that he was definitely not a suitable guardian for anyone.

"I'm looking," Steve told Allen, smiling down at him and not looking at Cross. The corner of his grin looked strained, Cross noted, and knew that if he noticed, Allen would have, too.

"Daddy!" Allen protested, and tugged at Steve more determinedly this time.

Natasha raised her eyebrows at her husband, and Steve gave her the strained smile in return. For his trouble, Natasha gave him an unimpressed look, and Steve's smile turned apologetic before he stood up, Allen still tucked against him, and turned to Cross.

"Good evening, General," Steve greeted, perfectly polite, and juggled Allen around until he could hold his hand out. "I'm Steve, Allen's father."

Cross gave Steve the same up-down look Steve had given him, but kept his smirk up and didn't move to shake Steve's hand. "Hey," he replied casually. "I'm Cross. Allen's my apprentice."

Allen was frowning at him because he knew Cross, and knew when he was messing with someone on purpose. But he didn't move to do anything about it either, which was unlike him.

After a moment, Steve's smile turned terse and resigned, and he drew his hand back, using it to help support Allen. "Why don't you sit down? I'm sure Natasha and I would love to talk to you for a while. You raised Allen last time, didn't you?"

Cross, without a word, flopped down on the armchair and propped his feet up on the table, crossing his arms and continued smirking at Steve, who paused briefly to shoot Natasha a pained look.

Cross liked Natasha's unimpressed face. It was a shame she could gut him with her pinky finger and read all of his secrets in his face, because that made Cross deeply uncomfortable no matter how impressed he was.

"Since he was ten," Cross agreed, keeping most of his attention on Steve. Allen had set his head on his father's shoulder, but his eyes were on Cross, no longer smiling. "How long's it been since you adopted him?"

"A little under a year," Natasha answered for Steve, leaning forward, not smiling but not as obviously uncomfortable as Steve.

"How's that going for you?" Cross asked, leaning forward right back (and wondering at the wisdom of engaging in mind games with the Black Widow and the man who'd chosen to marry her). "The brat's never been an easy kid. Willful little brat."

Allen flinched and his head shot up to look anxiously at Steve. Steve curled his hand lightly around the back of Allen's neck, either a reassuring gesture or a threatening one in disguise, and replied sternly,

"Allen's no trouble at all."

Denial. Cross almost pitied him.

Natasha broke in smoothly, "We're still getting used to each other, of course, especially given that we don't know as much about him as much as we'd like to. It's nothing time and effort won't fix."

"Good luck," Cross told her, perfectly honest for once. "He hates talking about himself."

A flicker of a thoughtful look, scarcely more material than a flash across her eyes. Cross knew he liked her.

"We'll manage," Steve replied, with a smile that was still strained at the corners and dark in the eyes.

The conversation might have gone on like that, but then people started showing up.

Right. Cross still had people to greet.

First was Lenalee, now a little girl with wide eyes that nonetheless took in everything, who came with a woman with a stern face that might well compete with Nyne's and the Scarlet Witch. She came up to him, squeezed his knee in a grip that would have hurt if she was older, and then smiled and said, "It good t'see you 'gain."

Then Lavi came with Tony Stark (how the fuck had the kids all ended up in these families they ended up in) and grinned at him brightly. "General Cross, your parents didn't kill you!" was his greeting of choice.

Little brat.

And then Kanda came in, and Cross had to actively fight not to crack up at the sight of fearsome, glaring Kanda Yuu as a scowling five-year-old. Kanda didn't even say hello, he just tossed him a disgusted look and then went to hover suspiciously over Allen, like he thought that Cross would snatch him up and run away with him.

Cross realized he'd missed these kids. How annoying.


Cross wound up staying overnight, because why not. The place where the Avengers were living had, as it turned out, about a thousand extra rooms, because why not.

Staying culminated in him sitting with Natasha and Pepper in the Avengers living room, watching the kids – just Allen, Lavi, and Yuu at the moment – play.

He thought he'd left this kid-watching shit behind when he sent Allen to the Order. Not that Allen had ever really needed watching, given how long he'd had to watch himself.

Not to mention he was hanging out with two beautiful women, and he wasn't allowed to flirt with either of them. Life was just unfair sometimes. What had Cross ever done to deserve this?

It was hilarious, though, to watch the three kids run round playing tag, given that Lavi and Yuu were each nearly half again Allen's height. It would be more hilarious if Allen were playing dirty like he normally did when this badly disadvantaged, but Cross would take what he could get.

As he watched, Allen tripped and fell down and pouted for a moment, and Lavi jumped over him and tackled Yuu to the ground, while Yuu let out an irate, wordless yell.

"Tag, you're it!" Lavi crowed.

"Ow, you stupid rabbit!" Yuu snapped, and then rolled over to tag giggling Allen. "You're it, tiny sprout."

Allen pouted at him, and then got up and chased after Lavi, who ran away, laughing.

"They're taking it easy on the brat," Cross remarked. As he watched, Lavi stumbled dramatically, and Allen swiped forward to tag him gleefully.

"Allen has a name," Natasha said mildly. Cross waved his hand dismissively.

"He knows I don't mean anything by it," he said unconcernedly, ignoring the set of Natasha's mouth. He was pretty sure she wouldn't kill him.

"He's three years old," Pepper added, glancing at Cross. "They're just evening the odds a little, so that it's fun for all of them."

Cross snorted, because he didn't feel that idea deserved proper acknowledgement.

"Allen doesn't have the capabilities he used to," Natasha added, tilting her head slightly to study him. "So he's had to compromise a little. He'll grow up."

"Does he have time?" Cross challenged, because the brat had terrible luck; surely something had happened.

Natasha's lips tightened slightly. "If he doesn't, we'll make time for him."

"So something did happen," Cross pushed, quirking an eyebrow up. Natasha mirrored the expression, but it was Pepper who broke the stalemate.

"An incident with HYDRA," Pepper explained, her mouth tight in a different way from Natasha's. Her eyes flicked briefly to Lavi, flecked with worry. "A few weeks ago now. Bobbi and Hunter – the two agents with them at the time – both got hurt, and Lenalee almost got kidnapped. Allen, I understand, dealt with it rather badly." She shot Cross a reassuring look. "He's fine now, of course."

Cross ignored that last comment, because it was obviously, blatantly, untrue, and frowned.

So it sounded like it was a little worse than Cross had thought, and it definitely wasn't going to solve itself.

Fucking fantastic.

In a split second, he made a decision and looked at Natasha, smoothing his expression over until it resolved into, ugh, seriousness. In return, Natasha's gaze sharpened, her attention turning onto him fully.

"You know," he started, keeping his voice even but light, "Allen was in pretty bad shape when I first met him."

He saw Natasha consider that and briefly wondered if Allen would have given her enough information to figure out that particular sequence of events – at least, part of it.

"I can't imagine," Natasha returned, gaze unwavering even as her eyes darkened. "Given the events preceeding that."

Huh. That was a yes, then. Assuming she wasn't bluffing.

"He's not a hard kid to deal with," Cross continued, "once you learn how he ticks."

He watched Natasha tilt her head slightly, regarding him, considering his words. Pepper sat back and watched quietly, eyes flicking between them, catching not quite all of the subtext but intrigued nonetheless.

"I'm sure Steve and I will get to know him quite well soon," she said carefully.

"Soon enough?" Cross countered.

Natasha looked at him. And then the corner of her mouth curled into a small, self-incriminating smile. "A little help wouldn't go unappreciated," she allowed. "We've been worried."

Cross granted her a near-mocking half salute. "The kid is worrying." And then, "He doesn't much like being worried about, though."

Natasha's smile vanished. "Fifteen minutes," she ordered.

"I can do fifteen minutes," Cross told her, and stood up.

Allen, fallen over again, looked up quizzically as he approached, and Yuu scowled at him accusingly, which was more hilariously adorable than menacing now. (Not that Cross had found it especially menacing before, either.) Lavi just tilted his head and gave him what looked like a toddler version of the Bookman Look, and then edged aside.

Ugh. Bookmen were so troublesome. Even when they were being helpful.

"Hey, brat," Cross called out, and watched with disapproval as Allen winced and ducked his head. "I want to talk to you. Get your ass over here."

He could feel Natasha's gaze burning into his back. Probably he would be punished for that later.

He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Regardless, that got Allen to stand up and shuffle over to him, head down and his right hand holding his left arm to his chest. He led the little brat into the empty hallway and down into an empty room, and Allen followed silently.

Geez, Talbot hadn't been kidding about Allen worrying about what he'd think, had he? What the fuck.

Cross shut the door behind him but didn't lock it, satisfied with the knowledge that Allen would, in his present state, have trouble just opening the door, letting alone making an effective escape

In the approximate center of the room, Allen was fidgeting nervously, shifting restlessly from foot to foot in a sort of full-body wriggle motion. His cheeks were flushed with anxiety, and Cross could make out the threat of tears in the toddler's eyes, which made him deeply uncomfortable.

Cross took a deep breath, counted up his previous life's offenses to a conclusion of 'I probably deserve this', and started,

"I heard your lady friend almost got kidnapped a couple weeks ago."

He heard Allen make a soft, dying noise.

"Yeah," Allen whispered, sounding tiny and pathetic and upset all over again.

"And the Bookman brat and Kanda didn't get hurt," Cross continued, "but you just fell to goddamn pieces." He let his expression turn stony, though Allen wasn't looking at him.

Allen swallowed. "Sowwy," he whispered, almost too quiet to hear. "Sowwy."

"Sorry won't help your friends," Cross countered ruthlessly, and Allen flinched. "Isn't that all you want out of life, brat? To help your friends?"

Allen jerked his head up, and Cross caught a glimpse of wide, tear-filled, frightened grey eyes before Allen turned his head away again, breath hitching, hands trembling.

"Everything you've done since you met them," Cross forged on, ignoring the fact that Allen was no longer responding, "was for them, you little idiot. I thought they were what made everything worth it. Isn't that what you said? Allen?"

Allen bobbed his head once, still looking to the side, away from Cross. Cross caught the glimmer of tears on his cheeks, but he still stayed silent.

"Because God knows nothing was going to help you be worth it," Cross pushed, deciding to shift gears. "Your luck is shit. I'm surprised you're still alive, honestly."

Allen curled in on himself, which was more or less what Cross had expected. "Stop," he whispered, soft and miserable, and it took more than Cross wanted to admit to keep his expression stony. "I sowwy."

"Though," Cross continued thoughtfully, "you keep on like this, you might not live much longer." He tilted his head and smiled cruelly, showing too many teeth. "Not that I think you'd mind."

He heard Allen let out a soft, breathy whine. Cross dearly hoped that wasn't going to lead to crying, because he could see tears pouring down Allen's face already and he did not sign up for that.

"Stop, stop, stop," Allen chanted, high and desperate.

"I'd say you were better off before," Cross added. "Guess Cosimo was good for something after all."

Allen stiffened, and that was the only warning Cross had before Allen's head shot up, his face still flushed and wet, but silver eyes shot through with something else than fear. "Shu' up," he said quietly.

"What are you going to do?" Cross asked mockingly. "Cry on me? I'll live."

Allen's fist clenched. "Shu' up," he repeated.

"Maybe you'll get your friends to make me," Cross baited. "Or your daddy; I bet he'd love the chance."

Stiffen. Allen looked like a little loaded spring now, and Cross couldn't see his expression anymore, but he'd bet the brat didn't look so scared anymore.

"Fuck knows you won't both-"

Allen screamed, which was unexpected and made Cross flinch in surprise. Then his head jerked up, and he fixed Cross with a searing glare through tear-filled eyes.

"Shu' up!" he spat. "I hate you! You a jewk! I don' cawe wha' you tink! I will do it, an' you can' 'top me! You can'! I won' let you! I-"

Cross got over his surprise and started laughing.

He lowered himself until he was half-sitting on the ground, taking as languid a posture as could be managed independent of furniture, and smirked at Allen, who had gone from angry to confused, face still streaked with tears.

"I knew you still had it in you," Cross said, satisfaction and pride resonating in every word.

"I-" Allen started, staring at Cross in confusion. "Huh?"

"Stupid apprentice, when was the last time you yelled at someone?"

Allen's mouth fell open slightly, and he clapped his hand over his mouth, fingers splayed and eyes wide. A strangled squeak escaped his throat, which Cross smirked at him for.

Cross was… right. Allen couldn't really remember the last time he'd yelled at someone - it had been, certainly, before he'd been reborn, all playful spats with Kanda aside, since the other boy always backed off when Allen got scared.

But he'd just yelled at Cross. He hadn't even thought about it.

And Cross looked proud of him.

...When was the last time he'd even felt angry? He couldn't remember. He'd just been scared.

But fear… Had never gotten Allen anywhere. He'd learned early on, last time, to substitute stubbornness. Determination. Defiance. Anger, not fear. Action, not reaction.

And that had gotten Allen - gotten Red – everywhere, when he was too small and too weak to properly stand against the people who wanted to hurt him.

He stared with wide eyes at Cross, whose smirk widened.

"That's it, brat."

Allen swallowed, and then reached up and scrubbed at his eyes, trying to banish the tears even as he sniffled. "Stupi' Mastew," he mumbled. "I hate you."

Cross snorted. "I know."

Satisfied, Allen stepped forward and hugged Cross tightly, and then he started laughing.

Cross blanched, and then started struggling, halfheartedly trying to shove Allen off. "Get the fuck off me, stupid apprentice, I'm not a goddamn stuffed toy!"

The door opened, and since his time wasn't up, Cross assumed that Natasha had heard Allen yelling and was coming to kill him. Luckily, Allen was laughing loud enough that when Cross looked up, Natasha looked thoughtful instead, staring at him.

Cross shrugged and gave up shoving Allen off, and then he smirked. Natasha considered him, and in return, let the corners of her mouth tilt up, just a little.

"Come get your brat off me," Cross told her, and she smirked at him.

"I don't know, he seems quite comfortable there."

And then she refused to save him.

Why had he done this again?


...At least it's done. I'm still not super happy with it, so I might edit it... at least once. *sigh* Regardless, thanks for reading, and please review.