See Chapter One for Disclaimer
"Author Unveiling." Tasha crumpled the thick cardstock in her black gloved hand, rolling her eyes. "Like we don't already know."
"For the average individual, I'm sure they'll be very surprised." The man next to Tasha, brown hair tousled and hands twitching at the sight of the crowded ballroom they'd just entered, shrugged. He tugged on his black suit nervously, though he raised an eyebrow elegantly as he continued to speak to his black gowned companion. "Also, I'm sure Pietro will be shocked." The mans lips twitched, and Tasha snickered, a hand weaving around the crook of his elbow.
"Hey!" Pietro leaned around his sister, who he was escorting, to shoot a look at Tasha's date. "What's that supposed to mean? This guy wrote three different book series, all of them wildly successful and all of the with different age targets, each series under a different pseudonym. How is that supposed to be an easy mystery to solve?" He looked at his sister, who wore a deep navy gown that matched Pietro's dark suit. "You don't know who the author is, right?"
Wanda, instead of answering, shook her head. "Not only can I read minds," she reminded lightly, "I'm also not stupid."
"So you're saying I AM?" Pietro's chest puffed up. Wanda opened her mouth to protest, grimacing lightly when she realized she'd meant what she said.
"Oh God!" Behind the two pairs, Sam Wilson and Scott Lang laughed silently, holding onto each other so they wouldn't fall.
"You walked right into that one," Sam admitted to Wanda, who rolled her eyes and shoved their group into an unoccupied alcove of the ballroom, out of the way and hidden behind a few pillars, giving them some semblance of privacy.
"Don't worry Pie," Scott directed his smile to the brother. "I don't know who it is either."
"Except it's totally obvious." Clint rolled his eyes, his wife on his arm, both of them wearing dark purple.
"Where is she?" His wife demanded. "I can't see her."
"Calm down, wife." Clint rolled his eyes, and his friends chuckled. "She'll be here soon. Come meet Tasha's boy-toy while we wait."
"Huh?" Brown eyes shot towards the only member of the group she didn't recognize. "Nat! Who is he?"
"HE" flushed, and Tasha patted his arms. "Spencer Reid, works with the FBI." Spencer nodded in greeting. "Spence, this is the team: my partner Clint, his wife Laura, you know Pietro and Wanda, the idiot wearing a white suit is Sam Wilson, and the dork in baby blue is Scott," Both men saluted, "and the two men in traditional suits coming over are Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes."
The men in question looked up when they heard their names. Bucky smiled brightly. "You must be the FBI nerd?"
"In a nutshell, yes," Spencer agreed. "You're the Winter Soldier."
"Guilty." Bucky grinned. "But hey – at least I don't get my employee's pregnant."
Steve flushed. "It wasn't like that," He tried, but a loud laugh interrupted him.
"Madison was your employee. You had sex: she got pregnant. Please tell me someone taught you about the birds and the bees?"
"Sherlock Holmes," Spencer leaned forward excitedly, holding out his hand. "I've heard all about you. Your use of inductive and deductive reasoning to solve crimes was an investigative breakthrough, at least 85 standard techniques are based off of your processes."
Sherlock stared at the tall man, bemused. "And you are?" He asked lightly, and Spencer flushed.
"Spencer Reid," he introduced. "And this must be Dr. Watson?"
John, standing at Sherlocks side, nodded.
"Yes," he said slowly. "And…I know none of you."
"Right, that's where I come in – " Maddie appeared out of nowhere, her brown curls flying, deep red lips curling into a smirk. "John Watson, friend of Sherlock Holmes, hey. How was your flight?"
John smiled, used to Maddie's random behavior, actually having missed it during the months she'd been away from London. "Long. Why exactly am I here?"
"You're one of the main characters in Scarf Man and Baby Detective," Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Don't you want to meet the author?"
John furrowed his eyebrows. "Isn't it obvious?" He asked slowly.
"Apparently not," Wanda spoke up with a smile. "Hello. I'm Wanda Maximoff, and this is my brother Pietro. We're members of the Avengers."
"As are we." Sam grinned. "I'm Sam Wilson, Falcon."
"And Scott Lang, Ant Man." Scott struck a pose.
"The rest of these idiots are Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, her boyfriend, Spencer Reid of the FBI, Clint Barton, Hawkeye, and his wife Laura, these goons coming up are Sam Winchester and Castiel," The two men nodded in greeting at the group, "the hunk trying to sneak up behind me is Dean Winchester," John's eyes widened in recognition, and Dean made a face at having been caught, slipping an arm around Maddie's waist. "Then we have Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier," Bucky waved, "and my baby daddy, Steve Rogers,"
Steve flushed and shot Maddie a dirty look, while John gaped at the tall man. "Do you have to be so blasé about it?"
Maddie made a face and stuck her tongue out.
"Wait." Laura looked as shocked as John did. "Captain America is Orie's dad?"
Maddie winked, and Steve made a face.
Laura looked to Tasha for confirmation, tasha nodded seriously, and then the two women burst into laughter. Maddie rolled her eyes.
"I gotta go say hi to some other idiots," Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Please, talk amongst yourselves…or continue to laugh like crazy people." Maddie pointed at Reid. "Your team got the tickets?"
Reid nodded with a grin. "They did. They're so thrilled to come. I hope it wasn't too much trouble to get that extra ticket: we have a new member."
"No problem," Maddie shrugged. "I can get all the tickets I need. Let me know when they get here? I'd love to meet them in person."
"Of course," Spencer promised, and Maddie smiled and nodded, and then pulled Dean with her to go shake some hands.
"They're cute," Wanda watched the couple with a smile.
"I don't like it," Steve and Clint said at the same time.
Sam Winchester snorted. "They're perfect for each other." He shook his head. "It's actually super creepy. I don't think there's another person in the world who fits Dean as well as Maddie does." He grabbed a glass of wine from a nearby waiter, looking at Cas and jerking his head towards the buffet. "Or vice versa," he added over his shoulder, hurrying to the food, Cas right behind him.
"I still don't like it," Clint muttered.
"Is it the crappy background he rose above that you don't like, or the way he absolutely adores Orie, or gives Maddie whatever she wants?" Laura clapped her hands. "Oh, I know, maybe it's the fine, well-paying job he has with the government, or the amount of time he spends here in Seattle, when he works in Boston. Oh!" Laura poked her husband in the chest. "I know – it's the fact that he's a Bears fan, is that it?"
The rest of the group laughed at Clint's disgruntled expression, but Steve wasn't paying attention, too busy watching Maddie smiling slightly at an over-dressed woman, Dean resting a hand on her back and smiling down at her.
By the time Maddie made it back to the group, Pietro had finally figured it out, and he was sulking.
"Guys," Maddie pointed at the grown man with his bottom lip poking out. "What's wrong with the giant baby?"
Wanda chuckled. "He finally figured out who the mystery author is."
Maddie and Dean shared a look. "Really?" Dean asked surprised. "You couldn't possibly figure out who knew the Avengers well enough to write a young adult series based off of them,"
"Enhanced is loosely based off of the Avengers," Maddie pointed out with a grin – "I made Steve the bad guy,"
"AND had been to London and knew the detective with an affinity for scarves?" Dean pointed at Sherlock, who, at that very moment, had a gray scarf twined around his neck.
"I didn't use names with the kids books," Maddie shook her head, "So really, it could've been anyone."
"The baby's name in the books is Orie," Sam Winchester pointed out with an eyeroll, and Maddie shrugged.
"Not to mention," Tasha couldn't help herself, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, "The fact that the adult series SPOOK is about a hunter, a demon, and an angel that fight crime, the hunter and demon being brothers?"
"I still can't believe you made me a demon," Dean muttered, leaning down to murmer into her hair. She turned to him, eyes wide.
"You gave me permission!"
"Like I was going to say no to you," Dean grinned, and Maddie smiled back.
"I want to kiss you on the mouth right now." She said, loud enough for her friends to hear.
"Please don't," Clint asked dryly.
"Kissing will have to wait," Reid looked past their group and waved his hand excitedly. "My team is here!"
While the group waited for Reids team to approach, Tasha explained.
"Behavioral Analysis Unit, huh?" Clint raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like a smart people job."
"Guess it's not for you then," Maddie shot, and Clint made a face.
"Children," Laura sighed, before smiling at Reid. "It sounds fascinating. "And you have to travel for work?"
"Often," Reid confirmed. "This is my boss, Aaron Hotchner, our press liaision Jennifer Jareau,"
"JJ, please," the pretty blonde woman smiled at the group.
"David Rossi and Emily Prentriss," The older dark haired man and younger woman on his arm smiled.
"The Avengers," Rossi smiled, "And friends."
"Sherlock Holmes," Emily scrutinized the tall brunette. She smirked. "I've met your brother."
Sherlock sniffed. "I'm the attractive one," he said stiffly, and Emily smiled.
"I can see that," she agreed.
"Anyway," Reid interrupted slowly, eyeing the two for a moment. "Derek Morgan and Penelope Garcia."
"Garcia?" Maddie smiled at the brightly gowned woman. "Maddie Sinclair – It's so great to finally meet you!"
Garcia beamed at Maddie. "You! You're even more beautiful than your IM's portrayed! It's so great to see your real face!"
"It's not much to look at," Maddie snickered, "But I think I'll keep it."
"I like it," Dean said loyally. Maddie rolled her eyes and turned to say something sassy, but she froze at the sound of a new voice.
"Eh, it's not so bad."
The look on Maddie's face – it was like she'd seen a ghost. Her face lost all color in the span of seconds and her eyes widened to take up almost her whole face, her jaw dropping open.
She whirled around to stare at the man just on the edge of the group, wearing a black suit, one hand in the pocket of his slacks, the other holding a wine glass, his smile cautious, his blue eyes bright. One dimple peeked out of his right cheek, and had eyes only for Maddie.
They considered each other silently for a moment. Then Maddie broke the silence.
"Reid," She snapped. "Tell me the name of this person before I go entirely insane and give in to my crazy thoughts."
Reid opened his mouth, but the man spoke first.
"Insanity is relative," He said, his voice deep, and smooth. He quirked an eyebrow, and the practiced move made Dean want to bundle Maddie into his arms and whisk her away, but she seemed so brittle, that one wrong move might break her, so he stayed still. "Who's to say your thought are crazy if you don't seek confirmation?"
"I don't need to voice them to know they're crazy," She retorted, her voice strangely raspy.
The man tilted his head, his blonde hair resettling with the shift. "Well, I won't judge." The man promised. "What's got you thinking, Mads?"
The phrasing was odd, and the familiarity in which he shortened Maddie's name had Dean bristling, but Maddie took a step towards him.
"I think that you look an awful lot like a person who couldn't possibly be here," she explained quickly. "But that's a crazy thought."
"Would it be less crazy if I was just thinking the same thing?"
"Yes," Maddie answered. "Because you don't know what I'm thinking – you only know what you're thinking, so we could be thinking very different things, and in fact we are thinking very different things, of course we are, because we can't be thinking the same thing, because if we were we'd both be crazy."
"Well what's so wrong with being crazy?" The man stepped closer.
"You're not who I think you are," Maddie's voice was quiet, almost a whisper.
"Why not?" The man pressed. "I'm certain you're exactly who I think you are – and if you are, and you're here, then why can't I be who you're thinking of, and be here too?"
"Because…that's crazy," Maddie insisted, but her voice was weak. The man smiled and took one step closer, and now the two were almost touching.
"Theo," Maddie said in a warning tone.
The man cocked his head, raised one eyebrow, and smirked. "Yes?" He asked, and Maddie took three steps away from him.
"Theo," She said again.
"Maddie," His smirk turned into a smile. "Do you want to dance?"
"No!" Maddie and Dean spoke at the same time, and Maddie whirled around, finally remembering that Dean was still there.
"Yeah," He said dryly. "I'm a real person."
Maddie grimaced. "I'm sorry," She admitted. "I think I've officially gone insane."
"That's okay," Dean shrugged. "I like you crazy." He jerked his head.
"So uh...Who's the idiot?"
Who's the idiot, INDEED.
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~CLC~