Back again! Terribly sorry for the lateish chapter, but this will most likely be the waiting time between chapters, if not longer. I thank you for your patience, and your amazing reviews! Enjoy!
"Jarvis, please unlock Chad's room and tell him to get in the elevator and go to floor twenty-four and bring a towel with him."
"Certainly sir." Came the AI's reply.
The elevator stopped at his designated floor, and Steve rushed out letting the dirty black blanket drag behind him in his haste. He shouldered his way through the doors of the infirmary, tightening his hold on the wide-eyed boys in his arms.
He set his shield down, and settled them both on one of the neat looking little infirmary cots, and quickly rushed to the sink to wash the blood off of his hands. "Take care of them." The last coherent words spoken by their mother, just before she died. He hated the fact that he left both of them in the streets, for the rest of the hunter's backup to do with as they pleased. He wanted to go out there right now, and knock them all out cold. In fact, that's exactly what he would've done if he hadn't of had other things to take care of, other people.
Steve reached up into the overhead cabinet and pulled out an over-stocked first aid kit, chock full of everything an Avenger could ever need if their injuries didn't need more drastic medication. The boys still clung to each other for dear life, not taking their eyes equally bright hazel eyes off of Steve.
Wait… now that Steve got a better look at them, he noticed with a start that one of the boys, the older one who looked about nine years old, had a bright wide streak of blue through the iris of his right eye, and the other, the younger one who looked about six, had a much thinner, yet equally startling stripe of gold that started at the bottom of his hazel iris, cut across over his pupil and ended at the edge of the brown, on the opposite end the colour had started from. Other than that, the rest of their features were fairly similar, dark shaggy chocolate brown hair, narrow faces and wide eyes. It was amazing, and Steve had never seen anything like it. He guessed that the strange colours in their eyes must have something to with their powers.
Steve shook his head and set the bright red first aid kit next to the shivering older boy and unzipped it. He turned his gaze towards the boys, and examined them for injuries. If the mother and father had been fighting off hunters, there was a good chance that they had tried to grab the boys first, which most-likely resulted in some injuries. Steve observed dark bruises forming on each of their arms, a long cut on the older boy's face, the younger one had a busted lip and by the looks of it, a broken finger.
Chad rushed in a moment later carrying two large white fluffy towels, and breathing heavily. His frantic gaze finally settled on where Steve was rummaging through the first aid kit, and the two little boys sitting on the table. The teen cautiously made his way over to the soldier's side, observing the foreigners.
Steve leaned down and lowered his voice to be sure that the two kids couldn't hear him. "Chad, talk to them, get them to calm down a little, see if you can get them talking for me. They're names are Ryan and Chris, but I'm not sure which one's which. See if you can find out for me."
Chad nodded solemnly, and Steve turned back to the first aid kit. He began to pull out all of the various supplies that he would need to help the two boys, including a finger brace, antiseptic, the 'magic' bruise cream that Tony and Bruce had perfected a few years back and a few other various creams and sprays that Steve thought would be useful. He really wished that Bruce was here, he would know exactly what to do, exactly what kinds of medicines to use and even how to talk to them to keep them calm. He was always good with his patients, despite being shy around other people.
Steve gave a small smile when he heard Chad crack a joke beside him, and then very softly ask which one was Chris and which one was Ryan. One of them must've nodded and confirmed their name, because Chad gave a delighted laugh and said what an awesome name they had.
"Watch this." Steve heard him whisper to the boys. Steve smiled to himself and returned back to finding the other bottle of antiseptic. Damn it! Why couldn't Tony replace things! Steve sighed and began to gather the things he had pulled out of the first aid kit, when he felt a prickling sensation on his neck. He turned around to see Chad staring at him intently, and backed away a little. "Chad, don't you dare zap me again." Steve warned, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
Chad giggled lightly. "I'm not, I promise." The teen said before smothering another fit of laughter, still staring intently at the soldier.
Both of the boy's eyes widened simultaneously, and the older one gave a small smile. The younger one tried to stop himself from laughing, but failed, and burst into a fit of giggles, pointing at Steve. This only made Chad laugh harder, his dark eyes still staring at Steve.
Steve gave a bemused smile, glancing over at the laughing boys and turned to a grinning Chad. "What did you do?"
Chad only laughed harder, until there were tears running down his face, making Steve frown. 'What the hell is so funny?' Steve got his answer when he tried to run his hand through his hair and received a light zap. He jumped back, only making all three boys more amused. Chad was bent over, unable to cease his laughter, the younger boy was now laughing openly, and the older boy was trying very hard not to laugh.
Steve felt his hair, ignoring the tiny zaps he got from doing so, and realised exactly what Chad had done. He knew, because he remembered when he and Clint went to a different gym, and they had trampolines that people could jump on and work out their legs and abdominal muscles. Clint had lay down on one and rolled around; making parts of his hair stick straight up and look like it was floating. Steve had thought it was childish at the time, and went to the elliptical machine.
So that's what they were laughing at. Steve's hair was floating because of the build-up of static electricity that Chad was transmitting into it, and apparently they all found it hilarious. Steve rushed over to the tiny mirror by the small sink and confirmed his suspicions with a shout of surprise. He frantically tried to pat the floating strands of sandy blonde down, but they refused to stick, and Steve kept getting zapped every time he touched his hair.
The older boy lost it; he joined the cacophony of laughter that his little brother and Chad were making upon seeing Steve trying to make his hair go down. Steve stood up, defeated by the static in his hair, and walked over to the boys. Chad looked away, unable to focus anymore as he tried to calm down, and Steve's hair slowly floated back down to normal.
Chad walked over to Steve, wiping tears from his eyes. "The older one is Chris, the younger one is Ryan. I'm sorry about that, but I couldn't resist. It was just too funny."
Steve just rolled his eyes at the antics of the teen, but was secretly very glad he had done it. It had made the boys laughed, and put them at ease. They no longer looked as frightened as before, and were both looking around with a curious spark in their mismatched eyes.
Steve checked his watch, realising with wide eyes that it was almost 4am. He turned to Chad. "Go down to the dining room fridge and find the most normal-looking breakfast food you can find. Also get the bottle of water that's in there as well. Grab it all and bring up here. There should be some plastic bowls in the lower cupboard closest to the stove, and cutlery in the drawer above it, ok?" Chad nodded, still wearing a huge grin. "Thanks, Chad. For all of your help, I mean."
Chad flashed the soldier a smile as he stepped into the elevator and disappeared from view when the flashy silver doors closed.
"Jarvis, please increase the heating in here to a more comfortable level." Steve instructed, and turned to the bewildered boys, who were no doubt wondering who Steve was talking to.
"Certainly Captain Rogers." The polite AI replied. The boys snapped their head up to the ceiling, trying to see where the voice had come from. Steve only sighed warily.
"Jarvis, please introduce yourself to Ryan and Chris."
"Good morning Ryan, Good morning Chris. I am Jarvis, an AI system invented by Mr. Tony Stark, programmed to make his life easier by doing certain tasks, such as accessing the internet to answer a question asked, sorting files and documents, and am also adapted to be downloaded into the Iron Man Mark suits, to help Mr. Stark navigate the systems and guidance controls. You are welcome here, under the command of Mr. Rogers; I do hope you enjoy your stay."
"He's a computer program, and he talks through speakers on the walls, see?" Steve said, pointing to a small speaker in the corner of the room."
"Correct, Mr Rogers."
The boys simply stared at Steve, making the soldier feel a little unnerved.
Steve scratched the back on his neck and cleared his throat, feeling a little anxious under the weight of the stares of Ryan and Chris.
"Well, uh, boys, it looks like the both have some cuts and a few nasty bruises. Chris, you have a long scratch on your chin there, and Ryan, you have a busted lip and by the looks of it, a broken finger. I have all of the stuff here to fix it up."
Chris nodded and Steve got to work, gently wiping off both of their faces with an antiseptic-soaked cloth, put a brace on Ryan's finger and applied the cream to their dark purple bruises. They sat through it with grim faces, their laughing fit from before had seemingly worn off.
"They're dead, aren't they?" Chris said as Steve packed away the supplies back into the first aid kit. Steve visibly flinched at the boy's words, wishing that that wasn't the first thing that came out of his mouth. Steve didn't want to confirm it, but he didn't want to lie to them. They were superhuman kids that had just lost both of their parents in a no-doubt traumatic incident only twenty minutes ago.
"Boys, this is a horrible world we live in today, you know that. There are horrible people out there that want to hurt people, because they're simply bad people. Your parents loved you very much, do not ever forget that." Ryan burst into tears, sobbing into his brothers shoulder, and Chris stroked his head soothingly, his lip wobbling. The older boy stared at Steve with glassy eyes, urging him to go on.
"The last thing she said, your mother, was that she wanted you two taken care of. I promised I would take care of you both, so I want you both to live here, with me and Chad. You can both have your own room, or share a room if you like, and…" Steve trailed off when Chris finally let loose, burying his face in Ryan's hair and wailed for the loss of his parents. Steve hesitantly kneeled on the floor and gently wrapped his arms around the pair, trying to blink away the wetness building up in his eyes. He felt a small head lean against his chest, still sobbing uncontrollably, and Steve gave a miserable sigh. These boys needed time to cry, and Steve wouldn't stop them. They had just lost the last people they had in their lives, after all.
The elevator arrived, and Chad stepped in, carrying the food in two purple plastic Tupperware bowls, a bottle of water and two small silver forks. Steve looked up, trying to convey to Chad to be quiet, and the teen must've got the message, because he tiptoed in and gently set all of the food on a small bedside table.
Chad leaned against the wall, watching with sad eyes as Steve held the distraught kids for another ten minutes. Ryan finally sniffled and pulled back, and Steve let go of them with a sigh. Chris looked up with red-rimmed eyes and gave the soldier a watery smile, still wiping tears from his flushed cheeks. Steve gave a sad smile back, and backed away a little. Chad spoke up.
"I guess you boys are a little hungry, hey? I warmed up some breakfast for you both, if you feel like eating. It's food from Asgard, Thor's world, and he delivered it especially for people who are having a bad day, so I hope it makes you feel a little better."
Steve shot a thankful smile over chad's way and nodded. "If you both stick around, you can meet him. He visits me every week from Asgard, with food and supplies. I'm sure he'd be happy to say hello!"
Chris looked up, his lower lip still wobbling a little, and his oddly coloured eyes still a little glassy. "Can.. can we really meet him? Will he want to meet us?" The kid asked uncertainly, gazing up at Steve with hopeful eyes.
Steve grinned down at them. "Of course! I'd probably have a hard time keeping him away; he'd be delighted to meet you. All of you." Steve said, looking up to where Chad was leaning forward slightly and listening intently.
The boys both looked at each other, varying degrees of excitement flashing over their features, and Chris began to silently chat to his brother. Steve walked over to where Chad was standing, regarding the teen with a newfound sense of respect. His skills with children had proven to be invaluable in helping Steve with the boys.
"I didn't know that Thor was coming, it's news to me. I've got to admit, I'm a little excited as well. I've always wanted to see Mjolnir up close, it seems pretty cool." Chad said, going for nonchalance, but Steve could see the shine of eagerness on his dark features.
"You're certainly good with kids. I'm glad that you're helping me out with Ryan and Chris, I don't know what I would've done if they didn't want to stay with me. I think that you making them laugh definitely calmed them both down a little, and talking about how the food from Asgard will help them with a bad day, that was smart." Steve complimented, regarding Chad with a smile.
The teen snorted, and then smiled softly. "Yeah, I've seen them on the streets a few times actually. I was shivering behind a dumpster, they all walked past and their dad offered me a blanket. It was as thin as a sheet, had holes and rips in it, and barely did anything for the cold, but it was something, you know? They were amazing people to offer something off of their own back and give it to a kid they didn't even know."
"I found them attacking a hunter, trying to give Ryan and Chris a chance to hide. He – the hunter – shot them. The last thing their mother told me was to take care of them, and that their names were Ryan and Chris. The Hunter's backup was coming, and I found the boys and rushed into the tower.'
Steve sighed for the hundredth time that morning, and put a hand on Chad's shoulder. "It's just me and you Chad. We have to take care of these kids, they don't have anybody else, or anywhere else to go to. I know that this is a lot to ask of you, seeing as how you just moved in and everything, but I need your help with these two. Do you-"
Chad waved a hand dismissively. "Cut the heartfelt speech, of course I will."
Steve rolled his eyes lightly and his mind jumped back to something that he had noticed just before he had rushed out into the street earlier. "Chad, when I saw you in your room a little while ago, just before I left the building, you were…. sparking." Steve finished lamely, unable to think of any other way to put it.
Chad looked up at him in surprise before shrugging. "It happens when I'm scared, or angry, I can't control it."
Steve just nodded, putting that memory away in a mental folder and saving it for later.
"So what kinds of powers do these guys have anyway?"
Steve just gave a grim look. "I don't know yet."
The boys have been here for three days now. Steve had set up the other spare room for them on his floor, activating Jarvis to keep an eye on them, bringing down most of the stuff he had originally set up in Thor's room for the whole family and moving into the second guest bedroom. The boys seemed content to sit in there for most of the first day watching movies on their TV, playing board games, drawing, and eating the snacks that Steve and Chad delivered for them every hour.
Steve had tried to play monopoly with them on the first day, but they seemed a little uncomfortable with him around, so he let them have their space and enjoy the newfound luxuries. The next day, Steve cooked bacon and toast again, and Chad arrived at breakfast with Ryan and Chris in tow, much to the captain's surprise. Chad managed to make them laugh by accidently snorting grape cordial up his nose when Steve mentioned the time Natasha kicked Tony in the face when he tried to wake her up after she fell asleep on the couch. It caused Chad to laugh while he was taking a sip of his drink, making some of the sticky cordial to shoot up into his nose. The boy found it hilarious, even Steve couldn't help himself from laughing.
After the teen had recovered, he began telling some stories to keep the boys entertained while Steve hurried to finish his breakfast. Chad's slight accent gave his words and almost musical sound, and Steve found himself leaning in to listen. It was a nice feeling, to have him, Chad and the boys sitting at the table swapping stories and sipping the last of their breakfast beverages. Steve gave a sigh of content when Ryan and Chris burst into another fit of tinkling laughter. Besides laughing, Ryan hadn't actually talked yet, which was fine. Steve wanted him to be comfortable and come into it in his own time.
Steve had spent day two showing everybody the tower, and exploring the floors with them. A lot of it was Research and Development, but Steve tried to show them as much interesting stuff as he possibly could, even going out onto the quinjet platform to show them the spectacular view of the city. Even though the once picturesque building and streets were crumbling, it was still an amazing view. The kids enjoyed it, anyway.
On day three, Steve listened quietly as Chad had a heart-to-heart chat with Ryan and Chris in their room. He knew he shouldn't of have been listening, but he found himself finding more reasons to walk past their door and strain to listen for words. He could make out Chad's soft accent, Chris's sad words, it sounded like they were talking about the boy's parents. Steve left when he heard the names Nathaniel and Aniyah. If Chad was talking about his family with the two boys in soft, hushed voices, then he obviously didn't want Steve listening in.
They wandered into the theatre room a little while later, settling down on the comfortable white couch where Steve was busy watching something from Bruce's many nature documentaries and writing in his journal. He was just finishing off a quick sketch of the three boys standing on the quinjet landing pad, gazing out at the city.
"You always write in that thing. What is it? What do you write about?" Chad asked, leaning forward a little to get a glimpse of the scribbled writing and detailed-looking sketch he could see on the smudged pages.
Steve snapped the book shut, tucking his pen into his pocket and settling the journal in his lap. "I like to keep track of the days, what's happened, what I've discovered, things that I found interesting." He gave a wary glance at Chad, who was busy staring at his hand.
"Needless to say, I've filled up a fair few pages since you've arrived." Steve muttered, shifting his hand out of view.
Chad gave him a withering look, and turned his interest toward the two boys nestled in an armchair a little to the left. They're eyes were glued to the screen, where a fox was busy rolling in leaves and peeing on trees. At least it wasn't busy doing what Steve had seen it do earlier. That was about the time he decided to focus a little more on his sketches instead of the documentary.
"Can I have a look at it then?" Chad asked, giving Steve the most innocent look he had ever seen on the teen's face. Steve hesitated, thinking about everything he has written in there. There was some personal stuff, his thoughts, his feelings, his sketches.
Steve sighed. "I'll show you some of the sketches, but please don't read anything. There's some stuff in there that I wouldn't want you reading, you know… personal stuff."
Chad nodded, and scooted over closer to Steve. The soldier held onto the journal and flicked through the pages, trying his best to cover the majority of the writing with his large hands. Chad's eyebrows rose with every picture, sometimes whistling or stopping Steve's hand from turning the page so he could look at a drawing for a little longer.
"Is that me!?" Chad half-shouted when they reached Steve's previous entry about the post office. "You drew me wearing that ugly coat? Dude! That's almost as bad as taking a photo of me in it!" Chad groaned and made a grab for the book, just missing as Steve yanked it out of reach. Steve heard giggling behind him, and turned around to catch a glimpse of Ryan and Chris as they ducked down behind the couch, out of view.
Steve laughed at their antics, watching them scurry back around the couch and stand in front of the TV. "Could we see the drawing again please Mr. Steve?" Steve grinned at Chad, and opened up the book, showing them the drawing of Chad in the huge fluffy coat he had found in one of the packages. Chad just sat on the couch scowling while the boys giggled.
"Ok, I think we've got a look." Chris said, still giggling.
Steve smiled at him and brought the book back to his chest and set it in his lap. He realised that his pen had gone missing, and sighed. Steve got up and began to lift up the pristine white couch cushions, trying to find the bulky black writing utensil. He found it at the same time that Chad gave a shout of surprise, and Steve's head snapped up.
He whipped around to see Ryan concentrating intently, Chris smiling broadly, Chad looking horrified, and …. another Chad standing between the two boys, smiling and wearing a very familiar looking white fluffy coat, with a soft glowing blue aura surrounding him. Steve's jaw almost dropped to the floor. Chris spoke up before anyone could ask questions.
"Ryan could do this ever since we got better from the sickness. He sees a picture, and he makes them real! Dad… he called it a hol.. a holo.."
"A hologram. A three dimensional hologram." Chad muttered, not taking his eyes off of his replica.
Steve squinted, and noticed the blue portion of Ryan's eyes was glowing brightly, the exact same colour that was surrounding the hologram. 'So that's why his eye is like that.' Steve realised.
Chad gasped when the holographic version of himself waved, and took a step forward. Steve felt very nervous, and was trying his best not to freak out. He calmed down a little when the soldier reminded himself that these were kids, and superhuman or not, they were just having a little fun.
"S-so what can you do Chris?" Steve asked, keeping a cautious eye on Chad as he stepped forward and waved his hand through the hologram's abdomen.
Chris's grin only broadened. "I'll show you, but it won't last very long. It makes us both tired." Steve nodded, noting the sheen of sweat just beginning to form on Ryan's forehead.
The golden streak in the older boy's strange eye glowed bright, and the hologram in front of him went still, the golden light intertwining with its blue counterpart, making it whole. Chad delicately poked the arm of the replica of himself and jumped back with a strangled yelp.
"I-It's real! It's freaking real!"
Steve was just about to warn Chad about the use of inappropriate language when both of the boys simultaneously began to sway. The hologram lost its density and flickered for a second before disappearing entirely. Steve lunged forward and caught them both the boys as they fell, both knocked out cold.
Steve picked them both up, gently trying to balance them both in his arms. Their weight was no problem for the super soldier; it was the hanging limbs and rolling heads that made it difficult. Eventually he managed to have them both sitting on his forearms with their heads resting on his shoulder. Steve sighed, making a mental note to never let them do that again for fear of aging him another seven decades.
He stood quietly in the elevator with Chad as the two boys breathed softly, their mouths hanging open. Steve quickly made it to their room, with Chad having to jog to keep up with his long strides, and shouldered open their door. Steve set them down gently in the double bed, with Chad helping him tucking them in, and left the room.
Chad muttered a goodnight and disappeared into his room, and Steve walked through his doorway and flopped down onto his overly-soft bed. 'So they can make holographic images and make them come to life, but it saps their energy and makes them faint. Great.' Steve thought to himself.
His life was getting crazier by the second, how the hell was he going to cope? He felt awful that the boys had fainted, and hoped to god that they would wake up and be completely fine in the morning. Steve took a deep breath and calmed himself. He really hoped that they would be feeling ok when Thor arrived.
So, how'd you like it? Good, bad, sad, funny, tell me how you felt! Tell me if you liked it or not, parts that you liked or hated, how you feel about the boy's new powers, all that jazz. I hope you enjoyed, and please don't forget to review!