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IDon'tOwnMarvel

"PIETRO!"

The speedster appeared leaning on a wall with his signature innocent grin. "Yes?"

"I swear to all that is holy," I stood up straight again after stumbling with a glare. "Push me one more time and I will break your ankles."

"That is cute." He smirked, "How are you going to catch me...when you move at the rate of a snail?"

"I'm grieving!" I snapped back, chucking the bag of goldfish at him that I'd gotten from the kitchen.

He just giggled and sidestepped it before speeding around me and knocking me off balance again. He was far down the hallway by the time I got my footing again.

"Goddammit." I huffed, collecting my snack again and trying not to overload with anger again.

There'd been some close calls when I got upset over the past two weeks. Once, I burned a hole in the carpet in my room at the compound and another time I'd shocked Clint into having a headache for two days. Though, I didn't feel all that bad about that one since he did say he was going to leave me a few cookies and then proceeded not to. I was a little touchy that day already, so the fact that I didn't get a rugelach cookie that Wanda had made was really just the icing on the cake.

The only people, it seemed, that were able to console me even in the least were Steve, Bucky, and Pietro. Steve and Bucky gladly listened to me rant about the adventures that I went on with TC. They didn't seem to mind, and while I did appreciate Pietro's ability to take the anger off of myself and directed at him, he was a bit much sometimes, even if he meant well with our strange friendship. I could easily just hide in Bucky's room though while the guy watched his next episode of Planet Earth. There would be a day when I introduced him to the Hobbit movies, but I had more important things to upset myself with these days. You know, like the fact that I lost my only real friend in this fucked up world.

That, and, I kind of felt like I had the right to do something for just me. Well, me and for the assured safety of a small child.

Next thing I knew, I was brooding alone on the balcony of the Avengers facility where I'd gotten free food, clothes, and housing for the past two weeks. That was the only reason why I was stalling this decision to leave. It had nothing to do with the attachment I'd gained over some of them. Sure, I could just pull another disappearing act, but I knew Steve would be upset and I kind of felt like I owed him at least a 'see you later' after he was so patient with me following the loss of TC.

Plus, Fury would be a bitch to deal with, so I just subtly asked him for help with this adventure so he could feel like he was contributing to the greater good. Gotta throw that guy a bone every once in a while or he gets snappy.

"Hey."

I barely glanced over at the familiar voice and neglected to respond, turning back to watch Steve jog by on the one mile running trail for maybe the eighth time this evening. He slowed to a stop though now that he was back at the start again and checked his watch before turning towards the compound. He was probably done for now.

Tony was something else, standing awkwardly for a moment before moving over to sit down beside me. "What's that? Five? I honestly don't understand the appeal."

I just looked down to my dangling legs off the side of the balcony. "I counted eight...but he was running when I got here, so I don't know. Maybe he's just basking in the fact that he doesn't have asthma anymore."

"Golden boy had asthma?" Tony cracked a smile, both of us well aware of the fact that we were ignoring an actual discussion.

He looked over at me and I held my ground, not bothering to look back while feeling like I had every right to still be bitter with him. The dude was beating himself up over the thing at Clint's house for the past couple weeks, so that made me feel a little better, but I still wasn't really all that desperate for his attention anymore.

"Lincoln, I'm-" He pursed his lips and looked away too. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know. So what I said before- I didn't mean it."

"I know." I muttered back.

And I did, of course. No one is that miserable for two weeks without a good amount of guilt.

"I don't really know what came over me, kid." He tried, studying the side of my face for some sort of confirmation that I cared he was even apologizing.

"I was just…" He waved a hand vaguely. "Scared. Maybe. You're a scary person. You know that, right?"

I nodded, knowing how big of a deal it was for Tony Stark, of all people, to apologize. He either really meant it, or Pepper got sick of his moping and put him up to it. Either way, it did mean something for him to say the words.

"Look, I get it if you don't want to talk to me." He continued, "I'm an asshole, and I treated you like you only mattered because of what you knew or...know about the future. You probably know I don't do the 'feelings' thing with other people, so I didn't really think much about how you felt or what you'd been through. Link?"

I turned my head a little so he didn't see that I was keeping back a lump in my throat that, if not handled properly, would turn into tears. Yeah, crying again probably for the hundredth time this week.

I'm emotional without my best friend. Give me a break.

"So, uh," He kept his eyes on me. "I just thought I'd tell you that it's okay for you to stay here. I'm going to be headed out for a while. I'm going to need to take a break from everything after you went through so much just to clean up my mess."

"I've got another job." I finally admitted, swallowing the tears and internally yelling at myself to toughen up. "I'm going out to San Fransisco for a little bit. I'll probably be back, but I need a break too."

"Oh, okay." He bit his lip. "Is it dangerous? Maybe you should take someone with you- I could get you a new suit or..."

"No, it's easy." I shook my head. "Just hanging out with some of my sketchy friends. Nothing really avengers-worthy."

He nodded at that, shifting in his seat. "Did you, um, save anyone this time?"

"Sure." I scoffed, "Not everyone, like I'm here for, but sure, some people."

"Dr. Cho's team." He filled in.

"Yeah," I grumbled, leaning my head in my arms on the guard-rail. "Them and TC. Him and I spent a year and a half trying to figure out their case. He was good for ideas."

"Yeah, that's a..." Tony sighed and leaned forwards on the balcony too. "He was a cool lizard with his little lightning trick. Bruce would've loved to study that."

"You'll see him again." I assured him, looking over to Tony and wondering then how he'd been doing without his science buddy. "He comes back in time for the BBEG. Hulk is honestly probably living it up right now. Sakaar is a good place for him, I promise."

Tony hummed at that, looking back at me then. "So, lay it on me- How many did you save?"

I shrugged. "I don't know for sure. The Ancient One gave me a number a while back- 117 civilians dead, but we didn't lose civilians. So, 118, I guess? They seem to know what they're talking about."

"Who's the 118th?" He inquired, getting a small smile out of me.

"Hm," I pursed my lips. "Don't tell him, but Speedy was supposed to bite the dust. I don't know what that does to the future, but I couldn't let Wanda or him go through that. Did you talk to them yet?"

"I did." He smiled a little too. "The Witch was happy to know Obadiah is long gone. You know him?"

I snickered and nodded. "Oh yeah. He was weird."

"He was." Tony agreed, then nudging my shoulder. "And hey, 117 people is a lot. Now all those people get to go home to their families and lead probably really awful lives since it's a poor country."

"Yep." I rolled my eyes. "In the most dramatic way possible- it must be nice."

Tony winced upon realizing, but I cut him off before he could apologize again and embarrass himself more.

"I'm, like, the last of my kind." I hummed, shaking my head. "My whole planet is gone- universe even. It'd be one thing if my family was just far away, but I'll look up at the sky and all I can think about is that it's not the stars or moon my mother used to obsess over with her minor in astrology. There are aliens up there. And while I'm sure there were aliens somewhere in my universe, it was so cool to wonder and feel small. But I know for a fact who is up there and what's been going on with them. I know half their struggles and I could name, like, twelve alien species right now."

"I know there's aliens." Tony huffed jokingly, "You're not special for that. We have a god with us right now."

"Yeah, but, being in a different universe is so weird." I stared hard at a tree to avoid looking at Tony. "I don't get to sleep in my own bed, I can't bring flowers to my sister's grave...none of my favorite shows are quite right and some don't even exist- hell, I found comfort in walking to the same school every day and sitting with my friends. The school isn't even there for me to walk to. I never thought that was something I could miss. But most of all, I miss the familiar things I had here. I had my hoodie but I lost that, and I had a best friend, but I lost him too. I can't keep anything. It sucks."

Tony didn't say anything back at that, just looking at the trees too before turning his gaze down to his lap.

"Just…" I took a careful breath. "Please don't yell at me anymore. My parents never yelled all that much and your voice gets real loud and scary."

He looked back at me quickly at that, shaking his head. "Yeah, never again. I promise."

"Thanks." I nodded, turning my head to lay it on my arms.

It would be one thing if I had TC, but without him, these past few weeks had just felt just oh-so lonely. He got to hear everything on my mind and I didn't have to worry about holding back information because he couldn't repeat what I said. So badly did I want to be somewhere I belonged.

There was a long moment of comfortable silence before Tony spoke again. "You'll let me know if there's anything I can do, right?"

I thought for a moment, cutting off my obsessively sad thoughts to try and debate a topic in my head. Before I could overthink, I figured I didn't have much to lose and reached for my pocket, pulling out a document.

"Actually, there is one thing." I handed it over to him, pulling my legs back from the edge and getting up.

He took it from my hand, getting up too. "What's this?"

"I don't know." I glanced back at the door to go inside. "I'm going undercover for a little bit, so I'll see you again when I see you. Just find out who wants me dead, and I'll see a therapist."

"That's a...good deal." He whispered, then stuffing the paper away quickly with a shake of his head. "You know this was dated from a while ago, right? I mean, whoever it was from clearly doesn't want it followed through anymore. It's probably not that big of a deal"

"I don't care." I shrugged. "I want to know who I can trust."

He nodded at that, passing a look away from me. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."

Later that night and one disappointing conversation later, I was walking down the halls of the compound towards the exit and feeling a little excited about my decision. The wombats were going to be so much fun to be around and I needed a little comedy in my life.

I had my hand on the door handle, about to open it when a loud disheartened shout stopped me.

"Lincoln! Wait-"

I stopped and turned around from the flash of blue light that accompanied the shout, only to be met with silence and an empty foyer. It had sounded like Pietro, but upon not seeing him, I brushed it off as a bad prank. I shook my head at him, going outside anyway to meet Happy. My plane wasn't going to wait for anyone, so I was going to have to pick up the pace. There was little time for his games this time of night.

Throwing my bag in the back first, I had to smile a little anyways. Pietro was losing his touch with these pranks. That made absolutely no sense, especially paired with that noise that didn't sound like him running away. He was probably just trying to scare me. It didn't work though, meaning that I might be able to get the upper hand one of these days. He may be fast, but I was smart.

See you in a couple of weeks, Blue.