DYER | STEVE ROGERS

𝐈𝐈𝐈.𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈

〚 ASSEMBLE 〛

Darla linked her arm with Steve's. He smiled down to the girl as they walked with Thor and Tony. They were in the new Avengers compound.

"The rules have changed." Steve spoke up.

"We're dealing with something new." Tony agreed.

"Oh, the Vision is artificial intelligence." Steve nodded, his hands resting comfortably on his belt as he walked.

"A machine." Tony shrugged.

"So, it doesn't count?" Steve questioned curiously.

"No, it's not like a person lifting the hammer." Tony nodded.

"Right, different rules for us." Steve pointed towards Tony.

"Nice guy. Artificial." Tony reminded the three. Darla smirked, she pulled away from Steve and grabbed Thor's hammer.

"Not like a person lifting the hammer at all." She chuckled as she threw the hammer up and down expertly.

"You, you're different." Tony pointed towards the girl accusingly. "You're like a freak of nature." Darla fake gasped before throwing the hammer back to Thor.

"He can wield the hammer, he can keep the mind stone. It's safe with the Vision. And these days, safe is in short supply." Thor nodded as he chuckled at the blonde girl.

Steve wrapped his arms around the girls waist and pulled her into his chest. Placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

Ever since they came back to the compound, they had gotten closer, but so had Darla and Mateo. Any time that Steve managed to spend with Darla was precious, because more often than not she was with Mateo learning more about her abilities.

"But if you put the hammer in an elevator-"

"It would still go up." Tony caught on and quickly cut Steve off.

"Elevators not worthy." Steve shook his head. Darla let out a soft giggle as she placed a kiss on the man's cheek, dangerously close to his lips, making his breath hitch slightly.

"I'm going to miss these little talks of ours." Thor said as he clamped his hand down on Tony's shoulder.

"Not if you don't leave." Tony resorted.

"Yes, you can stay." Darla grinned, she liked all of the Avengers being together. They were like a family. Being with them all made her not miss her family as much.

"I have no choice, little one," Thor said lightly tapping her shoulder. "the mind stone is the fourth of the infinity stones to show up in the last few years." The three continued to walk down the hallway and outside the building. "That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. And once all these pieces are in position-"

"Triple yahtzee." Tony cut in.

"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve questioned, linking his hand with Darla's. A small blush made its way to the blonde's face.

"I do." Thor nodded confidently. "Beside this one," Thor tapped Tony's chest. "there's nothing that can't be explained."

The long haired blonde man opened his arms up for the girl. Darla smiled and pulled away from Steve to hug the man.

"I'll miss you." She whispered before pulling away and going to stand beside Steve once again, as they watched Thor raise his hammer and disappear.

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance." Tony uttered in disgust. "I'm gonna miss him though."

"And you're gonna miss us." Steve nodded as they walked Tony to his car.

"There's gonna be a lot of manful tears." Tony mumbled.

"I will miss you, Tony." Steve announced.

"We both will." Darla grinned as she linked arms with both the boys, whilst Tony's car rolled up in front of them.

"Yeah? Well it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book. Build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up." Tony pondered on the thought.

"The simple life?" Steve questioned.

"You'll get there one day." Tony's eyes flickered between Steve and Darla.

"I don't know." Steve paused. "Family, Stability, the guy who wanted all that went in the ice 75 years ago. I think someone else came out."

"I happen to like that someone else." Darla said placing her hand on Steve's chest. Steve chuckled slightly.

Tony placed his hand on Darla's shoulder and looked into her eyes with a small smile.

"Call your brother back, he's driving me insane with all these texts and calls." Tony tapped her nose lightly.

Darla chuckled and wrapped her arms around the man's torso. She had been ignoring her family's calls for a while. She had a terrible feeling that if she saw them, something bad would happen.

"I'll see you soon, kid." Tony's eyes flickered up to Steve, who had a soft smile on his face. Darla pulled away and stepped back into Steve's arms. "You alright?"

Steve nodded and looked down to Darla. He allowed a smile to make its way to his face.

"I'm home." Steve announced, not taking his eyes off the blonde girl. Tony smiled, a genuine smile, before he stepped into the car.

~

Darla looked towards Natasha who stood staring at a blank wall. The blonde tapped Steve, hoping he would say something.

"You wanna keep staring at the wall, or do you wanna go to work?" Steve paused. "I mean it's a pretty interesting wall."

"Thought you and Darla were still gazing into each others eyes." Teased Natasha as she walked towards the pair. "How do we look?" Darla handed the girl the tablet with the new recruits.

"Well we're not the '27 Yankees." Steve announced.

"We got some hitters." Shrugged Natasha.

"Still not a team though." Darla reminded the pair.

"Let's beat them into shape." The red head grinned, patting Darla's back.

Darla flung open the door and smirked once she saw all the new recruits. Her eyes flickered between Mateo and Wanda. Both of them were talking with one another.

Wanda and Darla had become close over the past few weeks. Darla wanted to make sure that Wanda was okay after the death of her brother. The blonde girl didn't want to leave her alone for too long.

Everyone turned to face Darla, Steve and Natasha. Darla smiled and playfully tapped Steve's shoulder. Steve smiled down at the girl before saying,

"Avengers assemble."