FORTUITY ☆ B.BARNES ✔️

3; Nothing Like Home

MAEVE SHIFTED UNCONTROLLABLY IN HER SEAT, she was dying to scratch the annoying itch that accompanied with having to wear the R.E.D. Maeve just liked to call it the RED, though. Thankfully, Sam had arranged a limo back to her house. "Where to, Miss?" The driver asked. "Queens, please," she replied. She leaned back and closed her eyes as the car started moving. She unconsciously grasped the small device on her chest, it was about the size of her fist. Sometimes it glowed, sometimes it didn't. Maeve had begun to appreciate the device.

She was on the street of Queens quicker than she thought. "Um, Miss, I think you should go back to the Avenger tower." said the driver. She stepped out of the car and gasped at the sight of the area. Maeve was appalled to find out that half of it was just destroyed, including her house.

"Ahhhh, fuck."

-

Maeve really didn't want to intrude, she really didn't want to stay at a place where they worked, but Scott's incessant pestering had finally convinced her to live in the quite spacey guest room they had. Her old room was a small room with dim lights with a beige carpet that once used to be white, and an exposed brick wall hung up with polaroid of her friends. This room was more modern and quite frankly, a little lonely. It was clean, dark, and bright, but there seemed to be a missing piece which would have completed the room. Maybe it was a permanent occupant. That's what this room needed.

A small knock at the door snapped Maeve out of her daze, and she rushed to open the door. Scott Lang was on the other side. "Hey, Conner." He smiled, he handed her a bouquet of red roses and a box of cake. Maeve laughed, "Please, call me Maeve. And what is it? Valentine's Day?"

Scott flushed, "No! No, I just...wanted to bring you a housewarming gift that's all. The cake is from my daughter." He scratched the back of his neck and looked at the floor, a little embarrassed. Maeve sensed his embarrassment and gave him a quick hug after setting the gifts on a table. "Well, thanks, Scott. It means a lot. But you do know I'm not staying here forever right?" Maeve joked, her gratitude was evident in the way that she spoke, with warmth and love laced into every word.

"I know, I know. It's just nice having someone with the same humor I guess." Scott remarked. "And the others are too serious, especially after losing Tony. Maeve nodded. "You know, Scott, I knew Tony. I mean- I was his favorite barista at Starbucks." She sat on the bed, with Scott leaning on the doorway. "He stopped by one day on his way to a meeting, was late," she chuckled, "To him, I made the perfect cup of coffee, but to me, it was just another cup of espresso." She joked. Scott laughed, his blue eyes crinkling. Maeve couldn't help but let a couple of tears slip out.

"He came back the next day, and the next day, and the next, and so on."

Scott was sniffling now, and Maeve smiled bitterly. She unconsciously held her RED, grasping it as if it was her heart, and it was as if her heart was hurting. "It was a daily routine, but one day, he never...came back..." Maeve's voice cracked at the end.

"He never came back."

-

After spending an emotional hour with Scott, Maeve decided to meet the rest of what's left of the Avengers. She met Wanda, and the legendary Steve Rogers, who was surprisingly older than she thought he was. "It's an honor to meet you, sir," said Maeve. Steve smiled back, and Maeve saw the gentleness and warmth in his eyes. "Likewise, Conner." Wanda and Maeve immediately hit it off, with Maeve asking her  aboutWanda's powers and Wanda complimenting Maeve on her RED. "You could have complimented me, I'm the one responsible for it," Bruce grumbled to himself.

Suddenly, a sharp pain surged through Maeve's body, her knees felt weak and her eyes were heavy. As her legs gave out, she expected the hard floor to hit her face and braced for impact. It never came to her because Bucky had caught her just in time, his metal arm gripping her waist and his other arm holding the back of her neck.

"What's wrong, Bruce?!" Bucky asked, a look of worry rushing over his face. He lifted her limp body, holding her was as light as a feather to him.

"I-I don't know! Her R.E.D is freaking out, we-we can't remove it, this room might explode. I think I have to fix the R.E.D while it's on her right now."

Bucky set her down on a metal table, with Wanda following close behind. Scott scurried to look at her, and he was more nervous than anything. Bucky didn't understand, he had just met Maeve a few days ago and he had never felt this much concern.

For a big guy, Bruce had the steadiest hands Bucky had ever seen, he was even shaking, and Bruce was holding a small scalpel as thin as his hair. "It's fine, she just had a malfunction. I mean we already concluded that she could withstand all the energy, so what the R.E.D did...she was going to release the energy to us, so it reflected it back at her. That's why she felt the energy surge and passed out I think." Everyone in the room had a blank look, a bit confused at what Bruce had just said.

Bruce massaged his temples and sighed, "Imagine you used one of the six stones, yeah...that's how you'd feel. It's like the aftermath."

After that a crowd of 'ohhh's and 'ahhh's and 'i get it now's could be heard throughout the lab. "Give it time, Maeve will wake up. She just needs to rest."

But Bucky didn't give it time, he figured he'd wait by her bed until she woke up. It was days until then. He only left for bathroom breaks and showers, even then he would think about what she'd think if she woke up and no one was by her side. As he sat beside her, he realized that the reason why he felt so drawn to her was that he knew how it felt to be changing and to have a power that you didn't want. For Bucky, it was his metal arm. He never liked it, he just felt accustomed to it after a while.

Sam and Bruce looked on through the open crack of Maeve's bedroom door. They were surprised to see Bucky, still there, asleep on an uncomfortable wooden chair, right next to Maeve. "Huh, he's hasn't left since this morning?" Asked Scott, chewing on his beef taco. "Yeah, I feel like he fancies her." Sam joked.

The two men stared at the pair for a moment, before Scott placed his last remaining taco beside Bucky, just in case he would get hungry if he woke up, and Sam grabbed a blanket, draping it over Bucky. After that, they left without another word.