scott x hope oneshots

those who favour fire

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Hope doesn't consider herself to be overly emotional. Or all that emotional to begin with, really. That's not to say she doesn't feel. She's just been burned too many times to continue risking her heart. Her childhood was anything but easy, and the everlasting lesson she learned was to always, always guard her heart. No matter what, no matter who.

So seven-year-old Hope, heart still weeping and yearning for her father, made a vow to herself. And she renewed that vow with every disappointment from Hank, with every undeserved scolding and cold shoulder.

The wall around her heart continued to thicken as she grew older. When her father sent her to boarding school, they saw each other less and less - and Hope was fine with that. The less she saw Hank, the less he could disappoint or hurt her.

And then , Hope thinks to herself, Scott fucking Lang ruined it. He just - he came along and wriggled his way into her heart like the walls she had spent decades building were made of paper. Scott tore every defense she had ever built to shreds, made it seem like they had never even been there. The walls she had built around her heart began to crumble, and she felt herself melting.

And...she didn't hate it. The whole feelings thing wasn't as bad as she had expected, at least not with Scott.

At first, Hope's emotions were so chaotic that she didn't even know what had happened. She was so determined to hate Scott for taking what she felt was her place (and maybe her last chance to prove herself to her father). And one day, without warning, he made some stupid quip and she was smiling. Like he wasn't some idiot thief that might get them all killed. Suddenly, she slowly started to believe in him and in their plan.

By the time she figured it out her emotions had turned against her, it was too late. Scott had slowly but surely wormed his way into her good graces, and Hope had decided to actually catch feelings for him. Like an idiot.

(Not that she made a conscious decision to let it happen, but it made her feel like she had some control over the situation.)

For Scott Lang of all people! The very same man who swooped in and stole her legacy that her parents left her.

(Not that she still holds a grudge or anything. Nope, not at all. She is a mature adult, and she is better than holding petty grudges against people for things they can't control. No, really, she is.)

During those interminable months between Scott's trip to the quantum realm and his jaunt to Germany, things were good. They were almost too good, or so Hope told herself in hindsight. Really, though, Hope has to give Scott credit. Except for what he did wrong, he did everything right, and that counted for something.

Scott knew when to defuse tense situations with a joke and was always ready to make a fool of himself just to see her smile. He knew exactly what to do to smooth all of her rough edges and when to let her simmer.

Knowing her mother might be alive somewhere in the quantum realm, Hope and Hank threw themselves into research. She spent every waking moment researching and planning and strategizing ways to get her mom back. Some days the only sleep she got was because Scott had cajoled her into getting a few hours of rest. There were times she was wound so tightly in the what-ifs and could-have-beens that she felt like she was going to vibrate out of her own skin. On those days, she wouldn't take breaks for anything and barely tolerated anyone's presence, including Scott's.