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bubblegumbucky · 1 month ago

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Who Drank My Emergency Chocolate Milk?

pairing | thunderbolts!bucky x female!oc

word count | 7.4K

summary | There’s a very small list of rules the Thunderbolts* agreed on to live together in the tower. But, they’re about to add one more to the list.

warnings | fluff, found family, make out session, dirty talk, cuddling, established relationship, minor language, talk of violence, minor threats, weapons, mentions of alcohol consumption

a/n | I have been ITCHING to write a cute mini series for months now ever since I saw Thunderbolts*, and I finally started! I was also looking through old twitter posts from 2019 and found one that inspired this plot, but I’ve also been craving that old ‘2013 Avengers Tower Fanfics’ feeling, so this is what I whipped up! I hope you like it hehehehe :)

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“Cereal cannot be soup, soup is hot. Cereal is cold. I refuse to group them in the same category, Ava.”

“Yeah yeah, just wait till you’re eating your cereal tomorrow morning, Walker. It’s all you’re going to be thinking about.”

The lights of the tower were low and dim, feeling like the back of a bar in lower Manhattan at 3am while you wait for someone to call you a taxi to leave. The air was thick with small laughter, jokes, and beer.

Home had never felt so warm.

After our mission in Paris, that was supposed to take less than a week and turned into a month long debacle, you could sense we all longed for the feeling of this place. The smell of metal from the labs, the sound of Mario Party arguments from the top floor, the taste of New York City pizza from one block over— we all wanted it back. It’ll never be as fancy as the Paris government buildings they had us in, but it’s home and that was enough.

Bucky’s right thumb was running in small circles on my knee as my legs draped over his, leaving a small tickle in its trail. The upper half of his body was leaning over to meet mine while his feet rested on the coffee table next to Yelena, who was perched on top of it. His vibranium arm found a home on my thigh and the warmth from his body was dancing with mine to create a blanket of heat across the couch. He smelled like marshmallows and love and all that was good in my life.

While being away for a month had its downsides when it came to relaxing and being normal, it made me appreciate moments like this deeper. When we’re all sat in the main living room like this, acting like family and Bucky was holding me like our bodies were carved from the same stone, it was freeing. The domestication of this moment felt right— Walker draped over the couch ottoman, face up, holding a beer bottle by the throat with his fingertips while Ava sat on the floor next to him. Meanwhile, Yelena is sitting criss cross on the coffee table in the center of the room and Bob is standing behind the bar counter, hunched over the sink, listening into the conversation while Alexei ate the leftovers from everyone’s plate before handing it to Bob to wash.

I missed this.

“Mr. Walker, soup and cereal are same. I eat both with spoon in bowl.” Alexei chimes in his two cents on the situation before shoving some leftover steak in his mouth. “Who did not finish their meat? Perfectly good meat just sitting on plate.” He mumbles to himself about the waste of food before grabbing a few more pieces of food and licking the plate clean. He hands it to Bob after he finishes, who has a slight look of disgust as he handles the part Alexei’s tongue wasn’t on and starts to soak it in the sink.

“Who said there was a rule for soup needing to be hot, anyway? The definition of soup doesn’t have the word ‘hot’ in it.” Bob projects his voice over the running water as his focus stays on washing the dish and he laughs slightly, knowing he’s contributing his thoughts just to piss Walker off. Walker sits up from the ottoman to stare Bob down in a playful manner.

“Soup has always been hot, Bob. Name one cold soup.” Walker challenges.

“Gazpacho. We literally had some on that mission in Spain last year. Remember? When that one scientist was trying to take over with his army of robotic dinosaurs?” Yelena responds for Bob, extending her leg to playfully kick Walker on the arm. Walker rubs the spot dramatically and rolls his eyes before repeating Yelena’s words in a mocking manner.

I can feel Bucky’s firm chest rising and falling with every slight chuckle he lets out and the breath of laughter on my ear. The sound swims in my ear for a few moments before evaporating and I make a silent plea that everyone would continue making jokes so I never have to stop hearing the soothing noise. I loved when he enjoyed things— when he really just sat back and allowed himself to be a human. At the end of the day, he was just a guy from Brooklyn that liked to eat ice cream from the carton, can’t sleep without the fan on for noise, and had a collection of science books in the closet.

I loved him like this. The only other person he was like this with was Sam. This team was good for him and I adored them all for it— for making him feel like someone again. Not the Winter Soldier, not the White Wolf. He was just Bucky.

And I think he was finally starting to learn that was enough.

“Robotic dinos had nothing on Red Guardian. I took three down with my bare hands from sky.” Alexei clenches his fist at the memory and smiles at the group. Bucky and I share a glance and smile, happy to see him talking about new memories of being a superhero instead of the ones from years ago. Yelena gives us a look as if to say ‘don’t encourage this’, and I shake my head at her, playfully.

“Whatever. Cereal is cereal. I refuse to acknowledge it as anything else.” Walker takes a sip of his beer before laying back down and handing it to Ava for her to take a swig. She finishes it off with a pop of her lips and shakes it to show off the empty container.

“Oh Booooooob.” Ava drawls. She slowly gets up and makes her way toward the bar to sit on one of the stools. Time for a refill, Mr. Bartender.”

Bob laughs, drying his hands with the dish towel and taking the empty beer bottle to the recycling bin. He doesn’t stop at the fridge on his way back to her and she looks at him confused while waving her hand in front of his face.

“Hello? You passed the fridge.” She giggles to herself as she leans over the bar and points to the fridge. “It’s right there. Behind you— right there.”

I let out a small laugh and lean my head on Bucky’s shoulder. “I think the bartender is cutting us off.” I joke, looking at Bob for confirmation. He smiles and heads to the fridge anyway, grabbing and hiding whatever he took. Approaching the bar counter, he pulls out a water from behind his back and pushes it toward Ava. She grabs it with a frown and takes a small sip. Her eyes look heavy and her body looks like it’s ready to give out as she re-caps the bottle.

“I hate when you make me make good decisions.” Ava says slowly, putting down the water to folding her arms on the table and rest her head in them like a nest. Alexei pats her back gently from behind the counter and laughs lowly to himself.

“It’s probably best. Our bodies are still on Paris time, we need to try and reset them back to New York.” Bucky’s voice is firm, like it has been the past couple weeks in Europe. We’re still trying to get into the groove of a team dynamic but Bucky just sort of took on a leader role naturally. Nobody really had anything to say against it, so we all fell into step with him and it’s worked out in our favor so far. Plus, I loved seeing him like this. He went from a soldier who was always told what to do, to a hero who has a team that follows him into the unknown. He was born for something like this and us ‘Thunderbolts’ were happy to watch him do it.

We’re still working out the name. The whole ‘New Avengers’ thing wasn’t our style and we told Valentina we couldn’t agree to it. As for ‘Thunderbolts’, it has a nice ring to it, but when you tell the Paris government that the ‘Thunderbolts’ are on the way to help save the day, it doesn’t necessarily scream ‘professional superheroes’.

But I liked it. Plus, Alexei had an emotional attachment to so we felt bad letting it go.

“Once we all get enough rest this week, we can have another drunk Wii game night. I’m finally ready to kick Walker’s ass at archery on Wii Sports Resort.” Yelena uncrosses her legs and stands from the table to walk over and stare down at Walker lying on the ottoman. “Kate Bishop is coming to the tower for a training session next Wednesday and I think it’ll improve my game.” She pokes him in the chest and it earns a small ‘Ouch’ from Walker before he points a finger up at her.

“That’s the one game you’ll never get me. Actually, that and Sword Fighting.” He remembers, earning a groan from all of us.

“For the last time, the only reason you’re good at that one is because you have anger issues.” Ava mumbles from the bar, her voice muffled by the countertop. Walker begins to protest while Yelena argues back and forth with him and Bob listens his friends fondly, smiling down at the sink.

“Okay, okay. Enough. We’re all gonna have anger issues if we don’t head to bed.” Bucky states. His weight shifts off my body and I immediately feel like an empty shell. Grabbing my legs, he swings them back in front of me and gently tugs my hands to stand and guides my shoulders so I’m standing in front of him. “Take the next two days to reset but after that, it’s back to work on that project Val left us.” He places both arms around my neck to rest his chin on the top of my head and I reach my hands to hold onto his forearms. His chest feels like armor, muscles firm and solid against my back. “The last thing I need is her coming down here. I’d rather not see her if I don’t have to.” He kisses my temple and I close my eyes at the soft, flower petal feeling of his lips on my skin. His breath smells like the steak we had for dinner and Budweiser are dancing together on his tongue.

“Alright, bossy. We’re going, we’re going.” Ava says, waving Bucky off as she finally lifts her head from the counter. She heads in the direction of the stairs and puts a hand up, almost like Judd Nelson at the end of ��Breakfast Club’, and waves from behind. “Goodnight. I’ll see you all after I sleep for the next thirty years.” Securing her helmet, she phases through the walls effortlessly to head to her room, leaving Bob, Yelena, Alexei, Bucky and I.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Walker stands quickly from the ottoman, crossing the living room to grab his sweatshirt from the barstool he left it on. “If you need me the next few days….you don’t.” Walker nods courteously to everyone with a half smile before heading to the elevator and pushing the up button. Stepping in, he raises his hand to wave three fingers to us in a subtle goodbye before the doors close. The soft beeps of the elevator can be heard before stopping on the 28th floor, where Walker’s bedroom lies in the floor plan.

Alexei makes his way from behind the counter to Yelena and gives her a soft kiss on the top of her head. Yelena tries to push him off before he traps her in his large frame. “Dad! Off!” Yelena groans, but he laughs as he drags her into a bone crushing hug and turning towards Bucky and I.

“We did good work as team. No one is a match for the Thunderbolts!” He squeezes Yelena on his last line and she pulls away with a firm ‘Okay okay’, to avoid being crushed to death. Alexei laughs before starting toward the stairs, but not before turning around and giving us a salute. “Red Guardian is off to sleep, Mr. Soldier.” Bucky’s nickname from Alexei earns another soft giggle from me and I can practically feel Bucky’s eyes rolls before he speaks.

“For the last time, Alexei— just call me Bucky.” He says, but I can hear the smile in his voice, indicating he doesn’t really care.

“Yeah, yeah. Mr. Soldier is cooler name.” Alexei mumbles before lowering his hand from his forehead and heading for the stairs. “Goodnight friends!” He pushes the door open a grunt and before it closes, I can hear the soft thud of his boots skipping steps and running through the hollow staircase.

I turn back toward Bob in the bar area where he’s finished cleaning the last remnants of dinner and wiping down the counters as Yelena is making her way over.

“Alright. C’mon, Mr. Clean. You heard boss man.” Yelena says, gesturing towards Bucky. I feel him let out a huff in place of a laugh and bury his smile in my hair.

“Okay, kitchen is done. I’ll do the living room tomorrow.” Bob nods his head towards where we’re standing and I shrug.

“It’s okay, don’t worry too much about it. We deserve the rest.” I say, sincerely. “This trip was anything but easy and after spending almost three more weeks than I thought we would, I don’t think it’ll hurt to rot in the tower for a few days.”

Bob smiles and nods as a response before leaving from behind the counter to break into a slight jog and catch up to Yelena, who’s already halfway to the elevator. He swings an arm around her shoulders and she grabs his dangling hand with hers as they stroll into the elevator.

Bucky lifts his head from my hair. “Night guys. Good work.” The two wave us a ‘goodnight’ gesture as the elevator doors close with a soft thud.

I sit with the silence for a moment before I detangle my body ever so sightly to turn and face Bucky. He moves his hands from my shoulders to bring his palms to my cheeks and the pads of his thumbs start to trace hearts on my face. His vibranium fingers are cold and refreshing to my flushed skin and I savor the feeling.

“You were great out there. On the assignment. ‘Mr. Soldier’.” My voice is in a low whisper as if someone might hear and I let out a soft giggle at my use of Alexei’s nickname. He gives me that smile that only I get to see— the one laced love and ecstasy that he knows I’m addicted to. I place my hands on his lower abdomen to selfishly feel his body underneath my fingertips and read it like braille. Every muscle is prominent and shown off deliciously under the navy compression shirt that hugs his skin and I silently wish to the stars that I was a piece of his clothing.

“None of this gets done without you. Don’t be giving me all the credit, now.” He praises, making me instantly melt more against his touch. He leans down so our foreheads meet one another in a gentle touch and he kisses me long and slow. Our lips are speaking in their own language as I get lost in how it feels like our bodies are wired to one another in their own circuit. His tongue does a drag across my lower lip in torturous slow motion and I hum at the feeling before he pulls away from me, his hands still cradling me to keep me close.

“We should probably head to bed, too.” I suggest. His eyes drink me in as he takes a deep breath. He nods and I lick my lips, tasting his beer he left behind. The heat from his hands slide down the sides of my body and make their way towards mine as he intertwines our fingers together and tugs me towards the elevator. The sound of his boots against the tile with my padded feet swirl together in their own harmony that sound so heavenly together, I want to take it and press it to a vinyl so I can listen to it forever.

The elevator arrives with a small beep and Bucky puts me in front of him once again to have me walk in first while he holds the sides of my arms and trails behind me. I giggle a bit at the idea that he can’t not be touching me for our small ride to the 26th floor where our bedroom resides, but I like the clinginess of it all. Being away on work usually means we just have secret moments in crowded rooms as we stare at each other and smile, pretending like we aren’t absolutely infatuated with one another.

I lean over and press the 26th floor on the pad and we both watch the doors close before, in one swift movement, Bucky pushes me against the wall to my right and pulls the emergency button. The weight of his body and warmth from his chest hovers over mine and I feel like I’m wrapped in love. His lips are on my collarbone before I can even register it and my arms hook around his neck like second nature. His hands start cradling my ribs around my back as his tongue does sweeps on my skin and I feel a slight tug from his teeth on a sensitive part on the base of my throat. A long moan escapes me as my hands move quickly to his hair to tug from the roots.

“Getting all worked up for me already? You sound so nice.” His words get lost against my skin and absorb into me, making me throw my head back against the elevator wall. “Was starting to forget how pretty you sounded when I get my hands on you.” The small space feels thick and heavy with lust as he moves his tongue across my jawline to taste me. A quiet and soft groan vibrates from his throat as he switches sides to do the same thing.

“James Buchanan…..we have a bedroom, you know.” He can hear the smile in my voice as he detaches his mouth from me and meets my eyes.

“I missed you.” He says. I shake my head and bring my palm to his cheek. The small moment between us has him flushed and warm.

“We haven’t left each other’s side in like, what? Six months? How could you miss me?” I ask, running my thumb down his lips and circling the swollen outline from all his kissing a moment ago. His voice drops about three octaves when he leans down to my ear, letting his lips brush the shell of it and breathing into my hair.

“You know what I mean.”

I feel my skin become texturized with goosebumps as the words leave his mouth with a hot breath and his lips find a home underneath my earlobe. I guess he had a point— in the past couple weeks, the only physical contact I could think of was at night when we would slide into bed together and have a few soft kisses and drift asleep. Everything had been so draining during the day, we were lucky if we got a couple hours of sleep.

I let out another giggle at the contact and feel him smile against my skin. “Always so ticklish.” He groans, playfully. His hands are quick as they move under my thighs and pull me up in a quick motion so they’re wrapped around his torso and my back is pinned against the steel metal walls of the elevator. I let out a half laugh, half scream as secure my arms around his neck and throw my head back in a giggle fit. I bring my face to meet his in a slow and gentle kiss while I detach one arm from the hug so my fingers can memorize the outline of his biceps while they’re flexed. I pull away to see the ocean waves lapping in his eyes in the low elevator lighting and I feel at ease.

“Gosh, sergeant. What else can that super soldier serum do?” I tease. His hands slide back up my legs and settle on my waist as my feet find the floor. He doesn’t break eye contact as he leans over to the pad of buttons and pushes the emergency one back into place so the car begins to move again toward our destination.

“I’m making you a list, don’t worry.” His hands slide through my hair on both sides like a comb and attach to each other in the back like a cradle for my head and I lean into the touch and he watches me settle into it.

The elevator rings, indicating we’ve reached our floor and the doors open with a hum. Bucky’s attention diverts to the sound and he removes his hands from my head to hold my hand and lead me out the elevator with him. I fall in step behind and look around our floor. It looks the same way it did when we left—neat and tidy but lived in. There’s some clothes I was folding the day we left sitting on the coffee table of the living room and cups in the sink from the wine night with Yelena. We tried to watch as much of the new season of Love Island as we could so we didn’t fall too behind when we thought the trip was only a week. I silently wonder if Jeremiah and Huda are still together as Bucky continues to pull me toward our bedroom.

Our floor is dark but the moonlight settles like a blanket over the furniture and floor, leaving a soft glow. The air has a slight edge to it, and I detach my hand from Bucky’s to rub my arms for friction.

“You cold, babydoll?” He takes a detour to the thermostat on the wall next to our bedroom door and I nod.

“Yeah, just a bit. But once we get to bed, I think it’ll be better.” I decide to walk towards the clothes sitting on the table to pick them up and take into the bedroom before I feel Bucky behind me, spinning me around to grab my hands and kiss the palms.

“Not tonight. You even told Bob to leave the living room alone upstairs.” He scolds, and my eyes roll playfully before nodding.

“Alright, alright. I’m leaving it.” I agree. He kisses my forehead before walking me to the bedroom to settle in for the night.

We decide to leave the unpacking till tomorrow so I grab some pj’s from the pile in the living room before heading to the shower to decompress under the warm water. After getting distracted by a very handsome super soldier once or twice, I finished up the rest of my nightly routine on my own and slipped into our bed. Turning out the light with a click, I settle into the sheets and hear Bucky’s breath softly going in and out against the pillow. I guess I had taken a little more time getting unready in the bathroom after he left than I thought.

Switching over to my side to face the wall, I snuggle deeper into the bed, ready to sleep alone but feel Bucky stirring and sliding over into my space. He tucks his vibranium arm under my neck for support while the other is wrapped tightly around my waist with a soft squeeze. I can feel the callousness on the pads of his fingers as he’s drawing paintings on my exposed skin and I smile to myself.

“I thought you were asleep.” I whisper. He moves his head closer to my ear.

“The fact that you think I was actually able to fall asleep without you is amusing.” He grumbles, lowly. Letting out a breath on my neck, his body settles behind mine like he was made for me and I feel my chest grow warmer with comfort.

Oh, it’s good to be home.

──────────

There are two things in this tower that were agreed on and followed without question.

1. If your food is labeled with the pink marker attached to the side of the fridge, no one can eat it. Anything other than the pink marker doesn’t count and is up for grabs.

2. You never wake each other up from the first night of sleeping after a mission.

The sanity of this team relies heavily on these rules.

So you can imagine the panic when I say that, unfortunately for us, both these rules were about to be broken tonight.

My body is abruptly woken up by the ringing of the tower’s alarm system and my throat lets out a groan. Bucky’s arm holds my body tighter to get me to stay as I try and sit up before he mumbles something against the pillow.

“Just stay, security will take care of it.” He says, curling himself back into me. I stare at the wall as the alarm continues to go off, waiting for the last ring to finally sound.

But it never comes.

“Security is probably tied up with something, I’ll get it myself.” I say, clearly frustrated and distraught that this much needed sleep is being interrupted. I sit up in bed which earns a grunt from Bucky as he sits up with me, rubbing his eyes awake.

“Ask Friday where the alarm got tripped.” He projects his voice and leans back on his vibranium arm as he tries to wake himself fully up while pointing to the iPad on the wall with the security system integrated inside. I swing my legs off the bed and move across the floor while covering my ears, itching to find relief from the noise.

Approaching the iPad, it scans my face to bypass the pin and immediately opens up the multi-camera view of different floors in the tower.

“Friday! What am I looking at?” My voice is swirling with the sound of the alarm and getting lost, despite my best efforts to scream so she can hear me.

“The alarm was tripped on the 40th floor. Be cautious, miss. I can’t get facial recognition to confirm who or what it is.” Friday’s voice is loud and clear through the speakers in the tower and I let out a frustrated groan.

“This couldn’t happen any other day? It had to be the day we haven’t slept in like a month?!” My voice carries across the room to Bucky and he’s on his feet before I can turn around to face him. He’s in black shorts with no shirt and I can see his abs silhouetted in the moonlight from the window. I shake my head and re-adjust my focus back to the alarm and threat.

Grabbing my face gently and putting his palms over my hears he shouts, “I’ll grab your knife from the drawer, you go press the button for the elevator.” He pushes me slightly in that direction and out the door. He stays in the bedroom and makes his way to grab my training knife from the side table along with his under the mattress as I press the button on the wall to call our ride up. He meets me there just at the doors open and we finally get a bit of silence as we step in and the doors shut.

“What do you think it is?” I ask as he hands me my knife. He shrugs, flipping his blade in his hand with ease before gripping the handle tightly and staring at the doors.

“Not sure. But stay alert. It could just be someone grabbing a snack and they can’t turn off the alarm. Don’t attack the wrong person.” He says. I clench my teeth and grip my knife like he did, ready for whatever is through the door.

“Actually if it’s anyone that lives here, I’m gonna use it anyway. They’re breaking rule number 2.” I say with a huff. Bucky does a dark chuckle and wraps his hand around the back of my neck to pull me toward him and quickly press a kiss into my hair.

“We’ll be back in bed soon. Let’s just stay sharp and watch each other’s six.” I nod to give him confirmation that I understand the plan when the doors open, earlier than I expected, on the 28th floor. Bucky detaches his hand from me to get in position and grip his weapon harder, preparing for whoever made the elevator stop early.

When the walls split to let the alarm noise flood inside like water, we find Walker standing in his plaid pj bottoms and no shirt. He has his shield in one hand and his 45 in the other, a death grip on each that’s turning his knuckles white. His hair is tousled gently in the opposite direction it usually goes and his face is flushed with anger.

“Get in! Hurry! The alarm is driving me crazy!” I scream, gesturing him inside and he stalks his way toward us. The doors shut with a soft thud and the alarm is quiet again.

“What the hell is rule number two!?” He asks rhetorically. Bucky shoots him an annoyed look.

“Walker. Stay focused.” Bucky warns. Walker adjusts his shoulders and rolls his neck as the elevator continues its journey to the 40th floor. I pat Walker’s shoulder quickly and turn my attention back towards the doors.

“We’ll get this done and head back to bed. Easy.” I say, but I can’t tell if I’m saying it to convince myself or Walker. Either way, it doesn’t work and I’m convinced a can of worms is about to open up.

“Whatever it is, it’s not leaving without a word from me.” Walker threatens, earning an eye roll from me and a slight shake of the head from Bucky. The rest of the ride is silent with the muffled beeping sound to fill the air and we all prepare for what’s coming.

The doors open with a soft groan and the alarm is at full volume once again. The floor is pretty dark with all the curtains pulled except for one at the end where the window is open. This floor is usually for strategy meetings, with couches and chairs, plus a kitchen just off to the left for coffee and other fuel for the boring office days we need to get through. It’s never used since we all prefer the living room with the larger areas to feel more comfortable, so this floor just sits and collects dust. I can practically feel the hollow walls echoing as the doors open. No laughter and memories to keep it warm and full— just furniture and silence.

Walker immediately puts his shield in front of the three of us to walk out in a formation behind him and I’m grateful for the gesture. While I’m able to handle my own usually, I’m sleep deprived and not at full capacity to function through an attack on the team right now. Walker and Bucky are acting like they’ve gotten 14 hours of sleep and drank three cups of coffee.

Stupid fucking serum.

Speaking of serum, a low rumbling makes its way toward our floor and I can practically feel the tower shake as Alexei bursts through a side door near the kitchen. The lighting from the staircase is low but it illuminates him just enough for us to see he’s in his full red guardian gear, hat and all. Walker turns quickly toward the sound while Bucky and I follow suit, wanting to stay secure behind his shield.

“Ahhhhhh! Red Guardian is here!” Alexei screams over the alarm and I’m actually impressed how loud he can actually get over the noise. Walker shushes him and waves him to come behind him in line before the light disappears and he won’t be able to see where he’s going. Alexei finds me and falls into step behind, gripping my shoulders. He’s about a foot and a half taller than me and I can feel his breath on top of my head, like the sun beating down on me at the beach. It smells like the steak from earlier and I silently thank Odin that we had something that had a decent odor for dinner. I turn around and look up so my head is practically at a 90 degree angle and I can see him nod in the slight moonlight creeping in while patting my shoulders, looking excited. I roll my eyes and shake my head to refocus, only to see Bucky’s bare back in front of me. Between him and Alexei being the same height and me smushed between them, I had my own personal brick walls protecting me.

The express elevator that stops at every tenth floor opens on the other side of the one we took, carrying a very irritated Yelena and sleepy Bob. Yelena’s tasers are wrapped around her wrists and Bob’s hands are secure around a lamp.

We all turn and give a look at Bob while he steps out from the elevator behind Yelena and shrugs, basically saying, ‘It’s all he had’, and we all look at him as if to say ‘whatever works’. Yelena and Bob fall into step behind Alexei in line and we naturally form a circle to secure each other’s backs and I start to feel slightly better about our chances in the dark. The elevator door closes and the darkness floods my vision with only the small lights from New York spilling through the cracks of the blinds to help, while the alarm slowly breaks my sanity. I feel Alexei and Bucky touching both my arms as we move into a tighter circle to navigate the dark better, while the front of the group starts to make its way toward the conference table that holds the alarm system.

The next few seconds are a total blur, mainly because of the darkness and being half asleep. Next thing I know, the lights are turned on and Ava lands on the floor with a groan and soft thud, as if she was thrown from the opposite side of the room. Bob and I make our way over to her as the rest of the team looks around the room for the source of Ava’s sudden fall. Leaning down next to her, I unhook her helmet and I look down to notice both of her hands secured together in a sticky substance.

There’s…..there’s no way…

I look up and around the room to the team scanning for threats when suddenly the alarm stops and I hear the clicking of buttons from behind the kitchen counter.

No fucking way.

“Spiderman?”

Sure enough, Peter Parker is standing across the room in the kitchen in his suit with one of the towers control system devices in his hand. He throws the device down on the kitchen island in front of him and puts a hand on the handle of the fridge and the other on his hip.

“Who the hell is this kid and why is he in our kitchen?” Yelena walks towards him with caution but clearly fueled by anger and sleep deprivation. Bucky crosses slightly in front of her and reaches an arm across her chest.

“Woah. Hold on.” He says, dropping his arm back to his side. Yelena and Walker give each other a look as if speaking to each other silently and saying ‘Who the hell is this kid?’, before Ava speaks up from the floor.

“Hold on? He just kicked me across the room and wrapped me in some sort of…..” She was examining the tight webs around her wrists while trying to find the words for what it was.

“It’s webbing. This is Spiderman. He helped us fight Thanos. He’s a friend.” I explain, using my knife to try and cut the webs in half so Ava has her hands free. I realize that while Bucky and I know Peter from the fight at the airport and against Thanos for the infinity stones, the rest of them haven’t been yet acquainted. I decide against revealing his identity and leave it to him to decide whether or not to share. Once I finish cutting the webs, I stand and meet the rest of the group near the middle of the room as Bob and Ava follow behind.

“Woah. I have heard tales of spider who crawls across city fighting crime. So cool.” Alexei says, staring in amazement at Peter before looking at the rest of us to see if we are just as stunned as he is. When no one agrees, he clears his throat and readjusts into a fighting positions as if he’s ready to battle.

“I don’t care who he is, he broke rule two and now I’m standing in a kitchen in the middle of the night with a headache and no sleep.” Walker raises his voice but Peter never flinches. He just stands there, same position, like he’s waiting for us to ask why he’s there.

“Pe-“ Bucky clears his throat to cover his slip up, thinking the same thing I am about Peter’s identity before continuing. “Spiderman—What’s going on?” Peter looks around at the group and clears his throat.

“Which one of you drank my emergency chocolate milk from this fridge?” He asks. His voice is firm but shaky, I can tell he’s nervous to address us but his tone definitely suggests he’s not playing around. He opens the fridge to show off the empty white shelving inside. There’s a very large gap of silence between the group as we all stare dumbfounded at each other and takes a moment for Walker to register exactly why he was woken up. When I see the gears finally turning and his mouth opens to speak, I start to worry.

“I’m sorry— let me make sure I have this right.” Walker starts.

Oh no.

“You woke us up at three o’clock in the morning by purposely tripping the emergency alarm after we just got back from a month long mission in Europe, where we didn’t sleep or rest most days— over a jug of chocolate milk? Do I have that right?”

There’s a moment after Peter shakes his head in confirmation where Walker laughs to himself and then steps forward quicker than I comprehend to lunge across the room at Peter. It takes every one of us to hold him back before Alexei envelops him into his arms and he settles back down to just stare at Peter, out of breath. You can tell Peter almost debates running when Walker started towards him, but stands his ground and held the fridge handle with a tight grip.

I decide to step in to defuse the situation quickly and come up from behind Alexei holding Walker in place to move them backwards. “Listen, we never come up here. This floor isn’t used. We usually have all our strategy meetings in the main living quarters on the 21st floor.” I explain. He looks around at each of us, almost like he’s trying to find the guilty party behind our facial expressions.

“I know that. That’s why I keep it up here.” Peter gestures toward the fridge. “So no one touches it.”

The confusion is still thick and heavy in the air as we all look at each other, waiting to hear a confession that I’m assuming won’t ever come.

“Is no one going to ask how he got in here or why he keeps a secret ‘emergency’ stash of chocolate milk in our fridge when he doesn’t live here?” Yelena asks, throwing her hands up toward Peter. “Or how he knows we never use this floor?”

We all look at Peter waiting for an explanation and he grunts before closing the fridge with a loud thud. “On the weekends, I do late night patrol in the neighborhoods around here and keep emergency chocolate milk jug here so I don’t have to swing all the way to Queens to get it. It’s a late night comfort drink.“ His voice is breathy and urgent, like he’s trying to get back to the real task at hand.

“That is smart. Chocolate milk is good drink.” Alexei adds, smiling and nodding at Peter to let him know he agrees with his drink choice. We all shoot him a glare and he shrugs in confusion as to why we wouldn’t agree with him. Peter turns towards Alexei and nods before whispering a small ‘thank you’, and switching his attention back to us.

There’s a small moment where the group is just staring at Peter before Bucky fills the void of silence. “Look, kid, like Walker said— we’ve been away in Europe for a month. There’s no physical way for any of us to have drank it.” He pockets the knife in his shorts before stepping toward Peter to seem less threatening. “Are you sure it’s this fridge? Maybe it’s on another floor we don’t use.” He suggests. I can tell he’s trying not to lose his cool on Peter since he’s just a teenager trying to navigate life and all its hardships, but I can tell that thread is very strained at the moment and threatening to break.

“No, it’s always the 40th floor. I left a sock on the balcony to remind myself that it was the right one.” Peter explains, moving his hand toward the handle of the fridge again to open it. The suction of the door makes a sound before he pulls it back open for us to see. “And look— no chocolate milk.“

I can tell Yelena and Walker are on their last drop of sanity and Ava looks like she’s going to commit federal crimes. Bob has since taken a seat in one of the chairs behind us, the lamp sitting nicely in his lap while his elbow is propped up on the arms on the chair so he can rest his head in his palm. Alexei still stares in amazement at Peter and I know he’s already trying to figure out a way to ask him if he can make him his own web shooters.

“Listen, spider boy—“ Ava starts.

“Spiderman.”

“Right. Whatever. Why can’t you just go to that corner mart down the street and buy more? It’s open 24 hours for things like this.” Ava suggests, as calm as she can. She rests her hands on her hips, waiting to see why Peter couldn’t come up with a solution that didn’t involve using the emergency alarm to wake us up.

“It’s a special brand. You can only get it from a corner Bodega in Queens.” Peter says. That earns a groan from Yelena and she starts finally toward him. Peter immediately reacts by lifting his hand in a swift motion toward Yelena’s feet and pressing on his web shooters to secure Yelena to the floor. We all go into defense mode, grabbing our weapons to stand at our ready positions.

It’s still quiet when Yelena lets out a small laugh under her breath that gets louder as each second passes, until she’s in full giggle mode, staring at her feet.

That’s so not good.

“I think you need to leave before Yelena goes all ‘widow’ on you. She’s almost lost it.” I suggest, nodding towards the window. And Yelena stops laughing for a moment to shake her head in agreement. Peter closes the fridge with a low and deep sigh. He comes out from behind the island counter and approaches the group.

“That’s fine. But know this— I’ll figure out who did it. And until I do, none of the food in the fridge downstairs is safe. I promise you that, Thunderbolts.” He points a finger at each of us as he attaches to the ceiling with a swift flick of his web shooters to help pull him up. He crawls towards the empty window on the other side of the room and turns around one last time to stare at us menacingly before moving out the window and latching into the side of the tower. I see him point toward a nearby building and swing away into the darkness.

There’s still ringing in my ears from the alarm as we stand in silence, watching the window and trying to comprehend if this even just happened. Finally, we turn back towards each other before Bob speaks.

“Did we just get threatened by a spider?”