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gingerkash · 8 months ago

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October 11: Unexpected Family Gathering

(Botverse, Steve/Tony, Phil/Clint, Thor/Jane All of these can be found under Sci's Fictober)

“I thought your father would be back by now.”

DJ nodded, even though Steve couldn’t see that. “I know.”

“Because he was supposed to be back by now.”

DJ weighed that. Not mad, just upset. “I know.” He shifted his weight forward onto the balls of his feet. “Dad thought so, too.” He glanced at the schedule on the workshop wall. “Things happen.”

“Yes. They absolutely do.”

Steve sounded tired. DJ looked at Agent Collins, not sure how to make it better. “I can stay, if you want, Steve,” she said.

“That’s kind of you, but I know you’ve got other places to be.”

“I’ve learned to keep my Tower days pretty open,” Christine said. “So no. I don’t have any plans.”

“I’m fine,” DJ said, because it needed to be said. And he was. He was fine. It was okay. If he had to choose, of course, everyone would be where they were supposed to en, when they were supposed to be there. It was so much easier.

He reached up, erasing the arrival times for his father and Steve with a flick of his fingers. “It’s okay,” he said, and he did mean it. He was okay. “I can be by myself.”

He looked at Christine with a smile. “Right?”

She smiled back. “I don’t know, can you really look after Jarvis all by yourself?”

“I’ve been doing it for YEARS,” DJ said, and she laughed.

“I would take offense to that, but there is an element of truth to the statement,” Jarvis said. “We have kept each other company for many years now.”

“I’m older,” DJ told Christine. Because that was important to remember.

“I just matured faster,” Jarvis said, and he sounded smug about that.

“Deej?” Steve had a note to his voice DJ couldn’t quite understand. It wasn’t really sadness, but it was closer than DJ liked. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m okay.” DJ looked up at the schedule, the neat, precise lines, promises that weren’t always kept. But everyone had always tried. Tried for him. Tried to make the chaotic world a little more tolerable, because he’d needed that.

He still needed that.

He realized his fingers were tugging at the hem of his shirt and he made an effort to let go,smoothing the fabric back in place. “Be careful. Okay?”

“Always, kiddo. I love you, I’ll be home as soon as I can. Christine, thank you for your help. As always.”

“I’m always happy to spend some time here,” she said. “Good night, Steve.”

“Good night. Jay, watch everything for us, okay?”

“Of course.”

DJ heard the faint click of the line dropping and let out a breath, tension bleeding out of his shoulders. “By ‘everything,’ he means me,” DJ said to Christine.

She chuckled. “I read between the lines.” She held a hand out in front of DJ. “I can stay. Not because you need me to, but because you want me to.”

He tapped his palm against hers. “I know. Thank you.”

“Call me if anything changes?”

DJ considered that. He wasn’t sure if she was asking for her sake or his own, but DJ nodded anyway. “Yes.”

She nodded. “Thank you.” She collected her coat and her purse, and without being asked, DJ fell into step with her, walking her to the elevator. He always did it, and he liked it. He liked the stability of it, and he liked waving at her as the elevator doors closed between them.

Leaving him alone.

“Jarvis?”

“Yes?”

Not alone. Never alone. Jarvis was always with him. He took a deep breath and held it, his chest tight until he let it out again. “Dad had meetings. Steve had a mission.”

“Yes. Thor is in Asgard.”

DJ nodded. “Late.”

“Yes, he was supposed to be back this morning. Agent Coulson is on an overnight shift, and will not be back until tomorrow. Bruce and Jane have a symposium this evening and are expected back late tonight.” Jarvis was brisk, calm. “We do not know Clint and Natasha’s current location, but we have received assurances from Agent Coulson that they are accounted for, though he could not give us an exact time of their return.”

DJ nodded. “Thank you.”

There was a moment of a pause. “I will tell you the moment I have any updates. You do know that, don’t you?”

He couldn’t quite hold back a smile. “You-” He pointed at the nearest camera. “Hide things from me.”

“I most certainly do not.”

“All the time!” DJ said. And again, because Jarvis might not have been paying attention to him. “AAAAALL the time.”

“Patently untrue,” Jarvis said. “And out of the two of us, you are far more likely to be hiding things.”

“I would never,” DJ said, just the way he imagined his father would.

“You would, and you do.” Jarvis sounded frosty. “Often.”

DJ headed back up the hallway. “Sorry.”

“You most certainly are not,” Jarvis said. Then, “Shall we watch a movie? I will order you a pizza.”

Maybe the lounge, then. Less lonely than the workshop. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe because the workshop needed his father to feel right. To feel complete.

“Don’t want pizza.” He paused in the doorway of the lounge, his hands braced on the doorframe, and then he launched himself forward at full force, vaulting over the back of the couch. He crashed down with a burst of laughter, bouncing across the cushions.

“And yet, if I were to order pizza, I’m sure you will eat some,” Jarvis said. “In that you have been raised properly and do not want to disappoint Steve.”

DJ made a face. “You don’t have to tell.”

“True. I don’t have to.”

He sighed. “But you will.”

“But I most certainly will,” Jarvis agreed. “Pepperoni and sausage?”

“Extra cheese and mushroom, please.” There was a tablet on the table in front of him, and he reached for it without bothering to sit up. “Thank you.”

He knew her schedule. He knew what she should be doing. But he still paused, just for a second, before he sent the message. ‘Busy?’

A beat, two, and a reply. ‘Nope! Call me?’

DJ rolled up into a sitting position, and hit the button. A moment later, the screen popped up, and Lucy grinned at him. “Hi!”

He smiled back. “Hi. Test tomorrow?”

“Test tomorrow,” she agreed, her cheeks puffing out with exasperation. “Always a test tomorrow, Deej.”

“Sometimes tomorrow is Saturday,” he said.

“And somehow, there’s STILL a test tomorrow,” she said. She leaned back in her chair, and for a second, the video went wonky, and DJ’s fingers tightened on the tablet, waiting for it to stabelize. When it did, she was tapping her pencil against the tip of her nose. “I am going to lose it.”

He drew his knees up, letting the tablet rest on them. “You’re gonna do great.”

“Liar,” she said, but she was smiling at him, her eyes crinkled up in the corners and her chin up. “Big talk for someone who doesn’t have to take tests.”

“My life is a test,” DJ said, just to hear her laugh. “Lucy?”

“DJ?”

“You will be fine.”

She smiled. “I know.” She glanced to the side. “Almost dinner time, you don’t usually call now.” She looked back at DJ. “You okay?”

He took a deep breath. “Dad’s late. Steve’s late.” He stopped, his chest aching. “Everyone. Is late.”

“Oh.” She stopped, setting her pencil down. “Everyone?” DJ shrugged, and Lucy bit her bottom lip. “Are you alone?”

“No. There’s Jarvis. And other people.” He stopped. “It’s a big building.”

“But no one there. With you.” DJ nodded, and Lucy sighed. “Can you call Franklin and Val, maybe they can come over for a while?”

“Franklin is grounded,” DJ said. “His mom says there was a-” He stopped. Took a deep breath. “A situation. And now…”

“Now he’s grounded,” Lucy finished for him. “But not Val?”

“Val doesn’t get caught,” DJ said. “But she will ground herself. Solidarity.”

“She’s like Letitia. Just bluffs her way through with a straight face and zero concern, I hate her,” Lucy said with a smile. “Want to watch a movie after dinner? I can pull it up here-”

“Study,” DJ said, his voice firm.

She let out a melodramatic groan, her head falling back. “But I don’t waaaaaaant to.”

He grinned. “Yeah. But you will.”

“But I will.” She sat up straight, squaring her shoulders. “What’re you doing for dinner?”

“Jarvis is ordering pizza.” He stood up. “Gonna make tea, I’ll take you along?”

“Stark Tower toooooooooour!” she said. “Show me something cool!”

DJ thought about that, and turned the tablet around, pointing it at the ceiling. “That light is broken because someone gave Thor a hacky sack.”

“Hmmmm. That seems. Inadvisable.”

“Yes.” He walked out of the lounge and up the hallway towards the main kitchen. “Nat says she didn’t put that plant there, but I think she did.”

“Who else would?”

“She says Bruce. He says just because he gave everyone spider plants last CHristmas doens’t mean he has any more.”

“He’s lying. If you have one spider plant, you potentially have 10 spider plants.”

Jarvis had turned on the coffee pot before he even got to the kitchen, hot water hissing through the machine and into the mpty pot. DJ opened a cabinet, looking over the available mugs. He liked some of them more than others. And he was never going to use the one with the cactus on it, no matter how many times his father tried to give it to him.

“I think-” he started, just before he heard the elevator ding. His head snapped up. “Jarvis?”

“Dr. Banner? Dr. Foster?” Jarvis said, and DJ wasn’t sure who he was addressing. “You are…. Early?”

“Yeah, uh-” Bruce poked his head into the kitchen. He was soaking wet, his hair plastered to his skull, his white dress shirt stuck to his skin. Jane was right behind him, a too large man’s jacket wrapped tightly around her, her fingers clutching the lapels. “Hey, Deej.”

“What happened?” DJ asked, already filling two tea cups. Jane liked the cactus cup. “Are you-”

“Dr. Pryce-Smith tried to set off pyrotechnics in a building not in any way cleared for pyrotechnics,” Jane said, her teeth chattering. “And set off the damn sprinklers.”

“The event got rescheduled and he’s, uh, he’s been voted out of every scientific organization on the East coast,” Bruce said, taking the cup of tea from DJ. “Bless you.”

“I need a shower and something painfully sweet,” Jane said, taking the cup with hands that shook. “Thank you, DJ. Bruce, I’ll have your jacket cleaned.”

He waved her off. “Don’t, just don’t worry, it’s been through worse.” He looked at DJ. “Want dinner?”

“Jarvis ordered pizza,” DJ said, reaching for the tablet. “Bruce and Jane are home.”

“I heard,” she said. Then, “Hi, Docs!”

Bruce leaned over DJ’s shoulder, and waved. “Hi, Lucy! How’re you?”

“Good, but mom’s going to be calling me to dinner, so watch DJ for me?”

“No,” DJ told her, and she laughed.

“I will,” Bruce said, adjusting his glasses. “Deej, I’ll be back? I’m going to-” He gestured at his sodden trousers and shoes. “Get cleaned up.”

“Okay.” DJ looked down at the tablet. “You. Test. Kill it.”

She held her hand up towards her screen, and he did the same, a symbolic high five. “I will.” The connection cut out, and DJ held onto the tablet for a minute more, then let it drop.

“Jarvis, pizza?”

“On it’s way,” Jarvis said, and he sounded smug. “And if you’d like to check the landing pad, I believe we have another arrival incoming.”

DJ grinned. “Right.” He took off running, back across the building and up to the lounge, where he could see the landing pad through the massive windows. The flicker of light was all the warning he had before Thor came gliding across the sky, his boots slamming into the stone, Mjolnir in one hand and a large white bakery box in the other, tied off in white string.

DJ opened the door for him, and Thor scooped him up in a one armed hug. “Hello, littlest one! I am pleased to see you.” He held up the white box. “Here, Heimdall warned me I should not return home empty handed.”

“Jane is having a bad night,” DJ said.

“Ah, that explains much.” Thor gave a nod. “I shall check on her and be back in a moment, my mother sent you a gift.”

DJ grinned. “Tea?”

“Perhaps tea, I shall not ruin the surprise.”

“Hey, who ordered pizza?”

Clint’s voice beat him to the lounge by only a few seconds, his head poking around the doorframe. “Did you order pizza, kid?” he asked, grinning. “Found a delivery guy in the lobby looking panicked.”

“Jarvis did,” DJ said, as Clint turned, arms full of half a dozen pizza boxes. “A lot, I guess.”

“I was being proactive,” Jarvis said.

“Somebody’s gotta be,” Clint admitted. “And I’m not complaining, thanks, Jay.”

“Nat?” DJ asked. “Phil?”

“Nat’s getting salad stuff from her place,” Clint said, dropping the pizzas on the table. “And Phil wants to make popcorn for some fucking reason, so he’s looking through our cabinets for that.”

“Popcorn, so a movie?” Thor asked.

“Who’s turn is it to choose?” Clint asked, ducking behind the bar. “Jarvis, do we have napkins back here somewhere?”

“On the shelf to the left,” Jarvis said.

“Got it, thanks,” Clint opened the cooler. “DJ, want a beer?”

“I’m sixteen,” DJ said, trying not to grin.

“Right, that was a trick question, you passed, good for you, you can have one of these crazy fruit sodas I got in Minnesota.”

“Orange, please,” DJ said, just as something caught his attention, a familiar spark of light in the corner of his eye. He turned towards the window, his breath catching in his throat.

He always liked watching his father fly. Especially when he wasn’t alone.

Steve’s feet skipped across the landing pad, carried along by the armor’s momentum, already walking forward before he fully found his footing. And it was okay, it was fine, because his father was right there, his grip firm and steady. Only after Steve was safe did his fingers slide away, the armor crashing down with far, far more force.

He walked forward, shedding the armor with the help of the disassembly bots, and arrived at the door just a few steps behind Steve. “Hey, botboy,” he said. “Gonna let us in?”

DJ braced a hand on the door. “You’re late.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m unreliable, but this time, I had to make a quick stop to pick up a fare,” His dad reached up, his hand pressed against the glass on the other side of the door, his posture mimicking DJ’s. “Forgive us?”

DJ grinned. “I get to pick the movie.”

His dad looked at Steve. Steve smiled. “Deal.”

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