#new kid!

[katethewriter]

Cookie Monster

from the New Kid Series

Summary: It's not that Y/n is hiding from the rest of the team, except that's exactly what she is doing. Wanda is determined to break through to her.

Words: 3.5k~

Pairing: Wanda x Reader(platonic) - cg!Wanda x little!Reader

Warnings: none, just fluff, reader is just really insecure and shy

A/N: Ok, so I know a lot of writers (including me lol) have Wanda use Russian words for nicknames or as a substitute for Sokovian... but so Wanda and Natasha can each have their own nicknames for Y/n, I'm gonna use Serbian for Wanda! Since the Sokovian signs in AoU were written in Serbian Cryllic 🙃

мала(mala)- little one

мед(med)- honey

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Y/n sits in her room happily playing with origami animals and paper dolls. She doesn’t have any real toys since she never has time to go out and get them. After her training and time spent learning as much as she can about the Avengers and their enemies, by the time she is finished for the day, she desperately needs to drop.

So, when she is bigger or just dropped to an age not too young, she makes toys from the resources she has available to her: paper swiped from one of the offices.

Two and a half weeks have passed since Y/n joined the team, and the rest have barely seen her. She stays in her room, only coming out when its time to eat and train. Since that first day, they haven’t really seen her little. Only a few times has she ever come out smaller than 22. When she did, it was for training, and she was only 17.

She trains with Steve in the mornings, usually eats with the team, occasionally she will be in Tony’s lab to try on the suit he is making for her. Since her clothes can’t drop with her, he is making a suit that can.

The rest of Y/n’s spare time is spent dropping to smaller states. She stays in her room while she’s little. The team made it abundantly clear how they felt about having a kid around, so she keeps her distance.

It’s been working so far, so she just assumes its for the best.

At the moment, Y/n is dropped to 6. She is making her origami frog jump across the desk when a sweet scent hits her nose. She would know that smell from anywhere.

Cookies

Her tummy rumbles, and the smell is calling to her. She ponders if it is a good idea to leave her room like this, but ultimately her nose and tummy win out.

Y/n opens her door and pokes her head into the hallway. She looks both ways to see if anyone is around. The hallway is clear so she tiptoes out of her room, making her way towards the kitchen. At every corner, she checks to see if the coast is clear before tiptoeing out of hiding.

She continues this way until she reaches the kitchen.

In the same way as before, Y/n barely peaks around the corner and into the room. Her little eyes fall on Wanda pulling a tray full of cookies out of the oven.

The Sokovian has done this on purpose of course.

The idea came to Wanda last night, a way to try and lure her new teammate out of hiding. She remembers when she joined the team; she was treated much like Y/n was at the meeting. Granted she had entered their minds against their will, but all the same, she understood what it was like to join a group that wasn’t too thrilled to have you.

Wanda was determined to make sure Y/n felt welcome, and that she had a friend. This proved to be very difficult when the girl barely came out of her room.

Thus… cookies.

It’s a recipe her and her mother perfected back in Sokovia. She hasn’t really had many opportunities to use it since then, but she’s glad she has a good reason now.

She is pulling the tray out of the oven when she feels a pair of eyes on her. From her peripheral vision, she can see a very small girl poking half her face around the corner. Wanda smiles to herself.

Wanda purposefully turns her back to the girl to grab a spatula from a drawer beside her. This gives Y/n enough cover to quickly run from the doorway to behind the island in the kitchen.

As the Sokovian is transferring the cookies to a cooling rack, Y/n watches intently, only her forehead and eyes poking above the countertop.

Of course, Wanda knows the girl moved, but she decides to play along. After she places the last of the cookies on the cooling tray, she turns and jumps in feigned shock.

“Oh my goodness! Y/n, you scared me!”

The girl quickly ducks under the counter to hide from Wanda’s view.

“No no, its ok!” the witch recovers quickly, “I just didn’t see you there. You are quite sneaky.” Wanda waits for Y/n to feel comfortable enough to appear over the top of the counter, although very little of her body is visible over the countertop due to her height. “I was just baking some cookies, what brings you out to the kitchen?”

Wanda already knows the answer, but she is wanting to prompt Y/n into speaking for herself.

Little eyes shoot between the witch and the tray full of delicious treats. The smell of which is what drew her here to begin with.

“You came for a cookie?” Wanda asks and waits until the shy little girl nods yes. “Ok! You’re more than welcome to have a cookie!...... but we have to wait for them to cool down or they will burn your tongue.”

Y/n’s shoulders slump, but she nods anyway. Having to wait for cookies is way better than getting no cookies at all.

The girl moves to the counter right in front of the tray of cookies while Wanda tidies around the kitchen.

Once Wanda has finished picking up after herself, the cookies are almost cool enough to eat. She checks on Y/n, and the girl has not moved from her spot next to the cookies, patiently awaiting the permission to indulge in the sweet treats.

“Ok, the cookies are almost ready,” Wanda says to pull a very young Y/n’s attention, “would you like to get some milk for the cookies while we wait?”

Y/n looks up to the other woman tentatively, not sure what to do in this situation. Wanda said yes to her getting a cookie. Is milk too far? …too much to ask of her teammate.

The Sokovian seems to pick up on this and grants mercy on the poor thing.

“Well I know that I want some milk,” Wanda says pulling the carton out of the fridge. “I can pour you some too, while I have it out?” The sokovian waits for an answer, even though she’s pretty sure she can hear it.

After she gets a confirmation nod, Wanda smiles and gets to work.

The witch sets a small cup of milk on the counter along with a small plate containing one chocolate chip cookie.

Walking around to the stools, Wanda quickly realizes Y/n will probably need help to get on it, but she doesn’t want to push any boundaries. The girl previously stated that she doesn’t want help, so she just pats the top of the stool and watches as she jumps, wiggles and climbs until she is sitting on the top.

Wanda sits in the stool beside her, and they both quietly eat their cookies. Once Y/n has finished her cookie, she eyes the plate of cookies on the counter. Silently, the child glances up to Wanda gaining her attention. She then looks back at the cookies.

“Do you want another one?”

Y/n silently nods.

“Ok мала(little one),” Wanda pulls the plate closer for the child to grab a cookie, “but just one more. We’re gonna have dinner soon.”

Neither of them comments on Wanda’s use of the nickname. No words are exchanged at all. They just sit quietly together, and Wanda is perfectly happy with that.

Baby steps in the right direction are still steps in the right direction.

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

Today is just a quiet, lazy Saturday around the compound.

Wanda exits her bedroom and walks down the hall to the common area. She had planned to see if anyone wanted to watch sitcoms in the living room with her.

As she passes Y/n’s door, she comes to a stop.  The very loud little thoughts coming from the other side of the door have grabbed her attention. That was something Wanda picked up very early on. The younger Y/n drops, the louder her thoughts are. Its almost impossible for Wanda not to hear them.

That’s how she knows that Y/n is currently little in her room.

The witch now has a better way to spend her afternoon.

“Oh goodness,” Wanda says a bit loudly to ensure she is heard by the girl, “I’m about to bake a whole bunch of cookies, if only I had someone to help me.” Fake distress lays thick on her voice. She’s hoping to lure the girl out again, only this time for an activity that will require a bit more interaction.

By Y/n’s thoughts, Wanda knows the girl is definitely thinking about it. While she ponders, the sokovian travels down the hall to the kitchen where she gathers all the ingredients and tools she needs.

Wanda turns to find Y/n poking her head out the same way she did last week when she made the first batch of cookies. The girl appears to be about the same size as then too, somewhere between 5 and 6.

“Y/n!” Wanda smiles brightly, “I’m so glad you’re here! I was just about to make some cookies, and I could really use some help. Would you like to help me make some cookies?” The enthusiasm in her tone is a bit much, but she just wants to appear as inviting as possible so Y/n can feel at ease.

The child’s mouth curves into a small smile as she nods. She takes very tentative steps until she is standing next to Wanda. The Sokovian grabs two aprons from the hooks on the pantry door. She puts one on herself, before adjusting the straps on the other to fit the child… as well as an apron for adults can fit a child.

“Let’s get this on to keep you clean,” Wanda wraps the straps multiple times around Y/n’s waist before finishing with a bow. “Now, we are ready to go!”

The two of them turn back to the counter and are faced with a new challenge. In Y/n’s small state, she can barely see over the counter, let alone reach anything on it.

Y/n slowly rises about a foot off the ground. When she looks down, she can see red wisps underneath her feet. Her little eyes go wide, and she turns to the witch in astonishment.

Wanda chuckles lightly, “it’s a magic stool, but you still have to be careful that you don’t fall off. Ok?” With a wide smile the girl nods and turns back to the task at hand.

Together the pair take turns pouring ingredients and stirring. Wanda shows Y/n how to crack an egg, and they both laugh when Wanda drops the shell into the bowl.

At one point, Clint comes in and stops only a few feet in, clearly shocked to see Y/n out so young, “Hey guys.”

“Hey Clint,” Wanda smiles. She glances down when Y/n doesn’t respond. What she finds makes her heart clench. The girl is closed off again. With a deer in the headlights look, she stands silently watching the archer closely. All the progress Wanda had made wiped away.

He continues to the fridge pulling out sandwich meat and some condiments, “what’s going on in here?”

“We’re making cookies,” Wanda says, tickling the girl’s side until she smiles up at her. Even if its just a small smile, it makes the witch feel a little better.

“That’s awesome!” Clint exclaims enthusiastically, “can I have one when they’re done?” He smiles to the small girl.

Wanda looks between the two, watching Y/n for an answer. When she doesn’t say anything, the older woman nudges the girl softly, “what do you think Y/n? Should we let him have a cookie?”

Clint puts on his goofiest puppy pout. He manages to crack through the girl’s wall, even if just the tiniest amount.

Y/n gives him a small, tight lipped smile and nods once.

The archer grins, “thank you!” He holds up the sandwich he was making, “well I just came in for this, but I’ll be back when those puppies are done.” He winks to the two of them before heading out with his lunch.

Once they are alone again, Wanda turns to Y/n, “ready for the messy part?” The girl nods, jumping ever so slightly in excitement on her magic step stool. The older woman sets the bowl of dough between them, “time to roll the dough into balls!”

After they run out of dough, they clean their hands and move on to the final step.

Wanda places the tray into the oven and sets a timer. She decides to clean the kitchen while Y/n just sits in front of the oven watching the cookies waiting for them to bake.

Wanda grabs the chocolate chips to put away but stops. “Hey мала(little one), watch this,” she waits till she has the girl’s attention. Suddenly she tosses a chocolate chip into the air and catches it with her mouth. She chews with a victorious grin.

Y/n quickly hops up off the floor and runs to Wanda, “I wanna try! Please?”

The sokovian smiles brightly at the girl’s sudden brazenness. “Here,” she hands over a chocolate chip and watches.

Y/n throws the chip high into the air. On its way down, it bounces off her nose and falls to the ground.

“Try again,” Wanda chuckles, handing over another chocolate chip.

The girl tries again and again and again while they wait for the timer. Wanda coaches her each time, and they both laugh when she misses.

When a chocolate chip finally lands in her mouth, they celebrate.

Y/n jumps into Wanda’s arms happily, and although she is shocked, the witch quickly reciprocates.

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

Warmth and darkness surround Wanda when she rolls over in bed. She can feel steady pangs of discomfort but coupled with the very loud thoughts from the other side of the wall, she decides the discomfort is not her own. The whimpers she hears from next door set her into action.

The sokovian quickly gets out of bed to check on her new friend.

When she reaches the door, Wanda knocks lightly, “Y/n, are you awake?” It’s a stupid question. Wanda knows the girl is awake, but she wants to alert the girl of her presence without scaring her.

She doesn’t get a reply so she cracks the door this time, “can I come in?”

Once again, the only reply she gets is soft whimpers coming from the bed, so she pushes further into the room. Wanda takes feather light steps, so as not to frighten the girl.

“Y/n?” the witch whispers as she approaches the bed. “мала(little one), are you feeling ok?” This time she does get a response. Y/n lays on her side faces away from Wanda, but she shakes her head enough for the older woman to understand.

No, she does not feel ok.

Wanda sits on the bed and reaches for the girl’s forehead to check for a fever. However, Y/n has a different idea. She pulls away from the woman’s touch, grumbling.

“Ok,” Wanda retreats her hands and looks down at Y/n, “I know you can take care of yourself, and you don’t need help. But, will you let me help this one time…. please?”

All is silent as Y/n contemplates her next move. With a huff and a nod, she rolls onto her back so Wanda can get a better look at her. She doesn’t look older than 4, much younger than she was earlier today.

She checks her forehead for a temperature, but she doesn’t have a fever. Wanda looks down to the girl who still whimpers in discomfort. “Can you tell me what’s wrong, мала(little one)? So I know how to help.”

Y/n’s little eyes gather with tears when she looks up to Wanda, “hurts.”

“Where does it hurt, мед(honey)?”

The girl only pouts and points down to her abdomen.

“Your stomach hurts?” Wanda confirms gently.

Y/n’s lip quivers as she holds back a sob. She nods twice.

“Oh sweet мала(little one),” the brunette tucks a lock of hair behind the girl’s ear. “We can go get you some medicine that’ll make you feel better if you come with me,” she holds both hands out to the girl, an open invitation for her to fall into.

…and that she does. Y/n sits up and moves into Wanda’s embrace. She wraps her arms around Wanda’s neck, while Wanda wraps her arms around Y/n and lifts her off the bed.

“I’ve got some medicine in my room,” Wanda walks them both next door, “but it tastes a bit yucky, so we’ll have to go to the kitchen to get a drink to wash it down. What would you like juice or maybe some milk?”

When they reach the kitchen, Wanda sits Y/n on the counter. It takes a little convincing to get the medicine down her throat, but after some milk, all is well again. Putting the dirty cup away, Wanda’s eyes fall on the jar of cookies they made this morning… actually two jars.

The first time Wanda made cookies for Y/n, she ate the two she was allowed to and then waited until after dinner to ask again. However, the rest of the team ate all the cookies before she could get another one. So this time, Wanda put the cookies in two separate jars, one of which is marked a sticky note that reads: Y/n’s Cookies.

The jar clearly holds less cookies than it did when Y/n took one after dinner. Suddenly the cause of Y/n’s stomachache is apparent.

“Мед(honey), did you come down here and eat more cookies after everyone went to bed?”

The girl looks to Wanda with wide eyes. She knows she is caught, so she just fesses up. Y/n pokes out her bottom lip and nods.

Wanda knows that Y/n is an adult and wants to be treated like one. Though, sometimes it’s hard to remember that when she is as small as she is right now. Still, the sokovian doesn’t have the heart to scold her. The stomachache is punishment enough.

“You’re a little cookie monster, aren’t you?” Wanda tickles the girl along her sides. She sits the girl on her hip and walks back to their floor.

“That’s why your tummy hurts so bad,” rubbing the Y/n’s back she continues, “too many cookies will make you sick. That’s why I said only two earlier. I didn’t want you to upset your tummy.”

They return to the Y/n’s room, and Wanda tucks her back into her bed. “Will you stay?” a tiny voice catches the witch off guard, “…til I fall asleep?”

The older woman smiles softly and obliges happily, “of course мала(little one).” She sits on the bed and gently massages the child’s abdomen to help ease the cramping.

A long silence stretches between them. Wanda speaks before Y/n can fall asleep.

“Y/n?”

Little eyes flutter open and look up at her.

“I know you’re probably used to doing everything on your own, maybe even prefer it….. but you know you don’t have to anymore, right?”

She tucks some hair behind Y/n’s face while the girl watches her intently, “you can come to me if you ever need anything… when you’re little or big. If you want to hang out or can’t reach something on the top shelf… even if you just want to make some more cookies.” She tickles the girl lightly until she gets a giggle.

“You don’t have to do it all by yourself anymore. You’re not alone. You have me and the rest of the team-“

“They don’t like me,” Y/n frowns and her eyebrows furrow.

Wanda offers her a sympathetic smile, “that’s not true. I think they just don’t really know what to say yet, but they’ll come around. If they opened up for me after what I did, I have no doubt they will for you.”

“What did you do?” the girl asks softly.

The witch opens her mouth to speak but struggles to find the words, “maybe next time. We should get to sleep. Close your eyes, мала(little one). I’ll be here till you fall asleep, and if you wake up again, I’m right next door.”

Y/n smiles up to her sleepily. She closes her eyes and quickly drifts off to sleep.

Once she’s asleep, Wanda quietly exits the room, stopping only in the doorway to look back on the sleeping little girl.

“Good night, Cookie Monster.”

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

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A/N: As always, thank you so much for reading; I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think in the comments below.

-k❤️

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taglist: @battleg03 @thelittlewolfofaretuza @emiivey @dylanobriens-love @madelineleong @sluttyforfemaleavengers @santana1437 @thatonementallyillsimp @oliveoilpenguiny @you-are-beautifully-gorgeous @charcharslide-3 @anon1412 @universallypoetrycheesecake @mary-jinx @princess-kennys-rats

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[potassiumsworld]

So.... way earlier I wanted to make a fusion between Violet and Icarus... instead I went with a kid. Indigo.

Some Indigo lore

- Son of Icarus and Violet.

- Likes singing and when being encountered, a fnf battle starts.

- Dislikes violence and is a true pacifist like his father.

- Likes men. When being in public, he's shy to show it. At home or in private, he goes all out.

- Funny fact: When he was a kid, he used to have a plastic microphone with batteries to make the singing louder. Violet would often take out the batteries out of frustration and hide them.

- Has a good nose for batteries.

- Likes eating batteries like they're little snacks (Learned it from Queen by watching tv).

[taviamoth]

This is not a natural disaster. This was not inevitable. They didn't grow up like this. It was inflicted on them by the vilest sadists on earth.

[parhe1ion]

if you’re gonna introduce me to something new you have to defeat my 7 evil ex hyperfixations

[literallyaflame]

how do conservatives think talking to children works? if a four year old came up to me and said “i’m a cat!!” i would say “really? what makes you a cat?” and they’d say some shit like “i have claws >:)” and i’d be like “oh wow, you do have claws. but wait, i thought cats had pointed ears!” and they’d say “they DO!!!” and then i’d pull up a picture of an elf and ask “is THIS a cat?” and they’d yell “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

u wouldn’t say “fucking hell, Emily, get it together. this is the real world”

[thatrandomblogsays]

I’m so happy for them

[Image Description: Castiel from Supernatural is saying I love you, underneath is an image of Dean Winchester with the caption: “After four months of striking the WGA has a reached a tentative agreement & finalizing the contract. If all goes well writers will get to return to work with better pay and protections. They did it. Go unions”]

(Source)

[goldensunset]

advice i think we should tell children is that when adults say stuff like ‘now that i’m an adult i get really excited about stuff like coffee tables and bathrooms and rugs etc’ they don’t mean ‘and now i don’t care about blorbo and squimbus from my childhood tv shows anymore’ bc your average adult still loves all the same pop culture stuff they always did; they just have a greater appreciation for the mundane as well. growing up just means you can enjoy life twice as much now. you can get really excited about a new stuffed animal AND about a new kitchen sponge. peace and love

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[viro-lil-goat]

I really hope this reaches more people, I'm only reposting this information from Instagram, the least that I can do. (Update: I changed their upbringing as it appears to have been listed wrong) Wiki page

When I just saw this information I couldn't stop crying thinking about it, and now my heart aches. They were the same age as me, I know for a fact like any other teen they dreamt of their future, who they would want to become, what to achieve, create, wondering if they meet those in the future they can call friends, wondeting if it'll get better when they grow up, maybe wished to leave that terrible place or maybe wanted to stay. How could anyone let this happen, why were they discharged from hospital so easily? And the school, we all know why. I hate to think about how, even with all the progress made, these things still happen.

"murdered schoolgirl Brianna Ghey on February 16, 2023. Candlelit vigils are being held across the UK this week for Brianna Ghey, 16, who was stabbed at Linear Park in Culcheth, Cheshire last Saturday. Brianna was a transgender girl and police are now investigating her killing as a hate crime. A boy and girl, both 15, have been charged with her murder"

An article that explains trans hate crime murders as on 2023

I hate everyone who have ever committed such vile hate crimes, I wish them in prison and hell. But i would never go down to their level. But I also blame the government, the school, and even those bigoted online accounts that teach their followers hate. In this case LibsOfTikTok, who targeted the teacher of this school, who supports lgbtq+, so they had to leave their position. It must have been the push for this to happen. I think their tiktok account has been thankfully deleten. But i have no idea about Twitter or any other. Please check and mass report them if it still exists. (Link to Instagram reel that this information is from)

ADDITION, PLEASE MASS REPORT THESE ACCOUNTS

[mothtowers]

suprised more people havent seen the fuller context of this clip cause its way more insane

[darc-la-farse]

JUNIOR YEAR!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!

[katethewriter]

Welcome to the Team!

from the series New Kid

Summary: After a chance encounter, the Avengers recruit a new kid to join the team.

Words: 3.2k~

Warnings: stealing, Tony is kinda mean, they're all kinda standoffish, they just don't know how to feel about it yet, as always let me know if I need to add

“HEY!” a storekeeper rushes out the front door of his shop, “thief!” He looks both ways down the street before pointing to a child, no older than 12, walking alone down the street, “STOP HER!”

Instantly, the child begins to run, making sure none of the snacks hidden in her jacket pockets slip out. She bobs and weaves through the crowded sidewalk, trying to get to the end of the block as soon as possible. Of course, she had to pick a shop on the longest block in the city today.

Footsteps pick up behind her, and she chances a quick glance over shoulder. A police officer is now quickly following after her. She picks her pace up to a sprint.

 Turning back around, she nearly runs into a pedestrian. The near collision makes her stop for a moment, looking up at the tall man with an eye patch.

The footsteps behind her get louder, so she quickly resumes her course. Running as fast as she can to the block end with the officer close behind.

The officer loses sight of the girl as she quickly rounds the corner of the building. He pushes to follow suit. He turns down the new street but stops almost immediately.

This street is far less crowded than the other. Yet amongst the handful of people walking down the block,

…the girl is nowhere to be seen.

🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️

Everyone in the room sits up in their seats, focusing harder on the screen in front of them. They had been called to the conference room for a briefing. A briefing for what, none of them knew… until now.

“Wait, where did the kid go?” Steve asks.

“Are you sure these two camera feeds are synced?” Tony lifts a questioning eye in the director’s direction.

Unimpressed, Fury looks to Maria Hill standing behind with a tablet in her hands. She begins typing on the pad as he speaks, “if you’re done questioning my competence, perhaps you would like to see both angles at the same time.”

The large screen at the front of the room now displays two videos, security camera footage of both blocks on the corner. The two videos play at the same time, and the team watches again.

The footage on the left shows the child wearing a baggy black jacket running from the officer. The exact moment she rounds the corner of the building, the footage on the right shows a woman turning onto the new street. She quickly unzips and removes a black jacket exactly like the child was wearing.

By the time the office has disappeared from one view to appear on the other, the young woman has tied the jacket around her waist leaving her in a bright red t-shirt. She continues down the street at a leisurely stroll and pays no attention to the confused officer behind her.

“That woman is the child,” Natasha concludes for them. Fury nods in response.

Clint sits back in his seat again, “so what is she? An enhanced?”

“A shapeshifter,” Bruce states.

Fury shakes his head, “no, I’ve had some experience with her kind. They’re called Skrulls. Shapeshifting extraterrestrials who at one point attempted to seek refuge on our planet when they were being hunted.” He pulls out a chair and sits casually looking to the team, “Captain Marvel and I helped defeat their enemies. She took them to find a new home planet, seems like one or two may have been left behind or are seeking refuge again.”

“Ok, why haven’t you just brought her in?”

The director sighs, “she’s too slippery.”

“She knows where to shift and the perfect time to do it,” Maria says, “down to the millisecond.” She nods to the screen as evidence of this. “We’ve been following her for a few weeks, and this is the first time we’ve been able to definitively get her on video.”

“She does this often?” Clint asks nodding his head towards the screen. In the video, the girl was being chased for stealing a bag of food from a food truck. “Stealing?”

Fury chuckles, “first time I saw her, she was running after swiping a few snacks from a convenient store.”

“Forgive me,” Tony speaks up, “but isn’t petty theft a little below our pay grade?”

Fury is quick to respond, “She’s only ever stolen food up until now, so-“

“So, she steals to survive.” Wanda interrupts. All eyes turn to her.

Sam tilts his head, “not to mention she is a literal alien. Didn’t you guys fight like a million of them a few years back?”

 A silence falls over the room as they all ponder what to do with this otherworldly individual.

Steve is the one to finally speak up, “so we bring her in. If she’s alone or needs help, who better than us?”

After a moment of silence, the rest of the team one by one nodded their heads in agreement.

“Good,” Fury claps his hands together sarcastically, “now that we are all on the same page, let’s get started.”

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The team all stands in wait, each in their position. They’ve followed this girl around for hours, just waiting for her to finally enter a store. It’s taken a while, but she finally enters a little burger joint equal distance from both ends of the block.

They sit outside for about 10 minutes, before the door of the shop opens and the girl walks out calmly, but quickly.

“She’s on the move,” Sam reports from the rooftop.

Steve stands from the table he was positioned at and follows the girl down the street, “in pursuit.”

“In position,” Natasha says from where she waits just around the corner.

They’re halfway to the end of the block when the shop doors open again. This time with a worker bursting onto the street. “You have to pay for that!” he yells at the retreating girl. He runs after her, “Stop!”

The child picks up her pace, quickly approaching her turn. She’s completely unaware of the super soldier that is hot on her heels.

She rounds the corner shifting into a woman in her early 20’s. Before she has a chance to remove her jacket as usual, someone quickly links arms with her. She turns to find a red head woman walking casually beside her.

The girl turns behind her to see the worker that was following her has caught up. He turns on the street corner and is looking around for the child. Whatever this red headed stranger wants, she has to play along for now.

The two walk arm and arm down the street. The red head talks, but the girl is not paying attention. She is more worried about the worker that is now asking others on the street if they’ve seen a child matching her previous description.

The girl glances back to see the store worker has given up and walked back to the shop. She sighs and can now turn her attention to the stranger that has just grabbed her arm.

“So, I was thinking you should come out with me tomorrow night,” Natasha smiles and playfully bumps shoulders with the Skrull, “then I can finally introduce you to my friend Steve.”

“Who are you?” She pulls her arm from the redhead’s grasp and steps away, “… and who is Steve?”

“That’d be me,” a blonde man speaks from behind her, “neat trick.”

 The girl instantly recognizes him as Captain America, even dressed in street clothes. She turns back to the woman who grabbed her arm and mentally slaps herself. How could she not recognize the Black Widow?

“What do you want with me?” she asks wearily.

“Right now, we just wanna talk,” Natasha reassured her.

Iron Man touches down on the sidewalk beside the group, “uh oh, looks like someone is grounded.”

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“Why don’t we start with your name?” Steve asks after an awkward silence.

They had brought the Skrull with them back to the compound promising they only wanted to talk. They all settled down in the common area. The team is scattered across the room, sitting at the table or on the couch, while the stranger stands unsurely in the middle of the room.

“Y/n,” she says, “Y/n Y/L/n.” A few of them nod, and she waits for their next question.

“So, you’re an alien,” Tony spits out, ever the one for subtlety.

Y/n furrows her brow, “what?”

“What he means is,” a voice comes from the doorway. Nick Fury enters the room. He looks familiar to Y/n, but she can’t seem to place it. “You’re a skrull.”

Confused, Y/n looks between everyone in the room. Most she recognizes. Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, she thinks that’s the guy who shoots the bow and arrows, Wanda Maximoff, and a few others she can’t place.

“What’s a skrull?”

“An alien,” Sam speaks up, “a shapeshifting alien-”

Y/n shakes her head, “I’m not an alien.”

“See that’s funny to me,” Fury tilts his head, “I’ve never met a person who can change shapes like you did on that street, excluding Loki and big guy over there.” He subtly points at Bruce who cringes slightly. “You know who I have met though? Skrulls. And plenty of them. They had a neat little trick like you-“

“I’m not a skrull. I’m just a….” her words trail off as her mind wanders off without her.

 Is there even a word to describe what she is? She’s definitely not an alien. Shapeshifting isn’t exactly the correct term either. There’s not a name for what she can do. She’s never talked about it, so she’s never thought of something to call it.

While she pauses, the team glance at each other curiously. “You’re a….?” Tony prompts.

Y/n looks up suddenly, startled out of deep thought.

“A person…” she answers timidly and shrugs, “I’m just a person.”

They all sport unimpressed looks, and it spikes anxiety within her. She has no idea what to do if they don’t believe her. “I’m not Loki. I’m not an alien. I’ve never been to space. I used to live upstate. I’ve never even left New York. I’m not-“

“Ok,” Wanda stops her before her anxious ramble before she can work herself into a panic. The witch can feel the discomfort rolling off the woman not much younger than her, even when she is trying so hard not to. “You’re not an alien.”

“But we’ve seen you as a kid and an adult so…” Natasha crosses her arms, “you’re not just a person. You’re enhanced? A shapeshifter of some kind?”

“Sort of,” Y/n nervously looks around the room, “it’s hard to explain.” In truth, she’s never explained it before, never told anyone about what she can do.

The widow sits up in her chair with a raised eyebrow. She motions her hand towards Steve and Bucky, “those two were born in 1918-“

“I was born in 17,” Bucky corrects, “he was born in 18.”

“Still both older than dirt,” Natasha then tilts her head in Wanda’s direction, “she can read minds because she touched a blue box, that one turns green if someone pisses him off, we have a space-god on speed dial, and even with all of that in our favor, we still keep bow and arrows over here on the team for some reason.” She jokingly smirks at Clint. The widow looks back at Y/n, “try us.”

The young woman shifts on her feet, “I’m not a shapeshifter in the way that you are probably thinking. I can’t turn into whatever I want. I can only shift into myself at younger ages. That’s why you saw me as a kid; it’s all I can do.”

“How old are you really?” Fury asks.

“22,” Y/n responds.

“and back on the street?”

“Still 22,” she fights the urge to roll her eyes. “I looked about 13, but I’m still 22,” she insists. Rapidly, she has to field questions from all directions of the room.

“You can only turn into a kid?” Sam asks, and Y/n nods.

“At any age?” Bruce asks next.

Y/n turns to face his direction, “yes, any age younger than this.”

Steve nods in understanding, “and you can control it? What age you become?”

“It depends-“

“On?” Fury counters.

“A few things,” she elaborates, “its heavily tied to my emotions, so if I’m tired or upset I have less control. It takes practice… kind of. I have to drop regularly to all ages. Its like recharging a battery or recalibrating a device. As long as I’ve dropped like I needed to, I can choose the age.”

“Drop?” Wanda asks softly.

Y/n shrugs, “its just the word I use for when I turn small. How long I spend little affects my chances to grow up back to 22 on command.”

“Do you have a job?” Fury asks.

The abrupt subject change takes her back a moment. Then a blush fills her cheeks at the prospect of having this kind of conversation in front of strangers, “no.”

“Why?”

“It’s hard to keep a job when you spend most of your time as a child.”

The director nods, “do you want one?”

All attention turns to Fury immediately.

“Wait you want her on the team?”

“She’s a kid,” Wanda insists.

Y/n sighs and mumbles, “I’m not a kid.”

No one hears her as they continue their discussion of her and abilities.

“Kids are small,” Bruce reasons, “she could fit in places we can’t.”

“Plus she can disappear in a crowd almost as well as me,” Nat reasons, “she’s already proved that.”

“Does she even know how to fight?” Bucky asks.

They continue on in this way until Y/n has had enough.

“Could you stop talking about me like I’m not right here?!”

The room is silent enough to hear a pin drop. The team of heroes all glance at her apologetically.

Y/n takes a deep breath and decides to break the silence herself this time. “There’s a catch…” her voice is clearly nervous, “…to my powers. Whatever age I drop to, so does my mind.”

“So earlier today,” Clint asks, “you forgot everything that’s happened between now and when you were 13?”

“No,” she sighs and tries to think of a better way to word this. “I still remember everything I know now. I just see it through a child’s lense…….. I told you its hard to explain.”

While the rest of the team is in their heads trying to wrap their minds around this oddly specific and a little bizarre power, Tony has reached his limit.

“So you’re a literal child?” he asks, but he’s not looking for an answer. “Come on guys, we can’t have a child on the team. We shouldn’t even have her in this building-“

Fury interrupts his rant, “that’s not your decision, Stark.”

The billionaire sits up in his seat, “it’s a safety hazard! Besides, this is my building. It was Stark Tower before it was the Avenger Compound.”

“It may be your building, but this is my team,” the director tries to shut him down in a way that Tony knows there is no use in arguing his point further.

But when has Tony ever given up easy?

“We can not have her here,” he insists, “us, every single one of us are way to busy to be babysitting-“

“I can take care of myself.” Once again, everyone’s attention snaps to her, “I’ve been taking care of myself for years. So trust me, I won’t be needing any babysitting.”

“That settles that,” Fury then returns his full attention to the newcomer, “so Y/n, what do you say?”

All eyes turn to her awaiting her response.

 She ponders for a moment. It doesn’t take her very long to decide seeing as she doesn’t have that much to go back to. She doesn’t trust her voice, and she definitely doesn’t want to sound unsteady right now. The moment she agrees to join the Avengers. So, she just nods once.

The corner of Fury’s lip tick up into a smirk, “alright then. You’re training starts tomorrow. Someone show her around the compound and to her room. I’ll be in my office if you need me, so don’t need me.”

With that the director stands and exits the common area. Y/n turns her attention back to her new teammates. Yet another awkward silence falls over the group.

“Question,” Sam says eventually, “so you can control the age you drop to right?”

Y/n really doesn’t feel like explaining the whole thing again, so she just nods.

“If I just gave you an age at random, you could drop to it?”

She hasn’t dropped as much as she should have this past week, but it was enough for her to control her drop on the street today. It should still be enough now.

Y/n nods again.

“10,” he challenges.

She looks around and finds the team looking at her expectantly. They want to see exactly what you can do. Their eyes go wide as the woman shrinks and de-ages in front of their eyes. They see her shift from age to age in backwards succession until she settles into a child. It’s like someone hit rewind on her body.

Y/n stands before them as a young version of herself. She’s a little small for 10, but she’s always been smaller than average. Her face is smaller, and her hair is a bit longer. They can easily tell that it is still her, but she’s still looks so different. The only thing that remained exactly the same are her eyes and her clothes. The t-shirt meant for adults hangs loose on her body. Her sweatpants are barely staying on her hips thanks to some good elastic in the waistband, yet they are much much baggier than before.

“Its not exact, if I’m off its usually within a year’s range of the target at most.”

“17,” Tony asks this time.

They watch impressed as she grows, gradually going through each age until she stops at a late teenager. She doesn’t look all that much different than she does at her true age, but she’s clearly younger.

Natasha tilts her head, “what about 13?”

Again, Y/n drops in age, shrinking into a preteen. Its almost a perfect middle between the younger and older ages they just asked her to shift to.

 She wonders how many of these they are gonna make her do today, but before anyone can give her another age, there are footsteps approaching from outside the room.

They all look to the door in time to see Peter walk in with his backpack over his shoulder and headphones in his ears. He looks up from his phone and takes in the room. Rare is it that everyone is gathered in one location when he gets back from school. Usually someone is in the gym or the lab or on a mission. Something must be up.

As he scans the room, Peter’s eyes land on the girl wearing clothes way too big for her standing in the middle of the room. His mouth curls into a smile.

“Hey, who’s the new kid?” he asks happily.

Y/n clenches her small jaw. “I’m not a kid,” she says, but no one seems to hear it.

“This is Y/n,” Wanda says, “she’s joining the team. Y/n this is Peter… Spiderman.”

“Oh hey,” the 16 year old’s smile grows impossibly wider, “this is awesome! I’m finally not the youngest person on the team-“

“I’m older than you,” the girl quips.

Peter furrows his brow, “you’re like 12.”

Quickly, Y/n grows up, returning to her true age, “I’m 22.”

The boy’s eyes go wide as he watches the transition, “woah……. That was so cool.”

The team chuckles, throwing amused smirks to each other.

Clint stands and begins to exit the room. He stops by Y/n and pats her shoulder. There’s a playful glint in his eyes.

“Welcome to the team, New Kid.”

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A/N: Now for the fun part! One by one she’s gonna win them all over until she has a new family full of people who would do anything for her. I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think! I love to hear from y’all ❤️ -k

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taglist: @battleg03

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[gingerswagfreckles]

[teaboot]

When I was a kid, I regularly lost reading privileges for "having an attitude" and "acting out".

It wasn't as simple as being told not to read during other activities- one of the first times it happened, I remember being six years old, watching my stepfather pull fistfuls of books off my bookshelf and throw them to the floor in a heaping mess while I cried and asked him to stop.

It was weird. Every other adult I knew described me as exceptionally well-behaved, but at home, it was the opposite, and it was blamed on "learning bad habits from that shit you're reading".

Because I couldn't read at home, I spent all my free time at school in the library, reading with my friends.

When I grew up and moved away, I realized that my family life was toxic and abusive, and the "attitudes" I was being punished for were standing up for myself, standing up for my younger siblings, and resisting actual, real-life psychological abuse. Because I'd learned from what I'd read that my family wasn't normal, not like my parents said it was, and in my stories, the heroes were the people who spoke out when it was hard to.

It is insane to me that there are students right now who can't access books. It is insane that books are being outlawed. It is perverse that we are stealing away an entire generation's ability to contextualize their lives, to learn about the world around them, to develop critical thinking skills and express themselves and feel connected to the world or escape from it, whatever and whenever and however they need.

That is not how you raise a compassionate, thoughtful, powerful society.

That's how you process cattle.

It's fucking disgusting.

[inkskinned]

probably time for this story i guess but when i was a kid there was a summer that my brother was really into making smoothies and milkshakes. part of this was that we didn't have AC and couldn't afford to run fans all day so it was kind of important to get good at making Cool Down Concoctions.

we also had a patch of mint, and he had two impressionable little sisters who had the attitude of "fuck it, might as well."

at one point, for fun, this 16 year old boy with a dream in his eye and scientific fervor in heart just wanted to see how far one could push the idea of "vanilla mint smoothie". how much vanilla extract and how much mint can go into a blender before it truly is inedible.

the answer is 3 cups of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup milk alternative, and about 50 sprigs (not leaves, whole spring) of mint. add ice and the courage of a child. idk, it was summer and we were bored.

the word i would use to describe the feeling of drinking it would maybe be "violent" or perhaps, like. "triangular." my nose felt pristine. inhaling following the first sip was like trying to sculpt a new face. i was ensconced in a mesh of horror. it was something beyond taste. for years after, i assumed those commercials that said "this is how it feels to chew five gum" were referencing the exact experience of this singular viscous smoothie.

what's worse is that we knew our mother would hate that we wasted so much vanilla extract. so we had to make it worth it. we had to actually finish the drink. it wasn't "wasting" it if we actually drank it, right? we huddled around outside in the blistering sun, gagging and passing around a single green potion, shivering with disgust. each sip was transcendent, but in a sort of non-euclidean way. i think this is where i lost my binary gender. it eroded certain parts of me in an acidic gut ecology collapse.

here's the thing about love and trust: the next day my brother made a different shake, and i drank it without complaint. it's been like 15 years. he's now a genuinely skilled cook. sometimes one of the three of us will fuck up in the kitchen or find something horrible or make a terrible smoothie mistake and then we pass it to each other, single potion bottle, and we say try it it's delicious. it always smells disgusting. and then, cerimonious, we drink it together. because that's what family does.

[colinprovolone]

the low quality children