Why Not?

Chapter Thirteen: A Promise is Made

Four eyes landed on Katie, who was a complete mess in Scott's arms. Then, those same eyes moved to Scott, narrowing as they completely misunderstood the situation. You figured an angry mother bear would give Scott a kinder look than the ones being sent his way by Steve and Bucky.

Then again, their wrath would be nothing compared to Thor's, who would hopefully never hear about this.  While Thor's gone, Katie's their responsibility. All they could see was Katie crying with a panicked Scott, who'd noticed them and began to panic more.

"Guys, I have no idea what's happening. She got home from school al upset and sad-- she wouldn't even eat her animal crackers! And when I asked her what was wrong, she told me Chloe told her she'd rather die before she ate with her, and then she started bawling her eyes out!"Scott tried to explain. He could tell by the look Steve and Bucky were giving him that they were not happy with him.

Scott's words didn't change their mind, though. Because, while they did trust him, at the moment they didn't care about him. All they cared about was making Katie feel better.

"Katie? What happened?!" Bucky was quick into action, reaching her in only a couple of long strides. He was trying to sound calm and collected while trying to be quiet and gentle, but it was obvious he was freaking out.

"Chloe-- Chloe,--" she was chocking on her tears, barely able to breathe.

"Chloe said she'd rather die than eat with me at lunch. Ever." She wailed, sounding similar to a mother who'd just lost her child.

Although it'd be kind of weird if she had a kid, you thought, she is six after all.

"What?!" Bucky was trying really hard to stay composed. Like, really excruciatingly hard. However, he was also losing his shit right now.

How was he supposed to just sit there and watch her cry? How could he go over there when this upset? If he did, she'd just cry even harder. (Even though that seemed practically impossible at this point.)

His eyes landed on Scott, who he just realized was here the entire time, and was probably the source of the tears.

Of course, this accusation didn't make any sense, but it was all his panicked mind gave him.

"Scott, what the hell did you do?!" Steve asked, catching onto Bucky's train of thought.

("It's like the two are telepathically connected", you'd said once to Scarllet while helping her with an English assignment. (Scarlet was intrigued by this comment, and hypothesized the following reply within a matter of moments: "Well, they both have a form of the same serum, and they were... very... connected-- before that. Maybe they are telepathically connected through science that we have yet to understand." (You're mind was blown, but you also weren't surprised.)))

Scott was admittedly, wholesomely, and undoubtedly terrified. He was probably scared of Stucky's (that's what the team called them when they were being lazy and didn't want to say both of their names separately because-- connected) anger than their actual personalities.

Especially Bucky. Scott was a super fan, but he was also very aware of what Bucky's past consisted of, and he knew that Bucky was not one to be nice and understanding when angry.

You, on the other hand, weren't scared of anybody on the team. That's not how teams work anyway. The more you fear each other, the more time you spend being anxious instead of getting work done and being productive.

You stood now, finally done watching from the other side of the living room. (Well, the room you were in acted as a living room. It didn't really look like one though.)

"Scott didn't do anything wrong. Clearly, he's just trying to help Katie." You got up, leaving your phone on the couch as you casually made your way over to the scene that was being caused.

"She's crying in his lap." Bucky pointed out. He was trying to justify a irrelevant point, which you thought was actually kind of funny.

"Yes, and Scott's sitting on a very stiff couch." you stated, as if it were obvious (which, it kind of was...). This was true, and painfully so. The couch was new, so it was still stiff and kind of uncomfortable. Of course, everyone ignored this fact because Micheal had been the one to pick it, and he almost never actively participated in anything that had to do with the Avengers.

"I'll be honest," you stated, leaning closer like you do when you tell someone a secret, "If I had the choice between Scott and the couch, I'd sit on Scott too." you told them.

You ignored the mortified expressions that leaped into their faces.

Now, to focus on Katie.

You leaned in closer to the youngest child, kneeling in the floor so you could be just a little shorter than her (she likes being tall). You placed your hands on hers, taking them away from her eyes.

"Hey baby girl," you spoke softly, so you wouldn't scare her. You wanted to remind her of her mother. She'd always liked her mom. Her mom always listened and tried to help. "I need you to look at me, can we do that?" You asked.

Katie nodded from within her sort of cocoon that she'd made in Scott's jacket. The perks of being small, you guessed.

When she turned and looked at you, you could feel your heart strings being pulled. Katie almost never cried. She hated crying. She claimed that the tears felt funny and that she didn't like how people looked at her. Crying makes other people sad, and she doesn't like making other people sad. These past couple of days must've been pretty rough on her if she's crying this hard, you thought.

"Katelyn, honey," you started, being sure to keep your voice soft and kind, "could you tell me what's been going on? What's made you so upset?" You asked, rubbing a soothing thumb across the back of her hands as they rested within yours.

Katie tried to talk, but it resulted in her huffing and puffing as she tried to breathe through another wave of tears.

"Katie, doll, breathe. It's going to be okay." Bucky reassured from somewhere behind you.

"But what if it's not?" Katie exclaimed, huffing between every word.

"Katie, I promise you, everything's going to be fine." You told her, something changing in your eyes and your tone. Your voice was still kind, but you noticed the stern edge to it. And from the looks of Katie, she could hear it too. You meant that promise. you meant that promise and you'd die before you broke it.

With that, Katie began to calm down a little bit. However, she still looked wary

"You promise? Like, pink promise?" she asked, looking to you with both seriousness and absolute trust. She was hanging on your every word.

She's depending on you.

Images flash through your mind. Vague memories of the beech with your little brother and sister run through your mind, and you can practically smell the ocean. Katie is a part of your new family. A family that was going to last longer, and you weren't going to let anything happen to it.

There was no hesitation between her asking and your quick nod. "I promise." You told her, "I won't let anything happen to you. As long as my parents shall both be dead." You added, insuring this wasn't something you were going to forget.