Why Not?

Chapter Sixteen: Sixteen candles had less angst

Once everything had been explained, you actually felt... weird. It was strange, actually. 

One thing you always tried to remind yourself as you went through life was how complicated things were. How complex the universe is, and how fucked it can be. Life was always expanding, the universe hasn't, and probably couldn't all be explored in one life time, and everyone's life was really just a different perception of the same reality. 

Sure, thinking of this always put you into mini existential crises because of how it made you feel dizzy, but in a way it was kind of humbling.

Right now, however, it was confusing and painful.

Maverik had been wearing his hood up while walking home to hide a busted lip, kind of puffy cheek, and a bursted vein in his eye that went well with the blue and yellow around it. When asked what the fuck had happened to him during dinner, Maverik had said that he'd fallen down the stairs. And, being the trusting guardians they are, the team went with it.

However, what had actually happened, was a fight. 

Micheal gets into fight often, but Maverik? Maverik almost never gets dragged into them. That's how it was so easy to tell that this was more than a fight. It wasn't escalated enough to get them into the principle's office, and nobody had really heard about it yet. That's probably how you'd missed it.

From what Maverik had said (which wasn't much, but he looked a little traumatized, so you didn't force every bit of shit out of him), he'd found Micheal getting the shit beat out of him. There were transphobic slurs, insults towards Maverik, and other stupid things that didn't make sense to you. 

Then Maverik, being the brother that he is, told them to stop and back the fuck off. Micheal, from what he could see, looked almost unconscious. They'd been stomping on his ribs, which had no doubt been broken at least a little by that point. He'd probably been wearing his binder for too long anyways (because the little shit does that), so there was no doubt in Maverik's mind that Micheal had been suffocating.

"I thought I was going to kill them." Maverik sniffed, "I didn't hit their faced, and no one'd believe them if they said I started the fight, so I went all out. I think I-- I broke a few ribs and I broke one their hands and I--"

You'd stopped him there. He was on the verge of tears, he was angry, he was confused. It was like he'd blacked out, from his point of view.

Maverik had the most technique out of all of you. Of course, when the Avengers took all of you in, they gave you lessons in self defense, but Maverik had already been in and out of wrestling, boxing, and karate for years. He absorbed things quickly, and his muscle memory was on point. The only thing that put him apart from Micheal was the fact that he didn't hurt people. That wasn't Maverik's thing. He lacked the type of fire Micheal has.

So... that's what Micheal was all riled up about.

What was Scarllet having trouble with, then?

When asked, she said she'd rather not talk about it. You didn't let her get away with that bullshit because it was too late and things were too urgent. 

"Chloe's..." sh sighed, "I think Chloe's anorexic, and if she doesn't get a regular meal plan soon--" she took a quick breath, "I think she's going to die."

This actually didn't surprise you. In fact, you were more surprised that that was what had been bugging her.

So you shook your head. It wasn't enough. Scarllet's anxious, but this wouldn't get her to snap at Micheal. "What's the real reason?" you asked, squinting at her ever so slightly.

Now she looked uncomfortable. She probably thought you were reading her mind, which would be a false (but morally just) accusation. 

"I uh..." she cleared her throat, which probably felt bone dry, "I bumped into someone yesterday." 

This was a normal occurrence, so you weren't given enough information. Scarllet was always bumping into people because she looks at the ground when she walks. Why the hell was she so shaken by something like this?

"It was my aunt." she clarified. 

Now, even Maverik looked shaken. (Although, he'd already looked shaken due to the incident that had just previously occurred with Micheal.) 

Scarllet's aunt is her only living relative, and a fucking mess at best. There was a reason Scarllet was in a foster home, after all. And if Scarllet bumped into her aunt, and everyone else found out, of course there'd be worrying about shitty relatives randomly coming to say hi. 

Thankfully, Katie's father's still in prison, Chloe's mother still wants nothing to do with her, and Malissa doesn't have anybody to worry about because now that she's adopted, the state probably won't take her back.

Everyone else is accounted for, as far as you know. 

And, your backup plan is in place. 

Scott entered then living room, undetected as you thought about the next steps to take. He noticed your 'thinking expression' and started polite conversation with Maverik and Scarllet.

"So, how were your guys's days?" He asked, a hopeful light in his eyes.

"Fine, thanks." Maverik smiled. 

"Yeah, not much happened, actually." Scarllet lied. 

You shot Scarllet a weird look.

You understood why she'd lied before, but you didn't understand why she would lie now. There was no doubt their parents had heard about Micheal's outburst by now. He was already with Stephen, after all. They were probably brawling in Norway to calm him down. 

"Scott, I think Katie's going to need some cheering up before going to school tomorrow. Do you think you could take her shopping? Maybe get her some more stuffies?" You asked, sending a warm, yet stern and commanding smile his way.

Scott looked surprised, probably because he was in his PJs, and Wade was usually the one to do the cheering up around here. 

"Wade's with Vanessa." You clarified, "And Bucky doesn't want Katie to go places with him because he's inappropriate." You added with a shrug. 

It really was such a small detail, the whole 'stay away from Wade he's a bad influence' thing. Nobody listened to them saying that because 1) He's never around anyways. (He's not actually a part of the team. The team just can't arrest him because he's actually pretty helpful when they really need him to be). 2) When people go places with him, they always meet up with him outside the tower, so no one really knows about it because they don't really pay attention (Scott knows this because almost all of y'all really like him and trust him. (He's actually really sweet and good with secrets.)) and 3) No one cares if the team doesn't like him. Almost everyone else does, and they love being around him, so no one's really going to get in the way of that. (Kind of like a platonic 'but daddy I love him' thing.)

Either way, he was unavailable. He was with Vanessa, and you didn't want to bother him. 

Plus, you needed Scott to be gone, and telling him to fuck off would be suspicious and rude.

"It would be a big help," Scarllet chipped in, noticing your play.

 "Okay then... alright..." Scott nodded, "I'll go."

You nodded and smiled as he left the room, happy to be alone with Maverik and Scarllet again. You all needed to calm down, and you had just the way to do it.

"Finding Nemo, anyone?"

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