Chapter Eighteen;

"You're holding the bow wrong."

Delaney gave her bow a withering look, as though it was the bow's fault she just couldn't get the hang of archery. "Again?"

"Again," Clint confirmed ruefully. He adjusted her hold on the bow. "Archery really does not come easily to you."

"It never has. I guess it's just proof that it's not for me."

"There's nothing you can't do without practice." Clint clapped her on the shoulder. "I believe in you."

Delaney laughed. "That means a lot, coming from the Hawkeye."

"Shut up."

Delaney grinned. Falling back into her friendship with Clint had been so easy; she may as well have never been away. If there was one thing that hadn't changed, it was their sibling-like bond, which Delaney had been anxious to catch up on ever since her return two months ago.

Two months since she'd told Tony and Bruce of the formula that would allow the Avengers to form a barrier around their minds, one that she would be unable to penetrate. Nicola had known only the basics about it, and there was still so much that they didn't understand that it required hours of investigation.

Those hours were spent in the lab, with Tony and Bruce as they analysed how her power worked, and meddled with chemicals to try and replicate the shield that had been present around Nicola and Richard's minds. So far, they had been left with frustration and unsuccess, though in the past two weeks her two friends believed they had made a breakthrough. Even Delaney noticed that with each formula they tried, it was becoming harder and harder for her power to work. It was an encouraging sign for all of them.

When Delaney wasn't in the lab, she was making up for lost time with the others. She and Bruce talked for hours, she rolled her eyes at Tony's sarcastic comments, and went out for coffee at Starbucks with Clint and Natasha. Everything, for the first time in years, felt normal. And Delaney was loving it.

Or, most things were normal. Only one thing had changed in the equation: Steve Rogers.

In the past two months, Delaney had noticed that she acted differently whenever Steve Rogers entered the room. She became flustered, would lose her train of thought. It was absent, hardly noticed, but Delaney felt the heat rush to her cheeks whenever Steve smiled at her or complimented her. She was definitely glad for her tanned skin, which was able to conceal the worst of the blush.

She hadn't realised that she had been spending more and more time with Steve. She was busy with the Avengers generally. She trained with all of her friends, sharpening her skills once again, and worked out with them. Clint reintroduced their archery lessons, which were more for fun than anything, for Delaney's archery skills had not improved over the two years she was away. She'd never quite gotten the hang of using the bow and arrow, and two years without sight of the weapon had done nothing for her.

But she ran into Steve in the corridors, or would stop to see how he was going – how he was coping after Washington, if he had made any leads in his search for Bucky. Those meetings became more and more frequent until their conversations would turn to any little event that had occurred that day, or a memory from the past. Then they were going out into the world on their own, Delaney delightedly acting as a tour guide for the parts of New York Steve had still yet to discover – hidden second-hand bookstores, game arcades, video game stores. And it was over their many cups of coffee in parks that Delaney realised just how sweet Steve could be, how selfless, how brave, and how utterly gentlemanly and good. Her heart would skip a beat, her breath would catch in her throat, she would choke on her coffee.

She had developed a crush on Steve Rogers.

It hadn't changed anything about their relationship, other than Delaney was more prone to forgetting what she was going to say next when he entered the room, or that shivers went down her spine when they hugged.

Delaney had worked hard to work through these feelings, since Steve Rogers couldn't possibly like her, right?

That was what drove her to continuously practice archery despite her dismal skill. Clint didn't seem to mind, anyway: he saw it as an opportunity to make up lost time. It was endearing whenever he ruffled her hair – though Delaney felt young whenever he did, she had so many memories of him performing that small action while she was still a trainee agent at S.H.I.E.L.D. that the familiar action was soothing.

Her sixth arrow of the day had missed the target – again – when the door to the training room opened. "Hey, Lane!"

Delaney's heart jumped in her chest – she recognised that voice instantly. She whirled around and grinned. "Steve!"

Steve wandered into the room, eying the target with amusement. "How's it going?"

"Really well, if the aim of this practice was to not hit the target."

This earned her a laugh from both of her friends. "You're getting better, though," Steve commented, indicating to the two arrows embedded in the outmost ring of the target.

Delaney snorted. "Barely."

"What's up, Cap?" Clint asked.

"Tony and Bruce think they've perfected the formula, Lane."

Delaney blinked. Subconsciously she lowered her bow to her side.

"Oh," she said softly. She turned to Clint and winked. "I guess that's my cue to leave."

She was doing her best to hide the conflicting emotions within her: relief, at the possibility of being able to do something, and sadness - disappointment, that soon she would have to leave everyone once again.

Clint clapped her shoulder, and took the bow from her hand. "Good session, Lane."

"I think you need to read the definition of 'good session' again, Clint," Delaney quipped, with a slight roll of her eyes.

He laughed. Delaney waved goodbye and followed Steve out of the room, strolling through the halls of Avengers Towers.

"So..." Steve rubbed the back of his head. "What's going on? Between..."

His words died off.

"Between me and Clint?" Delaney finished for him.

Steve merely nodded. 

Delaney stared at him for a moment, wide eyed, because she let out a bark of laughter. "Oh my goodness, nothing," she exclaimed fervently, shaking both her head and waving her arms. "Clint's like my older brother. Dating him would... It would be like dating my brother, if I had one." She shuddered.

Besides, he's already married, and has a family. 

She didn't speak the last part out loud though; she knew how Clint wanted to keep his family secret.

"I see," Steve mused.

Delaney nudged him in the sides. "Jealous, are we?" she teased. She tried to sound nonchalant, though she couldn't stop that little voice in her head hoping that he would say yes.

Steve shrugged. Delaney pursed her lips, head tilted to the side. What was she supposed to make of that reaction?

She didn't have much longer to ponder, as they had arrived at the lab. Suddenly business-like, Delaney entered to see Tony and Bruce waiting.

"What's the progress report?" she asked, perching herself on a stool.

Tony spread his arms. "We believe we've done it! Genius, I know."

Delaney snorted. "Let's try it out first before anyone calls themselves a genius."

Tony rolled his eyes but nonetheless grabbed the tablet he and Bruce had been developing over the months and swallowed it. Bruce stood to the side and adjusted his glasses, eyes flicking between Tony, Delaney, and the small device that read their brain patterns. Steve leaned against the corner, arms crossed across his chest as he watched the situation unfold.

"Go on Hypnosis, hypnotise me," Tony said cheerily.

Delaney frowned. Don't call me Hypnosis.

Nothing. No reaction whatsoever.

"Come on, Lane, give me an order."

"I just did," she informed them. "I just told you not to call me Hypnosis."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "I can call you Hypnosis whenever I want, Hypnosis."

Delaney's eyes widened. "You did it," she breathed.

"Not so fast." Bruce held up a hand. "Let's continue testing this, to ensure it isn't a fluke."

For the next hour, Delaney tried making all three men in the room perform various commands. None of them succeeded. By the end of the hour, they were all in agreement: the formula had worked.

"What does this mean?" Steve asked, as they all congratulated Tony and Bruce on their work. Well, they mostly congratulated Bruce – Tony seemed perfectly capable of congratulating himself.

Delaney pressed her mouth into a firm line.

"It means that I'll be off soon."

+++

It took a week for Delaney, Natasha, and Clint to pack and prepare.

None of them wanted to leave, especially since it had barely been two months since Delaney had been back with the Avengers. The other two sensed her reluctance to leave and, even though they understood the benefits of moving quickly, they allowed the delay so Delaney could scrape as much time with the others as possible.

The nights were filled with movies – mostly titles that everyone decided Steve just had to know and watch such as Star Trek, to The Lord of the Rings (it was amusing to watch Steve understand Tony's Legolas reference during the battle of New York and joking say that was all he was going to call Clint from that moment on). No one cooked much; Tony decided that it was perfectly acceptable to call in takeout each night, and they all feasted on Chinese, pizza, and burgers.

Then, when plans had been rehashed almost a dozen times, items checked and quadruple-checked, there were no more excuses.

It hadn't been an emotional farewell, but there was definitely a sense of longing in the air. At least, there seemed to be for Delaney. She didn't want to leave her family behind, even though she understood that this was for the better. She was doing this for them – and that would make everything better. When she returned, the threat of her parents would be eradicated from the world, forever.

She farewelled Bruce and Tony in the same room, reassuring them that yes, she had packed all of the equipment Tony had made for them and yes, she'd be safe. Steve wasn't in the room at the time.

Delaney didn't see the Captain until she walked into the hall, where he was waiting, alone. He leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, blonde hair falling slightly in his eyes. He raised his head when she entered, and Delaney sucked in a breath. Her heart momentarily stilled and caught in her throat. The confusing feelings that had been developing over the past few months attacked her heart with new force.

"So you're off again?" he said, as she approached him.

Delaney smiled. The air between them suddenly felt thick and tense. She clasped her hands behind her back to try and appear slightly in control. She was shocked by how sweaty her palms were.

"We hopefully won't be gone for too long this time, Rogers," she quipped, grinning.

Steve smiled. Delaney groaned inwardly as she felt heat rush to her cheeks. Goddamn, face, stop making things awkward! Delaney tried to shake her hair so it covered her cheeks in an inconspicuous manner. Safe to say, it wasn't working.

"I know," Steve said gently. He stepped toward her. Delaney blinked. Was his heart by any chance racing as fast as hers was? "You've got the best in the business by your side."

"And it's not like we won't be in contact," Delaney pointed out. "I promise to call every night. Assuming that I can manage to work distance."

"Even if you can't, I'll rest easy each night knowing you're in safe hands, and they're safe in yours."

"And I'll sleep a hell lot better knowing I can't be used against you guys."

Silence fell behind them. It wasn't just Delaney's cheeks that felt hot now – it was her entire body. Her eyes flicked down to the minimal space between them. Did that have anything to do with the raised temperature? Was it just the body warmth they were both radiating?

Without knowing what part of her brain told her it was a good idea, Delaney rested her head on Steve's chest, closing her eyes and smiling in content as he wrapped his muscular arms around her smaller frame.

It wasn't like they hadn't hugged before, but something about this one felt different. More intimate. Delaney was glad her face was hidden – she was a blushing mess. She wondered if Steve could hear her heart pound against his chest. She wouldn't be surprised.

"I'll miss you Lane," Steve said quietly.

"You as well, Steve." She smiled. "Thank you for reappearing in my life. For bringing me back to where I belong. You've made me feel alive."

Delaney stepped back, their eyes locking. Steve placed his hand on the side of her head and kissed her forehead and fireworks went off in Delaney, every part of her body suddenly feeling alive.

"Come back soon, soldier," he said.

"I'll try." The place where his lips touched her forehead was still tingling. Delaney couldn't comprehend much, but knew she had to change topics – or things could possibly become dangerous. "Hey, if you're not too busy avenging, I left my copy of The Philosopher's Stone behind," she blurted. "Feel free to catch up with the times."

He chuckled. "I'll give you updates every night."

Oh gosh, I need to leave now, or I never will.

Delaney took several steps back toward the door, though her eyes didn't leave Steve's. "See you around," she murmured once she reached the door, pushing it open and leaving Avengers Tower behind her.

The entire way to the car, Delaney thought that she was living a daydream. Despite everything she was about to endure, the world never looked brighter.