04 x those were the times

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'Oh, man. What did I get hit with?'

The first thing Tia did was go dumbfounded. For a quick second before shaking herself out of it. Her work ethics kicked in and she found herself rushing from the foot of Shaun's bed with his medical records and planting a comforting hand over his shoulder. If he remembered getting hit, then his concussion must have been eradicated. 

The young boy looked scared rather than weary. His eyes thinned with a wince when he adjusted himself back over the elevated mattress. He watched her catch his IV-fed wrist to the check if the flow had been disrupted and soon, checking his pulse. 

Tia knew Shaun from the abundance of tales Sam seemed to have about him. From training to be an Avenger and being a constant pain, the Patriot was equal parts a friend and foe in Sam's words. His lack of compliance and patience was the worst things to handle but on the contrary, Tia found it cute. 

Just to double-check about the concussion, she asked him in the gentlest voice she could muster. 'Can you tell me your name?'

'Uh, Rayshaun Lucas,' he swallowed hard as if he were worried he told the wrong answer. 

Tia withheld a smile when he looked away. There was nothing threatening about this boy. He seemed quiet, out of painful shyness, and kind of reminded her of her eighteen-year-old, roguish brother back home. Brown tufts of hair stuck out unevenly and his soft brown eyes watching her bustle around him; scared and lost. He must've not expected unseen company. 

'Tell me more about yourself,' she urged.

He opened his mouth only to flop it open. His eyes darted to the sealed wound on his belly, his good hand going to inspect the gauze. She saw a look of wrangled amusement flicker across his face.

'If it weren't for the hospital situation, I'd say you were asking me out,' he said wryly, a side of his busted lip kicking up to a grin. 'I would say yes.'

Tia raised her brows, interested. Sadly, she had to break the boy's heart. Pinching her lips into a sorrowful smile, she tilted her head. 'Funny, because you'd have to take that up with my boyfriend.'

'Damn,' Shaun's eyes widened in odious disappointment. With a quickly relaxed smile, he shrugged. 'Well, I'm from Crooklyn better known as Brooklyn. I'm fifteen. My mom is—holy shit, is she here?'

'She left to get some air,' Tia informed. 

'My mama is gonna whup my ass,' he muttered under his breath.

'If it makes you feel any better, she never said that,' Tia said and making Shaun smile in thanks again.

'What about Cap?' His eyes flurrying everywhere suddenly; worried. 'Is he okay?'

'Sam's outside with Elle,' she nodded with caution. When she realized the slow wince that came to the boy when he breathed, she knew she had to call in a doctor for a test. 

'You're on a first-name basis with them?' Shaun asked, surprised.

Tia bit her lip. How was she going to tell the boy, fresh from a day's worth of shut-eye, that she was in a relationship with the said captain? Unless she wanted to elevate his blood pressure and complicate things for the doctor who would soon come in, she would rather keep it to herself.

'Yeah,' she breathed out, 'I should probably call in your doctor.'

'Hey, can you send Mrs Stark in?' He called out to her when she turned to leave. 'I wanna know if the Avengers offer life insurance.'

She chuckled. 'Will do, Mr Lucas.'

'Call me Shaun,' he grinned. 'All the pretty ones do.'

'Great... Shaun.'

Barely an adult and more wolfish than Sam, she thought to herself as she walked out without any more words. A thoughtful grin was plastered on her face as she readied herself to walk out again and stopping in her steps when she spotted Sam cruising in. 

Sam's dark eyes dipped to relief when he saw his compatriot awake, resting his hands over his hips. He took a deep breath in as if preparing to give the kid the world's longest scolding. His face shifted from mitigating to anger in seconds, sauntering past Tia with a panther's grace and pointing his finger at the wounded boy begrudgingly. Shaun cowered into himself with a flinch.

'You are two seconds away from getting another black-eye on your stupid face, Lucas.'

Tia, seeing the wrath as pointless, calmly rubbed his shoulder. She felt his tense muscles relax under his touch, his breaths slowing. Looking back to Shaun, she saw the poor kid's eyes fill with bitterness. Afraid that his one mentor was going to cut him loose. An unhealthy amount of regret swam in his eyes and Tia felt the need to bring him aid.

'What the hell were you thinking?' Sam continued to spew out in worry. 'Do you have any idea what you put Elle and me through? We saved your ignorant ass and if you would have stayed like I—'

'Come on, man, I'm good,' Shaun argued in a small voice.

'Good?' He repeated. 'Good? I've seen good and it doesn't look like getting cut through the guts by some chance blast.'

'No disrespect, but you're being both negative and a hater right now.'

Tia let out a tired exhale, pressing a hand into her eyes. Here we go, she thought. If there was anything she knew from the months of dating Sam, calling him out was like putting Schrodinger's cat in a box. Insane and irrational.

'Trying to save you makes me a hater?' Sam fought out through his teeth.

'You "saved" me,' Shaun battled back. 'That's the negativity and that is what—'

'Boy, I will boot your—'

'Sam, baby wait.' 

Like a messiah of the troubled, Tia leapt between them, placing a hand over his chest. His dark eyes matched with her effortless ones, his stony grimace breaking to release. She reassured him like no one else, her mere impact leaving behind only the tell-tale signs of his replenished rage. 

'He just woke up,' she sought out in a hushed whisper. 'Cut him some slack.'

Sam felt her simple touch release a swarm of adrenaline coursing through his veins. The fluttering sensation eased the dread away and approached the situation with a levelled mind. A soft nod came to him.

'Who you calling "baby"?' Shaun blew out from behind her. Looking between the two, Sam thought the kid's eyes would roll out of their sockets. Putting two and two together, his jaw clanged open comically.

'You both are—Sam is—wait—'

'Shaun,' Sam sighed reluctantly. 'This is my Tia. Tia, meet little dumbass.'

'We met,' she said, treating the boy to a little wink. Shaun sunk into his pillow in humiliation, pursing his lips to play it off as unprepared. If anything, in the near future, she knew he would turn out to be a handful.

'I think he's adorable,' she whispered. 'He tried to ask me out.'

A dreary blink came to Sam as if trying to believe what he had heard. He stared at Shaun, long and hard. Tia spotted adorable jealousy to which she snickered. 

'Seriously, dude?'

'On the bright side, she's definitely not cheating on you,' Shaun tried to justify himself weakly to which Tia had to laugh. 

'You have some kind of heavy knockout meds around here, T?' Sam asked, leaning closer. His hands were folded under his chest in seriousness as he continued to channel a death glare at the young boy.

'Why?'

He never took his eyes off Shaun. 'I think I'm gonna need them, stat.'

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—————

Sam had his face stuck on an incredulous expression. Despite being temporarily speechless, his calloused hands caught ahold of the manila document that Elle slid to him over the coffee table. 

His partner, buddy and brother had been compromised. If anything, he was not going down without a fight. Whoever they were dealing with here had made it personal regardless of Shaun's idiotic tendencies to not concede to a formal order.

'This is going to sound maniacal but,' she drummed a finger over the wood. 'But, it's Wakandan technology that was fitted into the truck. Vibranium force-fields.'

He scoffed, sniffing the bullshit. 'Stolen?'

'Without a doubt.'

'Klaue,' he nodded. 'Thought that dude was dead.'

'He is the supplier,' she bit her lip, 'but someone else working with him. Someone out of radar.'

'Is he one of SHIELD's wanted?' He suggested. 'Or on your little Stark-based servers?'

'I would know,' she shrugged. 'The trafficker is a rookie. Novel but knowledgable.' 

Elle herself looked as rigid as a board as she folded her hands in front of her. He glimpsed through the firm pages of the analysis, the word narcotic and dissociative drug seemed to stand out from the bold-lettering in all caps. Presumably and truthfully, Hook was a hypnotic altered using a special brand of lysergic-acid-diethylamide. Some big words which Sam was going to forget and moved on to the side-effects. The usual, of course; euphoria, flashbacks, hallucinogen persisting perception disorder and—what?

'Wait, impulsive behaviour?' Sam repeated after finding his voice to acknowledge it, still sounding disbelieving. 

'It was produced to bring about a shift in emotion,' she informed quietly, leaning closer to whisper again. 'I know it might sound bonkers—'

'Kids are taking these?' He hissed. 

Elle looked hesitant for a second before nodding, 'Yes.'

Drug abuse was something Sam had never taken indifferently. Sadly, he knew from experience what it was like to see the loved ones around the abuser's life was affected. What was worse, Tia being at the aft-end of it.

Tia's younger brother, Tyrell Bright, was a struggling drug-addict. Smart and the once superstar of their family. Being the youngest, he was their parent's favourite and definitely Tia's. Soon, the little man had mixed with the wrong crowd and began causing trouble more than usual. Coming home late, withdrawing himself from a conversation and dwelling in dark thoughts. Money missing from their wallets, mysterious weight loss and being red-eyed twenty-four by seven.

Quite shortly, Tia started to realize what had been going on. Her knowledge of medical depravities acted and just as soon, he was enrolled into a reformatory at a tender age of sixteen. Overwhelming months of rehabilitation and reformatory exercises later, there was hope. But according to the counsellors, Tyrell had to have a want to heal, grow and achieve. It took love and faith to bring him to that good place and Tia Bright never ran short of it.

'Sam,' Elle spoke softly. Her blue eyes were affectionate, willing to listen if he spoke. A hand reached out to secure it over his tightened fist. 

'When?' He said curtly, refusing to concede to her concerned voice. He loved Elle but sometimes, her position as a mother got in the way of things. He wanted to do what was right and not what was easy.

He wanted to breathe instead. He wanted Tia. 

'The next export could be due any time in next week or after,' Elle murmured. 'Track and report.'

'Next week?' He breathed out.

'That is what I said,' she replied breezily. 'Problem?'

'I made some commitments,' he shook his head. 

'Is it Tiana?'

The edge of his lips kicked up to a smile. Nobody but this woman could be formal despite constantly telling her to stop it. 'That obvious?'

'To some extent,' she returned his grin. 'It's not just you. Keeping a six-year-old engaged during summer break is infuriating. The twins are turning one in a few weeks. Tony's got a Lake Tahoe trip planned.'

He smiled knowing that their little girl was a handful. He had met Margo Stark when she was three and she had already bagged an IQ larger than her father's. Gifted with intelligence and a smart mouth, it did not take one to know that Tony had his hands full notwithstanding his resignation. 

Mere few months after his withdrawal from the superhero community, the world was rattled to hear the arrival of baby Stark number two. Of course, there were many factors to be considered—Iron Maiden, the New Avengers, her involvement in the newest Stark International unit—but Tony somehow always had it covered. Emerson 'Chip' and Primrose 'Poe' Stark, the twins the world had raved about for an entire month, had been born healthy, fine and soon been the epitome of adorable. 

'The kids, are they good?'

'Oh, you know,' she breathed out, gazing out of the window with a soft smile. She had a faraway look in her light eyes. 'Growing faster than usual.'

He made a noise of amazement when she did almost ridiculing her. 'You big, mama bear.'

She directed a playful glare his way to which he only continued to laugh at her. 'I wish I had time to drop you a visit. Maybe meet the twins.'

'They are a handful,' she groaned into her hands. 'Thank god for nannies. The other day, Chip crawled out onto the sidewalk.'

'What the hell was Stark doing?'

'Trying to get Poe from not doing it?' She said it like it was obvious. 

He laughed, agreeing. 'Twins.'

She shook her head, sighing. 'Twins.'

When the silence tore through, Sam took a moment to consider his choices. 

He could either ditch Tia and the invite to her brother's wedding, which was actually a hidden meet-the-parents concourse, and follow Elle into the jaws of the drug-bound traffickers who had managed to get their hands on Shaun or, he could leave Elle to do the avenging with someone else and bag the best superhero boyfriend of the year award by making Tia content.

He owed her this visit. She prized her family above all and if he was willing to take their relationship to the next level, he had to start from her roots. The best way was in his sight, the wedding.

'Actually,' Sam started lowly, 'I think I'm gonna sit this one out.'

Elle's lips formed the perfect O in equal parts surprise and understanding. Her blue eyes cleared to a look of satisfaction. 'Of course, Cap.'

Quickly, he tried to justify himself for letting her lay bone to the dogs alone. 'Look, I wish I could but—'

'Don't be daft,' she smiled. 'I understand.'

Sam did not want her to be alone on this. Instead, he rushed to find an alternative to take his place on this mission. 'Is Nat gonna help?' 

'I was thinking,' she cleared her throat, 'Barnes would be a good replacement.'

His tone came out with incredulity, widening his eyes to the size of saucers. 'Bucky Barnes?'

'Of course not. Ashley Barnes: good leg game.'

He thinned his eyes to a scowl. 'Very funny.'

'All right, yes,' she rolled her eyes. 'James Barnes. The Winter Soldier. I want him in on this.'

He snickered. 'This team-up, though.'

'Shut your hole,' she glared, flaring her nostrils. 'I handled Tony Stark. This one should not be any tougher. 

'You say that now...'

'I might take Shaun, too.'

His face fell as soon as his name was called into the conversation. 'No.'

'It's just a flesh wound, Sam,' she said easily, tilting her head. 'He is well on his way to joining the initiative.'

Sure, he was. Shaun was impressive with his training and just last week, he had practised with Clint Barton. He was focused and dare he say, smart. He knew what had to come first and fierce when it came to keeping someone's six covered. 

'He's hurt.'

'He is a fighter,' she pressed with a breath. 'He'll live. You trained him and you know, he is a strong one.'

'He's stupid,' he tried consistently. 'Won't listen if it isn't me. I don't know if I want him on something as critical as this.'

'I know you love him, I really do,' she reassured gently. 'And I also know that he would never back down from a fight. You trained him.'

Sam stayed silent, chewing on his cheeks. Too many decisions to make today.

'I would never ask him if you aren't comfortable,' she continued, however, her eyes were saying something different. They were beseeching, asking him to accept her play.

Shaun had a life to lead and he would. He had to face hardships despite the failures, and overcome the pain to prove that he was worthy of a post as an Avenger. He had to make choices even if there were none. And in the end, Sam would be there if he needed him. Because deep down, he knew Shaun was going to turn out just fine.

'Ask him,' he shook his head. 'He needs this.'

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[ a special shoutout to the sweetest of creatures silverfalcons and for hopelessly falling in love with Rayshaun Lucas! ]