The Metropolis Dork Squad, Captain America, and the Falcon in... Angst, Death, and Taxes

[stands_for_hope]

[continued from here]

The day had arrived. The trap had been set.

They'd gone to Lois's apartment the day before and made their intentions clear, hoping that with a short period of time, the HYDRA forces wouldn't be able to pull together anything that was too hard to handle.

Jim's paycheck had come in, so he'd treated a rather delicious dinner for the three of them, which had been followed up with some surveillance work, a couple of flights over the various buildings to scout for good positions (both to look for snipers and to drop Lois), and a watching of The Incredibles since there weren't any good games on.

Lois hadn't quite gotten Jim into a french braid with flowers, but she had managed to twist up a few smaller braids and tuck the remainder into a pony tail to keep the worst of it out of his face. If Lois was happy about it as much for it's utility as to give Jim a firm, physical reminder of the people who cared about him... well, she wasn't about to say it out loud.

Clark was with them until roughly half an hour before and informed them just before he left that Captain America was on the ground, apparently sketching one of the ruined and as yet unrepaired buildings on a bench nearby with large 'easel case' while the Falcon was half a mile away on a rooftop. Thankfully, while a good portion of the surrounding area had been destroyed during the attack on Metropolis, this neighborhood was semi-functional (if largely empty during the weekend) so he wasn't entirely out of place.

That just left Lois, her HYDRA pin tucked in place at her collar, and Jim in the empty office room, doing their best to psych themselves into believing this would work.

...and Clark going to investigate the singular figure hiding out on one of the higher rooftops nearby.

Comments

[kolodnoykovki]

"Everybody get a banana, seriously. Taste what they're supposed to taste like," Jim said, having to be careful with how much he moves to peel the one he'd been handed.

There was a knock at the door, then, and Clint's voice saying, "Lemme in, I heard bananas."

[stands_for_hope]

Clark blushed just a little and walked back toward Lois, bringing her a banana and holding another one back for himself. Opening it, the scent of the banana bloomed brightly in the room. Steve held back, though, as he was almost done with the design.

"Don't worry about it," he told Jim, "I'm just putting the top coat on now."

Then Lois took a bite and blinked.

"Well, damn."

[kolodnoykovki]

Clint raised his brows when he smelled it. "...Smells like Runts," he said for a second, pulling the signal blocker - a little black tablet thing - out of his pocket.

Jim just gave him a confused look. There was something he was missing there, and he had no idea just what it was.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Clark takes a bit and considers it thoughtfully, taking another bite with obvious pleasure and chewing his way through it. Lois goes more slowly, testing with each nibble, before swallowing it down with a grin.

"They're like... candy. Runts, yeah."

"Runts are a kind of candy. One variety is banana flavored," Clark provided.

Steve, putting the last of the top coat on with a careful swab, puts the paintbrush down and reaches over for a banana, popping it open with obvious excitement.

"This is one of the few foods that was better before," he says to Jim, taking a bite with some gusto.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Mm, one of," he agreed as he bit in. "My roast's still pretty damn good. I found a crock pot."

Clint looked between them. "...Is this turning into some kind of superhero reality show? 'Cause if it is, I wanna be the guy with the sunglasses and the car that's way too big to be anything but a penis enhancement."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve grinned like Christmas had come which, given when Bucky's roast got made up, wasn't too far off from accurate.

"That is probably the only thing I'd want above bagels."

Then he turned to look over at Clint.

"A reality what?"

Clark chuckled at the mental image before shaking his head.

"I like the one about the dog groomers."

Lois looked outraged.

"And in one fell swoop, Clark, you are never allowed to say a word about my love of Shear Genius again."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Reality show," said Clint. "It basically means either a contest show or just cameras following around a bunch of people who fall into the same categories over and over again. The contest kind is better, because at least then there's a reason for the show." But he still picked up a banana and took a bite, nodding his approval as he chewed.

"...What kind of contest?" Jim asked, half-eating and half looking at his new arm art. Better than the star, by far - and the subtleties of colour... He looked from it to Steve and back, mind working as he tried to remember.

[stands_for_hope]

"Everything from 'who's the best dog groomer" and Lois's words were directed firmly at Clark, "to who can find evidence of Big Foot."

Sam nodded, eating his banana thoughtfully and eyeing the bushel to possibly grab another one. They really were like candy.

"I like doing movies better," Steve admitted. "I tried doing the History Channel once since one of the SHIELD boys recommended it, but half of the shows were about World War II and if there's something I don't need an education in, it's that."

[kolodnoykovki]

"We watch a lot of movies," Jim offered. "Lois likes the one with the girl with the huge dress. Not bad, but I think my favourite character in it is the squirrel."

Clint just ate his banana and stared. This was not what he was expecting, by far.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"I thought your favorite character was the guy who kept getting confused at everything." Lois was smirking.

But Steve had seen Jim looking at the design and now he was a little nervous.

"Does it look right?" he asked with a gesture at Jim's shoulder, "I added a bit of contrast just to warm it up, but I can change that if you want."

Clark looked over and gave Steve a warm smile.

"It looks right to me. It matches what I remember."

Lois peered around Sam and frowned.

"What you remember? Were there a lot of the House of Am on--"

Clark shook his head firmly.

"No, no, not... not from that. I was given some... some information. During the flight from the dig site to where I ended up landing the colony ship. A... well, not really a primer, but an encapsulation of Krypton, put right into my mind. It took a while for the knowledge to settle, but now it's a like a part of me grew up there."

Sam eyebrows went up and he frowned thoughtfully at the information.

"So Neo got an upload?"

Clark turned and gave Sam a warm smile that the other man returned easily enough. Sam Wilson was nothing if not adaptable to the crazy shenanigans of various superheroes.

"Something like that."

Steve glanced at Jim.

"Do you like it, though?"

[kolodnoykovki]

"Yeah," he said easily, looking down at it again, moving and shifting his arm to make sure the paint wouldn't come off with usual movements. "Yeah, I do. Just... remembering. S'all."

Remembering when Steve mostly worked in greyscale.

"You can see colour now, can't you."

It wasn't as much a question as a statement. He thought he remembered something about it, but details were still fuzzy, and in the context of everything else, Steve suddenly being able to see all the different colours -- well, that was a detail.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve's eyes go wide, incredibly wide, before a tiny, happy smile lights his face and his arms curl around himself, his shoulders hunching as if he's fighting to control the delight inside. Delight, and something more complicated, but mostly delight. One hand reaches out to rub at the back of his neck and Jim would know, if he could remember it, that this is almost the kind of expression Steve would make when the rare person took interest in him that he wasn't prepared for.

"Yeah," and his voice is a little rough at first, "yeah, once they... after I got like this, the whole world kinda... lit up. All those colors my teachers tried to show me..."

He breathed out.

"If it'd been another time, I probably would have gone out and tried every kinda paint I could get my hands on. Since I came back, well," and he glanced over to Sam, who despite his usual teasing, was doing nothing but offering a warm smile. Sam had found that working on art was one of the few things that really seemed to give Steve peace.

"It's one of the best parts of it, honestly."

[kolodnoykovki]

He'd seen that look before, but it was about a foot and a half closer to the floor last time. The smile was enough to have him start smiling, but the way it changed put something else in the pit of his stomach and he, stubbornly, didn't let it show. His kneejerk reaction wasn't something any of them needed right now. "It would be. You got damned frustrated, I remember."

His memories weren't as few and far between as they had been. He just tried to focus on the ones that didn't make him want to punch walls and scream and shoot nonexistent people in the middle of the night. Working helped, but it wasn't perfect.

"I'm glad they fixed that. Even if they did make you too tall."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve just snorted at that and gave Jim a roll of his eyes paired with a crooked smile.

"You're just cranky I'm taller than you now."

[stands_for_hope]

Clark raised an eyebrow.

"He's never minded me all that much."

Lois rolled her eyes.

"No one can mind you. You're a giant marshmallow."

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim looked over at Clark, holding his hand out to indicate, "I didn't know you when you were about this tall -- and only grew up to about this tall. I think the Smithsonian exhibit made Steve too tall on both ends. And they made my face huge."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve's expression flattened, still playful but now a little grumbly, and he put out a hand to flick Jim's hand up a little.

"I was over five feet, for chrissake," he muttered with a roll of his eyes.

[kolodnoykovki]

"You came up to my shoulder. I could rest my elbow on you." He paused. "I did rest my elbow on you."

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Yeah, you did, lug," he said with a grumble that turned into something that was more of a chuckle by the end.

[kolodnoykovki]

"Punk," he answered, giving Steve's shoulder a light shove before he even thought about it.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve laughed and his smile was soft and warm as he shoved him back.

"Jerk."

[stands_for_hope]

Lois smiled over at Clark, who was already grinning just a little. Sam nodded to both of them.

[ikilled11ofthem]

There was a soft click from Clint's phone. It would've been stupid not to get a picture of this. "Nat's gonna be sorry she missed this," he murmured, sliding down in his seat and starting to text. She'd get the picture at least.

[kolodnoykovki]

Jim rolled his eyes, glancing around at everyone. "I didn't sign up to be center ring, c'mon."

[stands_for_hope]

Clark shook his head and waved off the idea of the attention going to him.

"I'm trying to learn to be less obvious."

Lois grinned.

"I take center stage all day, every day at work. It's fun to watch when I'm off the clock."

Sam nodded towards Steve.

"Said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm just here to have his back."

Steve shook his head firmly.

"Nope, I've done my time as the dancing monkey. Though, speaking of..." he reached over to grab two bananas, opened one, and took an extremely satisfied bite at the taste, leaning back to enjoy the taste of a fruit that tasted like it was supposed to taste.