Chapter 168: Arc Six. Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Five. Wear Your Heart On Your Steve

Steve looked at the area again and then at the warehouse in front of him. After Peter's little outburst yesterday he had left the teams training without him, Rumlow taking over training Flash while the War Machine armour was upgraded and the operating system was fixed, whatever that was.

He had listened to Natasha, taken her advice and looked up the school file on Flash. While at first glance it looked good, and at first all Steve had taken was a glance, once you looked deeper it began to show its true colours.

As Peter said, for the first year Flash was in school his grades were terrible, it was only once he got his football career started they suddenly jumped to B’s. Each year the school made money from Flash, and each year the school received a donation from his father Flash’s academic record began to read like a piece of fiction. Sure, they were careful enough to make sure he got a high enough result to keep the money coming in but the actual papers were all either missing or blank, meaning he never sat the exams in the first place. Steve shook his head as he read more and more, he was actually amazed Flash could read and write with this level of corrupt academia.

Then came the reports from the schoolmates that Peter had mentioned, there were several admonishments for missing homework, late assignments or damaged school books. An idiot could tell that he was being bullied. Every class Peter shared with Flash was the same, and even an incomplete picture made him shake his head in shame. He had been wrong, and Natasha was right, Peter and Flash should never have been put together, not with their level of powers.

As he hit the buzzer on the shiny new gate, and he knew full well why it was new, a young woman answered, “Hello?” and he cleared his throat and smiled.

“Sorry for bothering you Miss, but can I speak to a classmate of Peter Parker, I'm an instructor from Shield.” and after a brief pause, the buzzer sounded and the gate unlatched.

As the door swung open, Steve frowned at the interior. It looked like a mess, but the polished floor, neat walkways and newly painted exteriors told Steve that it was just clean up, not permanent. There was scrap and lengths of cable and wiring piled high in one corner but the rest was astounding. Two neat homes, built from storage containers were lined up and a huge dining table with neat white table cloth sat next to a small kitchen, as he looked up he saw the massive box above his head but was drawn from his amazement by a voice,

“Uh, hi, yeah, can you come in, it's kinda weird just standing there staring.” and Steve saw the redhead sat over at the table, busy placing a clean mug and sugar bowl down.

“Sorry Miss, this is a bit strange. I'm not used to people living in warehouses, is the housing in New York that bad?” and as he asked, she laughed,

“Captain America right?” and he nodded, “Peter mentioned you, things are different now, it's uh, chic. Lots of old places are run down or just have crappy landlords, so people make their own space.” and he nodded as she explained,

“Still strange though Miss, uh?”

“MJ, “ and he smiled. It was one of the people he wanted to talk to.

As he approached and sat down, she poured him coffee and he added in sugar and milk. “I hope you don't mind MJ, but I need to ask about Peter,” and as he took a breath, knowing that this might be a tough subject, “and Flash Thompson.” Rightly so, her breathing stopped, her pupils dilated and he could almost feel a wave of palpable anger rolling off her. “Please, I know and I'm sorry, but,” and he shook his head “I need to know what kind of person he is.”

MJ clenched her jaw and swallowed back the anger. “Flash Thompson made my life hell for five years, he is,” and it was her turn to take a breath and let it out, “he’s an idiot who has the awareness of a rock. He didn't do anything he thinks is wrong, he just expected everything and he was rich, handsome and so he got it.”

“So you don't think that he’s as bad as Peter makes out?” and MJ laughed,

“He made Peter's life hell. Do I hate him for that? Yes and more. Peter should have thrown him off a higher roof.”

Steve was confused, “Only for what he did to Peter though, not what he did to you?”

“I've had time Captain Rogers, time to realise that Flash never meant me harm, if he did I would have suffered more, just like Peter, it was everyone else who made my life hell. Do I hate Flash? A bit. My life was never great before him but now, I mean, I was in a frickin movie, I have amazing powers and a loving boyfriend. Do I have time to care what some loser thinks, should I care if Flash Thompson does well or not?” and she shook her head, “I don't want to live in the past, not with the future I have. Flash Thompson means nothing to me anymore.”

“Steve please, and that's a very mature attitude to have but boyfriend? Are you and Peter?” and MJ swore quietly under her breath,

“Can you forget I said that? Please, I don't want Peter to get in more trouble.” and he smiled,

“I may be from the ‘40s, Miss but I have studied some of the more prominent parts of history, the ’60s especially. I just never realised it was-” and MJ interrupted,

“It’s not, it’s just us. So please, don’t say anything,” and Steve nodded. He had seen the sexual liberation that came with the ‘60s and knew that things were definitely different from his time, but from the look on her face, and her body language, she loved him, and that was none of his business.

“It's a non-issue. Can I take it that Felicia Hardy and Gwen Stacy will tell me the same?” and MJ nodded,

“Maybe not as politely though, uh, Felicia threatened him a lot.”

“It's fine, I just needed to get a better picture.” Steve took a last mouthful of coffee and set his cup down, he now had a better idea of who Flash was. “Thank you for the coffee miss, I can see myself out.” and he left a bemused MJ sitting at the table. After she watched him leave she flicked on the street cameras that Peter had set up and made sure he had really left and then took out her phone, Stupid Shield, she thought as she sent a message to Peter.

As Steve made his way back to Shield HQ, enjoying the quiet ride on his motorcycle, he wondered what to do with the young man under his care. It was obvious that Flash was a rogue, even more so than Peter. At least Peter was open about his misadventures but the common theme with Flash seemed to be a lack of awareness of his own behaviour towards people, and ultimately, his own failings.

Talking to Fury would be useless. It was his team and ultimately his responsibility to deal with. Fury put the team together, but he had to hold them together. Not easy when ego and other issues made them a target for everyone.

As Steve walked through the clean glass and white building of Shield HQ he saw that Natasha and her team were coming back from training, and as he gazed up at one of the wall clocks he wondered if Flash had been following his own schedule. Natasha just nodded but Steve put a hand out, “A word Peter,” and he stopped,

“I’ll catch up” and the others left, “So?” and Peter held out his phone, letting Steve see the message from MJ.

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He nonchalantly shrugged, “I had to know, and you happen to live with most of the people he has issues with, but that's not why I stopped you.” and Peter looked surprised, “I still stand by what I said. Flash deserves a chance to prove himself and to make amends, as do you. Boys make mistakes, men fix them, be a man Peter.” and with that Steve walked off to find Flash. He knew that conflict resolution could only come from Peter and Flash themselves, interfering would only make things worse.

Peter frowned, a platitude was all he got, a fucking platitude, he shrugged oh well, and hurried to catch the others, uncaring if Flash grew up or not. There was always a taller building if it came down to it.

Steve found Flash being spotted in the gym by Rumlow, using the same machine that he normally used. Rated for well over the normal human maximum it surprised him to see someone else lifting as much as he could but, it had been mentioned in his file that Flash was host to one of those alien creatures.

“I can wait,” he said as Rumlow looked over and leant down to whisper to Flash. As Flash did ten more reps he sat up and wiped himself down with a towel, Rumlow padded him on the shoulder, “cya Cap,” and walked away to give the two men privacy.

“So, you gonna tell me off now too?” Flash said as he wiped the sweat from his face but Steve shook his head.

“Your problems at high school are not my concern Flash, only that they stay in high school. You earned a spot on this team, it's now your job to keep it. I was wrong to put you and Peter together, given your history, but sometimes making amends is the only way forwards, and working through conflict can lead to greater things.” Steve stood with his arms folded as Flash wiped down the machine.

“Yeah, I was kinda expecting a lecture, everyone else always did, you know, or till he died,” and Steve saw Flash ball his fists and sigh, fighting back his emotions. “It wasn't fair you know, I never meant to take it that far, I never knew. It wasn't until I got Webb that I knew and now, how can I look at some who hates me so much they threw me off a building, and screws my ex-girlfriend after letting me know I abused her?” and he shook his head. “I never meant to be that guy you know, I swear,” and Steve stood listening.

“You didn't, and now you know. Going forward you can try to make amends, make things better. Being an Avenger means responsibility, not just to the team, but to the people of  New York and ultimately the world. Righting some wrongs is a good place to start Flash.”

“But how? I mean, I don't know, shit, even admitting I'm wrong feels, you know, wrong. My dad always said ‘never admit your faults, people will use them against you’.” and he looked over at Steve, “you know, therapy didn’t help, after the accident, she just, I dunno yelled at me a bunch and then we screwed,“ and Steve turned to one side to hide the smile on his face. “See, even you,” and Flash huffed and began to finish wiping down the machine.

“Well, see, that's not really therapy, I can book you in with one of the Shield therapists, the one I see is really good.” and Flash stopped and looked over,

“You?” and Stev nodded,

“I’m from 60 years ago, temporal identity disorder it’s being called I think. Where seeing a TV is fine but a laptop or oh, I went grocery shopping and asked the guy why he wasn't bagging my groceries, turns out he was a customer. So uh yeah, I needed some help. 60 years changes a lot of things, not just technology, it's a lot to take in, and while it's been a while for me, leaving school is the same. I had a look at your file, and I know, but no social studies, no practical classes anymore? I'm amazed you’re coping as well as you are, I mean, they don't teach you how to be an adult Flash, and while I'm sure your dad was a swell guy, if you need help you need help and there is no shame in asking.”

Flash looked down at the towel in his hand and shook his head, “I dunno Cap, I mean, what if it never gets better?”

“It does son, it does, I mean, 60 years ago we never had the internet, I wouldn't give that up for the world.” and Flash laughed,

“So, book me on for one of those shrinks yeah,“ and Steve patted him on the shoulder and nodded,

“Doesn't get you out of homework though, I’ll add it in somewhere,” and Flash’s shoulders slumped.

“It's a free period, get something to eat and think about what I said,” and Flash nodded.

With both problems hopefully dealt with Steve only had one left, and as he sat in the waiting room in front of Fury's office, he was dealing with it now.

Fury was sat in this usual chair, paperwork scattered over his desk and the normal ice bag Fury used to deal with headaches was sat on his forehead,

“So, I guess this is about Parker and Thompson?” he asked from under it,

“Nope, that’s dealt with. This is about my missing team members, so far I've got three, and so far I've heard bupkis about getting more.”

“Oh,” and Fury slid two folders over, “Barton is gone, medical declared him unfit for duty and he took retirement. So we got you two new recruits. One might be a problem, so say so now.”

Steve slid the folders off Fury’s desk and flicked open the first one,

Ava Starr, victim of an experimental teleportation technology, now requires to wear a temporal and phasic stabilizer to remain in our dimension. Current Status Shield Infiltration Specialist.

Sharon Carter. Highly Trained Field Agent, honours, Current Assignment, Shield HQ Information Services.

“Carter?” Steve asked

“Uh-huh, niece, problem?”

“Nope,” Steve shook his head, if she was half the agent that Peggy was then he would be happy to have her on the team.

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