living database

“ i’m from gotham , “ fabian explained with a shrug. “ clowns in masks is one of the more common things to see. “ not the mention their whole family was made up of the people who go around dressed as birds and bats on a nightly basis. 

“ you don’t have to worry about it , “ they nodded. “ we’ll be able to get rid of all of this before you know it. it’s been done before , we can do it again , “ fabian attempted at encouragement but confidence and hope wasn’t a common thing nowadays. 

“ new york has its fair share of villains but... ”

he’d never be used to it. how could he ? even when he was raised in shield property, he rarely met heroes or villains. the most he saw was a few inhumans and agents who could kill a person easily.

“ i.. ”

his encouragement should have settled down xander’s nerves and yet, his mind kept running with the worst scenarios.

“ it can happen again. and again. and again. ”

“You’re an engineer?” Well that was interesting. Piper was far more interested in an engineer than a wannabe hero. Maybe this guy was more interesting than she thought. “What kind of engineer?”

Piper raises an eyebrow. On the tip of her tongue is an insult about Batman, but she bites it back. 

“ i am. ”

alexander nodded, proud to admit his achievement. and who wouldn’t be ? he wasn’t the smartest in this school nor was he normal compared to them. but he’d used his disadvantages, graduated college, gained his masters, all before 21. and was doing it all again. his smile widened, eyes dropping down to the floor.

“ um... mechatronics, which is mechanical and electronics, and computer science engineering. it’s.. my passion ? ”

          elijah didn’t mind waiting for the answer, figuring that xander was just trying to figure out how to explain himself. he too often did the same thing when people asked him to elaborate. ❝ that’s a very good point. having a contingency plan would be something he’d probably do and from what i’ve read and been told about him, his plans aren’t easy to predict.❞

statistics flashed through his mind. everything he’s memorised about his figurines, their strength, popularity, intelligence. it didn’t help that his parents and close family were all part of shield, making his knowledge wider than the average citizen. every birthday he was given a folder of their comprised information, and when he joined shield, those folders started containing secrets that he had clearance to know. smiling brightly in response to his statement, alexander brought down his figurine and nodded his head, wishing he could offer his hand like the common folk,

“ fitzsimmons… by the way. i… i believe people find it impolite ? if i don’t introduce myself ? and.. and.. uh, thank you ? for not pushing off my idea. ”

Harley giggled as the boy spoke. “No!” she said. “Well, I mean, yeah, she’s really good at that n’stuff, but I meant she’s an awesome person. She’s really brave n’smart, and she’ll do just about anythin’ for the people that she cares about.”

Her head tilted as the boy spoke, her fair eyebrows lifting ever so slightly. It seemed like he had been to a few in his day, but she didn’t want to pry. He could open up to her if she wanted to, but obviously she wasn’t going to force him to do so. “Well, I try,” she said, with a little laugh. “I know psychiatrists get a bad rep sometimes, but I just wanna help people feel better, ya know? I know what it’s like to be so wrapped up in the mess inside your head that everythin’ else gets messed up too.”

“ oh. ”

the best meant awesome. he repeated those words in his mind a couple of times, making sure to remember it for future purposes. learning the british and american lexicon were hard on their own. but adding slang and informal speech made it hard for xander, even with his training.

“ anything ? that sounds... like she’s a good friend. ”

he was going to say impossible. but immediately retracted that thought, instead focusing on how nice it was that villains cared for people and protected each other. definitely different from the hydra villains he’s been told of.

“ popular villain and old unethical psychiatrists. ”

it’s the reason why they had a bad reputation. or that’s what last year’s survey said. there were 3 gotham villains that are psychiatrists, 2 really known by civilians, aka harley and scarecrow. while even he, who gained heroes and villains as his special interest, can barely remember one.

“ what’s it like ? being ‘wrapped up in the mess’ ? ”

“I think seeing steve dealing with the caped crusader would be rather amusing don’t you,”

It’s a shield kid thing, looking up to captain America, tony never seemed to have gathered the same level of appreciation but then that could have simply been because they had all been adopted by steve too.

“i’m not sure there’s been a more amusing team up,”

“ it could go really bad or good. uncle phil says it’ll be like captain america and iron man when they’re fighting. but i think it’ll go superman and batman. just with some paranoia. ”

he was enjoying this conversation. people could tell by the way he was leaning forward and how his eyes weren’t having that much trouble looking to his direction. his stimming lessened as well as his favorite topic kept him grounded to reality.

“Who’s your dad?” Billy asked, smiling a little. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is. He sounds pretty cool to me.” He smiled at the boy’s confusion. “I just meant if it’s something you’re passionate about,” he explained. “I mean, could you see yourself doing anything else?”

“ leo. leo fitz ? he’s not a superhero. not even a top agent like agent romanoff or agent barton. but he’s a great engineer. ”

there’s no doubting that he’s proud of his father, what with the tone of his voice and the smile on his face. and who wouldn’t be ? from an engineering nerd whose never been on the field to this amazing man who fought hydra and saved his mother multiple times.

“ ohhh... that. i don’t think so ? maybe branch into other forms of engineering but that’s it. ”

send ‘ ♡ ‘ for an aesthetic post for our muses’ relationship || not accepting

“Yeah!” Harley’s face brightened at the mention of her friends. “Selina is the best! Victor is a little, you know – cranky, let’s say, but he has a heart of gold somewhere under there, I bet.” 

She giggled. “Yeah, it does kinda sound like a fairytale, huh? With more guns n’crime, but the ending is happy like in a fairytale. I didn’t think it was realistic for me either, but here I am.”

She gave another little laugh. “I mean, sometimes. They talk about what they need to talk about, even if they didn’t realize at first that’s what they need to get out.”

how amazing was it that he was talking to someone who knew the people he had figurines and stats for ? and was someone he had a few figurines of ? he’s only met a few heroes and villains throughout his life, even though he usually lived in a shield base or the bus. every time an avenger was around the base, people tended to flock nearby, overwhelming his senses and causing him to go back to his dad and mom’s lab or else start an embarrassing meltdown.

“ the best ? in stealing ? or ? ”

hm. he could understand that. if he was allowed to say his feelings without being considered stupid or worse due to his aspies, who knows what he’d say ? his soft smile turned to the smallest of frowns, thumbs twirling against each other to calm his emotions.

“ you’re nicer than a lot of psychiatrists...? ”

it was a comment, compliment, and a question all at the same time. there were 8 psychiatrists titled heroes, 12 psychiatrists titled villains, and so much more titled civilians that should be titled villains. it’s amazing that one of the ‘villains’ sounded better than his old psychs.

Piper considered the young man for a moment, frowning. “You want to be a hero, don’t you?”

It wasn’t such a strange desire, she supposed, for someone without her father. For someone who wasn’t taught from birth to distrust authority. And someone who hadn’t watched a hero kill someone they loved. If heroes had always been heroic then she guessed she could understand it.

That was unexpected. She had expected an argument from that, but instead he agreed, and she was left a little speechless. “What’s the doll?” she asked, looking at the figurine in his hands.

“ no. i want to be an engineer... ”

xander paused in his sentence, jaw slightly dropped. he said that wrong. definitely wrong. blue eyes stared at the table, fingers tapping the metal frame, figuring out how to fix that. this time he spoke slower and gave out proper facts.

“ i am an engineer. i don’t have anything i want to be right now. ”

gaze drifted to his batman figurine, grabbing it tighter. what’s the doll... made of ? for ? eyebrows furrowed at her sentence, before trying to answer it. 

“ it’s a figurine. ”

Billy chuckled. “Assuming they would listen to me,” he said. “Most people would probably just be interested in my family, not me. I’m not really that cool by myself.

He smiled and nodded. “Yeah,” he said. He listened as the other boy spoke, smiling again. “Wow, that sounds amazing. I’m guessing that’s something you’re really into? Software egineering and stuff like that?”

“ i don’t think so. ”

like usual, every statement that left xander’s mouth was said with a confidence, making it sound factual. he believed everything he thought to be true unless proven otherwise or related to a social situation that his tutors and parents didn’t prepare him for. forcing himself to look at billy’s direction, eyes staring at his forehead, and hands instinctively squeezing together to stim, the young engineer spoke,

“ my dad wasn’t ‘cool’ compared to his team... but he was cool to me, and mom, and the shield academy of science and technology. they listened to him there, praised him even... i think... you have to find the people that think you’re cool. ”

really into ? he remembered what that meant. probably. it sounded familiar. did it mean he liked it ? or mastered ?

“ i don’t un-... uh... yes ? ”

huh ?

xander looked up from the electromagnetic pulse rifle he was creating, blue eyes blinking rapidly to clear the blur in his sight after focusing on the gun for too long. glancing to the side, at the nearby window, the young engineer quickly shut his eyes tight, fingers pressing against and rubbing his eyelids. 

too bright. uncomfortable.

Billy smiled. “Graduate,” he said. “I’m hoping to teach, maybe Power Control or Telepathic Control, something like that. I know how hard it can be to control stuff like that, I wanna help other people do that. What are you studying?”

“ you should. teaching’s... fun ? it’s a nice change of pace as long as they listen to you. ”

he would never think of teaching completely, preferring the work as a shield engineer. but there was a certain level of enjoyment in helping teach people something he already mastered.

“ studying ? my course ? ”

his mind immediately went to his classes. but with the amount of questions he’d answered that was stated that way, he hesitated and gave his course out.

“ currently, i’m in automotive and software engineering. i’m building up to learn how to create an ai car, a lola 2.0. ”

“i mean true,” jay spoke with a nod. “but so do dr strange and iron man, what makes batman better?” he’s baiting the other trying to get him out of his shell, his teasing, outgoing nature getting the best of him. “surely captain america is best for the whole social protest angle?”

“ batman has cooler gadgets, ”

it was the worst reply he could give when it came to a serious conversation but really, the hero was the first person that came into mind. not only was he the most paranoid of all heroes. xander had his figurine right in his hand.

blue eyes brightened at the name, recalling memories of his uncle phil talking to him about captain america, every bed time story, every shield report, even every christmas and birthday gift. his hands dropped down to the table, squeezing the metal, as he nodded, immediately agreeing,

“ alright. public, captain america. in secret, batman. ”

         meg made sure to always check in on her ‘kids’. ( anyone younger than her born of shield parents— or the children of the avengers who she had always been close to. ) even when her week was packed full of meetings and classes she always took time out to see them. make sure they were getting by alright. everyone was eating, no one was over working. she had a tendacy to mother hen, sue her. she liked taking care of others. it was her job. ( so she said. ) xander was one of the younger members of the extended shield family, not to mention he was one who tended to get sucked into things for days at a time— so meg took special care to check up on him frequently. today was one of those days. 

           “ what? ” leave it xander to leave her speechless half the time. “ did daddy—- ” meg paused and pulled her hand up to her face, blocking the laugh that was building up in her. 

           “ yeah, actually, xan. he use to have an afro. i saw a picture. 70s were somethin’ else. how’d ya know? “ 

            she wasn’t joking. well. she was a little bit— but it wasn’t at xander. the laugh was more at the mental image of her father. she really had seen pictures.

his nose crinkled at the image she provided. nick fury shouldn’t be imagined with an afro and/or a disco outfit. it was too... un-fury-like. it didn’t help that his mind, being the way it is, created a very detailed image of the director of shield. blue eyes narrowed at the wall in front of him, trying to get rid of the picture, thumb pressing against the screwdriver he was holding to stimulate his senses and keep him grounded to reality.

“ i didn’t. the movie told me, ”

simple logic in his mind. but one that people would normally find illogical. his gaze drifted to her direction, staring at the bridge of her eyes due to his inability to feel comfortable when staring at someone’s eyes, and a small polite smile formed on his lips. he liked meg. she was nice compared to the people outside of shield. she cared for him but didn’t think he was dependent. she was patient when it came to his drifting mind and meltdowns. and she visited in specific days, never disrupting his daily routine.

“ do you think his agent files have those pictures ? maybe at level 10 security ? level 10 alpha ? omega ? ”

She nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “I mean, not all of ‘em are bad – some of ‘em were just makin’ bad choices because they’d been hurt, or because their brains weren’t treatin’ em the way they were supposed to. Sometimes brains do that, you know. It’s all just chemicals up here, and sometimes those chemicals don’t do what they’re supposed to do.” She smiled and nodded again. “Yeah, of course. I mean, I have a wife that loves me, n’great kids, n’a job that I love. N’before, it didn’t seem like I was gonna have all that, but I do now because I learned from my past n’didn’t let it hold me back anymore.” She gave a little giggle. “It’s not about fun, not all the time. Sometimes they just need to be quiet at first to be comfortable with me.”

blue eyes widened in excitement at that information. it wasn’t anything he didn’t know but this was a gotham villain talking to him about it. his excitement was on the same level as aunt daisy talking about inhumans or one of the avengers talking about hero work.

“ like victor fries, selina kyle, you... ”

“ it sounds like one of those happy endings dad insisted upon when i was a kid. unrealistic in the stories but yours... ”

he liked it. he liked how happiness in the future sounded realistic to her story. dad’s stories were filled with knights and princesses in towers. he’d argued with every single detail of those stories until he ended up being read engineering textbooks.

“Because the government is incentivising villain mutants to register.” The stick and the carrot both at once. Do this, we’ll give you a reward. Don’t, and we’ll punish you. It frustrated Piper to no end.

“Not everyone. No one knows the real name of Prometheus.” No one who knows what I do knows my real name. Well, almost no one. She wasn’t exactly a super-villain though. “You don’t think heroes hurt people too?”

“ the government’s forcing heroes too. pressuring them with their ‘morals’ ”

if you’re really a good guy, we should know. you should be setting an example to citizens and villains. blue eyes squeezed shut as his mind brought forth those thoughts and fingers clenched tight to keep him grounded in reality. he didn’t enjoy the idea of being pressured to do something, last time he was pressured he had a meltdown in shield disrupting the day of a number of agents. maybe that’s why he’s thinking about the heroes. they didn’t have incentives and they’d have a whole lot of villains after them if they revealed themselves. xander could understand her point though...

“ they do. it’s one of the similarities heroes and villains have. ”

Elias almost expected another delayed response or no response at all, not that he cared that much. “What’s your stance on pineapple on pizza? Personally, I don’t have strong feelings either way. However, if I’m going to be sharing this pizza, it may be a good idea to take their tastes into consideration.”

“ i don’t like it... ”

his nose crinkled in time with his comment, tongue pressing against the roof of his mouth as he imagined the taste. xander didn’t mind people eating it, of course, but he just hated pineapples in general. they were too sweet and the texture felt weird.

“ can we have some with meat ? or bacon ? ”