❝the deep stares back, speaks to me, i know my love can be the killing kind.❞

          “okay, before you say anything, this wasn’t my fault.”   granted, most of the time it wasn’t completely his fault when he ended up here, but he knew that there were times that wasn’t the case. but this time! this time it wasn’t his fault, and she needed to know that. before the yelling and disappointed look happened.   “there was a kid, and a fire.”   most people would probably be able to stop there, to let the other person fill in what needed to be, but! this was buck, and he still felt like a little kid about to be scolded.   “she was like, four. cute as can be. but she’d wedged herself under her bed pretty good, and no one knew, until her mom came to and started yelling, so.. we went back in. and.”   he winces here, because he had definitely ignored bobby’s suggestion of not going back in, but eddie had been right beside him so at least he hadn’t been alone. maybe he just wouldn’t admit that out loud to lexie.   “we found her! and eddie got her out, but, uh. the floor collapsed.”   thankfully it had waited until after eddie and the kid had made it outside, and only buck had been left falling through the floor. once the debris had settled, and the rapidly dying fire had stopped swirling around him, he’d been able to find his way out.   “i bumped my head, so they wanted me to get checked out.”   he also had a pretty decent cut on his cheek, but he was used to the smaller injuries on the job. he was pretty used to the bumps on the head, as well, but he wasn’t going to go anywhere near admitting that to her. when she doesn’t say anything, just keeps looking at him like she does, he rubs a hand over the back of his neck and offers a crooked little smile.   “i made it a month this time, at least.”   yeah, like that was any better, buck.

steve blinked at the words, quickly parsing out what tony was insinuating by the offhanded comment, “i’m not fucking barton, tony.” except... well, he was. they’d just be trying to keep that to themselves (save for natasha), to keep from it becoming a thing.

      Quickly, he slipped his hands out of his pockets, and began to sign at the remaining woman. <”Hey, are you okay? Sorry people are idiots here. They didn’t hurt you, did they?”>

“Is that really so bad?” she asked sitting herself down in the spot next to him, tilting to rest her head against his arm and leaning against him, “As long as we have family we’ll always make it out alright.”

he knew they weren’t going to be evenly matched but it took far too little effort for him to catch tony’s leg just right to pull him close and back him into the nearest wall. it was easy to use his grip and the leverage it offered to pin tony between clint’s body and the wall. “don’t telegraph when you’re gonna kick someone. makes it way too easy to block.”

       Booker hummed a song from years ago quietly as he let himself back into the apartment, taking a moment to kick off his shoes and shrug out of his jacket before he made his way into the living room, smiling at Charlie, "You good, kid?" He had no doubt that the younger could manage by himself while Booker was out but he was still protective of Charlie since he'd basically adopted him.

Len lurked in the door way having followed the speedster when he’d left the other room and had waited until he was addressed to make a comment. Not wanting to overstep or anything. “Sometimes shitty things happen to good people,” he offered, it was the best he had for a time like this.