Who: Scott Lang and Kate Bishop When: After the Body Swap August 4 Where: Stark Tower What: Feels Rating/Warnings: Low/None (talk of feels, minor kissing) Status: Complete when posted
Now that everyone was back to normal, Kate decided to head over to Stark Tower and check in. She had a lot of friends and teammates over there, and poor Peter Parker (who was, like, 17?) who’d been gone for most of the body-switching... And sure, okay, Scott was back in his body, and that was awesome, and Kate had sort of been avoiding him, maybe a little, and she felt bad about it, because it meant she hadn’t seen Cassie in a few days, and… well, she’d kissed Scott. And she’d meant it. Even though she was a little drunk, she’d still meant it. ...even though he was in Jan’s body. God, this was awkward.
Anyway, she checked in with the gal in the lobby, then headed upstairs carrying a box of donuts and a large thermos of really good coffee. Welcome home to your own body! Here, make it hyper and fat.
The elevator let her off into the living room area of the big, living space, and she lifted her sunglasses to the top of her head. “Hello? I brought a welcome home present.”
Scott Lang hadn’t exactly made himself present the last few days, either. If you asked him it wasn’t because he was avoiding her —
— but it was definitely because he was avoiding her.
So when the sound of Kate’s voice interrupts his morning fridge rummaging, Scott stops.
And he doesn’t move.
Then suddenly, his body begins functioning normally again; he shuts the fridge door as casually as he thinks he should be shutting it and calls back in what he thinks is a normal tone of voice:
“Hey, I’m in the kitchen!"
Oh dear. Kate was hoping that the first person she’d see in Stark Tower would be someone other than Scott. She was hoping for Jan or Peter or Cassie. Not that she didn’t want to see Scott--she liked Scott. She like liked Scott. But they hadn’t actually talked since the night when she kissed him… and they probably should have.
Kate brought the donuts and coffee to the kitchen and set them on the counter. “Hey.” She said, awkward and shy. Two very un-Kate-like qualities. “You wanna donut?”
"Yeah," Scott returns, very casually. "You got chocolate with sprinkles?"
Totally smooth.
“Of course I did. What do you take me for, some kind of donut amateur?” It was supposed to be a tease or a joke or something. She smiled as she opened the box on the counter and displayed the donuts. They looked beautiful. Glazed, sprinkles, chocolate, you name it.
“I brought coffee, too.” She said, turning to lean back against the counter. She crossed her ankles and looked over at him.
Scott might be in his mid-30s, but that doesn't stop his eyes from lighting up at the stunning display of donuts spread out before him. He attempts to take it back a few notches, but doesn't manage to reign it back until he's taken his first bite of donut.
"So," he says, leaning against the side of the counter. "What have you been up to these last few days?"
Besides missing you?. She wanted to say it, but wouldn’t. Couldn't. She didn't want to make this any more weird than it already was. Awkward. Did he know that she liked him? Like liked him? Or did he think she was just drunk and ... a little slutty? Did he still think she had the hots for Jan?
"Oh, y'know... enjoying the entertainment of people in each other's bodies. I mean, it kinda died down a little, but it was pure fun for a while there." She was teasing again. "How's it feel to be back as you?"
Scott wonders if she remembers. He's pretty sure she didn't remember. If she remembered she definitely would have brought it up by now. She hadn't brought it up yet, ergo, she did not remember.
"Oh, it's nice," Scott says, nodding. "Already re-accustomed to all the old aches and pains."
"Are you ready do go out dancing again?" Kate asked, finally breaking into one of her classic grins again. Thinking about how much fun they'd had when Scott was in Jan's body, even though she was pretty tipsy (read: drunk), was a happy memory. Even if later there was the kissing thing. That made her cheeks blush.
"Uh," Scott says. The syllable hangs there in the air for awhile. "Yeah. Yeah, that'd be great."
Scott takes a bite of his donut and briefly glances down at the floor. Stark really didn't skimp out on flooring. He pops the rest of the donut into his mouth and reaches for a coffee. He looks up at Kate, but doesn't quite make eye contact when he finally opens his mouth to speak again.
"I don't remember much the other night, but I'm sure it was a good time."
Kate's face fell a little at his lackluster reply. She didn't do a very good job of hiding her disappointment. Thankfully, it was just a flash, though, and then she was forcing the smile back on. "I mean, if you want to. If you think you're up for it. If not, it's no big deal."
She shifted her weight, thinking maybe... maybe she pushed too much. Maybe she'd taken things too far. Maybe she'd put too much into it in her mind. She should just... let it go. He was obviously not interested.
"You don't remember?" Kate asked. "...you don't remember anything?"
Scott suddenly felt trapped again. He was a terrible liar, and now he was a terrible liar who felt bad about being a terrible liar.
"I'm sure that I don't remember everything, but there's some things I remember."
Scott shifts uncomfortably where he stands. He's feeling bad. Oppressively bad. Like he was six years old and locked his mother out of the house and let the dog out of the bathroom bad. Scott Lang hadn't felt that bad since he found out Hank and Hope were on the run because of him.
Hope. Scott lets out a breath.
"I do remember dropping you off, though," he says, finally.
"Oh, that's good." Kate broke into a much warmer and more genuine smile. She decided to stop pushing. She decided to ignore her feelings. She decided these things, and then some of the pressure lifted. "I mean, I was gonna say... you were nowhere near as drunk as I was." That was a tease. She leaned in a little, practically punctuated the sentence with a wink.
And then he said something about dropping her off. Kate's cheeks flushed even deeper. "Thank you for that. Uh... did I tell you that Billy wasn't actually home? I thought he was, but... he'd gone back home to tell Teddy where he was, so... I was on my own that night."
Scott is still trying to feel out the situation.
"No, you told me he was there," he says, eyebrows furrowed. Clearly, she was in good health now, but that didn't stop him from worrying about how she was then.
He should have checked in on her the next morning. Why didn't he check in on her the next morning? Yeah, because he was being weird about the kiss.
It's all Scott can do to hold back a groan.
“You okay?”
Yeah, she hadn't talked to him since. At least, not face to face. They'd talked briefly online, and flirted a little, and... y'know. Stuff. She remembered telling him that Billy was home. She remembered him telling her to have Billy make her a bacon sandwich. And she remembered kissing him, and she remembered him--well, not kissing her back, exactly, but not pushing her away in disgust, either.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Kate asked, folding her arms across her stomach.
"I mean," Scott gestures vaguely, still holding his coffee cup. "You kinda had a lot to drink. I hoped Billy'd be there in case, you know."
Scott gestures again, hoping that Kate can get what he's saying via osmosis so he doesn't have to describe what happened the last time he was totally plastered. He was pretty sure Maggie qualified for sainthood after that.
Still, he's got things to be worried about beyond Kate's physical condition.
"Are we --" Scott gestures with the coffee cup for the third time in two minutes, drawing an invisible line out to her and back to him "-- okay?"
In case she threw up in her sleep and asphyxiated and died? Yeah, it was at least a relief that he cared about her that much. That's what friends did, though, right? #friendzone. Oh, well.
"Yeah, I was okay. I mean, I made it to bed. I didn't throw up. I really wasn't that drunk," Kate confessed, cheeks suddenly burning again. She turned to pour herself some coffee, too, after grabbing a mug from the top rack of the dishwasher.
She paused at his question. They were okay, she thought. They weren't great. She would have loved if they were better, but she'd sort of convinced herself that wasn't even a possibility. So, they were okay.
"Yeah." Kate turned to look at him, curiously and maybe a tiny bit hopefully. "Why wouldn't we be?"
She was really going to make him say it, wasn't she?
"Because of the whole... kiss thing," he says, finally. He takes a long swallow of his coffee, thankful for the excuse to not have to open his mouth for awhile.
"Ohh, are you upset I didn't use more tongue?" Kate asked, straight-faced.
Scott promptly starts aggressively choking on the contents of his cough. "What?" he somehow manages to get out.
It may have been really horrible. Kate was pretty awful. But the way he reacted was absolutely priceless. She laughed at first, but started to worry that he might actually be dying over there.
She reached a hand over to pat his back. "...It was a joke. God, you're not gonna die on me, are you? I'd have to explain it to Cassie, and I think she'd hate me."
"I'm pretty sure she likes you more than she likes me, anyway," Scott says, once he's managed to regain full use of his esophagus. "And she's known me nine years. That should have been plenty enough time to curry favor with her."
Scott doesn't say anything about the kiss beyond what has been said already. Not yet.
So the joke didn't go over very well. Kate was really just trying to break the tension between them. Consider it broken? She felt a little better, but... they couldn't avoid talking about it--the kiss--forever. At least, Kate didn't want to.
"It's okay. I'll put in a good word for ya." She patted his back once more, then brought both hands to wrap around her coffee cup. "So um... the kiss. About that kiss. God, this feels like a bad rom-com. Think we should talk about it?"
"Probably," Scott says. "It'd be the adult thing to do."
"Where's the fun in that?" Kate smirked, then lifted the mug to her lips for a quick sip. Maybe coffee would help this situation. Maybe she just wasn't awake enough yet for this. She lowered the cup once more and took a deep breath.
Why was her heart hammering so hard?
"I'm sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." She spoke softly, fingers fiddling with the handle of the mug.
"You didn't offend me," Scott says quickly before she can get the wrong idea. "You just --"
He takes a breath.
"You just caught me off-guard."
"Oh." Kate blinked up and over at him. What did that mean? Off-guard? Her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to figure out what he meant... well, he'd been in Jan's body. He was probably on edge to begin with. And then she'd thrown a huge wrench into the works and done something stupid and forward and probably made him... y'know... really confused. Or something.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. It was almost a question. ...was she supposed to be sorry?
"No, don't apologize," he says. Scott takes another breath. He's sure she's as uncomfortable as he is right now. Maybe moreso because she's the one who initiated the whole kissing thing.
He really should provide some kind of assurance that she hadn't screwed everything up. She hadn't. There were probably just things they needed to talk about. And the fact that he was avoiding them probably wasn't helping Kate make a case against the "believing she had screwed things up" mentality she was clearly beginning to subscribe to.
And Scott Lang knew exactly what it was like to subscribe to that particular mentality.
"I enjoyed it," he says, finally.
There, it's out on the table. He looks over at Kate as if to wordlessly communicate the ball's in your court now.
Another "oh" escaped her before she could stop it. She'd probably filled the "oh" quota on this conversation now, and after this point would be charged extra each time she said it. Though that wasn't much of a danger because now she wasn't sure what to say. He'd enjoyed it? Well, that was good, right? She'd enjoyed it, too. That's why she'd done it.
"Me, too." She said, somewhat unnecessarily. Then she realized he probably needed more than that. Or she should say more than that. So she went on, "it wasn't because I was drunk. I mean, I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't, I don't think. But... y'know. I... meant it." The last line came out very softly; almost a whisper.
Scott sets the coffee down on the counter and for a second, doesn't say anything. He knows he should say something, though, which is why he's hurriedly scrambling to put his thoughts on this in some semblance of working order. Unfortunately, the resulting image was abstract and Scott only had the vaguest idea of what it was and what it meant.
So what does he say?
"How much did I tell you about what was going on before I got here?"
“You mean the quantum realm fever dream?” Kate asked, recalling their conversation about starting a band, back when she had no idea the feelings that were going to develop.
Scott rubs the side of his nose. Where does he even start?
“No,” Scott says, rubbing the side of his nose. “I mean, yes, that’s part of it, but it’s probably not the important part.”
What is the important part? Scott’s not even really sure.
“Maggie was the first love of my life. She split after I screwed it big time with the whole Vista thing. And yeah, I deserved it.” Maggie once again qualified for sainthood for dealing with it as long as she did. Things hadn’t exactly been glowing before he decided to break into the CEO’s house and crash his Bentley into a pool, but they definitely tanked afterwards. Scott could at least admit that he was responsible for most of it.
“After that, I wasn’t dating for awhile. First because I was in jail, and dating doesn’t really work when you’re in jail unless you’re writing letters to someone and I always thought that weird. And when I got out, the whole Ant-Man thing happened and then there was Hope, and things weren’t great for us at first, but then they clicked.”
Hope had plenty of reason to be resentful towards him, too.
“But then I decided to go fight the Avengers with Captain America even though I knew it could end with my incarceration, and my arrest led to her and her dad going into hiding. So things kind of broke off then, too.”
That was on him, too.
“But then, right before my house arrest is about to end, she and her dad came back into my life and things were weird at first, but they got better and I don’t know where they are now. And I don’t know where they were when I left."
Mostly because he ended up in the Quantum Realm before they could really have that serious talk.n
This wasn't exactly what she was expecting when he asked if he'd told her what was going on before he got to Preya. They'd been talking about the kiss one second, then he asked something that felt like a non-sequitur. Kate did her best to take these things in stride, though. (After all, even when taking random tangents in conversation with Scott, the time was well spent.)
And then he started talking about his exes. Kate's neck felt warm. She didn't look into his eyes, giving him a little privacy for his walk down memory lane. It was... different than his story in her World. At least, what she knew of it.
He got to the crux of the story quickly, though. Someone named Hope. Kate realized quickly this was the I have a girlfriend speech. Her face fell. Her heart fell a little, too. She struggled to hide her disappointment.
Another "oh" slipped out. "Oh. It's cool. I mean, it's no big deal. I promise I'll never do it again. The kissing thing, I mean." Now she felt incredibly foolish. "I didn't realize you were... y'know. Unavailable."
“That’s the thing: I really don’t know what we are,” he says. “I didn’t really get a chance to find out. We broke up after the whole Captain America fight thing, just like Maggie and I broke up after the whole I just broke into the CEO’s home and returned millions of stolen dollars back to our clients thing.”
Now that he mentions it, there are distinct similarities there: Scott had something good, did something astronomically stupid even while having a good understanding of the consequences he’d face if things didn’t go perfectly, and the women in his life ceremoniously decided he wasn’t worth the cut.
And honestly, he couldn’t blame them.
“The only reason Hope came back into my life was because she thought I could help them rescue Jan. And before you ask, that Jan. Hope’s her daughter.”
Just saying this all aloud really hits it home how incredibly complicated this situation is right now.
“We rescued Jan and things seemed tentatively okay, but I honestly don’t know what things are right now, because before we could actually talk about anything, I wound up here. So I’m not really sure what we are right now."
So, he had... something. With someone else. Kate nodded, finally turning back to look at him. She had no idea what all this meant. Well, she knew what it meant for him. He was waiting. Wondering. He was in limbo. But what did it mean for them? Was she in limbo, too, because he was? Or was he telling her all this to gently turn her down? If that was the case, it was one of the most confusing brush-offs she'd ever had.
She spoke a simple, "okay." Kate didn't want to get in the way if he was something with someone else. She was disappointed, and it showed. This time she didn't try to hide it. The kiss had been a tiny piece of magic, and she'd had so much fun getting to know him. Not to mention his incredible hotness. It was disappointing that someone she'd clicked with so well was... Whatever he was.
"It's okay. I get the message." Her nose started to burn. "No problem."
Oh no, she’s getting the wrong idea. Scott knows that look well, and he needs to say something and so he does.
“I…” And those next few words come out considerably more difficultly than Scott ever expected. “…like you, Kate. I wouldn’t be talking to you about this if I didn’t. I’m just a really complicated person and I screw up and I have a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, but most of the time I still have no idea what I’m doing.”
All true.
“People get tired of that. People don’t like complicated. And right now, you’ve got me being complicated and you’ve got my situation being complicated and I don’t fault you if you don’t want any part in either one of them."
The words I like you came out of his mouth, and Kate felt something akin to emotional whiplash. He did? Really?
“I don't think you're the only one in the room with baggage, Scott.” After so many years of dealing with Clint, Kate was used to complicated. “I mean, I've got a thing for my dead best friend's dead dad.” Even when things were emotionally serious, Kate couldn't help but crack a joke.
She grew serious again. The fact that he just admitted he liked her gave her a lot of courage. “I'm okay with complicated. I don't need or expect anything serious, but… I feel like there's something good here. I think we'd regret not giving it a try.”
Scott visibly relaxes.
“Oh, thank god,” Scott says, leaning his head back to focus his gaze up at the ceiling. “I was so worried I’d screwed that up and then things would really be weird between us.”
There was enough weirdness to go around already.
He looks over at Kate.
“Do you want to kiss for real now?"
“As if that wasn't weird enough?” Kate asked with a laugh. She, too, was incredibly relieved. And suddenly excited and a little nervous.
She met his gaze with a twinkle in her eye and a bright smile on her lips. “Absolutely.”
Scott really hopes that his breath smells and/or tastes okay. Coffee wasn’t exactly a pleasant taste to experience secondhand.
Still, he’d made the suggestion, she’d accepted, and it was going to happen, coffee breath or not.
Scott closes the space between them, then leans down and kisses her, his lips slightly parted.
Somehow, this felt a lot nicer in his own body.
Kate had been imagining and envisioning this moment for a while now. She couldn’t stop smiling as he stepped in closer, feeling like a silly teenager with a crush. And then her hands pressed gently against his chest, she went up on her toes, and she met his lips with her own.
They’d both been drinking coffee and eating donuts. But in the thrill of the moment? That didn’t seem to matter.
When Scott finally pulls away, it’s with a smile. He has a hard time not smiling after he kisses someone, but he especially has a hard time not doing it now.
“I’d say we should do more of it, but there’s enough people living here that I’d be worried we’d get found out.”
A beat.
“Not that I mind that people know,” he says quickly. “I just don’t think we should tell Cassie yet.”
Cassie. Kate had been thinking about Cassie a lot. Not just how great is it to have my best friend back? but also OMG I’m majorly crushing on her dad! Is Cassie gonna flip? Kate really, really hoped that Cassie wouldn’t flip. Kate really, really liked Scott. She really, really wanted this to be… it?
“Yeah.” Kate took a half step back from Scott, lowering her hands. She didn’t want Cassie to find out because Jan walked in on Kate and Scott kissing, or because Peter happened to see them and thought it was public knowledge. “No, I like that.” Kate turned to Scott with a little smirk tugging on her lips. “It’s our little secret.” "I wanna be the first to tell Jan, though."
Obviously, the most important confession right now. Right now being the keyword here. Cassie was definitely (eventually) going to be the most important.
"I know we neither one of us probably wants to jump right into serious talk two minutes after we shared our first sober kiss in our rightful bodies, but I really don't want to screw this up." Scott could probably cope with another breakup, especially if the two of them were just doing the whole "casual" thing for now. That didn't mean that he wanted to.
"So if there's anything I should know or anything you want me to tell you, now seems like a good time to do that."
God, it was refreshing to hear him say things like I really don't want to screw this up. It was almost as good as I like you. Kate's toes were curling at his words, the adorable smile on his face, the glint in his eye. She wanted to curl against his chest and cuddle. Or have a pillow fight. Kate was like a cat--she could change directions on a dime.
Kate's face fell to a much more serious expression. "Well, I did kill a man once." She said, lifting her coffee mug off the counter. "And then there's the marriage in Vegas. Which led to the killing. Doesn't really count, right? He was just a gigolo."
Scott lets out a silent laugh, his shoulders shaking.
"Oh yeah, well, who hasn't?" Scott follows Kate's cue and takes his own coffee into hand and takes another long sip. Coffee breath or not, Kate seemed to enjoy it. It's hard not to be happy about that.
"If we're going to make it official, you're going to have to let me take you out for dinner," he says, once he's finally pulled the cup away from his face.
“Mmm,” Kate hummed in dissent, shaking her head a little. Then she swallowed her sip of coffee. “I dunno about that. I mean, I’d be willing to date you. But go on dates with you? That might be pushing your luck.” She couldn’t help the smile that crept on her features by the end of that tease.
“Tomorrow night?” She asked.
Scott smiles. Really smiles. He's been really smiling for the last few minutes now to the point where his face is actually starting to hurt, but he can't help it.
"Only if you pick the place," Scott says. “Think you’d be down for a double date?”
There were few times in Kate's life she could remember things getting off to such a good start. He was handsome and smart and loving, and he liked her. Cassie was a bonus, too--the more time she spent with Scott, the more she'd get to spend with Cassie. (Fingers crossed.) It was hard not to be incredibly excited over all of this.
"I would absolutely be down for a double-date, provided we get to do dessert in private." It was absolutely flirtatious. And she absolutely meant do dessert to be a double-entendre.
"Who would we be going with?"
"I think I can arrange that," Scott says. "And I was thinking Jan and her boyfriend." A beat. "Or not-boyfriend, I don't really know her relationship status with Huggle."
Was that his name? Scott can't really remember. But inviting Jan definitely meant that he'd have to find someone else to keep an eye on Cassie.
Maybe Peter? He seemed pretty responsible.
“Wait, who’s Huggle?” Kate asked, frowning. She set her empty coffee cup into the sink and turned to face him. “I thought she was interested in Bucky.”
“The dragon g--” But before Scott can get the full answer out, Kate says the whole line about Bucky.
And Scott, despite himself, is surprised. He should have known given Jan’s reaction the other day, but somehow it didn’t register. She’d insisted that they were just friends from home.
“Jan has two boyfriends?”
Kate gave a little, yelp of a gasp, and clapped her hand over her mouth. Was she supposed to say that? Was it a secret? OH SHIT. She shouldn't have said anything!
After a moment she lowered her hand, but her eyes were still wide. "They're not her boyfriends! I'm not sure they're even technically dating! Oh, Crap, I really wasn't supposed to say anything, please don't say anything to her."
"I won't," he says. "As long as you don't mention anything about the other guy."
Scott extends his finger in the most Solemn of Promises. The Pinky Promise.
"I swear it." Kate reached a hand forward and wrapped her pinky finger around his. That made it a done deal.
Finally, she broke into a small smile again, and used her finger still wrapped around his to draw in close. "You'd tell me if you were seeing other girls, wouldn't you?"
"Trust me, I'm not seeing anyone else," he says. "Other than you and Jan, I'm not exactly drowning in women."
That much was true.
"And I'm not sure Jan could use a third boyfriend."
Not that he was interested, anyway. Jan'd become more of a little sister than anything else.
"Good." Kate broke into a bright grin at her own response. "Because... well, I'm not really good at sharing. And I'm a hair-puller. I'm not ashamed."
She went up on her toes to tap a quick kiss against his jaw, then released his pinky and pulled away. "I feel like we should... I don't know. Do something. Together. You and me. You know?"
"Now?" Scott asks. He's certainly not opposed to it. Not after he gets a shower and into some real clothes, anyway.
"Yeah." Kate leaned back against the counter again, looking over at him. "Now. You wanna go play?"
Hopefully they could get someone to hang out with Cassie. Or did she have camp this week? Kate lost track a little bit of Cassie's schedule after she drunk kissed Scott and they spent a few days apart.
Scott tilts his head slightly to one side. “Play what?”
Kate shrugged gently. “Anything. Everything?”
For a second, Scott appears to be thinking. Then suddenly, it comes to him in a single spark of brilliance.
“Okay,” he says finally. “Let me get dressed. We’re going to putt-putt.”
Yes. Kate's smile lit up her face. A mini golf date sounded perfect. They could steal kisses between holes, act like teenagers all over again. Kate was excited.