Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So why are we following this guy again?” asked Sky looking out the car window at the short blonde man that they had been following for the past twenty minutes. She was bored as she twisted the bracelet on her wrist, restricting her from the web unless she was authorized by Coulson. Simmons and Fitz looked eagerly to Coulson, they had been wondering the same thing, he must be very important to pull them away from the site of the alien confrontation at the college. Coulson had been unusually tight lip about this man and the wrinkle between his eyes was deeper meaning he was worried about it.

Coulson looked up from the report he was reading to look at her, knowing he couldn’t put it off any longer he had to tell his team what was so special about this man they were tailing. “He’s a person of interest, during the alien invasion this past week he took control of a squad of police and helped to evacuate civilians and fought against the dark elves. After the fight he helped treat the wounded.”

Sky looked at Simmons, before looking at Coulson, “That’s good and all by why does that concern us?” she probed knowing that there must be more to the story, maybe he took a piece of alien tech.

Coulson pursed his lips, “It is what happened afterwards in the cleanup” bringing up the screen on the dashboard he started a video stream. “This was captured by a nearby security camera that surprisingly hadn’t been destroyed in the conflict.” The team watched as this man walked into the screen. His eyes were scanning the area around him, until he suddenly tripped over something. The man looked at the offending object and reached out to pick it up. To everyone’s shock they recognized what was in man’s hand.

“Is that what I think it is?” demanded May as the video paused on that frame.

Coulson nodded, “Yes this man, Dr. John Watson is holding Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.”

John glanced in the shop’s window, confirming that the black van was still following him. This worried John, if it was Mycroft the car would have already pulled up next to him with the familiar get in. But it had been almost a year since his last kidnapping, ever since Sherlock had jumped off the roof of St. Barts.

With all the strange things happening, portals, alien standoffs, a sudden tail was worrying to John and he deliberately walked in the opposite way his flat was while also going down streets that had the most CCTV cameras in place. Even though Mycroft didn’t kidnap him, he still kept an eye on the Doctor, a fact that John learned a month after Sherlock when he had been jumped by a few thugs. They had made off with his wallet and left him unconscious in an alley. When he woke up in the hospital he had been surprised to see the umbrella man sitting next to his bed reading the newspaper, John’s wallet was sitting on the bedside table.

Mycroft had informed him than that despite what had happened between them, John was still under his protection whether he like it or not. After that Mycroft had popped up once every few weeks to check up on him. John wondered if Mycroft even realized that he had been a part of the battle that happened with the aliens but considering Mycroft was dealing with the aftermath of an alien invasion he probably had not time to check up on what John had been doing. Especially since he shouldn’t have had any reason to be at the College in the first place.

He hadn’t meant to go anywhere that day except to Tesco, but Lestrade had called him for a repayment of a favor, so even though John had hated anything to do with NSY he went to help Greg, the one who risked a lot to call Sherlock to warn him. John suspected that the only reason Greg hadn’t been in bigger trouble was because Mycroft had a hand in it, just as he had a hand in keeping John from being arrested for chinning the Superintendent.

Greg was the only reason that he went to the scene and then accepted a ride back in the patrol car. They had been passing the Old Royal Naval College when it seemed the sky ripped open and a huge something broke through something that wasn’t of this world. Lestrade had sworn and pulled over and watched horrified as the alien ship cut through the Thames and into the ground surrounding the collage.

John found himself getting out of the car, an example many of the Yarders followed as they all parked behind Lestrade.

“What the hell is that?” Anderson whispered, his mind simply refusing to accept what was happening in front of him.

John could hear Sherlock whispering Idiot in his mind at that statement, “Nothing from this world” breathed John, both terrified and fascinated by what was going on. He had heard rumors of strange things going on around London, places where things disappeared seemingly into nowhere. The naked man on the news running around naked at Stonehenge talking about different realms, and that Thor had landed in London. Remembering the reports of aliens trying to take over Manhattan and the sudden reappearance of Thor, John had a feeling that these guys we not coming in peace.

Like shrugging out of a coat, John shrugged off his good Doctor personality and Captain Watson took his place. “Lestrade” he barked, making the man stand to attention. “We need to evacuate civilians, whatever this is we need to get people out of here, and call in for back-up. Let’s move people!” he ordered, surprised and happy when everyone jumped to do what he said, Lestrade called in for back up while a group of officers broke from them and headed towards the building to start evacuate. John instructed whomever was left to bloke off the perimeter to try to keep people from trying to approach the situation. John had taken the remaining officers and crept closer to get a handle on the situation. It was from behind a pillar that John watched a group of aliens coming off the ship following one that looked like half his face had been melted off. The aliens barely managed a few steps before everything went to hell as Thor dropped down from the sky and thus bringing about the beginning of the fight.

One good thing about the starting of the fighting was that people were more willing to leave instead of taking photos of the aliens. John was relieved that he had brought his Browning as fired a few shots at the approaching aliens. He briefly barked out directions with the radio that Lestrade had given at the police force that was now under his command. He ducked down next to Lestrade when the aliens returned fire.

“This sure as hell isn’t my division” cried Lestrade curling further behind the pillars, the blast from the aliens gun sending shrapnel in the air as they hit the pillar they were ducked behind. It was absolute craziness, Thor was sending shockwaves through the air causing glass to shatter and debris fly all over the place. The lead alien liked to blast Thor with a red substance that rocked Thor backwards.

John turned to give Lestrade a shark smile, feeling more alive than he had in months as adrenaline pumped thickly through his veins. “Just like the good old days” he said before breaking cover to help a few kids that were pinned down and unable to escape.

 During his time of ducking and helping innocents escape, he noticed the two people a man and a woman with a strange device that seemed to activate the metal rods that looked to be pounded in the ground around the college. He had briefly wondered what they did until he was caught in the zone and found himself outside of the college with two other people a girl and a boy. John trying to get his bearings, didn’t pay much attention to them until he was pushed out of the way as cars came raining down from the sky.

“You saved me” said the girl to the boy and John watched as she pulled him down into a kiss and suddenly John was back inside the college looking at the two people with the strange device. John nodded at them briefly not waiting around for an explanation before running back to where his people were. He had a feeling that the situation was out of his hands as he looked up into the sky and saw the circles that were windows into the different realms drawling closer and closer together almost lining up overhead. John called a retreat and with the rest of the Yard they ran back to the perimeter they had set and watched as the red spiraling substance rose to where the worlds with lining up.

“My God” whispered Donavan hand reaching out to clutch at John’s elbow, fingers digging into the beige jumper an anchor in all the strangeness going around them. John had wondered in that moment if it was the end of the world as they knew it when all of a sudden the red cloud was just gone, and a few seconds afterwards the giant spaceship was gone as well and the world was strangely silent as the windows to the realms reached their zenith and slowly began to de-aline and fading away from view.

The next few hours were a blur as John did all he could, helping coordinate the police, digging out trapped people, and helping the wounded. When the most significant event of his life happened, though at the time he didn’t know it.

John had been wandering where the spaceship had been eyes taking in the damage, the ship had caused a lot in such a short period of time. He was to engrossed in the damage around him that he hadn’t been looking at his feet as he wandered. So it was unexpected when he found himself on the ground, pushing himself onto his knees he looked to see what he had tripped on eyes taking in what looked like a hammer.

Frowning he reached out and grasped the handle, feeling a strange tingling running up his arm, like an electrical charge but it only lasted a few seconds and then was gone so John didn’t think much about it. The hammer was heavier then it looked, but felt comfortable in his hand. Standing up he swung it back and forth a few times, sighing as he heard a clash of thunder above him. It would seem that a storm was heading there way and John hoped that he wouldn’t get caught out in it.

“John, John” came the voice of Lestrade, wondering what the DI wanted John set the hammer down were it had been and promptly forgot about it as he walked in the direction the voice was coming from. Not realizing the colossal thing he had just did as seconds later the hammer was summoned by its owner Thor.

“Do we have any information on him?” asked Ward, assessing the man. Short and stocky, and what looked like a bit of pudge hidden by the brown sweater that he was wearing, all in all not a serious threat.

“SHIELD’s working on it but has been blocked for the most part, Sky if you could work your magic” said Coulson reaching into his bag and passing her, her laptop, and continued with the briefing. “We know he’s 37, and ex-army man holding the rank of Captain.”

“I thought you said he was a Doctor,” said Fitz looking at the man who seemed unaware he was being followed.

“He was, he was an Army Doctor got wounded almost two years ago and was honorable discharged” returned Coulson.

“I thought Doctors didn’t get close to the front?” questioned Simmons, trying to shake the feeling that she had heard of John Watson before, but couldn’t place him. But she hoped that they could finish soon so that she could go to her favorite café Speedy’s before they left London again.

Coulson sighed, “They usually don’t, but like most of Dr. Watson’s past it has been sealed away behind heavy duty firewalls which is why we need Sky. In the meantime, I think we need to bring Watson back to the bus, Director Fury’s orders.”

Just as Coulson had said this, Watson calmly walked down a side alleyway never indicating that he knew he was being followed, the alley was too narrow for the car to follow him and Ward pulled the car over. “May, Ward, we can't lose him” warned Coulson as the two agents got exited the car and made their way to the mouth of the alley.

John had had enough when the car continued to follow him, calmly turning down an alleyway he waited to see what would happen. As expected he heard the slamming of door and footsteps. John pressed himself deep into the shadows and waited as a man and woman walked into the alley. Acting quickly he struck, delivering a blow to the back of the head of the black haired man with precision. As expected the man went down hard, out cold. Unfortunately this alerted the woman and as she turned striking out as she did, John knew that she was the greater of the two threats.

Bringing up his arm, he blocked the woman’s fist that would have connected with his head. This seemed to surprise her for a second and John used it to send his own fist at her that she blocked. They traded blows back and forth and John knew that he wouldn’t be able to win this fight she was just too good, had more experience than he had. A lot of her blows connected, and John was barely able to dodge a fist that would have broken his nose, but landed on his check instead. When she swept his feet out from under him and was only saved by rolling out of the way. Getting to his feet he was happy when the next few punches he threw landed on his target.

He knew the only way out of this fight was to play dirty, letting her connect a blow to his stomach he doubled over feigning weakness as he wheezed, when she made a move to restrain him he struck, tackling her with a tackle that would have made his former rugby coaches proud. Once on the ground he quickly put her into a choke hold, while using his legs to hold down the woman’s arms.

The woman bucked trying to get him off of her but John held firm, “Calm down, trust me I’m a Doctor” he told her. The woman didn’t listen and continued to struggle, although it became weaker and finally she stopped altogether, though John waited a few more minutes until he let her go. Standing up he whipped the blood that trickled from his nose already feeling his face swelling from where she had gotten him. John knew that if he hadn’t gotten a jump on the two he would have been at the mercy of the two. Licking his lips, wincing as his tongue hit his split lip he knelt next to the two and maneuvered them into the recovery position before heading out, but he had only made it a few steps before someone called out to him.

“Dr. Watson stop right there, and put your hands up” came a commanding voice. John sighed turning around smoothly drawling his Browning from his belt flickering the safety off as he faced the new threat.

The man was wearing a suit, not as nice as what Mycroft would wear but nice, he like John, looked ordinary that no one would look twice at them in a crowd of people, but both were old war dogs John could tell by the way he held himself. He held a gun in his hand with ease telling John that he was familiar with one, but it was unlike any gun John had seen before. He looked calmly at John, but his eyes kept flickering towards the alleyway with concern. Obviously worried about the people that John had taken down. Glancing behind the man, he could see three more people in the van looking at John with wide eyes, before looking worriedly at the alley way. John returned his attention back to the man in front of him and his strange gun.

“Whatever you want mate, I don’t have and if I was you I’d leave while you still had a chance” said John calmly, but he knew his eyes were hard as pieces of ice. His stare had made a lot of people back down, and on a memorable occasion it even worked on Mycroft.

The man meet his eyes with a cold stare of his own, and shook his head, “I can’t let you walk away, if you come with me no harm will come to you.”

John chuckled humorlessly, “I could say the same with you, if you let me walk away now you will save yourself a world of trouble. And if you make your mind up quickly you might be able to save your teammates in the alley before they bleed to death.” It was a low blow to say this, but John really didn’t want to shoot the man and John had a feeling that was what it would take to get this man to let him go. So John chose the easiest way to get out of the conflict without harming anymore people, by telling a little lie.

As expected this caused the man to jerk, momentarily lowering his gun. John bolted at this small action using it as an opportunity to run, racing the familiar paths of London streets. He had built a decent mental map of London’s streets and shortcuts while with Sherlock and he used this knowledge now as he escape to a point that he could use a handy skip to get on a fire escape ladder. Once on top of the building he began to race to Baker Street, knowing to go back to his flat would be a stupid mistake and the familiar place would allow him a place to regroup and work out what the hell just happened.

Coulson didn’t even think about chasing after Watson as he darted towards the alley way calling for Simmons to get out of the van. His mind already supplying himself pictures of Ward and May in a pool of blood each more gruesome then that last and swearing he would find Watson not matter what the cost if either one died because of the man.

But all those thoughts stopped when he entered the alley to see May and Ward sitting up looking dazed but otherwise fine. Coulson sagged against the wall, resting his weight against the entry way sighing deeply.  He chuckled a little bit and mentally saluted Watson in his head at the clever bluff Watson had used to escape. From behind him came Simmons, Fitz, and Sky looking worried but that soon disappeared as they saw that May and Ward were okay.

“What happened?” asked Ward wincing as Simmons knelt beside him and began to inspect the back of his head at the lump that was there.

“The good doctor got the jump on us it would seem, took both you and May down” answered Coulson smoothly, running a hand over his face as he sighed. “It would seem that we greatly underestimated him.”

The group looking down at May and Ward couldn’t help but agree and the same thought ran through their head on who the hell was John Watson? All Coulson knew was that Director Fury would not be happy with this piece of news, and now that they had tipped their hand it would be harder than ever to track down this man. For now they would have to regroup, wait for any information Sky could dig up on the Doctor and inspect May and Ward for the full extent of their injuries. Afterwards maybe before they went on the hunt of John Watson again they could stop at that café Simmons mentioned, Speedy’s which if he remembered correctly was on Baker Street.

Chapter Text

Back on the bus, Skye sat eagerly in front of her laptop; relishing the fact she would be able to use her skills once again. Hacking was so natural, the computer code like a second language to her. It wasn't long before she had hacked in the British system and started to look for John H. Watson in their military database, which would be the easiest access point for the rest of his files. She smiled as she found it and began to crack the code, trying to get to the whole file.  Everything was going her way when suddenly she hit a brick wall as someone had cotton onto the fact she was there and made quick moves to shut her out of the system.

Skye giggled, drawing the attention of the whole team as they looked at her as a predatory smirk appeared on her face.

“Let’s see what you got” she murmured, fingers flying over the keys. A few minutes in Skye had to admire her opponent. They were quick and gave no ground and were efficiency trying to kick her out of the system while also protecting the files. But Skye had a lot of tricks up her sleeve and trying a different tactic she smiled with success when she gained more of a foothold in the system and a big part of the file. It would seem that the only thing she didn’t get was the classified information of Watson’s file, the parts that she really needed. Another bit of file was yielded and Skye sensing victory pounced on the opportunity to download more. But her satisfaction soon turned to dread as suddenly she found herself on the defensive as a completely different code entered the field and virus after virus was being downloaded onto her computer while the firewalls in the system grew stronger. Skye swore at the unexpected turn and tried to circumvent the new hacker, but it was no use as it tore through her own firewalls and Skye was forced to yank out the flash drive of information before releasing the sequence of code that would wipe out her computer.

She couldn’t help but swear as she threw the laptop in the seat opposite of her and folded her arms, she had been used to being one of the better hackers out there, it was a tough pill to swallow to be beaten by someone better.

“Did you get anything Skye?” Coulson asked.

Skye sighed, and picked up the thumbdrive and plugging it into the mainframe. “I got the basic over view, I was stopped before I could get to the classified information. Someone really doesn’t want Watson’s file read it’s been a very long time since I’ve had to get a new laptop and I was attached to this one, it had my playlist on it” she grumbled as she pulled up Watson’s file.

A picture of a man in uniform appeared on the screen, Watson looking like he was straight out of college and just entering the army if Skye was any judge and Watson was a fine looking man back in the day. She quickly read off the information she managed to get, “Age 36, retired officer in the British Army, he was medically discharged after receiving a gunshot wound in the shoulder.” A picture of a terrible wound was in the file and Skye winced at the sight. “That was almost two years ago, he returned to London after being discharged and has been here ever since. He served several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s a Doctor, was a Surgeon before being invalid and now works at a local A&E.”

May frowned at the wall of information, “That doesn’t explain how he learned those moves back in the alley way. A member of the medical core wouldn’t have learned those in training.”

Skye looked up from her tablet. “There were several classified folders in his file but I didn’t manage to get them before I was stopped.”

“Do you think you could get them now that you have seen what you have to get past?” asked Coulson. Skye bit her lip but shook her head.

“No, whoever is guarding those files is to good, maybe if I was with some of my old friends we could get past them, but not by myself” she said. Coulson nodded, disappointed but understanding that it wasn’t Skye’s fault.

“What do we do now Sir?” asked Ward glaring at the picture of Watson.

Coulson sighed, Watson was in the wind and they had no lead to where to start looking for him. “We wait until he surfaces again, that’s all we can do for now Agent Ward.”

Simmons and Fitz looked at each other, “While we wait Sir, is it okay if we go get some lunch, there is a lovely little Bistro, Speedy’s that we told you about that makes the best Pastrami sandwiches in London” said Fitz looking hopefully at Coulson. Coulson considered, Skye had managed to hack into the security systems around London and running a facial recognition, and besides staking out his workplace there was really nothing else they could do.

“That’s on Baker Street” he asked and the two nodded. He gave them a small smile, “Alright Team lunch, afterwards we will go back to the college to help the clean up a little more. The program we’re running will alert us if Watson steps in view of the cameras. So off to Baker Street.”

In an office across town….

“There’s been a jump in the number of attempts on hacking into our system. More importantly they have been trying to get into John Watson’s file, the last attempt managed to get most of his information except the highly classified information and the past few years” Athena said knowing without looking at Mycroft that her boss had a frown on his face and she hadn’t even gotten to the worse news. “On reviewing the CCTV footage of John, it was discovered that a few hours ago six people tried to grab John off the street, but John managed to get away and we lost him as he fled across the rooftops. But he popped back up seen going onto Baker Street and it is certain that he is in the flat.”

Mycroft defiantly growled at that, he should have been on top of this, John Watson was his responsibility, and he had promised Sherlock that he would keep him safe. Mycroft considered John a part of his family a worthy feat in itself, and people should know better than to mess with his family. He cursed the alien invasion, the political shit storm it had generated was a nightmare, Mycroft had barely managed a few hours of sleep since it had happened between handling the British Government, the World Council, and SHIELD, beside knowing that John was unhurt in the invasion Mycroft had let him be pushed to the side and his security had went lax as most of his minions were off in the field trying to clean up this mess.

“Gather a team, were heading to Baker Street until all this mess is straightened out he is going to a safe house. I’m sure that Mummy would enjoy his company for a few weeks” Mycroft mused as he headed out to the waiting car with Athena trailing behind him. “Were you able to track the hack back to the source?”

“The hacker is in London Sir, and seems to be American, but they shut down once they realized I had breached their defenses, they scrubbed the hard drive before any important data was pulled from it, all we did manage to get was a playlist Sir.”

Mycroft tapped his umbrella against the seat, trying not to be amused, Athena was the best at her job and it was not often that she didn’t get what she wanted from a computer. But it worried Mycroft, who were these people and what did they want with John?

Fitz wasn’t lying when he said that Speedy’s had the best sandwiches, the team was enjoying their sandwiches and Simmons had even coaxed Skye into trying some of the tea which Skye admitted was pretty good. It was nice just to relax and have a little team building that didn’t involve missions and villains.

May glanced at the door out of habit as the bell over the door sounded and an older woman with reddish hair dressed in a purple shirt and a black skirt walked in. A few people greeted her, and May classified her as a non-threat, the woman went to the counter and placed an order before setting down at a table not too far from the team, when another older woman approached her smiling

“Martha, did I see Dr. Watson earlier” asked the older lady and it took everything in the group to not snap their head to stare at the two older women.

“Yes, the poor dear he asked me if he could stay for a few days. John hasn’t been the same since, well you know” sighed Martha. “It’s been hard for him, they were so close” she smiled sadly. “But it’s good to have one of my boys back in 221 B, where they belong, even if it is for a few days.

The other woman patted this Martha on the shoulder and switched the subject to other things while the mind of Coulson was racing. By pure dumb luck they had stumbled upon their quarry that he was above their heads. May raised an eyebrow and Coulson nodded wiping his mouth before standing up motioning the rest to follow him out the door.

“What’s the plan Coulson?” asked Ward as they piled back into their car, just to be sure that they weren’t overheard.

“Infiltrate the building, subdue the target, return to the bus” replied Coulson as he watched the woman that had leaked the information walk out arm in arm with the other woman going down the street. “From the information he is alone in the apartment we know what to expect from him and won't be caught unaware.”

Exiting the car, Coulson took the lead as they went through the street door and started up the steps to the apartment that was labeled 221 B, the rest of the team coming up behind them. The door was unlocked as Coulson tried it and swung open noiselessly.

Simmons eyes widened when she entered the flat behind Fitz. On the wall there was a large yellow smiley face with what looked like bullet holes in it. There was also a picture of a skull on the wall, while a real skull was set on the mantelpiece. Beside the mantle was what appeared to be a cluedo board that had a knife stuck threw it. In front of the fireplace were two chairs that faced each other, a compact red one with a Union Jack Pillow and black leather chair opposite it. The kitchen appeared to have a miniature lab with a microscope and beakers and test tubes, all covered in a fine layer of dust.

There were sounds of movement above them and suddenly the door behind them closed loudly and the agents turned to look at a sheepish Skye as she mouth ‘Sorry’ The movement upstairs stopped and then it started to move.

“Mrs. Hudson, I told you not to get me anything” came the voice of the Doctor floating from the upstairs bedroom getting closer as steps could be heard descending the stairs. Phil, Ward, and May drew their guns as the good Doctor stepped into the living room a fond but annoyed look on his face that immediately smoothed over as he froze when he saw who was in his flat. His hand automatically moved to the back of his waistband to where his Browning was still located.

“I wouldn’t Doctor Watson” said Coulson, his voice hard. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. Just come quietly and no one will get hurt.” John eyes flew around trying to find an escape but he knew it was hopeless there was no choice but to surrender. Slowly he raised his hands up in surrender and the dark haired man stepped forward with handcuffs.

John allowed himself to be disarmed and restrained as the lead agent and the woman kept a gun on him, the other three stood near the kitchen watching the proceeding. John had hoped that by now Mycroft would have realized his predicament. He just hoped that were ever he was going that eventually Mycroft could get him out of. “Who are you people?” he asked as the cuffs were dug into his wrists.

The man in the suit answered, “We're Agents of SHEILD, Dr. Watson” and that was all he said as the dark haired agent grabbed him by his elbow, his other hand still holding the gun as he began to led John towards the 17 stairs that lead to the outside.

The door was suddenly slammed open and Ward saw a woman in a skirt before his gun was being kicked out of the way. But before he could engage more men flooded the small apartment and the SHIELD team found itself at these men in black’s mercy. The woman who had entered first was kneeling next to Watson, who someone had found himself on the floor. The younger members of the team, Skye, Fitz, and Simmons flinched from the cold hard glare and low growl that came from the woman as she worked on getting the cuffs off of Watson, quietly murmuring what sounded like apologizes for being late, that he would get to the bottom of this. Coulson briefly wondered who he was as he and the rest of his team were forced to their knees with their hands on top of their heads. But no answer was forthcoming as the men in suits stood silently, waiting when the sound of the door to the street was opened and closed.

All eyes turned towards the door as a steady tapping came from the stairs, and all waited with bated breath as a man slowly and confidently walked through the door with an umbrella in his hand. Cold gray eyes surveyed the scene making Simmons and Skye shudder with the power of it. It seemed to dissect every little detail, making them feel so exposed. The power seemed to roll off this man, and Skye knew that this was not a man to cross.

Meanwhile Coulson was trying to figure this new man out. If it was another interested party he knew that the woman wouldn’t have released Doctor Watson. But nothing in the information Skye had gotten from Watson’s files told of someone of this magnitude in the man’s past. So the question was who this, and what had he gotten his team into?

Mycroft leaned on his umbrella, John was safe, Athena would have hurt anyone that would touched the Doctor. It never stopped surprising him the soft spot the woman had for John Watson. It must have had something to do with the man’s jumpers, but Mycroft had get to prove it. But now that he was assured that he was safe he could put on a little power display and find out why SHIELD was after John.

“Agent Coulson, my you have good color for one who died a few months ago, it must have been because of the beaches in Tahiti” said the man in the suit, twirling his umbrella. Coulson twitched at the mention of the event, warning bells going off in his head that the man was even more dangerous than previously thought.

Mycroft let a slow smirk spread across his face as the twitched he garnered out of this man, also noting that the smile seemed to unnerve the rest of the little group, while John seemed to stiffly the urge to roll his eyes.

“You seemed to have me at a disadvantage Sir, you know my name but I do not know yours” replied Coulson.

“I would be surprised if you did” replied the man, “Nicholas is usually the only one I deal with when I deal with SHIELD.” May kept her face blank but felt a sense of dread, not just anyone would have enough gall to call Director Fury by his first name, this man was either really stupid or he was even more powerful than Director Fury. “I am Mycroft Holmes, and I want to know exactly what you planned on doing with Dr. Watson.”

Coulson eyes widened slightly, he had heard of the man that had taken over the World Council after the Manhattan incident. Fury had admitted that the man wasn’t someone to mess around with he kept the Council in line and they were know more prone to listen to Fury’s advice instead of trying to dictate to him when it came to incidents around the globe.  “We were under orders to bring Dr. Watson in for evaluation” Coulson said carefully. Mycroft stared at the man, tapping his umbrella before turning to John.

“John your laptop?” asked Mycroft, his tone significantly warmer than it had when addressing Coulson.

“Upstairs” replied John, rubbing a hand over his face, with a why me face. Mycroft looked at Athena, but she gave a small shake of her head indicating that even though their men outnumbered the SHIELD agents, his PA was not going to move from her protective stance in front of John. Holding back the urge to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose he motioned for one of the minions closest to the stairs to go into John’s room and retrieve the bit of hardware.

The man did so silently, and Mycroft looked again at the Agents. Agent Coulson, the Calvary, and the dark haired agent, a black ops specialist it would seem, were the ones that needed to be watched. The other three were less of a threat, more technicians than actual field agents. The boy was an engineer, while the girl that reminded Mycroft of Molly was a bio-chemist. They were both young, graduated earlier from the academy; the boy was romantically interested in this girl while the girl saw them as just friends. Both are British in origin, but were recruited to SHIELD and work quite well as a unit. The last girl was basically a civilian, orphan, not so trusted judging by the bracelet on her arm, she was the hacker that got into his systems. It was her computer skills that attracted the attention of SHIELD, as well as the black ops specialist that kept glancing at her with concern. It would seem that the three senior members of this group were very protective of the three younger, each were personally handpicked by Coulson. It was clear if Mycroft threatened the younger ones he could expect retaliation from the other three.

 Nodding to his men, he made a slight motion to the couch. The three younger agents were forced up by their elbows, and as expected the other three tensed ready to burst into action but settled down as all that happened was the three were forced onto the couch. Were the bio-chemist quickly grabbed her fellow agents hands and squeezed. By this time the minion had returned from John’s room with the laptop which he placed on the coffee table beside Sherlock’s old chair.

Athena did not need any promoting to know that she would have to move. So she maneuvered John to stand behind the chair before she sat down and opened John’s computer. Quickly cracking through the password she went into their own network.

From her space on the couch that Skye had been relocated to, she watched in amazement as the woman’s fingers flew over the keyboard. And when the woman glanced up at her with a smirk; Skye knew that this was the person who had out-hacked her.

When her fingers finally stopped moving she turned to look at Mycroft, “The connection with Director Fury is on Sir.” Turning the computer to face her boss, the SHIELD team watched as the face of Director Fury appeared on the screen.

“Mr. Holmes” he said in greeting.

“Nicholas” Mycroft intoned, “When I agreed to allow your agents onto my soil to clean up, that is all that I gave you permission to do” he said in a menacing voice sending shivers down many of the people’s spines including Fury’s. “I did not give you permissio to send your agents to abduct British citizens.”

Fury suppressed the wince, he had hoped that the taking of the Doctor could be done smooth and quietly, without catching the Iceman’s all seeing eye. He had sent his best Agent Coulson to get this done, who rarely ever failed. Now he had to explain himself to Mycroft fucking Holmes.

“Mr. Holmes beside picking up any dangerous objects that were brought by the alien invasion. I have teams that are interviewing all those that were at the college that day” returned Fury, hoping that this was the case, that Coulson hadn't been caught trying to take the Doctor.

“Yes interviewing in one thing Nicholas, yet your agent, Agent Coulson and his team has tried twice today to abduct Dr. John Watson, who I might add is a close personal friend, I dare to go as far as say a part of my family. My Mother is very fond of him” Mycroft said softly, watching as the usual stoic face of Nicholas Fury go slightly ashen. “He is under my protection, and I don’t take kindly to people threatening my family. I have made people disappear for far less and not lose a single ounce of sleep. Now let’s try this again, why did you send your Agents to abduct Dr. Watson?”

Skye gripped Simmons hand hard, both were wondering if today was their last day before being disappeared by this man. She glanced at Coulson who despite trying to appear calm, couldn’t help the look of fear as he looked at his team.

“Mycroft, you're scaring them” came the calm voice of the Doctor, who walked out from behind the chair and gently touched Mycroft's arm. Seeing the look on Coulson’s face had been too much for John, as he had seen the same face on Sherlock at the pool when John had opened the parka to reveal the vest of explosives. He couldn’t help but remember how helpless he felt in that situation, thinking that his best friend was going to die. As always Mycroft seemed to know exactly what he was thinking as his finger gently squeezed his hand as they pushed it off of his suit jacket.

“Apologies” murmured Mycroft looking at the Agents around the flat. Fury couldn’t believe what he had just seen and heard. An apology from the Iceman, because of one man’s reprimand, if they didn’t have the video of Watson picking up the hammer Fury would have Coulson drag him in for this feat because this man was powerful in more ways than one. The apologetic Mycroft soon disappeared and he set his cool gaze at Fury demanding an answer.

Fury let loose the sigh he had been holding in, “During the cleanup our teams discovered a functioning camera in the area of the alien vessel first landed. This was discovered in the same tape.”

On the laptop the video of John walking through the debris started playing. John looked confused why was this so important, while Mycroft watched in shock as John picked up what he quickly identified as Thor’s hammer. Fury stopped it after John put the hammer down and his face reappeared on the screen.

“Now you see Mr. Holmes why we wanted to bring Dr. Watson in.”

Mycroft ignored Fury and snapped to look at John, “You picked up the hammer?” he questioned in disbelief.

John shifted uncomfortably under his gaze still confused, “I just moved it out of the way. What is the big deal? It was just a hammer.”

Chapter Text

Mycroft just shook his head in amazement while the SHIELD Agents shared incredulous looks. “You don’t know the seriousness of that action do you John? I always thought you were a unique man being able to befriend Sherlock, but this just proves it. Only those who are worthy are able to pick up the hammer, and Thor claims that the only people who have been able to lift it was himself and his Father Odin. When he first landed on earth, a whole town tried to lift his hammer from where it landed, even tried pulling it out with a truck.”

John cringed as he always did when someone tried to tell him that he was somehow special, it had been pounded into him as a child that he was nothing and would never be anything. After getting discharged he had faded into the background, even working with Sherlock he was ignored and often referred as Sherlock’s pet or his errand boy. Sherlock and later Mycroft and Athena had been the only ones to look at him since the Army like he was worth something. So being confronted with the fact that he was special he immediately denied it. “Maybe it was just a fluke, as it’s been pointed out I’m just plain ordinary Dr. Watson not anything special.”

Mycroft wanted to shake John when he heard that, few people realized that underneath John’s core of steel was the insecurity that he was nothing. It had taken quite a few meeting with the Doctor to realize this and the unearthment of John’s childhood records to know why. Nathan Watson had a heavy hand when he was drinking and his son was often the target. It amazed Mycroft to read between the lines of the records to realize that it what type of man John was, to raise above all the hardship that to become Doctor, a surgeon and a Captain in the Army, a good and honorable man. When all indicators said he would end up like his Father and sister, a dead beat alcoholic with anger issues.

So after hearing John degrade himself, Mycroft didn’t hesitate to walk until he was in front of John and gently but firmly he put his hands ontop of John’s shoulders and squeezed. John’s eyes rose to meet his and Mycroft looked deep into the Doctor’s eyes, most people would bow down under the weight of his stare but John once again proved how different he was when he held it with no problem.

“John, you are anything but ordinary. You have survived so much, you survived Afghanistan, survived a gunshot that should have killed you, and you didn’t give into despair when you returned to London with no purpose. You befriended my brother, and trust me when I say that you have to be special to do that” Mycroft managed to not to sigh when John turned his face away guilt flashing in his eyes, Mycroft gently shook him. “Sherlock’s suicide wasn’t your fault John, he made his own choices and not anything you or I could have said could have stopped him.”

Simmons gasped as she suddenly realized why Dr. Watson was familiar, “Sherlock Holmes? The Sherlock Holmes! The consulting detective? ” she whispered, mentally kicking herself that she hadn't realized earlier the connection. Her parents had told her all about the detective while she had been in the academy, about his popularity in solving crimes, to the scandal, and finally his suicide.

John looked at her and she cringed at the pain in his eyes. “Sorry” she murmured. John sighed and stepped out from under Mycroft hands and walked past everyone and made his way into the kitchen. Athena made to follow him, but a hand motion from Mycroft had her retreating back to her seat.

“It would be wise from here on not to mention my brother in front of Dr. Watson, they were quite close and the memories are still fresh” said Mycroft softly tapping his umbrella against the ground. They all stood in awkward silence as they heard John move around the kitchen many recognized the sound of the kettle being turned on.

John chose to remained in the kitchen instead of going back out to the living room. He needed some time to sort the feeling that came by the young girls honest inquiry. John mourned Sherlock every day in the past year, visiting his grave at least once a week, more depending on how bad his week was. Some people saw this as proof that they were a couple and John was mourning his lover. But those people were idiots, John looked at Sherlock like one would a younger brother, someone that had to be protected and shown what was right or wrong, in John’s mind Sherlock was the little brother he never had. And despite what Mycroft said John felt that he was at fault for Sherlock’s death. He shouldn’t have let the stress get to him on that last day causing him to snap at his best friend. John regretted calling the man that had such a great heart a machine. So as the kettle whistled John took a deep breath and clenched his left hand, and pushed the feeling back into their box for now and started to prepare a cup of tea.

Conversation had kept on once John had retreated to the kitchen as Mycroft and Fury began to converse.

“It would be beneficial to see if this was a onetime thing, wouldn’t you agree Mr. Holmes” queried Fury.

“Indeed,” said Mycroft, “And easy to arrange since Thor has maintained his residence with Ms. Jane Foster and her team here in London” smirking a little, it was like a one up on Fury to have one of his Avengers here in London.

“Yes, so it would seem. But since the phenomenon Dr. Foster was tracking has passed it won’t be long until she returns to the US” replied Fury. Coulson tried not to roll his eyes as the two more powerful men on the planet started to have a pissing contest, he was relieved when Dr. Watson re-entered the room with a mug of tea and settled in the red chair with the Union Jack pillow, he seemed content to ignore everyone in the room as he sipped on his tea and silence reined in the flat until.

“Yoo-hoo John” came a woman’s voice. Mycroft’s minions acted fast, jerking the other Agents off the ground to their feet and pushed them so they were against the wall while any signs of weapons were quickly put away and the connection with Fury was cut. The only person who didn’t move was John as the door to the flat opened to reveal the elderly lady from the shop. She paused briefly at the sight of so many people in the flat, but seeing John in his chair across from Mycroft she started forward again. “I know you said not to get you anything dear, but you look a bit on the thin side. Really dear you need to take better care of yourself, you are a Doctor after all” said the woman, ignoring the people around her as she deposited the food into the Doctor’s lap.

“Now I expect you to eat that since I bought it, just this once mind you I’m your landlady not your housekeeper” she said with a fond smile, squeezing his shoulder gently.

“Yes Mrs. Hudson” answered John, managing a genuine smile for her. He had missed her, had missed this as he gently took the sandwich out and began to eat it earning a pat on the head from her.

“Good boy,” she said gently before looking at Mycroft. “Now Mycroft are these five friends of yours?” she asked gesturing at the five SHIELD Agents.

“Mere acquaintances, I assure you” answered Mycroft mildly.

Mrs. Hudson hummed in agreement not quite believing it as she looked at the sheer number of Mycroft’s men crowded into the flat and the slightly nervous looks on the younger ones on her couch. “Well if these go out the windows like the last Americans please try to avoid my bins, and I expect you to make sure nothing happens to John, not like the last time” she told the man sternly.

Mycroft nodded solemnly at the woman, “Of course Mrs. Hudson.”

Mrs. Hudson nodded assuredly, “Good, I’ll be downstairs if you need me, heavens knows what trouble will come from SHIELD poking about.”
John paused half way with the sandwich in his mouth when he heard this; he made to lower it when he changed his mind. “I don’t want to know” he mumbled continuing to eat the sandwich he had been given.

“Go out the window?” blurted Skye.

“Yes, American CIA made the mistake of trying to hold Mrs. Hudson hostage. I lost count how many times he was thrown out our window before being dragged up and thrown again” said John taking a sip of tea. “Most London criminals knew better than to touch our landlady, but Americans needed the lesson pounded in them.” His eyes flashed as a predatory mask fell of his features as he looked at the SHIELD Agents. “If you had touched her to try to get to me I would have made that bluff I said about your Agents come true, Agent Coulson, and I wouldn’t have just stopped with those two” he said ominously, shivers ran down the teams spines at the sight of the man that just oozed danger.

But mask fell away and soon it was fuzzy Dr. Watson drinking his tea, looking nothing like that man that just threatened the lives of Coulson’s entire team over the harming of his landlady. Soon he was done and set the mug down on the side table and turned to Mycroft.

“So are we done here or am I about to be kidnapped?” John wanted to curse as he saw the slow smirk take over Mycroft features and before he could protest he was out the door and in the back of a car with Athena beside him.

As they began to move John had the strong urge to be in the same car as Mycroft as they started to make their way across London to where Thor was living. He felt like one of those slides that went under Sherlock’s microscope, as if every eye in the car was on him, well expect for Athena. The Agent had been the one to pull him into the black car with the younger agents leaving the lead car for Coulson and Mycroft. But in the car she had John sitting right next to her, and though she appeared to be on her Blackberry, John knew she was on high alert.

Agent May and Ward seemed okay to just ignoring them, but the other three Agents were looking at him with curiosity in their eyes. Though Simmons seemed a little gun shy after her comments back in the flat.

Tired of the staring he finally addressed the three, “Was there something you wanted?”

The boy looked at the girls before looking back at John, “No not exactly, but what was it like?” asked Fitz. John’s brow creased with confusion not understanding what he was asking.

“What Fitz meant was, what was it like to hold Thor’s hammer” asked Simmons. John opened his mouth to answer except Simmons continued on explaining in scientific jargon what she meant, which he didn’t understand a word but felt that Sherlock would have understood perfectly.

“Woah Simmons, don’t break the Doctor,” cut in Skye she said smiling at the other girl before turning to John. “Sorry sometimes these two get like that, don’t remember that us normal people don’t understand all the science stuff.”

John smiled a little his mind returning to Sherlock once again remembering his great leaps in deduction that made perfect sense to him but were a jumble to everyone else. “It’s fine, and to answer your first question, I didn’t really pay attention when I picked it up it just felt normal to me. I thought at the time it was just a relic from one of the displays in the college.”

Fitz and Simmons looked disappointed that that was all John felt from the experience. Athena chuckled next to him, and John suddenly thought of something. “So how did you track me to Baker Street?” asked John curiously.

“Well it was actually just pure chance,” said Skye, “See we only went to the café because Fitz and Simmons recommended it and we overheard your landlady say you were upstairs.”

John snorted, “Of course, I ran all the way back to Baker Street on top of rooftops for nothing, thwarted by Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Turner.” Then he turned to Athena, “What alerted Mycroft, I thought he was busy with clean up?”

Athena looked apologetic, “Apologize John for not catching it earlier, I caught it when She started to hack your file, the IT branch held her off until I could get there but by that time She had most of your file already.” Athena glared at Skye for a moment before continuing. “We were on our way to Baker Street to put you in a safe house, Mummy will be disappointed to learn you are not coming after all.”

Skye frowned and caught Wards eye in the review mirror and mouthed the word ‘Mummy?’ while John sighed.

“Well I hope you tell Mrs. Holmes that I am sorry for that” John said, hating to disappoint the Holmes matriarch. Ever since meeting Mrs. Holmes he had been charmed by her, well more than charmed really. She reminded him so much of his own dearly departed Mother that sometimes it hurt, even though the memories were only half-remembered Mrs. Watson having passed away while John was still a child. Likewise Mrs. Holmes adored John, taking him in as part of the family the first time they had been introduced. Insisting that John called her Mummy, and treating him as one of her own boys, it had been a shock to John.

“Already taken care of John, though she is disappointed that she won’t see you she told me to tell you to remember to take care of yourself. She’s already lost one son, she doesn’t want to lose another by his own negligence, also please call her Mummy” said Athena with a small smile.

“Tell her I’ll try” said John softly, ignoring the Agents that were looking as uncomfortable as John was feeling. He was astounded that even after a year after Sherlock’s death that she still considered him family. Not even willing to listen as he tried to explain why she shouldn’t, of John and Sherlock's last conversation they had and the day leading up to the Fall. Just like Mycroft wouldn’t leave him be, and telling these people that John was family was more than the man who grew up in a broken home could understand. Besides his sister John had no family and even that they weren’t close. It wasn’t until moving in with Sherlock did he find his family. An annoying older brother in Mycroft, a younger brother in Sherlock, a Mum in Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. Holmes, a father figure in Mr. Holmes, and cousins in Molly and Lestrade, even Athena was like his older sister, how Harry should have been. They were his family and try as he might to isolate himself they would not let him sink into a pit of despair and for that he was grateful.

In the other car, there was silence as the two men rod facing each other and content to ignore the other until Mycroft spoke. “You have questions, Agent Coulson” stated Mycroft looking at the Agent who for the past few moments had snuck a few glances at the man.

“Indeed, I was just wondering how this man who if you read his file is totally average, managed to become close to one of the most powerful men in the world?” said Coulson looking at Mycroft with a curious expression. “I mean how did you even meet him?”

“I kidnapped him and offered him money to spy on my brother,” said Mycroft looking out the window to watch London roll by.

Coulson laughed, thinking that Mycroft was joking but stopping when he saw the expression on his face. “Wait your serious?” asked Coulson.

Mycroft nodded, “My brother had been taken advantage of many times in his life. The nature of his work and extension mine is confidential so when strange new people entered his world I vetted them. If they were willing to take money from me than it wouldn’t stop them from taking money from someone else for information they gathered. John Watson was the first man to say no to me even before I even mentioned a number, he wasn’t even afraid that a strange man had brought him off the street just asked why I didn’t call him on his mobile to arrange the meeting instead of ringing every phone he walked past until he picked up. John decided that night he was on Sherlock’s side and that has yet to change.”

“You see my brother was a difficult man to get along with, most barely tolerated him for five minutes. But John was different, he liked Sherlock because he was Sherlock with all his quirks, and quite shockingly Sherlock liked him, not tolerate, but genuinely liked him and cared about his opinions. John was Sherlock’s first real friend and John was therefore the only one that could keep my brother somewhat in line. One could go as far as to say John was Sherlock’s moral compass and guardian all wrapped up in those hideous jumpers. John Watson is almost always underestimated and quickly proves many people wrong such as yourself and your teammates when you first tried to take him off the street."

"So even though I am shocked to find that John can lift the hammer, I can’t say I am surprised because once again I have made the mistake of underestimating John. I have come to find that John is a walking contradiction and I will never fully be able to solve the puzzle that is John Watson.”

Coulson nodding understanding a little, but one part puzzled him, “What was so different about our brother?”

Mycroft sighed, what a loaded question. “If you asked my brother he would reply he was a high-functioning sociopath. The only thing that mattered to him was the puzzle that came with the Work. He didn’t care for people’s feeling if they got in the way; he made more than one victim cry at a crime scene. This made people think of him as cold and unfeeling, a Freak” he hissed, hating that word. “They mocked him for his talents and shunned him. My brother was once a friendly loving child, but the world made him build impossible thick walls to hide behind. Until John came along, he was the first to tell my brother what he did was brilliant and amazing instead of getting offended that Sherlock had just laid bare his life at his feet. John brought Sherlock’s more humane side out, and made him warmer and more bearable to be around. When the media turned on my brother calling him a fake and a criminal, John was the one of the handful to firmly stay on my brother’s side, never once believing any of the lies, he even punched the Superintendent of Scotland Yard for insulting my brother. After Sherlock’s suicide, John was left to brave the media backlash, suffered through the Yards investigations into Sherlock’s cases and the accusations that he was my brother accomplice for many of these crimes. Though all that he stayed firm in his belief that Sherlock was a genius and not a fraud.”

With that the car went back into silence until they arrived outside of Thor’s residence. John recognized it, Sherlock having had a private case here not long after John had moved in with him. It was in a nicer part of London, and actually not very far from Baker Street by roof tops. Coulson led the way into the building and one uncomfortable lift ride later they were standing in front of a normal door and Coulson knocked on. The door opened to a dark-curled haired girl with bright red lipstick wearing an Iron Man t-shirt with jeans.

“Suit are you here to bring back my I-Pod” demanded the young woman glaring at Agent Coulson as she blocked the doorway.

“I’m sorry Ms. Lewis but I’m here to talk to Thor” said Coulson with a smile “But next time I see Director Fury I’ll ask about it.” It took John a few seconds to realize that this was the girl that he had seen snogging that boy as he had been pulled into the portal.

Ms. Lewis smiled and opened the door, “Sweet, Thor, the Men in Black want to talk to you” she called moving further into the flat. John followed Mycroft and Coulson in, eyes landing on the hammer that threatened to change his life hanging innocently beside the door on a coat rack. They entered the kitchen area where a blond older man was reading a newspaper, but stopped and stared as they entered.

John blinked at the man, recognizing him from the tellie as the naked man that had run about Stonehenge. Apparently he wasn’t as crazy as everyone thought he was.

“Dr. Selvig, how are you today?” asked Coulson.

The man waved him off, “Fine, fine, Thor will be in, in a minute he’s out on the balcony with Jane.”

As if summoned the balcony doors opened and a giant of a man stepped in with a petite woman beside him. John had seen pictures of the Asgardian before, but the man looked so much bigger than his pictures suggested. Tall and muscular he had flowing golden hair with a beard and clear blue eyes that seemed full of joy, but John could also see great sorrow hidden in them. “Thor, Dr. Foster” greeted Coulson with a smile. The Thunder God immediately smiled and stepped forward.

“Son of Coul is does my heart wonders to see you safe and hale my friend. I rejoiced when Heimdall saw that you had survived. What brings you to my Lady’s dwellings?” he asked as he hugged the Agent of Shield. After a few back slaps he was set down and Coulson motioned for John to step forward.

“It would seem that we have found the man that picked up Mjolnir after the Dark Elf attack, Thor this Dr. John Watson” said Coulson.

“Doctor? What’s your field of study?” interrupted Jane from her place beside Thor, her intelligent eyes were looking John over as if his clothing would give it away, and John felt a flash of pain when he realized that Sherlock would have been able to deduce that. Mycroft and Coulson were the only ones who saw the brief second of grief twist John’s face before it smoothed out and he offered Jane a small smile.

“Medicine, I used to specialize in trauma surgery but now I’m more of a GP these days” answered John, Jane opened her mouth to reply when Darcy decided to give her opinion.

“Wait a minute this guy, sweater guy picked up mew-mew?” demanded Darcy, at John’s slightly offended look she quickly added. “Sorry dude, I was just expecting someone with Thor like muscles.” She gestured at Thor’s impressive muscles, compared to Thor John looked even smaller than he usually did.

“The size of the warrior doesn’t matter Darcy, but the size of his heart” rumbled Thor as he glanced up and down at John. “Sometimes the appearance of the warrior hides what he truly is, like the Midgard expression a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Mycroft’s eyes twinkled for the briefest of seconds before his mask slipped firmly back into place. That description was perfect for John, swapped in his fluffy sweater he looked like he couldn’t harm a fly. People gravitated to him since he looked so cuddly and adorable, but those looked past the surface was often surprised at the hard, efficient soldier that didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger when the situation called for it.

“Um, right” said John awkwardly, the tips of his ears lightly read from embarrassment at the comparison. Coulson seemed to have mercy on him and went on to introduce the rest of the team and finally Mycroft. Then Coulson proceeded to tell Thor why they had come and wanting to satisfy his own curiosity if the mortal could pick the hammer again.

“Here my friend” he said placing the hammer on the kitchen table and motioned John forward. John squared his shoulders like he was going to battle as he walked forward ignoring every eye that was on him as he stood directly in front of the hammer. John took a deep breath, certain he was about to be made a fool of, not believing for a second that he was worthy of it. With a steady hand he reached out and grasped the handle before pulling and every breath in the room was held as the hammer was easily raised up from the table.

John looked down in disbelief at the hammer in his hand, wondering why it worked. Lost in his own little world he didn’t see the calculating look in Thor’s eyes. “Mjolnir is a fickle mistress Son of Wat, it seems like she has deemed you worthy of being able to lift her. But I wonder if she also favors you with the power to use her.”

This drew the entire attention of the room, John included. “Use her?” he asked.

Thor nodded solemnly, “Mjolnir grants me the ability to summon lightning and the other powers of a storm.” Suddenly a feeling of apprehension filled John as he remembered the rumble of thunder that sounded in the sky at the college as he held the hammer that stopped when he set it down. Before he could protest Thor lead him outside to the balcony and John could swear he could smell rain in the air. Though he tried to argue with himself that it was London and it always smelled like rain.

“If this works Dr. Watson, you might want to remove your outer garment. The first time I tried to use her power Mjolnir gifted me with a set of armor. It might that she might gift you in the same manner and the armor will form to be close to the skin.”

John sighed setting the hammer down before pulling off his jumper until he was standing in his white vest displaying the muscles that had previously been hidden.

“Dang, I take it back the Doc is ripped” cried Darcy hip bumping into Skye as she ogled him without shame. Dr. Watson might not be as impressive as Thor, but it was impressive in its own right. But then John turned around and displayed why he covered himself so much. The scar from the gunshot could partially be seen and it did not look pretty. The Agents of Shield had seen the after shoots of the original wound in the file but did expect it to look as bad as it did. Mycroft and Thor were the only ones who didn’t avoid their eyes from the horrible scar. Thor was used to such wounds from battle and his respect for the Doctor went up for being able to survive such a wound. Mycroft respected the wound because it brought John to his family, without it Sherlock and John probably would have never met. He felt that avoiding it took out the respect they should have for the veteran who almost gave his life for Queen and Country, and saved so many more.
John bent down and picked the hammer back up avoiding the eyes that he knew would be full of pity for the scar on his shoulder.

“So all I do is raise it into the air?” asked John doubtfully, Thor nodded. John sighed and switched hands so that he gripped it with his right hand. The shoulder wound would not allow John to raise the hammer above his head, so he would have to use his non dominant hand.

“Well here goes nothing” muttered John feeling ridiculous as he gripped the handle tighter and lifted it high into the air. For a second nothing happened, and John felt relief it was just a fluke he didn’t have the power to wield the hammer, he could only pick it up. Suddenly a bolt of lightning flew down from the previously clear sky, striking the hammer, John almost dropping it in surprise expecting to feel the shock of electricity flow through his body.

But he was amazed when he felt nothing and he watched as lightning danced across his fist that gripped the handle, around him the wind picked up until he was in the middle of his own tornado and he watched fascinated as metal started to flow were electricity touched him traveling down his arm, across his chest, and down the other arm, chinks of metal that reminded the soldier of pictures of chain mail. Once the electricity had traveled all the way to his other arm it stopped and the wind died down and John gently lowered the hammer to assess himself.

There was a cape on his back, blue, the same color as Sherlock’s scarves, and as he looked down he realized he also had a helmet on. Gently removing it he was surprised to find that it was black and wings were that of an eagles thrown back as if diving. The armor covering his torso was mostly back with a few accents of silver, it was also light, a fact that surprised John thinking it would be heavy like those in museums. But the metal was light but tapping a finger against it he knew it was very strong, it also didn’t restrict his movements too much. Satisfied he turned for the first time to look at the group on the rooftop.

Some were looking at him at awe, while Darcy was smirking and taking pictures with her phone. John looked Mycroft and Athena; Athena had a pained expression on her face while Mycroft face was carefully blank to reveal nothing that he was thinking. John looked down at himself shaking his head with a sigh, “A bit not good” he told himself as Thor started to approach him.

Chapter Text

“So what now?” asked John, once again in his jumper and nursing the adequate cup of tea he had been given. He knew it would be foolish to believe that nothing would change in his life after that performance. Only Mycroft, Phil, and Dr. Foster were in the kitchen, the rest in the living room chatting. John side-eyed the hammer that Thor had set down next to him on the cabinet, he was beginning to wish that he had never seen it.

Mycroft sighed, he was secretly wishing that it had only been a onetime thing, but it would seem the universe had other plans. He had excused himself while John was changing out of the armor that he had been granted and called Fury. Mycroft knew that he couldn’t be trusted to make this decision objectively he was too close to it, something he should have done with Moriarty, should have taken a step back and refused to be baited by the psychopath. So it was decided that the safest place for John to learn to control these new powers was to go with Thor to New York.

"Nicholas seems to think that it would be beneficial that you go with Thor to train with the Avengers in New York" said Mycroft, a slightly sour look on his face. It was for the best, but he didn’t have the reach in New York that he did in London, he couldn’t protect John like he had been doing.

 "Wait, you want me to go to New York City and train with superheroes?" asked John blankly his mind trying to wrap itself around that idea. 

 "Yes I find it to be in poor taste but you need to be trained on how to use these new abilities John. But think of it as training to be part of the reserves," assured Mycroft. "Thor is a big player for the Avengers, and having a backup would be beneficial for all.”

 "I don't need to be trained" said John exasperatedly, gesturing with his hand. Not expecting it when Mjolnir jumped into his hand. John looked blankly at the hammer before looking up at the smug Mycroft who was looking pointedly at the hammer and then at John. He sighed knowing that his argument was invalid. "I see your point" muttered John. He knew he needed to be trained but he was reluctant to leave London, even with Sherlock gone it was his home.  He never saw himself living anywhere else.

“It won't be forever John, a few months and you will be able to come home” assured Mycroft, hoping that what he said was true. That in a few months John along with Sherlock would be back in Baker Street and besides the new scars and revelations, things would go back to what they used to be.

Some of the tension in John’s shoulder’s relaxed as he nodded, before asking the dreaded question. “When would I have to leave?”

“Tomorrow” answered Mycroft .

“Tomorrow!” demanded John gripping the kitchen countertop.

Mycroft nodded, before cutting John off as he began to speak again. “It’s for your safety John, we do not know how many different organizations have access to this information of your new abilities. The Avengers would be able to keep you safe as you learn.”

John ran a hand over his face and set down his tea cup. John had expected it to be soon, but not this soon. None of this felt real, it was like a dream that he couldn’t wake up from, his life instantly changing every few minutes. Dr. Foster made a concern noise in the back of her throat and gently laid a hand on the others Doctor’s shoulder.

John tried to compose himself but all present could see that the news was getting to him. Mycroft tapped his umbrella against the floor drawling attention back to himself.

“I think that it’s time for us to leave, John still has to pack and I’m sure that you have to make the necessary arrangement for his arrival tomorrow Agent Coulson.”

Coulson nodded, the Doctor looked like he needed a quiet place to process all of this. “Indeed Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson I will see you tomorrow at 6 o’clock.”

John nodded, before turning to thank Dr. Foster for the tea and allowed Mycroft to steer him out of the flat after he said his farewells.

In the safety of the black car, John allowed himself to close his eyes and lean his forehead against the window efficiently conveying to Mycroft and Athena that he didn’t want to talk about anything. The two wisely choose to let this pass and the car ride back to John’s flat was silent except for the clicking of Athena’s Blackberry. John only opened his eyes when he felt the car pull up to the curve. Athena gave him a small smile of encouragement and Mycroft’s features were gentle as he looked at John.

“Get some sleep tonight John, I’ll see you tomorrow” said Mycroft.

John gave a sharp nod and got out of the car and headed towards his flat. This flat was much the same as the one he had when he came back from the War. Just a simple bedsit, something he could afford without a flatshare, he never wanted another flatmate again. Reaching under his bed he pulled out his duffle and began to go around and collect his things until everything was in the bag.

John looked woefully at his one bag, he had been out of the army close to three years, yet he could still carry everything he owned in one large duffel bag. He had been used to in the army at just carrying what was the most important to him, he hadn’t realized that he still did that when he moved in 221B. The flat had felt so much like home, he never felt like he needed to fill it with useless junk. He made sure to look around one last time to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything before picking up his bag and heading towards the door.

He glanced around the bedsit one last time, the place he had lived for these last few months, if he had one last night in London he was going to spend it at home and this place had never been home. Closing the door he walked towards 221B, not in the mood for getting into a cab. He had only gone a block when a black car pulled up next to him, and John rolled his eyes and just shook his head at the nearest CCTV camera but got in anyway. The driver didn’t need direction as he smoothly glided back into traffic and drove straight to Baker Street.

After thanking him, John got out of the car and came to stand in front of the door hesitating for a moment before gripping the knocker and giving a series of loud knocks.

“John” greeted Mrs. Hudson as she opened the door and kissed his check, “Come in, I was afraid that Mycroft has spirited you away again.”

John followed his landlady to her own flat where she busied herself in making tea and setting out a plate of biscuits. John sat down at the small table with his bag at his feet. Of course Mrs. Hudson noticed it and her face lite up and she opened her mouth to say something, but John cut her off before she could.

“Just for the night Mrs. Hudson” he answered softly. “I have to leave in the morning.”

Mrs. Hudson smiled sadly and sat down across from him taking one of his hands she squeezed it, “I thought as much when I saw who was in the sitting room dearie. SHIELD, doesn’t dilly dally around. Sherlock might have been the one that ensured my husband was executed but SHIELD was the one that first caught onto his operation; he found something, what I don’t know.”

John was surprised to say the least, but now the mystery of how Mrs. Hudson knew what SHIELD officers looked like was solved. Once again he marveled at the fact that despite Mrs. Hudson motherly attitude she knew a lot more than she let on. Finishing his tea he left her company and headed up the stairs. Mrs. Hudson had obviously been up while he had been at Thor’s and straightened up the place.

John set the bag by his chair before going into the kitchen and fixing himself another cup of tea and as the reality of the day set in he went to the far corner cabinet and hidden behind an old box of crackers he pulled out a half bottle of whisky from New Years. He put a generous serving into his tea cup, from the day he had he needed something stronger than tea to sooth his frazzled nerves.

Putting the whiskey back into the cabinet he went back to the sitting room and settled into his chair and slowly began to drink his spiked tea, his eyes flickering everywhere except straight across from him to Sherlock's chair, until they landed on the photo of Sherlock and him laughing as they walked away from a crime scene. Next to it was the skull that caused more than one visitor to balk at the sight of it laying on the mantelpiece. Finishing his tea he stood and walked over the mantle fingering the edge of the frame of the photo before looking at the skull

John gently picked up the skull; he hadn't taken anything of Sherlock’s when he first moved out of Baker Street, couldn’t handle the memories attach to some pieces. But he had known that Baker Street was always close, always open. Mycroft told him that the rent was paid until John decided to face his demons and return back to Baker Street. John only wished that the reason for his return wasn’t just to leave once again, this time to a whole different continent and if he was leaving he wanted to take a piece of Sherlock with him.

The skull might be a little morbid, but it brought fond memories walking in after his shifts of Sherlock draped over the couch with the skull on his chest as he slept, cuddling it like a teddy bear. Plus John could cover any questions one of the Avengers might ask by saying something along the lines that he was a doctor. He turned and also grabbed the picture and stuck both into his bag. He then settled back into his chair and tried to lose himself in some crappy telly.

When it came time for bed John found he couldn't sleep, he knew he probably that he should have went back to the flat that was near the clinic but he found that he didn't want to leave Baker Street. His fingers trailed the wooden walls as he eyes took in the flat memorizing the details that he could recall in his sleep. If he closed his eyes he could see Sherlock beside the window playing his violin, bent of his microscope in the kitchen, and finally stretched out on the couch in his thinking position. He could hear the phantom sound of his flatmate voice yelling ‘Bored!’ in the air. These memories still so fresh, the main reason he had moved out in the first place, because they hurt so much. But now they brought a small comfort, and John knew that he was finally making his peace with Sherlock's passing.

He paused in the middle of the living room, staring at the smiley face on the wall, feeling the world stop. John was about to leave the only sanctuary he had found since the army and suddenly the walls seemed to be shrinking as the reality sunk in, he was leaving London.

 John didn’t think as he threw on his coat and descended the steps quietly so not to disturb Mrs. Hudson as he opened the door and walked out into the dark London night. His feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they picked up speed and suddenly he was flying down London's darken allies, over paths that he and Sherlock had forged. Still John pushed harder going faster, imagining chasing after a figure in a long coat. John began to laugh as he ran, allowing all the memories to encompass him. Every chase, every giggle as he got closer and closer to his destination it was like he was alive once more. His heart starting to beat again after it had stopped that day at St. Barts. Streets began to blur at the speed John pushed himself to go, and strangely he didn’t feel tired or exhausted as he finally stopped at where his feet had taken him, the cemetery.

John hadn't been back since the funeral, he could never get his feet to get any closer than the gate that allowed visitors in. But he only paused a second to take a deep breath before he slowly marched into the graveyard heading straight to the black stone that stood by itself by the edge of the cemetery. John thought nothing of it as he sat down and leaned his back against the stone, that despite the chill in the air was still warm from the sun that had set hours ago, contradictory to the very end it would seem with Sherlock. John didn't say anything for a few moments catching his breath with his eyes closed. It was with a sigh that he opened them.

"I'm leaving Sherlock, and I'm frightened" he whispered into the night air. “Not for my life, nothing like that. But how am I to do this? I’m not a super hero, I’m ordinary, a nobody. How can I help save the planet when I couldn’t even save you” whispered John. “People have tried to tell me that it wasn’t my fault, but I can’t help it Sherlock. I left you alone in the lab, I called you a machine. I was so angry Sherlock, and I’m sorry I never got a chance to apologize, to tell you I was wrong; you had one of the biggest hearts that I ever knew underneath that cold exterior you git.” John said chuckling, he could hear Sherlock scoffing in his head at even the mention that he was sentimental.

“I can’t help it Sherlock, I am a sentimental man. So much that I wish that you were here with me, I’m sure I wouldn’t be afraid if you were coming with me. I’m sure that we could have found a number of interesting crimes in New York that would have kept you busy while I was training with the Avengers. You could have seen if New York coppers were as incompetent as the ones at Scotland Yard, I know I would have liked that.” John sat silently listening to the night, the city of London never silent, not even near a cemetery. It would be dawn in a few short hours and then John would be setting out to begin a new chapter of his life, to close the chapter that was once filled with criminals and deductions.

“Good-bye Sherlock” whispered John getting up and gently touching the top of the stone, once again wishing for that one miracle. Turning sharply on his heels John gently began to walk away from the cemetery, some of the weight that had been setting on his chest since Sherlock’s suicide gone.

Across town Mycroft poured himself a generous glass of brandy, watching on his laptop as John slowly made his way out of the cemetery. His eyes and ears of Baker Street had alerted him that John had come out of Baker Street shortly after midnight and had taken off running into the night. Mycroft had gotten up immediately and had the CCTV cameras scanning the streets trying to find his wayward brother and it wasn’t until the camera placed by Sherlock’s grave did he relax. It was against his better judgment that he listened to John’s confession. He listened to the soldier’s unexpected confession and felt guilty as he heard John’s daydreams of what could have been.

What was he to do when Sherlock returned? John was finally getting over his brother’s ‘death’, going to Sherlock’s grave was proof was enough. Mycroft was no fool to believe that John would get over this betrayal from not just one but two of the Holmes brother. Mycroft was thank-full that they hadn’t told Mummy of the plans, or else Mycroft believed John would cut every connection he had with the Holmes’s because of this betrayal. Mummy, he believed, would be key in keeping the family together.

He took a generous sip of brandy watching John slowly making his way back to Baker Street, soon another brother would be out of his reach of his help. He just hoped soon that both of them would be under his ever watchful eye again in the near future.

John walked slowly back to the flat, not caring that by the time he arrived the sun was turning pink as the sun began to peek over the horizon. The streets of London were slowly beginning to become busy as people began to get ready for the day. John tried to silently enter the flat but was defeated when the door to 221A opened to reveal Mrs. Hudson.

 "John" she said.

"Sorry Mrs. Hudson I didn't mean to wake you" said John softly.

Mrs. Hudson waved his response off, "I wasn't asleep John, I heard you leave and decided to make you breakfast before you left. Come, come I have coffee and fresh scones” she said waving him into the flat John followed willingly, feeling slightly bad that he had woken his landlady when he had left that night.

“You didn’t have to do this Mrs. Hudson” said John as Mrs. Hudson bustled around her flat setting plates of food on the small table.

Mrs. Hudson tsked and patted him on the shoulder, “I wanted to John, it was nice to have one of my boys back," said Mrs. Hudson sadly, dabbing at her eyes gently as John took her hand.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hudson, I really am. I want nothing more than to stay here" said John looking around, "I finally feel that I can come back here without Sherlock's ghost haunting me."

Mrs. Hudson smiled and squeezed his hand. "The flat will be open when you get back dearie, it will always be yours and Sherlock's home and I would rather have it empty than have anyone else living above me."

John just smiled, knowing if he spoke his voice would crack from all the emotions he was feeling. Mrs. Hudson seemed to realize this and began a steady monologue of what all the neighbors had been doing since John had left and John just soaked it all it, mechanically eating everything Mrs. Hudson set in front of him. Both jumped in surprise when there came a loud knock from the door.

John gave Mrs. Hudson a small smile before getting up and heading towards the door to the street. Opening it he was surprised to find Agent Coulson standing on the stoop instead of Mycroft.

"Morning, Dr. Watson ready to go?" asked Coulson entering the flat.

"Just let me grab my bag" said John, turning and heading upstairs leaving Phil on the landing. Phil nodded to Mrs. Hudson when she appeared in her doorway with a Tupperware bowl in her hands. Moments later John was coming down the stairs with the bag over his shoulder. He set it down when he reached the landing and walked over to Mrs. Hudson who held out the bowl.

 "Something for the road dear, now I want a phone call every week young man" ordered Mrs. Hudson as she handed the bowl over. "I want to know how you are doing."

John smiled and pulled Mrs. Hudson into a hug, "Of course Mrs. Hudson" he said kissing her check. “Thank-you, for everything.”

Mrs. Hudson sniffed as she pulled away and dabbed a few tears away as she smoothed out John's jumper. John gently took her hands into his and looked into her eyes. "I will be back Mrs. Hudson, back before you know it."

Mrs. Hudson smiled a watery smile, "I know John, you are always such a good boy" she said cupping his check. "Take care of yourself John."

"I will, see you soon Mrs. Hudson" said John, refusing to say good-bye. Saying good-bye would make John feel like he was never coming back, and he was determined to come back.

"See you soon," returned Mrs. Hudson watching as her boy turned and followed the Agent out of her door.

Chapter Text

A huge aeroplane was on the runway as the car pulled up next to another black car and John was relieved to see that it was Mycroft and Athena. The deep furrow that was present on Mycroft’s forehead smoothed out when John exited the car and headed towards them.

“John,” he greeted.

“Morning Mycroft, Athena” returned John, giving Mycroft a questioning gaze, knowing that the other man would deduce what he was silently asking.

“Agent Coulson and Nicholas expressed a wish for SHIELD to be the one to escort you to the airport,” Mycroft said, his face a mask except for the slight twitch of his left eye lid that proved to John that he was annoyed. It was something Sherlock had pointed out to John one day, Mycroft’s one tell. But unless you were really looking for it, it was invisible. John hid his chuckle, and watched as Coulson and Agent May approached them.

“We are all ready to depart Dr. Watson,” said Coulson as soon as he came to a stop in front of the group. John nodded and turned his attention back to Mycroft.

"Mycroft" John said, holding his hand out to the elder man. Mycroft hooked his umbrella in the crook of his elbow and reached out to shake it, while also bringing his other hand up to cover John's hand completely.

"John, try not to take any unnecessary risks" cautioned Mycroft looking deep into those expressive blue eyes. In them Mycroft could see the grief, nervousness, and slight fear that John was feeling. The grief had been present in John's eyes since Sherlock 'suicide', even as John chuckled it was still present.

"Careful there Mycroft, it almost sounds like you care" he teased.

Mycroft refrained from rolling his eyes, but let go of John's hand in favor of twirling his umbrella.

"Well John, you do know remember how worried Mummy gets. She will be most displeased to hear you getting yourself hurt when it could have been avoided.”

 John smiled, “And we both know better than to upset Mrs. Holmes.”

“Indeed” agreed Mycroft, John chuckled and turned toward Athena with a smile.

"Bye Athena," he held his hand out to shake her hand like he did with Mycroft, but was surprised when she ignored it and briefly hugged him instead.

"Take care of yourself John, don’t make me have to come over there” she said with a wink.

John laughed, “No promises, I might just make trouble just to see you” Athena just shook her head and John just smiled as he bent down and picked up his bag and faced the two SHIELD Agents.

“Follow me, Doctor Watson,” instructed Agent May heading towards the plane, John gave one last wave to his family and followed the Agent into the belly of the plane. Coulson gave a nod to Mycroft and Athena and moved to walk away.

But Mycroft caught Coulson by the arm before he could walk away, "Be warned Agent Coulson, if anything happens to John that could have been avoided than I will personally see that you, your team, and all of SHIELD is razed to the ground" his tone was cold as a glacier while his eyes burned with icey fire. Coulson couldn't help the shudder that ran down his spine, he had faced Loki and many other dangerous situations but he never felt fear quite like this before.

 "I understand" he said firmly.

“I hope you do” murmured the minor Government Official releasing the SHEILD Agent. If anything happened to John, Mycroft knew that he would lose Sherlock also. His brother, who was fighting everyday so that he can return to his home and family, losing John would break his brother. So even though Mycroft instincts screamed at him to board the plane and pull John off of it and back onto English soil he couldn’t. Not without being accused of harboring a national threat. Because that would what his colleagues and the World Council would say, that John Watson was a threat walking around London without being aligned with anyone. Mycroft knew that Nicholas Fury would go as far as putting John in the Fridge and leave him there for the rest of his life if he thought it was the right thing to do.  So for John’s own safety it would be better for him to go to New York, to ally himself with the side of the Avengers.

“How do you think your brother going to take this Sir?” she asked they huge aeroplane taxi down the runway and take off.

“I don’t know” murmured Mycroft tracking the plane as it flew away, “Hopefully John will be back in England by the time he learns of it.” With one last look of the plane Mycroft turned away and headed towards his car. His mind a whirl with plans on how to contain Sherlock when he found out that John was no longer in London under his watchful eye, but across the pond in a Tower full of potential threats, this was one conversation Mycroft was no longing forward to.

John sat quietly in the lounge area, not quite sure if it was okay for him to be there. He looked around, he had never seen a plane this luxurious. He could barely feel them flying, the plane was truly a masterpiece of engineering.

“You’re looking quite uncomfortable Doc” cam Skye’s voice as she plopped down beside him on the couch, a new laptop under her arm. “You scared of flying?” she asked with a smile.

John shook his head, “Just trying to adjust to this new reality.” The girl nodded with a look understanding on her face.

“I get it a little, you might have noticed but I’m different from your typical SHIELD Agent. Up until a few months ago I was living in the back of my van apart of a group called the Rising Tide. Like you I caught SHIELD’s attention and was picked up and I’ve been on Coulson’s team since. So I do know a little how you feel, how it is to be uprooted from your life.”

John chuckled, “My life has never been stable, I’m used to moving around by this point. I just never excepted to be in this position.”

“No one ever does,” smiled Skye before she got up and wondered away, leaving John to ponder her words.

Halfway over the Atlantic, the sleepless night caught up to John, and curling up in the corner of the couch he drifted off into sleep.  He never saw Ward come into the lounge and stand over him with his jaw clenched as studied the Doctor. Ward seemed to decided something before he turned and walked away leaving the Doctor alone.

John woke to his ears popping as the plane descended onto the runway, looking out the window John saw the unfamiliar skyline of New York fill his view. 

Coulson made sure to stay close to John during the trip from London to New York, not wanting the wrath of Mycroft Holmes to fall upon him. Upon reaching New York, Coulson had his team wait at the airport as he escorted John to the Avenger’s Tower. Thor had gone ahead of them yesterday, he had offered John Mjolnir so that he could experience flight. But John had declined, politely, but he still declined. Coulson had been able to catch the relief that crossed Mycroft Holmes face when John had declined the invitation.

It still shocked Coulson every time he saw a flash of emotion cross Mycroft Holmes face, after returning for Thor apartment Fury had personally called Coulson and explained his dealings with the eldest Holmes.  Dr. Watson appeared to be very calm as he sat beside him in the car, the only odd thing Coulson noticed was the faint shaking of his left hand, which the good Doctor hid by curling it into a fist.

John was amazed with how different London was from New York as he observed people from his place in Coulson’s car. It would defiantly take some getting used, he already felt weird being on the left side of the highway. The Avengers Tower was easily to recognize as they entered Manhattan, sticking out like a sore thumb compared to the building’s around it. When they reached it, he walked a few steps behind Coulson as they entered to lobby and took the elevator to the top floor. John was relieved when his hand finally stopped trembling as they exited the elevator and entered what appeared to be a dining room where the people John recognized from pictures from the telly were all lounging about.

“Agent! Point Break here won’t tell us why Fury called this super-top secret meeting” whined Tony, frustrated that he hadn’t been able to find out the information from the Thunder God nor had Jarvis found anything on the SHIELD servers. All the Avengers were quite curious of why they had been called together, so much that beside Clint and Natasha none of the others had noticed the short blonde man a few steps behind Coulson holding himself in parade rest, his blue eyes taking everything before him.

“Well Mr. Stark, we will be getting to why we are all here,” Coulson turned and motioned John to step forward drawling attention of the Avengers who had missed him. “This is Dr. John Watson, he’s from London and he will be training with you for the foreseeable future.”

There was silence for a few moments before Tony started to laugh, “This little man, he looks more like a cuddly teddy bear.”

John didn’t even twitch at the statement as he calmly looked at Tony, while the other Avengers were quick to scold the billionaire.

“Tony” scolded Steve before looking at the Doctor. “I apologize, but Tony is…” he paused wondering how to explain Stark to this man.

“A genius who refuses to use the filter between his mouth and brain” said John mildly, his accent sounding strange among the others. Stark eyes seemed to sharpen on John, and though the stare wasn’t quite the same he knew that he was being studied as he did the unexpected. Meanwhile Clint barked out a laugh.

“He got you there Stark” he said snickering, before turning serious, “But seriously why will a civilian be training with us, never mind that he is a British civilian, what is so special about him?”

“Yes, let’s see a demonstration of why you are here Doc” called Tony, “Unless you are like Bruce, than you can just tell us I have finally gotten all the damage from the Chitari attack fixed I don’t need anymore.”

John shifted on his feet and looked at Thor who gave him a slight smile and set Mjolnir on the table. John took a deep breath and focused, the hammer twitched before it flew off the table and into John’s hand. The Avengers looked at John stunned as Thor laughed a thundering laugh at the expression on their faces.

Coulson cleared his throat and addressed the seated group, “Dr. Watson is here to train with you until he has full control of his new powers. After that he will be returning to England but kept on the roster as a back-up for Thor.”  Coulson motioned John to set the hammer down. “Doctor Watson these are the Avengers, Steve Rogers better known as Captain America. Tony Stark, Ironman, Natasha Romanoff the Black Widow, Bruce Banner the Hulk, and Clint Barton is Hawkeye. You know Thor of course, Avengers this is Dr. John H. Watson” finished Coulson.

There was silence for a moment before Stark broke it, “Oh, that’s not fair how in the hell is he worthy to pick up the Hammer?”

“Stark don’t get your panties in a wad just because you couldn’t pick it up” said Natasha as she assessed Watson, in a whole new light than before.  Steve shot both Avengers a glare before standing up to shake Watson’s hand.

“Don’t take what Tony says to heart Dr. Watson, like you said we still are working on the filter” Steve said with a smile.

John nodded, and turned his attention to Bruce Banner who had also gotten out of his seat to shake hands.

“What is your doctorate in Dr. Watson” he asked politely.

“Medicine” answered John.

Bruce smiled, “That’s great, I know a little about medicine and am the main one to stitch these guys up, but it will be helpful to have someone elses help to wrestle these children into getting their injuries treated”

John couldn’t help but chuckle at the comment, but he felt confident on his ability to wrestle anyone of them into getting a medical checkup, if he could get the British Government into going to bed when he had the flu than he could handle a group of superheroes.

“Come Healer Watson, Tony has procured a floor for you to live on during your stay” cried Thor slapping John on the back, none noticed how white John’s face went as Thor hit his left shoulder.

“Well he’s different” remarked Clint as soon as the duo left the room.

“Of course he’s different, he’s British” answered Tony messing with his phone, “And somehow he is worthy of the hammer, not even Steve could lift that thing and he’s Captain Goody-Two shoes.”

“Tony” scolded Steve, “We don’t know anything about him, you can’t judge a book by its cover, there might be a dozen reason’s why the hammer chose him.

Tony looked up from his phone with a smirk “By this time tomorrow, I will know everything there is to possible know about John Watson” said Tony.

Coulson smiled, he doubted very much that Tony would get the information he sought, he imagined after Skye’s failed attempt that Mycroft would have increased his security on the files.  As he said his farewells he made sure to deliver Mycroft’s warning to the Avengers, only Steve seemed to take it to heart as Natasha had just rolled her eyes and muttered something in her Mother tongue about civilians and training. He left without feeling a vote of confidence and knew that John would have a rocky start, he just hoped that they did not do anything stupid that would bring the wrath of the British Government on them.

Chapter Text

John looked amazed at the rooms that he had been given, very sleek, very modern, absolutely everything that John hated. He felt so out of place as he stood in the middle of the room with his worn beige jumper and his jeans, he knew that probably everything in this room cost more than he made in his entire life. He sighed as he headed towards where he believed the bedroom to be, shocked when he opened the door. The bed was the largest he had ever seen, and the window that took up a whole wall gave a magnificent view of the New York skyline. He wasn’t ashamed to admit he spent several minutes just taking in the view and thanking God that he wasn’t afraid of heights.

But he soon tore himself away from the view he placed his bag on top of the bed and proceeded to unpack his meager processions. He immediately placed the skull, his alarm clock, and the picture of the last Christmas of everyone except for Harry and Mike on the side table along with the picture of Sherlock and himself laughing at a crime scene. The next thing he unpacked was his Sig and clip which he placed into the draw of the side table.  He placed the rest of it in two dresser draws and the closet.  After he was done he sat down on the bed and wondered what to do with himself.

He was startled when his peace and quiet was disturbed. “Good afternoon Dr. Watson” came a British accented voice, making John jump up, spinning around trying to find the threat.

“Who’s there?!” he demanded.

“My apologizes Dr. Watson for startling you. I am Jarvis, I run this tower. If you need anything feel free just to ask me.”

John stood still thinking, his mind automatically thought that this Jarvis was a person on the other side of the cameras, but his tone was to smooth. But Stark did not seem to be the type to let some strange man watch everything, like any genius he didn’t seem the type to trust easily. Given the facts that Stark specialized in computers, robotics especially John came to a conclusion.

“You’re a computer system, an AI” John said taking a shot. “But much more advanced, more than just a simple AI.”

Jarvis was shocked, it usually took people a lot longer to piece together that he was more than a voice, more than a simple AI, but that conclusion didn’t usual come until after Tony off-handily mentioned that Jarvis wasn’t a human. Sir had to explain it to the Avengers multiple times before it stuck and very few outside people even knew that Jarvis existed. It was strange and exciting that this man knew without any prior warning.

“I’m surprised Dr. Watson, most people don’t realize this, they think I’m just a simple operating system after they realize I’m not some man behind a computer screen.”

John chuckled “People see but do not observe, I don’t know of many computers that would apologize for startling someone and sounding like they meant it instead of just a monotone voice.”

John fell into easy conversation with the AI as Jarvis told him where everything was on the floor and what the purpose was behind some of things to John when he didn’t know. They were interrupted in the exploration of John’s kitchen when there was a knock at his door. Hoping that it wasn’t Thor to clap him on the shoulder again he went to open it.

He was surprised to see an unknown red-haired woman standing in front of his door. “Hello Dr. Watson, I’m Pepper Potts” said the redhead with a polite smile, “I hope you are settling in well.”

John smiled and opened the door and invited her in, “As well as can be expected Ms. Potts, Jarvis has been helping me find everything.”

Peppers brow furrowed, “Did Tony explain about Jarvis?”

“He did not Ms. Potts” answered Jarvis for himself. “Dr. Watson was able to deduce what I was without any help.”

John’s heart twinged at the word deduce came from the AI, but he kept the polite smile on his face as Pepper raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m smarter than I look” joked John.

His weak joke was rewarded with a smile, “Well then, if you are all unpacked I will give you a tour of the Tower unless you would like to rest from your flight.”

John was still slightly tired from his long night, but his nap on the plane had helped and he was curious in the place he was going to be living in for the foreseeable future. “A tour would be lovely Ms. Potts.”

Pepper nodded and motioned John to follow her to the elevator where she punched the button that would take them to the training grounds on the levels below the tower. “You have access to all the floors, except for the other Avengers personal floors they have to give you permission for you to enter them. There are also some research and development floors that you will not have access unless escorted by Tony or myself. Jarvis will be able to help you navigate if you have problems.”

“Does Jarvis have access to all the floors?” asked John, he was curious as to how Mr. Stark had installed the AI around his tower.

“Jarvis has access to every part of the Tower, he actively monitors everyone for their safety, Clint calls him the all-seeing eye nothing happens in this Tower without Jarvis knowing about it.”

John nodded but wondered if he should be relieved about this information or angry for the realization that he would have absolutely no privacy, though he reckoned that he was used to having no privacy, Sherlock was never big on that, neither was Mycroft.

He listened as Pepper explained a little more about the Tower until they hit the bottom floor where the training rooms were located. John was impressed at what he saw, there was fancy work out equipment in one section, a firing range, obstacle courses, a boxing ring, and sparring mats. Sparring on one of the mats were Clint and Natasha. John watched amazed as they fought back and forth it was like they were dancing and even John could tell that they knew each other quite well by the way they fought.

“It is quite a show when those two train together” commented Pepper following the movements also. “But as you can see we have about everything you could want down here and this is open for you to use anytime that you want to.”

John nodded this would be useful on night he could not sleep. Pepper smiled and gestured for the quiet Doctor to follow her. The way the Doctor acted reminded Pepper of Bruce in a way, he was quiet but polite and quite respectful to her. She hoped that he would get along with so many diverse personalities. As the two walked away they were unaware of two different sets of eyes watching them walk away.

Clint waited until they were in the elevator before voicing his question. “What do you make of him?” asked Clint shifting to look Natasha in the face as he walked off the mat to the water cooler.

Natasha frowned slightly pulling up the image of John Watson she started to analyze him like she had for hundreds of other marks. “From his bearing and posture I would say that he was military, but he said he was a Doctor. So a Medical Doctor that patched up soldiers, probably never saw front line action but was in it long enough to pick up the mannerism. If we are lucky he remembers some of basic training, we will probably have to get him in shape.”

Clint nodded in agreement, before smirking at her. “He did look frumpy in that sweater he was wearing, and if he is supposed to be a back-up for Thor, I think we can have some fun getting the Brit in shape, be like old times.”

Sharing small grins at the memories of breaking younger SHIELD Agents in, Hawkeye and Black Widow started to plan a grueling training routine to welcome the British Doctor into the Avengers.

John didn’t see any of the other Avengers during the tour Pepper gave, though when she dropped him back off at his floor she invited him to the team meal that was happening, promising to be back around seven so he didn’t have to come up alone.

John thanked her warmly and saw her to the door. John decided a shower was in order before dinner. As he showered in the luxurious bathroom he had ever been in his mind went back to everything Pepper had shown him. The Tower was like nothing he had ever seen before, it contained things that John had not thought possible. Pepper had laughed at him while he had practically drooled over some of the cars in Tony’s garage. The med-bay was the same with many pieces of equipment that John had read about but never actually touched. Everything in the tower was state of the art, and often John was afraid to touch anything in fear that he might break it. He had a feeling that some of the decorating items cost more than his yearly salary.

John had just finished putting on a clean pair of trousers and a jumper when Pepper knocked on the door. They took the elevator up to where the rest of the Avengers were at the communal floor. All of the Avengers were in the kitchen working smoothly together to make what looked like spaghetti. He ended up helping Pepper to set the table and soon the meal was underway.

John picked at his food, not really hungry at the moment as he sat and listened to the different conversations going on around him. He felt so alone even though he was in a crowd of people, everyone here knew each other, had inside jokes and understandings. He was just floating on the edges, present but he didn’t know how to engage these people, instead he was silent and he observed. To John it almost seemed that it was a repeat of his return from Afghanistan, struggling to find a place to belong in his civilian life.  He had been a ghost in those weeks and he had been so surprised when Mike had called out to him that day.

“So John what kind of Doctor are you?” asked Bruce, Bruce seemed to come to the realization that John hadn't really spoken a word during the meal. He was quite curious about the other Doctor and since it seemed that John was not one to speak about himself unless promoted.

“I used to be a surgeon, but nowadays I work as a GP at a local clinic” said John quietly, his friends would have realized that John didn’t want to speak about the subject anymore by the tone of this voice, even Sherlock knew when John got quiet that the subject was considered closed and to stop pushing. But the Avengers didn’t know that, didn’t know John.

“Used to be, what did you do kill someone?” asked Tony, grinning at the Doctor.

“Tony!” admonished Pepper, as she watched worriedly as the color in John’s face drained.

John tried to keep his composure as he gently laid down his fork, and forced his face not to change from the pleasant expression that he had pasted on when dinner began. “Dinner was lovely everyone, if you would excuse me the jet lag is catching up with me” he said mildly.

With that he removed himself from his seat and gently took his plate into the kitchen before he walked to the elevator, he did not turn around once.

“Way to go Tony, surprisingly it took longer for you to chase him away than I expected” joked Clint.

Tony huffed, “How was I supposed to know he was so damn sensitive, it was a legit question.”

“Yes, but did you have to ask it like Hulk smashing a car with those type of questions you got to be more Black Widow” said Clint making everyone laugh at the table. “But seriously how are we supposed to know what not to say around the guy, he isn’t really a chatter box, heck I think Bruce spoke more to me when we first met than this guy did. I mean we didn’t get no warning at all, no file no debrief were in the dark with who this Watson guy is.”

“It is strange that Fury didn’t give us a file, I mean I got one for all of you before New York” commented Steve. “Do you know anything about him Thor?”

“Nay Steve, though I overhear Coulson discuss with Director Fury that Dr. Watson had no idea what he had done when he picked up the Mjolnir and the Doctor hoped that it was a fluke.”

“Could it have been a fluke Thor, the Aether and the Convergence messed with a lot of thing?” asked Natasha.

“I believed this also Natasha when Coulson told me of the Doctor, but as you saw today Watson was still able to summon up. It is further confirmed when Mjolnir granted him a suit of armor something she wouldn’t have done no matter what the Aether and the Convergence had done to her.”

“So we will have to wait to find out by ourselves on why he is worthy” said Bruce.

Tony rolled his eyes, “Oh Bruce it’s like you don’t know me at all” he said waving around his Stark Phone. The Avengers just shook their heads at the inventor as they cleaned up and settled down in front of the TV to continue on their quest to educate Thor and Steve on today’s culture by watching a James Bond Marathon.

John felt like a coward as he walked into his bedroom, he had heard a lot worse in his days yet one innocent question had him fleeing away like a school boy.

“I apologize for Sir, Dr. Watson, but that is just how he usually is” offered Jarvis softly once John was back in his room.

“It’s alright Jarvis, I over reacted I find that my past is a sensitive subject as of late” said John truthfully. John had never been one to talk very much about his past to anyone.

As he rubbed his left shoulder he could remember the day, he was bending over a kid trying to save his life, Michael Drew. Barely older than a boy when he had been shot in the thigh, John had been patching him up and promising him that he would be okay. John closed his eye and rubbed his own thigh that twinged with phantom pain, his limp manifesting in the same leg Michael had been shot. John knew his limp was his own mind’s punishment for promising the kid he would be okay, nobody had seen the shooter that shot the bullet that slammed through his shoulder and continued into Michael below him. Even as he registered the fact he had been shot it had been too late for Michael, the bullet had went straight through his heart.

John remembered the feeling of the blood streaming out of him, of the sudden chill that filled him as he collapsed beside Michael’s. The boy who still had a smile on his face from the joke John had told him moments ago to distract from the pain. John could never really remember anything besides that, except for the sight of Bill Murray’s face and his lips moving but no sound and praying to God to let him live.

With these thoughts running through his head, John was too restless for sleep, he knew what would be waiting for him when he closed his eyes. Instead he grabbed one of the chairs in his room and dragged it to the large window before changing into his night wear and taking the skull from the bedside table and settling in. John leaned his head on his fist and gazed into the empty sockets of the skull, he was sure he made a strange picture at that moment. A man having a staring contest with a real human skull, while clutching at it like it was a child’s security blanket. But the skull was a bit of home and it helped ground John for the moment allowed him to clear his mind of memories of sand and blood.

It was around mid-night that John called defeat and slipped into bed hoping for once for a dreamless sleep.

There was a heavy weight on John’s back, his gun was held in his hands, all around him the sound of bullets and grenades rang out. 

“Medic, Captain Watson!” came a cry. The Afghani sun beat down on him as John ran to the downed soldier. It was Private Michaels, shot in the chest. John dropped down beside him pulling out the kit he carried.

“Hang on Michaels” he called putting pressure on the wound, his medical training telling him that the boy was a lost cause but John refused to leave him. The boy, because he was too young to really be anything else, gave a few hacking coughs blood sliding down his check. His wide eyes looking into John’s with fear before they dimmed and the body beneath his hands grew still.

“No!” cried John trying to do CPR, but it was no use. Looking back to the boy’s face he was surprised to see the face had changed and now it was Sherlock’s grey eyes that burned into his, blood dripping from beneath his helmet to cover the left side of his face.

“You killed me John” came the echoing voice of Sherlock.

“No” whispered John backing away as soldier Sherlock stood up, blood dripping from his curls onto the sand.

“Yes John, why did you leave me, or does a machine like me deserve no one.”

“Sherlock I didn’t mean it” begged John reaching for his friend, only to find himself outside of St. Barts again, looking up at Sherlock on the ledge.

“Good-bye John” came the tear filled words of the detective as the figure stepped off into oblivion.

“Sherlock, No!!” cried John jolting up in his bed, his panicked brain had him swiftly rolling out of it and hunching down in the nearest corner breathing hard. It took a few moments to realize he had his hands clenched tightly around his Browning, his knuckles white. John forced himself to calm down eyes taking in the unfamiliar rooms as his brain struggled to remember where he was. It took a few moments but soon he remembered that he was in New York at Stark’s Tower.

“Are you alright Dr. Watson,” came the voice of Jarvis making John jump head snapping back and forth trying to find the threat before he remembered it was Stark’s butler/computer talking, Jarvis.

Jarvis was no stranger to nightmares he had seen Sir, and the rest of the Avengers have them many times.

“I’m fine” assured John trying to stand, but as soon as he put pressure on his bad leg it crumpled beneath him and he fell to the ground with a small cry of pain. John lay on the ground for a moment before he gently pulled himself to his feet, Jarvis worried voice a constant. John didn’t answer any of the softly asked questions as he limped out of the bedroom and into the living room using the walls as a crutch.

“Is there a kettle in my kitchen area?” asked John quietly, he needed the familiar routine of making a cup to calm him down.

“No Doctor, but there is one in the communal kitchen” said Jarvis softly. John glanced at the clock, it was two o’clock in the morning. Deciding he would take the risks of bumping into one of the Avengers he made his way to the elevator.

Another night of dreams of sinking into the ice had Steve make his way to the communal kitchen with his sketch pad. It was the unofficial meeting spot when one of them had a nightmare. It always helped to know that there was someone there who was having problems just like you. So when the elevator dinged, he expected Bruce or Tony to come out, but he was surprised when it revealed the small form of Doctor Watson.

Rogers eyed the man as he limped about the kitchen, using the appliances and the wall as a crutch as he listened to Jarvis’s instruction as to where everything was. Steve realized that either the Doctor didn’t know he was there or saw fit to ignore him. Watson looked terrible, his cloths were rumpled and dark bruise like shadows under his eyes made him look so much older, his breaths were evenly measured.

John went through the motion of making a cup of tea on autopilot, his brain and body so used to the motions that he made every day, and on nights he had nightmares that it was more of a soothing exercise than anything else. It wasn’t until he poured the water over the unfamiliar tea bags did he realize that he had made two cups of tea by mistake and the grief of the nightmare settled on him again, his mind playing those long night when neither he nor Sherlock could sleep and John made tea for both of them.

A small sigh left him as he ran a shaking hand through his already disheveled hair. 

“Are you alright Dr. Watson?” asked Steve looking at the Doctor worriedly, surprised at the large flinch that indicated that the man hadn't been aware he had been there as the Doctor brought tired, red rimmed eyes to meet his.

“I’m fine Captain Rogers, just old war dreams” returned John as he picked up his tea to take a sip, cursing slightly as the tremor in his left hand made the tea slosh over the sides and onto the counter top.

“You were a soldier?” asked Steve a bit curious, “I thought you were a Doctor.”

“I was, an Army Doctor, I joined when I was eighteen. I reached the rank of Captain in Her Majesty’s Army” replied John mopping up the spilled tea.  Not really going into detail that he had been a Combat soldier for most of his service.

“Why did you quit?” returned Steve.

“Got shot” came the blunt reply, Steve winced and opened his mouth to apologize but John cut him off. “Don’t apologize you didn’t know, I’m over it now it happened a few years ago.”

Cap nodded and the two feel in comfortable silence as John sipped his tea and Steve continued to sketch. Steve couldn’t help but think about this man across from him in a new light and his artistic eye. Watson’s face was like a storybook, the lines around his mouth indicated he smiled a lot but were pulled down in grief, every line from brow to his eyes spoke of grief. His blonde hair with grey near the temples spoke of a man ageing before his time. Though it was his eyes that captured Steve attention, they were clear blue and he could see pain, grief, and wisdom as if the owner had seen things no one should. Steve had seen these types of eyes of men who survived the trenches of the Great War, who had seen thousands of their countrymen lying dead in the mud.

But as soon as John noticed Steve was staring at him, a shade seemed to fall over his eyes and all sign was gone. It made Steve blink in shock on how quick John could hide.

When John finished his tea he quietly said good-night to Steve and went back to his bedroom where he gently started to play some violin music that he recorded Sherlock playing on his violin keeping the nightmares at bay for the rest of the night. Unaware that Steve stayed in the kitchen and with a new sheet of paper began to sketch a face with familiar looking eyes.

Chapter Text

John managed to sleep through the rest of the night and felt somewhat refreshed in the morning though there was a dull pinch from his leg as he walked around reminding him of what happened last night.

Jarvis was silent as John puttered around the kitchen making some of the coffee that was in the kitchen and some toast. He wasn’t very hungry, but he knew if he didn’t eat that morning that it would be a few days before he even remembered to eat. He often found that after an episode that he usually avoided food. When he first got discharged he hadn’t even realized that he was doing it, it wasn’t until after Sherlock pointed it out that he realized what he was doing.

John sighed at these thoughts; it seemed no matter what his thoughts always strayed back to Sherlock. John often wondered what would have happened to his life if he hadn’t meet Sherlock. Some days he was positive that if he hadn’t meet Sherlock he would have eaten his gun, other he liked to believe he would have turned his life around.

He had barely finished the coffee when some started to bang on the door loudly, which in John present state caused him to jump.

“Watson rise and shine” came the voice that John identified as Clint.

Clint looked slightly put out when John opened the door a few seconds later, already dressed for the day. Clint was hoping that the Doctor would still be in bed, he knew he should have pounded on the door at 6 o’clock in the morning instead of seven. He racked his eyes over the man, in jeans and a horrid oatmeal colored sweater on. His face had a neutral expression as he looked expectantly at Clint.

“Yes Mr. Barton?”

“Put on some comfortable clothing Dr. Watson your training starts today.”

“Okay” answered John closing the door, he wasn’t ready for people to invade his private space, especially an assassin. He changed into a pair of sweats and an old RAMC t-shirt that covered his entire torso and was loose. It helped his image of being cuddly and soft. Clint nodded in approval of his choices and without a word motioned for John to follow him.

John knew that he was about to be put through the ringer, just like his first day of basic training. He knew that Clint and whoever else would be there would try their hardest to make him quit. He admitted he probably wasn’t as in shape as he once was, he could probably still hold his own against whatever they threw at him, or at least until his shoulder gave out.

The doors opened to reveal the underground gym; it was empty of any other person, John was slightly relieved at this.  Clint lead them to the back of the gym to the shooting range, a place that John knew that he would excel at.

“To begin with we will see how you handle different weapons with me, after that will be the physical with Natasha and I, and after Thor will be instructing you.”

John nodded and waited as Clint walked to the far wall and pulled off a variety of weapons. When he came back he lined them on the table beside John. “Okay start at the left and work your way right.”

“Alright” answered John stepping forward. He could feel Clint’s smile on his back as he gazed at the variety of weapons that had been placed in front of him. The first was sniper rifle, a 7.62×51mm M40, United States Marine Corps standard-issue sniper rifle. It looked a simpler looking rifle from the one he learned on, the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare series.  Remembering his instructions he set it up and lined up the shot in the scope, taking a deep breath he fired on the exhale. The bullet flew true and embedded in the direct bulls eye of the target. The next weapon in the line was just a regular rifle, a 22 bolt action. John planted his feet firmly and lined up the sights, again another bulls eye.  The same was true for the semi-automatic, and the glock. Almost every shot was a bulls eye, or close enough to be considered one. Never-the-less Clint was shocked he had not expected for the man to be an almost perfect shot.

He decided to give John one last test, one that he would be sure to fail. He pulled out the weapon’s range bow and set it before John. “Now my weapon of choice Doctor, don’t be disappointed if your arrow doesn’t make it to the target.”

John raised an eyebrow at the bow, so it was true that it was the Avengers preferred weapon. He thought it was just a romantic notion, he never believed that it was true. John knew that he had surprised Clint with his aim, he had ruined the man’s fun of wanting to see him fail.

John hefted the bow into his hands, the weight was felt strange in his hands, it had been years since he picked up a bow, not since that one summer with his Grandfather, luckily he had learned to use it right handily like his gun. As he found his position he could hear his Grandfather’s voice inside his head, feel the memory of his hands correcting his stance. It was almost like he was back at his Grandfather’s house in Northern Scotland as he released the arrow. The arrow flew straight, and embedded in the inner circle.

John slowly brought the bow down and turned to Clint who had his mouth open in shock. “How did you do that?” he demanded.

“Well Robin Hood was English” said John setting the bow down, he resisted the urge to chuckle as he left the flabbergasted Clint behind. He calmly walked over to the sparring pad and began to stretch out his muscles. It took only a few seconds for Clint to gather himself and follow John. Tasha would be down in a few minutes but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t run John through the paces.

Feeling a bit vindictive out of being made a fool of at the shooting range, Clint soon had John working as hard as he ever did in the Army; the only difference was that John was more afraid of his Drill Sergeants than he was of Clint Barton. In the middle of doing laps when Natasha entered.

“How is he doing?” she asked Clint as she watched John run around the gym in long smooth strides that ate up distance but saved energy. Clint didn’t answer her at first, but she caught the petulant look on his face. “That good?”

Clint huffed, “He’s almost as good as shot as I am Tasha, he even made the inner circle of the target while using a bow and do you know what he said in the way of an explanation of how he managed it? He told me that Robin Hood was English, like that explained everything! And now he’s keeping up with everything that I am throwing at him.”

Natasha was tempted to laugh at Clint, but instead she just smirked. “Well let’s see him last through me, Watson!” she called.

John felt a chill run up his spine, unlike Clint who tried to be intimidating Natasha was something that just oozed it. John might have been accused of chasing danger all the time, Natasha was one woman he would never try anything on. He could tell that she could kill him without even trying and he vowed never to get on her bad side.

Natasha was even more intense than Clint, and John shirt was soon drenched in sweat and all his limbs shook. He felt like a new recruit and he longed to give up but each time he looked at the two SHIELD Agents he saw their expected looks. So he gritted his teeth and kept coming, doing the squats, the crunches, the laps, the push-ups, chin-ups, and everything else they threw at him. Time seemed to fly by, and suddenly the gym doors opened and Thor walked in.

Thor was shocked to see John still being driven by Clint and Natasha, it had been four hours since there training had begun and yet they were still pushing the man, even though anyone could see the man was exhausted but yet he was still keeping up with their demands.

“Clint, Natasha” he called.

Both smiled at him, “Thor, I thought you wouldn’t be down until around 11” Clint said.

Thor frowned at them. “Clint, it is almost noon”

Clint eyes widened, he hadn’t realized so much time had passed, looking down at his wristwatch he saw the truth, it was almost noon. “That’s enough for today Watson” he called and watched with a small amount of guilt as the man collapsed on his side breathing heavily.

John wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and just lay there, but he knew that it would be better if he got up and kept his muscles from locking into place. It was with some effort that he managed to push himself up and make his way to Thor. “If you don’t mind Thor I think I need a shower before your lessons.”

“Take your time” said Thor as he watched John walk stiffly to the elevator.

John leaned against the walls of the elevator as soon as the doors closed, the cool metal felt wonderful against his cool skin. He hadn’t felt this exhausted since a case with Sherlock that lasted three days, a kidnapping, they barely slept or ate and spent most of that time running down leads. He was glad when the doors dinged and opened to his door. Collecting some clean cloths he stumbled to the shower and turned the water on as hot as he could stand and stood under the stream, letting the warms help relax the muscles. He stayed in the shower for as long as possible, until Jarvis spoke saying that Thor was outside the door with food.

John groaned not wanting to leave the hot water, but his stomach had other ideas at the mention of food. Drying himself quickly he made his way to the door where Thor was indeed waiting with what looked like a mountain of Chinese takeaway food.

“I thought you might be hungry after your morning with Clint and Natasha, so I brought some Midgard food that I enjoy.”

“Thank-you Thor, please come in” said John opening the door to let the Asgardian in. Some boxes of Chinese were open on the island in the kitchen and Thor began to talk between bits.

“Since you are able to lift Mjolnir, I will be instructing you on Asgardian History and Customs; it is possible that my Father might request your presence to meet you in Asgard, or my Generals might come to see how you measure up to me. As a wielder of Mjolnir, you have a place of power in respect in my land and it will be important to know how not to offend someone.”

John paused for a moment, his head trying to wrap around the idea of possible going to a different world. He doubted that this was something that Mycroft had planned on when he allowed John to go to New York.

To begin with, I will start with the weapon you are able to wield. Mjolnir was forged in heart of a dying star, by Dwarf smiths. The creation of it destroyed the star itself and nearly the Earth itself. It was originally forged for my Father Odin, and was passed to me when I came of age” explained Thor. Thor went on to explain his history of using the hammer, including his exile the years previous. “I was foolish, and my Father decided to punish me by exiling me here on Midgard. He deemed me unworthy of wielding Mjolnir and until I learned my lesson, I was unable to lift her.” John listened with rapt attention as Thor told his tale and watched the sadness and guilt as he talked about his brother Loki.

It was late in the afternoon when Thor had finished with his tale and decided he had intruded on the Doctor’s time for long enough. “I will see later my friend” said Thor clasping John’s hand before leaving.

John cleaned up the kitchen before he relaxed on the couch, his reviewed the information that Thor had given him. His mind couldn’t help but make comparisons between Thor and Mycroft vs. Loki and Sherlock. Thor like Mycroft was an older brothers who cared deeply for their younger brothers. Both felt the need to protect them, and both made horrible mistakes concerning their brothers. But while Loki turned out not to be dead, Sherlock most defiantly was. Hefting himself back up, he went to his bedroom and drew out his I-pod and flicked it to his playlist. Soothing violin music began to fill his ears and before he knew it he was fast asleep.

Bruce was having a quiet day in the lab, when Tony burst through the doors looking frazzled. “We have a problem Brucie” he said marching right up to Bruce.

Bruce was used to this type of behavior so he wasn’t too worried as Tony flopped down beside him. Bruce hummed and adjusted the microscope he was looking into. “Did Pepper take your paint gun again?” he asked smiling.

“No, I got that back ages ago,” said Tony, “It’s about Dr. Watson, I can’t find anything on him.”

“So he doesn’t have a record,” said Bruce changing the slide, “So we actually found a superhero who lived a normal life, who knew it was possible.”

“No Bruce you don’t understand” said Tony his voice serious, the most serious Bruce had ever heard it and it had him immediately paying attention to his friend. “I can’t find anything besides his graduation out of medical school date. Otherwise there is not one scrap of information I can find, it’s like this guy has no electronic footprint. I can’t find his birthdate, his financial information, or even an email address.”

That was concerning to say the least, Tony could hack into the most secure Government files, for him to find nothing was quite concerning. “Are you sure?” asked Bruce.

“Positive, I spent most of last night looking, even Jarvis couldn’t find anything” admitted Tony.

Both scientists stood quietly in the lab in thought; the mystery of John Watson was deepening with no answers in sight. Just who was John Watson?

Chapter Text

John was awoken some time later by the sound of his mobile going off over the soft tone of the violin. He gently pulled the ear buds out and reached for his mobile. “Hello?”

“Ah, John how was your first day with the Avengers?” came the voice of Mycroft through the speakers.

“It was enlightening,” said John attempting to hold back a yawn as he sat up, which nearly turned into a groan as his muscles screamed at the movement. It would take some work to warm up his muscles that had gone stiff while he had been sleeping.

Though Mycroft had heard it anyway, “John why are you taking a nap in the middle of the day?” he asked in what John recognized as his political voice. John hated this tone because John was never able to predict Mycroft when he was like this, but it was best in his opinion to try to brush it off.

“It’s nothing Mycroft, I’m just tired from jet lag still.”

“John” Mycroft said in that tone of voice that practically screamed that he knew that John was lying.

John sighed, “I had a bad nightmare last night” he said hoping Mycroft would be satisfied with the half-truth and would lay off.

On the other side of the phone silence rang for a moment and John knew he had said the wrong thing. “You never felt the urge to nap during the day after a nightmare John. What. Did. They. Do?” demanded Mycroft, John could hear the slight undercurrent of worry under the anger.

John fought the sigh that he wanted “They did nothing more than what some of the worst Drill Sergeants have done Mycroft. I think they thought that I would be nothing more than a civilian and I wouldn’t be able to handle what they threw at me. But when I did they kept pushing and pushing until Thor came and got me for lessons. It just took a lot out of me Mycroft, I’m not as young as I used to be.”

Mycroft chuckled slightly, “So they made the mistake of underestimating you, which is surprising. Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanoff are the Masters of their fields, they should have known better to not underestimate the obvious. As seen with Dr. Banner even the most common man can unleash a great power. And they should know you are not common John, not every man can wield Mjolnir, remember that.”

John hummed in agreement, but said nothing, wondering why did Mycroft decide to call.

“It would seem at least a few of your teammates are quite curious about you. Anthena has stopped multiple attempts to hack into the system looking for your files. Which to their disappointment they did not find. In fact all reference of John H. Watson except for his graduation date from Medical School has been wiped from all databases for the time being.

“You’re having too much fun with this” groused John.

“Indeed, it makes me have peace of mind that not even Tony Stark himself can get into our systems” chuckled Mycroft.  “Anthena was very pleased.”

“I’m sure she was happy to have a worthy opponent at last to go up against”

“Indeed” agreed Mycroft. “It seems that they would rather go looking online for answers instead of simply asking you?”

“It is to be expected” said John, “I am a stranger entering their world and I have a feeling that they were given much information about me.”

“No they weren’t, it was a condition I made with Fury. I know how much you enjoy your privacy and unless you design to tell the Avengers about your past it will be secret.”

John sighed in relief, “Thank-you Mycroft”

“Your welcome John” said Mycroft, he seemed about ready to say something else when John heard the murmur of another voice talking to Mycroft. And John had to smile because he knew that duty was calling Mycroft. He was right of course.

“It would seem John that a minor situation needs my attention so I shall have to leave you.”

“Running a country does need your full attention” joked John lightly.

“Indeed, don’t be surprised if a care package arrives for you, Mummy and Mrs. Hudson have been talking” chuckled Mycroft.

John just laughed, “Make sure they included some tea, these Americans have no taste.”

“I will John”

“Good-bye Mycroft” replied John as the call was ended. Checking his watch he was surprised to see that two hours had passed since he first lay down.  It was still early in the day and John wondered for a moment what to do, it would be good for his muscles to get up and stretch.

John looked out the window, it was a nice day, the sun was out and there was no sign of a cloud in the sky.  He could explore a couple blocks of the city, he was positive that he would be able to find his way back to the tower, if not there was bound to be people who could point him in the right direction. As long as he didn’t leave the island of Manhattan he knew he would be fine.

Making sure to grab his wallet and mobile he made his way to the elevator and pushed the button to the ground floor.  Surprisingly there was no one in the lobby of the Tower, so John was able to get out without any questions asked.

The first thing that John noticed as he walked the streets was all damage that was still visible. There were signs of the battle all over Manhattan, some parts were still being rebuilt. John paused to look at the memorial that had been erected in memorial to all the victims of the battle. There were so many names; men, women, and children all killed within an hours’ time. John had seen such things during the War, whole villages decimated, houses burning while bodies laid all around, the smell of charred flesh heavy in the air.

Blinking, John forced his mind to retreat from these painful memories and come back to the present. Placing a hand on the monument he bowed his head in respect for the victims.

John was so caught up that he didn’t notice a pair of hard green eyes studying him from afar. These green eyes categorized everything that the blonde man did, filing observations away for later review. John had no way of knowing that these eyes kept a careful watch on him until he left the memorial.

John unaware of the watcher he had just lost, continued to walk around the city comparing the differences between London and New York. Both had the same large crowds, rude people, and all around idiots. John had to be extra careful when crossing the streets as the cars went in the opposite direction than the ones at the home. Unfortunately he was unable to wander as much as he wanted to as the day caught up with him and he had to call a retreat back to the Tower. 

Unlike when John left the lobby had many people milling about in suits and skirts. And unlike before he could feel these stares as these men and women looked down their noses at his jumper and trousers. John long used to these types of stares ignored them as he made his way to the side to get out of the way, his eyes going to the three elevators. Ms. Potts had explained that some of the elevators had access to certain floors but only one had access to the personal floors, but he didn’t remember which one it was. For the moment he was content to stand to the side and wait for the room to clear before asking Jarvis which elevator to take.

Happy arrived in the lobby just as Members of the Board exited and Happy was relieved to have to night off. Boss was usually quite snippy after these meetings and Pepper was the only one that could get to him in this state, unless he locked himself in the lab again for three days straight. He was surprised when he entered the lobby area to see someone in there still. Security was usually pretty good in letting civilians wander about the Tower without supervision.

“Are you lost sir?” asked Happy looking at the jumper clad man. The man didn’t look like the usually people that visited the Tower. He wasn’t trying to get into the elevator to meet the Avengers , wasn’t harassing the staff to meet the Avengers, or pretending to be in trouble to meet the Avengers. No this man looked at ease standing off to the side of the room.

“No, just exploring a little” replied the man in a British accent. Happy suddenly knew who he was talking too and he smiled.

“Ah, you must Dr. Watson, I heard from Pepper that you had arrived. I am Harold Hogan but people just call me Happy”

John took the hand offered. “You can just call me John, do you work with Ms. Potts?” he asked.

“Mr. Stark is my employer, I am his chauffeur/body guard. But when he doesn’t need me I perform the same duties for Ms. Potts” explained Happy. “How are you settling in the Tower?”

John hesitated for a moment, “It’s different, very different from what I’m used to” he said truthfully.

Happy nodded in agreement, he felt sorry for the bloke, none of the Avengers were the type to open there arms to a complete stranger. Not to mention that all of them had major trust issues, throwing something unknown at them wasn’t going to be all peaches and roses.

“I’ve got beer in my fridge and there’s a game on tonight, I can give you a few pointers in dealing with this outfit if you want” offered Happy.

John shifted on his feet, “If I’m not interrupting your evening.”

“Nah, my original plan was to do this by myself, I’ll be glad for the company” answered Happy truthfully. “Plus then I can explain the finer points of American football to you” he said with a smile.

“American football has finer points?” teased John.

“I’m wounded John, I though British people were supposed to be polite” mocked Happy.

John just shook his head, “That what we tell the tourist, a lot of us are snarky bastared.”

“I can believe that,” answered Happy heading towards the elevators. “Keep acting like that I won’t order a pizza.”

John just chuckled and followed. Unlike with the Avengers he felt that he could relax around Happy, he just seemed so normal. He wasn’t a god, billionaire, assassin, super soldier or a rage monster. He was a regular bloke, something John still saw himself as. Maybe in time that would change but for right now he would relish the chance to act like a normal bloke while he still could.

Half a world away a man with silver eyes watched as a man in a suit arrested a man that he had spent a week tracking. Sherlock knew that since they were Americans that they were not Mycroft men. But who did they work for and how did they learn of Moriarty’s web?  Sherlock didn’t know but he was going to find out.

Chapter Text

American football was easy to follow once Happy explained to basic rules. John really enjoyed hanging out with a friend to drink some beer and watch a game. His friendship with Greg had been on rocky ground ever since that day, and though they were on friendly terms it wasn’t like it used to. With Happy there wasn’t any unspoken baggage between them. In fact Happy was very helpful in providing some information about the people John was supposed to trust his life with. Like Tony and Steve both had problems with water, especially cold water. Bruce did not like military figures , and if things started to go green get Tony. Thor had problems with Earth customs and Clint and Natasha were suspicious of everything. Clint also had hearing aids and at times did not wear them so sometimes he would take them to ignore whoever was talking. And Happy’s only advice for Natasha was not to get on her bad side and tread carefully.

John also got to learn about Happy, how he was a boxer and how he got hired by Stark and his work over the years. In return John shared some of himself; he revealed that he had been in the Army for most of his life. He talked a little about Baker Street, but mostly Mrs. Hudson. He even mentioned his siblings, Harry and Mycroft and his cousin Anthena, because they were family.

It was still early when John left Happy’s floor, and because of the nap he took earlier in the day  he was not tired. So instead of going straight to bed he stopped by his apartment to grab a book before going to the community kitchen to make a cup of tea. Unlike the night before the kitchen was deserted, and he was able to make a cup and sit down on the couch to relax. He had only read a few chapters when the elevator opened and the form of Tony Stark stumbled through. John watched from over the top of his book to see the inventor stumble to the coffee machine were a cup was waiting for him. The coffee seemed to make Tony a little more aware as his eyes landed on John and causally but purposely made his way over and sat down next to the Doctor.

“Can I help you Mr. Stark?” asked John his eyes never leaving the book he was reading as the genius leaned close into his personal space looking at his face.

“Are you an alien?” asked Tony reaching a hand up to poke at John’s check, pulling back as John swatted his hand away.

“Not that I am aware of” said John finally putting the book down to glare at the inventor.

“Exactly what an alien parading in a person skin would say” murmured Tony, “Though that would explain why I haven’t been able to find any record of you except for your medical graduation. You are an alien that the British Government let out when they discovered what you could do with Thor’s hammer.”

John snorted, like Mycroft would let that happen. “I highly doubt the British Government would let something like that happen. Sorry Mr. Stark but I’m just an ordinary human no more, no less.”

“But, why isn’t there any record of you Watson, I demand satisfaction” pouted Tony crossing his arms over his chest.

John sighed and looked over at the man, noticing the disheveled look and bags under his eyes. “Tony when was the last time you slept” he asked slowly.

“Sleeping is for the weak Watson” replied Tony wrinkling his nose at the very thought of sleep. John sighed, same argument, different genius. It astounded him how such smart men could be so dumb.

“Jarvis?” he called, looking up at the ceiling. Ignoring the instructions from Sir to keep quiet he answered the good Doctor.

“Sir has not slept in 78 hours, baring the two hours he got before that” answered Jarvis a little smugly as he saw the look on Doctor Watson’s face. He would be able to get Sir to go to sleep, Jarvis was sure of it.

“Tony!” exclaimed John, “That’s not even remotely healthy. You are going to go to bed and get at least six hours of sleep!”

Tony puffed up like a child and leveled a glare at the Doctor. “Make me” he challenged.

John knew from past experience that tackling this head on was not the way to do it. Instead he slowly reached forward and ran a hand through Tony’s hair massaging the scalp as he went. Tony’s first reaction was to jerk back and snap at the Doctor. But the hand in his hair felt so nice, he closed his eyes at the sensation. His busy mind slowing to focus on the slightly callused fingers in his hair, Tony was relaxing so much that he fell asleep without realizing it, cuddling into John’s jumper.

John continued to run a hand through Tony’s hair until the man had fallen deep into sleep. If he closed his eyes he could imagine that it was Sherlock laying on him after a week with no sleep and the only way he would was if he could cuddle with John and let the Doctor massage his scalp, that the short spikey hair was actually curls and when he opened his eyes he would be back home in 221B Baker Street. But when he opened his eyes he was still at the Avenger’s Tower and he gently pushed the daydream back to the corner of his mind, realizing a few moments later that a few tears had escaped unnoticed from his eyes as he sat and imagined. Wiping the tears away roughly with the back of his hand he gently detangled Tony and maneuvered him so that he lay stretched out on the crouch. He then went and fetched a spare blanket to cover the genius before brushing the hair off of Tony’s forehead.

“Sleep tight Tony” he whispered giving him a gently peck on the forehead.

“Night Mom” mumbled Tony in his sleep as John left the room. He had only gone a few steps before almost bumping into Bruce.

“Sorry Dr. Watson didn’t see you there” apologized Bruce before John could speak.

“It’s alright” responded John

“Good, have you seen Tony? I’ve been trying to get him to bed but he keeps evading me” asked Bruce.

“He’s asleep in the living room” said John motioning behind him.

Bruce looked relieved, “That’s great, Lord knows that he needs it. I’ve never seen a man that ignores his own body’s needs more than Tony.”

John wanted to say that he’s seen worse but instead just nodded. “Great men seem to do that” he said instead.

“Indeed, so how was your first day with the whole routine?” asked Bruce heading towards the kitchen fully expecting John to follow him.

“More than what I was expecting” answered John truthfully.

Bruce hummed as he moved to the kettle to make his own cup of tea. “I can imagine, I’ve seen Clint and Tasha work with new recruits, I imagine they treated you much the same way.”

“They are some strict instructors” agreed John.

“That’s one good thing about have the Other guy, I get out of the whole fitness tests” answered Bruce with a slight smile.

“I imagine there are a few things that you cannot do because of him” said John studying Bruce. Many things made the pulse quicken and stress to happen. Bruce would have to have an iron control on his body to go so many days without accidentally hulking out.

“Yeah, some things I’ve had to learn to live without” said Bruce fully expecting the speech that most people tried to give about how life is unfair and everyone makes sacrifices and then look at him with pity in their eyes.

Expect John just nodded, didn’t try to sympathize, or make the situation seem lighter than what it was. A lot of men had monsters inside of them, Bruce Banner just was unlucky enough that his took on a physical form and nobody should try to placate the man with cheap words. Bruce should be given the respect that he deserves in lesser hands the Hulk could easily be a killing machine with no morals. Nothing man made could bring down the Hulk, though they had tried multiple times.

So instead John steered the conversation back into safer waters and soon the two Doctors were discussing medicine. John was impressed that even though Banner was a PHD Doctor he had a pretty extensive knowledge of medicine. But there conversation was cut short when Tony came stumbling in and started to lean against Bruce still practically asleep.

“I should get him to bed, good-night John” said Bruce as he moved to support Tony.

“Good-night Bruce” returned John watching with a smile as Bruce maneuvered Tony back into the elevator. Glancing at his watch he was surprised to see it after midnight, knowing that tomorrow would be another early start John decided to call it a night and head back to his own floor.

Sherlock squatted in the dirty apartment, his eyes fixed on the laptop screen. He managed to snap a picture of the mysterious suit man and was running his face through Mycroft systems. His dear brother really needed Anthena to do a complete overhaul on all the systems if Sherlock was still able to get into it.

This specific search was running the face through every program Mycroft had, from files to CCTV footage, looking for a match. Such a system was usually applied to catching terrorists but Sherlock had commandeered many times to find his next target.

A smile grew on Sherlock’s face as the computer began to ping with results of positive ID’s of the same man. A smile that quickly disappeared to his heart almost stopping as Sherlock began to flip through the photos. Photos of the man and John. This man had pulled a gun on John, had chased John, and had went into Baker Street after John.

Dam Mycroft was supposed to be keeping John safe or else all of this had been for nothing. Sherlock continued to flip through the stills from the cameras and was relieved when he saw Mycroft with John and this man. Obviously his brother had indeed handled it as pictures showed the whole group getting into Mycroft’s cars.

Or maybe he didn’t as Sherlock looked at the last two photos in disbelief. It was a clear picture of the airport and John getting on an aeroplane with the man in the suit and Mycroft just standing off to the side. Sherlock refused in that moment to break his cover and call the fat tub of lard right at that moment. But he closed to door to those pesky emotions and forced himself to think rationally like always. If Mycroft willingly let the man leave with John than John must not have been in immediate danger. But why would Mycroft let John leave England when he had given his word that he would protect him?

Sherlock glared at the picture of the man in the suit. He would find out who this man was and why he had taken John if it was the last thing that he did.

Chapter Text

The next few days had John settling into a routine, training in the morning and lessons with Thor in the afternoon, the rest of the day was spent on whatever John choose, which was mainly going over what Thor had given him or exploring the Tower/New York. John had spent another evening with Happy just watching TV and discussing normal things.

 Interaction with the other Avengers was another thing entirely. John and the Avengers seemed to just tip toe around each other, both sides unsure how to approach one another. Pepper was the only one willing to extend a branch to John, making sure to invite him to the communal dinners when she was in the tower.  John made sure to go to all of these but the dinners had a strained note to them. The Avengers tried to be friendly but were trying to not say anything to offend the British man like they had the first night. But not knowing anything about John, they usually said nothing at all. John mostly played with the food, he wanted to bridge the gap, but he didn’t know what to do. There was little common ground he could talk about with these remarkable people. Just listening to Tony and Bruce talk about their work made his head hurt. Clint and Natasha seemed fit to ignore him, if they did talk it was mainly to each other and that was held in Russian. Steve was the one who tried the most to talk to John, but being from the 1940’s and still trying to catch up with the times.

 Tony seemed even more determined to find out who he was since that night on the couch. If it wasn’t for Jarvis locking him out, Tony would already have gone through his stuff. John was extremely grateful to Jarvis for that, he wasn’t ready to open his past to these people. Plus he wouldn’t want to explain why he had a real life skull on his bedside table. As it was John was lucky to have escaped any further nightmares during these past few days, but he knew that it wouldn’t last.

John was training with Natasha on his fifth day at the Tower when he caught her off guard and sent her slamming into the edge of the table that held the water. The table crashed under the extra weight. John quickly went to her side as she sat up, blood was already gushing down the side of her head. John quickly slipped into Doctor mode, assessing the cut and ignoring the glare Natasha was sending him and the slight flinches from where he touched her.

John pressed his lips together, “You need stitches” he said.

“I’m fine” Natasha said dangerously, blood dripping down the side of her face.

“You are going to get stitches” John rephrased. “Now you can either come willingly or do I have to drag you to the med level.”

Natasha’s gaze bore into his eyes; her eyes were chips of ice as the stared into his. He had to give her props; he felt a genuine twinge of fear run down his spine at it. But he knew that if he gave in and allowed her to walk away; she would always walk over him. So he forced himself to meet her gaze and hold it. Faster than what he expected, Natasha picked herself off the ground and headed to the elevator without a word. John was quick to pick himself up and follow her.

No words were said by either when they arrived at the Med level and Natasha led him to a room and sat down on the paper covered seat.

John tried to ignore the feeling of being a rat in front of a Viper as he walked around the room. John knew that any wrong move with this woman could be his last as he prepared the numbing agent after locating all the equipment required for stitching. John wasn’t surprised when she didn’t flinch when the needle entered her skin. Or when he used alcohol swabs to quickly whip away the blood and clean out the wound. The cut was high on her forehead, and easily could be hidden by Natasha’s hair. But John made sure that he made the stitches as tiny as possible to avoid any scarring.

As he stitched, John made sure every time he touched her it was in a professional way. He never lingered as he stitched. He made sure to be as quick as possible, so that six tiny stitches later he was done.

“There, all done” he said turning to pack up the instruments. When he turned around it, John was amazed to see the red head already gone. He hadn’t even heard her get off the paper cover, a great feat in itself. John quickly gathered his things and left, heading to his floor to wash up before Thor’s lessons.

On her own level Natasha looked at the stitches in thought. She had expected Dr. Watson to be like other Doctors. The ones in the Red Room and Shield never used pain killers, knowing she could take it for such a simple wound. But Dr. Watson had made sure she was numb before stitching. He also did not linger, didn’t try to force his touch on her more than what was necessary. Natasha had never had a Doctor like him, and she had to admit that he did a better job on her stitches then what Clint would have done.

For minor wounds, the two assassins only trusted each other to help them. Natasha had expected the Doctor to fold in the staring contest but it had been a shock when he hadn’t folded. That was the only reason she allowed it. If he had cowered away she would have left without a second thought. But Watson held his ground, maybe he wasn’t as useless as he seemed.

“Watcha working on Cap?” asked Tony leaning over the man’s shoulder catching sight of a pair of life-like eyes staring back at him.

Cap quickly shut his sketch book, he never showed anyone his sketches until they were finished. “Nothing in particular” he tried to say, but Steve was still terrible at lying.

Tony smiled but didn’t call Steve out.

“So any news on the Watson front?” asked Steve curious to see if Tony had made any improvement.

Tony scowled and then sighed. “No, it’s very frustrating.”

“You can always try to old fashion way” teased Steve scratching the back of his head.

“That always the last resort my friend. But seriously, that dudes like a brick wall, can’t get anything out of him. Even you, you try at dinner, but besides a few words do you know anything about him?” demanded Tony nudging Steve in the ribs.

Steve sighed but had to agree. The most he had ever gotten out of John was the night he caught him after a nightmare. That was the only time John Watson had let his guard down low enough to be slightly vulnerable. Steve couldn’t help but wonder what happened to John Watson that he built so high of walls around himself. When John didn’t notice someone looking as he watched the team interact, it was obvious that he wanted to join in. He looked at the easy comradery with such a longing Steve felt slightly sorry for John.

Steve could relate to John, he knew what it was like to be thrust into a strange place full of people he couldn’t relate to. The Battle of New York had brought the Avengers together, made them a family. John didn’t have that, he was thrust onto a group of people who didn’t trust easily. But as soon as Steve or any other Avenger tried to get closer to the British man, a set of walls slammed down around him it seemed. Almost if he was afraid to get close to any of them. Steve had seen this during the war, men completely closing themselves off so not to get hurt when another buddy died on the front line. John was a soldier on the front line and he was afraid of the Avengers getting close because he was afraid of losing them.

“Cap, he Cap, you still with me?” asked Tony. Steve had been staring off into la-la land for five minutes.

Steve shook his head, “Yeah, just thought of something about John.”

“Ooooh, care to share?” asked Tony.

Steve hesitated, it didn’t feel quite right to reveal John’s nightmare and the aftermath. “Not right now”

“Alright, keep your secrets Spangles, I have science to do” announced Tony jumping from the couch. “Because science waits for no man! Except for Tony Stark!”

Steve shook his head and chuckled, he couldn’t believe that he once thought Tony was an arrogant man. But it was time like these that Steve realized how wrong he was. Still smiling Steve opened his sketchbook and gazed at John’s eyes and wondered. Who had the man lost that made him so afraid to open himself up to new people?

Sherlock scowled at the computer. After many hours of slogging through files and footage Sherlock finally had some answers to his many questions. Mycroft had allowed John to go with a member of Shield! How could he do that!

Sherlock should have knew Fatcroft would screw something up. But what frustrated Sherlock the worst was the reason why Shield had been interested in John. Even hacking into Mycroft files resulted in no answers.

No Sherlock would have to go to the source, this Agent Phil Coulson. The man in the suit that lead John out of England to parts unknown. Sherlock found a little information on the man, the most relevant was that the man had been reported dead before the Battle of New York, but it apparently this information was false. Or Coulson had the same idea Sherlock had. Die to protect the people he cared about, or to pull the Avengers together? Either way it didn’t matter. All that he cared about was finding out if John was alright. But Mycroft seemed to keep the information off of even his personal files. Though it would seem that Mycroft was the reason why so many of his targets were disappearing. Mycroft was having Shield work on the Moriarty problem.

It would seem that he would have to meet with the man face to face. But first he would research Coulson and his team and see what skeletons lay in their closet.

Chapter Text

John knew that his luck would run out. He had been having a few good weeks. No nightmares and no problems with his shoulder. It was always in the back of his mind however that he would have a bad day. Back in London it had been no problem to deal with them. The women he worked with understood that he had problems, and it was no problem to get off to rest his shoulder. He had no idea how he would handle it here in New York.

John woke with his shoulder on fire; he couldn’t help the groan that escaped him as he tried to move it. This had happened before, days that he woke with the wound just throbbing and John unable to do anything about it expect go back to bed and hope that the next day it would be back to normal. But how he wished that it hadn’t happened today. Today would be the first team meeting that he would be allowed to attend. But John knew from experience it would be about impossible to be able to do anything, let alone be able to concentrate. Not even pain pills would be much help for the pain.

“Are you alright Dr. Watson?” asked a concerned Jarvis as he watched the Doctor struggle to sit up, face contorted with pain.

“Just my shoulder Jarvis” replied John making it to his feet, though Jarvis was worried at the grey color the Doctor’s face turned as he swayed on his feet. His limp pronounced as well as he went into the bathroom to relieve himself and grab the hot and cold packs that he had stashed there. Stoically he lowered himself back onto the bed and applied the heating patch. Sighing as the heat began to sooth the tense muscle.

“Jarvis can you inform the others I don’t feel good and I’m sorry. But I won't be able to attend anything today” asked John through gritted teeth as he laid back down.

“Should I get Dr. Banner? If you are in pain Dr. Watson he would be able to help.”

John shook his head at the ceiling, “No thank-you Jarvis, it happens from time to time. As long as I keep it immobilized and I rest it should be better in a day or two.”

“Very well Dr. Watson, I will inform the others of your apologizes.”

“Thank-you Jarvis” said John gratefully as he closed his eyes and surprisingly found himself asleep within moments.

Natasha drummed her nails on the counter top impatiently. They were still waiting for Dr. Watson to show up so that they could have the team meeting and continue with the training.

 It was frustrating to work with Watson, she had expected him to tap out the first training session that they had. But the small British man continued to defy every conception they had drawn of him. It was clear to Natasha that he was something more than what he presented to the world, she couldn’t believe that she had missed it before. Though it wouldn’t be the first time she let personal feelings color her opinion as she glanced at Tony from the corner of her eye. She had preconceived notions about Watson, just as she did with Tony. Which was a dangerous flaw to have in her line of work.

Ever since that day Watson had stitched her up, she had been working on keeping an open mind for Watson. And she had gathered quite a bit of new information. One such fact was that Watson watched everything. Every time they interacted with the doctor, his eyes followed them around. No small movement was missed. Also Watson tried to keep his back to the wall, he did not like to sit in the open where a person could sneak up behind him. Those traits and the fact that Watson never seemed to relax in the Avengers present, made Natasha want to think that Watson did not trust them.

Another piece of information that Natasha had gathered was that Watson knew how to take care of himself. There was a sort of grace that Watson showed during training, how he smoothly moved during their sparing sessions that spoke of ease and practice. Yesterday had been the only time he had ever tapped out quickly, Natasha had managed to pin him by his left shoulder, Watson had stopped struggling immediately and tapped out and it didn’t escape her notice to see the flash of pain of his eyes as he got up. Watson had fled for his lessons to Thor moments later and Natasha hadn’t been able to observe him further.

In the past few weeks the short Doctor was beginning to grow a little on the Russian assassin. There was something about him that made her want to like him. Her silent musing was cut short when Jarvis began to talk.

“I am sorry to inform you that Dr. Watson will be unable to attend the meeting today, he apologizes that he is feeling unwell and had to make you wait.”

“Is he dying?” she asked.

“No” came the reply from Jarvis.

Natasha huffed and stood up, the rest of the Avengers following her movements. Just as she was beginning to give him the benefit of the doubt he pulled this stunt. “Just because he’s a little sore doesn’t mean that he is getting out of training today.”

She had seen many SHIELD recruits pull the same stunt, and the only way to deal with them was to go into their room and pull them from the bed forcefully to make them understand that laziness and cowardness was not tolerated.

It did not take her much effort to make her way into John’s apartment, ignoring Jarvis’s protests.

Natasha’s eyes scanned the room, taking in the military neatness, and what appeared to be a human skull on the table beside a few pictures. She would ponder their significates later as he eyes landed on the object of her ire. Watson was laying peacefully on his back sleeping.

“Natasha maybe you shouldn’t” cautioned Steve as the rest of her team mates appeared in the doorway. Natasha ignored this as she flipped the covers off the bed. John’s eyes snapped open and only Tony saw the pain that filled the Doctor’s eyes in that moment.

Before John could say anything, Natasha had reached down and grabbed the Doctor’s leg and yanked him out of the bed. John landed on the floor with a thump and a scream of agony that had all of the Avenger’s startle.

John curled up in himself on the floor hugging his left arm to his body as he gritted his teeth to stop another scream. He pressed his forehead to the floor as he struggled to breathe through the pain that had him immobilized on the ground. It almost felt as if he had been shot again. Suddenly he was no longer in the room, but back in Afghanistan with the sounds of bombs dropping and gunfire exchanged, with the sounds of dying men.

Suddenly a gently pair of hands touch him, and stayed their despite his flinch. “Hey it’s alright John, easy there” came a voice that in his pain wrecked mind struggled to stay in place as he fought to stay in the present. John let out a whimper when the hands moved to his shoulder and gently touched it.

Bruce tried to be as gentle as he could as he examined the area that seemed to be causing John pain. He was shocked when he came across a scar. Not just any scar but one that could only be caused by a bullet. It was red and swollen. Near silent whimpers escaped John’s mouth as he gently touched it.

“He’s shoulder’s inflamed, around the area where the original bullet wound was” explained the voice.

“Yes Dr. Watson mentioned that this happened from time to time and he assured me he would be better in the next few days” said a slightly hostile British Voice, “Provided that he rested, I tried to explain this before Ms. Romonav pulled him out of the bed quite forcefully.”

This statement seemed to snap Tony out of his stillness. It seemed so wrong to see John laying on the ground so vulnerable. He looked even smaller than what he usually looked as he huddle on the ground, flinching from Banner’s soothing hands. “Alright people, I think we’ve down enough damage” Tony announced.

Natasha flinched at the hidden barb, but her face remained the neutral mask that she usually adopted when faced with problems. She hesitated at the door and looked back as Banner was still trying to coach John back onto his feet.

Tony nudged her to keep on moving as he brought up the rear. With reluctance Natasha kept on moving. Tony only stopped to pull out his Starkphone. He had to redesign the locks on all the apartment doors. He was serious that none of the Avengers should be able to get into one another’s apartments, what Natasha just did was a major breach in security. Though Tony was not above snooping online for all the answers, he did not approve of physical going to someone’s safe place and messing around. What Natasha just did was akin to when Obadiah entered his house and disabled him to take the arc reactor. And it would not be tolerated in his tower.

“Come on Dr. Watson” Bruce’s gentle voice and equally gentle hands pulled John to his feet and helped him to situate back in the bed again. Making sure John’s shoulder was propped up with a pillow, he applied another heat patch Jarvis had informed him that Dr. Watson had in the bathroom.

Bruce’s eyes wandered across John’s form taking in the scars the covered his torso, wounds that spoke of past torture. Bruce fingers slowly began to trace one of the worse scars, it was jagged and hadn't yet paled to the whiteness of old scars, it looked older than the bullet wound but not by much. His questing fingers were stopped as a hand grabbed onto his wrist hard, he raised his eyes to look into the pain filled eyes of John.

“Please don’t touch” John practically begged, he already had one painfully flashback, he didn’t want another. “Please, just leave.”

“Alright John, alright” soothed Bruce removing his hands. He ever so gently pulled the covers to John’s waist, but no further. With a quiet word of Jarvis to turn the heat on, he quietly left the room.

After adjusting the heat, Jarvis began to play soothing violin music as soon as Bruce had left, watching as the Doctor slept fitfully. It hadn’t escaped the AI’s notice that the Doctor played similar pieces when upset or trying to sleep. But Jarvis had been unable to find the player, nor some of the compositions John had and he had to settle for something close.

As the sound of the soothing notes filled the air, Jarvis watched as the muscles in Doctor Watson relax, the tension just bleed away. Jarvis couldn’t help but observe that the time for secrets was over, John Watson’s past would soon come out.

Chapter Text

“Wound like that came from a high caliber bullet” commented Clint as he perched on the sofa wing.

“I knew it, he was a spy” exclaimed Tony, “Probably a double 00, Watson, John Watson. Or maybe he threw himself in front of the Queen” speculated Tony.

“Enough Tony” spoke up Steve, “He got shot during his time in the army.”

Tony gapped at Steve before demanding, “How did you learn that?!”

“Because he told me” said Steve, “The first night he was here. He came down from his room because of a nightmare and we talked a bit. It was actually the most I have heard him talk about himself.”

“Well that’s not our fault, that guy is worse than Fort Knox when talking about his past. Heck I think he’s even worse than me” said Clint. It was a well-known fact that Clint did not talk about his past at all with anyone. But he told the Avengers enough that they didn’t ask him about it anymore. For all of them the past was a tricky subject, all of them coming from less than ideal backgrounds. There were a lot of land mines to avoid when asking someone about their past. John seemed to fit right in with the Avengers in that aspect expect his land mines had land mines.

“We should have been informed” said Natasha lowly. “Injury like that is a liability, for him and the team. He should have never been brought here.”

Tony coughed, “Riiiight, more liability than an electro magnet in someone’s chest, more liable than someone that has hearing aids, or a green rage monster. Heck even more liable than an assassin that used to work for the other side. I can see why having a gunshot wound is the worse he could have hid from us” he said sarcastically standing up. “Face it Natasha, you were the one that screwed up in this instance. You also broke the rules when you went into his room. Why couldn’t you have accepted the fact that he wasn’t well to begin with? Do you really think Jarvis would have lied about him not feeling well?”

Within seconds Natasha was also on her feet staring at Tony, “Because he doesn’t make sense. Nothing what he does makes sense. He is an unknown man living in close knit proximity to us, and we know nothing besides he can pick up Thor’s hammer. That doesn’t automatically make me want to trust the man. I want to know why he can pick it up, what makes him worthy. I will not allow him to harm this team. So until I know exactly who he is and have a good enough reason to even slightly trust him I will continue to be skeptical!”

“ENOUGH!” finally yelled Steve. “Both of you sit down and quit arguing.”

Both looked like they were going to argue with Steve but finally stood down. Silence reined after that, none wanting to break the tension. They all waited for Bruce to come down from John’s suite.

They didn’t have to wait long until they heard the elevator door open and Bruce walked out into the living room. He looked weary as he took his customary seat next to Tony.

“How is he Bruce?” asked Thor, breaking the silence.

“In a great deal of pain” answered Bruce pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ve got him settled, but it would be best if he wasn’t jarred further than he already has been” he said looking at Natasha who had the decently to avert her eyes, though still scowled.

“Could you tell anything about the wound, how old it was?” asked Steve.

Bruce scratched the back of his head. “Remember I’m not an actual Doctor, but I would guess that maybe two years.”

Steve sighed, “He really should have told us about it.”

Again Tony objected. “Yes because we were all so open to him when he came here, we sat in a circle and braided each other’s hair and said aloud what all of our greatest weakness are” snarked Tony as he stood up to pour himself another drink. “Get real Cap. Even I can tell that something must have happened to Watson that makes him not want to get close to us. It’s stupid to automatically assume that he would trust us. And as a man that grew up having trust issues with practically everyone, I can see why he is so weary of us.”

Before Steve could say anything back the elevator dinged again.

“Can any of you explain why you are here and not in the conference room for the debrief!” demand Fury stepping into the living room. The Avengers blinked, they had forgotten that Director Fury had mentioned that he might stop by the debriefing.

The Avengers turned as one to look at Steve to explain. Steve restrained the sigh that wanted to escape. He hated being the leader of the Avengers sometimes. “We had an incident today.”

Steve explained to Fury what had occurred, and Fury’s face grew graver and graver.

“With all due respect Sir, but were flying in the dark with Watson. Even when we first got together to form the Avengers you had a folder on each of us. Why not with Watson?”

Fury frowned, he had hoped that Watson would reveal something about himself. But it would seem fate was fickle and Fury would have to face the wrath of the Iceman. “Because Watson is under the protection and considered family for one of the most powerful man on the planet and he fully respects Dr. Watson’s wish for privacy on his background.”

That surprised all of the Avengers. “Please tell me you’re not talking about who I think you’re talking about” whispered Natasha, feeling a flash of cold crawl up her spine. There was one man that even the Red Room wanted nothing to do with and he happened to be British.

Fury eyed her. “The Iceman is very protective of his own Romanoff. I would make this right as soon as John is on his feet again.” Fury than turned to face the rest of the Avengers. “Now concerning the issue around this bullet wound let me clear up as much as I can tell you. Doctor Watson was shot during his last tour of duty as he bent over another kid trying to save his life. The infection from the wound almost killed him, and it caused enough damage that it destroyed any chance of him continuing as a surgeon. And that is all that I can tell you on the matter.”

“There were other scars” spoke up Bruce, his eyes narrowed on Fury.

“Doctor Watson might have also experienced being a POW, but I cannot confirm this” commented Fury. “If you want further information I recommend you ask Dr. Watson himself, or take your chances and contact this number.” From his pocket Fury drew out a card with Mycroft’s number on it. Fury hoped that they would ask Watson for information because he did not want to deal with Mycroft Holmes.

Coulson relaxed in his office in the Bus, hunting down the pieces of Moriarty's network that Mycroft had given him was a great experience for his team. They had grown closer, and worked more smoothly than ever before. He had given the team the night off and it was only him on the plane. He considered going to bed early, but as he made to get up, the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he grabbed his gun, knowing he was no longer alone. The lights flickered and the empty space in front of his desk prior to the lights flickering was filled with figure in black holding a gun at Coulson’s head.

"Don't be alarmed Agent Coulson" came a deep baritone from the figure in front of him. "If I wanted to kill you you would be dead by now and I would be off your plane. All I want is to talk to you, so put the gun down, and keep your hands away from the watch.”

Coulson slowly put the gun down and laid his hands flatly on the top of the desk. “Who are you?” demanded Coulson.

"I am a man of little importance," said the man, "I am just wondering why SHIELD has seen fit to send some of its best Agents to track down a criminal network that wasn't even on their radar as of last year.”

Coulson narrowed his eyes, this man was more informed which meant he was extremely dangerous. “It was a request from the British Government. In exchange for-”

But the stranger did not let Coulson finish, as he slammed a fist on Coulson’s desk, making the Agent flinch slightly. "Why has Mycroft sent you" demanded the stranger and Coulson managed to hide his shock of this man knowing the name of the British Government.

“As I was saying it was a deal made between my boss and the Mr. Holmes” hedged Coulson, as he studied the man. He was very tall and had bleach blonde hair. The cheekbones look like they could cut through the skin, making look gaunt and half starved.

"You are being difficult, but I am not a patient man Agent Coulson. I'm going to give you two seconds to answer the question, what happened to John? I know this all started when you took him God knows where on this very plane."

“He’s fine, mysterious stranger on my plane” assured Coulson, watching as the man seemed to shrink a few inches in relief. A niggling in the back of his mind screamed at him that he should know who this was, but he couldn’t quite place it as he continued. “It was discovered after the invasion in London that Dr. Watson was worthy enough to pick up Thor’s hammer. And he has been sent to work with the Thor to learn how to control his new powers.”

  "Extraordinary" whispered the man the gun lowering into his lap. "I always knew there was something special about him. That people underestimated him too much and they never fully realized how special he actually is. But I never expected to be proven so correctly"

The pieces clicked in Coulson's mind, something that should be impossible, but since he was brought back from the dead than surely this was possible. "You would know wouldn't you Sherlock Holmes."

  The now christened Sherlock Holmes eyed him, "Clever, Agent Coulson perhaps you’re not the idiot I first mistook you for. But you should know that I did in fact not die to begin with, you are still the only one that I know that has managed that feat.  But back to the matter at hand, where is John now?"

  "He's in New York, Director Fury and your brother thought it would be beneficial for him to receive some training with the Avengers. He won’t be a main Avenger, but once he completes the training he will be considered a backup for if Thor is ever laid up.”

Sherlock clasped his hand under his chin, soaking in this new information.

“Might I ask on why you faked your own death?” asked Coulson, curiosity coming out in full. “From my impression John truly believes that you are dead.”

Sherlock sighed, “I thought I was clever that I would be able to outsmart Moriarty, but I had something that he didn’t I had a heart and he knew it. I met him on the roof and he revealed that he had snipers not only on John, but on DI Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson. But before I could get him to repeal the orders he shot himself, and I had no choice but to jump to save my three friends,” breathed Sherlock grief consuming his gaunt features. “Only a plan that Mycroft and I came up with saved me, but in order to make sure it worked John and everyone else had to believe I was dead or Moriarty’s men would come back. So for the past year I have been hunting down what is left of his network so eventually I can return home.”

Sherlock paused, “But Moriarty’s web is but a small part of a layer criminal web, he’s connected to something bigger, bigger than anything Mycroft and I ever imagined that stretches all over the world. A criminal organization that has its roots in almost every government, every organization working behind the scenes.” Sherlock’s grey eyes locked onto Coulson, “You have one among your number” he said softly.

Coulson started, opening his mouth to deny it when Sherlock pulled out a set of files from out of his coat and slid them over to Coulson. There in plain black and white showed the traitor Ward was. He didn’t want to believe it, but so much now made sense. He would not allow the man to hurt the team he considered almost family, especially Skye. He had seen how Ward looked at her, and with this new information it could only lead to bad things.

“Thanks for this” he said softly, though his heart felt heavier than ever as his mind started going through scenarios to put Ward down without alerting him.

“Apologizes” muttered Sherlock standing up. He knew the feeling of being betrayed by the people close to you. Pocketing his gun he stood up to leave the plane when Coulson’s voice forced him to stop.

“Mr. Holmes if I might give you a piece of advice from one faked death to another” called out Coulson. “The longer you keep it from Dr. Watson, the more pain you will put him in when you reveal the truth.”

Sherlock slowly turned back, “What makes you say that I ever plan on telling John any of this?”

“Because Mr. Holmes, if you had no intentions of returning you wouldn’t be so worried about John’s whereabouts.”

Sherlock narrowed his eyes, Coulson reminded him strongly of John. Except Coulson was an easy deduction. His life was his job, and he was very good at it. “John will understand, I did this to protect him.”

Coulson just shook his head. Fury told him the reasons behind not telling the Avengers he was alive. Though they understood the reasons, Coulson’s relationship with them was never the same.

“In trying to protect him Mr. Holmes, you might already have lost him. There is a reason why I’m not as close to Agent Barton and Romanoff. Tell him soon Mr. Holmes, or you might lose him.”

The lights flickered once more, and Sherlock was gone. If it wasn’t for the file in Coulson’s hands he would have thought he imagined the whole meeting. Suddenly feeling the need for a stiff drink, Coulson locked the file away in a special panel and poured himself a finger of scotch and sipped slowly. A part of him was hoping that the friendship between Sherlock and John. There were not many friends that would fake their deaths and go on a global undercover job just to make sure that their friend was safe.

But what Sherlock said made him pause. If he was to be believed Moriarty’s network was bigger, bigger than even Mycroft believed. What type of organization could have agents in every government, working behind the scenes? Though once Coulson delivered Ward to Fury, than maybe the mystery will be revealed.

Grabbing his encrypted phone, he dialed the Director’s number.

“Director Fury, we have a traitor in our midst.”

Chapter Text

John groaned as he came back into the land of the living. He felt like a bus had hit him, backed up and ran him over again.

He blinked his eyes open, frowning at the ceiling that was above him, it was not familiar. For a brief moment he panicked and tried to sit up but groaned as his shoulder made itself known. Though it wasn’t the blinding pain of what he could assume was yesterday, it still throbbed.

John wanted nothing to do but to lie back down and not worry about the day. Though he knew from experience that he had to get out of bed and work the muscles or risk it growing stiffer. By the day after tomorrow it should be almost completely back to normal.

So John clenched his teeth and sat straight up in one fluid motion. He couldn’t help but groan as the pain flared for a brief moment, but he continued the movement until he was standing on his feet.

Once on his feet, John took deep breaths to manage the pain as he slowly raised his arm until it was perpendicular to the ground. He slowly began to make small circular motions working the shoulder muscles and gradually making bigger rotations until it was wide circles. The muscles protested, but John squeezed his eyes shut and continued with the exercise despite the pain. By the second full rotation it wasn’t as painful and by the end of the third John knew he would be alright for the day.

All through this, Jarvis had stayed silent until it was apparent that John was done with his exercises.

“How are you feeling Dr. Watson?” asked the AI, concern in his voice.

“It’s sore but otherwise I’m going to be alright” said John truthfully to the AI as he headed towards the small kitchen area.

“Sir will be pleased to hear that, he wished me to inform you as soon as you woke that he will be stopping by later this afternoon to discuss the nature of the security breach yesterday. Also Agent Barton has cancelled your morning training. Thor also wishes you to know that he is agreeable to canceling his lessons as well if you still feel unwell” finished Jarvis.

John couldn’t help but sigh in relief at the news that the training for the day was canceled.

“That would be fine by me Jarvis, and tell Thor that it might be best to wait until tomorrow to begin again” replied John as he padded towards the kitchen. Having basically slept through yesterday, his stomach was demanding to be filled. Thankfully there were eggs and bacon in the fridge so he was able to make a decent breakfast, minus the tea, which was in the communal kitchen still. But he made do with coffee, it wasn’t the first time nor the last time he had to make the sacrifice of his choice of hot beverage.

Once he was done with his breakfast, John decided to indulge himself and filled the lavish tub on his floor with hot water and slide in. The muscles in his shoulder almost immediately relaxed in the warmth. And it was nice to know that this tub had never had an experiment in which mulitple pairs of feet were kept to soak for a weak, because Sherlock wanted to see if race and age made a difference in the rate of decay. After that experiment, John had never taken more than a shower in that tub. No matter how much he scrubbed, John couldn’t get over the fact of what had happened in it.

John lounged in the tub until the water began to grow cool, only then did he step out and change into some comfy clothes. His indulgence had lasted the entire morning and it was nearing lunch time when he had his first unexpected visitor.

Two hours earlier

Tony flipped the card between his fingers debating with himself if he should call the number that was printed on the front of it.

He had met the British man once when he was a child and his Aunt Peggy had brought him along for a special meeting in Britain. Which had turned out to be Mrs. Holmes who had brought Mycroft. Both boy geniuses realized it was a play date of sorts as the adults took care of business. It had been an interesting hour the boys had spent the whole time insulting one another and towards the end traded a few blows when words seemed insufficient. Needless to say the two British woman did not set up another play date.

Tony had honestly forgot the encounter with the other boy genius until Fury had spoken and jogged the memory. It was hard to think that the ginger slightly pudgy boy had become someone who even Nick Fury was nervous to even talk about. He also seemed to scare the shit out of Natasha, so that at least told Tony that this was something that he shouldn’t rush into. He would actually have to use some diplomacy to get the story.

Because despite all the warnings that told him that Mycroft Holmes was dangerous, Tony couldn’t help but poke the beast to get some answers. So ignoring the voice yelling in his head with the ease of practice he dialed the number on the card.

It rang twice.

“Mycroft Holmes I presume” Tony started off as soon as he heard the sound of the phone connecting.

There was silence for a moment before a smooth cultured voice answered.

“Tony Stark, I would say congratulations to finding my number after so many attempts of looking for information in my servers. But seeing as your attempts have failed grievously, it would seem Nicholas gave you this number which means something happened to John. I suggest you tell me right now what your Team has done. I am not a man to be trifled with Mr. Stark, I can topple entire governments down with a single word before I’ve had my morning cup of tea.”

Tony didn’t know if he should be impressed, insulted, or nervous in that moment. But Tony was not used to not being the most dangerous man in a conversation. He immediately changed into the business man that made the Merchant of Death so dangerous.

“Mr. Holmes, I’m sorry my attempts to you have been so pitiful. But I feel that I must point out that I am also not one to be trifled with, I don’t topple governments, I destroy them. And I don’t do well with frustration. Which I must say I have been feeling ever since a certain British man was dropped off at my Tower. I know that I speak to likeminded man who needs to know everything about the people who surround me. And the fact that I have been meeting a wall with this man is beyond frustration. But to answer your question John is fine, just sore. There was an incident yesterday with his left shoulder.”

The silence was longer before Mycroft answered, “Explain.”

Tony obliged the other man, giving a thorough but short explanation. There was another stretch of silence on the other side of the phone. “It seems that I have been remiss. Thank-you for informing me of this incident. I will endeavor to speak to John today.”

“Your welcome Mr. Holmes-“ he began but was cut off by Mycroft speaking again.

“Also Mr. Stark, please inform Ms. Romanoff that besides missions of necessity, her presence will not be welcome on British soil.”

With that Mycroft hung up the phone, not waiting for Tony’s reply. He sat in his office in silence for a moment to come to a decision. With a slight nod he picked up his phone once more and called a familiar number. “Mummy, how would you feel about a weekend getaway to New York in the near future?”

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Natasha had spent the entire night thinking over the situation she had caused with the Doctor.

Not that she would admit it to anyone else alive, but she did feel bad at the pain she had caused. However a part of her still justified it. If they had been given any information about the man, she would have known better than to bother him when he claimed sick.

 She knew though that she would have to go apologize to him, and maybe sit the record straight. Everyone had been dancing around the Dr. Watson issue ever since he had come to the Tower.

She was going to be straight with him and lay her cards down on the table once and for all. So she politely asked Jarvis if Dr. Watson would be willing to see her. She half expected for Jarvis to say that Dr. Watson didn’t want to see her.

Jarvis just told her that the Doctor was free at the moment.

So it was great trepidation that Natasha made her way to John’s floor and knocked firmly on the door. It took only a few moments for the door to open and John Watson stood in front of her. Natasha could tell that he was still slightly in pain, if the tight squinty look at the corner of his eyes was anything to go by. He seemed surprised to see her, and Natasha had a feeling that Jarvis had not asked John if it was alright to come by.

“Dr. Watson I hoping that you and I would be able to speak about what happened yesterday.”

John seemed to study her for a moment before opening his door wider, “Come in please.”

Natasha’s shoulders relaxed a tiny fraction at being allowed to enter the floor. Once inside Natasha turned and held out a bag she had brought as a slight peace offering. “I didn’t know how long this would take, so I brought some Chinese food.”

“Thank-you” John said, accepting the peace offering Natasha was extending. He led them into the sitting room and set the food on the coffee table while motioning for Natasha to sit.

He began to speak once she was sitting. “I see no point in beating around the bush. So say what you need to say.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, she had expected to do just that. With Dr. Watson being so fond of dodging questions and all. But it would seem that it was just another one of those things that surprised the SHIELD Agent.

Natasha leaned forward and focused her gaze into John Watson’s blue eyes. “This team is my family Dr. Watson, and I’m going to protect them at all cost” began Natasha. “I don’t know you and you continuously surprise me” she gave him a small glare. “I don’t like that.”

John waited saying nothing as she took a breath. “But I wish to apologize for causing you harm yesterday. I thought you were trying to weasel your way into staying in bed longer, and I was determined to drag you out of bed. I know doing this has violated many things, especially Tony’s word.”

Natasha paused and again and squashed the urge to fidget underneath John’s kind gaze as he just simply looked at her, no judgement anywhere on his face. But she was a soldier so she soldiered on “Tony promised that this would be a safe place where only you could enter freely. For a lot of us, having our own space is a gift not to be taken lightly, myself included. Yet I did just that barging in your room. I have no right to ask for forgiveness but know I am sincerely sorry for the pain I caused you. But this place and these people are the closest thing I have to a home and family and-“

“I’m an unknown variable that randomly showed up with little warning and continue to defy your ever expectations of me. Believe me when I say you’re not the first to be protective when I enter a loved ones lives.” Here John’s eyes grew hard. “But I didn’t ask to come here and still shocked as hell at the fact a hammer thought I was worthy. And I get the whole trust problem, there is a reason why I don’t talk about myself around anyone.”

It had occurred to Natasha that Dr. Watson never talked about himself because he was uncomfortable around the Avengers. But it hadn’t quite crossed her mind that Dr. Watson had the same trust issues that basically every Avenger had.

Again Natasha wondered how she could have missed so many signs about John Watson. She used to believe that she could read about every person. It was what made her such an excellent asset to the Red Room and later SHIELD.

“I see” Natasha said. “Maybe we can fix that” she said with a small smile.

John gave a small smile back, and Natasha was struck how changed his face became with that small smile. He looked younger, and the wrinkles were less pronounced as if a great grief had been slightly lifted.

“I will leave you to your day off then” as she turned to leave she looked back at John from over her shoulder. “Also your training sessions in the mornings have been rescheduled to once a week. It’s clear that you are in good shape. Thor will be using that time now to let you get some practical experience with using Mjolnir. Enjoy the Chinese John.”

She was almost out the door when she heard his soft reply of “I will Natasha.”

Natasha left John’s floor with a sense that maybe things could be different between Dr. John Watson and the Avengers.

John didn’t know how to feel after Natasha left. On one hand he didn’t hold what she did to him against her, since it all could have been avoided if he explained, on the other with this new beginning of sorts it would be expected for John to open up. And John was still wary letting the Avengers in.

With these thoughts John settled down and began to eat the food Natasha had brought. But as he ate, John couldn’t help but think the Chinese food that he got in London was better than the one he was eating now, if he did say so himself.

John had barely gotten started on the dumplings when another knock sounded on his door.

“Sir is at the door” called out Jarvis, unlike when Natasha came earlier.

Like with Natasha, Mr. Stark waited until John had invited him into the apartment before stepping inside. He was dressed in jeans that had seen better days and an ACDC t-shirt with splotches of grease all over him. John’s mind was already wondering how long he had been without sleep or a shower. Unconsciously looking for the same signs that he used to tell with Sherlock.

Tony was amused that even though John had been hurt not less than 24 hours ago he was using his doctor eyes on him. “Good to see you on your feet Doc” said Tony as he made himself at home in the apartment by sitting on the couch. His eyes observing that he seemed to have walked in the middle of John’s lunch if the open Chinese boxes were anything to go by. He also made a note to have Pepper take the good doctor out shopping. There was nothing that said that Watson lived in the apartment.

“Jarvis said you wanted to talk to me” replied John sidestepping discussing the fact it was painful to get out of the bed yesterday as he took back his seat in front of the Chinese food and silently straightening it up.

John marveled as the air around Tony seemed to change from the slightly relaxed, to more serious as he turned his brown eyes to focus on Dr. Watson. He had thought only Mycroft had that ability to change like that at a flip of a switch. But as John reflected, Mr. Stark hadn’t been called the Merchant of Death for nothing.

 “I just wanted to apologize Dr. Watson, and that’s something not many have heard me say. What happened should not have. I designed these floors so that everyone could have their privacy and the only ones who could override that were Jarvis and myself if an emergency occurred. I am ashamed to say that since I wasn’t expecting you, the coding wasn’t up to pare with the rest of the Avengers rooms. Something that will be fixed immediately this afternoon.” Tony was perfectly serious without any of his joking attitude that he usually used. Tony had failed the man before him and the least he could do was offer a serious apology.

“Good” said John. After so many drug bust at 221B, John liked the thought of nobody getting onto his floor without his permission. It had been something he found agreeable about being in the Tower.

“Alight then, if you here some banging and swearing outside your day later this afternoon it’s just me and J trying to get everything updated” said Tony cheerfully. “FYI there might also be some loud music, so if you plan on taking a nap I’d do it now.”

John chuckled lowly, “I think I’ve had enough sleep to make it through the afternoon Mr. Stark.”

Tony waved his hands at John, “Tony, please Mr. Stark is for my employees. Your apart of this team Dr. Watson” said the man with a quirked eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

John couldn’t help but feel that Tony was trying to say something without saying it out loud.

“That’s what I’ve been told” said John, “And it’s John.”

This seemed to please Tony, like John had said the right thing. “Alright then, I won’t keep you from the rest of your lunch John.” Tony said standing back up. “Also expect a call later, and remember it’s not my fault” called Tony as he disappeared.

John’s mind went to the worst case scenario. Surly Tony didn’t mean who John thought he meant. If on que John heard the sound of his mobile ringing from his bedroom. With trepidation he went into the bedroom and picked up the device from his bedside table and looked at the number.

John wanted to groan as he saw who’s number was being displayed on his mobile. As much as he was tempted to ignore the call, John knew it would be better for his well-being if he answered it.

“Mycroft, how are things?” greeted John, crossing his fingers that Mycroft didn’t know of the incident yesterday.

“John I got an interesting call today from Mr. Stark a few hours ago” began Mycroft.

“Oh really, I didn’t know you and Mr. Stark knew each other well” replied John, trying to sidestep the issue, even though he knew that ultimately it was pointless with Mycroft Holmes.

“John” warned Mycroft over the phone and John knew that he would have to talk about yesterday. Without preamble John told Mycroft all of what happened, because anything less wouldn’t be excepted.

When he was done, Mycroft allowed himself to sigh over the phone. “John as much as I know you hate it, you have to open up. The Avengers are at a disadvantage when it comes to you, one caused by my own creation by hiding everything that I could about you. I have an advantage over Stark now, but John my techs are not going to be able to hold him off for long, he’s a very determined individual when it comes to information.”

Mycroft paused before continuing. “The men in our family are cautious, we don’t open up easily. And it is a bit hypercritical for me to be telling you to open up to strangers. But John in order to protect yourself, you have to tell them something, just the bare bones. I don’t want to get another call from one of the Avengers that something happened to you, something that was preventable. I already lost one brother, I don’t want to lose another.”

There was a slight hitch of breath on the other side of the phone, and Mycroft knew he had hit the right mark. The British Government felt the familiar twinge of guilt as he manipulated his brother. Something Mycroft knew John would never forgive him for when Sherlock came back home. But to protect John, Mycroft would do everything with his limited power, even emotional manipulate him to try to make John safe.

“I’ll try Mycroft, that’s all I can promise” came John’s voice. To anyone else, John’s voice would have sounded normal. But Mycroft could hear the slight emotional tremor to it.

“That’s all I can ask John, well besides asking you to please give Mrs. Hudson a call, she worries.”

“Alright Mycroft” answered John “I will.”

“Good” Mycroft said, “I have to go now, but I expect to also hear from you soon.”

“Alright, good-bye Mycroft.”

“Good-bye John.”

John sat heavily on the bed after hanging up with Mycroft and simply put his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths trying to lock his grief back up. John hated it, simply because he knew what Mycroft was up to. Mycroft Holmes was many things and being an utter bastard was one of them, all in the name of the greater good. It was a good thing he was an ocean away or John might have punched him in the nose.

“Dr. Watson are you alright?” asked Jarvis hesitantly. He had monitered the conversation Dr. Watson had on the phone. As the conversation progressed Dr. Watson’s hormones had changed in a decrease of cortisol levels and showed signs of anxiety.

John took a shuddering breath and raised his head till his hands only covered his mouth, he stared at the floor and he emotionally collected himself, locking everything back in its box as British men had been doing for centuries.

“I’m fine Jarvis” he said at last standing up. John should have known despite his training being canceled for the day, he still would have a busy day and it wasn’t even halfway over.

Chapter Text

Scrolling down through his contacts, John selected Mrs. Hudson’s number and pushed the call button. The phone rang three times before the familiar voice of Mrs. Hudson answered. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Hudson, it’s John.”

John had to hold the phone away from his ear as Mrs. Hudson exclaimed his name loudly.

“Oh John, it’s so good to hear from you!” exclaimed Mrs. Hudson. John could hear the smile in her voice. It made him feel a little bit guilty that he hadn’t called her sooner. Which reminded him that he probably also needed to call Mrs. Holmes. He hadn’t called the Holmes matriarch since he had left London.

“It’s good to hear from you to Mrs. Hudson. I’m sorry I should have called you earlier,” apologized John as he sat down heavily in one of the chairs in the sitting room.

“Yes, yes you should have dear. I do worry especially since… but I know your busy dear,” assured Mrs. Hudson, though John could hear the concern in her voice. “Adjusting to new places takes a while. But I do expect to hear from you at least once a week young man.”

“I will Mrs. Hudson, I promise.”

“Good. Now have you been eating dear?” asked Mrs. Hudson. Mrs. Hudson knew her boy, and it never escaped her notice John would sometimes stop eating. It was a quieter version of Sherlock’s black moods. However the landlady always made sure that she sent up some of John’s favorites when he got in those moods to tempt him.

John shook his head fondly, even though Mrs. Hudson couldn’t see it. “Yes I have Mrs. Hudson, it’s just been a rough day.”

Mrs. Hudson was silent for a moment. Unlike the Avengers, she knew what it meant when John admitted to having a rough day. The days John was confined to bed, Sherlock always seemed at a loss of what to do. Many times Martha had climbed to steps to 221 B to find Sherlock standing at the bottom of the landing, as if debating whether to go up to John or not. Of course the he would deny it, but it didn’t escape Martha’s attention that he always followed her up when she went to check on John.

She would have to contact Mycroft to get John’s address. She would have to send a care package to her boy. Make sure that he had tea and some of her scones.

“I hope they haven’t been pushing you to hard John.”

“I’ve had worse in the Army,” lied John. He hated to do it, but he didn’t want to worry Mrs. Hudson any more than he had to.

“That’s good, if they had been treating your poorly John, I would have to come over there and give those Avengers a very strong talking to,” Mrs. Hudson said firmly.

John chuckled at the image of Mrs. Hudson cowing the Avengers. “I have no doubt Mrs. Hudson that they would bend to your will.”

Mrs. Hudson laughed, “Such a sweet boy.” Over the line John could hear a steady knocking sound. “Oh that will be Mrs. Jenkins, John, we had plans to go shopping together.”

“I will let you get going then Mrs. Hudson,” John said.

“You will call me again soon John?” Mrs. Hudson couldn’t help but ask. She almost cursed the fact that she had plans with Mrs. Jenkins, she was reluctant to let John go.

“I promise Mrs. Hudson,” vowed John. “If I don’t you have my permission to call every single hour until I pick up.”

“Remember you said that John, because I will hold you to that.”

“I expect nothing else, good-bye Mrs. Hudson.”

“Good-bye John, take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

John waited until he heard the click on the other end before slowly releasing a breath. He was beyond emotionally exhausted for the day, and it was hardly past noon.

John set the phone down and grabbed the box of dumplings again. After all that he wasn’t particularly hungry. But he had promised Mrs. Hudson that he was eating so he slowly began to make his way through the bag of food.

The more he ate the more he realized how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten anything since the day before yesterday. Before he knew it had finished almost everything Natasha had brought.

With a full stomach, John began to doze when he heard the sound of music began to play outside his door. For a brief moment his mind flashed to irritation at Sherlock for waking him up, when he realized that it wasn’t a violin screeching and he wasn’t in London.

He almost asked Jarvis what was happening when he remembered Tony saying that he would be working on his door security. Knowing that he wouldn’t be napping anytime soon, John decided to do something that he had been planning on doing since he arrived. Going back to his bedroom, he pulled out his laptop and went back to the living room.

Settling back in his chair he opened a new document. With half an ear on what Tony was during, he began to record his experience here at the Tower. He had to stop every once and awhile to smile at the closed doorway. Tony hadn’t been lying when he said there would be banging and swearing. And arguments between himself and the piece of technology he was trying to fix.

However John could tell he was enjoying himself. He had the same manic energy in his voice that Sherlock got when he had a new case. It took about an hour before John heard Tony’s voice through the door.

“Hey Doc, if your still in there everything is completed. If you can’t hear me, Jarvis will let you know when you get back. Come up for dinner if you feel up to it, communal kitchen is always open.”

 John didn’t answer, though he did pause in his typing. Going to dinner would be the perfect opportunity to start actually building a relationship with his new team mates.

Later that Evening

With Mycroft’s advice ringing in his ears, John made up his mind and stepped out of his apartment and to the elevator. John took a steading breath and pushed the button for the communal kitchen. Thank-fully it was empty when he arrived, John might have scraped the plan if someone had been there. Or at least that was what he was telling himself he would have done. But as a soldier he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.

He was going to stay here and have a real conversation with at least one of the Avengers before he went to bed.

He found the kettle he used last time and put on enough water for at least a couple cups of tea. Once that task was completed he began to poke around the fridge, finding enough ingredients to make chicken vegetable risotto.

After checking with Jarvis that it was okay to use the ingredients he cut the wings and legs off the chicken and put them into a pot with some salt and pepper to make some chicken stock. He cut some carrots, onions, and celery and also put them into the same pot to give the stock some flavor.

He cut up the rest of the chicken and put on a pan with a little bit of olive oil and put the chicken on.

John was so focused on what he was making he didn’t hear the sound of the elevator opening until he heard the fridge behind him open and he turned to see Happy pulling out a bottle of water. He was still in his familiar suit.

“Jarvis said I’d find you up here, whatcha making?” asked Happy opening his water and coming to stand next to John.

“Risotto,” answered John.

“Smells pretty good.”

“It always is,” John smiled.

Happy nodded but then turned serious, “I heard about what happened yesterday. I just want to know if you are alright.”

John stirred his chicken for a moment not answering. “I will be alright.”

Happy frowned but nodded, “I take that. Just don’t hid anything Doc like that. This group is bad enough hiding injuries, we don’t need the Doc doing it to.”

John sighed, “I wasn’t trying to hide it. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me and I forget about it.”

Happy seemed satisfied with that answer. “Well I’ll leave you to it. Ms. Potts is flying out tonight.”

“Duty calls.”

“Indeed it does, save me some of that if you would John.”

“Of course Happy,” called John over his shoulder as the bodyguard made his way out of the kitchen. John was sad to see him go, Happy was one of the few people in the tower he felt comfortable with. With him gone, John could no longer use him as a buffer between him and the rest of the Avengers.

The elevator opened as Happy got to them. “Evening Bruce,” he greeted the rumpled form of Dr. Banner.

“Evening Happy,” greeted Bruce. “Where you just cooking?” asked the scientist, smelling the appetizing scent of chicken in the air.

“Nah, I burn water. John’s making risotto. Maybe if you ask nicely he’ll share. He’s saving me a plate.”

“Ahh,” said Bruce heading towards the kitchen to find John at the stove.

 “Dr. Watson, it is good to see you up,” smiled Brue, coming to stand next to the other man and noticing the tea kettle on the stove. “Is there enough water in that pot for a second cup?”

“Yes there is Dr. Banner, help yourself.”

Bruce reached into a cabinet and pulled out a tin box, a familiar smell of spices rose up when he opened them. John turned in interest to see Bruce scoop some of the leaves into a tea strainer and set it over a mug.

“I haven’t smelled that smell in years,” John commented as Bruce poured water over his strainer.

Bruce looked up surprised, “You’ve had this blend?”

John nodded. “I spent a lot of years in the Middle East, but no matter where a British Man goes he will always find tea,” he joked.

Bruce laughed, “And I thought that stereotype was fiction.”

John also chuckled, “Maybe for the most part, however I am that stereotype. God save the Queen, tea and Dr. Who.”

Bruce smiled and waited for his cup to steep, continuing to watch John work confidently. There was a comfortable silence between the two Doctors

“You make this often?” asked Bruce, though it was evident from John’s movements that it was a common dish for him to make.

“It’s one of the few dishes I can make,” John said with a smile reaching out to turn down his chicken. “My Mother taught me to cook it. She always said the key to making a good risotto is patience. Unfortunately my sister never had it and when she wanted it, she always asked me to make it.”

“Why, did yours taste better than your Mothers?”

“My Mother died when I was quite young,” John said quietly.

Bruce was saved from answering by the elevator opening once again and the rest of the Avengers tumbled out.

“Doc!” cried Tony seeing the man. Tony had hoped during their talk that John would start trying to interact with the team. It seems the good Doctor had did what Tony hoped he would. And as strange as it was, Tony was actually glad to see him.

“Tony,” greeted John, nodding at the genius. His eyes sliding over the rest of the Avengers as he nodded a greeting.

Steve and Clint couldn’t help but look between Natasha and John for a second to gauge the reaction. Seeing none, they slowly sat on the bar stools around the kitchen island.

Steve was the one who bit the bullet, clearing his throat after a few minutes of silence.

“So is everything between you two good?” he asked Natasha.

Natasha fixed Steve with a look before slipping into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass before heading towards the couch.

“We are fine,” spoke up John from his place by the stove. “Does anyone want some risotto?” he asked turning the conversation towards safer waters. “I made plenty to share.”

“I wouldn’t mind a plate Dr. Watson,” spoke up Bruce.

“Make that two,” called out Tony.

“Three,” offered Clint. Clint knew to never turn down food when it was offered, plus it smelt pretty good.

Steve and Thor also spoke up. John was suddenly glad that he had planned on making enough for everyone, with Steve and Thor in mind. John drained the bones and vegetables from the broth and poured it into a sauce pan where he began to add the rice and slowly began to stir.

“Sooo,” Clint began, trying to break the silence that had descended after the offer. “Dr. Watson…”

“Please call me John.”

Clint nodded, “John, are you feeling better?”

“I’m standing here aren’t I,” John said sarcastically.

Clint blinked, he hadn’t been expecting that. “Yes you are.”

John sighed, “I appreciate the concern Clint, but it’s only when I don’t get out of bed you should worry.”

The image of John screaming into the floor as he clutched at his shoulder flashed in all the Avenger’s mind. Natasha couldn’t help the flash of guilt that rose within her. She moodily took a sip of the wine she had grabbed.

“About that, is there any other things we should worry about?” asked Steve. “Any other old injuries that can cause you problems?”

“The shoulder is the only one,” answered John turning the heat off of the rice and stirring in the chicken. “It usually doesn’t bother me. I just have rough days every once in a while. And as you saw, I pretty much can’t do anything except sleep it off and take it easy the next few days,” answered John with a sigh. “It’s why I’m not in the military anymore.”

“How long were you in the Army?” asked Clint. It seemed as if Watson was in an answering mood and Clint was going to take advantage of it while he could.

John smiled, “It seems all my life, I was an Army brat. Joined when I was 18, it was my life until I got shot getting close to three years now.”

“I guess that explains your aim,” Clint said.

“Always had a natural aim, Army helped fine tune it. Almost got trained as a sniper, but I would rather save lives then take them. However I was never afraid to take a life in order to save someone.”

The image of Sherlock raising a pill to his lips flirted across John’s mind. That should have been a sign to John that Sherlock would someday do what he did.

“I thought Doc’s weren’t supposed to do no harm,” joked Clint, bringing John back to the present.

John smiled faintly, “I was a soldier, I had bad days.”

He turned around to the cabinet and pulled out a stack of plates and began to dish out risotto, making sure to save back a plate for Happy and putting extra potions on Thor’s and Steve plates.

“This smells pretty good John,” said Natasha as took the plate John offered her.

“Thank-you Natasha,” smiled John.

“You must have had a time adjusting back into normal life, meeting new people and all,” spoke up Tony, eyeing the Doctor.

“I take it your conversation with Mycroft was cryptic,” John speculated handing Tony a plate.

“You could say that. Which reminds me, Natasha you’re not welcome on UK soil,” Tony called out over his shoulder where the assassin sat. “I give this to Holmes, he can be one scary man when upset Doc.”

“He worries,” John stated.

“I know a little about this Holmes dude,” spoke up Clint. “How in the hell did you even met him? That dude is like a shadow.”

“That is a long story, lets just say when we first met he had me kidnapped a few months after I returned to London” John said lightly, sidestepping the question that would have forced him to talk about Sherlock. “He’s been in my life ever since.”

“Are you sure your safe John, that seems…stalkerish,” Clint mumbled around a bite of food.

John chuckled, “I’m perfectly sure. Mycroft does come off as stalkerish but his habits have saved my life more than once. You can say once he considers something his, he will do everything in his considerable power to keep them safe…most of the time,” John said darkly. The old thoughts of how Mycroft betrayed Sherlock by telling Moriarty everything surfaced, and for a moment his face grew dark in remembrance. Before he locked those feelings back up again.

After months of thinking, John knew Mycroft would have never told Moriarty the information if he had realized how it would have affected his younger brother.

The Avengers caught the look, but decided as one that they would not ask about it.

“He seemed to be an honorable man this son of Holmes,” spoke up Thor.

“Wait, wait, wait, you’ve met Mycroft Holmes?” demanded Clint.

Thor nodded, “He came with the good Doctor when they came to test John’s power.”

“Thor, you didn’t think to mention this earlier?” demanded Tony.

Thor shrugged, “You didn’t ask.”

Tony huffed and took another bite of risotto.

“So how did you find out that you could lift Thor’s hammer,” piped up Bruce sipping on his tea.

John chuckled, “It was quite by accident.”

John leaned against the countertop and explained between bites how his being in the Tower came to be. Omitting the fact of course he had been with New Scotland Yard when the attack happened.

Clint and Natasha both looked impressed when he mentioned his escape from Coulson’s team. He finished his tale after his picking up Mjolnir at Jane’s apartment.

“So if you hadn’t tripped over Mjolnir, you probably wouldn’t be here right now is what you’re saying,” Clint said when John was finished.

“That sums it up,” John said with a wiry grin on his face. Fate seemed to love John in that way. Just one little thing, making the decision to walk in the park, stumbling on a hammer, would change his life forever.

“What’s your sister say about all this John?” asked Bruce.

“She doesn’t know, and I hope she never finds out.”

“Ah don’t want her to worry?” smiled Bruce, a smile that faded as John didn’t return it.

“Harry, well Harry wouldn’t take it well.” John knew his sister, knew that she would use this excuse to drink. Not that she really needed an excuse to drink nowadays. John hadn’t heard from her in almost a month. The only reason why John knew she was still even alive was the fact Mycroft would have informed him if something happened to her. John hadn’t even known the other man kept a surveillance on her until he received a call from one of the minions saying his sister was in the hospital from alcohol poisoning. Her stomach had been pumped that night and John was there when she woke up, and he listened to her swear that this would be the last time.

The Avengers once again felt that they once again stepping into dangerous territory with the good Doctor. And they were desperately trying to edge around these land mines because they knew one wrong push, John would clam up again.

Tony eyes drifted and lit up when they landed on the TV. “You want to watch a movie Doc, we’ve been educating Thor and Steve on all the classics.”

“Dare I ask what you consider classic Tony?” asked John.

“You wound me Doc. We’ve been watching all the must sees, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, James Bond, Smokey and the Bandit, Die Hard, Bambi, and some others,” ticked off Tony.

“How about we let John pick,” spoke up Steve. Getting John to pick the movie would most likely stop the other man from disappearing once he was done eating. If they were to work together as a team they would have to get to know each other to start building trust.

“Only if he doesn’t pick Jane Austen type stuff.”

“I think Doc should pick what he wants Tony, we had to sit through the Star Wars prequels because you wanted Steve and Thor to get the whole story,” Clint said.

“Hey, hey, hey. First off don’t disk Ewan McGregor his Obi-Wan was brilliant and basically the only reason to watch the movies, that and Mace Windu, Qui-Gon, and Dooku. It wasn’t their fault, clearly it’s Jar-Jars. Second if you get past all those I hate sand moments, the story itself isn’t bad, just the acting. Besides I followed the rules, 4,5, and 6 before 1,2 and 3.”

“The matter stands, we sat through them so we can stand anything Doc throws at us.”

“Are you sure Clint, there is a lovely 5 hour version of Pride and Prejudice,” John threw out there.

Clint made a face, “On second thought perhaps not.”

John laughed at the look, “Alright, how about Indiana Jones?”

Tony’s eyes light up, “I can’t believe I forgot about Indiana Jones. Quick to the entertainment center!”

Tony practically bounced out of the room to set it up. The rest of the Avengers set their stuff in the sink before heading towards the couches.

John settled near the arm of a couch, surprised when Bruce sat next to him, not that he was complaining. It was nice to sit and watch a movie. John had spent so many nights in the past few years just staring at a wall lost in memories.

He found himself enjoying watching the movie, and watching the Avengers watching the movie.

Steve and Thor were fully engrossed in the movie and shhing Tony when he tried to do a running commentary. Clint and Natasha were curled around each other whispering in Russian to one another. Bruce would add a word or two to Tony’s commentary, mostly on why something was inaccurate.

John was almost sad when the end credits began to roll. However it was probably a good thing. His shoulder had stiffen up again and he needed to get a heating pad on it. He slowly pushed his way off the couch, making sure not to use his left arm.

“Going to bed John?” asked Bruce as he got out of John’s way.

“Afraid so, good night everyone.”

“Night Doc.”

The room was silent for a few moments after John left for his floor before Steve spoke out.

“That was enjoyable, and the risotto John made was really good,” Steve said. “I’m glad he came out tonight.”

“Well it’s a start,” Bruce commented. It should have been this way from the beginning, however they had time to mend whatever fences they broke so far.

“I heard him talk more tonight than any other time,” commented Clint. “Though it seems we still have to tip toe around him, anybody else get that feeling?”

“He’s not the biggest fan of his sister,” commented Natasha. “Also I think Mycroft Holmes did something to him at one point. He’s very good at directing conversation’s where he wants them to go.”

“Good, someone else caught that too,” Tony said looking up from his phone. “He managed to sidestep how he met Holmes all together, just that it was a long story.”

Tony felt new determination to find out just what John was hiding. Even if it took doing things the old fashioned way, talking and hoping John would slip enough for Tony to fit together the pieces. It was a challenge Tony was going to get to the bottom of.

Chapter Text

The next week was interesting to say the least.

It started with Thor dragging John down to the lower levels and sitting Mjolnir down in the middle of the floor. The rest of the Avengers were standing off to the side to watch the first practical practice John was having with Mjolnir.

“Now John I would like you to try to summon our lady Mjolnir,” Thor said with a knowing smile.

John had a feeling that Thor was holding something back with that smile, but he did what he was told. Reaching out he tried to summon Mjolnir to him. However to his surprise the hammer simple stayed where it was sitting.

Turning to Thor, John simply raised an eyebrow in question at Thor who chuckled.

“Surprised?”

“I summoned her before,” John argued staring at the hammer feeling slightly betrayed.

“That was a simple greeting John,” Thor said with another chuckle, “You have to court her John, Mjolnir is a grand lady and will only dance if you can hear the song or else she will be a fickle mistress. You have to reach deep inside of yourself and listen to hear the song. Once you hear it, then Mjolnir will dance. Trust me, she did the same when we were first introduced.”

John sighed, he should have been expecting this. To a certain degree Mjolnir was sentient or else how could it decide who was worthy.

“You say I have to find a song?”

Thor nodded, “Every being has a song, a song that defines who you are. Most never hear it unless they search deep inside themselves. This is what you must do.”

John nodded, with a deep breath he closed his eyes and reached down deep inside himself.

At first he felt incredible stupid, considering the rest of the Avengers where just staring at him.

But that soon fell away as he reached further inside. He concentrated on the warmth he had felt when he first picked up Mjolnir, though he had thought nothing of it at the time. He had felt it again when he was gifted the armor. Now he actively searched for it and when he found it he dug further into it.

At first he thought all he heard was his heart thumping, but it was too deep and to resonating to be a simple heartbeat, and he realized that it was a drum. It seemed that was all that he needed to find as he heard more.                

It was an old tune that thrummed through John’s veins and seemingly vibrated deeply in his bones and through his blood. It was an ancient tune, a call for war.

It awakened a part of John he always knew he had, the Warrior.

The Warrior he had tempered with his desire to save lives. A Warrior and a Healer, the sort of man who would be worthy to handle Mjolnir. It was who John truly was at his core.

With the tune thrumming loudly in his ears John opened his eyes and extended his hand. To his surprise a soft sound reached back to him, the sound of violins and cellos reached back for him. The cellos and violins blended perfectly with the tune running through his veins. It was Mjolnir reaching back to him.

With the blending of songs, Mjolnir finally flew from floor and into John’s waiting hand.

With the hammer in hand the song slowly faded back into his subconscious, however if John really concentrated he could easily find it once more.

Looking up he saw a smiling Thor, who looked slightly proud. “Very good John.”

“Thank-you,” John said.

##

His training with Natasha was also different. For once, Clint was banished from the training and it was just the two of them.

Instead of taking him to the gym like usual, Natasha led John to a small studio, the walls covered in mirrors and a brass bar attached to a wall. It reminded John of ballerina dance rooms he had once seen on the telly before.

Natasha had him stop in the middle of the room. With a quick glance around, John realized he could see himself from every angle in the room by the position of the mirrors.

“Take off your shirt please,” Natasha asked politely.

The simple request had John immediately on the defense. He didn’t bare his torso lightly, especially not so soon after an episode. “Why?” he asked, coming out harsher than he expected.

“I want to see your range of motion, how your muscles work. I do not want to repeat my mistake of the day before John,” Natasha said softly, earnestly.

John looked hard into Natasha’s eyes and saw through the mask to the sincerity below.

“Alright,” John said just as softly.

John reached up and pulled his left arm through the arm hole before pulling the whole shirt overtop his head. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to hide the sight of his bare torso that was reflected from every angle. John was fully aware his bare torso told a sad story of his life.

At first the gunshot scar drew one’s attention. But if they tore their eyes off of it then they would see other scars. A red scar running the length of his ribs from a suspect on a case; who had gotten the jump on John with a knife.

Older, white scars on his chest and back from his time spent as a POW early on in his military career. Even older fainter ones on his lower back from when his Father was deep in the bottle and heavy handed with his belt.

Those were the most noticeable ones, but other scars dotted his chest and back that John couldn’t remember where he got them.

He could feel Natasha’s eyes on them, so he began to stretch, showing her his full range of motion.

“You can put your shirt back on now John,” Natasha said after a few minutes.

John quickly grabbed his shirt and slid it on, eyes still avoiding his reflection. When he turned to look at Natasha , she was looking at him strangely.

“Never be ashamed of your scars John, they show the story of your survival and overcoming it,” Natasha said softly, almost to softly for John to hear.

John gave her a small nod. For a moment he felt a kinship with Natasha, one soldier to another. There battles of life were written on their skin, telling the triumph of living past what had given them those scars in the first place. He didn’t have to see hers to know she had them. It would be impossible in her line of work not to.

“Spar?” asked Natasha with a tilt of her head.

“If you think you can handle this?” John joked lightly, trying to lighten the mood.

To his surprise Natasha actually chuckled at his lame joke before leading him back to the gym to spar.

##

Of course this peaceful routine couldn’t last forever. John lived in a tower of superheroes, and like anybody else work called from time to time.

“Sir, upstate New York is reporting strange energy signals similar to the attack in the city,” Jarvis’s voice called out during a team dinner.

“Assemble!” cried Steve, vaulting over the kitchen table heading straight to the elevator; Natasha, Clint, and Bruce following quickly after him.

Thor just grabbed Mjolnir and headed to the balcony and spinning his hammer, he flew to the top of the tower. Moments later a giant crash of thunder shook the tower.

Only John and Tony were left and as John processed what had just happened a section of the floor opened and an Iron Man suit slide up.

“Hold down the fort Captain, we will be back soon,” Tony said with a wink as he stepped into the suit and flew out the open window.

John couldn’t believe how quick the team had responded to Jarvis’s warning, they practically left an after image.

Suddenly feeling useless, John began to clean the mess that was left behind.

He labeled everyone’s left overs and put them in the fridge along with the rest of the food. Once that was done he piled all the dishes into the sink and began to hand wash them. But that was over to soon, and John was left with idle hands.

John had tried to relax. But he ended up pacing back and forth. It went against every instinct to be safe here in the Tower while everybody else was in the fight. It was the main reason why he switched from the medical until to being a battlefield soldier/medic.

Jarvis had offered to patch John into the comms to listen to what was going on or switch on the tv where the battle was being broadcasted. However John refused the offers, John already felt helpless he didn’t need to be able to see and hear it to feel even more so.

“Dr. Watson, the team has engaged with targets. Local news is capturing the fight. Would you like me to pull the footage and patch the comms into the room?” asked Jarvis.

“Just let me know when it is over with Jarvis and when they are all heading home safely,” John insisted, running a hand through his hair.

After what seemed like hours, Jarvis finally spoke up. “Sir is flying back now Dr. Watson. The others are all on the quin jet. No injuries have been reported.”

“Good!”

John finally relaxed when Jarvis reported that they were returning home and there were no injuries. Of course John was going to be checking that out when they all got home. Even if he had to physically hog tie them and drag them to the medics.

With the knowledge that they were safe, John picked up a book Steve had a habit of laying around and began to read as he waited. He was still reading in the living room when the team arrived back and John could immediately tell something was wrong as the tension filled the room. Even Thor was a bit subdued as they all watched Tony walk in from the balcony his face a mask of indifference as he walked towards the bar. But John did notice that Tony’s eyes were casted downwards, and the whole team besides Bruce was glaring at the inventor.

“Typical Stark, head straight to the bar!” snapped Steve firing the first shot and John knew this was going to be serious as he slowly closed his book and set it on the side table.

“Well if you are going to get on your high horse, I might as well be drunk” shot back Tony pouring himself a generous glass of scotch and taking a big drink of it all the while glaring defiantly back at Steve.

“You disobeyed my orders,” snapped Steve walking over until he was looming over Tony.

“I saved lives, and in no way compromised the mission!” snarked Tony glaring at Steve.

Steve took a step back his muscles bunching. John knew the position of one who was about to throw a punch, and he knew it was time to step in as it appeared none of the other Avengers would.

“Enough” ordered John, his voice cutting through the tension. It rang with the authority of a man who had spent years ordering others around and demanded respect. It was one that everybody in the room took note of.

It was hard to say who looked more surprised that someone had stepped in, Tony or Steve. Both were now staring at John. Tony looking shocked while Steve looked slightly angry that John had interrupted the argument.

“With all due respect John, stay out of this,” Steve said.

John’s eye twitched, and somewhere in Afghanistan a troop of soldiers felt a shiver of cold fear run down their back. Though they looked wildly around, they saw no visible threat.

To Natasha eye, the soft pudgy looking doctor seemed to morph into a razor, small and deadly man.

It took a lot to get John to this stage of anger, where his anger had burned out and left only ice in its wake. Steve had managed to get him there in record time.

John snapped.

 “You listen here Captain America. You might be called a Captain but you are anything but,” barked out John, shocking everyone. “In your whole career you never commanded more than a handful of men, you never had to make the tough decisions that lead to the deaths of your comrades, your brothers and the guilt that comes with that. You haven’t earned the title you were given, a real Captain would be ashamed of how you are acting” he said sharply.

Steve glared at the usually quiet man, “How dare you-”

“I am well within my rights Captain, I might be retired but I was a full combat Captain equal to you if not more, with a hell of a lot more experience. Unlike you I had to earn my commission. I will not sit back and allow this to happen under my watch,” snarled John advancing slightly at Steve. Everyone was shocked when Steve took a step back from the small doctor. Well more shocked, this whole situation was a shock. No one except for Tony had really went up against Steve and like a train wreck, it was hard to look away.

“He’s just a man, a private citizen,” John said pointing to Tony. “He’s not unfaultable and neither are you. I’ve lived most of my life in the Army and everyone makes mistakes from the highest General to the lowliest private. But you have to remember one thing Captain, the Avengers are not soldiers. So stop acting like it.”

Steve stared blankly at John, before shaking his head as if to clear it. “He should have followed orders, I am the leader of this team.”

John scoffed. “He doesn’t think like you or me. Geniuses run on a different wavelength than anybody else and guess what? They do not like being told what to do or how to do it no matter how sensible it is!” John exclaimed, throwing his arms out. The Avengers sat stunned at John’s outburst, Tony was stunned most of all as someone stood up for him.

John continued, angry and bitter words falling from his lips, “They also see things differently and as long as the results are the same they will do what they think is necessary. And guess what they don’t trust easily either. Berating Tony as soon as you come back is not the way to lead a team or gain trust either, it’s a way to lose both! You are both adults, sit down and actually talk! Because if this is what being an Avenger is like then I might as well get back on a plane and go back home. Damn the consquences!”

With that John turned on his heal and marched out of the room leaving behind the stunned Avengers.

****

John sat alone in his room, anger still thrumming in his veins as he carefully took apart his gun and started to clean it thoroughly, letting the familiar routine calm him down.

This familiar routine was mind numbing, allowing John to distance himself from the anger. He hadn’t lost his temper like that in a long time. It was just that, the look in Tony’s eyes when Steve began to yell at him. Well it had been the same look he had seen in Sherlock’s when someone chastised him for his methods, a mixture of shame and guilt and a large dose of self-hatred.

That was one of the problems, the more time he spent around Tony, the more he realized how alike the geniuses were. His protective side reared his head around Tony, because unlike Sherlock, Tony hadn’t had a Mycroft there to protect him and it showed.

He was snapped out of this state by a knock on his door, his hands paused and he looked up at the ceiling. “Jarvis?” he asked.

“Sir wants to talk to you” said Jarvis softly. John sighed and set down his Browning, and leaned back in the sofa.

“Tell him he can come in, the doors unlocked.”

The door opened softly and Tony Stark, stepping in quietly. It was a shock, John had always seen Tony enter a room with a swagger, like he owned the place, which he did. This Tony looked at John for permission before entering further in John’s room.

 “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” the man said in a soft voice, sounding nothing like he usually did.

John looked down at his Browning, half-way put back together again. “Nothing important.”

“You’re not planning on shooting Steve are you?” asked Tony eyeing the gun.

“No, it’s more of a calming ritual than anything else,” John said with a small smile. “Also I don’t think anything short of an elephant gun would take down Steve.”

Tony snorted, and took a seat down on the couch and picked John’s gun up and eyeing it.

“Browning, yeah I guess this would be more like a mosquito bite to him,” Tony remarked handing the gun back to John.

John shouldn’t have been surprised that a former weapons dealer would know the make of his firearm. Taking the firearm back, he sat on the recliner to finish putting it together.

“I’m surprised none of them said anything,” John remarked putting the firing clip back in his gun. “I never thought the team would stand there as I berated Steve.”

“Ah, they were a little shocked. And by a little I mean a lot. None of us ever expected something like that from you Doc.” Tony then started to laugh, “His face though Doc, I will forever cherish the look on his face when you told him you had earned your Captain rank.”

John couldn’t help but smile as well. “It’s true though. I worked and studied hard to earn my rank not once but twice. I didn’t have a super soldier serum and war bonds to get my rank.”

Tony laughed again before sobering up and looking John in the eyes.

“Thanks John” said Tony softly, “As corny as this sounds, no one’s actually stood up for me before like that.”

“That seems to be a problem with geniuses,” grunted John, slamming the clip back into the magazine.

“I take it that you know a few geniuses” stated Tony, raising an eyebrow.

John sighed and set the completed gun down. “You can say that, though with a genius, who’s to say you know them at all.”

“I get the feeling you’re not talking about Mycroft with that one,” Tony offered.

“No I’m not,” John said shortly.

Tony knew that he wouldn’t get anything else from John on that subject. John rubbed a hand over his face before it migrated to rub the back of his neck before glancing back up at Tony.

“I meant what I said, Steve was out of line. But that doesn’t mean you weren’t out of line to. Though I can’t say much since I wasn’t there.”

“There were kids,” Tony said softly. “Natasha was doing fine, but if I hadn’t gotten those kids out they would have been killed.”

John sighed and set the finished gun on the table. “Tough call, those are always the toughest of choices. Your duty or what is right.”

“I suppose you’ve had to make those choices.”

John’s hand crept to his shoulder. “I did.”

Tony didn’t miss the motion, “You were wounded because you made that choice?”

John sighed, “Yes. A kid had been caught in the open and he lay wounded, begging for help. I decided to risk it, I just couldn’t let him die out there, not when I could save him. In the end it didn’t matter, I was shot trying to help him, bullet went through my shoulder and into the kid. A kid, just eighteen, left behind his parents and two little sisters.

Tony was silent, he felt that the good Doctor didn’t want his platitudes.

“I thought maybe you would want a drink after all that. Didn’t know if you were a drinking man, but I brought you my best 20 year old Scotch.”

Due to his family history with alcohol, as a rule John tried to stay away from the hard liquors. However just for tonight he would indulge.

“Just one drink,” John said with a smirk, pointing a finger at Tony.

Tony’s eyes light up as he smirk back, putting his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright, one drink.”

“I’ll get the glasses,” John said hauling himself off the couch.

John headed to the kitchen and opened the cupboard with the glasses and pulling down two and headed back to the living room. However as he looked back at the couch, he stopped in the doorway and smiled.

 Tony was curled up on the couch asleep. John silently crept over the couch and set the glasses on the table before reaching out and gently taking the shoes off of Tony’s feet. Once that was done, John slipped into his bedroom and brought out a pillow and blanket. With practiced ease, John slipped the pillow under Tony’s head and covered him with a quilt.

“Goodnight Tony,” he said quietly shutting the lights off and going into his own room.

In the quiet of the room John had just left Tony spoke two words in his sleep. “Keeping…you,” Tony mumbled. The sleeping genius’s dreams were full of ways to keep John Watson safe in his Tower. Even in his sleep Tony understood now why Mycroft Holmes was so attached. People like John, were hard to find, especially for those like Tony and Mycroft.

*Mjolnir song-Skyrim-Dragon Born by Tina Guo

*John song -Sovngarde (With Dovah/Draconic & English Lyrics) Tranceseraph

Chapter Text

“Well that was totally unexpected,” Clint remarked as soon as the Doctor had left the room. “Anybody else ever think that the Doc had that in him?”

Clint had honestly believed that he couldn’t be shocked anymore by John Watson, but that damn British bastard kept surprising him. After everything that had happened recently, Clint knew that it was time to take a step back, to find a perch and observe John Watson from a distance. He always saw things better at a distance.

Bruce made an odd little noise in the back of his throat, and Clint glanced in his direction. Bruce Banner was the perfect example of an ordinary person, yet had a giant green rage monster hiding in him.

In his mind, Clint immediately took his last words back. It seemed that mild mannered Doctors hide the most dangerous things.

“Well as much fun as this is, I think I’ll call it a night,” Tony said putting his glass down and heading towards the elevator.

“Wait Tony, John was right we need to talk about this,” Steve said in a small voice.

Tony did even pause in his stride, “We’ll talk tomorrow Rogers.”

Steve looked lost in that moment, looking like the young man he actually was. Without a glancing at anyone left in the room, Steve turned around and walked out to the balcony.

“Should we follow Steve or Tony?” asked Clint once again breaking the silence. Clint was leaning more towards Steve. If they angered Tony any further, the genius wasn’t above making their lives in the Tower miserable.

“Neither, this is something that they will have to work through by themselves,” Natasha said, breaking her silence. Now that she had taken a step back, she could see that Steve had crossed a line as did Tony. And John was right, they had to work this out for the best of the team and by them, Natasha meant Tony and Steve without any other interference.

Natasha’s word was the final judgement. Bruce didn’t even offer his opinion but that might have been because he was trying not to fall asleep. Transforming into the Hulk was still physically draining for the poor doctor. All three wandered towards their separate floors to wash the battle from their bodies and catch some sleep. Only Thor remained.

Thor debated whether or not to follow Steve. He sensed that the good Captain would rather be alone, however, when Thor found himself in similar situations he always found that the Warriors Three good to talk to.

Opening the sliding doors, taking care not to slam them like the time before. He had slammed them so hard that the glass had shattered. Tony had laughed and just had it fixed. The Avengers owed Tony a lot. Jane had explained how generous it was for Tony to open his home and fed them without asking for anything in return.

Steve was leaning against the railing of the balcony, just staring out into the city. Thor came to stand next to him, leaning his elbows against the railing alongside him.

For a moment Thor let the silence stand between them, before he spoke.

“Steve, John was right,” Thor said quietly. “Anthony reminds me very much of my brother. Never following orders and always trying to prove he was the cleverest of everybody in the room. It made me very angry when he did not listen to me while on the battlefield, and many a time I berated him just like you berated Anthony in front of all the other warriors. Except my brother did not have a champion like John to help him. I can see now, that all I ever succeeded when doing that was driving my brother further away. Maybe if I had been more understanding, had tried to learn the reason why he did certain things the way he did, maybe events would be different right now.”

Steve ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Tony just--- I didn’t mean---“

Thor just patted Steve on the back, “I know Steve, I know.”

“I haven’t felt that chastised since my Mother was alive,” Steve said with a soft chuckle. “I had forgotten what it felt like.”

Thor chuckled, “A Mother Beljsnap if I ever saw one.”

The two blondes shared a chuckle before Steve let out a big sigh. “I just want everyone to come back alive Thor. This team, you guys…well this is all that I have left really. When Tony pulls this stupid shit, I just want to shake him until he understands. But the words never come out right, and then we come back here and it always seems to escalate.”

“You can’t keep doing this though. I believe John when he said he would leave,” Thor said gently. “John is like myself in many ways. We are both warriors, we have been fighting our whole lives. Except he is more of what I should be. He is kind, understanding, and humble, all qualities that I found only after I lost my abilities. It is no surprise as I get to know him, why Mjolnir found him worthy.”

John was very surprised when he rose in the morning that Tony was still asleep on his couch. From his experiences with geniuses, it would be best to let sleeping dogs lay. He puttered into the kitchen to begin breakfast when he heard a knock at the door.

Leaving the water to boil on the stove, he went to the door.

John opened the door unsurprised to see Pepper standing there. “Good-morning Ms. Potts” he greeted.

“Good-morning John, Jarvis said this is where I could find Tony.”

“Indeed, he’s in the living room,” he said stepping back to allow her entrance. “Would you like some coffee or tea, I have a kettle.”

“Tea would be lovely John, I think I’ve had enough coffee for the morning” said Pepper smiling moving towards the other room as John went to the kitchen.

When John returned to the room with two cups of tea on a try with some milk and honey, he was greeted by the sight of Pepper just standing over Tony.

“He’s sleeping” said Pepper dumbly, just staring at Tony.

John hummed and set down the tray in front of her before setting down in his own chair with his own cup of prepared tea. “Yes, been that way since last night, we were going to share a drink but when I came back from getting the glasses he was already asleep.”

Pepper looked even more shocked at that, “He slept the entire night?”

John nodded taking a sip of his tea as Jarvis answered, “Sir slept the entire night without waking up.”

Pepper looked disbelievingly at John, who set his tea down. “Is something wrong?”

Pepper shook her head, “Nothing’s wrong John, I’m just very surprised. Tony doesn’t sleep around most people, only around people that he trusts.”

John couldn’t hide the shock on his face. The Tony Stark trusted him?

“You and Tony, I think are a lot alike John. You don’t let people in very easily,” Pepper observed grabbing her cup of tea and fixing it to her liking. “Jarvis keeps me well informed of the coming and goings in this Tower and Tony has told me a few things. I know that you haven’t been eager to spend a lot of time with a bunch of strangers. So if you are surprised Tony trusts you, I can assure you that I am even more surprised. Besides Bruce, you are the only person that I have seen Tony so willing to trust in such a short amount of time. But then again you did stand up for him and that John is something very rare.”

Tony was aware that he was on an extremely comfortable couch and he felt safe and he briefly wondered if he had fallen asleep on Brucie’s couch again. The clinking of dishes alerted him that he wasn’t alone, and old instincts had him laying still, pretending to still be asleep.

“Tony has made mistakes, and he would be the first one to tell you that. However ever since Afghanistan, he has worked to right them in different ways. They may not be traditional, but Tony has changed into a better man since he became Iron Man. However many people are quick to blame him for his past and refuse to see that he has changed. Others see the mask that he has built for himself,” he heard Pepper say softly to someone.

“You mean the armor Miss. Potts. Tony has been wearing armor long before he became Iron Man. If the world thinks he doesn’t have a heart, then it better protects it.”

There was silence as Pepper and Tony wondered just what John Watson was.

“If I didn’t know better John, I would say that you’ve known Tony for years,” Pepper said with a hint of wonder in her voice.

John was quiet, before he spoke in a soft sad voice. “I knew a man once, very much like Tony, absolutely brilliant but was ridiculed for being so. The world failed him, I failed him, and now he is gone. I couldn’t stand back last night and basically let the same thing happen.”

Unable to sit back and listen to this anymore, Tony purposely let out a large groan and threw his arm off the couch.

The conversation immediately stopped and as Tony opened his eyes he was met with both Pepper’s and Johns.

“What time is it?” he asked popping up like a jack in the box. He would never admit it, but the full nights sleep had done him wonder. He was so surprised that he hadn’t had a single nightmare. But then again the last time he had fell asleep on John, it was the same story. Something Tony would have to look into further into at a later time. Maybe it was the cozy sweaters that made John radiate safety, yes it had to be the sweaters.

“Seven o’clock Tony” Pepper said with a shake of her head at the man she loved.

Tony remembered that there was a board meeting that he was supposed to attend this morning at 8 and probably the reason why Pepper had gone looking for him. Though for a moment he was reluctant to leave the small sanctuary of John’s room, his bare, bare room. That would have to change.

“We’re going to have to take a rain check on that drink Doc,” Tony said with a smile and a wink as he stood up and stretched.

“Pepper, take John shopping, I’ve got the board meeting handled. He’s been here for almost a month and this place looks as empty as a monk’s room. Get him some tasteful art. No!” Tony said throwing up his hand in excitement as an idea struck him. “A giant Union Jack to put on the wall!”

Pepper opened her mouth to argue, but Tony was already walking out of the door, “Don’t let him come back until he has something to make this place look Britified.”

But at the last second he turned around and walked back over to John. “I just wanted to say something John about last night. Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold.”

With that Tony spun around and left.

“Ponyboy?” John asked looking at Pepper.

Pepper chuckled, “Movie reference, I’ll inform Tony to put it on the group’s movie night so you can watch it. Now you better get dressed into something appropriate to go shopping in.”

Visions of fights with pin machines popped up into John’s mind, and he defiantly didn’t want a rematch on American soil. “Don’t worry about it Mr. Potts, I have my training to do, and I am sure you have a busy day without taking me shopping.”

Pepper smiled at John, “It’s no problem John. Partially the reason why I came to your floor was to tell you that SHEILD has sent Clint and Natasha on a mission separate from their Avenger duties. And Thor has taken the day to go see Jane. She’s taking Tony up on his offer of a lab and Thor left to help her pack up. And since Tony is acting like an adult today, my presence at the board meeting is not required. Besides,” Pepper turned to study the room. “Tony is right. This floor is your floor and there is nothing to show it.”

John rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Honesty Ms. Potts, I do not see the point. After I am sufficiently trained, I’ll be going back to London. I won’t really be an Avenger, I won’t really be needed and this space can go to someone who will here permanently.”

Pepper looked at John in surprise. “John, Tony is encouraging to make this space your own. This will always be your place, even after you go home. You might not realize this John, but you are already making a difference around here, don’t be surprised if there is some objection of you going home. Now I know how persistent Tony is, we will be going shopping so it’s best not to fight me on this John,” Pepper said with a smile. “Get dressed.”

“Yes Ma’am,” John said with small smile and a jaunty salute to her.

The next few hours was quite enjoyable for John. Pepper was the perfect shopping companion. She seemed to know what John would like and what he wouldn’t in taste of decorations. And despite what he said, she refused to let him pay.

He learned how she managed to gain the nick name Pepper and he found himself telling a few stories of his University days. He was sad to when Pepper unfortunately had to get back to work. John went back to his floor to unpack his purchases.

However when he got to his door, he saw a box wrapped in Iron Man paper. A smile immediately appeared on John’s face. He didn’t waste any time picking up the box and taking it inside. He wondered what Tony had given him.

John laughed as he pulled the box open and saw that Tony had gotten him a large Union Jack flag with hangers to put on the wall. And underneath it was a framed photo of the Queen.

With a smile John placed the picture next to the glass ashtray that Sherlock had stolen from Buckingham Palace and immediately went to hang the flag on the wall, making sure to not let it touch the ground. Once that was done he went around and placed the objects that Pepper had bought around the space.

However after that, John was at a loss of what to do. It had been awhile since his last free day, and he had spent that exploring the city. He supposed he could do that once again.

Grabbing his wallet he headed back down towards the lobby. But when he reached it, there seemed to a bit of a commotion. A member of Stark’s security was staring down at a woman with long dark hair who seemed very upset. John was walking past to the front doors, but was stopped by the sound of their interaction.

“I’m sorry Miss, no one is allowed to see the Avengers except on appointment.”

The woman glared angrily at the guard. “I’ve been trying to get an appointment for months. Please, I just need to speak to Bruce Banner, just for a moment.” The woman’s face morphed from anger to one that John was familiar with.

Seeing that face, one of extreme hurt and a little heartbreak spoke to John. It was the same face he had seen countless times on Molly’s face when her attempts to draw Sherlock’s attention failed. This wasn’t a crazy fan.

“I’m sorry Miss, but no. Now leave before I call the police to escort you off the premises.”

The woman seemed resigned as she turned away from the guard and walked towards the entrance. But for some reason, John found that he reached out to her before she could exit the building.

“Excuse me,” John said touching the woman on the elbow. “Are you alright?”

Beautiful green eyes full of tears looked up at him. “Sorry, I’m not usually like this,” she apologized wiping tears off of her cheeks.

“It’s fine,” assured John reaching into his pocket and pulling out a blue hankerchief and offered it to the crying woman. “Here it’s clean.”

“Thank-you,” said the woman, dabbing her tears away.

“I couldn’t help but over hear. Might I ask why it is so important you see Dr. Banner?” asked John.

Of all the people he had seen wanting a glimpse at the Avengers, not many asked to see Dr. Banner. More often than not, the Hulk was asked for. He knew that this woman could be just another crazy hero worshiping woman, but his gut was telling him to listen to her.

The woman sighed, “We used to work together. I’m Dr. Betty Ross.”

“You seem pretty insistent for an old colleague,” John hedged with a meaningful look at Betty.

Betty blushed, “We were in love, I still love hm. I haven’t heard from him since the Harlem Incident.”

John eyebrows furrowed, he wasn’t overly familiar with this incident. “I don’t believe I have heard about it. But if you want, you can come up to my floor and explain it. And I will see what I can do to arrange a meeting with Dr. Banner.” He said motioning towards the elevators.

“Could you?” Betty asked, hope shining in her eyes. “Do you work for Stark Industries?”

“Of course,” John said leading Betty to the private elevator and pushing the button to his floor. “I’m Dr. John Watson by the way and it’s complicated.”

It was slightly awkward in the elevator and John was relieved to get to his floor where he ushered Dr. Ross to sit in the living room as he excused himself to the kitchen to grab a few glasses of water and have a chat with Jarvis.

“Jarvis is that really Betty Ross?” John asked quietly as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard.

“Facial and vocal signature match with what Sir has on file.”

“Any record of her attempting to contact Dr. Banner?”

“It appears that an outside source has been stopping her,” Jarvis said with a hint of anger in his tone. “I will have to inform Sir.”

John nodded, it sounded like someone had been getting past Jarvis without him realizing it, something Tony would defiantly have to know. Knowing that he was actually crossing a line, he asked Jarvis his next question. “Can you inform Dr. Banner to come to my floor then?”

Jarvis was silent for a few minutes before speaking, “He shall be here in a moment Dr. Watson.”

John gave a nod, knowing Jarvis could see it as he went back to the sitting room and handing the glass to Betty. “So Harlem?” he asked.

“Yes. I don’t know how much you know of Bruce’s history Dr. Watson. But he was working for the military when the Hulk was created. A General was adamant that he be returned to Military custody to be studied, and basically dissected. Bruce ran trying to find a cure when,” Betty was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Excuse me one moment,” John said, getting up and opening the door to a rumpled looking Bruce.

“You have something you wish to discuss John?” asked Bruce as he entered the room.

“Not me exactly, and I apologize beforehand if I overstep,” John said stepping out of the way so Bruce and Betty now could see each other.

“Betty?” breathed Bruce, not believing his eyes. So focused the two where on each other, neither noticed when John excused himself to his bedroom to give the two some privacy.

“Bruce!” Betty cried immediately coming to wrap her arms tightly around Bruce.

Bruce couldn’t believe the woman he loved more than anything was in his arms once more. “What are you doing here?” Bruce asked hugging the woman close.

“I have been trying to come see you since the battle for New York Bruce! Why didn’t you try to contact me!” Betty demanded as she hugged Bruce tighter.

Bruce wetly chuckled, “You know why, I couldn’t risk it. You shouldn’t be here. I’m dangerous.” Betty hugged Bruce tighter, sensing that the man was moments away from pushing her away. Because he believed he was dangerous, but Betty knew better.

“Please don’t send me away Bruce, I still love you!” Betty said with tears in her eyes.

“I’m not safe Betty,” Bruce said weakly pushing Betty away to stare down into her eyes.

“I am the safest when by your side,” Betty whispered. “You never hurt me, Hulk never hurt me besides his initial appearance. Both of you have actually sought to protect me. It’s time to stop running,” Betty whispered.

The last of the argument left Bruce, and he wondered what he had done in his life to deserve this woman.

He leaned over and wrapped her in his arms. She went willingly, snuggling deep into him. There was no tension, no fear in her body. And he realized how much he had missed her, had missed this. The only other person who trusted him enough to be totally relaxed was Tony.

“What about the General?” Bruce forced himself to ask.

“I’ve heard your on this team of superheroes and you live with them. Perhaps it presumptuous of me to think that the General would have a hard time removing me from you,” Betty said with a small smile.

Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle. Tony would be thrilled to stick another one to General Ross. Bruce was well aware that the General had already tried to get Bruce taken from the tower, only to have Tony stop him.

Thinking of Tony brought Bruce back to the moment; he lifted his head up to thank John. But he was surprised that John was no longer in sight.

“Jarvis, can you tell John I will see him later, for right now we will get out of his hair.”

“Of course Dr. Banner.”

For the second time, Phil Coulson was surprised as he entered his office on the Bus to find Sherlock Holmes in it. Except this time the man was busy going through his computer files, his secure computer files.

“Please make yourself comfortable,” Coulson said sarcastically stepping further into the room.

“You have the resources that I do not have at the moment,” Sherlock said, not looking up from the screen as Phil came around behind him. “I have found the snipers that Moriarty sent after my landlady and friend, but I have been unable to locate the sniper trained on John. The only information I have on him is a set of initials WS or the title Soldier. Since SHIELD keeps tabs on the best assassins in the world, I deduced your information would be more complete than Mycroft’s network.”

“WS, Soldier,” Phil repeated, a sinking feeling overcoming him.

“You know something,” Sherlock said, looking up from the computer screen and at Coulson. “Those initials mean something to you. Something that you have come across in your work.”

“Rumors mostly,” Coulson began. “A figure that has flirted across history. We know him as the Winter Soldier, a highly trained asset from the former Soviet Union. SHIELD has never had a real lead on him.”

Sherlock’s eyes became hard, “I need access to every file that you have on him.”

Chapter Text

John pinned Clint with a glare that threatened disembowelment if the archer didn’t sit still as John tended his foot.

“Move one more time Clint and I’ll save myself some time and just take it off at the ankle,” warned John as he continued to tape the injured limb.

“Wouldn’t that just cause you more problems Doc,” snarked Clint with a grin that turned into a wince as John ‘accidently’ jostled his ankle.

John smirked at Clint. “No, it’s easier to keep a one foot bird on the ground, then if he had two.”

Tony laughed from his place on the kitchen isle where he was tinkering with a piece of tech.

“You won’t be laughing next time it’s you in my place,” warned Clint. “Then we will see who will get the last laugh Stark.”

“I told you to stop lurking in the air ducks Tweetie,” Tony sing-songed.

Clint huffed. He had been trying to observe Dr. Watson like he had vowed to do. Yet something, *cough Jarvis* seemed to be against him. The newest incident had the vent covering opening right under him and almost directly into John’s lap. Clint had been unable to run away as John pounced on him checking for injuries. Clint wished he could crawl off to find Bruce, but the other resident Doctor had yet to emerge from his room with his lady love. They hadn’t even surfaced for team dinner the night before, but to be fair both Tony and Steve were absent to. Neither had taken the step to talk about the other night yet. But both were in the room now, and though the atmosphere was slightly strained, it was a step forward.

Before Clint could think of a witty come back, a third party chimed in.

“Sir, there are three people requesting entrance to see Doctor Watson,” came Jarvis’s voice, breaking the relaxed atmosphere.

John immediately had a feeling he knew who one of them was. “Is one of them a tall thin man, perhaps carrying an umbrella?” he asked as he calmly cut a piece of tape and affixed it to Clint’s bandage.

“Indeed Dr. Watson.”

Tony looked at John and raised an eye brow in question. John gave the other man a firm nod.

“Send them up J,” Tony said putting away the piece of tech he was working on. All the Avengers seemed to shuffle around the room, hiding certain things and looking at John. However the good Doctor said nothing and calmly put away his medical supplies.  They all tensed as the elevator dinged.

The door opened and John immediately relaxed seeing who it was. “Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Holmes, Mycroft,” greeted John smiling as he went to greet them. The Avengers just watched as the two women pulled John into a hug, Mrs. Hudson immediately fussing.

“John have you been eating?  You’re looking so thin Dear,” she said smoothing the wrinkles out of his cloths, while John tried to assure her that yes he had been eating and taking care of himself.

It was fascinating to the Avengers. Obviously they were not the best adjusted people, and none of them had had stable families for most of their lives, well besides Thor and Steve. It was strange to see one of their members, because John was a part of this team, being fussed over by a mother figure.

“We will just have to fix that Martha,” said the other woman.

Mrs. Hudson stepped back to allow the other woman to have her fussing.

“Now John, what have I told you?” chastised Mrs. Holmes as she brushed imaginary lint off of his shoulders.

“Sorry Mummy” replied John, ignoring Tony’s snickers behind him.

“That’s better dear,” Mummy Holmes said with a smile. “But I agree with Martha on this one, you have lost weight again son.” She couldn’t hide the look of concern in her eyes, asking him if he had been eating.

After he had returned from war, John often fell into moods where he didn’t eat unless he was reminded. Living with Sherlock and focusing on trying to keep the genius healthy had helped him with his own problem. But after Sherlock’s death, he had fallen back into the habit. Mycroft must have noticed because Mummy had started to call daily to remind him to eat.

John gently took Mrs. Holmes hands in his own and looked her square in the eye. “I’m fine Mummy, I promise.”

Mummy squeezed his hands, “Good. Now how about introducing me to your teammates,” she said turning to look at the room at large and the Avengers who had watched the interaction in surprise.

“Of course. Mummy, Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft, this is Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, and Steve Rogers. Guys this is Violet and Mycroft Holmes, and Martha Hudson.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Mrs. Hudson said with a smile at them all. “Now which way to your kitchen?”

John softly groaned, “Mrs. Hudson, whatever your thinking you don’t have to do. You’ve had a long time, surely you don’t want to make something. If you want a cup of tea, I can make it for you.”

Mrs. Hudson just smiled and patted his check. “Nonsense John, with Mycroft connects we had a lovely flight and I don’t feel tired at all. But  I’m afraid my scone making skills have been growing rusty and I’m afraid that I’m forgetting how to do it. Would you please indulge an old woman for wanting to practice this skill. Just this once, I’m your landlady, not your housekeeper.”

John knew better than to argue, “Though there Mrs. Hudson,” he said pointing .

John turned to Mummy, who was giving Steve a long look, from the top of his head to his feet, “You’re just how Peggy described you.” she said smiling before turning to the kitchen to help Mrs. Hudson.

John tried to hide his smile, Mummy looked like your typical sweet Mother, but her sons had to get their intelligence from somewhere, it had shocked John to learn she was one of the best Intelligence Agent in her generation.

While the Avengers were looking in the direction the two women had disappeared, John turned to look at the third member of the party to arrive at the Tower.

“Mycroft,” he said holding out his hand.

“John,” came the reply as both of Mycroft hands came out to grasp his. The slightest amount of extra pressure brought a slight smile to John’s face. In Holmes vocabulary, that meant that Mycroft was pleased to see him. His grey eyes were carefully observing his entire being. John knew every small change was being recorded and taken note of.

“Anthea sends her apologizes for not being able to come as well,” Mycroft said as he released John’s hands. “But she wished to convey that she will come see you as soon as it can be arranged.”

John felt a rush of affection to Anthea, he really needed to call her. His pseudo-older sister, and her protective nature. John wondered if Mycroft knew of the late night marathons of Dr. Who and the pints of ice cream that was eaten between the two of them.

“Ms. Romanoff, I hope that you are not leaving because of me,” Mycroft said, his eyes leaving John to flicker over his shoulder when Natasha had been trying to slip out of the room.

“No Sir,” Natasha said, her face neutral. In reality that had been exactly what she had been doing.

“Hmmm,” Mycroft intoned and interlaced his fingers over his umbrella.

Natasha left eyebrow twitched as she endured the full force of the Iceman’s stare.

“Mycroft,” John said softly, but sternly.

Mycroft blinked and turned to John. “Perhaps I can show you around the Tower Mycroft,” John said.

“Very well John.”

Mycroft hooked his umbrella over his arm and headed towards the elevator.

“Clint stay off that ankle!” warned John with a small glare at the archer over his shoulder.  

Clint waited until John was out of sight before jumping up on his good ankle. “Steve bend down!” he demands.

“What?” Steve asks.

“Bend down,” Clint says. “This is my chance to escape and I’m taking it!”

Steve bent down and Clint climbed him like a tree with his remaining three limbs.

“Giddy-up!” cried Clint.

Natasha and Tony looked at each other before following the other two. It didn’t need to be said that they were going for the show. This just screamed disaster.

In John’s room, Mycroft eyed the flag and the picture of the Queen.

“Gifts from Tony,” John said by way of explanation.

Mycroft brushed imaginary lint off his cloths. “He always was a jokester.”

This got John’s full attention. “You know him?”

“Mummy and Peggy Carter tried to socialize us, it did not end well,” was all that Mycroft offered.

John chuckled at the image of a tiny Tony and Mycroft playing together.

“Why are you here Mycroft?” John asked, pinning the genius with a stare. “Why bring your Mum and Mrs. Hudson?”

“Mummy,” corrected Mycroft before leveling a look at John. “John I get a call from Tony Stark about them messing up your shoulder. You are a member of my family John, and I protect what is mine.”

There was a lot of hidden meaning in that statement. Mycroft was reaffirming that he cared, cared enough about John to leave England to check on him. To see with his own eyes what John had been leaving out of their conversations. Bringing John’s mother figures was a way to soften the blow, and provide the nurturing that John was in need of. John heart couldn’t help but soften with affection for this man.

“I miss you to Mycroft,” he said with a small smile.

Mycroft just gave a haunting sniff, but a small smile played at the corner of his mouth. The two men seemed to relax and soon Mycroft was offering information about the rest of John’s friends left in London. It surprised John that Molly and Greg had gotten together, but he was happy to hear it.

John suddenly felt a pang of homesickness. It was strange, he hadn’t had a home in years. Now he had two. 221 B Baker Street, and this place. This floor that slowly has become like a home, a place that would always be open to him as Pepper had told him.

It would be hard to leave.

Smiling like the love struck fool he was Bruce led Betty to the kitchen where he could hear the sounds of pots and pans clinking. Bruce hoped it was John so that he could give the man a proper thank-you for being Betty back into his life.

Instead as the couple came through the doorway, they were meet with the sight of two elderly ladies mixing ingredients together. They both stopped when they saw Bruce and Betty standing before them.

“Eh hello,” Bruce said.

“Hello dear,” said the one with reddish brown hair. “Do you like scones?”

“Yes,” Bruce said slowly, still not understanding what the two women were doing.

“Your confusing the poor boy Martha,” said the other. “I am Violet Holmes, and this is Martha Hudson. We came to visit John and are mixing a batch of scones for our boy.”

“Ohh,” Bruce said eloquently.

Betty shook her head at the scientist but stepped forward. “It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Dr. Betty Ross, and this is Dr. Bruce Banner.”

“Pleasure to meet you dears,” Martha said. “Would you like a cup of tea while these bake?”

“That would be lovely,” Betty said taking a seat at the bar. Bruce following behind her.

Martha continued to put scones on baking dishes while Violet poured two cups of tea and handed them to Bruce and Betty.

“If I’m not mistaken, both of you specialize in Gamma Radiation,” Violet said. “I read some of your papers back in the day before you were forced to flee Dr. Banner.”

“That is correct Ms. Holmes,” Betty said with a smile, while Bruce just nodded.

“Please call me Violet. My son was obsessed there for a while about your transformation, his room was covered with your papers. I was half afraid that he would try to duplicate it in his bedroom.”

“I take it he didn’t?” Bruce said hesitantly.

“No, thankfully,” Violet said. “He got distracted by a crime spree in London and he met John and the rest is history.”

“So you’ve known John long?” asked Betty, curious of the man.

“Almost three years now,” Violet said.

“John’s like a son to us both,” piped up Mrs. Hudson said with a smile. “He’s such a sweet boy.”

“Did you know him growing up?” asked Bruce curiously.

“Heavens no, I’m his land lady. He moved into my upstairs loft a few months after he returned from the Army.”

“Telling stories Mrs. Hudson?” came the voice of John entering the room with a smile.

“Of course not dear,” Mrs. Hudson said with a kiss to his cheek as he came near.  The oven dinged and Violet pulled out the first batch of scones.

“Best call your friends John, while these are hot,” Violet said as she laid a fresh one on a plate for John and discretely handed one to Mycroft as well.

“Jarvis,” John said looking at the ceiling.

“They are on their way Dr. Watson,” Jarvis said smoothly.

The elevator opened and the Avengers poured out.

Mycroft stood back and observed John immediately start to fuss at Clint Barton who had an additional bruise on his head, being carried by a sheepish looking Steve Rogers. Tony Stark was openly laughing at the pair as he leaned against Natasha Romanoff who had a smirk on her face.

John looked happy here. The happiest he had been since Sherlock left. It seemed like John had found a place. Mycroft felt a sinking feeling, Sherlock would not find it so simply to come back into John’s life after all.

Slipping the scone into his pocket, he exited to the balcony. This was a complication that he hadn’t foreseen. None of this was something he could forsee. If he was a lesser man, he would lean his weight against the railings of the balcony. But he wasn’t a lesser man, and he stood straight as a board to look out over the New York skyline.

Tony looked around the room, while the rest of the Avengers where engrossed in conversation with Mrs. Holmes and Hudson. He realized that a person was missing.  A blink of red from Jarvis had Tony eyes focusing on the balcony where Mycroft Holmes was standing like a King surveying his kingdom.

Stealthily Tony vacated his seat and headed outside. There were questions that he needed answered to, ones that this stoic British man could answer. The man did not turn not even around when he heard Tony, made no acknowledgements. It was hard to fit the image of a slightly pudgy boy into this tall stoic man. He knew that Mycroft would not stand small talk, so he decided to just get to the point.

“John lost someone recently, hasn’t he?” asked Tony coming to stand beside Mycroft.

Mycroft turned to observe the man beside him, regarding him, one shark to another in a sea of goldfish. “And why would you think that Dr. Stark?”

“I overheard a conversation he had with Pepper,” Tony remarked, “Plus he’s unintentionally dropped clues. Very touchy when it comes to his life between leaving the army and now, and makes references to a genius who isn’t you. Shows signs of depression, and some day he seems to be drowning in sorrow. You were worried enough to come here with not one, but two mother figures to goad him into taking care of himself.”

Mycroft was silent, internally debating before slightly sighing. “His name was Sherlock and he was my younger brother. John and he were flatmates and the closest of companions. John was the only person who Sherlock met who could stand him, who liked him, genuinely liked him. He committed suicide this past year. They fought, you see, before it happened. John blames himself for what happened. Truthfully coming here was probably the best for him.”

Tony said nothing. What could he say? He couldn’t say one way or the other if coming here was good for John. Like he told Mycroft, some days John seemed so sad. And others he seemed to enjoy living here. All he did know was that Tony was going to try to convince John to stay here after Thor deemed him trained enough.

“I would appreciate it if you did not speak a word of this to John nor the rest of the Avengers. John is a fiercely private person, and Sherlock is not a subject to be broached lightly.”

Tony looked over his shoulder, John was bright, his mouth open in the middle of a laugh. It made him look years younger than he was. John had protected him against Steve, he could repay that favor by keeping his story.

As much as he enjoyed his visit from his surrogate family, he was slightly glad as he laid down to sleep that they had flown back to England. He loved all three of them deeply, but it was hard. Hard because before now his life had been separate, like two different lives. Now those lives were beginning to muddle together.

In all honesty it scared him. Scared him because with Mrs. Hudson, Mummy, and Mycroft it became clear to John; clear to him that the Avengers were beginning to feel like family to him. He was allowing all these complex people into his walls he had built since leaving the army, since Sherlock died.

He tossed and turned for hours before a deep sleep claimed him. He wasn’t even troubled when nightmares. When it happened.

John didn’t know what woke him, but he opened his eyes to the feeling that he wasn’t alone in the room. In one quick movement he grabbed his Browning and sat up, gun pointed in front of him.

A tall thin figure stood at the end of his bed, and for a moment his heart clenched, “Sherlock?” he heard himself whisper.

The figure gave no answer, he just took a step closer to the bed and doing so, stepping into the pale light the windows provided. The man was about as tall as Sherlock and just as pale, his black hair lay to his shoulder and curled at the end. But what was most striking about the man was his eyes, which were a startling shade of green

“So you are the one to pick up Thor’s hammer” said the tall figure coming closer to the bed as John scrambled to keep space between them. John cast his eyes to the ceiling wondering where Jarvis was.

“Oh Stark’s creation will not be picking this up little mortal,” the man said with humor coloring his tone and with a flick of his fingers, the gun in John’s hand went flying across the room.

John forced himself to remain calm as he glared up with defiance at the man before him.

“Do you know who I am little mortal” asked the man with a slight smirk on his face.

“Your Loki” said John more calmly than how he felt at the moment. The adrenaline pumping through his system was making his senses become razor sharp.

Loki tilted his head as if he waited for John to say something else, but John just met his stare.

“You don’t seem very frightened”

John’s mouth twitched as he remember another saying the exact same thing. “You don’t seem very frightening, especially since you’re supposed to be dead.”

“Well sometimes death isn’t permanent,” Loki said with a smirk before moving closer. “I have been watching you, and I must say you are nothing like Thor.”

“Should I be?”

“Indeed, if that stupid hammer believed that you were worthy. It has allowed Thor to wield her power for hundreds of years. It’s bound to have poor judgment.”

Despite the danger he was in, John gave a slight chuckle. “I suppose that you believe she should have found you worthy to wield her power.”

“Suppose nothing mortal. You know nothing about me.”

John eyes grew distant as Loki watched him, “Thor casted a large shadow I imagine, he could do no wrong. You love your brother, but at the same time resent him, this resentment from this and the way people treated you, led you down a dark path. A path your brother tried to rescue you from, but he doesn’t understand that unless you want to be saved it will do no good. You continued on this path and you won’t stop until you are destroyed or everything you love is destroyed.”

Loki Silvertongue was speechless and intrigued, moving quickly he reached out and grabbed John’s head and entered his memories. He skipped over the most recent ones with the Avengers and into the memories of before. He had to know what made this man so different, why he was considered worthy. Images, words, and flashes of emotions flashed past Loki all in an instant.

“I will be a Doctor some day, I won’t be an old drunk like you!”

“Captain Watson!”

“Please God let me live!”

“The name is Sherlock Holmes, and the address is 221 B Baker Street.”

“I worry about him constantly”

“Why can’t you just let me live my own life Mycroft!”

“Caring is not an advantage John.”

“Good-bye John”

“Sherlock!”

Loki retched himself out of the memories and gazed down at John. Tears were streaming out of his eyes, his expression haunting. A spark of remorse flew light inside Loki as spelled John back asleep before he snapped his fingers and John was back under the covers and gun back in place.

He was fascinated, this man was so much different than Thor, he was everything he wished the Asgardian to be when they were younger.

 With the brief glimpse of John Watson’s past, Loki could see why the man was like this. Lesser men would have shattered like a badly forged sword, however the fires of life had tempered John Watson to withstand blow after blow. He was tempered by sorrow and driven by compassion, duty, and loyalty. He was confident in his abilities but not arrogant, a truly rare man. Loki would have to continue keeping an eye on John Watson. But first he would have to make sure that this meeting stayed between the two.

Muttering a spell underneath his breath, his hands turned green as a surge of power left him and clouded around John’s head. Dr. John Watson would remember this night, but he would be unable to tell a soul.

Chapter Text

Morning came with a sharp cry from John, as he fell out of the bed hands reaching for his gun.

“Doctor Watson are you alright?” came the concerned voice of Jarvis.

“Oh God,” groaned John as he scrambled to his bathroom where he threw-up everything in his stomach.

“John!” Jarvis once again tried to get the Doctors attention.

But John once again ignored the voice as he sat shivering next to the toilet after his last round of heaves. John felt so violated in the space he called his own. This was different from when Natasha did it, Loki was inside his head. He dug into memories and looked at things John had been avoiding for years.

John opened his mouth to tell Jarvis what had happened, but the words would not come out of his mouth. Every time he even though of saying anything about last night after he went to bed a gag seemed to appear in his mind preventing him from speaking. Making John feel powerless.

Suddenly John couldn’t stand being in the room, the Tower for a second longer. He needed out, needed to get away. Ignoring Jarvis increasingly concerned voice in the background; he threw on his cloths and tried to get out of the Tower as fast as he could.

He didn’t even bother with the elevators, part of his mind knowing Jarvis wouldn’t let him out. Subconsciously he reached out to Mjolnir, and the hammer responded.

Thor who was just miles away from the tower in a Quin-jet had enough warning from Mjolnir to open the hatch for her to burst forward.

“Thor? Whats wrong?” Jane asked as the hammer took off. “Do you think it’s an attack?”

Thor concentrated on his connection to the hammer, feeling an echo of John’s need. The need to escape, the urgency, and that he wasn’t actively reaching for her, Mjolnir was just responding to his need.

“No John just has a need of her.”

John wasn’t expecting the sudden knock on his window is the middle of his panicking. When he saw Mjolnir hovering there, John didn’t hesitate. He opened the window and grabbed the handle. It was a rush of speed as he descended to the ground. But he had no fear of crashing as Mjolnir and he communicated. Within ten seconds he was on the ground, and with a brief thanks, the hammer was sent back to Thor.

If John was thinking clearly, he would have worried that he had potentially exposed himself to the whole of New York with that stunt, but John wasn’t thinking, his mind to much in a mess.

Memories he had suppressed for years were coming back up. Every time he closed his eyes a violent flash back of painful memories appeared.

He didn’t know where he was going, he boarded the subway trying to put as much distance between himself and the tower as possible.

Though in John’s state the subway was not the best choice of transportation. The flickering of the lights as the car went through the station triggered more memories best left forgot of bombs exploding in the night. John was struggling to calm himself down, to ground himself in the here and now. If he had been home in London, Mycroft would have already grabbed him and taken him to a safe place. If it had been in the past, Sherlock would have shuffled John to his chair and proceeded to play his violin and make sure there was always a fresh cup of tea at his elbow.

“Hey are you alright?” came a gruff voice beside him.

John looked up to see a man covered in dark clothing with a trench coat on, though it appeared his shirt had a giant white skull on it. He was staring intently at John. They came through another station and the lights flash again, making John shudder.

The man came to sit next to John. “Alright I want you to take a deep breath and listen to the sound of my voice, nothing else. Try to think of good memories”

For the next few minutes John listened and followed the instructions from the gruff voiced man. The man calmly and evenly instructed John to breath. What John didn’t see was the man sending glares to the people who were looking at them with disdain on their faces.

Finally John’s breaths evened out and the lights no longer caused fresh memories to appear.

He slowly raised his hand and wiped the cool sweat off his face.

“Thank-you,” he finally said, his voice cracking a little bit.

“Don’t mention it, happens to all of us,” the man said. “You a vet?”

John nodded, “Afghanistan.”

“Spent a few years over there myself,” said the man. “Veterans got to stick together.”

John knew that this was the way of the men explaining why he had come and help a visible struggling John when everybody else had been ignoring him. It was like he said veterans stuck together to help a fellow service man when they were in need of help.

The speakers overhead announced the next stop and the man’s eyes flickered to the source of the sound. “That’s my stop, you going to be okay?”

John nodded, now that he got a handle on it he would be okay. “Thanks again?”

The man was silent for a moment before he answered the implied question. “Frank, Frank Castle,” the man offered along with his hand.

“John Watson,” John returned shaking the man’s hand.

“Take care then John,” the man said standing up. John gave him a nod and the man with one last glance behind him got off the train.

John continued to ride the train until the last stop in Queens. John followed the crowd into the streets above. No one noticed the slight shorter man with his fist in his pockets as he walked down the street. John decided to walk until he felt less jittery and then catch the metro back to Manhattan.

He didn’t pay any attention to where he was walking, mainly just following the foot traffic. He only paid enough attention to make sure he didn’t go down any questionable streets and to watch the traffic light.

He was at an intersection when the crosswalk sign flashed to walk. Out of habit, he looked both ways before following the crowd.

“Out of the way,” someone growled, bumping into his bad shoulder as they shoved past him. After the rough morning, John froze at the contact and forced himself to take a deep breath. But the pause was long enough for an impatient driver to blow through the red light.

John looked up to see the sight of the car racing towards him. He knew in a split second that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of the way. He tensed his muscle to try to jump so that he would land on the bonnet. He wasn’t prepared for the hit that hit his shoulder, thank-fully his good one and suddenly he found himself flying in the air once again.

Except unlike his last flight, he had no control of where he was going.

“I’ve got you now Sir!” came an extremely young voice. John looked up to see a body covered in blue and red appearing to be swinging from a string and another one was stuck to him. John sent a quick prayer that his jacket zipper didn’t bust as he was jerked around like a puppet on a string.

John was swung through the air until he was set down in an alley way. The costumed figure perched on the side of the building like it was nothing.

“Are you alright?” the kid asked, because that was what it sounded like the John.

John took stock of himself, further shaken but otherwise fine. “I fine, ta for that,” John said as he whipped the sticky solution off his jacket.

“No problem Sir,” said the young man.

“So what are you?” John asked fully taking in his suit. Red and blue with black webbing making a diamond pattern all along his body.

“I’m SpiderMan,” the youth said. John raised an eyebrow at the name but chose not to comment on it.

“Well if you could, could you point me to the nearest metro?” John sighed as he looked around, the signs were pointing at him to return to the Tower. Though he really just wanted to go home after today.

The youth just cocked his head, “You’re not going to ask any questions?”

John blinked, “About what?”

“Well usually every tries to ask who I am, what am I doing in the suit? You’re the first one not to ask about me or start screaming in my face,” the kid stated.

“None of my business,” John said, “You’ve obviously got powers, and you’re not doing anything evil because I think the Avengers would have picked up on that.”

The kid just laughed, “Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman, I could never be an Avenger.”

John couldn’t help but chuckle, he thought the same once upon a time.

“Once again ta for your help.”

“You’re welcome Sir, if you walk down two blocks you will see the nearest subway.”

“Thanks kid,” John said turning to leave.

“It’s SpiderMan,” the kid cried. There was a *splat* above his head and with a cry of elation the kid swung above his head and further down the street.

“Yeah, yeah, why aren’t you in school,” John muttered but following the kids directions he got back on the subway and made his way back to the Tower.

After a long train ride, John walked through the lobby and went straight to the elevator.

“Are you alright Dr. Watson,” came Jarvis’s concerned voice as soon as the doors closed.

“I’ve been better,” John said feeling mentally and physically exhausted as he leaned his forehead against the cool metal.

“A welcome dinner is scheduled for tonight to for Dr. Foster, Ms. Lewis, and official Ms. Ross to the Tower,” Jarvis informed John.

John didn’t reply, he was just glad when the elevator opened to his door. He just wanted to sleep even though it was the middle of the day, but couldn’t bring himself to lie on the bed. John grabbed his quilt, pillow, and once again ignored Jarvis and went into the bathroom. Wrapping up he laid down in the bathtub. He made a cocoon and tried to rest, praying for no nightmares.

He just tried to doze but he was mentally and physically exhausted, his dozes slipping into deeper sleep. He was foolish to hope for no nightmare, but too much had gone on today. From the flash backs to the shoulder jump. John only had what seemed to be a few minutes of peace before another nightmare came at him with a vengeance.

Vaguely towards the evening he heard someone knock on his door, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up to answer it. He wrapped the blankets around his head and tried to block it all out. Eventually it went silent and towards the early twilight of the morning he managed to sleep a few hours before he was shaken awake.

John stumbled into the kitchen, but the thought of food threatened to make his empty stomach heave.

“Dr. Watson?” Jarvis asked hesitantly. He had tried consistently to get the doctor to talk yesterday after his return, but the doctor hadn’t answered him. Not even when Boss had come knocking on the door had John responded.

Jarvis had made the excuse the Doctor was having a bad day, and the Avengers had accepted it and not worried too much, but Boss had known better. Jarvis had kept Boss informed of everything that had happened yesterday since John had went through the window.

“Yes Jarvis,” John said his voice rough from lack of sleep and raw from the screaming he had done last night.

“Lessons are still canceled Thor is taking the day off to help settle Ms. Jane in.”

John nodded, he stumbled back into the bathroom and grabbed his quilt. He draped himself into his arm chair and sat there. A few times he tried to open his mouth to tell Jarvis what happened, but like what happened earlier the words would not come through.

Hours passed without John really noticing as he stared out into New York.

A thought had occurred to him inbetween his nightmares that were also eating John. What if Loki had planted something in his head? What if he attacked one of the Avengers? Before John knew it it was already dark again.

The following few days the pattern continued though John had made trips to the communal kitchen to grab some toast and tea and then go back to his floor avoiding everybody he could. Since he was confronted, John figured that no one really noticed his odd actions.

Tony was seriously debating if he needed to give Mycroft a call because quite frankly John was making him worried. He had been jerked out of Science! by Jarvis freaking out that John had just went out the window with Thor’s hammer.

Tony had scrambled to lock down any coverage of John pulling that stunt, which thank-fully hadn’t been to obvious, seeing as it took John only 10 seconds to free fall to the sidewalk. Then Jarvis had pulled up the footage of him almost getting hit by a flipping car in Queens and being saved by the kid Tony had been keeping an eye on.

In the past week John had reverted back to original behavior of avoiding everyone except when strictly needed. Tony didn’t think that it quite on everybody else’s radar. With the addition of Jane and Darcy and Betty now that they had come up from air, the Avengers were getting to know their new additions. Add onto the fact Natasha and Clint were sent on a few local missions and Steve was still leery around John after the dressing down explained why they hadn’t been noticing.

Of course there was still a little tension between him and Steve they had put aside the argument for now but they had yet to really have a conversation.

Tony sighed, the conversation with Steve would have to come before his Malibu trip. He was going to visit the plant and the reconstruction of the house. Which reminded him he would have to check up on Harley soon; it had been a few weeks since he talked to the boy. Natasha and Steve were scheduled for that mission in D.C in two weeks and Fury hinted that it could last a month. For convenience Steve was going to get an apartment there while the mission lasted. Clint had hedged he also had some personal business that needed to be checked up on.

Tony knew they would have to get everything straightened out before they all went their separate ways for a while.