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Mark, for the most part, thought he was a pretty cool dad. Good dad? Questionable. Cool? He was a hell of a lot better then his own parents sure were. He taught Ashe how to fire a gun when she was 10 and taught her how to test for lacing after middle school because if Ashe was going to follow in his footsteps at all, he was going to make sure that she didn’t make all the same mistakes that he did.
Mark Winters was one hell of a jack of all trades; he was a mechanic and could fix most beat-up contraptions you threw at him, He could make killer Mac ‘N Cheese, He could make Molotov cocktails in less then 30 seconds, he could hijack just about any car model or make that you could possibly think of. The one thing he wasn’t good at though was feelings.
And boy did he know that look on Ashe’s face the moment he saw it because he was young and in love once too. Very small signs, but he saw them immediately. Ashe holding Vyncent’s hand in the backseat of their car just further then where they thought the rear-view mirror’s vision extended too, her ruffled shirt collar whenever she got home from hanging out at the Prime Defender’s base, the way her hands lingered over William’s waist and quickly pulled away when she realized her dad was looking.
He trusted her! He really did, but he couldn’t help but be nervous for her. Heartbreak was an ugly thing, but love itself tended to be uglier. That’s why he never pointed it out that he knew to Ashe because more then anything else he didn’t know how to deal with the fact that his kid was dating now. He had no problem with her being pansexual by the way, he was a supervillain, not an asshole.
He currently stood in the kitchen with Tide, leaning against the counter and swirling a cup of stale coffee in his hands while he waited for the kids to come back from their run to the convenience store to get snacks for their movie night. “Tide, do you think any of your boys have crushes?”
Tide paused for a moment from washing his dishes, considering it briefly and then laughing. “No, not really. I did overhear some discussion about William going out with that Summer girl that he hangs out with sometimes but nothing really came of that and Dakota and Vyncent don't really appear the type to be that interested in others.”
“What would you do if they were dating someone?”
“Chase them out of the house with a shotgun?” He said jokingly, setting down a plate in the washrack.
“And Ashe always tells me that I’m the strict one?” He jokes back, mentally eliminating the possibility of telling Tide the truth; he could burn that bridge when they got to it.
Soon after their brief conversation Tide left to get some groceries after seeing that all Mark had in his fridge was beer and microwaved food, and he eventually heard the familiar clicking of the front door being opened. The crew of teenagers entered laughing and joking with each other, bags of chips stuffed in their pockets. Ashe said hi to him followed by a chorus of “Hi Mr. Winters” and they completely invaded the couch space, dumping their snacks on the floor. Mark took a deep breath in, realizing he couldn’t approach this like every other tactical mission.
“Ashe!” He called, getting up from his spot against the counter where he could see the living room and beckoning her. She looked up from her snack arranging and grabbed the forearm crutches she had set down and pulled herself up to hear what her dad had to say.
“Yeah?” She yelled back. He fished a key out of his belt looped keys and handed her one.
“Unlock the basement and go find that old popcorn we bought, it should be somewhere behind my flamethrowers.” She lightheartedly rolled her eyes and grabbed the key, shouting that she’d be back and heading to the door to the basement. As soon as she was out of earshot, he did what he did best and loomed over the boys.
“Hey, Mr. Mark! Do you need somethi–” Vyncent turned around to look at him with a can of pringles in aer arms.
“Kitchen meeting. Now.” He grunted, staring at them with his deadpan stare. They looked at each other nervously for a moment, clearly anxious by his tone. “I said now.” He emphasized leading them back to the kitchen.
Dakota jumped onto the island counter and crossed his legs while William took a seat on a stool and Vyncent copied him, staring at the adult with nervous eyes. Everybody seemed to be holding their breath, including Mark. He set down his coffee cup with an iguana on it and rubbed his nose bridge. He couldn’t believe he had to have this conversation, it felt like just yesterday Ashe was just a little kid going for her first day of fifth grade.
“Can I ask why we're here, did we do something?” William asked tentatively, looking like he might just throw up from anxiety.
The man sighed, finishing emotionally and mentally preparing himself. “No, you guys didn’t do something. I just have a question for you guys.”
Dakota leaned forward, visibly fidgeting with his tank top. “What is it?”
“Be honest with me, are you boys datin’ my kid?” They all simultaneously froze, exchanging not-so-subtle rapid-fire glances at each other. William somehow got paler, and Vyncent’s already wide, cat-like eyes were staring at him like headlights. Dakota looked indifferent, but he could tell he was still very nervous because instead of twirling the hem of his tank top he began to rock back and forth.
“No, why would you think that–”
“Listen, boys, I know you’re datin’ Ashe. Contrary to the fact you guys think I’m the most ancient person alive, I was a teenager once too and I know that look. It may be unbelievable but I was once fifteen too y’know, sneakin’ out to kiss guys ‘n get stoned,” he paused, skipping over the fact the guys in question were mainly just their adoptive father. “-and as much as I want to chase you guys out of my house with my flamethrowers, I’m gonna let this continue on the condition we set some ground rules and you guys know that if you play with fire in this household you will get burnt.”
They all nodded at him in unison, slightly too terrified to do anything else. “First of all, I want the door open at all times. Absolutely zero funny business, if you wanna drink do it in moderation and if you wanna smoke open a window but If I see that door closed I will, as aforementioned, get the flamethrowers. Understood?”
“Understood, sir.” they all repeated back to him, knowing it was best to just stay silent and listen.
“Second rule, you can do all your lovey-dovey ‘teenager in love’ crap as you want, just keep it out of my line of sight; you can cuddle as much as you want but hands must be visible at all times.” He counted his rules on his fingers, putting a finger up for each one. “As much as I despise admitting it, you’re good kids and I know you guys wouldn’t cheat or nothin' like that, just be a mediocre influence at best, please?”
Before he could speak again, Dakota interrupted softly. “I want you to know that we really, really love her. Maybe it's stupid to date because we’re all heroes in training and maybe it's stupid to date just ‘cuz we know that she could do better but Ashe has brought so much happiness to our lives and we promise that we will protect her at all costs because I know she’d always do the same for us.”
William added on to Dakota’s sayings, dropping the sarcasm that frequented his voice just for this conversation. “Seconded, If I ever treated her badly I’d openly invite you to chase me out of your house with a flamethrower because someone like her isn’t someone you come across often and I wouldn’t have it any other way then with her by our side.” He smiled fondly, letting admiration show through his facial expressions.
Vyncent chimed in, adding aer comment. “Tripled by everyone in our system too!”
In a highly uncharacteristic of him way, Mark stepped towards them and slung his arms around the crew, ruffling their hair in an unusual act of affection from him. He stepped back, almost seeming surprised with himself. “Don’t let yourselves stop bein’ good kids, you hear me? Ashe hasn’t had it easy but I know that neither have you guys which is why against my better judgment I give you guys my official blessing to be with my kid and I’ll even throw in the free favour of not telling your dad. I think Tide would genuinely have an aneurysm if he found out his kids were kissing anyone of any gender.” Vyncent looked incredibly grateful and Dakota jumped off the counter, launching himself to hug Mark. “Thank you Mr. Winters, I promise we’ll be the best we can to her!” Mark awkwardly hugged him back, mumbling a ‘you better be’ under his breath. They heard the distinct sound of Ashe’s double footsteps with her crutches coming up the stairs and she tossed Mark the package of popcorn, staring at everybody gathered in the kitchen.
Dakota let go, and Vyncent waved at her. “Did I miss something while I was getting popcorn?”
“Nothin’, just waitin’ on some ice to freeze in the freezer so you guys can put it in your root beer.” She nodded and headed to the couch and Dakota, William, and Vyncent soon followed her. The boys looked a little bit happier, and he saw William rush up to her and give her a kiss on the cheek out of the corner of his eye. He smiled and hoped that Ashe’s mom would be proud of him for dealing with this in the most non-destructive way possible.