Work Text:
Janet woke up slowly on a cold winter morning on a fancy Avenger’s mansion bed. In the Avenger’s Mansion of course, because that was a thing now. This team was a thing now and had been for some time.
She rolled to the side to check the clock, surprised to see blinking red numbers showing ten o’clock. She sat up and yawned, blinking the sleep away. It was not normal to get a full night’s sleep these days. Not since she became an Avenger.
The bed had been warm and comfy, unlike the chilly room. The sheets and blanket were also probably too expensive as well. Even for her, but she appreciated the gesture from Tony.
She debated going back under the covers to relish a rare moment of peace in a time of chaos. When they first became a team it was a nut job on the daily, dealing with so many villains, while at the same time learning how to be a team. In the winter months, crime had seemed to die down significantly, she thought. Maybe the villains just didn’t like the cold as much as she did.
One big caveat to being an Avenger was living in New York, which to her dismay, meant a lot of snow. After all, bugs didn’t belong in the cold.
It also meant that sickness could be up in the air, she had been holding her hands up jokingly in defense whenever she was around any of the team because Janet refused to get sick. Being sick was not her forte and she did not want to be down for the count if the Avengers were needed.
She blinked and got out of bed when something caught her eye. She looked at the lump of clothing by the foot of the bed. It was the sweater, she realized, that she had stolen from Hank, some time ago.
She was a little cold she thought and shrugged as she pulled on the sweater, and headed to the bathroom to perform her daily morning routine. Not like he would ever notice her taking his sweater if he didn’t even notice her in the first place.
Oh, that man, she thought shaking her head, that crazy man was going to make her lose it one day. She was growing tired of their seemingly one-sided relationship if you could even call it a relationship. He had shown no real interest in her really, but there were times when he protected her a little too much during battle or stared at her for minutes on end, or he would blush at her flirtatious advances. Whatever it was, it kept her coming back to him as much as she hated it.
She glared at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Hank Pym would not be ruining her day today.
Janet kept her pajamas pants and that silly sweater on as she made her way to the kitchen determined to get a cup of coffee. Jarvis greeted her with a good morning as she entered the elevator down to the main floor. As she waited she couldn’t help but find her thoughts coming back to Hank. She tried to think back to the last time she saw him. They had a mission maybe three days ago with the Mandrill causing havoc, she thought. He didn’t talk much.
But, she had never caught up with him after then, and ever since she assumed he holed up in his lab like usual. Momentarily she felt a bit of concern but passed it off as normal Hank behavior. If he cared, she thought, he would come to her instead of her just going to him.
No more Hank today, she thought. That was until she walked into the kitchen to find a certain scientist slumped at the kitchen table, arms crossed with his head rested in between them.
She almost jumped, “Nuts Hank! You scared me,” because Hank Pym was the last person she expected to see at the table, let alone out of his lab in the first place. He didn’t budge. “Hank?” She almost tiptoed over and placed a hand on his shoulder. Almost immediately, she recoiled from the heat radiating from his body. “Jarvis, can you tell me when Hank came up to the kitchen?” She stared at her hand and then back at him, still unmoving. She knew from personal experience that running pym particles through a person temporarily made their body hotter. Hank has said molecules compressing might cause this, but he didn’t look like he had been transforming to bug size very recently.
“Doctor Pym arrived at O-Three-Hundred from his laboratory to get a cup of coffee. Five minutes later he took a seat and put his head down. He has been asleep ever since.”
“Thank you, Jarvis.” She said before looking back at Hank. His face was buried into his arms and she could see the rising and falling of his back as he slept. She tilted her head to the side, amused. “Jarvis how long was Hank down in his lab before he surfaced.”
“Doctor Pym has been in his laboratory for three days.”
She frowned. So really he had been in his lab since the last mission. Of course, this was nothing out of the ordinary, but this time, as she watched him slumber, something felt a little off.
She sat down in a seat adjacent to him. He must have put his head down for a moment not expecting to fall asleep. To the right of him sat an untouched cup of coffee, long since gone cold. Being closer to him, she realized his breath almost sounded labored. She felt a spike of concern.
Janet glanced at the time, eleven in the morning. She decided that she should probably wake him up before someone else came into the kitchen.
She shook him, ignoring the sticky warmness of his lab coat. “Hank, Hank, wake up,” she whispered aggressively. He must have been really tired.
With one final shake, his head shifted from where it was nested in his arms. He took a deep breath until something caught and he was overwhelmed with a wet hacking.
She watched with one eyebrow raised as he sat up rather unsteadily with a shaky breath. He fell rather hard on the backrest of the chair. His eyes blinked languidly and there was a pink flush on his cheeks. He shook his head and brought one hand to his eyes to rub at them.
He obviously did not notice Janet literally right next to him, which was weird because she knew Hank to be pretty aware of his surroundings. “Good Morning, Sunshine!” She said with a smug smile.
He flinched and she swore his hair stood on end, “Janet?” He had turned so fast in her direction he must have given himself whiplash because he grabbed his head again. “H-How long have you been there?” He grated out.
“Long enough,” she said.
“I-, When did you come down to my lab, I thought I told Jarvis to lock my lab, I don’t want anyone in my lab-“
“Hank,” she said, eyes narrowing, “We’re in the kitchen.”
He blinked and with a sharp breath looked around him before meeting her eyes. Janet couldn’t tell if the flush on his cheeks had become even more pink, either from embarrassment or something else.
“Uh, right, yes the kitchen.” He stared intensely to his right, at the very sad cup of cold coffee.
She didn’t like what was happening here.“When did you come up last night,” she said slowly.
“Uh,” he looked at the clock behind her and squinted, his eyes were slightly bloodshot, “Maybe a few hours ago, I was working on, uh, I was working on something.” He scrubbed at his face, there were beads of sweat by his hairline. “W-What’s today, Tuesday?”
She frowned, “Today is Friday, Hank.”
“Oh, I must have lost track of time.”
She stared at him, dumbfounded. He coughed again into his elbow and sniffed loudly. She glanced at his hands which were in a vice grip on the edge of the table, perhaps holding himself up. She looked back up at him and placed her hand on his tensed arm. “Hank,” she started, and he once again whipped towards her as if he forgot she was there, “Are you okay?”
He did a double take at her arm on his hand, brown eyes growing wider and face turning impossibly more pink. Any more and he would probably turn the same shade as his Ant-Man suit.
“Yes, I’m f-fine, Janet.” He was still staring at her hand on his arm.
“Hank Pym, you are a terrible liar.” His breath hitched. He pulled his arm away and stood up suddenly, too suddenly, and almost fell over. She too jumped up and already was ready to catch him with her hand out but he grabbed the table to stabilize himself. She didn’t like how heavy he was breathing, nor the increased pallor of his face. The flush was about the only color left.
He blinked rapidly and shook his head before coughing once again. “I, have to go.”
“Wait, Hank,” she started, “Are, you sick?” She said incredulously.
“No!” he started rapidly shaking his head, “No, you know Pym particles raise immunity, I am completely and utterly, f-fine.”
It was almost humorous how he thought he was fooling her. She took in the swaying of his feet and half-closed eyes and the real kicker would be if he passed out right here and now. Unfortunately, though, he did not and they met eyes one more time before he wordlessly stumbled off.
She felt the urge to follow him, but her heart hurt knowing he didn’t trust her enough to admit he was unwell. Instead, she simply sighed and sat back at the table to ponder what she was going to eat for breakfast that morning.
“Jarvis?”
“Yes, Miss Van Dyne?”
“Keep an eye on Hank, will you?”
“Of course, Miss Van Dyne.”
—————
A few hours later she found herself cuddled up by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and some company. She was always cold no matter how turned up the mansion’s temperature was.
Clint was there too, as well as Tony and Steve, each in various states of clothing. It was nice for a change, to see mostly everyone out of uniform, appreciating the peace this cold day brought.
She closed her eyes, Hank wouldn’t leave her thoughts no matter how much she tried. She had always given her all on her side and all she got back were crumbs. It wasn’t fair to her, she knew how she felt about him, most of the time. He drove her crazy but there was something so enduring about the man. He was respectful towards her, he cared for her and as much as she was embarrassed to admit it, he was pretty handsome too. She wasn’t denying that she was in love with Hank Pym, he just made it so incredibly hard to do so.
She didn’t understand why he was so, afraid of her almost. She didn’t think she came across as intimidating, but the way he acted towards her sometimes made her believe it was so. He would pull away from her touch but blush at the same time. What was she missing?
“Careful Jan, if you keep thinking that hard, your head will explode.”
She looked up at Clint who was looking at her with a smirk.
“You’ll be more careful when I make your head explode with my stinger,” she raised her arm and summoned a ball in her hand.
Clint’s smirk faded and he raised his hands in the air, she cackled at his expression.
Steve raised an eyebrow, “Janet, is something bothering you.”
She shrugged and closed her palm distinguishing her stinger, “What’s bothering me is the enigma that is Hank Pym.”
Tony huffed, “What, Hank ignored you the entire time you were in his lab or something?” They all knew how Hank could be sometimes. But she didn’t know however that the fellow men on the team had expressed their concerns to Hank about him and Janet. Steve, Tony, and Clint exchanged glances.
“Want me to knock some sense into him?” Clint said and drew out his bow. She thought it was funny he always had his bow on him.
“No, no,” she sighed, “He was just acting a little funny this morning.”
“How funny?” Said Steve.
“Oh you know,” Janet explained, “Normal Hank stuff, but this time it was that coupled with the fact that I think he’s caught a cold.”
“A cold?” Steve exclaimed, “Is he okay?”
“It’s just a cold Steve,” Tony laughed, “He’ll be fine.”
The Captain’s concern was always enduring, Janet thought. She recalled Hank’s wobbly feet and wet cough, “Yeah, hopefully,” she said uncertainly. She looked into the fire and then to the space beside her, wishing he was there.
“You don’t sound too sure, Soldier,” Steve said.
Janet grimaced, “Well, I found him passed out at the kitchen table this morning, and when we were talking he thought it was Tuesday.”
Tony grunted, “Sounds like Pym and I have at least one similarity. I would always scare Pepper when I told her it was Tuesday on a Friday too.”
She looked down. Even in that aspect, Hank and Tony were different. “Still Tony, when you’re down in your lab you at least appreciate the company or come back up because you want to talk to someone, but for Hank, he never does because there is no one he wants to talk to,” she said, wrapping her arms close around herself, “including me.”
“Sounds right to me,” said Clint. They all looked over at him. He had a hotdog pinned to one of his arrows and was roasting it over the fire, she wasn’t sure how he acquired it either. “Big Red will literally stay in there until Janet forces him out, or we get a call to action.
“And you know this how?” Tony asked.
“Simple,” he said taking a bite of his hot dog, “I watch you all through the vents,” gesturing to them all, “Pym’s record is sitting around five days, I think.”
They all looked at each other. “That’s, entirely not creepy in any way,” said Tony. Janet made a mental note to keep an eye on the vents in her room in the future.
Clint shrugged and returned to his hot dog. “You didn’t happen to be in the vents in say, the last seventy-two hours?” Asked Janet.
“Nah,” he said in between bites, “I haven’t been in hawk mode recently, taking a break.”
Janet hummed. Not being aware of Hank’s doings was usually normal for her, but now she really wanted to know what he was up to.
“Jarvis!” she said suddenly, “Can you tell me what Hank is doing right now, or can you tell me if he’s doing okay?”
“He’s probably fine Janet, Jarvis would have warned us if he wasn’t,” Tony said before frowning. There was a silence in the air as they realized Jarvis did not respond. “Jarvis?” Tony whipped out his tablet. “Huh, that’s strange, someone-,” he started mumbling and tapping at the screen faster, “Hank, disabled Jarvis?” He said incredulously. “Why in the world would he do that?” He tapped a few more times, and Janet felt a sinking feeling in her chest. “Jarvis talk to me.”
“Sir, I apologize for my absence, but I must warn you, Doctor Pym is in danger.”
Janet jumped up, she was right.
Why didn’t she just follow him from the beginning, why was she so stupid?
The rest of the team was already on their feet, clambering to the elevator.
“What’s happening, Jarvis?” Asked Steve.
“The current prisoner in his care has broken out and is currently engaged in battle with Doctor Pym.”
“Prisoner? Battle?” Janet cried. Oh Hank, what did you get yourself into? She was unaware that any of the villains were housed in Avengers Mansion.
“Hank is going to hear it from me after we’re finished with this,” Tony said gravely. They were reaching his floor, and Tony’s armor was already on. Clint and Jan were in more civilian-style clothing while Steve was always in uniform. “Jarvis, but why in the world would Hank disable you? I wasn’t even aware that he could do that!”
“Doctor Pym became increasingly agitated at my suggestions for someone to check on him. Before I could warn the Avengers, I was shut off.”
“Figures,” Tony said, “He’s just an idiot as I am sometimes.” They reached his lab where Janet saw Hank in a fistfight with Mandrill. She gasped, shrunk down, and readied her stingers. She watched as Hank struggled to keep the upper hand, he was fading fast in a battle she would have expected him to win easily. The slowness of his movements and the fact that he was dripping sweat spoke otherwise. “Avengers!” Tony yelled, “Take down Mandrill!”
“Don’t need to ask me twice,” said Clint and he shot an arrow directly at Mandrill blasting him back from Hank.
“Wasp! Take care of Ant-Man!” Tony cried, before following up with a blast from his repulsors.
“Don’t need to ask me twice either,” she grumbled and flew to where Hank had fallen.
Mandrill screamed in rage, the creature was moving faster and hitting much harder than usual. It made a beeline for her and she narrowly dodged the creature before Cap tackled him. Whatever kind of genetic modification Mandrill had gone through had Hank’s name written all over it.
“Hank!” she cried, fluttering to his shaky form. He was on all fours, head bowed and shoulders caved in, panting like it was impossible to breathe. She reached out to touch him finding the same heat radiating off him in waves and the sweaty slickness of his suit. Yeah, she definitely should have followed him down earlier. “Hank, can you hear me?” She said and was met with only dry heaving. “Oh gosh, Hank.”
His arms finally gave way and he folded forward. Luckily she was ready to catch him. Goodness, she thought, he was burning up.
She managed to flip him around so that he could sit against a cabinet now toppled over. The battle behind her was quickly fading, Mandrill still, was giving the team a run for their money.
“Hank,” she said again, tipping up his head. She pulled off his cowl to reveal hair sticking up in every which way and a familiar handsome face that was too pink for her liking. There was a very angry cut by his hairline, deep and bleeding into his eyelashes. He was blinking rapidly, his glassy eyes trying to focus on her. The expression on his face was blank and he looked completely out of it. It was something she had never seen before on the usual hardened face of Hank Pym. She wasn’t sure if she liked it.
“J-n,” he slurred and a stray arm tried to reach her face. She caught it before it could slap her.
If it wasn’t for their current very horrible situation she may have thought it was kind of cute.
He had managed to keep his eyes open long enough to finally meet her eyes. Those hazy, bloodshot, impossibly light brown eyes stared into hers, a bit too intensely for her liking. She looked away, moments like these always threw her for a loop.
Janet noticed behind her the blasts and yelling had quieted. “Alright big guy,” she hooked an arm under each shoulder, “let’s get you up.” Thank goodness for Pym particles she thought as she hoisted him up and slid him around so she could support him under a single shoulder side by side. He whined in protest, his body riddled with bruises and wracked with sickness. He had begun dry heaving again, leaving her to support most of his weight. His head lolled forward after he was done and she looked at him very worried. All of this was very concerning to her. The fact that he let himself get to this state, and the fact that he didn’t bother to come to her was very telling. He had breakdowns before sure, but this was the worst she had seen in all her years knowing him.
The team walked over with Mandrill in custody, Janet dragging a very out-of-it Hank by her side to meet them. Everything seemed like it was going to be fine until Hank momentarily glanced up at the Mandrill. He grunted and pushed himself back from her.
“Hank!” She said as she watched him stumble back into the table behind him almost toppling over with it. He caught himself with his hands grabbing the table behind him, and using it as leverage. He was still facing them as he stuttered, “You all don’t know what you’re doing!” He jabbed an angry finger at the array of heroes, “I-I am helping Mandrill, and I’m going to help them all, just you wait and see.”
“Hank,” she started very slowly. She put her hands out in front of her in surrender. “You’re unwell, please let me help you.”
“No!” he screamed, he held out an arm where a small gun-like weapon appeared. She gasped as the entire team suddenly raised their weapons against him in a standoff. She wasn’t aware he had weapons installed in his suit. “No, you can’t help me,” he was almost hyperventilating now, “All your violence, No-I can’t have it, it’s not right, I-“
He was slowly slipping. She saw his wobbly knees and crazed eyes, the last dregs of his adrenaline finally running empty. The rest of the team sat back uneasy, they knew only she could talk him down.
“Hank,” she was moving closer, urgency clawed at her, she needed to get him down quickly before he hurt himself.
He grabbed his face and swayed too hard to the right. “No, no, I need-“ he said softly. She finally reached him and bent down to reach his eyes, pushing down his shaking arm with the weapon that was previously trained on her. “You don’t need to do anything,” she said softly.
“I don’t-“ he whispered, his face went slack and his knees finally gave out from under him. She was there again, ready to catch him because Janet was always ready to catch Hank Pym, no matter what.
“Jarvis? Alert medical immediately!” Tony said. He knelt next to Janet. Steve and Clint came over as well. She looked at their faces in mixed emotions of shock and sadness. No one had seen Hank this way, not ever.
She placed her hand on top of the hand of Hank’s form now splayed on the floor. She took in his ashen face, blood caked in his hair and eyebrows. The wetness of his long lashes, almost fluttering as if he was still in pain unconscious. This was not okay.
—————
That night Janet found herself by Hank’s bedside in a hospital. He was hooked up to an IV with fluids and antibiotics. The wound on his forehead was stitched together. They gave him an oxygen mask as well just to assist in his breathing, his lungs were filled with fluid. Because of course, Hank had managed to catch pneumonia.
He hadn’t told anyone he was sick. He hadn’t told her. She complained to Tony that it was all her fault but Tony reminded her that she had tried, tried to reason with the man but Hank wouldn’t hear from her. Tony was right she knew, but it didn’t help her much.
The sound of a door opening made her jump in alarm. In came the entirety of the team this time, sans Hulk who was too big to fit into a hospital let alone this tiny room.
“How is friend Pym,” said Thor.
“Breathing,” Janet said, for once not in her usual quippy mood. It wasn’t like he was close to dying, but still, pneumonia was a little scary. The funniest part is she wasn’t even sure how he could have caught pneumonia if he had never been around people in the first place.
Steve put a hand on her shoulder, she appreciated his presence, as much as she appreciated the rest of the team being there.
Tony was on the other side of his bed and put his hands on his hips, “Sorry Jan, but Hank is still going to have to deal with some repercussions for this whole endevour.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, “I mean he irresponsibly brought a very dangerous criminal into this building without permission, and he disabled Jarvis.” He sighed, “I mean what could have happened if we never realized Jarvis was disabled?”
Janet grimaced. Nothing good she supposed. She sighed and put a hand on his. What was she going to do with him?
Clint gestured to the bag of fluids that were being pumped into Hank’s body. “They gave him all the good stuff, huh.”
“What is, the good stuff?” Thor asked.
“Well Thor,” Clint started with a mischievous glint in his eye.
Janet shook her head and turned her attention back to Hank not interested in listening to her team’s antics. Unsurprisingly, nothing had changed. He was always moving, she knew, and watching him so still was unnerving almost.
Her hand was on top of his still, “He’s still so warm,” she mumbled, glancing up to see his face beaded with sweat.
“If I may Miss Van Dyne,” she jumped when Jarvis’s voice echoed in the room, “there is a strange energy radiating from Doctor Pym’s body.”
Jarvis must have had potent audio sensors to hear her, Janet thought. Tony looked at her, “Jarvis,” he began, “is this an energy you are familiar with.”
“Yes sir, the same energy was emanating from the Mandrill. After further comparison, this energy is similar to Pym particles but at this degree, it is a much higher concentration.”
“Pym particles?” she said, eyebrows furrowing, she blinked and looked away from Tony, no longer being able to hold eye contact, “that doesn’t make sense.” She hadn’t seen him shrink or grow in recent memory, and he did not in the hours of his bedrest.
At that moment, Hank decided to stir. She gripped his hand harder. His brown eyes opened and with his free hand he found the mask on his face, his breathing turned sharp.
She reached up and pulled it down before he could freak himself out. Hank slowly turned his head around to examine the room and the people inside. Soon he made it to her hand still on top of his and he pulled it away suddenly.
Janet, frowned, “Hank?”
She couldn’t read the expression on his face. “Wh-What happened?” he asked.
Everyone in the room exchanged glances. “You don’t remember?” Janet saw the confusion in his eyes.
“What happened, Hank,” Tony spat his name with malice, “is you contained a known dangerous criminal in the confines of the Avenger’s Mansion. Not only that, but you somehow let the Mandrill escape, putting yourself, the team, and the security of the mansion at risk.”
Hank visibly flinched at his words and looked down.
“What were you thinking Hank?” Janet said.
“I-I wasn’t,” he closed his eyes, “I was just trying to find a way to do things differently.”
Janet knew Hank was never a big fan of all the violence they engaged in. But that was part of their job description as an Avenger. Sometimes, always, there was no other way.
Steve spoke up, trying to break the tension like usual, “We are also glad you are okay Hank.” He crossed his arms, “In my day, when someone caught pneumonia, it was much worse than this.”
“Pneumonia?” Hank said in unbelief, “But that’s impossible!”
“Obviously not dumbass,” said Clint. Janet glared at him. The archer put his hands up, “What?” he exclaimed.
“Hank,” Janet started, “You remember battling Mandrill and we came and saved you. I found you literally falling apart and still you fought back, you trained a weapon on me? I didn’t even know you owned one of those?” Hank bit his lip, he didn’t speak. Janet could tell he knew he messed up. “And Jarvis is telling us that your energy signature is literally screaming Pym particles, as was Mandrill’s. What were you trying to accomplish?” Hank still didn’t say anything, he wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“Answer the question Pym,” Tony barked, he was losing his patience and Janet couldn’t blame him.
Hank put his head back against his pillow and looked to the side. That cut on his forehead was going to form a nasty scar, Janet thought. The bags under his eyes were deep, almost purple.
“I had been injecting myself and the Mandrill with modified Pym particles. I did so in the hope to alter either myself or the Mandrill.”
Janet leaned in closer to him, frightened. She looked to the side and met eyes with Tony for a second, she was met with a look that was most definitely similar to hers.
“Pym particles, through my research, I have learned, hold much more potential than I ever could have imagined. The possibilities are limitless to what they can do. I already know they can build immunity. I started injecting them directly into myself to keep working. They also work as a way to keep me awake so I can work for hours on end.” He paused, “It seems I have realized that too much can have an adverse effect. For me, and for the Mandrill.” He coughed into his arm. “I was hoping to use the particles to help calm him so that I could have a meaningful conversation so I could finally successfully rehabilitate a criminal.” Some animal noise came from the back of his throat and he slammed a fist on the bed.
The room was silent for a moment.
“Hank, this is madness!” Tony said.
“Oh please Tony, don’t tell me you haven’t done anything mad before,” Hank chided.
“Yeah but not experimenting on people! Sure Mandrill is way beyond innocent, but he doesn’t deserve to be reduced to your lab rat.”
Manic anger grew in Hank’s eyes. Something sick, twisted, and alien to who he was before joining the Avengers, growing inside of him and Janet was too afraid to acknowledge it.
“Okay, that’s enough you two.” Janet finally said. “Tony is right,” she said turning to Hank, the flush in his face had returned.
“Jan,” Hank tried to say.
“No, I have heard enough from you Hank Pym.” She didn’t want Hank to be riled up anymore, he needed rest. Hank shut his mouth very fast and ran a very stressed hand across his face. “Tony, you said he would need repercussions for his actions.”
Tony looked at her strangely, “Yes, that’s correct,” he said. She looked back at him expectantly and gestured to Hank who was also looking at her strangely.
“Right,” Tony cleared his throat. “Hank, as team leader, I am going to have to suspend you from your laboratory until further notice.”
“What?” Hank exclaimed, “You can’t suspend me from my own laboratory.”
“I just did.”
Hank scoffed, “What’s going to stop me? Or what’s going to stop me from just working in my laboratory at Grayburn? I’m not a child, Tony. You have no power-“
“Sure Hank,” Janet cut him off, “You are an adult, you can run away to Grayburn, and work your life away, but that doesn’t change the fact that you need to take a break. You’re ill, Hank!”
Hank opened his mouth and Janet held up a hand, “Think of this as a blessing more than a punishment Hank, please,” she implored.
“Hank,” Clint spoke up, “This is what’s best for you now, you need to recover.”
“Aye friend Pym, your health is more important than your science,” said Thor.
“I agree,” said Steve, “Hank, you may not be a fighter like the rest of us but you still are an Avenger. That means you are a part of a team.”
“Which means we want to help you, Hank,” Janet said, she put a hand on his shoulder.
Hank glanced around the room. Despite all the times they didn’t get along, Janet knew everyone cared for each other, including Hank. His gaze eventually landed on her. She kept eye contact, unwavering. She would make sure he knew he didn’t have a choice.
Hank finally sighed and slumped hardback on the bed. “Alright,” he conceded, “I’ll take a break.”
—————
Of course, taking a break would be hard for Hank Pym, Janet knew.
During meals, his foot would tap incessantly, and he was unfocused in most social situations with the team, staying out of conversation, or excusing himself to his room.
At least he was finally looking like he was returning to full health, no longer coughing, the dark bags under his eyes fading. But whatever was going on in his head was something that wouldn’t heal with just time.
Hank also didn’t talk to Janet much for the next few days. She knew he wasn’t angry at her, she just knew that this was simply how Hank was, an introvert at heart. She stayed firm in waiting for him to come to her, not vice versa, because he needed to learn that it was okay to go to her.
When he eventually did, she was sitting on the couch by the fire as she did normally when it snowed too much for her liking. She was sipping on some hot chocolate when a shadowy figure appeared from the side and sat in the empty spot on the couch, leaving a gap between their thighs.
She took another sip of her hot chocolate, she hoped he wouldn’t notice her wearing his sweater. But it was too dark in the room for him to see anyway. “You know I’m not mad at you, right?”
“I know,” he said softly.
“So why are you avoiding me,” Janet asked
“I’m not,” he said.
She rolled her eyes, “Sure, and I’m the Hulk.”
He scooched a bit closer to her, moving a small enough distance she almost didn’t notice. “I’m sorry.”
She peered into her hot chocolate, it was almost empty, “It’s okay Hank, I understand you’re struggling.” He didn’t say anything. “I just want you to know, in the future next time you’re being stupid and working yourself silly, when you aren’t well you don’t have to hide anything from me. I may be a wasp, but I don’t sting.”
He snickered, she hadn’t heard him laugh in a while, “You sure about that?”
“Definitely,” she said. Jokingly she summoned a little sting in her finger and poked him in the shoulder.
“Ow! What did you do that for.” Hank said, rubbing his shoulder.
“Just trying to zap some sense into you Bug Boy,” she said with a smirk. She shifted her body towards him and placed one hand by her side.
“I-,” he looked down at her hand and then quickly back up to her, then did so again for extra measure. He blinked, and a blush spread across his face.
She laughed internally, she always thought it was cute when he reacted like that. But outside, her expression didn’t falter, she wanted to welcome him in.
And he accepted, sliding close to her till their sides were pressed together. His long arm was outstretched and soon snaked its way around her shoulder, pulling her in even closer. Her body was buzzing with delight, and this time, not in the wasp-like way.
Now, her head was resting against his chest. She could hear his heart beating fast. He was holding his breath. She sighed, “Thank you, Hank.” That must have been all he needed because he let out that breath and the tension in his body melted away. “You’re very dense sometimes Doctor Pym.”
She heard a laugh rumble in his chest, and the vibrations in his voice being so close to him, “I guess so Miss Van Dyne.” He rested his chin on top of her head and his free hand found its way to hers. Warmth spread throughout her body.
They watched the fire together until it died out and then stayed together until they both fell asleep.
THE END