RHETT DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT JAMES BARNES.

The boy never did anything wrong to him, or anyone else, for that matter. Someone as nice as him, Rhett expected t see him push around one of the smaller neighborhood kids, or laugh when someone else did. But no. No, he helped all the mothers with their groceries and played with everyone in the neighborhood and 'was such a good boy.'

And he was best friends with Steve.

No one understood it, not even Rhett. He agreed with all of the mothers who whispered to each other about how the nice Barnes boy was always hanging around the sick one. The one that always got himself in trouble. The one who never seemed to smile, not that anyone would blame him, poor thing.

Rhett didn't have any reason to dislike James Barnes, but yet there he was, scowling as he waited for his turn to bat, watching as James sauntered over to Steve like he owned the place, pulling him to his feet and slinging an arm over his shoulder, leading him away.

"You can go in front of me, Rhett."

Rhett looked down at the boy—Richard, his name was, Richie for short—who was smiling up at him. He was one of the smaller kids, but he was fast and he was funny, so no one messed with him. He was also nice, a kiss-up, really, but genuinely nice. He really loved his ma, and none of the boys could find it within him to mock him. Most, at least.

Rhett shook his head at him, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Nah, you go ahead. I don't wanna play."

All the boys in line stopped and turned to look at him, shouting the same thing. "What? Why not?"

He looked over at the empty steps where only two soda bottles sat.

He huffed and shook his head, mumbling. "Just don't feel like it."

º º º

Teenagers terrified Rhett. He wasn't sure if it was because he could barely remember his own, fleeting adolescence, or if it was because they were so much more different than what they had been before, but he tried to stay away from them as much as possible.

Unfortunately for him, his only other friend happened to be a young teenage girl who was possibly the most terrifying one he'd ever met.

"Hey, Harry, how's it going?" Rhett asked, giving the tall teenage boy in front of him a small smile.

Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn and heir to Osborn Industries, he had been the first of Nicky's patients to be of adolescent age. He remembered him briefly from his visits to the building, being shocked when catching sight of the broken looking child in jeans, such an antithesis from the perfectly kept teenager he'd seen on the news.

But he seemed to be doing very well now, if the teen magazines with pictures of him and Johnny Storm, teen member of the Fantastic Four, were any indication. These heroes were getting younger by the year, someone needed to take a step back and think over their choices for a minute.

"Hey, Rhett, how's Nicky?" Harry asked, because that was who he always asked for. Rhett didn't need glasses to see the way the boy seemed to brighten by the mention of his roommate's name alone, the way he said it with such reverence and awe.

"He's good," he replied, putting his hands in his jacket pocket, "You should come visit sometime, you're always welcome."

Harry brightened at that, and it hurt Rhett to see him wrangle with his emotions, slowly dimming. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

He could only nod back; he worked with young children for a reason, dealing with more complex emotions was something he was not well equipped with, that was set solely for Nicky.

"'Sup, old man?"

The two turned to look up towards the stairs, catching sight of a small teenage girl waving at them, her backpack slung over her shoulders. She was smiling, standing tall, and Harry's bright grin and quick intake of breath was exactly how Rhett felt; she was happy, and it was the best sight.

"Thanks for sending her to Nicky," Rhett whispered, nudging the boy before he walked off, another small girl bounding towards them.

"Thanks for helping her out," Harry replied, letting the other girl tug him away, talking a mile a minute about a project she was working on in the school's lab.

"What's up, Rhett?" Diana asked, startling him as she dropped right in front of him, rocking back and forth on her heels, "Don't you usually have other things to do?"

He shrugged, remembering Nicky's request for him to check up on her. "I had nothing to do, and you haven't been over in a while, so I figured we could catch up, how's everything going?"

"It's going good," she said, starting to walk, forcing the man to keep up with her, "Flash rejoined the football team, so he's trying to juggle decathlon and that, but he's handling it well. Jesse has nothing to do now that track is starting to end, but she's alright, she's having fun. Peter's doing well, he and his friends are—"

"I meant with you," he interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder, "How are you doing, Diana?"

She blinked at him, clearly surprised by the question. She tilted her head, frowning. "Um...I'm okay, I guess, nothing really major is going on."

"Are you happy?" he asked, placing a hand on her back, stopping her until the light turned, letting them walk, keeping an eye out for incoming cars.

"Oh, yeah," she said, smiling, "I think so, at least, I'm pretty alright. Peter's tutoring this kid, which is really cute. Uh, my two families are getting along and they might even come over for Christmas, but who knows. Everything's pretty good for me."

Rhett gave her a sad smile. "Do you always have to talk about other people to answer a question about yourself?"

She opened and closed her mouth, looking hurt. "Well, nothing exciting really happens to me. Hero of heroes and all that, I don't do any of the rescuing."

"Doesn't mean you don't have a story of your own," he argued, continuing to walk, too caught up in their conversation to care where they were headed.

"Well, we all have a story, but mine wouldn't be interesting enough for people to read," she said, shrugging, "I'd be a part of Peter's, maybe. You know, one of the secondary characters. Hopefully main secondary, but you know."

Rhett didn't know how to respond, so he just threw an arm around her shoulder, giving her a one-sided hug. Nearly twice her age, he wasn't sure how it would be taken, but she didn't speed off running, so he figured it was alright.

"Rhett, where are we walking to?" she asked, looking around the city, searching for a street sign, "We're not heading to Brooklyn, are we, I don't wanna walk that far."

"Nah, I just thought we could walk," he said, shrugging, "We don't talk anymore, I'm never around when you're with Nicky."

"Yeah," she scoffed, "Because you're off hanging out with," she paused, looking around, "You know."

He nodded, sighing. "Yes, I do know."

"What's it like, have you kissed yet?" she asked, her voice a low, conspiratorial whisper, grinning madly.

"What? No," he exclaimed, caught between wanting to reel back and wanting to shove her, "No, he's not—we're not—"

"I will accept the last statement, not the first, have you not seen the footage of him wearing the bisexual pride flag during the New York Pride?" She pulled out her phone, searching for the footage, but Rhett stopped her.

"Of course I've seen it, what do you take me for?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes and continuing to walk, pushing her forward, "But it's not like that with us."

"Why not?" she asked, skipping slightly, "Rhett, I've had an extensive conversation with both Nicky and Peter and we have all unanimously agreed that if we were in your position, we all would've jumped on that by now."

"And I don't blame you," he sighed, "You know, look at it this way. I have amazing self-control."

"Boo..." she jeered, drawing more attention to them than intended, "C'mon, Rhett! Don't be lame, you're young and attractive, just," she put her hand into a fist, raising it before punching down towards the ground, spinning in a circle, "Get in it!"

Rhett had never felt more uncomfortable by an emphasis on the word "in" than he did in that very moment.

"How are you and Peter?" he asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Tired that out of us three, I'm the only one who's getting any sort of action. And it's not even anything major, just a lotta kissing, nothing more," she replied instantly, crossing her arms.

He shook his head. "I miss when you two weren't dating and you were responsible and not like this."

She raised an eyebrow, completely serious. "Rhett, I really hope you're joking."

He paused for a moment, just looking at her. When he saw there was no evidence of a smile anywhere, his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't," she agreed, walking quickly, leaving him to weave through the crowd and catch up.

"But, whatever, considering everything you've gone through, I'll give you some slack," she continued once he caught up, "But you owe me coffee, look, there's a place right here."

Rhett's heart stopped when he caught sight of a familiar table just within view, still empty, as if waiting for him.

"Diana, I don't think—" he began, heart racing as he looked around, remembering the feeling of being watched.

"Don't even try me, Rhett, it's family game night, I need to be energized, c'mon," she called out, glancing over her shoulder.

He sighed and pulled out his wallet, handing her a wad of cash. "Buy whatever you want and leave the rest as a tip, I'm gonna stay outside."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Look, we'll trade places, how 'bout, I go first, then you. Like we're spies or something." She made a little shaking motion with her hands, laughing softly as she walked in.

Rhett stayed outside, tapping his foot and trying not to look too out of place. He could feel his old habits beginning to form as he nodded and gave small smiles to the people who passed, despite no one ever really looking at anyone else.

Nicky always believed that to be a problem, his need to be liked by everyone. It wasn't his want to be kind or nice, it was his need to be liked and only that. He wondered if maybe it was because he wanted allies or to never be betrayed, but as far as he knew, he just didn't want anyone to dislike him.

When he was younger, he was nice. He wasn't sure about how pure his intentions were now.

So caught up in his thoughts, confused by how contemplative over his past he was, and generally worried, he nearly screamed when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Jeez!" Diana shouted, jumping back, nearly spilling her coffee, "It's just me! Man, you're finally happy for once and suddenly people are afraid of you."

"I just," Rhett panted, trying to slow his heart rate, "Nevermind. Wait here, I'll go get something. If you notice anything weird, just run."

She raised an eyebrow, pointing to the sky. "Aliens weird or someone doing the splits outta nowhere weird?"

"Creepy man staring at you with the foreboding feeling of death weird," he breathed, walking into the coffee shop, leaving her to wait outside.

The line was fairly long, so he busied himself by texting Steve, which had become something of a habit.

to: "Grant" (4:15 pm)
Talk dirty to me

He could practically hear Steve's tone, the one he used when he tried to remind Rhett that he used to be the leader of the Avengers.

from: "Grant" (4:15 pm)
No thanks

to: "Grant" (4:15 pm)
I'm back at the cafe you wanna
see a picture now that you got a
new phone?

from: "Grant" (4:16 pm)
Sure why not I miss that place

He tried to tamp down the rising feeling of guilt; it wasn't fair for him to have forced Steve to stay away from this place just because he was afraid.

Just as he was about to take a picture of the room, reaching the front of the line, he heard a loud shout.

"Rhett!"

He whirled around to hear a few screams from just outside, catching sight of Diana struggling against the grip of someone he could just barely see.

"Diana!"

He tried to push through the gathering crowd, panic settling as he listened to the sound of Diana struggling.

He reached the front just in time to see Diana twist around and out of his grip, shoving him away. Moving quickly, she grabbed the coffee mug of the closest person, throwing the scalding liquid into his hoodie covered face, smashing the porcelain in immediately after.

"Shit!" Rhett cursed, tugging her away, careful not to touch her wounds, "What happened?"

"Creepy McFuckface over here wouldn't stop staring. I look away for a second and suddenly he's right next to me and I dunno," she sniffed, wincing at the blood dripping from her stinging palms, "Don't know how this happened."

Rhett turned away for a moment to look at the man, only to find the spot empty. He looked around, finding that the people were always staring, perplexed.

"Where did he go?" he demanded, standing in front of the crowd. "Come on, someone must've saw him!"

"We don't know," a woman called out, shaking her head and looking at everyone else.

"Maybe he's one of those alien freaks!" a man called out.

Rhett took a deep breath, heart stuttering as he felt the eyes trained on him. "Maybe he got better."

Grabbing Diana's arm, he began to tug her away, his quick stride devolving into a run.

"Rhett—" she began, her coffee now forgotten on the ground, "What—?"

"I'll explain later, we gotta run," he called, tugging her down into the subway.

"Why?" she asked, because she was a scared teenager relying on an adult who was just as afraid.

"Because someone is trying to kill me."

º º º

Rhett was pacing around the loft, Diana sitting on the couch with her hands in her lap next to Peter, Nicky at the dining table, listening intently.

"He just disappeared?" Nicky interrupted, disbelief etched into his features.

"He didn't disappear," Rhett corrected, shaking his hand, "He didn't, he—" he stopped, turning towards the two teenagers who were watching him in fear.

Leaning close to Nicky, he whispered, "He stopped—"

"I just wanna let you know," Peter interrupted, calling out loudly, "That I have really good hearing, so whatever you say, I'm just gonna tell to her."

Rhett groaned and, stomping his foot, motioned towards the other room, which the boy had made impossible to hear in and out of, as Nicky held some sessions inside.

Sighing, the two made their way inside. Before Diana stepped in, she turned around.

"Look, I don't know what happened," she said, dead serious, "But it was terrifying. One second he was on the other side of the street, next he was standing right by me. A second later, he's grabbing me. Whoever he is, he's powerful."

She didn't need to say everything to get her full point across. With a nod to Nicky, she entered the room, closing the door behind her.

Sighing, Rhett turned to Nicky. "Look, from what I can tell, he'll be gone for a while. I-I don't know the pattern yet, but he won't be here for a while, okay? I know it'll be longer than before because this was insane."

Nicky just stared at him, shaking his head ever so slightly. "Rhett, he wasn't able to do stuff like this before."

"I know," he whispered, "But we get better. That's just the way the world works, gentlemen."

Nicky frowned, standing up. "What was that last part?"

Rhett bit his lip and shook his head, the sound of the general's voice echoing in his ear. "We are not gonna worry about this until later, Nicky."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, "What if later is too late?"

"Not now, Nicky," he sighed, "I can't right now. He didn't bother me last time, but he might know where this is. He—" he swallowed, shaking, "He knows Diana. He targeted a teenage girl, we can't act at all or else he might do something worse."

Nicky set his jaw. "Are you seriously pulling a common good to keep from doing something to protect you?"

Rhett shrugged. "You do it all the time. And look, it's not that we're completely ignoring it, we're just...procrastinating."

Nicky blinked. "Procrastinating."

Rhett nodded. "Yep."

He scoffed. "Procrastinating wha—your life?"

"Shh..." Rhett whispered, placing his hands on the younger man's shoulders, "Don't. Don't think about that right now."

Nicky took a deep breath and sighed. Reluctantly, he asked, "Think about what?"

Rhett gave him a pained smile. "Thank you."

He scoffed, tugging out of his grip. "Don't. I don't need you thanking me for this on my conscience."

He walked towards the door, opening it and letting the kids out. "You can come out—Diana, seriously, let him breathe!"

Rhett couldn't help but laugh. Laugh at the absurdity that, a mere few weeks before, the biggest thing he had to worry about were a pair of teenagers in his home. Laugh at the fact that his life would forever be a mess, always had, always will.

He just never thought it'd end so soon.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 12.20.17 )

First off, let me just say thank you to all of you who gave me those kind lovely messages, I really appreciated them. I've just been going through a bout of self-doubt, so I just want you to know that I really appreciate those comments, thank you so much.

Anyways!

Look, I couldn't resist, I had to use a gif of Chris Pine shouting "Diana" it was necessary, okay? Didn't realize the context would be so...yeah.

I'm refraining from telling too much, as there is an important scene in which all will be revealed, but this chapter did have more information and heartfelt interaction than planned, so I forced it down, letting it simmer and wait till later.

I don't have much to say other than I'm sorry that this chapter had heavy Diana in it but I felt as though Rhett was only spending time with Steve and I wanted to show that he has other (2) friends.

That's all I have to say say...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!