LEO WAS HIDING OUT AT RIGBY'S DESK. After meeting Pietro, he had immediately bolted, giving a lame excuse to Steve and the twins before spending twenty minutes trying to find his way back to the office room, throwing himself into the startled older man who seemed more than happy to ignore his responsibilities and comfort him, rubbing his back and whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

"Like you said, he's distrusting of people, he's just trying to intimidate you in order to find power in his otherwise powerless life, the guy's been through a lot," Rigby reasoned, watching as Leo dropped his head onto his desk, sitting on the spare chair that Maria had to get for him, rolling her eyes at the redhead.

"You don't understand, he is terrifying and tall and he's got this smile like he's planning all the ways he can ruin your life, I'm scared," Leo cried, trembling as he moved closer to the desk, listening in on the other conversations in the office room.

"Is he going to be a permanent fixture, because he's ruining the environment I worked so hard to cultivate," the man sitting across Rigby asked, his tone stern and tense, and Leo fought back a grin as he heard Rigby's heavy sigh.

"You know what, Dwayne? Considering he had Nick Fury himself give him the tour, it's safe to say he's taking your job," Rigby said, raising his hands before letting them fall onto his lap, "And he asked out Maria Hill to his senior prom and didn't die, so."

"Don't drag me into this," Leo heard Maria say, but there was enough humor in her voice that he sat up, whirling around in his chair to find her smiling down at her papers from behind her desk at the front of the room, overseeing the rest of the office.

"You," the man—Dwayne—said, catching Leo's attention, "If you're so powerful, why are you so upset? And small?"

Leo blinked, glancing over to Rigby who nodded, making a face. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Well. I'm small because both my parents were pretty small and this is a hereditary thing. As for why I'm upset, it's because I'm going to be living in close quarters with the Avengers, one of whom terrifies me, and it's not gonna be fun."

The man clicked his tongue, glancing away to give his computer a judgmental look. "Weak."

Rigby snorted, but Leo, who was not in the mood to be told off by an older man with a receding hairline and disgusting 80's glasses, spoke, finding himself more agitated than expected. "Hey. Hey, who are you calling weak? You wanna go, man, I can take you right here, right now. I could bench press your ass."

"Oh my God, he was raised by Fury," Maria gasped softly, catching attention and causing everyone who wasn't already interested to look over.

"I'm sorry," Dwayne laughed, standing and towering over a foot above Leo who refused to back down, "Are you saying that a small thing like you can take down me?"

"The Hulk could still win against a Hulk-sized swarm of bees, because mass does not equate strength. Dumbass," Rigby pointed out, coughing the last part, causing Leo and the others to laugh, the redhead finding himself much more at ease in the office than with the others.

"Okay," Dwayne coughed, looking to Leo who raised his eyebrow challengingly, riding on the high of not knowing these people, sans Maria, and being too aware of his own demise via Pietro Maximoff to deal with his fear, "You don't know how things run around here, but we get off at six each night, so after work, we will meet in one of the general sanctioned training rooms, as certain rooms are off-limits and are for Avengers only."

"Cool, I look forward to thoroughly crushing you," Leo said, holding out his hand, reveling in the way Dwayne mildly winced as he squeezed it too tightly.

"Maria, are you coming to see the showdown?" Rigby asked, swiveling in his seat to look over at Maria who nodded, making a face.

"I've never seen him more sure in his life. You know, Leo, if you had been this way when you were a senior, I might have said yes to going to prom with you," the woman said, smirking when Leo turned a bright red, struggling to find a response.

"What-what was he like in high school?" Rigby asked, seeming to pounce at the opportunity to talk to Maria who happily turned and recalled every slight interaction she had with the young man who sighed, moving to do Rigby's filling for him, as it was clear that he wasn't going to be doing it any time soon.

"Well," he mumbled to himself, typing away, "At least I won't have to see any of the others until later tonight."

º º º

"Hey, short stack!" Sam called out as Leo made his way to the kitchen to get himself a snack, taking a break from helping Rigby with his work, "I hear you picked a fight. First day, shouldn't you be making friends?"

Leo gave him a matching tooth gapped smile as he ducked his head, blushing. "I mean, I made friends. I've got you and Rhodey and Steve and Arabella and this cool guy Rigby I just met. That's the thing, this guy who works across from him, Dwayne, was all 'you're short and weak' and I, who still isn't in any mood to deal with literally anything, challenged him, because Nick Fury didn't raise a floozy."

"Fury's your dad?" Sam asked, looking genuinely surprised, and Leo scoffed, shaking his head.

"No!" he cried, laughing, "No, but he was a part of my life. I-I can tell you that, right?"

"Of course," Sam said, now sobering, "Listen, if you ever need to talk, I'm here. I did counseling, I know how to listen."

Leo paused, taking in his words, giving him a soft, genuine smile, feeling rather warm and fuzzy despite only having just met the man. "Thank you, Sam. That means a lot."

"Hey, tooth gap, gotta stick together," the man said, smiling as he ruffled Leo's hair, grabbing his juice and heading out, "Good luck tonight, short stack, I told the team, we're all gonna be there."

"Wait, really?" he squeaked, whirling around from where he was searching for popsicles to stare at the man who nodded, turning around.

"Yeah," he laughed, "Good team bonding, see the new kid work. Tony's dropping by to see it too, Rhodey invited him, and we're filming to show Barton and Natasha. Don't lose, kid, everyone'll be there."

Leo sighed, turning back around to close the fridge and press his forehead against the cool metal. "I have made a mistake."

º º º

"You gotta help me, Uncle Nick, I didn't mean to do this."

"I didn't raise a coward," Fury said idly, continuing to play the game of Solitaire he started solely to upset Leo, whom he could hear coming from a mile away.

"But everyone's gonna be there," the redhead whined, dropping his head against the table, "And I asked Steve who told me that Wanda told him that Pietro agreed to come see, 'cause he wanted to size me up some more. What if I lose?"

"I'm sorry, your parents and I didn't raise you to think that you could lose against Dwayne Scholz," Fury declared, setting down his cards, "His parents were great agents, as you well remember, but he is not. So we gave him this position, and he's very loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., and he won't acknowledge a damn thing that happened last year with HYDRA. So, I digress: you kick his ass."

"Are you allowed to have biases in terms of agents?" Leo asked, and Fury shrugged.

"I'm not Director anymore," he said, laughing as Leo snickered, running a hand through his already destroyed hair, "Listen, kid, how are you liking it here? You tried to make friends with anyone that isn't Rigby Sergeant?"

"I like him," Leo said defensively, "He doesn't treat me different 'cause he knows who mom and dad are, and he's not...okay he asked Maria about me in high school, but it's fine, she didn't know me all too well anyways."

"She replied?" Fury asked, breathing out a laugh, "Huh. He finally wore her down. Well, just try not to adopt any of his bad habits and focus on what you're here for."

"Pietro doesn't like me and I'm terrified of him, I don't think this'll work out," he said simply, and Fury rolled his eyes, ushering him out of his office.

"I'm serious, Uncle Nick, I'm gonna die!" he cried, pounding on the door as it was slammed in his face, leaving him alone in the hallway.

"Maybe, he sighed, leaning against the door and sliding down, "If I let Dwayne beat me, I'll have a more valid reason to leave: utter humiliation."

º º º

"You know, I think that we should be focusing on the serious problem this facility has if this is the most interesting thing people have to come to tonight, let me just say."

Leo sighed as he looked out towards the sea of agents mingling with the Avengers who were all searching for seats in the bleachers someone had rented out to be placed against one of the longer walls in the training room; the Avengers training room, as per the insistence of Tony Stark, who most likely rented out the bleachers, his grand entrance consisting of bursting through the doors and trying to kiss an elated Steve Rogers and fondly exasperated James Rhodes.

"Good luck, half pint!" Tony called out from where he was squished between Steve and Rhodey before whispering, "Who is this kid and why is he living with you?"

Leo groaned, rolling his neck as he saw Rigby entering with Maria, the two pushing the snack carts, Fury walking alongside and sneaking some chips, giving a stern look to Leo who gave him a shaky smile and a nod. Rigby gave his cart to Fury, rushing over to where the redhead was standing, grinning madly.

"Dude, this is the most interesting thing that's ever happened to me, thank you for making my boring mid-thirties life interesting," he said, and Leo made a face, eyes widening.

"You're in your thirties?" he cried, taking a step back and giving him a once over, "Damn, I'm really not good at guessing ages. Anyways, do you know what it is I'm supposed to be doing?" He gave a glance over in the general direction of Dwayne who was doing rather strenuous stretches on his side of the room.

"Well," Rigby said, shrugging, "You said you could take him and that you could bench press him, so he has challenged you to a weight lifting competition, wrestling, and some other stuff that you apparently have to do to pass field training, which I never had to do, because I was able to convince them that I only ever wanted to do filing."

Leo worried on his bottom lip. He wanted to be cocky and self-assured, but that only ever happened once in a blue moon, and he had to acknowledge that the Scholz's were about as prevalent in S.H.I.E.L.D. history as his parents—not exactly true, but a close range—and he couldn't rule out their son's abilities; both of them worked desk jobs, so Leo couldn't judge by position alone.

"I was captain of my wrestling team for three years," he tried, and Rigby patted him on the back, glancing towards Maria who had saved him a seat.

"Destroy him," he said, ruffling his hair and bounding off, leaving him to stand and stretch.

He glanced towards the audience where he found Pietro and Wanda making their way over to where Steve saved them both a seat, Wanda grinning brightly as she held onto a box of popcorn Rigby had handed over to her on her way up, Pietro unhappily holding a bottle of soda, his gaze shifting around the room before landing on Leo, then darting over to Dwayne, then back to Leo. He nodded slightly and Leo nodded back, unsure of what it meant, but tentatively accepting the gesture.

Turning back to the center, he found Dwayne standing with the ref, a bored looking blonde woman who didn't seem interested in the affairs at all, sighing as she recited the rules in a bored voice.

"Whoever can bench press the most wins. You do five, then we add more weights. Understand? Good, get into position," she said, standing there and rolling her eyes.

Dwayne moved in a very militaristic manner whereas Leo simply made his way over to the bench, looking over to Fury who gave him a small hand signal, the one he always did before Leo performed in any way during high school.

As he lied down, his feet facing the audience, he gasped, catching sight of Steve who stood over him, the blond giving him a bashful smile. "I offered to be your spotter. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," he said, smiling up at him, "That's okay. I feel a lot safer now, honestly. Though only five per, huh? I can usually do more than that, but..." he trailed off, shrugging, and Steve grinned.

"Well, you should win this easily, then," he said, and Leo felt a twinge of nerves at the statement, taking in the sureness in the tone of the man with the apple-pie smile.

"I hope so," he said, raising his arms and getting into position when it was called for him to do so, taking a deep breath.

"Begin!"

He lifted the bar off and arched it forward, starting his five, reminding himself to set an easy pace, despite the general lack of resistance with the lightest weights, not caring about the cheering and the way Dwayne was loudly proclaiming that he already finished; Leo had done these before, it was less about speed and more about personal pacing.

It went on like that for some time, Leo falling into the easy rhythm he always had while doing this on his own, a little thrown off that he had a spotter, much less Captain America; it had been a while since he had someone willing to spend time with him while he exercised. He had stopped counting long ago, simply doing whatever he had to, listening when Steve told him it was time to add new weights, taking the short breaks to shake out his arms and stretch, Steve telling him he was doing great and giving him bright, encouraging smiles, ignoring Tony's teasing catcalls.

"He's just doing that 'cause it's been a while and I accidentally sent him a late night voicemail about how much I missed him, so he's just trying not to make it weird," the blond explained when Leo quietly asked him during a break that Dwayne demanded for.

"It's okay to miss people," he said, and Steve paused for a moment, genuinely surprised, but nodded as Leo continued, "I miss my dad a lot. And that's okay."

Steve paused for a moment before sighing, holding out his arms in silent question. At Leo's minute nod, he enveloped him in a hug, holding him tightly as he rubbed his back, Leo tensing for a moment at the contact before melting into it, reveling in how safe he felt.

"Hey, girls! If you're done, I'd like to get back to the contest!" Dwayne shouted from across the room, causing Steve to tense.

"I'm sorry, did you just use 'girls' as an insult?" he demanded, using his Captain America voice, marching over towards him, "And did you just use it to then insult us for showing affection, because that is just—"

"Sir, can we please just get back to the contest?" the ref interrupted, and Steve took a deep breath, nodding stiffly before heading back to spot Leo.

"Hey, Leo," he said, the two getting into position.

"Yeah, Steve?" he said, grabbing onto the bar, ready to lift it off at any moment.

Steve lowered his voice, bending as Leo arched it off and began his five. "Kick his ass."

º º º

Leo did, in fact, kick his ass. He completely humiliated him by continuing for three more rounds after Dwayne called it quits, nearly suffocating himself when he let go of the bar, his spotter having been forced away, as he claimed he didn't need her. Leo allowed himself to revel in the cheering when he continued after Dwayne finished, though it was short lived when the man shouted that they continued on to other events.

After a series of obstacle tournaments and other events mirroring that of field agent training, Leo having won nearly half of them—which lead to the assumption that he and Dwayne were tied at this point—it was time for wrestling.

"Kick his ass, kid!" Tony shouted from the audience, as Leo walked back out in gear that he hadn't worn since high school, causing him to jump, eyes wide as he looked over, giving him a bright smile.

"You got this, short stack!" Sam called out, Rigby cheering alongside him, starting a chant of 'Leo! Leo! Leo!' while the others clapped.

"These people really need other hobbies," he mumbled to himself before sticking in his mouth guard, raising his eyebrows in greeting to Dwayne who didn't seem to share the same sentiment.

"Best of three," the ref—Linda, as Leo had learned—said, rolling her neck and glancing towards her watch, which she did every eighteen seconds, as Leo had estimated.

Dwayne pulled out his mouth guard. "I thought it was first to three?"

She blinked. "I changed the rules. Get into position."

Dwayne sighed as he crouched down, sitting on his legs with his arms braced in front of him. Leo felt himself smile at the familiarity of it all, getting onto one knee and wrapping his arms around Dwayne's middle.

At the sound of the whistle, people began to cheer and Dwayne immediately tried to free himself from Leo's tightening hold, the two falling into crouches, Leo's grasping at his neck while Dwayne held onto his arm. It was almost too easy, what with the way Dwayne kept pushing, refusing to pull back.

Diving low, Leo grabbed his leg and lifted, throwing him onto the ground and pinning him there. It was always a trial, what with them squirming and trying to fight, but that was why he was really good at sliding, his feet pushing himself against the floor. Rolling his eyes, he shifted, twisting their legs together and pinning Dwayne down completely.

"Leo wins. Get into position."

"That's my boy!" Tony cheered, the others shouting along with him, clapping and whooping, Leo grinning at them as best he could with his mouth guard on as he shook out his body, getting back into a crouch.

The second time around was similar, but Dwayne nearly got the upper hand, almost pinning him down, towering over him like a bracket, only for Leo to flip over, pinning him down with his entire body, twisting to keep him from moving, his entire body straining. It took more time, as Dwayne had fought out of it, but with the same principal, he got him down in the end, even if it did wind up with his face in Dwayne's crotch and his neck twisted at an odd angle.

"Leo wins. Okay, that's best two out of three, we can leave," Linda called, happily heading towards the door, everyone cheering and whooping, chatting as they began to stand, Rigby rushing to hug Leo.

"Wait! Wait, the match isn't over, we still haven't done the third round," Dwayne called out, shouting over the noise of the crowd, "Look, see, I can at least win this round."

Leo screamed as he was tackled to the ground, held down by his neck and his body twisted painfully as Dwayne held him down, counting out the seconds, Leo writhing furiously in an attempt to get him off, but unable to do much, unable to breathe and panicked, all the noise surrounding him and the pain and high of the long competition rendering him unable to fight back, choking.

"Ha!" Dwayne called triumphantly, jumping up and sticking his arms up above him, Leo spluttering and sighing, sitting up before falling back against the floor, catching his breath.

"What an idio—Leo, I'll be back, I need to yell at him," Rigby sighed, following Maria who went to go reprimand her subordinate.

Leo swallowed thickly as his chest rose and fell heavily, his throat hoarse as he groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes. He felt slightly triumphant, what with successfully showing off to some degree and staying true to his words; he was able to bench press Dwayne's weight, and then some, and took him down. Of course, he was taken down, but while he should have been able to fight him off, in his defense, he hadn't been on guard as he usually was, at all times.

But he was happy.

"Hey, kid."

He threw his arm down, eyes wide as he stared up at the smirking face of Tony Stark, the man nodding down at him appreciatively. "Listen, I don't know you, but I count you as a lovely asset to the team. That was some great stuff out there."

"You think so?" he breathed, and Tony nodded, making a face.

The man scoffed. "Of course. I have to recognize talent, I mean, if I found someone smarter than me, you know I'm gonna hire them, it's all about acknowledging people, then making sure you both benefit. Good work. I'm staying over for dinner, so I'll see you when you get there."

With that, he was gone, slinging an arm around Rhodey, the two immediately continuing their conversation, leaving Leo to lie there on the ground without any thought of getting up any time soon. He was aching and out of breath, but he was happy.

Not bad for his first day.

His eyes were unfocused, but he was able to feel a shadow block out the light, a voice following. "Not bad."

He blinked, trying to focus on the smirking, surprisedly approving face of Pietro Maximoff. "Oh. You think?"

Pietro shrugged, still standing above him. "You're small, but you showed him. You should have moved faster when you heard him shout for a third round, but I didn't say you were good. Just not bad."

Leo scoffed, laughing to himself. "Well, thanks."

There was a pause. Then, "Do you want help getting back?"

He groaned, nodding. "Yes, please."

Pietro laughed softly, reaching down and heaving Leo up, looking surprised as he lifted him—whether it was that Leo was heavier or lighter than expected, the redhead didn't know—keeping Leo steady as they headed towards the door.

"Do you not want to run with other people with you?" he asked as they trudged along, Pietro not looking as impatient about it as he expected him to.

"I don't do much running. It hurt after I was shot," he explained shortly, and Leo nodded, softening at the thought.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked, and Pietro looked surprised at his question, so he added, "I mean, physically and emotionally. Does it hurt to think about it?"

Pietro opened and closed his mouth before settling on a hum and a shrug of his shoulders. "Sometimes. I'm scared it will, so I don't think about it or run too much."

Leo nodded in understanding, helping him push the door open. "It's okay to be scared. Nothing wrong with that."

Pietro hummed, taking the opportunity to take in the smaller man again. Maybe he had misjudged him. He didn't know what he had assumed when he first saw him, but after the competition and after he spoke, maybe they could get along. He didn't count on it, but as far as second impressions went, Leo was doing pretty well. Maybe they could get along. Maybe.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 07.28.18 )

I missed writing Leo, this was a really fun chapter to write, and as you can see, I'm setting up for Office Hours, my Maria Hill fic. Also, I know nothing about wrestling, I just inferred and described  from Ethan Slater's wrestling videos.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!