EDDIE

It was exceptional how you can go from knowing someone as a complete outsider to then being mindlessly charmed by them, and then pondering to yourself about how you even would've ceased to exist without them in your life. I was as sure as twopence knowing that I couldn't live without Laura at that moment, however odd it was to say that I loved her more than I loved anything else altogether. It was lean to the public eye since we were anything but starcrossed but with a deeper look, it was vice versa. 

The memory of the feeling of falling in love passed in a fleeting second, abandoning me in the here and now. Far away, near the hangar which housed the technologically advanced SHIELD Quinjet, Laura stood outside the ramp and dressed in all threadbare clothes and a loose jerkin hanging limply over a shoulder. My gaze was transfixed on the movement of her lips, how it pouted lightly and I had a sudden urge to kiss it, bite it and watch that crooked smile spread past her face. I knew I was fairly far for her to not notice me yet, but I could still see every memorized divot in her lips, enough for me to map out newfound seas and beyond. 

You sound like an infatuated prick, Eddie.

'Eddie.'

I was unable to form any words on with my mouth since I was fixated on hers. I didn't realize my feet had been steadfast on their pace to reach her, leading me nearer. My words were stuck to my throat when she called out my name again, this outlook in me failing to leave my system.

'Hey,' she said, her breaths expelling from those goddamned lips once again and however succeeding to render myself speechless. 'What's wrong?'

Say something, morsel. Anything.

Hoping to save me from the embarrassment instead of a stilled response, I spoke the first words that hit my tongue. We were amidst a crew of mightiest heroes, loading up the jet for takeoff and following my instincts did not do us any good. Anyone in a miles radius with superhuman hearing would've heard it.

'I'm in love with you.'

With that demure glimpse of hers which I had never come to appreciate till then splashed over her features, coating her cheeks with a bright red. She gazed around and when the others, except Wanda, acted oblivious to her glances, finally setting her eyes back on mine with a harsh nip of her lips. 

You're the biggest pussy ever.

'Fuck off, V,' I murmured under my breath, leaning my head to a side quickly. 'Just shut up for a while, please?'

Laura, flustered with attention, turned crimson in a second. It was odd to see a blushing Laur since she would be the one to roll her eyes and come up with a response which would most likely make me A, stupid speechless or B, kiss her breathless anyway.

I followed her in like a sly loon in a daze, a smirk evident on my lips at her rattled reaction as she joined Vision and Banner at the front, who was piloting the aircraft. She was thinking of me and I knew it. Just that strands o her hair that cascaded past her shoulders and densely down her back, hugging the shape  - 

'Seriously, man, you're gonna creep her and me out.'

 At that instant, I wanted to punch Tony Stark's face black and blue. That was my to-be wife I was admiring, was that not mentioned in the laws of nature? I was accountable for the lack of attention but seriously, the face of that genius deserved a clocking. 

My teeth audibly ground together, a sneer etched on my face as I growled out my words. 'Suck a dick, Stark.'

'Easy, Buster. Channel the anger on the foe and not the friend.'

'Who's who, now?' I scoffed and he fought off a grin, patting my shoulder indifferently.

'We might need you on the team,' he mused. 'You'd be a great addition.'

'The Avengers,' I nodded. 'You want me in?'

'No shit Sherlock,' he murmured as if trying to conduct a verbal spar. He shrugged and continued when I did not respond. 'I mean, we disbanded but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on the Terran defense of this planet.'

'How will it profit me?'

'Lethal Protector seems a bit shady, doesn't it?' Tony mused, leaning his back onto a small holographic table near the cockpit. I looked past his shoulders to see Laura, in a concentrated conversation with Carol as she pointed to the different controls around the pit. 'I could authorize your permit to serve the city. Make your actions legal.'

'So if I came to your beck and call,' I framed his sentences in simple terms, 'you'd let me play superhero under your watch?'

'Precisely,' he clapped his hand once to make a statement. 'As simple as that. We can work out the specifics later if you want but this is the crux.'

'I have to talk to Laura,' I said in absolution. 'Since family planning is out, I might as well take your word for it.'

'Your offer still stands, then?'

'It's the wife's call,' I said, surrendering my state to Laura's ultimate word. 'But I'll keep you posted.'

'You got the implants, Stark?' Carol charged out from behind us, reaching us in a few long strides. She was suited-up in her signature red, blue and gold leather suit with seemed to glint every time the littlest of light from outside the Quinjet reflected on it. Caught in a trance at the gold that interacted like molecules, I didn't hear Tony lean over the desk to retrieve a metal case that looked way too sketchy to be on board. 

'Relax, McGrabby,' he mused at my widened eyes. 'Just a little incision will do.'

'What's it for?'

'You and your lady friend can't summon your symbiotes when the Skull-things on retreat so this one will fight out the frequencies. All ow you to phase,' he drawled, clicking the case open. The sides of the box were illuminated in a deep blue and two lonely integrated chips resting over the grey styrofoam. He smacked my wrist when I reached to feel it, making me growl.

'Hey!'

'You'll contaminate it,' he bit out. 'Banner, care to give me a hand?'

From where I stood, Banner had snapped his gaze to us from the co-pilot seat as he was reaching to flick a switch overhead. His brown gaze focused on me, quickly shooting me a nod and joining us at the table. Banner had returned back to San Fran in the last minutes of our prep time, quickly plummeting back into the lab with Stark and concocting another mechanical miracle. Apparently this time it was fairly easy since Laura's 'death-resistant chips' were modified to create the new ones.

'I'll get to the other one,' he helped out and mentioning Beck, grabbing a scalpel from a corner in the casing I didn't realize. Simultaneously, he lifted the shiny metallic gun with too many extra fittings of a normal disk gun and clipped the chip in with his bare hands. I tossed Stark a deadpan.

'What? He's a clean guy.'

We took a bath today. 

Typical. Tony made me sit on the nearby line of seats, that dangled out buckles and snaps for official purposes, Laura, curious about what we were up to, walked across the jet to join my side and not meeting my eyes. So the effect still persisted.

'Hey, sweetcheeks, get the gun for me will you?'

'You're awfully demanding today, Tony,' she grumbled under her breath, seizing the gun from his hand. Tony had a smirk pulled on as he positioned the scalpel right over the skin on my neck, stretching the skin apart.

'Try not to heal,' he murmured as I felt the sharp prick on the needle cut through my skin and the pain starting to build in fervor as the needle moved deeper in my skin. 

'Careful,' Laura said, hissing as she clamped a palm over his broad shoulder tightly to peer in herself. My eyes zeroed on her hold, something green building up in my stomach. Her fingers tightened with every scrunch of my face, and my jealousy building up in bricks.

'Right there - yep, the trigger. No - no - a bit to the left. That's it: shoot.'

'Ow!' I yelped out of my stupor, grabbing the side of my neck and standing up straight as I felt the metal settle under my skin between the flesh. Laura stood frozen on spot, the chipping chip gun still in her grasp and Tony rolled his eyes in all aridity, turning to see how Banner was doing with his victim. Beck had a solidified expression on her face as the doctor shot the chip in between her neck, not even flinching the slightest. Her usual dewy eyes were set to boredom, smiling up at Banner when he droned out that he was done. I was eager to see her symbiote in action, Scream as she referred to it, and I theorized it resembling Laura's. 

Speaking of, she seated near me and her breaths starting to get shallow. Her arms looped around mine gently, facing me with a smile.

'You ready, hubs?'

'Oh my god,' I laughed at the stupid nickname. 'Never label me again.'

'You get to call me, wifey. It's only fair I have my own,' she retorted, contorting her face into faux anger. I was so glad we were past the sexual tension phase and back to square one.

'You can do so much better,' I murmured out. 'But stick to my name for a while.'

'Okay,' she chuckled out. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, then spoke up again. 'So, I was thinking . . . '

'That's not good. World domination or something?'

'It's serious,' she sighed. Running a stressed hand through her locks, she chewed the inside of her cheeks in an anxious gesture. Presumably unscrambling the multiple words till they fell into place. 'Maybe we could just skip the whole walking-down-the-aisle procession.'

'...Really?' 

'Yeah,' she mumbled, looking down at her feet. I used a finger to bring her gaze back on mine and saw nothing but the truth and no second thoughts. 'We could get the certificate; legal stuff and whatever. And then, vacay time?'

'So, no nuptial funds?'

'I do have funds, Eddie,' she rolled her eyes. 'I'd rather spend it on the honeymoon than a dress I'm going to wear once.'

'Is it just me or did everything you just said make sense?' I half-laughed, dropping my hands back on my lap. I would have loved to see Laura in a wedding dress, watch a thousand jaws drop as she walked down the aisle. 

'Not even a private event?' I tried bargaining. 'Maybe call in a few close members.'

'I don't even have a father to perform the rituals,' she grumbled, her lips jutting out slightly. 'Well, to be honest, I never bothered to search for him.'

'Laur,' I drawled, placing a hand over her thigh and feeling the coolness pulse through. 'This is a big deal - '

'I know, I know,' she breathed out, rubbing at her temples. 'It's all just overwhelming. I don't know if it is all feasible with what's happened and what will.'

'I think it's the nerves,' I offered. Raising my brows, I said, 'Cold feet?'

'Oh no, they're toasty warm,' she denied instantly, settling me back to calmness. 'It must be the nerves.'

'No rushing, Laur,' I tried to console her. 'We can still talk about this after.'

'Yes, we can. So don't die on me,' she narrowed her eyes. 'I'm dragging your ass back from hell if I have to.'

'Like hell, you - wait, hell?'

'Heaven's a no-go, especially for you. You've sinned too much,' she leaned closed, brushing her lips against mine softly, fitting it to hover over my ears. 'If you know what I mean.'

A sudden rattling voice tore us apart and making us round our heads to the cockpit behind me. I watched as Banner and Vision comfy themselves on their seats, clicking buttons into motion and the entrance latch behind us sealing close.

'Bird readied for motion,' an involuntary Banner voice informed. 'Alright, hang tight folks.'

♣

WILL BE CONTINUED SOON DUE TO PRIOR COMMITMENT. MANY APOLOGIES.

FEEL FREE TO BROWSE THROUGH MY OTHER WORKS WHILE THIS IS BEING CRAFTED FOR YOU. YOU CAN EVEN ADD THIS TO YOUR LIBRARY TO RECEIVE UPDATES WHICH WILL BE SOONER IN THE FUTURE!

THANK YOU! 

LAURA AND EDDIE WILL BE BACK AND APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE.