When Wayne led Gwen out of the room every eye in the lounge snapped back to them.
Gwen held his hand in a tight grip, clearly nervous.
The second she felt Susan’s gaze she almost looked away.
A moment later she forced her head up and met the older woman’s eyes head-on.
“Uh~ kid, did you use that… you know… the thing…”
Tony jogged over, right index finger drawing little circles in the air.
Wayne rolled his eyes at him.
“I know exactly what you’re thinking, and it’s nothing like that.”
“Oh, I knew it.
Superman couldn’t possibly be that fast… Ahem.
Not that I’m saying you’re slow in other departments.”
Tony kept talking and the comments only got weirder, so Wayne simply stopped acknowledging him.
Susan moved to Wayne’s other side and took his free hand.
She glanced at Gwen, said nothing about the obvious tension, and smoothly changed the subject.
“Come open your presents.
Guess what I got you?”
Wayne shot her a grateful look for breaking the awkwardness.
Susan glared at the kid, annoyed.
He wouldn’t be getting any rest until she was satisfied.
If she wasn’t worried about getting knocked out right now, she would have tested right then whether this tireless brat really never ran out of stamina.
…
“Uru?
This has to be from Thor.”
“Oh~ my new suit!
Thanks, Reed!”
“A camera from Harry… and from Peter… Peter actually had money for a gift?
Oh, a game controller.”
“Hulk gave me a burger?”
Wayne kept unwrapping.
Then he opened a small box that only contained a folded note.
“Hmm?
Susan’s handwriting?”
He started reading… “Choose three out of six ways to play”…???
Wayne’s expression turned extremely strange as he quickly put the note away.
Unfortunately Gwen, standing right beside him, had already seen every word.
😶 Stare~~~
“Gwen, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Hmph.
If you want to play you don’t need to pick options with me.”
She reached into the pile and pulled back a small pink box.
Originally it held the handmade scarf she had knitted for him.
Compared to that note, the scarf suddenly felt way too tame.
She decided she would give it to him later tonight… during the bondage round.
“Is that for me?
I thought I already got the best birthday present from you.”
Wayne’s teasing made Gwen’s face go bright red.
Earlier had been an emergency situation, okay?
He stopped pushing her.
“So this gift…”
“You can’t have it yet… If you dare use X-ray vision I’ll ignore you!
No, wait, I’ll… I’ll tell my dad you’re bullying me!”
The threat carried exactly zero weight.
“Hey!
Sister-in-law!
I’m here to uphold justice for you… Sorry, brother, I’m leaving right now.”
Johnny had just walked over.
One glance from Wayne and he spun 180 degrees and walked straight back the way he came.
Susan stared at Johnny with pure speechlessness.
Everyone else just covered their faces.
It wasn’t that Johnny had done anything especially wrong; they simply couldn’t understand what the hell he thought he was doing.
This was supposed to be private time for the two of them.
One person clearly disagreed.
“I think there’s still room for one more gift.”
Everyone turned toward the voice.
A bald Black man in an eyepatch and trench coat stepped calmly out of the shadows in the corner.
“Fury?”
Pym looked genuinely surprised.
He hadn’t seen the man there a second ago.
“When did you get here?”
Nick Fury put on his best mysterious face, ready to drop something cool, when a voice murmured right in his ear.
“Crawled up through the glass Thor smashed.”
“…”
Fury shot Wayne an awkward look.
Bro, you’re killing the vibe.
His facial control was elite, though.
Within a second he was back to calm, showing zero embarrassment that his dramatic entrance had been ruined.
He pulled a small box from his coat and held it out.
“Static Camouflage Veil.
Changes your appearance and voice.
Lets you mimic a target.”
“Wow, one-eyed pirate, you’re really cheap.”
Tony couldn’t help cutting in.
“Isn’t this standard-issue for every S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent?
You’re the Director and you’re handing out mass-produced junk?”
“…”
Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D.
isn’t broke?
Do you have any idea what it means to run a tight budget?
Thick-skinned as ever, Fury stayed calm.
“I have to make sure S.H.I.E.L.D.
tech doesn’t leak… Of course, if Wayne becomes a S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent I’ll personally equip him with the absolute best gear.”
He had been eyeing the walking nuke known as Superman for a long time.
“Nick, Wayne isn’t suited to be an agent.”
Steve, who still hadn’t figured out how to recruit the kid himself, hadn’t expected Fury to try cutting in right in front of everyone.
He spoke up on instinct.
In this universe the Avengers operated independently, more like the comics version.
They didn’t belong to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Realizing he had shown too much, Steve added,
“Of course it still depends on what Wayne wants.”
It wasn’t only Steve.
Most of the room was now staring at Fury.
The motherfucker simply activated his ultimate ability, “thick skin,” and remained completely unbothered.
Wayne took the box and set it aside without much interest.
“Listen, Furry, I know why you’re here.”
“Motherfucker!
My name is Nick Fury!”
“Same difference, Furry.”
“It’s Furry… wait, no!
It’s Fury!”
“Fine, Nickelodeon.
I’ll just use your name.”
“…”
Fury’s already dark face went several shades darker.
“Anyway, I don’t plan on causing trouble.
At least not right now.
Not unless someone else decides to start something.”
Wayne kept unwrapping gifts while he spoke, voice flat.
“What can be done and what can’t be done… I figure people who spend all day scheming should already understand the difference.”
“Go back and tell him nobody’s after the chair he’s sitting in.
I’m not interested.
He doesn’t need to lose sleep over it.”
“But if any more bright ideas show up, I’ll flip his entire house upside down and make him live in the dirt.”
“I don’t want to be some Justice lord Superman.
That doesn’t mean I can’t try it on for size.”
Wayne finally looked up and met Fury’s single eye without blinking.
“Believe me.
You don’t want to see that day.”
The message was crystal clear: you stay off my bottom line and I’ll stay out of your games.
Keep plotting, I’ll keep being a superhero, everyone stays happy.
Cross the line and the one who ends up regretting it won’t be him.
No one in the room was stupid.
Several of them ranked among the smartest people on the planet.
They didn’t know the exact details, but the rare expression on Wayne’s face told them this was not something to ignore.
“Alright, Wayne.
Take a break.”
Steve stepped up and put a hand on Wayne’s shoulder.
“Leave this to us for now, okay?”
“Yeah, kid.
Go enjoy your presents.”
Tony spoke while already steering Fury off to the side.
Reed followed with a dark look on his face.
He had promised he could handle this kind of noise.
Somehow those people had still gone around him and walked straight up to Wayne.
Wayne just shrugged, completely unbothered.
Steve let out a quiet breath of relief.
The second he turned around, though, his expression turned ugly.
Wayne’s power was enormous.
Steve wanted to guide him onto the right path, but before he could even start someone had already jumped in to stir the pot.