Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Living at home had a lengthy list of pros and cons that you never had the time to sort through. Between working at a dead end job as an IT technician for a multi-billion dollar company and your hobby as a hacker, you never had a lot of interaction with people outside your work and home life. You figured that living at home made sense when you barely made enough money to pay your bills on time, adding rent would just cause more problems. Your mother, Lisa, was a kind woman, allowing their living situation to feel more akin to that of roommates. Her rationale was that you were an adult, and she didn’t need to constantly ask you where you would be going or when you would return. You both easily fell into your own routines and Lisa was content living with her son as you were there to help her maintain the house.

You loved taking care of the garden out back, and when the weather wasn’t working against you, there would be dense patches of flowers and herbs growing all around the backyard. Despite spending hours outside, you only knew one of your neighbors well, as the one in the light blue house still remained a mystery to you. The only thing you could say about the neighbors who lived in that house was that they had a little girl occasionally visiting, and she often complimented you about your garden. Taking pride in your work, you always handed the girl a small bundle of flowers whenever she was playing outside.

It was a lazy Sunday when there was a quiet knock on your door. you groaned in response, which your mother took as an okay to open the door. She began speaking about the neighbor in that light blue house and how she needed you to go get some groceries for him.

“Why don’t they go? The car hasn’t moved from their driveway in weeks, I’ll jump it if it’s dead.”

“I can’t believe you, he’s been under house arrest for the past 2 months. He’s stuck there for at least 10 more months. I told you that we’re going to be helping him out by running errands for him. Did you forget already?” Lisa chided you for forgetting as she had reminded you about this repeatedly over the last week.

“Fine, I’ll go. Just give me a minute to change and I’ll walk over there.” you groaned and pushed yourself up from the bed. Your knees popped and your back cracked loudly, which showed you that you really needed to get up more. After getting out of yesterday’s work clothes, you rubbed your face against the shirt before running a hand through your hair.

When you were finished getting ready, you could hear your mother tapping her foot on the tiled floor at the entryway of the house. She must’ve told the neighbor a specific time, so you hurried down the stairs to meet her. Lisa handed you a notepad and pen before pushing you out the front door. There wasn’t a list, which meant you’d have to ask the neighbor what they wanted you to buy.

In the morning sun, you watched the house for any signs of life. You knew your mom wouldn’t be rushing you over here if the neighbor was still sleeping, so with a tentative knock on the door, you hoped this would be a painless process.

When the door opened, you saw a man standing there in an open bathrobe, boxers, and a look of sheer bewilderment over why someone was knocking on his door.

“Hi neighbor, I’m (y/n). Lisa, my mom, sent me to help run some errands for you?” Your eyes went immediately to the man’s boxers and you didn’t hear what the man was saying. There were scars that were barely visible on his chest and abdomen, clearly faded over time. But some of them were recent, as the healing skin looked different than the rest. A treasure trail kept your focus lower than it should be for a first introduction.

“Did you get all that?” you snapped out of blatantly ogling the man and realized he was discussing what items he needed.

“No. I don’t think I’d be able to remember all that, could you repeat it? I’ll be sure to make a list.”

You fully expected the other man to be frustrated by having to repeat himself, but he just laughed.

“I said, ‘here’s the list of stuff I need. If it’s not in stock, off brands are acceptable. I just need the coffee to be that brand, but the rest is flexible.’” The man had a small smirk on his face, which caused your face to burn a bright red. “I don’t got a cell phone as part of the house arrest, so if there’s anything you have trouble finding, just get what you can and I’ll survive.”

“Got it. I’ll be back soon.” you grabbed the list, and quickly made your retreat back to your house to grab your keys and wallet.

------

After an hour and a half, you parked in the driveway to your house and sighed. You have been going over the interaction while shopping the entire time and mentally kicking yourself over your foolish behavior. It was just a quick crush, and you would be over it later this week.

Stepping out of the car, you popped open the trunk, grabbed the bags and walked over to the neighbor’s house. You knew that this sudden infatuation was causing you problems, but you quickly realized after replaying the conversation a dozen times in your mind that the topic of payment never came up. you just paid for the groceries yourself and would ask about it after dropping off the items.

You shifted a few bags to the other hand so you could ring the doorbell again. However, this time nobody answered the door. You knew that some of the groceries he requested needed to get into a freezer here soon, so you tried the door handle. Seeing that the door was unlocked, you opened it and called for the man once he was inside.

“Sorry to intrude. I am dropping off the groceries you asked for.” You called into the seemingly empty house. You walked towards what you assumed was the kitchen, and found yourself surprised at how quiet the house was. For a man on house arrest, you were worried when there was no response to your calls and the fact the front door was unlocked didn’t feel right in your gut.

After putting the groceries away, you called out for the man again to no response. This caused you to begin searching the house in hopes of finding the man somewhere. Walking upstairs and opening one of the shut doors, you were astonished to find the man asleep in a bathtub, his ankle wrapped in plastic and leg dangling outside the tub. You were stunned and unable to stop from staring at the sight before you. If the man donned in just a pair of boxers and a bathrobe was already crush worthy, the sight before him sealed your fate.

“It’s rude to stare ya’know?”

Chapter Text

After making an absolute fool out of yourself the week before, your mother gently reminded you to stop by the neighbor’s house again. You agreed to do it later this morning, as you woke up early on a Saturday morning to water the garden out back. After spending an hour watering the extensive plot of flowers and various herbs, you rinsed off your hands and made your way out to the front yard and over towards Scott's house.

As you stood at the front door of the blue house, the memory of the previous weekend came crashing back - causing you to hesitate on actually knocking on the door. When the door opened, you found Scott smirking at you holding out your fist to knock.

“From the looks of it, you’d be there for another hour if I didn’t open the door.” The man said with a slight chuckle, he took a step back and allowed you inside. “I don’t need much this week, but I can use your help when you get back, I can’t take the trash cans out to the curb, and I have some other things I could use a strapping man like yourself to help me with.”

You just nodded and took the offered list, still nervous from the previous encounter with Scott. On the way back to your driveway, you reviewed the list and stopped dead in your tracks. At the bottom of the list, there was a note from the man on house arrest.

Thanks for doing all this. I hope the show was worthwhile.

You continued walking towards your car, feeling the neighbor’s eyes on you the entire way. When you got into your car and left towards the store, the warm feeling lasted until you returned to your house. Seeing your mother smiling and waving from the swing on the front porch caused that nice, warm feeling to turn to worry. The neighbor was nice, and the note seemed to indicate some sort of interest, but having your mother and the man you were crushing on speaking for who knows how long made you panic a little.

------

While at the grocery store, you were able to grab all the items from the list without too much trouble. Scott had laid out which brands he preferred the first time you got him groceries so these trips were oddly enjoyable. Shopping for yourself has always been a chore, deciding on what you wanted to bring for lunch was a tough decision. You found it easier to just pick new things each time you went shopping so you could later choose your favorites. You knew the ready-to-go frozen meals were always available as a backup, you knew that a home cooked meal would be your first choice. Which meant that you used to spend a full day getting meals prepped for your work lunches.

You walked through the aisles of the store grabbing the items from the list and checking them off as you went. However, you were too focused on going through the list as quickly as possible you hadn’t heard your name being called.

“Hello?? Have you been ignoring me?” A young voice called from in front of you, snapping out of your own mind.

“I’m sorry, I guess I got too into getting my groceries.” You apologized before you realized who stopped you. It was the girl - Cassie - from next door, with an older woman.

“Cassie, who are you talking to? Do you know this man?”

“Yes mom! He’s the one who gave me the flowers - the nice man next door.”

“Ah, yes. I hear you’ve been taking care of my layabout ex-husband Scott.” The words and the beautiful woman before you caused you to stumble back. She was Scott’s ex-wife? You felt severely inadequate compared to this woman. You couldn’t believe that Scott was married to someone who looked like her, and you knew that no matter what you did, nothing could compare to her.

“I wouldn’t call him a layabout. He’s kinda stuck at the moment, so there’s not much he can be doing at this moment. My mom says he has co-workers drop by every few days.”

“Yeah, that business of his is not doing too well. It’s hard to meet clients at the office when you can’t leave your house.” Cassie pulled the sleeve of her mother’s coat, and pointed towards the frozen pizzas.

“Let’s get those for dinner? Daddy would get me pizza for dinner.” With that, the woman gave you a kind smile before letting her daughter drag her towards the frozen pizzas. You quickly finished your shopping and left before you could run into them again.

------

Grabbing the bags of groceries out of the trunk of your car, you walked over hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation. Once you mother saw you approaching, she waved you over with such enthusiasm that you felt like a child again. Anytime your mother tried to help you make friends, or set you up on a ‘blind’ date it always ended up with you feeling embarrassed. Granted, the feeling had subsided over the years, but this was due to the fact you were an adult and could make your own decisions.

“There you are! The store must’ve been busy if it took you that long.” The gentle teasing smile on your mother’s face, combined with the look Scott was giving you fully explained how the two got along so well. Scott was obviously a father, with the young girl you saw in the backyard being his daughter, so naturally parents - regardless of age - had stories to tell about raising their children.

“Don’t be so hard on him. I gave him quite a long list, and he’s been a great help to me.” Scott’s voice had you blushing, but nothing could’ve prepared you for what he said next, “You’ve clearly raised a charmer, my daughter Cassie couldn’t stop talking about the kind neighbor who gave her flowers. I wonder what kind of ladykiller this guy was in the past, I’m sure he’s left a trail of broken hearts wherever he goes.”

All of this attention was causing your face to heat up, which both Scott and your mother got a hearty laugh out of. Seeing as your mother had just stopped by to have a quick chat, she excused herself and told her to behave while in Scott’s house.

“You’re just going to break her heart when she finds out what you’ve been doing over here, with a convicted criminal no less.”

“Bold assumption - thinking that my own mother doesn’t know that I’m clearly not interested in women. She’s been aware of my sexuality for years at this point, but I wonder how she’ll react when I tell her that you’ve been making passes at me.”

Scott broke into a deep laugh that caused your heart to skip a beat, as everything this man was doing caused your crush to deepen. Slipping past the man as he stood in the front entryway, you stated the groceries needed to be put away before they melt.

“Sure kid, you just go ahead and make yourself at home.” Scott shut the door and watched while you put every item you bought where it belonged. “You already know where I keep everything? I guess I was in the bath longer than I thought.”

You froze at the mention of the bathtub, knowing full well that Scott watched you read that note on the grocery list. This was just harmless fun right, you knew it was a crush and Scott was previously married - a family man at that. You knew nothing would happen, the other man was just poking fun at the embarrassing situation that was all.

“Other than the trash cans, you said you needed a hand around the house? I’ll go take the cans to the curb, I’ll be back in a moment.” You disappeared out the back door to escape the overly hot kitchen.

After a few minutes, you returned to find Scott sitting on the counter waiting for you. The ankle monitor was blinking a steady green light, which indicated that Scott was within the parameters allowed by the court order. You knew vaguely why the man was on house arrest, but the exact details were unknown.

“Since you probably know about me than I care to find out due to my mom, I gotta ask, what happened to get you stuck on house arrest?”

“She didn’t tell you? I was the Ant-Man.”

Chapter Text

You stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, trying to process what you just heard. The neighbor who has been flirting with you just said that he’s Ant-Man, like the superhero you saw on the news grow to be over 70’ tall in an airport in Germany. You started laughing so hard you almost fell over, this would be the first time you really laughed in a long while. Most of the other times were halfhearted chuckles, but not this time. Your lungs started hurting as you continued laughing and once Scott huffed for the third time, you started calming down. You were still out of breath, but Scott didn’t seem to pleased with your reaction.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh like that. You should really go into comedy, as you could make a killing with that one joke.”

Scott’s frown made him look like he was much older than he seemed. You could guess that he would have to be in his mid to late 30s given that he was married and has a kid that’s about 6-7 at this point. But when he frowned, the man looked like he was older, and the rugged charm that he carried so well, deflated into a grumpy demeanor.

“It’s not a joke. I really am the Ant-Man.” Scott paused, trying to find something to prove to you that he was telling the truth. He quickly realized that all his evidence was confiscated when he turned himself in and submitted to being put on house arrest. The suit, the cell phone with pictures he took of the other heroes, even the ants who helped him when he was training, all of it was seized as part of the deal that allowed him to remain in the comforts of his home. “I just don’t have anything to prove I’m the Ant-Man.”

You could see the change in Scott’s normally sunny disposition due to his inability to prove his claims as true. While you didn’t mean to laugh at his declaration, you felt bad that he was clearly upset by you not believing in him.

“If you say you’re the Ant-Man, then I’ll take your word for it. Nobody’s seen him since the incident in Germany anyway, so there’s no way to prove that you are or aren’t a superhero.”

“Thanks, I’ll prove it to you, I just don’t know how at this exact moment.” He seemed to be returning to his normal self, but you decided to believe in Scott and keep the secret to yourself. After all, even if it was a joke, if word got around, something could happen. If someone heard that Ant-Man was on house arrest, they could decide he’s an easy target.

“I’ll take your word for that. But, with or without proof, I’ll believe you Scott.” You decided to leave out the part where you had a crush on Ant-Man as this could easily turn into a situation. “I’m sorry for laughing, what did you need my help with?”

Scott grabbed your wrist and took you up a spiral flight of stairs that led to the second floor of the house. He opened a door across from the bathroom and pointed you at the laptop currently showing the infamous blue screen of death.

“I’m about ready to drop this thing out of the window. I’ve tried everything that I could think of but I haven’t had any luck.” You were about to tell him to relax but the sight of a laptop had you confused. Scott was supposed to be without communication to the outside word, as his cell phone was taken and he wasn’t allowed to contact outside of his family and neighbors. They couldn’t stop word of mouth, but you weren’t sure if the police or FBI were actively monitoring internet usage for the neighborhood. This caused you to panic a bit, as surely they must be watching the internet usage to see if Scott tries to reach out to someone he shouldn’t, but you were a visitor, so the natural conclusion you came up with is they must be watching your internet and cell phone for any suspicious activity.

“Hello? (Y/n) are you still with me?” Scott waved a hand in front of your face to get your attention. You realized that nothing happened in the week since you first visited Scott so things must be fine.

“Yeah, sorry. I left my body when seeing a laptop in this state.” You grabbed the hot computer off the pillow, and set it down onto the cooler tabletop. “If you’re going to use the laptop with a pillow underneath, you should make sure it’s not directly contacting the pillow.”

Scott stood there in silence, letting you work on the laptop and getting it back into an operational state. You noticed some tracking software installed onto the computer that Scott clearly wasn’t aware of. Apparently whoever was watching him was doing a horrible job at it. The keystroke tracker was a bit harder to remove, but the computer itself was alive and doing much better than when Scott used it this morning.

“You know that you’ve been spied on through this laptop right?” You stated calmly resetting the laptop one final time, “Whoever has you stuck under house arrest did a bad job at hiding their programs. I’m not saying the laptop is bug free, but it should run faster and smoother.”

“My hero!” The sarcasm in Scott’s voice was different, but nothing you took offense to. “I couldn’t get it to restart for anything and it took you, what, 10 minutes to get it up and running? I could use someone with your skill set at my company.”

You chuckled, working with Scott would be disastrous given how often you found yourself staring at the man’s chest, waist or face. If you had to work with Scott and other people, they would surely catch on that you have a thing for the boss.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not sure I’m as skilled as you say I am.” It was easier to trash talk your own skills than admit to the real reason you didn’t want the job. Working with Scott would be torture, with the crush turning into more of a deeper desire, you felt it would be best to keep it separate from work.

“Don’t sell yourself short, you’ve already proven yourself to be intelligent and a great problem solver.”

“Thanks, but I already have a job. I should be going soon though - doesn’t Cassie stay over this weekend. I would hate to intrude on your family time.” It was a dumb and heartless way of getting yourself out of this situation before you said anything worse. You kept telling yourself that Scott wasn’t flirting, that he was just being nice and anyone showing you any kind of attention wasn’t a sign they were interested in you.

“The offer isn’t going anywhere.” Scott paused, and took a step closer, “You wear your emotions on your sleeve, and I already said it. You need I stop selling yourself short.” He grabbed something out of his pocket and placed it in your hand before he left the room. The feel of money was unmistakable, so you slowly walked out of the room, and left Scott’s house just as Cassie and her mom walked up. You weren’t sure what exactly they said, but you got a distinct feeling you promised Cassie some flowers tomorrow morning.

Once you were home and in your room, you threw the money into a coffee can, and flopped onto your bed. Rolling over, you saw a piece of paper sticking out of the money you threw into the pile with the rest of the money Scott gave you for his groceries.

You got off your bed and pulled out the paper.

I want you to know that you’re always welcome over here. I wasn’t just asking for help when I said I could use someone with your skill sets or that I needed a strapping man like you.

If your life wasn’t complicated enough, flirting with Scott ‘Ant-Man’ Lang and having the feeling reciprocated was sure to complicate things. The warm feeling in your chest - the sign that you first had a crush on your neighbor when you met him - was slowly turning into a blazing inferno after reading that note. You logged onto your computer, stopping the downloads and making sure that your VPN connection was still setting your connection somewhere in France, you hopped onto your email. On the first entry, you saw an email from what appeared to be Scott’s business email.

I don’t have a way of reaching you outside of this. I’ll send you the paperwork for you to accept the position as the head of IT for my company later.

I won’t take no for an answer, I need someone like you to help me with my computer and those at the office. I’ll send you the directions shortly.

I’m really doing this so I can talk to you while you’re away at work or when I have Cassie over. And because I’m sure the office has just as many if not more bugs than the ones you found on my computer.

— Scott

P.S. I take baths frequently due to this ankle monitor if you ever wanna stop by again

Chapter Text

You spent a few hours reading and rereading Scott’s email and contract. The pay was surprisingly good compared to what you were expecting. After hearing that the company wasn’t doing too well with Scott being cooped up on his house, it didn’t seem reasonable that you should be getting paid that much. You decided to talk to Scott about this in person, it was a bit much all at once to decide that evening. Despite your crush lasting longer than a week, you figured it would eventually disappear or fade whenever you found someone else that caught your interest.

As you got up from your bed, you put the note with the grocery lists that you kept and moved them into a drawer so your mother wouldn’t easily find them. While she may be accepting of your sexuality, you didn’t want to have the conversation that you were dating your ex-con neighbor. While you were putting away the notes, you figured it would be beneficial to clean your room a bit, not like anyone would be coming over to visit, but it needed to be tidied up. You put on your favorite music, grabbed all the clothing off the floor and got to work separating them into piles. When the last item of clothing was sorted, you could tell the room looked better and within a few hours, your room looked decent. There were still piles of mail and some random electronic components strewn about, but everything was at least off the floor.

You had decided to relax for the rest of the evening and gathered what clean clothes remained, your phone, and a waterproof speaker and headed to the bathroom. On the way out, you turned off the lights and music, making sure that there was nothing incriminating that you wouldn’t want your mom finding.

The bathroom itself was pretty standard and in between two linen closets down the hallway. You opened the door and dropped all the items onto the counter while you started the tap for a relaxing bath. Ten minutes later and you were relaxing to some gentle music, reading something on your phone which you carefully held as to not drop it in the water, and enjoyed a moment of peace. Your normal day job wasn’t stressful by any means, nor was helping Scott out on the weekends, but you did feel like the hot water helped relieve you of all the stress you carried with you unknowingly.

You seriously considered quitting the dead end IT job to go work for Scott. You knew your manager didn’t like you, and the colleagues you helped were always rude and demanding. Everything seemed to be in favor of you quitting and working for Scott, despite the few reservations you had about working with Scott more regularly. As you thought about the offer, the biggest issue was stability. As you knew in this multi billion dollar company would be very unlikely to go under, it did provide some job security. However, moving over to the job with Scott, a new and emery company, there was a better chance things would not work out. You knew that even if you put it off, Scott would find some reason to have you help out inside his home, and the conversation about this job would come up. You hoped he didn’t mention it to your mom, as she would likely pressure you into helping out and work for the “underdog” company.

After spending an hour in the bath, you decided it was time to get out and head to bed. You still weren’t sure what the next step was or if you’ve even made up your mind, but you could at least visit Scott tomorrow and talk it out. You stood up from the tub, toweled off, and then put on the clean clothes and walked back to your room. Throwing the dirty clothes into the hamper by the door, you plugged in your phone to charge and laid down to sleep.

At the sound of your alarm going off at 7am, you begrudgingly got out of bed and walked to the kitchen. You made yourself a quick breakfast of leftover pizza and told your mom you’ll be over at Scott’s helping out again. She wished you off and told you to mind your manners before going back to whatever she was doing before you woke up. You figured it was either scrap-booking or knitting, which meant she would be doing it for a few more hours which gave you some time to talk to Scott without worrying about her coming over.

As you stood on the front door, you were reminded of the first day you visited for the grocery run, and you reached out to knock on the door. Scott didn’t answer, so you tried the handle and found it unlocked. This surely was a set up for catching him in the bath again, but seeing as it was 7am, you weren’t even sure if Scott would be awake by now.

“Scott?” You called out in the quiet house, when you didn’t hear anything, you walked up the stairs to the bathroom. Much to your surprise, you didn’t find Scott asleep in the tub, and it didn’t seem like anybody was home. You walked over to what you assumed was the master bedroom, and found Scott asleep, dead to the world around him. Seeing him on the bed caused your heart to race, and you wanted to crawl into bed next to him. Taking a deep breath, you walked closer to the bed, and soon found yourself pinned to the floor, with Scott looming over you with a hand around your throat.

“What are you doing in my house (y/n)? I was going to ruin that pretty face of yours.” You realized he had a bat in the other hand, and he was holding it in a way that clearly showed he was going to bash your face in.

“Your front door was unlocked, I thought you would be waiting in the bathtub again, but I didn’t see you. I got worried and wanted to make sure you were okay when you didn’t reply to me.” Your voice was a bit raspy, as Scott’s hand still was wrapped around your throat. The part of your throat where his hand touched burned, nothing painful, but the touch lingered and you weren’t sure if you enjoyed having him dominate and control you, but the idea didn’t repulse you either.

“Oh, I forget to lock it every now and then. Sorry for pinning you to the floor, but I think we both enjoyed it somewhat.” He looked down between you, and his cock was pressing against his boxers, a result of his morning wood and the intimate position you two were in. Your cock was also hard, as you had Scott on top of you, hand around your throat and a dangerous look in his eye. Something about that danger lured you in, it was clear that Scott had taken the whole ‘Ant-Man’ job seriously and there was a small part that looked like he enjoyed it.

“It’s fine, I would’ve hit first and ask questions later, so thank you for recognizing me before you hit me with that bat.” The comment about your enjoyment filled your face with a bright red color, which was also due to Scott’s hand being around your throat for a few seconds too long.

“You look cute when you’re embarrassed, kinda enjoy that you still blush around me, it makes me feel like I’m not hopeless at flirting like Hope says I am.” You flinched at the name Hope. She wasn’t his ex-wife and the name immediately filled you with jealousy. This wasn’t normal for you, as while you had this crush, you never thought anything would come of it. Within a few seconds, you grabbed Scott’s shirt and pulled him down into a brief kiss.

The kiss lasted a few seconds, as Scott dropped the bat due to his surprise over the kiss, and missed Scott’s head entirely, just clipped your temple hard. The pain was intense and you recoiled immediately and grabbed your head with the one hand you managed to wrangle free from under Scott’s thighs where he pinned you down.

“I’m so sorry! Let me go get some frozen peas to put on it.” Scott left you in a flash and you eventually got up onto his bed. Your head was throbbing and the room was too much to look at. You closed your eyes and laid back on his bed, wishing the beating drum would stop. Eventually it did, but you heard Scott screaming your name and calling someone for help. You slowly sank into the warmth of Scott’s bed, wondering how he had a phone to call for help and who would he even call.

The monotonous sound of beeping woke you up, and you opened your eyes to a pale green room that was too bright and too loud. You groaned and closed your eyes before realizing that you weren’t alone in the room. A man with an eye patch over his right eye sat on the only plastic chair in the room and stared at you intensely.

“My name is Fury, and I need you to answer some questions about when Scott assaulted you.” You couldn’t believe the words you were hearing: Scott, assault, questions? None of what this man was saying made sense.

“Assault?”

“Yes. Scott Lang admitted to pinning you down, nearly choking you until you were red in the face, and hitting you on the head with a bat. Do you remember any of that happening?”

You nodded, the memories of the morning came flooding back and you remembered the kiss. Despite the cold room, your face began heating up and you realized that Scott probably said the wrong things in panic.

As you tried controlling the blush across your face, you explained to this Fury what happened. The unlocked door, feeling concerned that it was open but Scott wasn’t responding to you, and the whole bedroom incident.

“An accident? You expect me to believe that you kissed the Ant-Man and he dropped a bat that hit your temple on accident? You’re lucky to be alive, if it hit any harder or just slightly lower, you’d be dead. The amount of blood we found at the scene had me thinking you were already dead.”

The words didn’t make sense to you, but you kept trying to assure this man that Scott would never hurt you. However, you weren’t prepared for what Fury said next.

“Scott Lang - the Ant-Man - is a wanted criminal in several countries, do you really want to associate yourself with someone like that? He’s killed people before, and he’ll likely do it again.”

You couldn’t believe it - you wouldn’t believe it. Even if what this man was saying is true, you knew what Scott was like.

“Scott couldn’t hurt me if even if he wanted to. He’s not like how you talk about him at all. He’s a father who loves his daughter and this whole thing was my fault. So if he’s going to be arrested, then you might as well take me as well. I broke into his house and he was just protecting himself.” At your feeble attempt to lie and cover Scott with the ‘he was protecting himself from me’ speech, Fury just broke into a deep laugh.

“For a hacker of your caliber, that was the dumbest excuse I’ve ever heard. I’ll let it go since you did suffer a major injury to your head, but know that the Avengers noticed your involvement with Scott since before you stared at his junk in the tub.”

Sometimes, especially at moments like this one, you wished Scott would’ve just bashed your face in with that bat. It would be less embarrassing than having the director of the Avengers comment on your ogling of Scott’s package.

“Send him in. I’ve embarrassed this one enough for today.” Fury called out to whoever was waiting outside the door.

“Just let me in alr-” Scott was arguing with the guard, who you thought looked familiar, but when the door opened, the hero fell flat on his face.

“Nice landing.” Fury laughed as he left the hospital room, leaving you alone with Scott.

“Fuck off Fury!” Scott exclaimed, as he stood up off the floor. He was covered in dried blood - your blood, you quickly realized - and walked over to you. You watched him approach like you were made of fragile glass, that if he breathed too hard you would shatter.

“I’m so-” He tried to speak, but you held up your hand.

“I need to say this first. I’m sorry for kissing you. It was rude and I should’ve asked first because I don’t even know if you like dudes or even me. If you want to take back the job offer, I totally understand and wouldn’t blame you. I’ll continue bringing you groceries and I can drop them off on the porch if you never want to see me again I understand. You’re the fucking Ant-Man for fucks sake and I’m just a human who can’t take a blow to the head without basically dying. You don’t need someone like me around when you have to go off and save the world, I’ve read the Superman comics, I’d be used as your weakness if the villains knew of your feelings for me.” You were crying and it hurt for hundreds of reasons, but the biggest one was you knew this crush wasn’t a crush and you were purposefully breaking your heart to save Scott from doing it to you. “I am sorry I bled out all over you and your room, I’ll pay to have it cleaned before Cassie visits. I’ll go back to being the neighbor who just gives Cassie flowers and you don’t have to talk to me or make eye contact. Are you going to say anything? Please say something so I can shut up.”

“Shit, you’re cute even when you’re crying.” Scott said with a smirk on his face. “I guess I should get used to saving your ass then, because I don’t want none of that to happen.”

You sat there dumbfounded and unable to believe what you just heard. Panic continued to bubble up, you didn’t want to bring Scott down in a fight, if it came to you or someone else, you didn’t want to have to live knowing that Scott picked you to save because of his feelings to you. None of this made sense, and the reality of Scott Lang being the Ant-Man came crashing down on you like a waterfall. It was too much to bear, and you could hear the beeps of the machines start to pick up. Your anxiety was sending you spiraling again and despite years of therapy, none of the tactics to help avoid a panic attack were coming to mind. Your breathing got shallow and each breath felt like you were breathing molasses, you started sweating and losing focus to the room around you, and you could only worry about what Scott was thinking of you right then. You were sure he left because you couldn’t hear anything beyond your heart beating loudly in your ears.

When you felt arms wrap around you, you flinched but it felt like you were thrashing about in an ocean. Everything was heightened and dulled at the same time, confusing you even more. The roaring of the ocean transitioned into Scott making shushing sounds gently behind you, the rocking of the waves, just Scott holding you tightly and rocking you in rhythm to the sounds. He kissed your neck a few times when you were finally calm and grounded.

“How?”

“Years of being a father. Cassie would have night terrors after the incident when I fought Darren Cross in her bedroom.” Scott spoke in hushed whispers, just rocking you back and forth and kept pushing your hair back from your face. “Don’t speak for a bit and let me do all the talking for a change okay?”

“Okay, I can just listen for now.”

“All that business about you being my Lois Lane and my Kryptonite is bunk. You’re much better looking than Lois and based on how close we are now, I’m pretty sure the rules of Superman don’t apply here.” Scott pressed a small kiss to your cheek, before manhandling you so that the two of you were facing each other. You were sitting in Scott’s lap, with your legs wrapped around his waist, and his hands holding yours tightly.

“I don’t know what I am - bi, gay, straight - none of those labels matter to me. I just fall in love with people, and I happened to fall for you. The last thing I need is to have you suddenly gone from my life, as I care about you too much to let you go without seeing what happens. (Y/n), I can’t say that I love you, but I also can’t say that I don’t see myself not loving you. What I am trying to say, is will you date me knowing who I am?”

You weren’t sure what to say, but the fact you could feel tears running down your face meant you knew the answer. Nodding quickly, you were surprised to find Scott kissing you so suddenly.

“I’m sorry, I -” Scott cut you off with another kiss, this one was deeper and the two of you laid back onto the hospital bed. Scott towering over you just like he did that morning.

“No apologizing for this okay? None of this was your fault.” Scott said in a strong, dominant sounding voice.

“Okay, I’ll stop apologizing.” You paused, and smirked, hoping the next few words will lighten the mood a bit.

“The only thing missing from this scene is your hand wrapped around my throat - I kinda liked it this morning.”

“Oh did you now? I guess I should wait until you’re feeling better before we break out the” Scott paused and in a louder voice “FURY I SWEAR IF YOU DO NOT GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR I WILL VIOLATE THE TERMS OF MY HOUSE ARREST MORE THAN I HAVE ALREADY!” to which you could hear some shuffling of feet before you started laughing.

“I hope you realize I wasn’t kidding earlier. I do like you, and I don’t need you to worry about the whole me being a superhero. It’s just the suit that is powerful, not the person wearing it.” Scott sighed a bit dejectedly, to which you replied with a kiss of your own.

“Sure, but the man filling out the suit is what I’m after.” As you two settled down on the small hospital bed, you remembered what you wanted to do when you found Scott sleeping and chuckled.

“Whats so funny?”

“When I found you asleep in your room, I wanted to try to sneak into bed with you and confess that way. At the end of it all, I’m still in bed with you - albeit in a different context.

“Next time, I’ll pin you to my bed but I’ll leave the bat on the floor.” You laughed which turned into a deep yawn.

“Get some sleep. I’ll be right here with you when you wake up.”

Chapter Text

You felt like everyone knew who you were as you checked out of the hospital - the doctors confirmed you did not have a concussion from the bat and let you go after spending a few hours under supervision just to make sure nothing serious happened. Scott was there for you the entire time, which was great, as you got to spend some time with him, but also added to the paranoia that everyone was staring at the two of you. Despite all the paranoia, fear, and concerns you still had about the relationship developing between you and Scott, it felt nice to know that he wanted to be here with you while you were waiting to get checked out by the doctors.

“Did anyone let my mother know what happened? I mean, to the extent that is able to be divulged? I just don’t want to say the wrong thing when she eventually asks what happened.” You could see it now, just walking through the front door and being read the riot act while smothered in a tight hug.

“Yeah dude. About that…” Scott ran his hand across his face and sighed.

“Nobody told her, and I’ve been gone for at least several hours - I’m also sure that you didn’t drive me to the hospital, which means it was either Fury himself or an ambulance.”

“It wasn’t an ambulance if that helps? I’ll tell you what happened after you passed out.”

Scott explained that he was totally calm and collected while he pried off the vent that kept his cell phone (yes, he had one for Avenger emergencies) and called Fury. He returned and kept the pressure of your head wound, watching as the rather efficient medics whisked you away and that Fury remained only to remind him of the consequences of his actions.

“He neglected to tell you that he was also covered in blood and in absolute hysterics, demanding that I take him to the hospital.” Fury stood in the doorway, holding a small stack of papers, and glared at Scott as he handed the discharge paperwork over to you. “Fill these out and you’re good to go. As for your mother, she’s currently watching TV, knitting, and nodding off - there’s no concern of her noticing your absence.”

After scribbling your signature over the forms, you got changed in the incredibly small bathroom, and throwing the dressing gown into the appropriate basket, you walked out of the hospital room to find a normal hallway. A small frown appeared on your face, and Fury immediately picked up on it despite being a couple steps ahead of you.

“Nobody knows who he is here, so there’s no fanfare, sorry kid.”

You could tell he was not really sorry, but it was still a surreal feeling - having the man behind the Avengers know who you are, your skill, and not immediately retcon you was too much for you to grasp, especially after being clocked by a bat earlier in the day. The three of you made it to the rather shiny black SUV and Scott opened the door for you. He was going out of his way to help you, even if you didn’t need any. It made sense though, he was still probably blaming himself for your accident, despite the fact it was your fault to begin with.

“Buckle up.” Fury waited a beat before backing out of the parking space.

———///————

Fury pulled into Scott’s driveway, and you opened the door to exit before Scott rushed around to help you. It was nice to have him feel like he had to wait on you, but you were fine. After you both entered the front door - still unlocked - the SUV was already gone.

“Go ahead and sit anywhere you like, I’ll get you some water and something to eat.” Scott was eager to be the mother hen, and it was starting to get on your nerves a bit. You followed him into the kitchen, and stood there waiting for the words to come out. He was oblivious to you hovering at the door, as he fussed around the cabinets and fridge, putting whatever he thought you would like on a plate.

“Scott, slow down. I don’t need all this attention.” You took a small step forward, just enough for the other man to notice your presence.

“I thought I told you to sit down, I was going to bring you some snacks.”

“That’s just it, I don’t want you to feel like you are obligated to do that. I’m not incapable of getting my own water or food here, I help you put away groceries after all.”

“Obligated? I am doing this for you because I want to, not because I feel like I am obligated to. We already talked about the accident and it was just that, an accident.” He had finished putting together a small plate of snacks - peanut butter sandwich crackers, cheese sticks, and a smattering of fruit snacks - and a glass of ice water. “Listen, you’ve been doing me a real solid with the groceries and helping me around the house. I just want to do something nice for you, and if it happened to be after I dropped a bat on your face then it’s a complete coincidence.”

With a small chuckle, you walked up to Scott and wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. You were about the same height as Scott, give or take an inch or two, which allowed you to bury your face in his neck and revel in this feeling. You weren’t sure if your feelings would ever be more than an unrequited crush, but the realization was hitting you and you felt lighter than air.

“I didn’t know you were a hugger, but I definitely don’t mind holding you, feeling you wrapped up in my arms.” Scott said with a smirk on his face, he returned the hug and ran his hand through the hair on the back of your head. He was content just holding you for the moment, allowing you to set the pace for today.

“Lets head back to the couch, we can chill for a bit and just watch TV.” Scott paused for a moment, pulling back slightly from the hug, “I do wish I could wine and dine you a bit, being stuck at home does have some benefits like being able to see you regularly, but I would’ve loved to take you out for dinner.”

“There will be plenty of time for that.” You said, cupping Scott’s face with your hand and leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. “After all, I told you I want your hands on my throat again.”

“You’re going to be the death of me.” Scott grabbed your ass hard and rough, “Not today babe, you just got out of the hospital because of me.”

There was a moment you thought he was just doing this to apologize to you, but as if Scott read your mind, he quelled that fear.

“Stop that babe, I know what you are thinking. I want you, like so bad! If you don’t believe me, this should show you how much I want you.” Scott ground his hips forward, and you felt the raging hardon he had trapped beneath his pants.

“Damn, I am kicking myself for getting hit with that bat.”

“Babe, I am kicking myself for dropping it in the first place.”

Together, you walked with Scott towards the couch, Scott carried the plate of snacks and water while you were forbidden from lifting a finger. Scott set down the plate and cups of water on the table, and sat down on the couch, patting the space next to him for you to sit down. You watched Scott more than the show that was on, and Scott kept laughing every time something funny happened and looked to see your reaction. Each time he looked over, he saw you watching him and he smiled, giving you a small kiss.

You had no idea this is what would happen when you agreed to help the next door neighbor who was under house arrest. And after everything that happened, not only were you dating your hot neighbor, you had a better job, and felt like life was finally looking up. Best of all, you were dating a member of the Avengers, the group who was responsible for saving the world several times.