Last Time, on Project HermitVengers:

Doc has been adopted! But what's with Bdubs' attitude towards him..? Eh, it's probably fine.

Grian and Scar ALMOST meet- but don't. Oof.

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Tango had started a little garbage fire in a metal trash can, and while it smelled something fierce (and nasty) if the wind blew the smoke in their faces, nobody really complained since it provided a decent amount of extra warmth. Doc was still quiet, staying next to Ren like he had the entire night.

The others kept talking, occasionally joking about the crappy smell and how much they wished they could shower. Iskall mentioned the place they'd planned on going to before, FEAST. On one hand, that sounded really nice. On the other hand, Xisuma said they should try to know more about the place before deciding it was safe. Alex argued with him for a minute, before hesitantly agreeing to at least check it out beforehand. After all, everyone was getting tired of using random restrooms from diners to do business and try washing their hair in a shitty sink.

Bdubs whined about missing his shower, leaning against Alex before just crawling into his lap. Doc noticed, and stared at the two. Why would they both put themselves in such a vulnerable position right now? They were still out in the open, if they were ambushed...

"What?" Bdubs' sharp voice cut through the cyborg's worried thoughts. "You really have a staring problem, y'know."

"Says you-" Cleo teased. "You either stare into someone's soul or never make eye contact!"

Doc stayed quiet as Bdubs was distracted by the zombie's comment, starting to bicker with her now. Alex rolled his eyes, hugging his friend closer. Maybe it was just for the warmth? Or... maybe it was for that weird fuzzy feeling, the one Doc had gotten when Ren had hugged him, and the one that lingered as he watched the others laugh and snuggle close.

Speaking of-

"Hey dude- How you settling in?" Ren asked, sitting next to Doc again after talking with Iskall and Mumbo for a few minutes. The cyborg glanced up, and hesitantly smiled.

"Um... okay, I guess. Is... everyone usually this close together?"

"I mean- Yeah?" Ren chuckled, assuming he meant literally. "It's pretty cold, after all."

"I... that makes sense. But... how... never mind." Doc looked down at the floor. The wolf hybrid scooted closer to him.

"Don't worry about it, man- I know this is probably weird for you. Hell- It was kinda weird for me. Going from... that to this." His voice got quieter and softer, not daring to go into detail. Doc just nodded, understanding what he meant. "But it's good. This is... so much better. Even if it takes time to get used to it."

Maybe that meant something else to Ren, but it was clear he was trying his best to understand how Doc was seeing it. But how could he? Doc had no clue how this must be like for Ren, or for anyone else here (even if he knew more about them all).

"If any of us do something that makes you uncomfortable, speak up, okay? We want you to feel welcome here and not freeze to death, but we don't wanna make you feel like you have to accept any and all hugs. If that's not your thing, then it isn't your thing." Ren explained, offering a hug. Doc smiled a little without thinking, and slowly leaned into the hug. The warm feeling returned, spreading all over.

He still wasn't used to being... safe... but Doc was starting to think he liked hugs.

As everyone else drifted off to sleep, Xisuma couldn't make himself join them. Even though it'd been some time since... the argument, Alex's words still echoed in his mind. Along with that... he was worried.

He and Alex were essentially the leaders of this ragtag band of random kids who'd gone through... some stuff. They came to both of them for advice and they didn't always know how to answer. How would they? They never had anyone else like their mother, they didn't grow up in the same environment as any of them, they never were bullied like Zed and Impulse and Bdubs were. Even Ren, who was technically the oldest, looked up to them.

If he failed... what would happen? Would they still trust them? Would they only trust Alex, or would both of them have to step away? If they got caught stealing food and clothes, would Mumbo and Iskall just end up right back where they started? What about Cleo? From what Joe had said, he had no home to go back to...

No, it was too late in the night to be thinking about all of that... if he was still worried in the morning, he could ask Alex for help.

They were going to be okay, after all. Xisuma would make sure of it, even if he had to get into some serious trouble by himself...

Everyone woke up to Bdubs and Doc's bickering. Unlike most bickering among the group (with the one exception), this wasn't exactly sounding like friendly banter. No one was quite sure what they were arguing about, but they both sounded very passionately angry about it. Or maybe they were just passionate about riling the other up-

"For the sake of the gods, will both of you calm down!" Alex finally grumbled, startling the two. Doc and Bdubs were clearly unaware of how loud they were being, or that everyone had woken up by now.

"Aw, it was getting even better though!" Cleo joked, moving to stand up.

"I- fine! I was right anyway and he knows it!" Bdubs grumbled, starting to walk away.

"As if! Only reason why I'm stopping is so your whining doesn't wake up the whole city." Doc retorted, crossing his arms. The smaller teenager gave him a rude gesture. "Oh, very mature. Your temper is somehow shorter than you are."

"I'M AVERAGE HEIGHT FOR MY AGE, THANK YOU- AND YOU'RE ONE TO TALK, YOU SKYSCRAPER LOOKING MOTHERFU-"

"Okay-" Xisuma quickly intervened, standing and picking up his small friend like a feral cat. "That- That's enough- Both of you need to calm down. Ren, you show Doc around a bit, show him where we tend to eat or meet up."

"Yup- on it, X-" The werewolf stumbled to his feet, going over to Doc and offering to put his hand on the mechanical shoulder. The cyborg huffed a bit and gave him permission to, and he was led away from the group.

That wasn't the first time the pair bickered to the point of needing to be separated. From where to eat to what kind of fish was best to eat, it was like the two were actively looking for reasons to disagree and start a ruckus. Alex, as Xisuma was trying to figure out why the two didn't get along, joked about just locking them in a room together somehow and letting them battle it out until it was settled. Xisuma reminded him that while Doc hadn't shared much about himself, it wasn't very likely that would go well with what they'd seen of him alone.

Speaking of the cyborg, he was starting to get more comfortable with the others, especially Ren. However those two had met, it did have one good side effect of them bonding quickly. Good, because Xisuma didn't want Doc to feel isolated (despite Bdubs' best efforts).

Why did Bdubs not like the newcomer? He'd never reacted like this to any of the others, but the moment he set eyes on the cyborg, he seemed determined to get him to leave. When X had finally asked about this with Alex, Bdubs paused and simply said something felt off about Doc, like he was hiding or planning something behind their backs. Alex told him that was ridiculous, Doc had done nothing but try to be helpful. While he was still fairly reclusive, he didn't seem malicious in the slightest.

What was going on...?

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Impulse had insisted that Zed be supervised at all times. Xisuma thought he knew why, but... after today, he realized he had NO idea exactly what Zedaph could do when unsupervised. He assumed maybe he'd just come back with something small he nicked from a crowded store, like a small chocolate bar.

Well.... His assumption was somewhat close.

"I'm back~!" Zed sang happily, walking toward Alex and Xisuma while carrying a large bag full of... stuff, and a white box that clearly contained pastries. Alex noticed he'd come back alone and raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't Impulse insist that you couldn't go anywhere alone? Did the person supervising you just leave or...?"

"And... what's in the bag-?" Xisuma started to ask, but Zed quickly interrupted.

"I'm glad you asked, X! Well- I ran into some rich guy with really cool facial hair but his bodyguard guy was kind of a jerk SO I used the skills Cleo and Doc taught me to get some money off the bodyguard AND I bought a lot of candy and donuts!"

Alex and Xisuma paused, then looked at each other. Alex was trying to not laugh while X looked horrified.

"ZED!?"

"I told you..." Impulse sighed, watching everyone else munch on treats and donuts. Zed was beaming, offering Tango some chocolate.

"How- Who did he even steal from to get this much?" Xisuma asked.

"I dunno- but I'm not complaining." Cleo chuckled, sharing a box of jelly beans with Joe and offering one to Doc. The cyborg paused before taking it, looking it over for a minute and looking at the box before taking a nibble out of the bean.

"Oh- that's- interesting?"

"We left you alone for three minutes..."

Alex laughed more at his brother's reaction: face buried in his hands, sounding absolutely baffled. Bdubs happily was eating some Mexican candy Zed had swip- bought just for him, talking with Iskall about something. Alex nudged his brother a bit before he could scold Zed.

"Look- Everyone's happy, a certain pair aren't bickering, Doc is trying something new, Zed wasn't caught- No harm, no foul. Right?" It wasn't hard to tell that X was getting nervous, he always did whenever someone stole more than he deemed necessary, or did something he worried would draw too much attention to them. Alex didn't understand why he got like this, but he didn't see the harm in taking a bit more than needed to have some fun.

"But-"

"No buts-" Alex grabbed a lollipop and shoved it into his brother's hands. "If you keep complaining, I'm shoving that down your throat. Deal?"

"... Fine." X gave a tired sigh, fumbling to put the candy in his pocket for later. "But this is the only time you're getting away with something like this, we can't afford to get into big trouble."

"That's what you said last time!" Cleo snickered.

"I mean it!"

"No you don't." Joe pulled out the lollipop in his mouth.

"Joe! Yes I do!"

"No, you really don't."

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"Well... still no leads." Sam sighed, moving his goggles up onto his head. He and Steve had chased dozens of trails, and every one of them was a dead end. The blond removed his helmet, staring at the controls of the jet they'd taken to fly here.

With a sad expression, Steve said, "Let's head back... Don't want the others getting suspicious. I'll call you when I find something."

"I'll do the same." Sam nodded a bit, noticing his friend's sad expression. "... you alright?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine."

Truth was, Steve wasn't. He missed Bucky, and knowing even bits of HYDRA were still at large didn't help with his anxiety over his missing friend. With the Avengers, he'd been collecting information and taking down small sections of the organization, but there were so many things that didn't connect, or made things worse.

Kids... they'd been kidnapping kids, because they took to their powers better. Because they could be raised like bloodhounds, trained to kill or put down if they disobeyed. And so many people had been tricked or blackmailed into helping them, so many lost families and friends to them. He thought it was over when the war had ended...

His phone buzzed, and Steve was snapped out of his thoughts. Sam jumped at the sudden ringtone, and kept quiet as Steve answered it.

"Hey Tony- Sorry. Yeah, on a mission." Steve paused, then chuckled, his mood seeming to lighten. "Yeah, don't worry. I'll be there for the game night tomorrow, and yeah- Barton told me about Happy getting pickpocketed and scammed by a kid, I told him that it wasn't funny and to tell Happy to let it go, the kid might need it more tha- I... No, I don't know how to make sure Romanoff doesn't win."

"Maybe you should just be better." Natasha shrugged, listening to Tony talk over the phone. The mechanic gave her a lighthearted glare.

"Well- See you soon, stars-and-stripes. Don't get lost without your paper map or whatever you used to have in the 40s."

"Very funny."

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*sobbing* FINALLY- 

Happy 2024! Last year... kicked our ass- but hopefully this year will be better? *crosses fingers* don't jinx it-

Well, hopefully we can write more this year. Let us know what you guys hope to do this year! <3

Thank you for coming back to read this after three months, and happy new year! 

Have an amazing year, and amazing day, evening, and night. Goodbye <3

- CinnabonSys (is very excited for what we have planned ahead... hehehe... :> )